Alternative Fuel News

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has signed a comprehensive alternative energy bill that is being touted as putting his state on the right foot for beginning true energy independence, while being realistic. This story from the Walton Sun says the new law will encourage investments in alternative and renewable energy technology and will help reduce greenhouse gases: This follows a year after the governor issued three executive orders with the intent of reducing greenhouse gases, increasing energy efficiency and removing market barriers for renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind energy. However, Lynn Erickson, corporate communications for Gulf Power, said “We know that wind isn't a viable option in Florida since only a couple of places can be used. It's the same thing with solar.” Last year's proposed emissions standards were as stringent as California's, said Erickson. The newly passed energy bill puts a “more realistic tone” on it, but by issuing those executive orders he has kick started the whole process for alternative energy in Florida, said Erickson. The article says Crist has also recommended for the 2008-2009 fiscal year a $200 million en..

Camelina is growing in popularity as a feedstock for biodiesel for its high oil content, hardy nature and short growing season… especially popular in the Northern Plains, such as Montana, where conditions can be a bit tough. But this story from The Prairie Star , a Great Falls-based publication serving Montana and parts of Wyoming, says researchers are offering some advice to overcome some of the oilseed's shortcomings: “What I see is it's a rotational crop to improve wheat production,” said Kent McVay, cropping systems specialist at the Montana State University's Southern Agricultural Recearch Center (SARC) in Huntley, Mont. Weed control, however, can be a major limitation to camelina production, McVay said. Therefore, it is critical to select fields where prior management has led to limited weed pressure and weed seed production. Camelina is resistant to flea beetles which are an economic pest of canola in Montana environments. McVay said MSU is studying camelina used in rotation and in long-term rotations. The university is also researching camelina variety trials and water use of the oilseed. McVay said the oilseed has also been studied at both Huntley and in Wyoming..

July is the time to celebrate Independence Day, but, unfortunately, the United States is still a long way from declaring energy independence. Home-grown, renewable fuels are one part of the answer when it comes to meeting America's fuel needs, and soybean farmers and their soybean checkoff have been working to develop, test and prove the value of soy biodiesel for nearly two decades now. The results of that work have proven the value and effectiveness of soy biodiesel and its benefits as a cleaner burning “green” choice. Recently, a complete “green” fuel station opened in Lawrence, Kansas. Harold Kraus, a National Biodiesel Board Director and Kansas soybean farmer Harold Kraus was there. “This brings all the fuels together at one pump: B2, B10, B20, B30 and B100,” says Kraus, talking about the Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels Station. It's the state's first blender pump where the mixing of the biodiesel and the pricing is done right at the pump. “You've got an easy way to select the blend you want for biodiesel.” Making soy biodiesel more accessible to truckers, farmers and other users has been a primary goal of soybean checkoff investm..

The Missouri Corn Crowers Association (MCGA) is citing ‘political schemes' are the root of talk that may remove the statewide ethanol standard. This removal, they say, “will sharply increase prices to consumers, drain dollars from already tight household budgets and play directly into the hands of foreign oil cartels.” “By utilizing corn-based ethanol in gas pumps throughout the state, Missouri consumers have earned bragging rights for having the cheapest gas in the nation,” states CEO of the MCGA, Gary Marshall. “By design, the use of ethanol as required by the Missouri Renewable Fuel Standard works only to lower the cost to consumers. The law is written with a price trigger that if ethanol is ever priced higher than gasoline, marketers are not required to use the high performance fuel.” Missouri state farmer owned cooperatives are now selling ethanol at more than a dollar under regular unleaded gasoline. Marshall noted that it is the only cost-effective substitute in today's tight market, and that removing the ethanol requirement in Missouri would only increase prices at the pump for already hurting consumers. At the national level, corn..

There should be no U-turn on the European Union's biofuels policy said Mariann Fischer Boel, the Commissioner responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development, speaking in Brussels today. Ms Fischer Boel was made her comments at the Who will feed the World? The answers from the EU event at the European Parliament.

