In South Africa, mines are closing and mine rehabilitation companies and agricultural industry organizations are looking into converting the mines to commercial farming. The hope is to replace the lost mining jobs with new jobs in agriculture and utilize the former mine lands for food, livestock and biofuels. The conversions won’t happen quickly or easily, […]
In Washington, D.C., the Renewable Fuels Association reports that according to EIA data, ethanol production averaged 1.042 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 43.76 million gallons daily. That is down 9,000 b/d from the week before. The four-week average for ethanol production increased to 1.041 million b/d–marking the highest average in 22 weeks–for an annualized rate […]
In Germany, UFOP reports that in the first six months of 2017, German biodiesel exports slightly exceeded the previous year’s figures. More specifically, Denmark and Great Britain purchased more biodiesel from German production. By contrast, demand from the US slumped. In the first half year of 2017, total German biodiesel exports climbed 13.7 per cent […]
In Washington, D.C., the Renewable Fuels Association applauded EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s waiver of some fuel regulations in 12 states and the District of Columbia as a good start to help manage the fuel supply shortages caused by Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf area. RFA also said that more needs to be done to truly […]
In France, researchers discovered that certain species of algae can convert fats directly to hydrocarbons that can come in handy for biofuel production. Using sunlight as an input and filtering the contents of algae to leave them with protein solutions with some cell contents, they tested them for how well they converted to fats. They […]
In California, Marine BioEnergy appeared in Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas” for their kelp to biofuel plans. Working with the University of Southern California, Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies and with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), Marine BioEnergy sees a future where up to 10% of […]
In California, Greenbelt Resources Corporation announced that its bioethanol will be tested for potential use by Natures Comfort Meds Biotechnology during its patented CBD extraction process. The bioethanol being used is produced from local brewery waste, and NCM Biotechnology selected Greenbelt for testing because its bioethanol is a greener, cleaner and more sustainable bioproduct, according […]
In Moscow, scientists are using a microalgal strain from Finland, Chlorella vulgaris UHCC0027, to treat wastewater while using the algal biomass for processing into biofuel. While algal ponds have been used for water treatment since ancient times, scientists found this particular strain was particularly effective in Finland using photobioreactors where the algae works without additional […]
In Pennsylvania, a team of researchers worked with Dow AgroSciences to use computer modeling to help improve accuracy for predictions of seed corn forecasts. The study demonstrated that the computer program was able to increase profits by 2-3% and lower costs by 6-7%. Farmers use seed corn for their own crops but rely on a […]
In Washington, D.C., the Bioplastics Division, a part of the Plastics Industry Association, announced DuPont Industrial Biosciences and Archer Daniels Midland as the winners of the 2017 Innovation in Bioplastics Award. The two companies developed a method to produce furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME), a biobased monomer, from fructose derived from corn starch. This is […]
