Oklahoma State University Experts Discuss Potential of Sweet Sorghum Use in Ethanol Production (10/22)
With demand growing for ethanol produced from sources other than corn, researchers at Oklahoma State University said Wednesday (10/21) that state agriculture producers could someday grow sweet sorghum or switchgrass as cash crops. Division scientists and engineers from Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources spoke during a "biofuels field day" at the University's South Central Research Station in Chickasha about the potential of crops that could be grown by Oklahoma farmers for use in ethanol production. The interest in such crops stems in part from the nation's renewable fuel standard, which ensures demand for ethanol. In 2007, the Energy and Independence Security Act passed by Congress called for 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into gasoline this year, with that number rising to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
Link: http://ethanol-news.newslib.com/
Kauai Advancing on Energy (10/16)
Pacific West Energy's proposed biomass-to-electricity plant on Kauai would help reduce Hawaii's reliance on foreign oil while keeping sugar cane cultivation alive on the Garden Isle, project observers say. Meanwhile, the company's planned 15-million-gallons-a-year sugar ethanol plant is on track to be the first in-state supplier of the gasoline additive. And that's not even factoring in Pacific West's intention to produce sugar for food and rum-making on Kauai, or a potential demonstration project for making ethanol directly from woody plants. "I think there's a tremendous amount of goodness in there for Kauai and the state," Ted Peck, energy administrator for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said of PacWest's ongoing work to bring its $135-million plan to fruition.
Link: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
In North Dakota, more signs of an ethanol revival appeared with the purchase of the 110 Mgy ethanol plant in Hankinson by Murphy Oil. Murphy, which paid $92 million in the form of nonrecourse debt for the plant, said that it will invest $15 million in working capital to restart the plant, which debuted in July 2008 but went idle last October due to industry economic conditions. Murphy becomes the third oil company—after Valero and Sunoco—to purchase idle ethanol plants. “Given the current ethanol mandates and our subsequent blending needs, having more of a presence in the supply chain better balances our business,” said David Wood, chief executive and president of the company.
Link: http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/10/05/
Florida Becomes Biofuels Start-up Incubator (9/17)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist touted his state’s investment in biofuels and renewable energy development during his speech to attendees at the 2009 Farm to Fuel Summit, held July 29–31 in Orlando, Florida. According to Crist, Florida has awarded more than $43 million in grants for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects since 2006, of which more than $23 million has been awarded to bioenergy projects. An E10 mandate will go into effect in 2010 and second-generation biofuels will be a major part of an integrated solution for meeting Florida’s energy needs, according to Crist. The state is currently funding research related to the production of ethanol from feedstocks such as sorghum and citrus waste.
Link: http://ethanolproducer.com/
Oklahoma Researchers Look for Cash in the Switchgrass (9/9)
Watching grass grow is tedious, but researchers in the Oklahoma Panhandle say they'll stare at their switchgrass—all 1,000 acres of it until they know whether they've found a commercially viable source of biofuel. The site is billed as the largest such project in the world as scientists try to determine if making ethanol from switchgrass is cost-effective. The goal is to determine whether small-scale experiments of using the tall, thin plant native to the Great Plains to make ethanol can be duplicated on a large scale and if so, whether farmers and others involved in its production could make a profit. […]The $2.2-million experiment, a project of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center that is being led by the Ardmore-based Noble Foundation, began last year with the planting of switchgrass on three fields near Guymon, a town 100 miles north of Amarillo, Texas. The grass will help feed a biorefinery planned in nearby southwest Kansas.
Link: http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Dealing with pond scum in Massachusetts’ Cape Cod region could prove to be a financial windfall. Plankton Power, a Wellfleet-based alternative-energy company, has joined forces with military, government, industry, and research organizations to establish an algae farm and biorefinery on five acres of the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The Cape Cod Algae Biorefinery is expected to cost $20 million and has the potential to create hundreds of jobs, while providing the Cape with an alternative to burning fossil fuels. This initiative is supported by the Regional Technology Development Corp. of Cape Cod, the Massachusetts National Guard, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, and the Cape Cod Commission. "What a lot of people don't realize is the Cape is one of the best algae resources in the world," said Curtis Felix, CEO of Plankton Power.
Link: http://www.capecodonline.com/
Iowa Scientists Innovate with Biofuels (7/30)
Iowa is one of the nation's leaders in the production of renewable fuels, and researchers at the Renewable Energy Group’s new Research Center in Ames are working to grow the industry. Scientists in the lab are converting everyday products into fuel. Most people appreciate coffee beans when they're freshly brewed and served hot first thing in the morning, but those same coffee beans could one day fuel cars. It's one of the many everyday products that workers at the lab are converting into biodiesel […] Researchers said their challenge is to find a way to make the alternative feedstocks viable.
Link: http://www.kcci.com/news/
A Shift from Corn to the Cob (7/23)
The high-stakes race to make a better renewable fuel took a small step forward in late July in a secluded cornfield near the Texas–Mexico border. In tiny Santa Rosa, Texas, a few miles northwest of Harlingen, the nation's largest ethanol producer was secretly testing farm equipment that only a few years ago might have seemed absurd. The machine collects corncobs, naked of kernels and typically left in the field after a harvest, for eventual conversion into ethanol. The testing by POET (the world’s largest ethanol-producer, based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is part of a larger project that could help usher in a new era for ethanol, which today in the United States is produced mostly from corn.
Link: http://www.soyatech.com/