Biomass Week - July 11, 2014

Protocol Biomass' Ontario pellet mill gets green light Protocol Biomass Corp.'s proposed pellet mill for Prescott, Ontario, is nearing the final planning stages. With fiber supply, offtake and financing in place, project engineers are finalizing equipment and contractor arrangements. READ MORE SHARE
TimberWest considers pellet facility on Vancouver Island, BC TimberWest Forest Corp. is considering a $60 million pellet plant at Duke Point in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Planning is in preliminary stages, however, with several steps to go before the project gets final approval. READ MORE SHARE
	Sapphire Energy selected as an EcoPartner with Sinopec Sapphire Energy Inc. has announced that its algae-derived renewable crude project with Sinopec, China's state-owned oil and gas conglomerate, was selected for the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Program. READ MORE SHARE
Petrixo selects Honeywell's UOP technology for new biorefinery UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has announced that its green fuels process technology has been selected by Petrixo Oil & Gas to produce renewable jet fuel and renewable diesel at a new refinery to be built in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. READ MORE SHARE
KiOR enters forbearance agreement, considers sale or merger KiOR Inc. has entered into a forbearance agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority, amended its agreement with Vinod Khosla's KFT Trust, and engaged Guggenheim Securities LLC to assist in reviewing transactional and strategic alternatives. READ MORE SHARE
Drax Biomass to move headquarters to Georgia Drax Biomass is moving its headquarters from Burlington, Massachusetts, to the Atlanta, Georgia, suburb of Sandy Springs. The announcement was made July 8 by the Georgia Department of Economic Development. READ MORE SHARE
Lux Research: Lignin-derived chemicals to hit market in 2021 As lignin supplies rise on the back of growing cellulosic feedstock utilization, commercialization opportunities of up to $242 billion are emerging in 13 select chemicals, says Lux Research. READ MORE SHARE
ITA accepting nominations for export advisory committee The International Trade Administration recently published a notice in the Federal Register announcing it is reestablishing the renewable energy and energy efficiency advisory committee and accepting nominations for its membership. READ MORE SHARE
Viridis Energy enters strategic partnership with pellet handler An already valued relationship is brought to the next level with a strategic partnership between Viridis Energy's pellet manufacturing subsidiary, Scotia Atlantic Biomass Company Ltd., and Halifax Grain Elevator Ltd. READ MORE SHARE
Cobalt, Andritz sign agreement for cellulosic n-butanol Cobalt Technologies Inc. signed an exclusive global cooperation and supply agreement with Andritz Inc. to integrate its proprietary lignocellulosic pretreatment process for the production of n-butanol with Andritz's customized pretreatment systems. READ MORE SHARE
Aviation offers a way forward in biofuels research A professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his collaborators have mapped out an integrated approach for processing red maple biomass into a jet fuel that costs $4.75 a gallon. READ MORE SHARE
DOE loan guarantee program targets biofuels, waste-to-energy The U.S. Department of Energy has officially opened a loan guarantee solicitation, making up to $4 million available for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects located in the U.S. that avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gases. READ MORE SHARE
EU announces bioenergy funding under 2 major initiatives The European Union has announced funding under two major initiatives that will benefit bioenergy projects, including EUR 1 billion in NER 300 funding and a new public-private partnership that aims inject EUR 3.7 billion into the biobased economy. READ MORE SHARE
Developer constructs 3 MW digester project in rural Indiana A $7 million anaerobic digestion facility to convert area dairy farm manure to electricity is under development in Elkhart County, Indiana. The 3 MW project is expected to be operational in September. READ MORE SHARE
Andritz to deliver pretreatment technology to Fiberight plant International technology Group Andritz has received an order to supply equipment, engineering, and field services for Fiberight's cellulosic ethanol plant in Blairstown, Iowa. Start-up is planned for the first quarter of 2015. READ MORE SHARE
Brazil's GOL to fuel commercial flights with Amyris-Total biojet Amyris Inc. has partnered with Brazilian airline GOL to begin the first commercial route with farnesane, the recently approved renewable jet fuel. GOL has committed to fly its Boeing 737 fleet with up to a 10 percent blend of the renewable fuel. READ MORE SHARE
NC funds 6 cellulosic biofuel, bioenergy research projects North Carolina recently awarded six projects a total of $500,000 through the state's Bioenergy Research Initiative, which is a program of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. READ MORE SHARE
Ceres licenses DNA browser software to Bayer CropScience Ceres Inc., an agricultural biotechnology and seed company, has announced that the company has licensed its Persephone genome visualization application to Bayer CropScience. The software was originally developed for in-house use by Ceres. READ MORE SHARE
Report highlights economic impact of the US bioscience industry A new report published Biotechnology Industry Organization and Battelle indicates the U.S. bioscience industry demonstrated strong growth from 2011 to 2012, has navigated the economic recession better than most industries, and is once again growing. READ MORE SHARE
Navy looks to biofuels to sail the Great Green Fleet in 2016 Ships and aircraft in the next Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise could be running on biofuels, and they won't even need to know it, according to speakers at an Alternative Fuels Overview briefing for RIMPAC 2014 participants. READ MORE SHARE
PFI announces final agenda for annual conference The Pellet Fuels Institute has announced its final agenda for this year's annual conference, where the industry gathers to address issues it faces and chart the course ahead. The conference will be held July 27-29 in Orlando, Florida. READ MORE SHARE
World Bank: climate-smart development benefits lives, jobs, GDP Advanced biofuels and biomass play supporting roles in several scenarios examined in a recent report from the World Bank Group looking at climate-smart development. The report introduces a new holistic modeling framework. READ MORE SHARE