Biomass Week - October 10, 2014

EPA unveils improved RFS pathway petition process The U.S. EPA has posted a notice to its website announcing it has taken action to improve and streamline the pathway petition process under the renewable fuels standard (RFS). READ MORE SHARE
EPA reports GHG emissions data for 2013 The U.S. EPA has released updated data gathered through its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which details greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution trends and emissions broken down by several category types. Waste facilities, such as landfills and solid waste READ MORE SHARE
	Pilot biogas project at Massachusetts landfill site complete A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held earlier this week at the Crapo Hill Landfill site in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, for the startup of CommonWealth Resource Management Corporation's pilot-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) project. READ MORE SHARE
EIA predicts higher natural gas, electricity prices this winter The U.S. EIA has released its short-term energy and winter fuels outlook, which predicts that, albeit paying higher prices for natural gas and electricity, homeowners will enjoy overall lower heating expenditures this winter. READ MORE SHARE
BlueFire announces EPC contract for Mississippi project On Oct. 8, BlueFire Renewables Inc. announced it has signed a master engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its proposed 19 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Fulton, Mississippi. READ MORE SHARE
Northeast Wood Products pellet capacity to near 350,000 tons In a span of about eight months, Northeast Wood Products LLC will have gone from no presence in the industry to possessing nearly 350,000 tons of U.S. wood pellet production capacity. READ MORE SHARE
DECC responds to criticism of Drax conversion, CfD contracts The U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change has spoken out to criticize an article published by the U.K.-based Daily Mail that questions the environmental benefits of the Drax Group biomass conversion and the sustainability of U.S. wood pellets. READ MORE SHARE
AD project celebrates grand opening in Wisconsin A unique partnership is turning cow waste from farms into renewable energy. La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Gundersen Health System and Dane County are partnering with three Dane County farm families on the GL Dairy Biogas Project. READ MORE SHARE
Research: Water not essential to enzyme performance New research by scientists at the University of Bristol has challenged one of the key axioms in biology, that enzymes need water to function. READ MORE SHARE
JBEI: MaxBin offers automated sorting through metagenomes The U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute has developed MaxBin, an automated software program for binning (sorting) the genomes of individual microbial species from metagenomic sequences. READ MORE SHARE
MIT: New approach to boosting biofuel production Yeast are commonly used to transform corn and other plant materials into biofuels such as ethanol. However, large concentrations of ethanol can be toxic to yeast, which has limited the production capacity of many yeast strains used in industry. READ MORE SHARE
Low Carbon Fuels Coalition: Connector of industries and interests The most recent California legislative session concluded with policy developments spurring the launch of the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition. The LCFC advocates for policies that facilitate the rapid deployment of low carbon fuels. READ MORE SHARE
RWE sells share in Italian biomass facility RWE Innogy recently announced the sale of its stake in the Sicilian biomass power plant Enna to FriEl Green Power, Bozen. The 18.7 MW facility has been operating since mid-2013. The company is not expected to pursue additional biomass projects. READ MORE SHARE
Cellulosic ethanol project planned in Slovak Republic Biochemtex and Beta Renewables recently announced they have signed a definitive agreement with Energochemica SE for the construction of a second generation ethanol plant and the annexed energy block for the generation of power and steam. READ MORE SHARE
Gevo's isobutanol included in new line of marine, off-road fuels Gevo Inc. recently announced that it is selling renewable isobutanol to Gulf Racing Fuels for their new line of marine and off-road fuels. The new biofuels will meet Gulf Racing Fuels' requirement for an oxygenated off-road fuel. READ MORE SHARE
ARPA-E opens funding opportunity for feedstock development The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has opened a $30 million funding opportunity that aims to increase energy crop yield through automated, predictive and systems-level approaches to biofuel crop breeding. READ MORE SHARE