In the bioeconomy, the grass is always greener on the other side of a corporate repositioning, and we’ve seen the product and feedstocks fads roll onto the shoreline with numbing regularity. We had ethanol until there was biodiesel, and algae until there was jet fuel. Then, chemicals until there was Brazil, and drop-in fuels until […]
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first demo flight on biofuel which was done by Virgin Atlantic. LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren shared the factoid that, since that day, more than 100,000 commercial flights have used low carbon fuels. “This is especially amazing since in 2006 I was told over and over that biofuel flight […]
A newer technology Synova Power has arrived with the promise of clean, green, lean stream of pipeline-quality natural gas from biomass. There have been so many claims of “lean and green” over the years, we had better make some quick distinctions to highlight why this is a technology to watch. Lean, green or clean? Lean […]
In Arkansas, Solfuels recently celebrated the loading of its first railroad tanker of biodiesel produced at the former Delta American Fuel 40 million gallon per year plant in Helena it bought last December. Trial production began at the facility back in June but the company just recently brought the plant fully back online. The company […]
From Iowa we received news that Renewable Energy Group has agreed to acquire approximately 82 acres of land at its Geismar, Louisiana biorefinery from Lion Copolymer, for $20M. The goal? To improve and utilize to support existing production capacity and future expansion opportunities. Previously, the land was leased. The near-term gain The transaction is expected […]
In February, biodiesel production rose to 94 million gallons in February, up 1 million gallons from January, but 11 million gallons less than in 2016, using 736 million lb of feedstocks. Of the total, 71% of the biodiesel was produced in the Midwest with more than 50% of the feedstocks coming from soy oil, followed […]
The biggest two pieces of news in renewable fuels in the past 12 months have been the collapse in RIN prices, and the complete offsetting of reduced Middle Eastern oil production with increases in US rig counts for fracking operations. In other words, OPEC has collapsed in terms of its goal of setting a global oil […]
When it comes to sustainable aviation fuels, the public is yelling impatiently for take-off, and the airlines are pleading impatiently for off-take. So, where are the gallons? There are two hold-ups, primarily, and they have nothing to do with the usual suspects in advanced technology – those are the unworkable technology and the unaffordable feedstock, and […]
In Washington, the Energy Information Administration said biodiesel production in November fell by 1 million gallons from the moth prior to 142 million gallons. Two-thirds of the production came from the Midwest where the majority of feedstocks used came from nearly 600 million pounds of soybean oil, accounting for more than 51% of feedstocks, followed […]
In Singapore, Agritrade and Solfuels have together purchased the former Delta American Fuel biodiesel plant in Arkansas for $2.97 million. The 137,000 metric ton facility will be retrofitted to accommodate multi-feedstocks, including yellow grease, rendered animal fats, inedible corn oil and refined vegetable oil, and achieve a reduction in the cost of production. The fuel […]
