Hemp Produces Viable Biodiesel, UConn Study Finds

University of Connecticut
By: Christine Buckley

Of all the various uses for Cannabis plants, add another, “green” one to the mix.

Researchers at UConn have found that the fiber crop Cannabis sativa, known as industrial hemp, has properties that make it viable and even attractive as a raw material, or feedstock, for producing biodiesel – sustainable diesel fuel made from renewable plant sources.

The plant’s ability to grow in infertile soils also reduces the need to grow it on primary croplands, which can then be reserved for growing food, says Richard Parnas, a professor of chemical, materials, and biomolecular engineering who led the study.

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EPA delays E15 decision to December

Ethanol Producer Magazine
December 2010
By Kris Bevill
Posted Nov. 23, 2010

The U.S. EPA will wait until the U.S. DOE has completed testing of E15 on vehicle models 2001-’06 before it issues a final ruling on the use of E15 in those vehicles. In October, the agency announced it will allow the use of E15 in vehicle models 2007 and newer. At that time, it was anticipated that the agency would issue a decision on older vehicles by the end of November. However, the need for extended testing at the DOE has delayed the EPA’s schedule.

The DOE is extending testing to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the test data used by EPA to make its waiver decision. Some of the vehicles used in the initial tests experienced mechanical failures unrelated to fuel. These problems likely occurred as a result of the age and high number of miles already driven by the vehicles. Additionally, one of the vehicles failed the emissions test when fueled with E15, which was likely due to a spark plug issue unrelated to E15. Non-fuel mechanical breakdowns have caused some delays in the additional testing, according to a DOE official, but both agencies are committed to conducting thorough testing. DOE and EPA officials have confirmed that the additional testing will be complete by the end of December.

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Scania receives ethanol buses order in Sao Paulo

automotive-business-world.com
Published:29-November-2010
By Staff Reporter

Scania, a manufacturer of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, has become part of the Brazilian public transport system with the order of ethanol buses from Sao Paulo out of which the first 50 buses will go into service in May 2011.

Scania is receiving the ethanol bus order after a few years of field trials in Sao Paulo, coordinated by experts with links to the University of Sao Paulo and with participation by ethanol suppliers, bus bodybuilders, operators and Sao Paulo transport authorities.

The new Scania buses will operate in Sao Paulo, where transport authority SPTrans is aiming at an initial fleet of 200 ethanol buses and all buses will be manufactured in Brazil.

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UCS Says Federal Policies for Cellulosic Ethanol Don't Work

SustainableBusiness.com News
11/29/2010 11:17 AM

In the next few days, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) expects the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dramatically lower the amount of cellulosic biofuel companies are required to purchase under the federal renewable fuel standard.

This would be the second time the EPA reduced the required amount of cellulosic biofuel, which is derived from perennial grasses, waste and other sources. Cellulosic biofuel is cleaner than corn ethanol and is not made from food crops.

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Tea Party backers, greens unite against ethanol tax credit

The Hill
By Ben Geman - 11/29/10 11:44 AM ET

A grab-bag of groups from across the political spectrum are pushing Senate leaders to let a major ethanol tax break expire at year’s end.

Friends of the Earth, FreedomWorks (a conservative groups that supports the Tea Party movement), Taxpayers for Common Sense and food industry trade groups made their case in a letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The tax credit for ethanol blenders helps boost the market for the corn-based fuel, but the groups call it wasteful and pointless.

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Sustained growth in biofuels rests on government policy support

iStockAnalyst.com
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 9:54 AM

(Source: Datamonitor)After a period of slowdown due to the global recession and high feedstock costs, the biofuels market is now showing signs of recovery. However, in key markets, energy companies such as Petrobras, BP, and Shell are still fighting to recover their losses and attract new investments. Government policies are expected to be instrumental in ushering in the next phase of growth in the biofuels industry.

The biofuels industry has faced a tough period during the last two years due to the global financial crisis, declining crude oil prices, and the surging price of feedstock (especially of corn in the US). Many biofuels projects were reportedly shelved during the last two years after crude oil prices declined to less than $40 per barrel. A slowdown in biofuels research initiatives during this period further added to the woes of the industry.

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Corn and Soybean Availability for Biofuels in 2010-11

agmrc.org
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University
November 2010

Dr. Robert Wisner
University Professor Emeritus
Iowa State University
rwwisner@iastate.edu

Corn use for fuel ethanol production has become the second largest source of demand for the U.S. crop, with total corn use for this purpose expected to be only about 10% less than its use for livestock and poultry feeding in the year ahead. About 35% of the expected total demand for U.S. corn is projected to be accounted for by ethanol. Similarly, use of soybean oil for biodiesel has become a sizeable source of demand for oil produced from domestic soybean crushings. With these large new sources of demand for two of the nation’s major crops, it is important for other users of these commodities as well as the biofuels industry to have a good picture of the adequacy of supplies for the year ahead. The adequacy question is especially important this year with extreme adverse weather in several important foreign grain and oilseed producing countries, and with low beginning stocks of U.S. soybeans as well as a relatively small reserve supply of corn for the start of the new marketing year. It also is heightened by the fact that U.S. government mandates require annual increases in the minimum fuel blending volume for ethanol and biodiesel that do not reflect feedstock market conditions. Any adjustment in these mandates would be expected only under extreme conditions, and would occur not through market processes but through political and administrative decisions.

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Tunable high-yield catalytic approach converts pyrolysis oil to bio-hydrocarbon chemical feedstocks including fuel additives

FavStocks.com
By Green Car Congress on 11/26/2010 – 7:30 am PST

Researchers at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, with colleagues from Southeast University (China) and University of Nottingham (UK), have developed an integrated catalytic approach that combines hydroprocessing with zeolite catalysts to convert pyrolysis bio-oils into industrial commodity chemical feedstocks, including C2 to C6 monohydric alcohols and diols, C6 to C8 aromatic hydrocarbons, and C2 to C4 olefins with more than 60% overall carbon yields. A paper on the work led by Dr. George Huber was published in the 26 November issue of the journal Science.

Pyrolysis bio-oils are produced by the thermal decomposition of biomass by heating in the absence of oxygen at more than 500 °C; fast pyrolysis of biomass is much less expensive than biomass conversion technologies based on gasification or fermentation processes. However, the resulting bio-oils are typically high in oxygen, water, solids and acids. As a result, there is high interest in cost-effective pathways for the upgrading of bio-oils to more useful transportation fuel or commodity chemical components. (E.g., earlier post.)

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New breakthrough in pyrolysis sector promises to speed commercialization

Biofuels Digest
November 26, 2010 Jim Lane

In Massachusetts, a team of researchers from University of Massachusetts Amherst reported in Science that they have developed a new process to produce key chemical intermediates from pyrolytic bio-oils. According to the researchers, “the new process could reduce or eliminate industry’s reliance on fossil fuels to make industrial chemicals worth an estimated $400 billion annually.”

The intermediates, including benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylene and propylene are used in the manufacturing of solvents, detergents, plastics and fibers.

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Cargill, Copersucar among 8 Brazil mills cleared to export ethanol to US

Platts.com
Rio de Janeiro (Platts)--26Nov2010/943 am EST

Eight Brazilian ethanol producers have registered as advanced renewable fuel producers with the US Environmental Protection Agency, easing controls on their exports to the world's largest fuels market, Unica, Brazil's main sugarcane group said Friday.

The companies registered are Cargill, Della Coletta Bioenergia, Asucar Guarani, LDC Bioenergia and four mills linked to Copersucar, Unica said in a statement, citing data from the EPA.

The registration requirement is part of recent US legislation aimed at boosting the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels. According to the EPA, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol produces 61% less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases compared with gasoline.

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Lula inaugurates work on Brazil's biggest ethanol pipeline

FoxNews.com (Latina)
Published November 24, 2010

Sao Paulo – President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva inaugurated construction Tuesday of what will be Brazil's biggest pipeline for ethanol.

Lula, a former metalworker, soldered the first pipe joint of the 202-kilometer (126-mile) pipeline, which will be finished in mid-2014 with a capacity for transporting 21 billion liters (5.5 billion gallons) of ethanol per year.

The first phase of the project will start operations in 2012, according to the government.

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Grower frustration at slow progress on cellulosic biofuels

BrighterEnergy.org
November 24, 2010By James Cartledge

Farmers are “ready and willing” to produce energy crops on under-used land, but are being frustrated by the slow progress of the federal support for new cellulosic biorefineries.

A new survey of US growers from crop developer Ceres, Inc., weighted to growers in the Southeast United States, showed that 71% were either very interested or interested in producing crops specifically for power or advanced biofuels production.

More than three quarters of farmers questioned in the survey this summer had under-utilized land available to use for energy grasses like switchgrass, sorghum and miscanthus.

