Monsanto Company, the self-described global leader in technology-based solutions and agricultural products, has announced it will be ramping up its development in the ethanol industry. Monsanto is now collaborating with Perten Instruments to stay within the cutting edge of emerging ethanol technologies. Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) and Perten Instruments today announced a collaboration to develop advanced process analytical tools to …
POET Finalizes Agreement With DOE
POET and the U.S. Department of Energy have signed a cooperative agreement for a commercial cellulosic ethanol project in Emmetsburg, Iowa. According to a company release, the agreement finalizes the first phase of a DOE award that was announced in February and will govern all aspects of the project leading up to construction. With the agreement in place, POET will …
Shell Sets the Standard for Ethanol Fuel
Sam’s Mart on 5640 New Northside Drive, NW in Atlanta, GA is among the network of Shell stations within the metropolitan area that uses an E10 blend of fuel in all of it’s fuel grades offered at the pump. Bob Walden is the Manager of Special Projects for Sam’s Mart. He says Shell is a leading player the ethanol industry …
Biofuel Production Boosted by High-Biomass Research
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System are collaborating in high biomass sorghum production for biofuels, through an exclusive, multi-year joint research and commercialization agreement. The collaboration is meant to focus on plants that are not designed to produce grain, but extensive resources for biomass. Biomass is the latest raw …
Senator Tours POET Plant
The Associated Press has a feature on South Dakota ethanol producer POET this week, focusing on the company’s ethanol research that “should allow it to squeeze 27 percent more fuel from each acre of the crop.” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who toured the company’s headquarters and research lab last week, said there is only so much ethanol that can be …
Ethanol with SC Accent
SC Now has an article on ethanol research being done at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. Dr. Gregory Pryor, assistant professor of biology at Francis Marion University, and one of his students, Kirsten “Kitty” Hiortdhal, have begun researching new ways to create ethanol with crops grown locally in the Pee Dee. According to Wikipedia, the Pee Dee region of …
The Power of Q
A naturally occurring microbe could hold the key to converting cellulose into ethanol in a single step, without the need for costly enzymes. SunEthanol of Amherst, Mass. is commercializing the discovery to produce ethanol from biomass in a simpler and more cost-effective manner. According to the company website, “SunEthanol has the full genome sequence of this remarkable microbe and is …
Improving Ethanol Efficiency
Researchers at Louisiana State University are among those hard at work to find ways to “make ethanol fuel an efficient reality.” According to an LSU release, James Spivey, McLaurin Shivers professor of chemical engineering at LSU, and Challa Kumar, group leader of nanofabrication at LSU’s Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices are working on the project withClemson University and Oak …
Cellulosic Ethanol Toast
There was reason for a cellulosic ethanol celebration at the second annual Farm to Fuel Summit held in St. Petersburg last week. In this photo released from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, UF Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Jimmy Cheek (left), UF Distinguished Professor of Microbiology Lonnie Ingram (center) and Verenium Vice …
Women and Ethanol
Women are heavy purchasers of fuel and most say they are willing to buy alternative fuels, but a recent survey indicates they need more information to make that choice at the pump. The survey was conducted by sending 9,000 emails to women readers of magazines published by Meredith Corporation, which includes some of the oldest and most popular, such as …