Coskata Inc. is shelving its plans to convert biomass into ethanol and complete an initial public offering (IPO) at this time. The company has shifted its focus to natural gas feedstock, and may proceed with IPO plans in the future.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC request for reexamination of Gevo Inc.'s Gift Technology, U.S. patent 8,101,808. The litigation between the two companies is expected to last for years.
iDiverse discovers yeast gene that increases fuel ethanol product
By iDiverse
July 23, 2012
iDiverse has discovered a yeast gene that when inserted into yeast and properly modulated can increase ethanol production yield by up to 34 percent. It functions by protecting the yeast against lethal stresses encountered during fermentation.
Drought hardiness
July 23, 2012
The drought is worrying, and bringing with a classic weather market response resulting in record corn prices. USDA dropped its yield forecast by 20 bushels per acre in the last monthly supply/demand report.
A new report by Wood Resources International shows biomass prices dropped in the U.S. South, Northeast and West during the second quarter of 2012, primarily due to the continued fall of natural gas prices, which reached a 10 year low.
The Ontario government announced it is moving forward with plans to convert its Atikokan Generating Station to biomass, which will be one of the largest biomass power plants in the world when complete.
I recently received an email from a gentleman named Patrick about an upcoming Woody Biomass Field Day at Michigan State University's Forest Biomass Innovation Center, which is happening Aug. 21 in Escanaba, Mich.
Ethanol industry commends court for RFS ruling
By Growth Energy/RFA
July 20, 2012
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a petition by the Chicken Council challenging the U.S. EPA rulemaking on the renewable fuel standard.
A proposed Canadian biomass power facility shows that finance veterans believe in energy crop production.
Sweden-based ABioNova and Minnesota-based WoodMaster celebrated their first in a series of "Made in America" commercial wood pellet boiler system installations at a ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted by special guest, Swedish Ambassador to the U.S.
The U.S. ethanol industry is on track to be a net exporter of ethanol in 2012, although at lower levels that last year's record. The EIA highlighted ethanol in its July 18 report, "This Week in Petroleum."
A new bioenergy hub in Europe that will focus on the deployment and investigation of sustainable bioenergy sources was announced July 17 by U.K. Minister of State for Universities and Science David Willetts.
The U.S. Navy has made it official; advanced biofuels used to fuel air or sea applications require zero modification to existing infrastructure. The achievement occurred during a two-day demonstration of the Navy's Great Green Fleet.
A week after it became the first retail gas station to offer E15 under the waiver granted by the U.S. EPA, a celebration was held at Zarco 66 "Oasis" station in Lawrence, Kan. From 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. consumers could fill up with E15 at a discount.
California-based Ceres Inc. recently announced financial results for the third quarter 2012, which ended on May 31. As part of the release, the company also provided an update on its operations, including its business in Brazil.
Weltec Biopower GmbH is building a 370 kW biogas plant in Bure, Switzerland for Bio.Etique.Energy SA. The facility's power will be fed into the grid, while surplus heat will be used to heat local training barracks for the Swiss Army.
A national low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) could provide a new framework to incentivize alternative transportation fuels and lower the nation's carbon intensity, according to the National LCFS Project which released its findings July 18.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently toured the Pennsylvania-based Pennwood Farms anaerobic digestion operation for a first-hand account of what USDA and the Rural Energy for American Program helped support deployment of.
Southern Co. announced July 18 that the nation's largest biomass plant is putting electricity on the grid in Texas. A ceremony was held at the Nacogdoches Generating Facility to mark commercial operation for the 100 MW unit.
Continued drought is impacting the futures prices for corn and ethanol, resulting in significant movement in the last three weeks. Emotions are high, said Rick Kment, Telvent DTN biofuels analyst, as the possibility of tight corn supply looms large.
As drought conditions continue to creep across much of the lower 48 states, the ethanol industry is preparing for the possibility of tight corn supplies for the second year in a row. A majority of the corn crop is now in fair or worse condition.
USDA makes more counties eligible for disaster assistance
By USDA
July 18, 2012
The USDA has designated 39 additional counties in eight states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. During the 2012 crop year, the USDA has designated parts of 29 states as disaster areas.
Protabit receives NSF award for biofuels research
By Protabit
July 17, 2012
The National Science Foundation awarded a Small Business Innovative Research Phase I grant to Protabit LLC, a Pasadena, Calif.-based spin-out from the California Institute of Technology. The grant will be used to engineer cellulase enzymes.
U.S. producers of wood pellets will likely need to meet or exceed sustainability standards set by the European Union for solid biofuels in order access the European export market. Two reports have recently been published that examine the issue.
GE Energy has signed a contract with Cambodian industrial conglomerate Soma Group to supply two of its engines to power a biomass gasification facility. About 1.5 MW of electricity will be generated in total at the facility using rice husk feedstock.
A biofuel technology created by Michigan State University researchers uses microbes to produce both liquid biofuels and hydrogen from biomass feedstock. The process creates energy at levels more than 20 times higher than existing methods.
The U.S. DOE awarded a five-year, $12.1 million grant to researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and their collaborators to develop a new model plant system, Setaria viridis, to advance bioenergy grasses as a biofuel feedstock.
Danforth Center wins DOE funding to study drought, biomass crops
By Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
July 17, 2012
The U.S. DOE awarded a five-year, $12.1 million grant to researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and their collaborators to develop a new model plant system, Setaria viridis, to advance bioenergy grasses as a biofuel feedstock.
Top mileage on ethanol
July 16, 2012
Here's a winner for you. How about 6,800 mpg on ethanol? No fooling. Don't ask me how they measured it, or what the design was, but a team of students from Thailand achieved the highest mileage of all entries at Shell Eco-marathon Asia on July 7.
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