Senators from ethanol producing states are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to propose regulations assuming that greater U.S. biofuels use would increase carbon dioxide emissions.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) spoke on the Senate floor about the issue on Monday, following a letter sent by 12 senators to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson last week.
Grassley expressed fears that EPA is “going down a path of blaming our biofuels producers for land use changes around the globe.”
I’m afraid the climate folks at the EPA are heading in the wrong direction on this. I don’t think they’re bad people, but I’m afraid they don’t understand how American agriculture works. I don’t think they’re aware of the significant crop yield improvements we’ve seen in recent years or the great potential over the next 20 years. I also don’t think they fully understand the benefit of valuable ethanol byproducts, which further reduce the effective land used for fuels production. It defies common sense that the EPA would publish a proposed rulemaking with harmful conclusions for biofuels based on incomplete science and inaccurate assumptions.
Grassley is urging President Obama to take an active role in the issue and keep a close eye on what EPA is doing with regard to indirect land use calculations.
Progress toward next generation biofuels will be a focus of the 
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has 
The companies – Edenspace Systems Corporation, ICM, LanzaTech Inc., POET, Qteros, Inc., Range Fuels, Red Shield Acquisition LLC, and ZeaChem – assert that removing the regulatory cap of 10 percent “will ensure the product market necessary to encourage continued investment in the commercialization of advanced biofuels.”
Dr. Hans Blaschek, director of the CABER explains the degree will provide a professional science master’s degree program.
The award is named for a true pioneer in the biotechnology field, and it will be handed out by a group touted to be the “champion of biotechnology” to someone who makes the most significant contribution in the field of biotechnology.
Domestic Fuel will be there as the Farm Foundation hosts the next in its series of meetings to talk about what needs to be done for this country… and the world, for that matter… transition to a bioeconomy.
The Clean Energy Coalition (CEC) has announced that it is offering up to $5,000 to install or upgrade an existing pump to dispense E85 in the state of Michigan. This is one of many of the incentives offered in the state.
In total, the CEC was awarded $145,000 from the DeLEG and $20,000 from the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM) to offer station owners the opportunity to sell E85. “I’m excited to work with the CEC to help bolster Michigan’s ethanol industry and increase the number of E85 pumps available to consumers,” said Pollok-Newsom. “Ethanol reduces our country’s need for foreign oil, supports our rural communities, and helps reduce harmful greenhouse gases.” 
The Center has approved a total of 18 grants to accelerate the technologies and feedstocks needed to develop the state’s biofuels sector.
Can small and community-scale biodiesel plants be economically viable and contribute to rural development in the Western United States? A new report by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), “
The little guy on the left might not look very pretty, but it could be beautiful when it comes to turning food waste into biodiesel. It’s the larva of the Black Soldier Fly, and this bug is at the heart of EcoSystem Corporation’s MAGFUEL™ biofuel feedstock model. 
When at full capacity, Black Soldier Fly food scrap waste conversion technology could yield up to 190,000 gallons of crude (non-food) natural oils per acre of bioreactor surface area annually. In comparison, soybean yields an average of 40 gallons of oil per acre annually. EcoSystem’s integrated bioreactor is estimated to be deployed at a cost of less than $100 per square foot with minimal use of utilities for other than periodic cleaning and heating.