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Officials break ground on energy institute at UW-Madison

JSOnline.com (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 24, 2010

Madison — State officials broke ground Wednesday on the $54 million first phase of the Wisconsin Energy Institute on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

The institute will house centers of research into biofuels and other forms of renewable energy, including the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, which is financed with a $125 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The first phase of the institute will be built with $50 million in state money and $4 million in private gifts and grants. The second phase will require another $50 million in private money - no state money would be used - and would bring the total space in the institute to 200,000 square feet.

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No blog

Happy Thanksgiving!

The CABER bioenergy blog will resume Monday, November 29.

Earth Grab: The Rush to Make Agriculture the New Fuel for the Global Economy

marketwire.com
Nov 22, 2010 16:45 ET

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 22, 2010) - Whether we're talking about global energy, climate change, food security or commodity trade -- agriculture has quickly taken centre stage in the new global economy. It's an economy worth trillions -- and it all starts with plants.

The world's biggest corporations are rushing to grab and convert living plant matter – called "biomass" --- into fuel, chemicals, and other profitable products. Corn and sugarcane are already being converted to biofuels on a large scale, but trees, grasslands and algae could be next. The fossil fuel economy is transforming rapidly into a 'bio-economy', says Jim Thomas of ETC Group, an international research institute based in Ottawa. "Plants, trees and forests are the new oil fields. They're above the ground, and they're easy to grab", says Thomas.

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Ethanol Tax Incentive Battle Heats Up

CattleNetwork.com
11/23/2010 08:31AM

Sensing time may be running out to preserve the 45-cent-per-gallon ethanol blenders’ tax credit, the ethanol industry was still convinced it can get the tax credit extended and build support for corn-based biofuels. However, several meat and poultry industry interests at the same time renewed their call on Congress to let not only the ethanol blenders’ tax credits expire, but to do away with the ethanol import tariff as well.

According to Feed&Grain.com, the meat groups argue the ever-increasing demand on corn supplies as a feedstock have exacerbated cost-of-production run-ups in their industry, the price of which is now being paid by consumers at grocery checkouts. Its estimate ethanol will utilize 4.7 billion bushels of the 2009-2010 corn crop.

Groups ranging from the American Meat Institute, the National Turkey Federation and the National Pork Producers Council to the American Petroleum Institute have joined together to file suit in federal court to overturn EPA’s decision to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline used in cars made in 2007 or newer.

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Biofuel firm's journey from low-tech to world recognition

NZHerald.co.nz
By Christopher Adams 5:30 AM Monday Nov 22, 2010

In a Parnell laboratory glass vats of broth containing billions of micro-organisms bubble away, carefully observed by white-coated scientists.

Since 2005 Auckland bio-science outfit LanzaTech has developed and patented a strain of bacteria that consumes polluting industrial gases and converts them into valuable ethanol, which can then be used in the production of biofuel.

The company says it's about two years away from commercialising its technology, which enables the production of ethanol without the growing of feed crops, such as corn, used in other methods.

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Reading the signs: Plants and animals found common ground in response to microbial threats

EurekaAlert.com
Public release date: 19-Nov-2010
DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Though it's been at least a billion years since plants and animals shared a common ancestor, they have through the eons shared a common threat in the form of microbes, including bacteria, eukaryotes and viruses. This has resulted in remarkably similar mechanisms for detecting the molecular signatures of infectious organisms that hold promise for the future treatment of infectious diseases in humans.

The recognition of microbial signature molecules by host receptors is the subject of a paper published in the journal Science titled "Plant and Animal Sensors of Conserved Microbial Signatures." The corresponding author of the paper is Pamela Ronald, a plant pathologist who holds joint appointments with the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute, where she serves as Vice President for the Feedstocks Division and directs the grass genetics program, and with the University of California (UC) Davis, where she is a professor of plant pathology. Co-authoring the paper with Ronald was Bruce Beutler, an immunologist and mammalian geneticist with the Scripps Research Institute.

"If evolution is depicted as a tree, and extant species as terminal leaves on that tree, we must acknowledge that we have examined only a few of those leaves, gaining only a fragmentary impression of what is and what once was," Ronald says. "In the future, a diverse array of evolutionarily conserved signatures from pathogenic microbes will likely be discovered and some of these will likely serve as new drug targets to control deadly groups of bacteria for which there are currently no effective treatments."

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The next big GOP intra-party war: Ethanol subsidies?

The Washington Post
Posted at 11:25 AM ET, 11/22/2010
By Greg Sargent

Is there a new intra-GOP war brewing -- a sequel to the Tea Party's big victory in the battle over earmarks?

Fresh off a big victory over the GOP establishment on earmarks, conservative GOP senators are opening up a new front in the battle on government spending that could be similar to the earmarks standoff: They are calling on Congress to let billions in ethanol subsidies expire.

Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn, two leading conservative Senators who have pushed the GOP to be serious about its anti-spending rhetoric, told me they are calling on fellow Republicans to urge Congress to allow ethanol subsidies to expire -- something that could put other leading GOP Senators in an awkward spot and subject them (in theory) to the wrath of the anti-government-spending Tea Party if they don't go along.

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Ethanol Testing Delayed for 2001-2006 Cars, EPA Says

Bloomberg
By Kim Chipman - Nov 19, 2010 1:42 PM CT

Testing fuel with higher levels of ethanol in cars made for 2001 through 2006 has been delayed and now will be completed by the end of December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

The Energy Department notified the agency that the tests are incomplete, the EPA said today in an e-mailed statement, without elaborating. The agency will decide whether to let the cars use gasoline blended with as much as 15 percent ethanol, known as E15, after tests results are reviewed, the agency said.

EPA said in October a decision on the higher proportion of the corn-based additive was likely this month. The agency has granted a request from ethanol producers to permit E15 in vehicles made for 2007 and later, up from 10 percent. Growth Energy, an industry trade group that is requesting E15 approval, said postponing a decision for 2001-2006 cars is prudent.

“The problem was with the testing process, not the fuel,” Tom Buis, chief executive officer of the Washington-based Growth Energy, said in a statement. The delay shows “how committed EPA is to the integrity of the testing. They are doing this right.”

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USDA on track to select biorefinery locations

Ethanol Producer Magazine
December 2010
By Kris Bevill
Report posted Nov. 19, 2010

On Oct. 21, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack presented a plan for his agency to assist in expanding the production and availability of biofuels in the U.S. One month later, USDA officials are working feverishly to accomplish Vilsack’s lofty goals, which include assisting in the installation of 10,000 blender pumps within five years and financing and constructing five advanced fuels biorefineries in as many sections of the country.

A USDA senior official told EPM that the agency is on track to announce biorefinery locations by the end of the year. “We’re serious about this,” the official said. “We’re really working hard. It feels like a lot of match-making.” The goal of the USDA’s biorefinery commitment is to prove first-of-a-kind advanced biofuels technologies in specific regions of the country. Biofuels supported by the project can be any advanced transportation fuel, including cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, biobutanol or drop-in replacement fuels. Vilsack has previously specifically identified cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel as potential projects, however, because they are the only existing advanced biofuel options, the official said. “We know we can’t hit our current goal of 36 billion gallons by 2022 if our current industry goes out of business,” the official added.

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California to Update Land Use for Ethanol

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman – November 19th, 2010

The California Air Resources Board yesterday agreed to update the land use change and other indirect effects of biofuels production under their Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS).

The board is asking for updates to the land use values for corn ethanol, sugarcane ethanol, and soy biodiesel, and other feedstocks by spring of 2011 to implement the LCFS, which currently penalizes corn ethanol to the extent that it would not be approved for use in the state, while sugarcane ethanol meets the standard.

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Proterro’s low-cost nectar aims to fill biofuels’ Holy Grail

Biofuels Digest
November 22, 2010 Jim Lane

At Advanced Biofuels Markets, the Cellulosic Biofuels Summit and most of the other conferences this year, the talk has been all about cheap sugar – the simple sugars that form the feedstock that is fermented into biofuels and renewable chemicals.

There are a proliferating number of technologies for accessing sugars, or fermenting them. There are traditional yeasts used in first-generation fermentation of starches and sugars into ethanol, or exotic enzymes that work on cellulosic biomass, or modified e.coli, cyanobacteria, yeast or even algal strains that produce drop-in fuels.

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NSF says denitrifying bioreactors could solve nitrogen run-off problem

Biotech Digest
November 19, 2010 Tom Saidak

In Virginia, The National Science Foundation announced that a simple and inexpensive technology may solve the issue of excess nitrogen from agricultural and urban lands may be possible. The nitrogen run off from fertilizers is contaminating groundwater, streams, lakes and estuaries, where it causes harmful algal blooms and contributes to fish kills.

A recent scientific workshop on denitrification brought together ecologists, engineers and policy experts to find answers, and their findings will be published in the November, 2010, special issue of the scientific journal Ecological Engineering. One workshop goal was to evaluate a new and relatively inexpensive way to treat wastewater and drainage from agricultural lands using “denitrifying bioreactors.”

