Mad as heck about $5 gasoline? According to new research from Iowa State, the price could have hit $6 per gallon, if the US had not had its ethanol supply. A landmark 2009 study, conducted by researchers at Iowa State’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, and updated this week for impacts through 2011, found [...]
Free tire air for improved fuel economy; bicycle tuning; renewable fuels; on-demand carbon offsets; at-pump recycling; community transit info; Propel’s got it all going in the Golden State. In California, Propel Fuels is launching the company’s first Clean Mobility Center, in Fullerton. The Center offers a distinctly different customer experience, featuring high performance renewable fuels [...]
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, slipped 0.31 percent to 63.73 as ethanol and advanced biofuels tumbled. For the day, Gevo (GEVO) fell 4.40 percent to $6.08, while Amyris (AMRS) dumped 5/26 percent to $1.80. Among other equities, KiOR (KIOR) rocketed up 9.91 percent to 10.87. Overall, declines led advances [...]
In Iowa, retail fuel stations can apply for up to $100,000 each in grant funding from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Board as part of the third $1 million tranche aimed at helping increase the number of blender pumps available to the public during 2012. Applications are open through May 18.
In Wisconsin, a federal district court judge has found in favor of Danisco in an on-going dispute between it and Novozymes regarding the patent on an alpha-amylase enzyme. The judge overturned a last October’s ruling and $18.2 million in damages in favor of Novozymes, saying the patent had an inadequate written description.
In California, Rentech has reported its Q1 financial results, with a net loss per share of $0.01. Revenue was 57% higher than estimated as warm weather has allowed farmers to begin using fertilizer earlier, allowing the company to monetize its principal asset, the East Dubuque fertilizer plant. The company has also scaled back its renewable [...]
In the UK, fallout from Sustainable AgroEnergy which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and later had its assets frozen. Now it seems that some investors may have been “mis-sold” interest in the company by regulated financial advisors, meaning that some may be able to claim as much as $64 million back from [...]
In Australia, the New South Wales Treasury has repeatedly warned the regional government that the benefits of the 6% ethanol blending policy are questionable at best, with any savings at the pump from E10 being balanced out by the lower energy content in ethanol-blended fuels. It says the biggest benefit of the policy is to [...]
In Zimbabwe, Green Fuels says it is selling ethanol to retail fuel stations for $1 per litre, about 19 cents per litre cheaper than it should be in order to get a foothold in the local market. Retailers are turning around and selling ethanol at $1.36 per litre, which the government thinks is too high. [...]
In the UK, researchers at the University of Leeds have developed an electrode capable of controlling the biochemical reactions needed for biofuel cells to produce large amounts of electricity and are now applying the same technique to a catalytic membrane. The hope is that the membrane may be capable of converting proteins into electricity by [...]
In California, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Iowa State University discovered a family of plant proteins that play a role in the production of seed oils, substances important for animal and human nutrition, biorenewable chemicals and biofuels. Scoring a rare scientific hat trick, the researchers identified three related proteins in thale [...]
In California, Nature published a paper that evaluated recent advances in biocatalysis and their impacts on commercial development of biofuels. The paper, coauthored by Dr Gjalt Huisman of Codexis Pharmaceuticals, stresses the importance of directed evolution in the third wave in biocatalysis, which is a foundation of Codexis’ technology platform. The paper specifically highlights rapid [...]
In Washington, the USDA has released its report on stakeholder responses looking at its Regional Biofuel Roadmap. During October and November 2010, the National Food and Agriculture Council conducted a series of workshops in 42 States and Puerto Rico and collected 57 reports of stakeholder answers to a common set of 16 questions. This report [...]
In Washington, Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask hard questions about whether the agency is doing its job to protect the public in addressing the issue of antibiotic use in ethanol. Reps. Markey and Slaughter, in their letter to the FDA, [...]
In Arizona, legislation promoting the development of the algae industry has been passed in the House legislature after two bills were introduced in January by Rep. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson). The two bills will widen the tax definitions of agricultural property to include algaculture and add the growth and harvest of algae to the definition of [...]
Today on Twitter. AGNBiofuels: Philippine Government Review Biofuels Programme christackett: How much do Republicans hate clean energy? House GOP wants to ban the Navy from using biofuels. Achfeeds: Amyris and the challenges of scaling biofuels production: The article first appeared on GigaOM Pro, subscription… BradsNews: New study says the use of #ethanol as a fuel [...]
Today on Twitter. inferiae4542: Republicans Order Navy to Quit Buying Biofuels jcpreece: Pond Biofuels: Our algae will eat your waste CO2 and turn it into oil. #ocediscovery #cleantech ecoenergyinfo: Biofuel News: Biofuels Firm Turns Up Heat On Brevard Tax Cut molecular_sieve: Ethanol and RFS not responsible for recent refinery closures in the northeast U.S.
Today on Twitter. China_Stransky: Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World’s Water Problems: From cities to biofuels, c… jackcoffin: Destroying wildlife, moving villagers with teargas/beatings for ecofriendly biofuels? Chinlzw: Gasoline, Diesel and Ethanol Biofuels from Grasses and Plants: The world is currently faced with two significant… ToccaraYuhas: A Review [...]
In Delaware, DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products announced that they have appointed Brenntag India as their distributor for Zemea propanediol in India. Zemea is a natural, 100 percent biobased ingredient made from corn sugar through fermentation and developed for use in the cosmetics and personal care market. It is an environmentally sustainable alternative to [...]
US lawmakers tussle over funding for advanced biofuels demonstrations and early-commercialization. Who should pay premium rates for small-scale fuel production? The US Navy and other customer groups? Fuel makers and their investors? In Washington, the path for the Obama Administration to complete its proposed $510 million Defense Production Act investment in commercializing advanced biofuels for [...]
Building your value chain, or supply chain? In the bio-based world, that means partners, and plenty of them. But who are the best? Behind the 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy, and the 30 Hottest Companies in Renewable Chemicals & Materials, there are a lot of partners adding value and driving down costs. For quite some [...]
In California, LS9 announced that its demonstration plant project in Okeechobee, Florida is mechanically complete, and that the company will host a Grand Opening ceremony and press conference on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at the facility. The event will include the first tours of the facility, and U.S. Congressman Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) will be among [...]