TMO Renewables has licensed the ERGO™ bioinformatics software from Integrated Genomics. The company will use the tools for gene annotation, metabolic reconstruction and enzyme data-mining as well as for comparative genomics purposes.

Brazil's Dedini, the leading manufacturer of biofuel equipment, launched a new technology that enabl ...

The Economist recently published two stories that succinctly make the case for continuing to reduce our reliance on oil. The more recent story outlines the use of industrial biotechnology for plastics, and another earlier story details research and development of biotech fuels that go beyond ethanol. In “Better Living Through Chemurgy,” reporter Vijay Vaitheeswaran compares today's industrial biotechnology companies with the chemurgy movement of Henry Ford, who sought to make cars and fuels from agricultural products, and George Washington Carver, who developed hundreds of industrial uses — paints, dyes, glues — for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other crops that would diversify the cotton-dominated agricultural economy of the South. What's new today, according to Vaitheeswaran, is Advances in bioengineering, environmental worries, high oil prices and new ways to improve the performance of oil-based products using biotechnology have led to a revival of interest in using agricultural feedstocks to make plastics, paints, textile fibres and other industrial products that now come from oil.” Why replace oil with agriculture? The big advances in oil-based po..

Filed under: Biodiesel Over the past year, the price of diesel fuel has climbed up above the cost of gasoline and stayed there consistently. Unfortunately for diesel drivers, that price differential also applies to biodiesel to an even larger degree. Nonetheless, the extra 10 cents a gallon for B20 over straight petroleum diesel hasn't stopped people at one station in Fort Collins, Colorado. Sales of Blue Sun B20 at the Team Petroleum have continued to climb this year even at the higher prices although some other stations have discontinued selling B20. It's possible that drivers who are only marginally interested in using a greener fuel have given up on the more expensive option. With the reduced availability, other more environmentally conscious drivers have probably switched over to the Team station as a result. The city of Fort Collins is still using B20 in city vehicles as well although they may have to reconsider if prices continue to climb. [Source: The Coloradoan ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In the continuing effort to tap the vast, unexplored reaches of the earth’s microbial and plant domains for bioenergy and environmental applications, the DOE Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) has announced its latest portfolio of DNA sequencing projects that it will undertake in the coming year. The 44 projects, culled from nearly 150 international proposals received through the Community Sequencing Program (CSP), represent over 60 billion nucleotides of data to be generated through this biodiversity sampling campaign — roughly the equivalent of 20 human genomes. From giant shipworms to the foregut of Amazonian stinkbirds, from exotic fungi to microscopic extremophiles - the projects are all aimed at screening genomes and biological mechanisms which show promising characteristics for the production of hyper-efficient bioenergy, green fuels, enzymes, ecosystem services such as sequestering carbon, biomaterials or bioremediation technologies. The scientific and technological advances enabled by the information that we generate from these selections promise to take us faster and further down the path toward clean, renewable transportation fuels while affording us a more comprehens..

The charity Action Aid estimates that 260m people have been driven into fuel poverty by biofuels in a story reported in today's Guardian Unlimited. Dr Claire Melamed, ActionAid's head of trade policy says. "The world needs to start again and plan properly. If biofuels are to play a part in a renewable energy strategy we must ensure that they benefit the environment and that poor farmers and consumers are not harmed by their use." Melmand was talking in an Action Aid publication, Biofuels in the firing line . This is strong stuff from people who professionally worry about the poor. Perhaps we should look at the amount of biofuel growth we've got planned over the next couple of years.

