USDA has announced a new collaboration with DuPont to promote sustainable harvesting of bio-based feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol. The joint agreement between USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and DuPont aims to set voluntary standards for the sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues for renewable fuel, and supports rural job creation, additional income for farmers, bio-based energy development, and the safeguarding …
Genera Awarded for Sustainable Feedstock Innovations
Genera Energy Inc. (Genera) was awarded the 2013 Sustainable Biofuels Award in the Sustainable Feedstock Innovation category at the World Biofuels Markets 2013 Congress and Exhibition, held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The award recognizes outstanding achievement for a project that displays “innovation to enhance sustainability in feedstock supply.” According to Genera, it’s integrated solution covers the full biomass system from the …
Duckweed for Biofuels?
Duckweed may be a viable material for biofuel production according to a new report in ACS’ journal Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. Duckweed is a fast growing floating plant that turns ponds and lakes green. Christodoulos A. Floudas, a professor at Princeton and Xin Xiao with Langfang Engineering and Technology Centre, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with …
POET Producing Corn Oil at 25 Biorefineries
Nearly all of POET’s ethanol plants have now producing corn oil: 25 of their 27 plants have installed corn oil technology bringing its total capacity to approximately 250,000 tons per year, enough feedstock to produce 68 million gallons of biodiesel annually. Branded Voilà, POET has been selling the corn oil since January 2011 with its ethanol plant in Hudson, South …
Commit to Increasing Biofuels
As the World Future Energy Summit takes place in Abu Dhabi, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance called on policy development, business and technology sector leaders to commit to increasing biofuels’ share of the future global energy mix. The goal of the Summit is to advance future energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies. “The GRFA has demonstrated that increasing biofuels production …
Pacific Successfully Produces Sorghum Ethanol
Yesterday the EPA announced that grain sorghum is now an official pathway for a renewable fuel under the RFS. Currently, Pacific Ethanol has successfully produced ethanol from sorghum feedstock that was bred by Chromatin. According to Chromatin, this achievement paves the way for future opportunities to use locally grown sorghum as a versatile and resilient crop that is a more …
Could Biofuels Be Produced from A Tobacco Tree?
Could biofuels be produced from the tobacco tree? With a grant from the European Union, researchers at Royal Holloway, School of Biological Sciences, will test this theory based on initial findings that the Nicotiana Glauca produces compounds that could be used to produce biodiesel or cracked to produce petroleum products. There are some advantages of the tobacco tree: it is …
Virgin Islands Go “Giant” with Biomass Energy Crop
Giant King(TM) Grass is now growing in the Virgin Islands and could help the U.S. territory meet its goal of 22 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. California-based Viaspace, Inc. sent the first shipment to St. Croix, and Tibbar Energy USVI LLC has planted it with hopes that it will become a key part of that company’s …
Field to Fryer to Fuel
Here is a new twist on an old idea: rather than simply recycling used cooking oil into biodiesel, a new initiative will locally grow canola, press the seeds into oil, deliver to local restaurants, pick up the used oil, and then repurpose it into biodiesel. The pilot project, known as Field to Fryer to Fuel (F3) received a $130,000 grant …
Calculator Gives Growers Energy Crop ROI
University of Illinois agricultural economists have been calculating the costs for farmers to produce biomass energy crops, and as a result have created a feedstock cost and profitability calculator for farmers to make their own assessments using their individual agribusiness parameters. Illinois Ag Economist Madhu Khanna says farmers can customize the costs based on their current farming operation, current returns on the …