Several ethanol plants have been changing hands and one of the more recent was the purchase of Xethanol LLC, based in Blairstown, Iowa, by Fiberight LLC, based in Virgina. Fiberight purchased the plant with the intent of converting it into a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant. The fuel will be produced through the conversion of municipal sold waste (MSW) to ethanol. The company acquired Xethanol for $1.65 million and the conversion is estimated to be around $20 million.
The technology is not new to Fiberight which for three years has been operating a pilot-scale plant in Virgina. In an article published by Biomass Magazine, Fiberight CEO Craig Stuart-Paul said of their technology, “We’ve been operating in stealth mode because we don’t want to make claims until we can prove them.” They plan on doing just that in Blairstown.
While there are several MSW technologies, Fiberight says that its process is unique for several reasons. One is that their technology, “has the ability to fractionate the waste stream into various forms and then create a homogenous feedstock.” Stuart-Paul notes that this is the biggest hang-up for MSW technologies to date.
Second, Stuart-Paul said that their proprietary process allows the recycling and re-use of enzymes. This lowers costs and speeds up commercial competitiveness in that their fuel will be more cost-competitive with alternative fuels already in the marketplace.
According to the company, they are in negotiations to secure the waste from nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa a community of 150,000 people that is less than 30 miles from Blairstown. These are the ideal communities for the company’s mini-mills and once the Blairstown plant is successfully running, Fiberight plants on siting additional plants in similar communities.
An Ohio biodiesel plant is among those 
This coming Friday, Dec. 11 is the deadline for Iowa schools to get in their application for two, $2,500 grants from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s (IRFA) Biodiesel Backer Award Program. 
Big emitters of carbon dioxide are faced with a big problem. Industries and utilities will soon have to capture that CO2 and store it … somewhere. That’s where 
In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to Carbon Sciences President and CEO Byron Elton, who explains how this process works. Basically, it’s the exact same process that changed carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons all those eons ago far beneath the surface of the Earth. But this is much more efficient and faster and could be the solution for those CO2 emitters looking for something to do with their newly sequestered product and a planet hungry for energy.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), DOE Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the selection of 19 integrated biorefinery projects to receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale facilities. Fifteen states will house these projects and help lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of a biomass industry in the United States. 
Joining Secretary Chu, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack noted that USDA Rural Development has selected San Diego, California based Sapphire Energy to receive a loan guarantee for up to $54.5 million through the Biorefinery Assistance Program to demonstrate an integrated algal biorefinery process that will cultivate algae in ponds, and will use dewatering and oil extraction technology to produce an intermediate that will then be processed into drop-in green fuels such as jet fuel and diesel. The actual project will be constructed in Columbus, New Mexico. 
Some workers are back on the job after a large explosion at a Seattle, Washington-area biodiesel plant.
A California-based biodiesel producer that makes the green fuel out of contaminated wastewater fats, oils and greases … better known as wastewater FOG … has been recognized internationally as a Technology Pioneer.