The world's investment in clean energies - solar, wind and biofuels - jumped an amazing 60 percent from 2006 to 2007… thanks to rising oil prices and changing climate rules. This story from Bloomberg.com says the information came from a United Nations Environment Program report: Wind power attracted the most financing at $50 billion, according to a report today from the Nairobi-based UNEP. Overall, investment in clean-energy and energy-efficiency industries rose 60 percent from 2006. Carbon dioxide, the byproduct of burning coal, oil and natural gas, is the main pollutant blamed for global warming. Fossil-fuel burning power plants are the world's biggest source of CO2, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency. “We have a significant economic signal here that goes well beyond what even 10 years ago some of the mainstream energy think tanks or international finance institutions thought would happen,” Achim Steiner, the director general of UNEP, said on a conference call. “It reflects a clear understanding in the marketplace that environmental change scenarios are indeed driving public policy.” Solar power attracted $28.6 billion in new c..

The president of a New York City biodiesel company is encouraging his industry to “push back” against the myths put out about the green fuel. Biodiesel Magazine reports Brent Baker, president of Tri-State Biodiesel got tired of dispelling misinformation about biodiesel: Isn’t it the reason people are starving? Doesn’t it take more energy to make than it creates? What about greenhouse gas emissions and the rainforests?: Baker became so frustrated about having to constantly defend biodiesel to people who were being misled by incorrect information that he decided to do something about it on a larger level. A few months ago, he began writing statements to potential clients and other interested parties setting the facts straight about biodiesel. Now, he’s heading a national “grassroots” movement for others to do the same. “I like to call it a ‘push back’,” Baker said. One of the things he’s frustrated about is that all biofuels are constantly lumped into one group by the mainstream media and biodiesel is often referred to as being the same as corn ethanol. “We’re going to try to do what we can here in New York and with our circle of colleagues in the..

Frost & Sullivan has presented a new report titled "European Markets for Naturally-Reinforced Plastic Composites", in which it shows that plastics containing a certain fraction of biobased materials are becoming cost-competitive in the EU. The report provides information on the technical and market developments in the markets for naturally reinforced plastic composites in decking, insulation and automotive applications. The research zooms in on the following technologies: wood plastic composites and natural fibre composites, including flax and hemp fibres in sectors including the automotive, building, sports equipment and aeronautical industries. Due to escalating oil prices, any technology that reduces the dependence on oil has a fighting chance. Although naturally reinforced plastic composites (NRPC) have plastic in their composition, their use limits the amount of it necessary to manufacture a certain product. There have also been efforts to decrease the amount of oil-derived content. NRPC are going to remain a competitive technology to replace oil-based materials, as wood and natural fibre prices are unlikely to grow faster than oil prices. Not all ‘green’ technologies are..

Three biofuels workshops will be held in the cities of Decatur, Birmingham and Montgomery the week of July 15 in Alabama. These workshops will focus on the advantages of quality biofuel usage and the importance of lessening America's and Alabama's dependency on foreign Oil. Following is the schedule and location for each workshop: Tuesday, July 15 in Decatur: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Calhoun Community College Wednesday, July 16 in Birmingham: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Hoover Public Safety Center Thursday, July 17 in Montgomery: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries Speakers will offer insight on: State & National and perspectives on biodiesel and ethanol; Alabama's current and potential biofuel feed-stocks; Marketplace experiences from folks producing, selling and using biofuels and alternative fuels; Importance of fuel quality; Potential incentives & financial benefits available; The Facts vs. Myths about alternative fuels and more. For more information, visit http://www.alabamacleanfuels.org/Workshops/ .

If more Brazilian ethanol were allowed into the U.S., it could contribute to a 5 cent per gallon red ...

Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), or Petrobras, and Japan's Mitsui & Co. ( ...

Brazil's leading manufacturer of biofuel equipment, Dedini, said on Wednesday it has sold four ethan ...