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U.S. Ethanol Production Nearing One Million Barrels Per Day

OilPrice.com
Written by Brian Westenhaus
Saturday, 13 November 2010 16:37

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports for August that U.S. ethanol production rose in August to an all-time high, production averaged more than 869,000 barrels per day (b/d). The Renewable Fuels Association who also collects data calculated ethanol demand at all-time high as well at 911,000 b/d in August, up from 734,000 b/d a year ago.

The U.S. is closing in on the million barrel per day milestone. Cheers in some sections, groans in others, but for America, slashing off the equivalent of 750,000 b/d of imported oil is a good thing.

Most groans come from the odd couple of the oil business and the special mis-interests of food vs. fuel. The oil business, god bless’em, are in a quandary – one side is hell bent on doing the business as done for 150 years – another is ready to resist and protect its market and share – another is investing and researching with a realization that every bit of energy in fuel has market and profit potential – and a few have jumped into ethanol grabbing some facility during the ethanol build up bubble for cents on the dollars. Some companies work at some or all of the quandary barriers. Its quite interesting to watch.

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Brazil's Petrobras To Set Up Ethanol Distributor With 5 Partners

FoxBusiness.com
By Diana Kinch
Published November 12, 2010
Dow Jones Newswires

RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian oil-and-gas giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, said it signed an accord with five companies to set up a network for distribution and storage of ethanol and other liquids.

A new company with an initial capital of BRL100 million ($58 million) will be established to develop the network in an integrated fashion, Petrobras said in a statement late Friday.

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MSU: Baking soda dramatically boosts oil production in algae

Montana State University
November 12, 2010
By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN -- Montana State University researchers have discovered that baking soda can dramatically increase algae's production of the key oil precursors for biodiesel.

The same ingredient that causes cookies to rise in the oven, the same agent that calms upset stomachs and removes odors from refrigerators is the elusive chemical trigger that scientists have sought since the early 1990s, said Rob Gardner, an MSU graduate student in chemical and biological engineering and a native of Afton, Wyo.

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EPA ethanol verdict delayed again

Politico.com
11/19/10 2:04 PM EST Updated: 11/19/10 2:36 PM EST

EPA last month approved a 15 percent ethanol blend in vehicles built in 2007 and after.
The Obama administration is punting until next year its decision on adding more ethanol to the gasoline blend for older cars, industry sources tell POLITICO.

The Environmental Protection Agency will wait until next year to determine whether it will raise the ethanol content level for model year cars 2001-2006, said a biofuels industry source who was informed about the decision.

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Advanced Biofuels Could Be Commercialized in 1-3 Years

RenewableEnergyWorld.com
By Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest November 18, 2010

San Francisco, CA, USA — Progress in advance biofuels has been slow for the past two years. But industry leaders reported a quickening pace towards commercialization last week in San Francisco at Advanced Bioenergy Markets, one of the last major gatherings of industry CEOs before the close of the year.

In contrast to the “five years away” and subsidy-driven discussions that framed advanced biofuels conversations just two years ago, CEOs are widely reporting that they expect their companies to reach commercial scale within 12-36 months, with costs in the $0.75 to $2.50 per gallon range.

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ISU study: ethanol tax break impact modest

Des Moines Register
Blog post by Dan Piller • dpiller@desmoine.gannett.com • November 18, 2010

A study of the economics of ethanol by Iowa State University professor Bruce Babcock suggests that were to congress allow the 45-cent per gallon tax break for domestic ethanol production and the 53-cent per gallon tariff on ethanol imports to lapse at year’s end the impact would be modest for ethanol producers and corn farmers.

Babcock notes that corn prices have risen by 50 percent or more since June and said “although the arguments in support of and against their (tax credit) extension have changed little since the summer, the economic situation in the corn, livestock and ethanol industries have changed dramatically.”

Were the tax break to lapse, the price of corn would crop from the current level of $5.40 per bushel to about $4.85 per bushel, said Babcock. That price would still be profitable for farmers, whose break even price for corn production this year has run around $4 per bushel or less.

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Cutting the Cost of Clean Energy 1.0

Center for American Progress

Toward a Clean Energy Deployment Plan For Jobs, Security, and Broad-Based Economic Growth in 2011

By Bracken Hendricks, Lisbeth Kaufman, Ken Berlin, Monty Humble, Reed Hundt, Alex Kragie, Gerry Waldron November 16, 2010

Download the full report (pdf) - 40 pages

Download the executive summary (pdf) - 8 pages

Members of the incoming 112th Congress will face very different political and eco- nomic circumstances when they take their seats in January. Any energy legislation the new Congress considers will require a fresh approach to match these new realities. Energy legislation proposed in the 111th Congress was tailored to an economic climate informed by the following facts that are now superseded by new considerations:

■Natural gas was $10 per thousand cubic feet. Natural gas is now at $4 per thousand cubic feet
■Gasoline at the pump was $4 per gallon. Now gas costs 33 percent less
■Demand for electricity was growing on an average of 2 percent to 2.2 percent, compounded annually. Now electricity demand is lower because of the state of the economy
■The unemployment rate was 5 percent. Unemployment now stands at 9.6 percent
■China and the United States were both primed to be major industry competitors in a worldwide clean energy economy. Now, China holds the commanding heights because its government ensures stable demand for clean energy and facilitates invest- ments in the sector through the deployment of low-cost finance

The political landscape has shifted as well. In the most recent congressional midterm elections, states where unemployment rates were oppressively high demanded immediate action on job creation. Across the American heartland, these states sent fresh faces to Congress and statehouses in droves, charging them with a simple mission: Solve the unemployment crisis.

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Changing of the Guard

Biofuels Digest
November 18, 2010 Jim Lane

Heading back home from the Cellulosic Biofuels Summit in Washington this week, I spotted former Clinton White House chief of Staff (and former Obama transition chief) John Podesta on the Washington metro.

When last John and I had last spoken, it had been during the dramatic week in 2008 when the global financial crisis had progressed into near-meltdown. Wall Street was running scared, the economy was out of gas, and Podesta’s Center for American Progress had just issued a new report pointing our a path to recovery through transformation of the American energy system.

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NAABB produces ASTM in-spec biodiesel from algae

Biofuels Digest
November 18, 2010 Jim Lane

The National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), a consortium of leading scientists and engineers from universities, private industry, and national laboratories announced today that they have met a significant benchmark by successfully producing biodiesel using oil extracted from algae that meets specifications set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). ASTM develops international standards for materials, products, systems and services used in construction, manufacturing and transportation.

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The Real Promise Of Advanced Biofuels

Forbes.com
Alan Novak, 11.18.10, 06:00 AM EST

Advanced biofuels production does face challenges, but they are far from insurmountable.

As the United States seeks national energy security and more environmentally friendly fuel sources, the opportunity for the nation's advanced biofuels industry is clearly extraordinary. The U.S. has the scientific lead in this industry; it has experience with processes, technologies and various nonconsumable feedstock to convert biomass to fuels and energy.

Indeed it already has more than 100 companies at work in the field--pioneering the conversion of algae, municipal solid waste and widely available biomass such as wood waste and crop residues into renewable fuels. It also has a useful federal mandate: In accordance with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, the country must triple its use of biofuels to 36 billion gallons by 2022.

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Chinese plantations purchased for jatropha

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Luke Geiver
Posted Nov. 17, 2010

Another jatropha plantation development is in the works. This time, AMG Bioenergy Resources, a startup company focused on renewable energy, has signed a letter of intent with China Zhejiang Biodiesel Co., to acquire a eucalyptus and jatropha plantation in southern China. Both existing plantations reside in the same area and will eventually be turned from a 145 hectare eucalyptus and 330 hectare jatrohpa set of plantations to one large plantation around 400 hectares. The company “is working on developing the plantation over the next two years,” said Lee Shoong Lim of AMG’s Singapore location. As for securing any feedstock agreements at this point, Lim said it is not an issue due to global demand for nonpalm oil-based biodiesel.

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New technology to produce biodiesel with oleic algae

FIS
CHILE
Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Researchers from the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering of the University of Concepción (UdeC), based in Chillán, will begin a project that focuses on the cultivation of oleic microalgae for the manufacture of biofuels tomorrow.

According to Jose Fernando Reyes, academic and director of technology and research at UdeC, this is "a project whose concept does not exist in Chile at this time."

The initiative 'Development of high conversion reactor for microalgae cultivation and oleic biodiesel production' is funded by Innova Bío Bío of the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (Corfo), the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Bío Bío (Cidere Bío Bío) and the Institute for Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship (ITE). The total project cost will exceed CLP 300 million (USD 600,000)

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Chemist develops process to stabilize bio oil

Biorefining Magazine
Posted November 01, 2010

A chemist at the Ontario-based University of Guelph has developed a technique to use red mud as a catalyst to reduce the acid level in bio oil, making it more amenable to use as heating oil or as an input into the refining sector.

