In North Carolina, six biofuels projects have been awarded $700,000 from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, whose biofuels development funding program uses part of the Tennessee Valley Authority settlement funds. Recipients of the grants include: • North Carolina State University, $156,898 • North Carolina State University, $143,787 • Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension […]
In Washington, the US produced 77.6 million gallons of biodiesel in February, according to data that the EPA released on Friday. With these February numbers, year-to-date biodiesel production comes in just under 150 million gallons. In 2012, the industry topped out over 1 billion gallons. More on the story.
In Spain, Abengoa has begun operations at their demonstration plant in Salamanca. The plant has a capacity to treat 25,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), from which up to 1.5 million liters of bioethanol will be produced for use as fuel. Their technology is being implemented at its plant in Hugoton (Kansas, USA), one […]
In India, food giant Charoen Pokphand Goods (CPF) will launch six biomass plants, three cogeneration plants, and a biodiesel plant this year in an effort to cut their use of fossil fuel energy by 20% each year. The plants will use waste from chicken, pig, and shrimp operations, and are expected to cut carbon-dioxide emissions […]
In Malaysia, the palm oil stockpiles fell dramatically this month to 2.27 million metric tons, the steepest drop since January of 2011. Output gained 2.3% to 1.33 million tons, with exports gaining only slightly less. The country is currently experiencing a slump in prices across all industries, and the decline in palm oil inventory may […]
In Florida, the Florida Senate Committee on Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities voted to repeal all ethanol blending requirements for the state. The bill, SB 320, will be reviewed on April 9th before another State committee. The bill “recognizes that the life span of vehicles and equipment can be dramatically reduced with the wrong fuel.” […]
In Louisiana, Dr. R. Malcom Brown, Jr. presented on nanocellulose’s applications in the world of biofuels at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society. Brown’s research team has already genetically engineered cyanobacteria to produce one form of nanocellulose, which can become the raw material for biofuels. Despite advances in the industry, […]
In Iowa, USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and DuPont signed an agreement on Friday to establish guidelines for corn stover collection. The agreement directs the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service to work with DuPont and Iowan farmers for give years to set standards for the percentage of stover that can be collected without diminishing […]
In California, Blume Distillation has closed a Series A financing round with $2.2m from angel and impact investor backing. The funds will accelerate the assembly of the company’s bioethanol production system. Blume’s commercial systems are designed to produce from 20,000 to 500,000 gallons of fuel a year, which it said make it suited to powering […]
In California, Pacific Ethanol lost $20.3m in 2012, with revenues decreasing from $901m to $816m. CEO Neil Koehler cited a “challenging market environment” as the cause for the reduction in profit from a 2011 gain of $1.8m. Koehler claimed that the company has improved its production margins and are working on returning the company to […]
