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A concise daily summary of biofuels news, plus environmental and global warming trends
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Fuel from Thin Air: DOE launches “Energy Innovation Hub” for R&D into conversion of sunlight directly into chemical fuels: $122 million funding opportunity
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced the launch of three new “Energy Innovation Hubs,” one to be focused on “Fuels from Sunlight Energy,” and said it will award $122 million over five year to support the projec...
Cyanobacteria: the new biofuels platform?
BUENOS AIRES – It is early afternoon just before Christmas and the sun is moving west along the Rio de la Plata in the general direction of the Paraná, the river that continues northeast towards Santa Fe province and the great soy fields of th...
$30 Oil? New analysis predicts oil price crash based on natural gas pricing
$30 Oil? Natural gas analyst says oil price crash may be in sight. An analysis published in Ground Report suggests that oil prices are ready to crash to as low as $30 – undercutting the floor of first-generation biofuels pricing and putting adv...
Thanks for the energy security – Uh, How Many Jobs Is That?
In Florida, according to a representative sample of 34 biofuels international projects and studies analyzed by Biofuels Digest, an average of 0.57 jobs are created for every $1 million invested in bioprocessing capacity, and that 15.80 jobs are creat...
Fuel from Thin Air (redux): no biomass, no extraction, no kidding
In California, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce the liquid fuel isobutanol directly from carbon dioxide and sunlight. The announcement mirrors a break...
Biofuels Digest opens nominations for Biofuels Personality of the Year, Biofuels Company of the Year
In Florida, Biofuels Digest announced that the 3rd Annual Biofuels Personality of the Year and 3rd annual Biofuels Company of the Year nominations process has opened. Registered subscribers to Biofuels Digest and Biomass Digest may participate. Nomin...
Synth Pop: Will “video kill the radio star” and synthetic fuels at popular prices replace first-gen biofuels, and when?
In this years’s Hot 50, there’s one unmistakable trend: synthetic biology companies developing drop-in, renewable fuels at popular prices. “Magic bugs” from Amyris, LS9, Gevo, Qteros, Joule Biotechnologies, Synthetic Genomics ...
Of Oil and Water: New crises loom for biofuels with blenders, RFS2, and water usage
Map of US aquifers and groundwater supply It has been a remarkable week around the Digest editorial office — the EPA’s signal that it expects to approve E15 blends in ethanol in mid-2010 if engine tests continue as they have to date; the rele...
Falsified, suppressed documents tainting data, policy regarding fossil fuels and its replacements, say reports
Allegations concerning falsified and suppressed documents relating to climate change and peak oil have been leveled on several fronts this week, creating fears that the debate over fossil fuels and its replacements may be impossibly tainted by the ef...
Last day of voting for the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy”
Today is the final day of voting for the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy”. Balloting will be open to the registered subscribers of the Biofuels Digest, Geothermal Digest and Biomass Digest e-newsletters, through Wednesday November 25th...
Special Digest Update on biofuels made from municipal solid waste
In a recent poll, Digest readers identified “waste biomass” as the hottest feedstock – and companies using agricultural, forest, animal and municipal residues have been receiving much support in the “50 Hottest Companies in Bi...
POET, BP, Coskata and Sapphire among early contenders in 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy underway
All this week, subscribers are casting their ballots for the 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy. Balloting will be open to the registered subscribers of the Biofuels Digest, Geothermal Digest and Biomass Digest e-newsletters, through Monday November 2...
USDA, DOE announce $24 million in bioenergy, bio-based products R&D grants: Gevo, Velocys, GE, Agrivida among awardees for ethanol, biobutanol, drop-in fuels
In Washington, the US Departments of Agriculture and Energy today announced $24 million in R&D grants for biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products. Of the $24.4 million announced today, DOE plans to invest up to $4.9 million with US...
Fuel from Thin Air? Joule reports direct microbial conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons; no biomass, no extraction, no refinement
In Hawaii, at the BIO Pacific Rim Summit, Joule Biotechnologies announced that it has achieved direct microbial conversion of CO2 into hydrocarbons via engineered organisms, powered by solar energy. Joule’s Helioculture process mixes sunlight a...
Jim Lane’s “Citizen Cane: Essays for New Days in Bioenergy” published; free PDF for Digest subscribers
Digest readers: Today, the new book “Citizen Cane: Essays for New Days in Bioenergy” by Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane is available in PDF format for subscribers at the usual Biofuels Digest “low, low price of free”. (Note ...
KLM to test biofuels with passengers on flight, on November 23
In the Netherlands, KLM announced that it would become the first airline to test biofuels on a passenger flight. The company said that it would utilize a 50/50 mixture of camelina and standard jet fuel in a one-hour Boeing 747 flight on November 23 t...
The song remains the same: Bioenergy producers plea for US help on finance; feedstock stability a key; solutions in the student loan response?
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows In Washington, USDA Agriculture Undersecretary Dallas Tonsager said in congressional testimony that the credit crunch for advanced biofuels developers has much to do with lender disaffe...
Biofuels Heaven or Hell: Hot technologies, deep-pocketed investors and stable feedstock outlook brings promise after tough times
Generally recognized “hot technologies”, deep-pocketed investors, and a plentiful supply of raw material at stable prices: a recipe for growth in almost any industrial sector, but something felt to be elusive in the biofuels sector — wi...
RFA lobbying of DOE to ease loan guarantee requirements, citing advanced biofuels difficulties in qualifying
In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association commenced an effort to persuade U.S. DOE Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to address issues with the DOE’s loan guarantee program as related to cellulosic ethanol biorefineries. The association’...
National controversy, local success: CNN, designers look at biofuels, community, values
CNN “State of the Union” host and chief national correspondent John King reported that “Ethanol keeps Nebraska running in tough financial times,” where a “comparatively better” farm economy in Nebraska has an unemp...
Searchinger, et al Science paper say treaty rules for bioenergy emissions encourage deforestation; industry reaction swift, strong
Controversy over land use change erupted again in the biofuels industry with the publication of a new article in science by Timonthy Searchinger, Daniel Kammen and 11 others, which said that “an important but fixable error in legal accounting r...
50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy: registration closes, competition begins for more than 1,000 companies; Reader Poll on Hot fuels, feedstocks and technologies
In Florida, the formal registration period for the 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy rankings has closed, with 165 companies submitting or updating detailed registration profiles for the competition; an additional 190 companies received coverage in 2...
Introductory chapter for the new book, “The National Energy Solution”, by Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane, available for free download.
Note to Digest readers: the introductory chapter in a new book, The National Energy Solution: An Inquiry into Values, by Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane, is now available for free download. Excerpted from the introductory chapter: “Highways and...
Advanced Biofuels get organized: Low Carbon Synthetic Fuels Association forms; Masdar, SAFUG, Boeing, UOP join on salt-tolerant feedstocks initiative
Salicornia - a solt-tolerant (halophyte) biofuels feedstock Advanced biofuels are organizing for the long-term. Today, Boeing and UOP announced an initiative, with the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group consortium and the Masdar Institute in Abu D...
Biobutanol surges: Gevo announces retrofit of first-gen ethanol plant for advanced fuels
In Missouri, biobutanol made another significant advance in its path towards biofuels viability with the startup of a 1 Mgy pilot plant in St. Joseph. The town that served as the traditional jumping off point for the Oregon Trail of pioneer days, is ...