Bio oil is manufactured through the pyrolysis process, which involves the flash heating of biomass in the absence of air. The resulting substance can be ultimately used as a replacement for crude oil. However, high acid levels result in bio oil that is unstable, corrosive and impossible to store. According to Marcel Schlaf, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Gluelph who made the discovery, these problems occur because bio oil does not come out of the pyrolysis process as a mixture of stable compounds. Rather, it’s a mixture of compounds that can react with one another. Those reactions are catalyzed by the acids present in the mixture, he said.

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EPA Proposes Guidance for Underground Storage Tanks

EPA
Release date: 11/16/2010

WASHINGTON - As part of its commitment to help ensure that biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are safely stored in underground storage tanks (USTs), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released draft guidance for UST owners and operators who wish to store these fuels. EPA is requesting comments on the proposed guidance that clarifies how an UST owner or operator can comply with the federal compatibility requirement for UST systems storing gasoline containing greater than 10 percent ethanol, and diesel containing a percent of biodiesel yet to be determined. After reviewing comments, EPA intends to issue the final guidance in early 2011.

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Solazyme: They Might Be Giants

Biofuels Journal
November 17, 2010 Jim Lane

Two guys from the Bay Area come up with an idea to produce renewable fuel from algae in open ponds.

It’s a common tale, and in the renewable fuels business it is too often a story with an unhappy ending. But it happens to be the beginning of Solazyme’s story too – one that is quietly acquiring the shape, if not quite yet the dimensions, of a Bill Hewlett and David Packard story. But is there more than a casual connection between the Hewlett-Packard story and Solazyme, founded in 2003 by Jonathan Wolfson and Harrison Dillon?

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China’s Biomass Use Makes It Top Energy User, IEA Says

Bloomberg
November 17, 2010, 2:14 AM EST
By Bloomberg News

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China’s biomass use, which the government excludes from its consumption estimates, placed the country ahead of the U.S. as the world’s largest energy consumer in 2009, the International Energy Agency said.

Inclusion of “traditional biomass use” in rural areas, such as the burning of grain stems or wood for cooking, increases China’s energy consumption by four to five percent, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the Paris-based adviser said at a press conference in Beijing today. Biomass is material made from organic matter.

China disputes IEA estimates on its energy efficiency. The agency overestimated the country’s energy use in its World Energy Outlook report published last week, Han Wenke, head of energy research at the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency, said today. Official data show China is still the world’s second biggest consumer.

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Growing sorghum for biofuel

EurekaAlert.com

Iowa State researchers examine the efficiencies and environmental impacts of growing sorghum for ethanol
MADISON, WI November 8, 2010 -- Conversion of sorghum grass to ethanol has increased with the interest in renewable fuel sources. Researchers at Iowa State University examined 12 varieties of sorghum grass grown in single and double cropping systems. The experiment was designed to test the efficiency of double cropping sorghum grass to increase its yield for biofuel production.

The author of the report, Ben Goff, found that using sorghum from a single-cropping system was more effective for the production of ethanol. Since most of the ethanol currently produced in the United States is derived from corn, Goff suggests that corn may not be able to meet the energy needs of the country. According to the study, only 15 to 25% of the energy requirements would be fulfilled using corn or starch-based ethanol; however, ethanol produced from cellulose could be more effective than previous biofuels.

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Altranex, Brown University collaborate on biodiesel processing

MassHighTech.com
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
By Michelle Lang

Bedford biofuels startup Altranex Energy LLC is working with Brown University to develop process technology to make biodiesel that works in cold climates.

It’s an issue familiar to CEO Chad Joshi, who previously headed Atropha LLC, another startup focused on viable biofuels for cold climates.

At Altranex, the fuel is called Green Kero, and it’s designed to eliminate oxygen from the biofuel mix, which will make it perform better in cold weather, the company noted in a press release.

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Pennycress Could Go from Nuisance Weed to New Source of Biofuel

USDA ARS
By Ann Perry
November 4, 2010

A common roadside plant could have the right stuff to become a new source of biofuel, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies. Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, have found that field pennycress yields impressive quantities of seeds whose oil could be used in biodiesel production.

Field pennycress belongs to the Brassicaceae family, along with canola, camelina and mustard-other prolific producers of oil-rich seeds. The ARS studies help support USDA's efforts to develop new sources of bioenergy.

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Pellets reduce costs, but not enough for cellulosic ethanol producers

Physorg.com
November 16, 2010 by Klein Ileleji

Despite reducing transportation and handling costs, pelletizing cellulosic biomass would not be cost-effective for ethanol producers, according to a Purdue University study.

Klein Ileleji, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and Preethi Krishnakumar, a graduate research student, factored the costs and logistical requirements cellulosic ethanol producers would face using different types of biomass - corn grain, corn stover and switchgrass - in both bale and pellet forms.

Their findings, published in the current issue of the journal Applied Engineering in Agriculture, show that the denser cellulosic pellets would allow ethanol producers to save money by utilizing the same equipment used to transport and handle corn grain that flows using elevators, hoppers and conveyor belts.

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U.S.-Produced Subsidized Ethanol Exports are at a Record , the FT Reports

Bloomberg
By Alan Purkiss - Nov 15, 2010 3:38 AM CT

U.S.-produced ethanol, subsidized by the federal government as an alternative to foreign oil, is being exported in record quantities, the Financial Times reported.

A U.S. tax credit to companies that blend ethanol with petrol expires at the end of the year, the newspaper said.

Government figures last week showed that 251 million gallons of fuel ethanol, mostly refined from corn, were exported in the first nine months of the year, more than double the total in 2009; actual exports may have been higher, since ethanol mixed with gasoline before shipment isn’t counted, the FT said.

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Study: Aggressive biofuel policies necessary to drive investment

Ethanol Producer Magazine
November 2010
By Kris Bevill
Posted Nov. 12, 2010

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, suggests that more aggressive federal renewable fuels policies are needed if the U.S. is to replace diminishing petroleum supplies with renewable fuel options.

Study author Debbie Niemeier, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering, and co-author Nataliya Malyshkina, a postdoctoral researcher at the university, used a market capitalization approach to evaluate petroleum supplies versus renewable fuels replacement technologies. Niemeier said they believe this is the first time this method has been used to quantify aspects of sustainability. Two key elements used for the study were market capitalizations and dividends of publicly owned oil companies and alternative energy companies. “Sophisticated investors tend to put considerable effort into collecting, processing and understanding information relevant to the future cash flows paid by securities,” Niemeier said. “As a result, market forecasts of future events, representing consensus predictions of a large number of investors, tend to be relatively accurate.”

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Larisa Brass: Renewable Energy Biomass Education Field Days educate on biofuels

KnoxvilleBiz.com
By Larisa Brass
Knoxville News Sentinel
Posted November 15, 2010 at 9:45 p.m.

As the prospect of using plants to power transportation gets closer to reality, a Knoxville conference aims to educate farmers and investors interested in entering the biofuel business — a proposition made more attractive by a new program of federal incentives for biomass production.

The Renewable Energy Biomass Education Field Days starts today and continues through Thursday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The event targets producers, landowners and investors interested in planting biomass crops such as switchgrass and trees and processing those crops into ethanol or other transportation fuel.

'Essentially we're trying to offer a little two-day school, if you will, on all the various diverse issues that are involved in biomass-based energy product,' said Mary Thompson, vice president of communications for the Farm Foundation, a nonprofit public policy group that is organizing the conference in collaboration with five U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies.

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State trials test nontraditional bioenergy sources

Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
6:29 p.m. CST, November 15, 2010

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan is giving $476,000 to researchers at Michigan State University to show how bioenergy materials can be grown in nontraditional locations like vacant lots and roadsides.

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth announced the grant Monday.

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EPA Sued By Oil Industry And Farm Groups Over Increase In Ethanol Blend

AltTransport.com
by Ami Cholia on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 2:57 PM

The Environmental Protection Agency is facing all kinds of controversies lately. The New York Times reported earlier today that “legal high fliers” from across the country are getting involved to fight and defend the agency’s new climate regulations.

And now news is out that the American Petroleum Institute and nine food and farm groups are suing the EPA over last month’s ruling that would allow the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol – E15 – for cars manufactured in 2007 or later.

This is a 50 percent increase from the currently permitted level of 10 percent ethanol in gasoline.

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Petrobras in 10-year, $820M contract to supply Toyota Tsusho with ethanol for Bio-PET project

FavStocks.com
By Green Car Congress on 11/13/2010 – 8:05 am PST

Petrobras recently signed a contract to supply Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) with hydrated ethanol for ten years. The Brazilian sugarcane ethanol will be used as feedstock in a chemical ethanol project that TTC is deploying with a local partner in Taiwan to produce Bio-PET.

Bio-PET is polyethylene terephthalate; it consists of 70% terephthalic acid and 30% monoethylene glycol, by weight. Bio-PET is made by replacing monoethylene glycol with a biological raw material derived from sugar cane. Toyota Motor recently announced that it will expand its use of Bio-PET in vehicles.

