Biomass Week - June 19, 2013

House votes down Farm Bill The U.S. House of Representatives has voted down its version of the Farm Bill, the "Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act," by a vote of 195 to 234. The bill did not include mandatory funding for Energy Title programs. READ MORE SHARE
ReEnergy achieves SFI Certification, opens Fort Drum plant ReEnergy Holdings has announced five of its biomass power plants in Maine and New York have achieved certification under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, including the newly opened ReEnergy Black River facility in Fort Drum, N.Y. READ MORE SHARE
	Myriant starts up commercial-scale biobased succinic acid plant Myriant Corp.has announced the successful start-up at its flagship bio-succinic acid plant located in Lake Providence, La. The facility has produced on-spec commercial product and the company anticipates that customer shipments will commence soon. READ MORE SHARE
Former National Guard Armory becomes $4 million biomass project The University of Maine at Fort Kent and the Maine School Administrative District No. 27 broke ground on a $4 million biomass heating project on the site of the former Fort Kent Armory. The project was funded in part by the USDA. READ MORE SHARE
BCNC publishes woody biomass assessment The Biofuels Center of North Carolina recently completed a statewide woody biomass assessment in cooperation with Gelbert, Fullbright & Randolph Forestry Consultants and North Carolina's seven economic development regions. READ MORE SHARE
LANL investigates the properties of a novel cellulose structure Scientists are investigating the unique properties of crystalline cellulose nanofibers to develop novel chemical pretreatments and designer enzymes for biofuel production from cellulosic, or non-food, plant derived biomass. READ MORE SHARE
Amyris, Total announce successful biojet demonstration flight Amyris Inc. and Total have announced a successful demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show using a breakthrough technology that converts plant sugars into renewable jet fuel. The Airbus A321 aircraft flew from Toulouse, France, to Paris. READ MORE SHARE
Partnership to investigate biogas-to-lactic acid conversion Calysta Energy and NatureWorks have entered into an exclusive, multi-year collaboration to research and develop a practical, world-scale production process for fermenting methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), into lactic acid. READ MORE SHARE
Irish facility to produce fuel briquettes with 50 percent biomass U.K.-based CPL Industries has announced plans to build a new E Coal 50 production facility. E Coal 50 is a blended home heating fuel that contains 33 percent biomass, 17 percent molasses and 50 percent fossil fuels. READ MORE SHARE
Vermeer supports stronger U.S.-Brazil trade relations at hearing A representative of Pella, Iowa-based Vermeer Corp. advocated for a more open, transparent trade relations with Brazil during a recent U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing. READ MORE SHARE
St. Joe signs letter of intent with Enova Energy Group The St. Joe Company has announced that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Enova Energy Group that could lead to the development of a wood pellet export facility at the Port of Port St. Joe in Florida. READ MORE SHARE
MIT discovery could lead to cheaper biofuels, biochemicals MIT chemical engineers have devised a cheaper way to synthesize a key biofuel component, which could make its industrial production much more cost-effective. The compound, known as gamma-valerolactone (GVL), is attractive because of its versatility. READ MORE SHARE
California LCFS to meet 10 percent carbon reduction goal by 2020 The alternative fuels market is evolving faster than anticipated in California, heartening those involved in implementing the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. A report concludes the state can meet its carbon intensity goals for transportation fuel. READ MORE SHARE
GE, Clarke Energy supply Jenbacher engines to Africa biogas plant E is supplying U.K.-based energy project developer Clarke Energy with two of its ecomagination qualified Jenbacher J420 biogas engines for a new 2.8 MW agricultural biogas power project at a large vegetable farm near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. READ MORE SHARE
Black locust trees evaluated in Illinois for biofuel potential The black locust tree is being evaluated by researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois to determine its potential for biofuel production. The tree features high biomass production and rapid growth rates. READ MORE SHARE
Technip awarded FEED contract for renewable diesel plant Paris-based Technip recently announced it was awarded a EUR5 million ($6.67 million) contract for the front-end engineering and design of Foresty BtL Oy's proposed renewable diesel and naphtha plant on Ajos Island, Finland. READ MORE SHARE
Codexis, Chemtex announce milestone in biochemical deployment Codexis Inc.and Chemtex have announced the successful scale-up in the production of CodeXol detergent alcohols using cellulosic sugars. The scale-up was achieved at Chemtex's 1,500 liter (396 gallon) demonstration facility in Tortona, Italy. READ MORE SHARE
Gevo resumes commercial production of biobased isobutanol Gevo Inc. has announced that it has resumed commercial production of isobutanol at its Luverne, Minn., plant in single train mode, successfully utilizing its proprietary Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT). READ MORE SHARE
Leaf-cutter ants teach researchers about biofuel production Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison are studying how fungus and bacteria work together to process biomass within fungus gardens of insects. The enzymes found in these fungus gardens may be useful for biofuel production. READ MORE SHARE
White paper addresses Asian biocoal market Poyry PLC has published a white paper on biocoal market potential in Asia. The report, titled "Biocaol-Bioenergy Game Changer in Asia?" explores what role biocoal production technologies might have in the Asian bioenergy industry. READ MORE SHARE
Australian company produces algae oil, plans demo plant Australian Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray recently unveiled the first algae-based crude oil produced by Muradel Pty Ltd. The algae oil was produced on the pilot-scale by Muradel as part of a $10.7 million project. READ MORE SHARE