The NRC says biofuels will not meet US mandates at current rate of progress. Too pessimistic? Stating the obvious? The Digest looks at the pace of development, and the problems of peering into the future. In Washington, the National Research Council released a study on the potential for biofuels production that has ruffled feathers throughout […]
In Nevada, Hawker Beechcraft announced that all of their turbine-powered aircraft are approved to use biofuels. At the same time, in Maryland, the Navy has successfully tested a blend of camelina-based biodiesel with JP-5 in its unmanned helicopter MQ-8B Fire Scout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) at Webster Field in St. Inigoes. The Navy has now […]
In Pennsylvania, Coskata this week marked 15,000 run hours of operation, using wood biomass and municipal solid waste, at their cellulosic ethanol semi-commercial facility in Madison, Pennsylvania this month. “The data and operating experience cultivated at this pre-commercial scale facility has conclusively demonstrated that the Coskata technology is ready for commercial production today,” said Coskata […]
In Minnesota, the 2011 Algae Biomass Summit, the official conference of the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) and the algae industry’s premier event, announced U.S. Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) as keynote speakers. Senator Franken will help kickoff the conference on Tuesday, October 25th as he makes the case for the importance of […]
In Italy, Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi through its subsidiary Chemtex, has founded BETA RENEWABLES, a joint venture with TPG Capital and TPG Biotech to exclusively license Chemtex’s PROESA Technology, enabling production of fermentable sugars from cellulosic biomass; these cost-effective sugars can then be converted into bio-ethanol and/or other chemical products and intermediates. TPG and M&G […]
In Brazil, Monsanto said that it expects to yield up to 21 million gallons of ethanol this year from 20,000 hectares of sweet sorghum planted as an alternative feedstock for the October-February period. During this period, sugar cane has low sugar levels. Approximately 1.7 million hectares are cleared and replanted in sugar cane annually, which […]
In the UK, a new report from the National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials says that using biodiesel, vegetable oil or even tallow instead of petroleum-based heating oil could reduce costs significantly in addition to reducing carbon footprints. About 1.4 million households in the UK use heating oil, using about 100,000 metric tons […]
In Canada, Lignol Energy announced that tests conducted with prominent North American research facilities have shown promising results that high performance lignin may be used to produce thermoplastics. Lignol reports that tests showed it was possible to incorporate significant amounts of HP-L into blends with thermoplastics, such as polypropylene, without negatively impacting the blends’ mechanical […]
Today on Twitter. 1st_energy: The Benefits Of Using Renewable Biofuels: An alternative to using traditional fossil fuels for powering diesel africanconserve: Opposition warns Tanzanian government against allocating 320,000 ha prime land to US agro-firm Agrisol Energy #biofuels CowboyByte: How will changing biofuel policies hit beef industry? BIOblogger: @Barrywmagee Which worse – iLUC for #biofuels or […]
In the UK, researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and York have found that the enzyme TaGH61 found in fungi can overcome the chemical intractability of cellulose allowing for the better conversion into ethanol. The work was also done by scientists at Novozymes laboratories in California, and Bagsvaerd in Denmark and researchers from the University […]
