Feedstocks
Water-borne algal blooms from farm fertilizer runoff can destroy aquatic life and clog rivers and lakes, but scientists recently reported that they are working on a way to clean up these environmental scourges and turn them into useful products.
Farmers who are considering selling corn residue from their fields to produce cellulosic ethanol first should weigh a range of site-specific factors to their operations, according to new research from an Iowa State University agronomist.
The USDA's Prospective Plantings report released March 31 shows estimated sorghum planted acres will reach 7.9 million in 2015, up 11 percent from the 7.1 million the previous season. Kansas and Texas are the largest grain sorghum-producing states.
The corn crush for ethanol production was down 11 percent in February, according to the monthly survey-based report, Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production. USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service publishes the report.
Syngenta recently announced that it has signed a commercial agreement with Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy to begin using Enogen corn enzyme technology at its Council Bluffs, Iowa, ethanol production facility following the 2015 harvest.
Corn acres are expected to be down for the third year in a row, the USDA said in its Prospective Plantings report, and corn stocks are higher, according to the Grain Stocks report, both released March 31.
Biodiesel industry seeks to reverse Argentina import decision
By The National Biodiesel Board
March 31, 2015
In a petition filed March with U.S. EPA, the National Biodiesel Board cited the lack of public comment on the agency's decision and little transparency regarding the plans Argentinian producers can use to demonstrate compliance with the RFS.
Science Magazine has published another study from environmental activist and attorney Timothy Searchinger that re-packages his disproven theory of food vs. fuel. Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, has responded.
Rex American Resources Corp. has released financial results for fiscal year 2014, which ended Jan. 31, reporting net sales of $572.2 million, down from $666 million in fiscal 2013. Gross profits, however, more than doubled, reaching $141.9 million.
The buyer, Drain Bros., will become the first facility in the world to use Methes' pretreatment system using the PP-MEC catalyst to process corn oil from a local ethanol plant. The company is also buying a Denami 600 biodiesel processor from Methes.
Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that manipulation of a specific gene in a hardwood tree species not only makes it easier to break down the wood into fuel, but also significantly increases tree growth.
Currently, the corn market has been responding to an ever-volatile global currency environment. The U.S. dollar has been a culprit affecting commodity values within the U.S.
Springboard Biodiesel has been selected to provide its biodiesel processing system to Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. The BioPro 380EX and SpringPro T76 will be used to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel for use on base.
Mendota Bioenergy has made the first whole-beet ethanol in a California demonstration facility. The technology promises a carbon intensity rating of 22 to meet state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Greenergy, one of Europe's leading makers of waste-based biodiesel, earned the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials sustainability certification for production of biodiesel from used cooking oil at its facilities in Immingham and North Cave.
According to the EPA, its analysis indicates biofuels produced using the feedstock could qualify as biomass-based diesel or advanced biofuel if typical fuel production process technologies are used. The comment period closes April 20.
Bobby Likis featured Judd Hulting, commodities manager at Patriot Renewable Fuels LLC, in Annawan, Illinois, during his two-hour Saturday morning radio show, Bobby Likis Car Clinic, on March 14.
Ceres Inc. and Raizen S.A., have signed a multiyear collaboration agreement to develop and produce sweet sorghum on an industrial scale. Sweet sorghum can extend the operating season of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol mills.
Legislation pending in Minnesota aims to establish state production incentives for advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biomass thermal. The measure was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate in February.
Advanced biofuel projects present significant economic development opportunities.
Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers have used advanced proteomic techniques to identify 1,750 unique proteins in shoots of switchgrass, a North American native prairie grass that is widely viewed as one of the most promising fuel crop candidates.
Fuels America recently hosted a media event featuring leaders in the U.S. ethanol industry responding to a call from the American Petroleum Institute, the Environmental Working Group and ActionAid to dismantle the renewable fuels standard (RFS).
The 2015 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, the ethanol industry's largest conference, has released its highly anticipated agenda featuring more than 140 speakers and four comprehensive tracks. The event takes place June 1-4 in Minneapolis.
USDA lowered the projected corn ending stocks in the March World Agriculture Supply and Demand report by 50 million bushels. Corn use for ethanol production is now project to be 5.20 billion bushels for the current marketing year.
A Florida algae-to-ethanol operation is poised to go commercial scale with a project colocated with a natural-gas-fired power plant.
Algenol's technology takes a problem and turns it into a marketable ingredient for algae-to-ethanol production. I don't know about you, but that's something I can get excited about.
Details from the EIA's 2014 U.S. biodiesel production and feedstock survey results, and parsing out the year's import/export data compared to 2013
A recent study simulated a side-by-side comparison of the yields and costs of producing ethanol using miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover. The fast-growing energy grass miscanthus was the clear winner.
Researchers at the Institute of Food Research have developed a new way of rapidly screening yeasts that could help produce more sustainable biofuels. The technique could also aid in the search for new ways of deriving valuable renewable chemicals.
In 2014, Neste Oil produced more than 420 million gallons of renewable fuel from waste and residues, enough to power all 650,000 diesel cars in Finland for two years. Waste and residues comprised 62 percent of its feedstock last year.
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