A coalition of biofuels, agricultural and environmental organizations is calling for a united effort toward making July 4th Energy Independence Day by extending America's domestic fuel supply through increased biofuels use and simple conservation strategies. Currently, America's domestic gasoline and ethanol production combined is enough to supply the country’s gasoline needs for 149 days. But through the increased use of biofuels and simple conservation strategies, America could extend its supply by another 27 days - or theoretically until July 4 - before needing to rely on imported oil. According to the coalition, America currently produces 49 billion gallons of gasoline domestically, which equates to 128 days of energy independence. Nine billion gallons of ethanol adds another 21 days. Assuming no change in domestic gasoline production, the groups believe the additional savings in imports can be made up by another five billion gallons of ethanol - yielding 37 days of energy independence - and 19 days of conservation achieved by drivers limiting their usage by just 21 gallons per year. The groups are calling for unity to achieve this goal. “To find true and long-lasting ..

Nick Goodall has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the UK's Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA). The appointment was announced today (2nd July) by Professor Ed Gallagher, Chair of the RFA. Commenting on the appointment Prof Gallacgher said, 'We are pleased to welcome Nick to the Agency. Nick will be leading a strong team at the RFA, and will be working to build a new consensus on the future of biofuels in the UK between Government, business and the environmental movement.' Nick said, 'I am delighted to be invited to lead the RFA. We will now build on the Gallagher Review, to ensure a truly sustainable future for biofuels in the UK.' Nick is joining the RFA from the Energy Networks Association (ENA), where he was Chief Executive. Prior to that he was Chief Executive of 'Renewables East', the renewable energy agency for the East of England, and Chief Executive of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). He is a member of Sustainability East.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a solicitation for up to $10 billion in federal loan guarantees for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. This marks the second round of solicitations for DOE's Loan Guarantee Program, which encourages the commercial use of new or significantly improved energy technologies.

With millions of Americans expected to gas-up and head out for the July 4th weekend, producers of sugarcane ethanol want drivers to know that there is an alternative to continued increases in fuel prices. The "Are We There Yet?" campaign will introduce Americans to a lower-cost, higher efficiency fuel, ethanol derived from sugarcane and call on Congress to lift the tariff that artificially inflates the price of cane ethanol.

Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University.

More than four million truckers in India have stopped working and are protesting over high fuel prices. Their strike is paralysing the country's economy and is threatening to fuel the food crisis further. The truckers want the government to lower taxes and undo the cuts in fuel subsidies it recently introduced. The truckers vow to shut down the country if no deal is reached. Truckers are simply no longer able to work. Diesel has become so expensive that we can not survive. We are being forced to lay down our work. [...] We had talks with the government, but it was just an eyewash. We are hoping that a solution would be found soon. - Gurinder Pal Singh, AIMTC The road transport sector is India's most important mechanism to supply the subcontinent's 1.4 billion inhabitants and its economy. Trucks not only supply raw materials and finished goods to end users, they also transport food and agricultural products from the country-side to the growing mega-cities. Food crisis Rising fuel costs are already the largest factor in the increase in food prices, heavily affecting the poor. But if the transportation sector shuts down altogether, a fullblown food crisis would emerge. The Confederat..

Is the price of corn related to the price of crude? Many in the US ethanol business say that it isn't this chap isn't so sure...  

An article in the Houston Chronicle this week traces Texas Governor Rick Perry's request for a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard back to a March 25 meeting with Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim, owner of Pilgrim's Pride, the country's largest chicken producer. According to the article, Pilgrim gave $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association chaired by Perry shortly after that meeting. In the following weeks, Pilgrim's Pride lobbyists and public relations firm Public Strategies helped Perry's staff work out the details of waiver request, which was submitted on April 25.

Researchers of the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College are investigating the molecular basis and regulation of circadian rhythms in plants, and are obtaining information which could lead to the development of crops adapted to many different growing conditions. As anyone who has suffered from jetlag knows, we have internal clocks that tell us when to sleep and wake, and we can be miserable when these are disrupted. The daily cycles of many organisms are well known, but what has not been clear is whether these cycles are just responses to external cues of light, dark, heat, and cold, or if there are internal clocks that are set and reset by environmental signals. In animals, circadian rhythms are known to be important for maintaining a multitude of physiological processes. They may be even more critical for plants, which grow in many different light and temperature environments that not only vary with latitude but also with subtle differences within just a few feet. Plants respond to changes in light and temperature, opening flowers at dawn and closing them at night or blooming in the right season. However, they also have endogenous circadian ("around the day") rh..

