In New York, Celtic Energy Farm is currently cultivating 1100 acres, where it intends to grow willow to supply ReEnergy, a company with power plants in northern New York. Willow has a typical yield of five dry tons per acre per year, meaning that 800 acres of willow could produce one megawatt of electricity. As […]
In the EU, Vega Biofuels is set to begin shipping torrified pellets samples to a number of power companies by the end of January, 2013. The EU s currently lacking biomass resources to meet its goal of 20% in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, claims Vega. The torrefaction process used by Vega biofuels enhances the […]
In the Philippines, the Energy Department has received a proposal from the Agriculture Department recommending the increase in the mandatory biodiesel blend from 2% to 5%, and is in the process of considering the increase. The country’s primary concern would be an increase in the price of fuel at the pump, but the increase in […]
In Thailand, the Thailand Board of Investment has announced support for alternative energy investment in anticipation of a 39% increase in demand within the next 9 years. The government is pushing the use of alternative and renewable energy to reach 25% of total energy consumption in that time period. The board has implemented tax incentives […]
In California, an enzyme to boost the amount of galactic (a polymer of galactose, a 6-carbon sugar that can be fermented into ethanol) in plant cell walls has been discovered by the Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). This discovery will help to make advanced biofuels cost-competitive by maximizing the amount of plant cell […]
In Washington, the House has approved the NDAA in a 315-107 vote, with provisions to allow the Pentagon to continue its work with biofuels. The Senate must approve the $633 billion bill when they return, sometime after Dec. 27. Earlier this year, the House had attempted to block the biofuels strategy by disallowing the purchase […]
In California, OriginOil has announced that its algae harvesting process reduces bacterial concentrations by up to 99%, although this was achieved in a laboratory. Also, the life of algae was extended up to 12 days. Riggs Eckelberry, CEO of OriginOil, said, “Our End-to-End Production Model shows that you need a lot of acreage to afford […]
In California, VIASPACE has announced that their grass technology has been approved to be implemented in St. Croix, beginning Jan 1, 2014. The 6MW anaerobic generator will use VIASPACE’s Giant King grass as a feedstock for the biofuel that will fuel the plant. The St. Croix Public Services Commission approved the use, citing that VIASPACE’s […]
In Massachusetts, Qteros is looking to raise $3m to $5m to redevelop its technology with the Q microbe, at a much smaller scale, employing 12 people. Potential customers for the reborn company would include paper mills and sugarcane ethanol operations. Said William Rosenberg, executive director of the UMass Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property office, “We’d […]
In Cuba, the country has opened its second biodiesel plant, and has announced that it plans to build three more plants using inedible plants as feedstocks. The new plant currently running a trial run in Sancti Spiritus, with 110 hectares of land cultivated with jatropha curcas. Cuba plans to provide 50% of its energy needs […]
