In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois-Urbana Campaign have determined that half of the world’s current fuel consumption could be replaced with biofuels without competing with food or pastureland. A class of biofuel crops called low-impact high-diversity (LIHD) perennial grasses could produce bioenergy while maintaining grassland. Adding LIHD crops grown on marginal grassland to […]
HeatingOil.com predicted that Biodiesel-blended heating oil, or BioHeat, will be one of the top five stories for 2011 in the heating oil industry. The industry website cited the rejection of the oil industry’s challenge to the Renewable Fuel Standard and the reinstatement of the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit as reasons that the biodiesel […]
In Colombia, last month’s floods have led to at least $29 million in losses to the country’s ethanol industry after cane fields were inundated with water and six ethanol plants were forced to shut down. About 7% of the country’s oil palms for biodiesel production were also flooded. More on the story.
In Norway, Borregaard has received a $9.8 million grant to build a 400 cubic meter pilot biomass-based ethanol plant in Sarpsborg. Construction of the $21.7 million facility is set for the second half of 2012. More on the story.
charcoalproject: Each week one boatload of charcoal and firewood is imported to Abu Dhabi from African forests. headyorganic: From boughs to biofuels: ways to recycle Christmas trees SustainableNet: Ag secretary heads to Atlanta discusses biofuels – Macon Telegraph (blog) WorkingTheHill: Says we need a farm bill safety net to address farmers who gross less than […]
In Washington, more than a half dozen Senators are standing up against the recent approval by the Environmental Protection Agency to boost ethanol blend levels to 15%, saying that higher blends can damage cars—especially in boats, power tools and planes—and more research needs to be done. More on the story.
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, jumped 2.93 percent to a 29-month high of 84.35 as Dupont’s proposed acquisition of Danisco ruled the headlines. For the day, Dupont (DD) was off 1.47 percent to $49.03 on news of the $6.3 billion acquisition, while Danisco soared to 87.56 euros, up 28.29 […]
Those who have been drilled in Santayana’s dictum: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and who take an interest in the history of engineering will not need a reminder that the problems of high cost and fuel yield plagued the development of the steam engine. Just as they have plagued […]
In Washington, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is expected to announce the recipients of loan guarantees at up to three new new biorefinery projects under the 2008 Farm Bill’s Biorefinery Assistance Program (Section 9003) and will announce that USDA has provided funding to recipients in 33 states to support the production and usage of […]
In California, Global Clean Energy Holdings announced the establishment of a new non-profit research organization: The Center for Sustainable Energy Farming ( www.CfSEF.org ). The Center’s mission is to perform cutting-edge plant science research in genetics, breeding and horticulture, and further develop technologies to allow for the economic commercialization and sustainability of energy farms globally. […]