Abengoa irritates European Federation for Transport and Environment . The is the response from the EFTE , good points about fuel efficiency. I particularly like this statement from EFTE Running Europe's fleet of heavy, gas-guzzling cars on biofuels rather than petrol is no cure. If Europe truly wants to end its addiction to oil, it should start by making cars twice as fuel-efficient as they are today. to which I say hear, hear!

Good report on how flooding in the midwest is making life hard for ethanol companies trying to get their product to market by rail from Dow Jones Newswire. Hattip to the Cattlenetwork. 

Switching to switchgrass isn't going to be easy, according to this useful piece from redorbit. Worth reading. 

Researchers at Rice University are finding more uses for the glut of glycerin brought about by the rise in popularity of biodiesel. A story from the school says the researchers have found a way to use E. coli and other bacteria to turn glycerin into chemicals formate, succinate and other valuable organic acids. The article says the work is being featured in the journal Metabolic Engineering: “Biodiesel producers used to sell their leftover glycerin, but the rapid increase in biodiesel production has left them paying to get rid of it,” said lead researcher Ramon Gonzalez, Rice's William W. Akers Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “The new metabolic pathways we have uncovered paved the way for the development of new technologies for converting this waste product into high-value chemicals.” About one pound of glycerin, also known as glycerol, is created for every 10 pounds of biodiesel produced. According to the National Biodiesel Board, U.S. companies produced about 450 million gallons of biodiesel in 2007, and about 60 new plants with a production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons are slated to open by 2010. A year ago, this same tea..

Sugar futures rose Tuesday to their highest point in nearly four months on concerns that record crud ...

Brazil has slapped multimillion-dollar fines on 24 ethanol producers accused of environmental crimes ...

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has received regulatory approval to complete the previously announced acquisition of a biodiesel production facility in Houston, Texas and a liquid storage terminal in California. Construction of the biodiesel facility is complete and REG has slated biodiesel production to begin on July 7.

Filed under: Biodiesel , Green Daily Photo by Martin Pettitt . Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0 . It was not an easy journey. Following a tragic first attempt, the crew of the biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat set out a second time to break the record for motorized circumnavigation. On the second trip, a biodiesel flood and a lost engine were serious setbacks, but this past weekend, the Earthrace pulled into Sagunto, Sapin, two months after setting forth . The 61-day journey means that the Earthrace can now claim to be the best at circling the globe with an engine: the previous such record took two weeks longer to go the distance. The Guardian UK has a nice story about the crew's victory, the many troubles they faced along the way, and the well-deserved parties in their future. As tipster Sayyad wrote in to AutoblogGreen, "I think congratulations are in order, especially considering all they've been through." True, but let's not forget that the record for sailing around the world using nothing but wind and human power is just over 50 days . Sails beat biofuels on the open seas. h/t to Sayyad! %Gallery-22329% [Source: Guardian UK ]   Read  |  Permalink | Em..

Filed under: Biodiesel , China Earlier this year, Gushan Environmental Energy Limited reached an annual biodiesel production capacity of 240,000 tons with a new plant in Beijing . At the time, Gushan said they hoped to reach an annual capacity of 400,000 tons by the end of 2008. They are now getting 50,000 tons closer. Gushan started building a new biodiesel facility in Shanghai yesterday, and the 50,000-ton plant will help cement Gushan's place as China's largest biodiesel producer (by annual production capacity). Two more plants (30,000 tons each) are scheduled to open later this year, and the Beijing plant will be expanded by 50,000 tons. Gushan biodiesel's main feedstocks are "vegetable oil offal and used cooking oil." That's how the press release reads. Since offal usually means waste animal parts (or a delicacy, depending on where you live), I'm not sure if there is a comma missing or if the company is using the word to mean waste veggie oil. We'll see what Gushan's PR people can tell me. [Source: Gushan Environmental Energy Limited]   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