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Study examines use of sorghum for biofuel

The Grand Island Independent
Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010 12:19 AM CST

Conversion of sorghum grass to ethanol has increased with the interest in renewable fuel sources. Researchers at Iowa State University examined 12 varieties of sorghum grass grown in single- and double-cropping systems. The experiment was designed to test the efficiency of double cropping sorghum grass to increase its yield for biofuel production.

The author of the report, Ben Goff, found that using sorghum from a single-cropping system was more effective for the production of ethanol. Since most of the ethanol currently produced in the United States is derived from corn, Goff suggests that corn may not be able to meet the energy needs of the country. According to the study, only 15 to 25 percent of the energy requirements would be fulfilled using corn or starch-based ethanol; however, ethanol produced from cellulose could be more effective than previous biofuels.

Goff states that from a production standpoint, growing sorghum as a sole crop is more efficient for ethanol production. However, it remains to be seen whether the favorable long-term environmental benefits, such as reduced erosion potential, of the double-cropping systems merit the reduced total biomass production.

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UT analysis advocates linking climate, bioenergy policies

Southeast Farm Press
By Margot Emery, University of Tennessee
Nov. 11, 2010 2:03pm

•UT analysis advocates linking climate, bioenergy policies
•Standard to be met by 2025 >
• The study, “Implications of Energy and Carbon Policies for Agriculture and Forestry Sectors,”found that a Renewable Electricity Standard could generate $14 billion in accumulated additional revenues for agriculture and forestry, increasing the demand for and production of dedicated energy crops for biomass feedstocks.

• The study goes on to show that a Renewable Electricity Standard could create an additional $215 billion of additional economic activity, more than 700,000 jobs and $84 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product.

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NMSU launches algae bioenergy program

New Mexico Business Weekly
Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 2:20pm MST

New Mexico State University is beefing up its research on the use of algae for fuel to boost economic development activities.

The university launched a new algal bioenergy program to resolve key scientific and technical questions and help spur the state’s budding algae-to-fuel industry, said NMSU Vice President for Research Vimal Chaitanya.

“There is enormous potential for a fully functioning algal fuel industry to create jobs and generate revenue for New Mexico, and these are jobs that cannot be shipped overseas,” Chaitanya said.

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Report questions cellulosic ethanol merits

Des Moines Register
By PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com • November 14, 2010

Washington, D.C. — A study making its way around the Agriculture Department raises doubts about the prospects for biofuels made from crop residue and other types of plant cellulose and calls for shifting the focus of government research funding.

A USDA advisory committee report suggested putting more money into algae and oil crops, which are alternatives to making ethanol from corn stalks or grasses.

"After two decades of research without a sustainable technical breakthrough to make cellulosic ethanol competitive, it appears that it is time to re-evaluate the research," the report said.

One of the biggest hurdles to commercializing cellulosic ethanol has been the challenge of finding economical and practical ways to harvest, transport and store the massive amounts of biomass that would be needed.

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The Future Is Closer Than You Think for Some Forms of Alternative Energy, Says The Boston Consulting Group

TheBostonConsultingGroup.com
November 10, 2010

Advanced Biofuels, Concentrated Solar Power, and Solar Photovoltaic Power Are on Track to Change the Global Energy Landscape Far Earlier Than Many Assume
SAN FRANCISCO, November 10, 2010—For skeptics, alternative energy has long been more hype than genuine promise. Yet several alternative-energy technologies are approaching inflection points in their development, and the day when they could have a profound impact on the global energy landscape could come far sooner than is commonly assumed, says a new report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The report, released today and titled What’s Next for Alternative Energy?, examines the state of seven of the most significant alternative-energy technologies—advanced biofuels, electric vehicles (EVs), concentrated solar power (CSP), solar photovoltaic (PV), onshore wind, offshore wind, and clean coal through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS)—and assesses each one’s prospects in terms of three issues:

• Can it achieve cost competitiveness with conventional energy by 2020 and be economically viable without subsidies?

• Can it overcome barriers to rapid adoption once cost competitive?

• Can it reach penetration levels by 2025 that disrupt the status quo?

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Sec. of Ag. Vilsack: Statement on EPA guidance on energy from biomass which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

IowaPolitics.com
USDA Press Release
11/10/2010

WASHINGTON, November 10, 2010- Agriculture Secretary Vilsack today issued the following statement regarding the EPA greenhouse gas tailoring rule:

"EPA’s release today of guidance to the states on greenhouse gas permitting takes a meaningful step forward in recognizing the potential role that energy from biomass can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the guidance, EPA signals that states may be able to consider the use of biomass energy as a 'best available control technology for GHG.' Further, EPA notes that, in early January, it will provide further guidance to states regarding biomass and will determine this spring whether additional rulemaking related to biomass energy is necessary.

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Gevo achieves first EPA approval for isobutanol biofuel

BrighterEnergy.org
November 12, 2010
By James Cartledge

Colorado firm Gevo, Inc., has said the US Environmental Protection Agency has approved its isobutanol as an additive for blending with gasoline.

The company is preparing to retrofit its 22 million gallons per year ethanol plant in Luverne, Minnesota, to produce 18 million gallons a year of isobutanol.

It plans to expand production of the advanced biofuel by retrofitting other ethanol facilities over the next few years.

Gevo produces isobutanol using microorganisms as a biocatalyst to ferment the sugars within biomass, converting them into the alcohol.

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BP bids $466 mln for Brazil cane group stake-paper

Reuters Africa
Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:04pm GMT

* BP wants 50 pct of sugar/ethanol producer - report
* Purchase would be BP's 2nd foray in Brazil ethanol

SAO PAULO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L: Quote) has bid 800 million reais ($466 million) for a 50 percent stake in Brazil's Cerradinho sugar and ethanol group, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Friday.

Talks between the companies started a few months ago and should be concluded on Friday, when Cerradinho's board is expected to give a definitive answer to the proposal, O Estado
de S.Paulo newspaper said.

If Cerradinho rejects the deal, talks could be resumed with other groups interested in the firm such as Bunge (BG.N: Quote), Cosan (CSAN3.SA: Quote), Tereos (TERI3.SA: Quote), Noble (NBL.N: Quote) and Louis Dreyfus, the newspaper said.

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EPA issues BACT guidance, allows biomass

Ethanol Producer Magazine
November 2010
By Kris Bevill
Posted Nov. 10, 2010

On Nov. 10, the U.S. EPA issued guidance for developing best available control technologies (BACT) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at industrial facilities. The guidance can be used by affected entities and state permitters to assist in determining preferred GHG emission-reduction methods at a facility-level, according to the agency. BACT should be determined on a case-by-case basis, however, and therefore the EPA stressed that its guidance should not be viewed as a rule but rather as basic information. During a conference call, Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy said the issuance of broad guidance is “business as usual for the BACT process” and should be familiar to state permitters as well as industry participants.

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Grass could turn toxic waste into energy

ABC Science (Australia)
Friday, 29 October 2010
Carl Holm

A team of Australian and Chinese scientists claims to have pioneered a method to decontaminate polluted land and provide an ecologically renewable energy resource in the process.

They say the secret lies in a relative of the sugar-cane plant, known as giant Napier grass.

The project is a collaboration between the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Hong Kong-based HLM Asia Group and Shaoguan University in China's Guangdong Province.

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Darrel Good Report: Corn - More on Ethanol and Exports

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: November 8, 2010

Urbana—Corn prices continue to be supported by expectations that the USDA will reduce the forecast size of the 2010 U.S. crop and by a rapid pace of ethanol production.

The rate of exports and export sales has been somewhat disappointing, said University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good.

"Reported expectations for the Nov. 9 USDA Crop Production report are for a slightly lower yield and production forecast, with the average yield guess reported at 154.4 bushels.

"The October forecast was 155.8 bushels.

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University of California-Davis Study Finds Oil to Run Out Before Replacement Technologies Ready

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: November 10, 2010

At the current pace of research and development, global oil will run out 90 years before replacement technologies are ready, says a new University of California, Davis, study based on stock market expectations.

The forecast was published online Monday (Nov. 8) in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

It is based on the theory that long-term investors are good predictors of whether and when new energy technologies will become commonplace.

“Our results suggest it will take a long time before renewable replacement fuels can be self-sustaining, at least from a market perspective," said study author Debbie Niemeier, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering.

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American Petroleum Institute Files Lawsuit Challenging EPA E15 Decision

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: November 9, 2010

Washington—API filed a lawsuit Nov. 9 with the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's E15 waiver decision.

The partial wavier improperly authorizes an increase in ethanol content of gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent only for use in 2007 and newer model year cars and light duty trucks.

The EPA decision lacks statutory authority and comes prior to the completion of thorough testing to ensure the safety, performance and environmental impacts of the new fuel for consumers.

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Fuel cell to turn California sewage gas into renewable energy

BrighterEnergy.org
November 10, 2010
By James Cartledge

A wastewater treatment plant in Chino, Southern California, is set to turn its biogas byproduct into renewable energy, using a high-tech fuel cell system.

