Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels
It’s a busy day for the federal government. Here is what has happened today. The EPA has released its expanded rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard, The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that would provide financing to increase the conversion of biomass to bioenergy, and the President’s Biofuels Interagency Working …
Retech 2010 Kicks Off in DC
Retech 2010, the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition, kicks off in Washington, DC tomorrow. The conference is co-produced by the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and TradeFair Group. Nearly 300 exhibitors from all sectors of renewable energy are expected to participate. In addition to the exhibition, there is a Business Conference that will feature more than 250 speakers …
E. coli to Help Brew Biodiesel
A group of federal researchers has figured out how to better extract biodiesel from biomass using a microbe that most of us try to avoid in our food. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has announced that researchers have engineered a strain of E. coli bacteria that can extract an advanced biodiesel directly from biomass: “The fact …
DF Cast: Ethanol, Biodiesel Industries Optimistic on 2010
The new year brings in new hope, and it’s no different for the ethanol and biodiesel industries in this country. You couldn’t blame the folks who make biofuels in the U.S. if they just wanted to forget about 2009 … especially when you consider the fights over food versus fuel, delays of regulatory implementations that would have helped both ethanol …
USDA, Navy to Work on Advanced Biofuels
The USDA and the Department of the Navy (DoN) have agreed to work together to develop advanced biofuels and other renewable energy systems. This USDA press release says the agreement is part of the government’s plan to build a clean energy economy, create new jobs and reduce American dependence on foreign oil, while building a strike force that will run …
“Green Coal” to Debut at UK Biomass Conference
An energy source made from biomass that’s touted as “magic coal from the steam cooker” will make its debut at the Energy from Biomass and Waste conference January 26-27, 2010 at the Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre in London, England. This press release says “Green Coal,” invented the German company the G+R Technology Group, will be produced at the …
Could Salicornia Be a New Wonder Feedstock?
On the Eve of the World Future Energy Summit, which began today in Abu Dhabi, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Honeywell UOP, Boeing and Ethiad Airways announced a project that would study how to combine fish farms and biofuel crops to lower CO2, reduce ocean waste and produce renewable jet fuel. The star feedstock? Salicornia. Salicornia, also known …
Danforth Center Receives $44 Mil for Biofuels Research
The St. Louis-area Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will receive $44 million in stimulus bucks to conduct advanced biofuels research. This press release from the center says the money from the U.S. Department of Energy will go to helping the center to serve as the lead organization in a consortium: The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) led …
In Touch With Solar
During the Copenhagen Climate Conference, President Obama announced findings from the Environmental Protection Agency that the six major groups of greenhouse gas emissions are “an endangerment” to public health and welfare. This could lead to stricter emission regulations for vehicles, manufacturing and power plant emissions. This also shines an even brighter light on low CO2 emitting technologies such as solar …