Bioengineering firm Joule Biotechnologies of Massachusetts recently unveiled a new technology that uses sunlight to directly convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. The process, called Helioculture™, produces what the company is calling SolarFuel™ liquid energy.
According to Joule, the conversion requires no agricultural land or fresh water, and leverages a highly scalable system capable of producing more than 20,000 gallons of renewable ethanol or hydrocarbons per acre annually.
“There is no question that viable, renewable fuels are vitally important, both for economic and environmental reasons. And while many novel approaches have been explored, none has been able to clear the roadblocks caused by high production costs, environmental burden and lack of real scale,” said Bill Sims, president and CEO of Joule Biotechnologies. “Joule was created for the very purpose of eliminating these roadblocks with the best equation of biotechnology, engineering, scalability and pricing to finally make renewable fuel a reality—all while helping the environment by reducing global CO2 emissions.”
The campaign is a partnership between leading corn-producing states, the 
A deal that would have provided biodiesel to a Hawaiian Electric Co. plant has been dealt a tough blow that in all intents and purposes kills the project.
When the contract was later amended to have Imperium import biodiesel from a West Coast refinery, HECO also sought a terminaling and trucking agreement with Aloha Petroleum to transport the imported biodiesel to its generating plant. That additional contract would have incurred additional costs that HECO would have passed on to its customers.
A bill that would extend the biodiesel tax incentive by five years, as well as changing the way the program is administered, has been introduced.
“Domestic production and use of biodiesel is consistent with an energy policy that values the displacement of petroleum with low-carbon, renewable fuels. This legislation will provide certainty to biodiesel producers and improve the form and function of the biodiesel tax incentive. We strongly support this proposal and commend Senator Cantwell and Senator Grassley for introducing this forward thinking legislation,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe.
The tree is often called a sweetgum, but it also goes by the name “alligator tree” because it does look like one. So, it’s appropriate that researchers with the University of Florida – home of the Gators – have found that bacteria growing in its wood may improve the process of making cellulosic ethanol.