A $5 million sponsored research agreement with the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) has been announced today (1st July) by ConocoPhillips. The research programme is to concentrate on developing new ways to convert biomass into low-carbon transportation fuels. The new collaboration will build on a variety of active research projects being conducted by Colorado scientists and students to develop new sources of transportation biofuels. The first project will involve converting algae into renewable fuel.

The world's most heavily traded sugar futures contract, Sugar No. 11 on the ICE, rose Tuesday 4.6% to 13.72 cents per pound after UNICA reported that Brazil will use more sugarcane than expected for ethanol production as crude oil continues its push into uncharted territory. This is the highest Sugar No. 11 has been in nearly four months. UNICA reported that ethanol consumption in Brazil has risen 54.8% between January and May as, "in recent weeks, in 92% of the Brazilian market, ethanol from the pump recorded prices 65% lower than a liter of gasoline." With this newly created demand, and what is expected to be a rainy next month, Brazil's sugar prices are bound to rise. This is not a bad thing, though, as the current price for sugar in Brazil is very low. As Carlos Murilo Barros de Mello of Cosan puts it, "the world will need more cane, the most competitive country is Brazil, so prices will have to rise to boost investment in new mills."

The EU looks set to abolish mandatory set-aside following a meeting of the Special Committee for Agriculture on yesterday (30th June). In a statement released today, the outgoing Presidency of the EU Council said that it believed the vast majority of member states will agree to abolish set-aside as proposed by the Commission in its CAP Health Check proposals. The change comes in response to the increasingly tight situation on the cereals market. Under these circumstances, farmers can already benefit from the measure as from their autumn 2008 and spring 2009 sowings. The end of the set-aside scheme will allow farmers to adjust their planting decisions and respond in advance to new market circumstances.

The recently completed Shanghai biodiesel plant, owned by Gushan Environmental Energy Limited, came on stream this week (28th June) adding an additional 50,000 tons to the company's annual biodiesel production capacity. The new plant brings the company's annual production capacity to 290,000 tons.

Oil output from countries outside OPEC is unlikely to grow much over the next five years despite rec ...

World oil supply will rise more slowly than expected by 2013, leaving little spare capacity on the m ...

A garbage sorting plant in Edmonton, Alberta will be home to an ethanol facility that will turn 100, ...

The USDA Planted Acreage report out Monday was good news, although it does not yet reflect the damag ...

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The U.S. now imports more than 60% of its oil. With oil topping $140 a barrel this week, we are now endangering our economy, national security and health with our addiction to oil.

Ecolab Inc.'s Ecovation division has announced the installation and start-up of its proprietary whole stillage treatment system at the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. Ecovation collaborated with Maker's Mark to design, build and operate the waste stream treatment system that will enable the Maker's Mark Distillery to significantly recycle its waste stream and generate renewable energy.

General Motors will offer 18 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in model year 2009. The number of E85 compatible vehicle models available in 2009 is a sharp increase from the past following the group's commitment to making their line at least half E85 compatible by 2012. “We continue to believe that biofuels, specifically E85, is the [...]

Solena Group - an innovative international company whose mission is "committed to combating climate change by promoting renewable bio-energy to replace fossil fuel" - has projects deployed or under development for using plasma arc technology to cleanly gasify feedstock into syngas. Teamed with Rentech Technologies, they can convert the syngas into bio jet fuel. Otherwise they can use the syngas

1 bn acres of unused agricultural land world wide could produce biofuels, according to the Stanford News Service in a piece called Feeding and fuelling the future: the bioenergy potential of reviving abandoned agricultural land . The authors estimate that this is about a quarter of the total agricultural land in use. Land is abandoned for a number of reasons, but plants could fix nitrogen and carbon to help them recover as well as provide biofuels.

