Author Archive: Jim Lane

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$200 oil in 2020? The impending energy crisis and biofuels’ role in relieving the refining capacity crunch

$200 oil in 2020? The impending energy crisis and biofuels’ role in relieving the refining capacity crunch

July 24, 2018 |

“The global economy likely faces an economic crash of horrible proportions in 2020, not for want of a nail but want of low-sulfur diesel fuel,” writes renowned energy analyst Phil Verleger in a note this month titled “$200 Crude, the Economic Crisis of 2020, and Policies to Prevent Catastrophe”. Not good timing for a White House […]

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Biomass, biomass and more biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report, Vol. 1

Biomass, biomass and more biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report, Vol. 1

July 23, 2018 |

The US Department of Energy’s Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy says that 1.2 billion tons of biomass would be available at $40 or less per ton by 2040, and 1 billion tons would be available by 2030, for conversion into biofuels. Compared to the original Billion Ton Report in 2011,  the focus has […]

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Deeper into the biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report, Vol. 2

Deeper into the biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report, Vol. 2

July 23, 2018 |

The US Department of Energy’s Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy says that 1.2 billion tons of biomass would be available at $40 or less per ton by 2040, and 1 billion tons would be available by 2030, for conversion into biofuels. Compared to the original Billion Ton Report in 20111,  the focus has […]

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A billion tons of biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report

A billion tons of biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report

July 23, 2018 |

The US Department of Energy’s Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy says that 1.2 billion tons of biomass would be available at $40 or less per ton by 2040, and 1 billion tons would be available by 2030, for conversion into biofuels. Compared to the original Billion Ton Report in 2011,  the focus has […]

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Biofuels: a straightforward fix for US farmers’ tariff exposure to China?

Biofuels: a straightforward fix for US farmers’ tariff exposure to China?

July 23, 2018 |

This is the first of a two-part series in which we look at strategic shifts in global commodity prices and policies that could dramatically impact the outlook for biofuels, In this part, we look at grain markets and the em,erging US-China trade war. As most know by now, the US and China have fired opening […]

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Gevo & Butamax – Remind Me Why I Care

Gevo & Butamax – Remind Me Why I Care

July 23, 2018 |

By Sam Nejame, Special to The Digest Here in Cambridge it’s humid and the spritely Liz Warren will soon be seen power walking in a straw hat through my neighborhood again. Amidst the brimstone of the ongoing blue/red culture war, it is useful to consider that even the less than conscientious former EPA chief Scott Pruitt […]

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An emerging alternative marine fuel: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Methanol

An emerging alternative marine fuel: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Methanol

July 23, 2018 |

The marine sector consumes 370 million metric tonnes of bunker fuel per year, and stakeholders desire a viable pathway to low- & no-carbon marine fuels. The fuels need to be price competitive with current bunker fuels and other alternatives such as LNG. Fuel needs to be available globally. And, ship operators need to be assured of […]

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The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Drop-in Renewable Fuels

The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Drop-in Renewable Fuels

July 20, 2018 |

This presentation on drop-in renewable fuels, featuring Drop-in Fuels 2020 author and in-demand industry consultant Will Thurmond details the very latest in a wide array of approaches to making infrastructure-compatible, high-blend renewable fuels — from renewable diesel to renewable jet and biogasoline. Thurmond gave this illuminating overview at ABLC 2018 in Washington DC.

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Did Trump’s renewable fuels policy really cost corn growers $3.65 billion in 2017?

Did Trump’s renewable fuels policy really cost corn growers $3.65 billion in 2017?

July 19, 2018 |

In Washington, new evidence has appeared that a Trump Administration shift on US low carbon fuel policy may have cost US corn growers an estimated $3.65 billion. The mechanism? A secretive effort by Administration officials installed at the US Environmental Protection Agency that destroyed an estimated 1.37 billion gallons of annual demand for low-carbon renewable […]

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Low-carbon jet fuel and diesel, at scale: The Digest 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to AltAir Fuels

Low-carbon jet fuel and diesel, at scale: The Digest 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to AltAir Fuels

July 19, 2018 |

Established in 2013, AltAir Fuels was created to produce low carbon fuels and chemicals derived from sustainable feedstock. For its first commercial project, AltAir partnered with Alon Energy USA to use its existing refinery in Paramount, California retooling idled refining equipment to increase the nation’s energy supply, while positively impacting the southern California economy. Through […]

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