Public support for biofuels continues to grow in Canada according to national poll results released today. The poll was conducted by Praxicus Public Strategies and funded by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
When respondents were asked if they support replacing some fossil fuels with renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, 69 percent said yes. This is an improvement from last year’s results. In addition, 76 percent of respondents support the passing of a five percent renewable fuel standard by 2010 and 87 percent support federal policies that would encourage the development of next generation biofuels.
Environmental support also scored high with Canadians strongly supporting the development of environmentally friendly and viable alternatives to fossil fuels as part of an “Energy and Environment” agenda. Respondents want to see increased fuel efficiency at the top of the agenda followed by alternative fuel development. Support for both of these policies scored higher than regulating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The poll was conducted April 15-18, 2009 had a national sample of 1,000 Canadians. It has a margin or error +3.1% nineteen times out of twenty. To learn more about the poll and its results, visit www.greenfuels.org.
California has adopted the first-ever fuel requirement that is carbon-based – and that’s a good thing. “What is frustrating to the ethanol industry is that the board still went ahead and approved a program that has some really ridiculous land use data,” says 
In what might be one of the first deals of its kind, 
AE Biofuels, based in Cupertino, California just launched a 9,000 square foot demonstration facility in Butte, Montana that will be producing cellulosic ethanol from various feedstocks. To date, they are utilizing various grasses, wheat straw, corn stover, corn cobs, and bagasse. The company is working with 
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General Wesley Clark, co-chairman of 
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In a statement, the institute said the team, led by Yugen Zhang, used N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), an organocatalyst in the chemical reaction with carbon dioxide. NHCs are stable and the reaction between NHCs and carbon dioxide can take place under mild conditions in dry air, the statement said, adding only a small amount of the catalyst was needed.
A pipeline in the Southeastern United States that has already tested moving biodiesel (see 
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The study comes as indirect GHG emissions has been made a major issue by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) as it prepares to approve regulations for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard. In a CARB staff report submitted to the board for adoption, biofuels are the only fuel that has indirect effects included in their carbon accounting. Despite this new study, no indirect effects are included for petroleum-based fuels. Critics of California’s regulations have argued that applying an indirect penalty to biofuels is unfair as it sets different standards for determining a fuel’s carbon intensity. California currently imports more than 45 percent of its oil from foreign sources.