The 2.8 megawatt project is being developed by biomass power project developer UTS Bioenergy LLC on behalf of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency.

UTS Bioenergy is purchasing a DFC3000 fuel cell system from Connecticut-based manufacturer FuelCell Energy, Inc., and will operate the facility, selling power to the IEUA under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

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Oil seed giant, jatropha developer partner

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Luke Geiver
Posted Nov. 10, 2010

The process to develop jatropha seeds into a biodiesel feedstock has taken a step forward. SG Biofuels, a San Diego-based jatropha seed developer and breeder, has joined forces with oil seed giant Bunge Limited. The alliance will utilize Bunge’s experience in process development, giving SG Biofuels’ existing customers a resource for further jatropha seed development. “Bunge is the largest oilseed processor in the world,” said Brian Brokowski, vice president of SG Biofuels. “Their expertise and industry knowledge, combined with their global footprint, makes them the most logical choice to provide processing capabilities to our customers.”

Through the partnership with Bunge, Brokowski believes SG Biofuels has now created a fully-integrated model for deploying successful and profitable jatropha plantations. “Bunge brings to the table their expertise in oilseed processing and will work directly with our customers to establish an efficient and effective model for processing jatropha seeds into crude jatropha oil,” Brokowski said. And to do so, Bunge will take a region-by-region approach due to the “unique characteristics of each region,” according to Brokowski.

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Food groups sue U.S. for ethanol boost in gasoline

Reuters Africa
Tue Nov 9, 2010 7:35pm GMT
By Timothy Gardner

* EPA had ruled 2007 and newer cars can burn E15
* Food groups say ethanol boost would raise prices
* EPA E15 decision on 2001 to 2006 cars expected soon

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Livestock producers and food industry groups filed a suit on Tuesday seeking to overturn a U.S. decision to allow higher levels of ethanol in gasoline, saying it could push up food prices.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Meat Association and other groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency, saying regulators overstepped their authority when they ruled last month that gasoline retailers could sell fuel containing up to 15 percent ethanol. That is an increase from the current allowable level of 10 percent.

The EPA ruled that cars built in 2007 and later could burn the fuel, known as E15.

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Brazil Needs $50 Billion To Meet Ethanol Demand By 2015-16 -ETH

NASDAQ.com

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's ethanol sector needs around $50 billion of new investments by 2015-16 to meet the country's surging demand for the alternative fuel, according to the president of local ethanol giant ETH Bioenergia.

Brazil's consumption of ethanol is expected to rise to 60 billion liters in the next five or six years due to the country's rapidly growing fleet of flex- fuel cars and new industrial uses for ethanol such as plastics, Jose Carlos Grubisch told Dow Jones Newswires.

Brazil, the world's second largest producer of ethanol after the U.S., consumed 24 billion liters of ethanol in 2009, double the demand of 2005-06.

"This rate of expansion in ethanol consumption is likely to be repeated in the coming years," Grubisch said.

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Field pennycress shows feedstock potential

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Erin Voegele
Posted Nov. 10, 2010

Research conducted by the UDSA’s Agricultural Research Service has identified a promising new feedstock for biodiesel production, Thlaspi arvense. More commonly known as field pennycress, the plant is a member of Brassicaceae family, which includes canola and camelina.

The project is being completed at the Peoria-Ill.-based ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research. According Bryan Moser, an ARS research chemist, the research team has been studying field pennycress for approximately seven years, while the biodiesel component of the project has been ongoing for the past four years.

“The work that we do in our unit, the Bio-Oils Research Unit, spans basically everything from agronomic development and oil process, all the way to the production of biodiesel and evaluation of the properties of methyl esters that result from field pennycress oil,” Moser said.

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Global Biofuel Alliance formed

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Luke Geiver
Posted Nov. 5, 2010

The Global Biofuels Alliance has officially launched. The nonprofit organization will work to “give a voice to the producers, traders, feedstock providers, and equipment manufacturers of the emerging biofuel industry.” Made up of 10 founding members from various energy sectors including energy trading companies, start-up biodiesel companies and large biodiesel production facilities, the alliance has already set its sights on the hottest topic in the biodiesel industry. “The biodiesel tax credit is a key agenda,” said Wade Randlett, a founding board member of the alliance and cofounder of Enagra Holdings LLC, a holding company for renewable energy projects worldwide. “Although it’s a bit broader than that. I think having some form of longer term incentive for any kind of a renewable diesel, regardless of the feedstock, the source or the technology is important.”

For Randlett and the other members of the alliance, including Hero BX, a 45 MMgy plant from Pennsylvania, the understanding by those in Washington on the subject of biodiesel is very narrow; especially the potential role biodiesel could play in the nation’s future fuel supply. “We think there should be a much broader conversation about the new technologies that are coming online or are online right now,” Randlett said. “Whether it’s a traditional feedstock or a broader biomass-based feedstock, we need to have the conversation about the opportunity to displace imported crude petroleum oil.”

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Researchers Find Grass Viable As Biofuel

EarthTechling.com
by Susan DeFreitas, November 7th, 2010

Corn ethanol is currently the main biofuel on the U.S. market, but demand for ethanol competes with corn’s availability as a food, with potentially disastrous consequences for food costs. Researchers at the University of Illinois are investigating a different source for homegrown biofuel: grasses.

This study–the first of its kind, according to the university–examined the potential for the cultivation of two biofuels grasses in the American Midwest: switchgrass, a large prairie grass native to the region, and Miscanthus, a sterile hybrid, which is widely cultivated in Europe as a biofuel crop.

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Variable Incentive To Ethanol Blenders Could Save $13 billion

CattleNetwork.com
11/01/2010 11:29AM

The current legislation that enables ethanol blenders to receive a 45 cent per gallon incentive expires at the end of the year. In anticipation of new legislation, a proposal was developed by University of Illinois economists for a variable incentive program that could save U.S. taxpayers more than $13 billion.

"There are proposals that would eliminate the tax credit entirely and others to keep it exactly as is," said U of I agricultural economist Scott Irwin. "We decided to take a look at a different form of a tax credit that would be keyed to the incentives of the blenders themselves rather than just giving them a fixed amount of tax credit regardless of the economics of blending."

The current tax credit incentive arrangement is a direct payment with considerable expense associated with it —about $4 to $5 billion per year, Irwin said. The proposal is an attempt to more efficiently target the incentives to the blenders of ethanol when they need it, but how?

One idea is to key the blenders' credit to the price of crude oil. "When the price of crude oil is very high, blenders might not need a credit, and when it is very low, they may need a large credit as an incentive to blend ethanol," Irwin said. The problem is that there is quite a bit of volatility among energy prices, he said.

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Turning Grass Into Fuel

OilPrice.com
Written by Brian Westenhaus
Friday, 05 November 2010 17:05

Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first extensive geographic yield and economic analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States. It’s the best work yet and suggests some impressive potential.

Federal regulations mandate that 79 billion liters of biofuels must be produced annually from non-corn biomass by 2022. The large grasses, switchgrass and miscanthus, could provide the needed biomass with the added benefits of better nitrogen fixation and carbon capture, higher ethanol volumes per acre and lower water requirements than corn.

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Ethanol Tax Credit Could Be Early Casualty of Cuts In Spending

EINNews.com

Nov. 5, 2010 /EIN Presswire/ - Farm groups and major ethanol producers expressed deep concern today that tax credits for ethanol blenders will take a big hit as a result of Tuesday's election.

A 45-cent-a-galllon tax credit for ethanol is set to expire before year's end unless renewed by Congress in a lame-duck session scheduled later this month. Members may be reading the tea leaves of voter reaction to government spending and target the tax extension as the first casualty.

Robert Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, the nation's largest U.S. farmer group, told Bloomberg News yesterday that "Only those things will pass a lame duck where Republicans agree with the Democrats' position. I'm not sure that's the case."

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Clean Energy Capital to develop first commercial-scale sugarcane ethanol plant in US

FavStocks.com
By Green Car Congress on 11/06/2010 – 5:10 am PDT

Clean Energy Capital LLC, a US private equity firm specializing solely in investments in ethanol, is developing the first major sugarcane ethanol refinery in the continental United States, in the Imperial Valley of California.

The ethanol produced there will meet California’s low carbon fuel standard. The project will cost $575 million and produce 66 million gallons of ethanol annually, enough electricity to meet the needs of 35,000 homes, and enough biomethane to heat 10,000 homes per year. Sweet sorghum, which has similar characteristics to sugarcane, will also be used.

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Competitive algal biofuels 10 years away, says study

BrighterEnergy.org
November 5, 2010 By James Cartledge

Algal oil production could reach several billion gallons a year, but with price estimates at $240 per barrel, researchers say a decade of development is needed .

The development of cost-competitive algal biofuels is still 10 years away, according to a new report from the Energy Biosciences Institute.

