In Washington, 90 US scientists wrote to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid to fix accounting standards for greenhouse gas emissions associated with bioenergy projects. The scientists said they wanted to correct a perception that “that all biofuels and bioenergy are equally good for the environment and are all […]
Biofuels developments typically involve “two, four or more” carbon approaches (ethanol, biobutanol, or longer chain hydrocarbons in the gasoline or diesel range). Though used in biodiesel production or as an intermediate in other biofuel production processes, the one-carbon methanol is not commonly targeted as a biofuel. Methanol has its haters, and its passionate fans. Who’s […]
In California, a long-term monopoly on the creation of bacterial cell life — held, reportedly, by God (or the open-source community known as evolution) — was broken yesterday when a scientific team headed by Drs. Craig Venter, Hamilton Smith and Clyde Hutchison announced completion of the final step in their quest to create the first […]
Just when early-stage companies like Algenol have partnered up with Valero, Dow and Linde; PetroAlgae with Indian Oil; Martek with BP; Synthetic Genomics with ExxonMobil; Solazyme with Chevron; and Sapphire Energy continuing to attract a stream of senior execs from BP, Ex-Im Bank and elsewhere, it’s been starting to feel like the algae biofuels movement […]
In part one of “The Name is Bond” we looked at the crisis in biofuels financing, its causes and included an overview of possible solutions. Today, we look in more depth at a particular bond-market solution developed by a team at Stern Brothers, Mintz Levin and Kreig DeVault, which has the potential to clear the […]
Last October, the Digest ran a five-part series, Benjamins for Biofuels, outlining the causes of the financing halt in advanced biofuels, its impacts, and proposed remedies. The Digest further reported (in “Over There: The Yanks are Coming” ) that US-based advanced biofuels developers were increasingly targeting Asian deployments in order to secure capital. Part five […]
In Washington, the USDA wrapped up its anniversary meeting on clean energy with Agriculture Secretary Vilsack noting that the default rate on its rural development business loans, at one percent, indicates that the Department needs “to be willing to take a chance” and commence funding larger, riskier projects that can address the long-term economic decline […]
In Texas, Valero announced a joint development deal with Florida-based Algenol Biofuels, describing a “relatively small investment” but not offering details on the deal. Algenol said in media reports that the development deal calls for the two companies to place algae farms next to refineries, and using the carbon dioxide as a feedback for the […]
The following article is adapted and expanded from remarks given at the Philippine Embassy, Washington DC, on April 29th, by Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane. It recaps themes and highlights from the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference as well as touching on concepts such as food vs fuel, sustainable biofuels, and why biofuels matter. Your Excellency, […]
In Washington, POET outlined its plans to produce up to 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022 in a presentation at the National Press Club. CEO Jeff Broin confirmed that the POET will break ground on its 25 Mgy cellulosic ethanol facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa, by year end. The POET’s plan divides into three […]
