Grassroots

Mascoma and Tamarack Energy Partner to Accelerate Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol (Connecticut & Massachusetts - 11/30) Tamarack Energy, Inc., and Mascoma Corp., the leader in cellulosic biomass-to-ethanol development and production, announced an agreement to collaborate on the joint development of cellulosic ethanol facilities in New York, as well as follow-on opportunities in Pennsylvania and New England states, leveraging wood mills and other production facilities. This partnership enables Mascoma to apply its licensed and internally developed cellulosic conversion technologies, processes, engineering and design expertise to Tamarack Energy’s alternative energy development, permitting, operational, and financing abilities. Full article Ethanol Produced in Torrington Will Fuel Indy Cars (Wyoming - 12/1) When millions of spectators watch the 20 cars of the Indy Racing League in 2007, those high-performance machines will for the first time ever be powered by 100 percent ethanol fuel – all of it from a Wyoming plant. Renova Energy was selected to provide about 120,000 gallons of corn-based ethanol fuel to the IRL cars for 2007. That’s big news from a Wyoming company, and an exciting opportunity to highlight the small southeastern Wyoming town and ease future customers into optimism about consumer-grade ethanol fuel. Full article Switchgrass Research Aims to Create Ethanol to Power Vehicles for $1 Per Gallon (Rhode Island - 12/4) Albert Kausch is a world leader in developing transgenic grasses, having spent 20 years genetically modifying turf grasses, rice and corn. He is also an expert on “gene confinement”, working to create a switchgrass that does not flower or reproduce, thereby ensuring the genetically modified organisms do not escape into the environment and affect wild switchgrass. Kausch launched Project Golden Switchgrass at the University of Rhode Island, which he hopes will develop “the variety of enhanced switchgrass that everyone needs.” He said native switchgrass grown commercially today could produce ethanol for approximately $2.70 per gallon, but by genetically improving a number of plant traits he believes the production price could get as low as $1 per gallon. Full article Engineered Yeast Speeds Ethanol Production (Massachusetts - 12/10) MIT scientists have engineered yeast that can improve the speed and efficiency of ethanol production, a key component in making biofuels a significant part of the U.S. energy supply. But there are significant obstacles to producing ethanol, one being that high ethanol levels are toxic to the yeast that ferments corn and other plant material into ethanol. By manipulating the yeast genome, the researchers have engineered a new strain of yeast that can tolerate elevated levels of both ethanol and glucose, while producing ethanol faster than un-engineered yeast. The work will be reported in the Dec. 8 issue of Science. Full article Dartmouth Research Boosts Ethanol Production (New Hampshire - 12/10) Mascoma Corp., a Dartmouth College spinoff and a leader in ethanol research, recently announced it has secured an additional $30 million in funding during a second round of capital financing. According to Andrew Richard, the chief technology officer, the money will allow Mascoma to construct a demonstration facility where it hopes to prove the commercial viability of an innovative conversion process for making ethanol from cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Mascoma has revolutionized the process by genetically engineering a bacteria found in hot springs at Yellowstone National Park. By manipulating the bacteria's metabolism, researchers created a rapidly multiplying organism that consumes base cellulosic materials and produces as waste only ethanol, rather than ethanol and undesirable acids. Full article OUTLOOK 07: Next Farm Bill to Determine Fate of Subsidies (12/26) Senator Harkin said, “Energy will be the engine that pulls the farm bill” and, “We’re going to have think of how we start moving our agricultural agenda towards energy and energy independence.” The production of corn-based ethanol in the U.S. is booming, but lawmakers and Bush administration officials see a major transition coming when farmers will be able to sell the plant waste left behind in a corn field or crops such as switchgrass to ethanol producers. Harkin said he believes it will be up to Congress next year to make sure that transition happens smoothly by helping finance the equipment and infrastructure needed. “We need to lay the groundwork, the foundation, for the next 10 years of transition - a transition to different kinds of production with different kinds of crops,” Harkin said earlier this month. “We need to know in five or six years what is the best biomass feedstock ... and I don’t think we can do this in a few test plots,” Peterson said. “If this industry is ready to take off in five or six years, we have to be able to be ready to provide the feedstocks to fuel this industry. So that’s going to be a lot of our focus in the farm bill as well.” Full article Democrats Eye Oil Money for Conservation (12/26) House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies. Details of a renewable fuels fund have yet to be worked out. Nonetheless, it's one of the initiatives the House will take up during its first 100 hours in session in January, according to aides to Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi. At least some of the money -- revenue gained by rolling back some tax breaks -- will go to a program to support research into making ethanol from sources other than corn. Full article