The BP-funded institute at the University of California, Berkeley, has carried out analysis of the fledgling sector that suggested that even with a favorable assumption of progress, the full commercialization of algal oil production “will be neither quick, nor plentiful”.

In a hypothetical example, the EBI research suggested a 1,000 acre algal oil production system in southern California using current technology could expect to produce oil with a break-even price of $240 per barrel.

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Biofuels May Struggle in Lame-Duck Congress, Stallman Says

Bloomberg
By Alan Bjerga - Nov 4, 2010 2:30 PM CT

The head of the largest U.S. farmer group said winning renewal for incentives for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel production may be a struggle in a lame-duck session of Congress.

Democrats and Republicans don’t necessarily agree on the programs, including a 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit for ethanol blenders, Robert Stallman, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told reporters today in Washington. Lame-duck sessions, which happen after an election and before a new Congress takes office, tend only to successfully tackle areas in which the parties have lots of common ground, he said.

“Only those things will pass a lame duck where the Republicans agree with the Democrats’ position,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s the case.”

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Brazil sees no need to import gasoline-secretary

Reuters Africa
Fri Nov 5, 2010 1:27pm GMT

BRASILIA Nov 5 (Reuters) - Brazil's carry-over stocks of ethanol are expected to be double the size they were a year ago, when Brazil was forced to import gasoline, which will likely avert the need to do so again, an energy official said late on Thursday.

In early 2010, the state-run oil company and refiner Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote) was forced to import gasoline after ethanol prices spiked on low supplies.

The secretary of oil, natural gas and renewable fuels for the energy ministry, Marco Antonio Almeida, said that ethanol stocks in April 2011 would total 1.2 billion liters, up from 600 million a year earlier.

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Move Over Brazil, U.S. to Develop More Sugarcane Ethanol, Says Clean Energy Capital, LLC

BusinessWire.com
November 05, 2010 02:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time

TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first major sugarcane ethanol refinery in the continental United States will be built in the Imperial Valley of California, one of the best locations for growing sugarcane in the world. The ethanol will meet California’s low carbon fuel standard, which mandates greenhouse gas reduction. The standard was heavily supported by a vote on California Proposition 23 in the November election with a higher margin than any other ballot proposition. The project will cost $575 million and produce 66 million gallons of ethanol, enough electricity to meet the needs of 35,000 homes, and enough biomethane to heat 10,000 homes per year. Sweet sorghum, which has similar characteristics to sugarcane, will also be used.

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Launch of the LCRI WEFO Convergence Energy Projects and Conference, Challenges of the Low Carbon Revolution

LowCarbonEconomy.com

Cardiff, 15-16 November

The Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) was established to unite and promote the diverse range of energy research in Wales, UK to help deliver a low carbon future. The multicentre, multidisciplinary collaboration aims to support the whole energy sector, UK and globally. In 2008, over £5million was received from the Higher Education Funding Council For Wales (HEFCW) to develop the LCRI. Core University partners are: Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Glyndwr and Swansea. The LCRI is led from the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University.

The LCRI projects covered include:
Renewable Energy Recovery from the Marine Environment – investigating how to efficiently and consistently generate energy from tidal and marine resources.
Cymru H2 Wales – developing capacity for the industrial development of hydrogen technologies in Wales.
Large scale power generation – using alternative and renewable gaseous fuels for power generation through gas turbine technology.
Low carbon built environment – reducing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the built environment sector.
Solar Photovoltaic Academic Research Consortium (SPARC) Cymru – developing new photovoltaic materials for solar energy conversion towards low cost photovolatic modules.
Scenario modelling for a low carbon Wales.
Bioenergy for a low carbon future – bioenergy solutions for deployment in Wales and worldwide.

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Is There Enough Cellulosic Ethanol To Meet 2011 Targets?

RenewableEnergyWorld.com
By RenewableEnergyWorld.com Editors November 3, 2010

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, cellulosic ethanol production in 2011 will short of what is required.

Washington, DC, USA -- The recent projection from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) for cellulosic ethanol production in 2011 is a reminder that more investment and thoughtful policy is required to bring these technologies to commercialization, according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen.

According to EIA projections, cellulosic ethanol production will be 3.94 million gallons next year, which is 1.36 million gallons below the 5.3 million gallon target as it now stands. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) readjusted the target under the Renewable Fuels Standard in February 2011.

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University of Illinois researchers discover potential new virus in switchgrass

EurekaAlert.com
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

University of Illinois researchers have confirmed the first report of a potential new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass, a biomass crop being evaluated for commercial cellulosic ethanol production.

The virus is associated with mosaic and yellow streak symptoms on switchgrass leaves. This virus has the potential of reducing photosynthesis and decreasing biomass yield. Members of this genus have been known to cause severe yield losses in other crops. For example, Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV), a type member of the genus, has been reported to cause yield reductions in corn grown in Mexico, Central America and South America.

"Viral diseases are potentially significant threats to bioenergy crops such as Miscanthus x giganteus, energycane and switchgrass," said Bright Agindotan, research associate working in Carl Bradley's laboratory as part of the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) located in the Institute for Genomic Biology at the U of I. "Our team at EBI has been charged with identifying potential pests and pathogens of these bioenergy crops."

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Oil majors invest in ethanol, expect 2011 recovery

Reuters
By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA Wed Nov 3, 2010 12:38pm EDT

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major oil companies, anticipating a rebound in ethanol prices next year, are eager to stake claims in biofuels markets and benefit from new U.S. fuel blending allowances and other incentives, senior executives said.

Brazilian drought and high soft commodities prices have increased the cost and hurt demand for ethanol as an alternative fuel over the past year, raising questions about the viability of small-scale biofuels ventures.

But the big players see big opportunity in new government targets for renewable energy investments, including a higher allowable proportion of ethanol mixed with U.S. gasoline.

Luis Scoffone, vice president of Shell Alternative Energies, which this year formed a $12 billion joint venture with Brazil's Cosan, said on Wednesday his company would this year exceed the 9 billion litres of ethanol it distributed in 2009.

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Brownsville biofuel firm announces further progress

TheMonitor.com
October 31, 2010 2:45 PM
Steve Clark
The Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE — Photon8 Inc., a biofuels startup company headquartered at the UTB-TSC ITEC Center, is announcing another breakthrough in its development of the commercially viable production of biofuel from algae.

Brad Bartilson, the firm’s president and CEO, said Photon8’s scientists have discovered a way around problems associated with ethanol and biodiesel, the two biofuels currently on the market. Both have to be blended with fossil fuels before they can be burned in engines, but Photon8 has eliminated the need for blending: The company’s scientists have figured out how to produce hydrocarbons from algae that are identical to those from conventional fuels, Bartilson said.

This potentially means less reliance on imported oil in the biofuels production process. This latest development also advances Photon8’s plan to produce jet fuel and diesel fuel, Bartilson said.

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EIA cuts cellulosic producers from 2011 list

Ethanol Producer Magazine
November 2010
By Kris Bevill
Posted Nov. 1, 2010

The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration has completed its predictions for next year’s cellulosic biofuels production and estimates that actual production levels will be much lower than anticipated. Earlier this year, the U.S. EPA proposed a reduction in the cellulosic biofuels portion of the 2011 renewable fuel standard (RFS) to between 5 and 17.1 million gallons, down drastically from the 250 million gallons initially called for in the 2007 RFS. But according to an Oct. 20 letter sent from EIA Administrator Richard Newell to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the EPA’s reduced target is still too high. The EIA suggests that a more likely 2011 production total for cellulosic biofuels is approximately 3.94 million gallons. Additionally, the EIA said half of the facilities on the EPA’s list won’t produce biofuels next year.

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3D-Printed Hybrid Uses Sunlight, Ethanol or Gas

Wired.com
By Charlie Sorrel November 2, 2010 1:09 pm

Stratasys, the 3D-printing people, are going to print an entire car. Lest you get too excited that you, too, soon will be downloading the Lexus of your choice and having it plop out of a desktop box, this is no ordinary car.

Called the Urbee, the car is ultra-efficient. So efficient, in fact, that it is possible to trickle-charge it overnight from solar energy absorbed during the day by a panel on top of your own garage. The hybrid drivetrain also can run on gasoline or ethanol and will get around 200 mpg highway and 100 mpg in the city while costing just two cents a mile.

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Carbohydrate-to-lipid project wins award

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Erin Voegele
Posted Nov. 1, 2010

A research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has won a $50,000 ConocoPhillips Energy Prize to support the development of a carbohydrate-to-biodiesel process. The technology, which is designed to significantly increase yields, may also provide a pathway for the direct conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide into biofuels.

According to Gregory Stephanopoulos, an MIT processor of chemical engineering who is leading the project, the technology utilizes an engineered microbe to convert carbohydrate feedstocks into lipids. While Stephanopoulos noted that he is unable to disclose specific details of the process due to its proprietary nature, he said that the patent-pending technology can be applied to a wide portfolio of carbohydrate feedstocks, including sugars, glucose, glycerin, hydrolysates from biomass and algae.

