By Brad Zigler
Sometimes it's nice to revisit your old hangouts and reminisce. Investors in first-generation corn ethanol producers, however, just wish they could revisit their money.
Complete Story » [...]
By Brad Zigler
Sometimes it's nice to revisit your old hangouts and reminisce. Investors in first-generation corn ethanol producers, however, just wish they could revisit their money.
Researchers from Delft University of Technology have engineered the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to increase ethanol yield from biomass waste by eliminating production of glycerol (glycerol production is essential to reoxidize NADH produced in biosynthetic processes), reoxidizing NADH instead by the reduction of acetic acid to ethanol. A paper on [...]
There is a scene in the movie “Animal House” (which completely rips off Dr. Suess’ “Horton Hears a Who” in one fell swoop but that’s a story for a different day) where a small group is at Professor Riegert’s house and after the room fills with [...]
Denmark’s Prince Joachim inaugurated the Inbicon biomass biorefinery in Kalundborg, Denmark, where ethanol will be produced from straw. In addition to bioethanol, the plant will also produce lignin biopellets and C5 molasses. The biopellets can be used as fuel at CPH plants, and the C5 molasses can be used [...]
ZeaChem Inc. has begun construction of its semi-works scale facility. The facility will have capacity to produce 250,000 gallons of biofuel per year. ZeaChem’s process combines the outputs of two traditional ethanol production pathways (fermentation of sugars and gasification of biomass) into a third catalytically-driven step—hydrogenation—to produce ethanol. ([...]
Nebraska's first modern ethanol plant - Chief Ethanol Fuels near Hastings - is celebrating 25 years in operation with an open house next Monday, Nov. 23.The twisted, tortuous tale of ethanol as the great hope for an energy-independent America holds an object lesson for us all. What I wrote in my most recent article for SA, on a different subject, holds equally true here:
Entrepreneurs make money; early investors make [...]
KALUNDBORG, Denmark (Reuters) - A new plant in Denmark has begun converting straw into bioethanol for cars, pellets for biofuel-burning power plants and molasses for animal feed to avoid the carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
State oil, gas and power firm DONG Energy inaugurated the plant on Wednesday in time to [...]
Over the first year of operations of its pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in South Dakota (earlier post), POET has reduced its per gallon production cost from $4.13 to $2.35, exceeding its expectations. Cost reduction came via reductions in energy usage, enzyme costs, raw material requirements and capital expenses. [...]
The buzz on renewable fuel just won't go away.
Brazil uses soybeans and we use corn. Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) states it is North America's fourth largest ethanol producer, operating six ethanol plants in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee' [...]
COPENHAGEN -- Enzyme producers that use bacteria and living cells to break down biomass into sugar in the production of bioethanol, an alternative to petroleum-based vehicle fuel, are now taking aim at oil used in chemical manufacturing.
Their goal: to replace the oil used to make chemical ingredients in plastics, fibers, [...]
The Government of Canada will invest up to C$77.75 million (US$74.5 million) over seven years in Terra Grain Fuels’s (TGF) wheat ethanol facility to support the production of ethanol in Saskatchewan, sustain job creation and help stimulate the economy.
The Terra Grain Fuels ethanol plant, near Belle Plaine, [...]
The TBF (Technology-based Firm) Almeria Albaida Recursos Naturales y Medioambiente, S.A. (Spain), and the Cajamar Foundation are testing the feasibility of two crops adapted to extreme environmental conditions—prickly-pears and tree tobacco—for the production of bio-ethanol in semiarid areas where there is no competition for the use of raw materials [...]
DPG Investments, LLC has entered into a joint venture with EPEC Biofuels Holdings, Inc., a sweet sorghum ethanol company, to form a platform finance company which will provide project financing for EPEC and select financing initiatives in the biofuels and renewable energy sectors.
According to the joint venture [...]
The INEOS Bio waste-to-ethanol process, originally developed by BRI. Click to enlarge.
INEOS Bio, a subsidiary of INEOS, the world’s third-largest chemicals company, has started a feasibility study for a plant in the UK to convert locally generated biodegradable household and commercial wastes [...]
Reporting from Sao Paulo, Brazil - Who could resent the attention being showered on electric cars? Stylish and clean, they're the darling' [...]
The SINTEF Group, the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia, has opened a new full-scale laboratory for kelp cultivation to assess the potential use of that macroalgae as a feedstock for sustainable biofuels.
Liquid biofuels have met a lot of negative criticism because current production of bioethanol and biodiesel is [...]
Dow has posted a short video clip outlining its partnership with Algenol Biofuels to build a pilot-scale algae-based integrated biorefinery that will produce ethanol, located at Dow’s Freeport, Texas site. (Earlier post.)
Steve Tuttle, Global Business Director, Biosciences, Ventures & Business Development for Dow, provides a brief overview of [...]
Scientists are making progress toward development of an “artificial leaf” that mimics photosynthesis, but that converts sunlight and water into a liquid fuel such as methanol for cars and trucks, according to a new report summarizing the discussions from the 1st Annual Chemical Sciences and Society Symposium (CS3). However, [...]
PARIS (Reuters) - Oil major BP may start construction next year of a cellulosic biofuel plant as part of a push toward commercial production of new types of biofuels from next year, the head of the group's biofuels division said.
BP is planning to develop commercial production of grass-based ethanol in [...]
Neste Oil and St1 have begun working together on a fuel project as part of the TransEco development program coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The project will focus on developing cost-efficient solutions tailored to Finnish conditions that will enable the 20% bio-component target set for automotive [...]
In this Podcast, Jon Holzfaster, a cattle and corn farmer from Paxton, talks about the growth of the ethanol industry over the last year. (Yes...growth! Production each month this year has surpassed last year.)Verenium Corporation, a cellulosic ethanol developer and high-performance specialty enzyme company, announced the successful closure of previously defined programs under its joint research collaboration with Syngenta Participations AG of Switzerland. (Earlier post.)
In connection with the completion of those programs, the parties have executed an agreement whereby Verenium [...]
US ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, continued to exceed production in August. According to RFA calculations, demand was 734,000 bpd in August, up 11% from 661,000 b/d a year ago.
US ethanol production in August was 727,500 barrels per day (b/d), according to data from the [...]
A team of researchers led by University of California, Riverside (UCR) Professor of Chemical Engineering Wilfred Chen has constructed for the first time a synthetic cellulosome in yeast which is much more ethanol-tolerant than the bacteria in which these structures are normally found.
The yeast cellulosome could enable efficient [...]
