In the UK, researchers at the University of York, University of Portsmouth and the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory have used advanced biochemical analysis and x-ray imaging to identify a new enzyme to convert woody biomass into liquid biofuel. The enzyme is produced by gribbles, tiny marine wood-borers often responsible for destroying seaside wooden piers. […]
Today on Twitter: PVwizard EU Tension Over Biofuels Cap Intensifies xs4green @Ductor a #winner of the Red Herring Europe 100 Award Presseurop: Wood – Europe’s fuel of the future, really? (The Economist, London) #Biofuels via @theeconomist shareActionUK That leaves advanced biofuels as #BP focus for alternative energy
In France, the European Commission has awarded a $222 million grant to Finland’s UPM to develop a wood-to-biodiesel facility in Strasbourg. Finalization of the project is expected to take place during the next 12-18 months as the last studies regarding the availability and sourcing of wood-based raw materials are completed.
In Minnesota, the J.M Longyear company has purchased a 120-acre lumber mill site that has been shuttered since 2009, most likely in hopes of retrofitting the mill into a biofuel facility. Longyear, who have invested in Mascoma’s $232m cellulosic ethanol plant in Kinross, MI, have expressed interest in woody biomass to ethanol processes. Rumors also […]
In Washington state, the state House of Representatives has approved a request by the Washington Department of Natural Resources to test forest biomass as a feedstock for renewable jetfuel. The proposal now moves on to the state’s Senate. More on the story.
Core BioFuels announced plans to build a $100 million 92 octane biogasoline plant that will employ 40-50 people and begin operations by the end of 2012. The plant will use new technology to turn wood chips into ethanol using gasification and catalytic reactors. Technology for gasification of wood chips for co-generation is not new, but […]
In Russia, state-owned Russian Technologies will begin building a biobutanol plant in Irkutsk in Siberia in March, the country’s first state-sponsored biofuel plant. The facility will use wood chips and other wood waste as feedstock. Russia has set its sights on becoming major biofuel producers to supply the European and US markets. More on the […]