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ADM announces Brazil plant, net earnings drop

Biodiesel Magazine
November 2010
By Bryan Sims
Posted Nov. 3, 2010

Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness firm Archer Daniels Midland Co. plans to build a 164,000 metric ton (49.2 MMgy) biodiesel facility in Joacaba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Construction on the plant is slated to begin in March 2011 with completion during the first half of 2012.

The Joacaba biodiesel plant will be constructed adjacent to an ADM soybean crushing facility and a vegetable oil refinery. Acquired from Sadia in 1998, these operations currently process nearly 475,000 metric tons of soybeans and are capable of refining approximately 73,000 metric tons of soybean oil annually. Once operational, the biodiesel production facility is expected to increase oil refining capacity to approximately 110,000 metric tons per year. In addition, the facility will be the first in the state of Santa Catarina, which boasts an ample supply of soybeans produced mainly by small family farms.

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Chemical Engineers Use Gold To Discover Breakthrough For Creating Biorenewable Chemicals

MedicalNewsToday.com
Article Date: 22 Oct 2010 - 1:00 PDT

University of Virginia chemical engineers Robert J. Davis and Matthew Neurock have uncovered the key features that control the high reactivity of gold nanoparticles in a process that oxidizes alcohols in water. The research is an important first step in unlocking the potential of using metal catalysts for developing biorenewable chemicals.

The scientific discovery could one day serve as the foundation for creating a wide range of consumer products from biorenewable carbon feedstocks, as opposed to the petroleum-based chemicals currently being used as common building blocks for commodities such as cosmetics, plastics, pharmaceuticals and fuels.

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Variable Incentive To Ethanol Blenders Could Save $13 billion

CattleNetwork.com
11/01/2010 11:29AM

The current legislation that enables ethanol blenders to receive a 45 cent per gallon incentive expires at the end of the year. In anticipation of new legislation, a proposal was developed by University of Illinois economists for a variable incentive program that could save U.S. taxpayers more than $13 billion.

"There are proposals that would eliminate the tax credit entirely and others to keep it exactly as is," said U of I agricultural economist Scott Irwin. "We decided to take a look at a different form of a tax credit that would be keyed to the incentives of the blenders themselves rather than just giving them a fixed amount of tax credit regardless of the economics of blending."

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Grasses have potential as alternate ethanol crop, Illinois study finds

EurekaAlert.com

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Money may not grow on trees, but energy could grow in grass. Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first extensive geographic yield and economic analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States.

Demand for biofuels is increasing as Americans seek to expand renewable energy sources and mitigate the effects of fluctuating energy prices. Corn ethanol is the main biofuel on the market, but demand for ethanol competes with corn's availability as a food, and rising ethanol consumption could lead to higher food costs.

In recognition of this problem, federal regulations mandate that 79 billion liters of biofuels must be produced annually from non-corn biomass by 2022. Large grasses, such as switchgrass and miscanthus, could provide biomass with the added benefits of better nitrogen fixation and carbon capture, higher ethanol volumes per acre and lower water requirements than corn.

"It's a better way to achieve our goals of energy security and climate change mitigation," said Madhu Khanna, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at U. of I. "These two particular crops are among the more promising nonfood crops currently available for large-scale production."

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Former Iowa congressman named COO of ethanol group

Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
12:04 p.m. CDT, November 1, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former eight-term Iowa GOP congressman Jim Nussle has been named president of a coalition of ethanol supporters.

Growth Energy announced Monday that Jim Nussle also would be the group's chief operating officer. Nussle has previously served on Growth Energy's board of directors. He starts in the new position Monday. Growth energy CEO Tom Buis says Nussle will be a "powerful advocate" for U.S. ethanol supporters.

Nussle also served as budget director under former President George W. Bush. He will be in charge of Growth Energy's day-to-day operations, revenue growth, budget, expenses and communications.

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Grass could top corn as biofuel crop

UPI.com
Published: Nov. 1, 2010 at 7:12 PM

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Grass could be the bioenergy crop of the future as the demand for biofuels increases, replacing corn as the premiere biofuel crop, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers at the University of Illinois have completed the first analysis of potential bioenergy grass crops in the Midwestern United States, a university release said Monday.

Corn ethanol is currently the main biofuel available but the demand for ethanol competes with corn's availability as food and that could drive up food costs, researchers say.

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University of Florida Jatropha Experiment to Be Aboard Space Shuttle Discovery Flight

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: October 29, 2010

Gainesville, FL—A University of Florida researcher will have an experiment aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery for what could be its final mission.

Wagner Vendrame, an associate professor of environmental horticulture at UF’s Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, is known for his work with biofuels.

He’s been looking to develop new ways to propagate selected hybrids of the jatropha nut, because its oil holds great potential for use in biodiesel.

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Momentive, Cargill partner for soy-based replacement for polyurethane foam

BioTechDigest.com
October 29, 2010

In New York, Momentive Performance Materials and Cargill are joining together to lower the need for petroleum based polyurethane foam. Momentive’s Niax L-670 surfactant, combined with Cargill’s soy derived BiOH polyols, have the ability to replace some of the petroleum derived polyurethane foams used in such products as foam bedding and padding in furniture.

Yusuf Wazirzada, Business Unit Leader, Cargill Biobased Polyurethanes stated, “Our collaboration with Momentive is an important step in decreasing the industry’s dependence on petroleum-based polyols and developing higher performing products. By developing technology that pushes the limits of what is possible, Momentive is helping us meet the customer need for foam products that are focused on the exciting new consumer trend around sustainability.”

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U.S. Navy Successfully Tests Riverine Command Boat Using 50% Biofuels Blend

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: October 26, 2010

Norfolk, VA—The U.S. Navy conducted a full power demonstration of a Riverine Command Boat (experimental) (RCB-X) powered by alternative fuel, Oct. 22, aboard Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

Testing and evaluation of alternative fuels from the 49-foot fast and agile RCB-X boat supports the secretary of the Navy's efforts to reduce the fleet's reliance on fossil fuels and is part of a series of progressively complex tests and evaluations scheduled through 2012.

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United Ethanol to install anaerobic digester

Ethanol Producer Magazine
November 2010
By Holly Jessen
Posted Oct. 27, 2010

A $6.75 million project to install an anaerobic digester at a 50 MMgy ethanol plant in Milton, Wis., will begin in a few weeks. United Ethanol LLC will complete the project with the help of $2.25 million in state energy program funds. “It’s a way to extract a little more value out of our inputs, the corn, and make the plant greener and more energy efficient,” said Alan Jentz, United Cooperative and United Ethanol vice president of grain operations and risk management.

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USDA's Biomass Crop Assistance Program responds to industry concerns, says AF&PA

Pulp & Paper Canada
DAILY NEWS Oct 29, 2010 9:59 AM -
Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) final rule is expected to minimize distortions to the market for wood fiber, which is good news for the forest products industry.

"We appreciate USDA's consideration of industry concerns and the modifications made in the
rulemaking process that will minimize market distortions and focus on supply," said Donna Harman, president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA).

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Ethanol industry fears ‘black eye’ from premature E15 sales

BrighterEnergy.org
October 29, 2010 By James Cartledge

Fuel industry and ethanol industry chiefs have warned gas station operators not to sell E15 ethanol fuel to vehicles other than Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs).

The Petroleum Marketers Association and Renewable Fuels Association have written to their members warning that it is still illegal to sell ethanol-gasoline blends above a 10% ethanol content to vehicles other than FFVs.

Concerns are that press reports of the approval of E15 by the Environmental Protection Agency could lead to sales of E15 before the fuel has been approved at state level.

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Nexterra biomass gasifier emissions test complete

Biomass Power & Thermal
By Anna Austin October 27, 2010

Third-party emissions test shows Nexterra System Corp. facilities produce “best in class” air emissions when compared with other technologies.

Biomass gasification heat and power system developer Nexterra Systems Corp. has received the results from a third-party emissions test indicating that Nexterra’s facilities produce “best in class” air emissions when compared with conventional biomass combustion technologies.

Levelton Consultants Ltd. performed the tests, comparing air emissions from four Nexterra gasification facilities at Dockside, Kruger, and Tolko in British Columbia and the University of South Carolina, with 17 biomass direct combustion facilities and four fossil fuel direct combustion facilities.

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US Biofuels Exchange debuts for live Ethanol and Biodiesel trading

Biofuels Digest
October 29, 2010 Jim Lane

In Colorado, the US Biofuels Exchange has opened today for live Ethanol and Biodiesel trading and will offer free trading on all listings posted before January 1, 2011. The US-BX’s proprietary “two-sided” trading platform allows registered users to Post, Buy, Sell and Make Offers on and to both “Lot For Sale” and “Lot Wanted” listings. As the US-BX is web-based and utilizes “Cloud Computing” standards, no software needs to be purchased, downloaded or installed on the user’s computer.

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