Interesting piece over on Maribo about the way that flooding in the Midwestern US could lead  to a big increase in the size of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico . This is caused each year when excess fertiliser is washed out of farmland along the Mississippi, flows into the gulf and feeds algae which grow quickly taking oxygen out of the water. Sounds nasty, but if the algae were concentrated enough, wouldn't it be possible to make a virtue out of disaster by harvesting the alge and taking the biofuel out of it? 

The ASTM has produced its ASTM D6751 standard for biodiese l fuels that could help their acceptance in a wider range of engines, and give engine builders something to go on. Co-evolution helped the chicken and egg and the same process could help biofuels and biofuel-compatible diesel engines. ASTM D6751 is the standard for B100. The standard looks like a snip at $36. Hattip to the Methanol Institute' s Insider Report.

Filed under: Biodiesel , Ethanol , European Union In 2007, the EU used 7.7m tons of oil equivalent ( TOE ), which accounted for 2.6 percent of all fuels used for road transport that year. This is half of the 2010 target of 5.75 percent usage of biofuels, which means that Europeans will need more imports and to increase production if this target isn't changed. Europe's leader in biofuel use is Germany, burning more than 4 million TOEs, followed by France (1.4 million), Austria (0.4 million) and Spain (0.35 million). EurObserv'ER published a report on EU biofuel use under sponsorship of the European Commission as well as the European Agency for Environment and Energy Control. Get it here . [Source: Eurobserver ]   Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Mascoma Corporation CEO Bruce Jamerson announced that Mascoma has entered into a series of key strategic relationships to further its efforts to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Mascoma's single-step cellulose-to-ethanol method, called consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, uses advanced technologies to make ethanol from non-food based renewable sources such as wood chips and other biomass.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently publicized practices that it claims are illegal under its complex system for documenting compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard. The system requires obligated parties to establish that they have purchased sufficient Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which are generated by the sale of renewable fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. The EPA notice suggests that some RIN market participants' efforts to correct clerical errors in their RIN transactions may be creating additional civil exposure. Properly documenting RIN transactions has been a source of substantial concern to producers, marketers and purchasers of renewable fuels. The EPA's recent notice probably exacerbates those concerns for past transactions but does provide some useful guidance for future transactions.

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The UK government has set out a national renewable energy blueprint designed to slash carbon emissions and reduce dependency on oil and gas. UK Business Secretary John Hutton outlined the proposals that are likely to include up to a third of electricity coming from renewable sources as well as significant increases in the use of renewable forms of heat and transport fuels last week. The blueprint is designed to help meet the UK's anticipated 15% renewable energy target by 2020, an increase of 1000% on current levels.

"Lower carbon fuels, such as celluosic biofuels, could abate between 100 and 370 megatons of emissions, though this potential is highly dependent on innovation rates and near-term commercialisation of these technologies" With the kicker about the US Auto industry that: "Improved fuel efficiency could provide 240 to 290 megatons of abatement" For me that is the key finding in Reducing Greenhouse gas emissions how much and at what cost , a new report from McKinsey & Company Of course going along these routes is going to cost some people more than others, but then again, so is not following a route to reduce carbon emissions, McKinsey seems to be saying in its report. The cost, by the way, seems to be around $50/ton if there are no automtotive fuel efficiency savings.

I reported that Kudzu could be a good biofuel source for ethano l. Looks like the Huffington post agrees. Kudzu is the latest new craze, according to Huffington . Like all crazes I'll give it a couple of months. Now what about water hyacinth as a possible biofuel?

A new survey by Consumer Reports shows consumers think U.S. energy policy is to blame for record fuel costs.  Consumers say the answer lies in alternatives, conservation and reduced dependence on imports. As a result, 90% of those surveyed support an increase in alternative energy development, and 81% want the U.S. government to allow more drilling on and off [...]