Burning Bio News

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation by Agricultural Intensification

Mark — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:51:45 +0000

Study shows that increases in crop production technology from 1961 to 2005 have lowered GHG emissions. While emissions from factors such as fertilizer production and application have increased, the net effect of higher yields has avoided emissions of up to 161 gigatons of carbon (GtC) (590 GtCO2e) since 1961. Each dollar invested in agricultural yields is estimated to have resulted in 68 fewer kgC (249 kgCO2e) emissions relative to 1961 technology ($14.74/tC, or ∼$4/tCO2e), avoiding 3.6 GtC (13.1 GtCO2e) per year. This analysis indicates that investment in yield improvements compares favorably with other commonly proposed mitigation strategies.

USDA Report Provides Roadmap to Achieve America’s Renewable Energy Goals

Mark — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:50:09 +0000

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a report outlining both the current state of renewable transportation fuels efforts in America and a plan to develop regional strategies to increase the production, marketing and distribution of biofuels to 36 billion gallons of biofuel per year by 2022. USDA’s report identifies numerous biomass feedstocks to be utilized in developing biofuels and calls for the funding of further investments in research and development of: feedstock; sustainable production and management systems; efficient conversion technologies and high-value bioproducts, and decision support and policy analysis tools.

Secretary Chu Announces $1 Billion Investment in Carbon Capture and Storage

Mark — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:48:44 +0000

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that three projects have been selected to receive up to $612 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – matched by $368 million in private funding – to demonstrate large-scale carbon capture and storage from industrial sources. The projects – located in Texas, Illinois, and Louisiana – were initially selected in October 2009 for phase one research and development grants. The selections announced today are expected to capture and store 6.5 million tons of CO2 per year- the equivalent of removing nearly one million cars off the road- and increase domestic production of oil by more than 10 million barrels per year by the end of the demonstration period in September 2015.

USDA Study Underscores Ethanol Efficiency Gains

Mark — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:47:19 +0000

The U.S. ethanol industry continues to see improved efficiency, according to a new report released by USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist. Nitrogen use measured on a per bushel basis has declined by about 20% since the mid-90s. Similarly, all direct energy components have declined by about 50% since the mid-90s. Together, the nitrogen and direct energy reductions result in a 30% decline in the energy required to produce a bushel of corn. Recent energy use estimates show that the ratio of energy in ethanol to the external energy used to produce ethanol is about 1.4, even without allowing for the processing component of the byproduct credit. After fully allowing for heat used to produce byproducts, the energy ratio is between 1.9 and 2.3. If biomass is used at the plant for some of the power, the energy balance ratio increases to 2.8, even using the lower byproduct credit from the regression results.

Wood Waste Pellet Plant Announced, LA

Mark — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:45:08 +0000

A new company, called Point Bio Energy, LLC, is developing a $124 million wood pellet project at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana. The 400,000 metric ton per year wood pellet facility will receive the feedstock for the plant from the underutilized wood basket in the Baton Rouge area as well as by barge from the Mississippi River, Atchafalaya River, Red River, and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Sustainable Ag Practices on the Rise

Mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:03:50 +0000

According to the new Rabobank U.S. Farm & Ranch Survey, 72 percent of U.S. agricultural producers report that they have taken a range of measures on sustainable ag practices. “U.S producers understand that to be in the ag business for the long term means taking care of the land,” said Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory Vice President Sterling Liddell. The most significant steps are using direct seeding (64 percent), minimizing use of chemicals (42 percent), crop rotation or diversification (39 percent) and reduced energy inputs (39 percent).

Virent secures funding from Shell, Cargill, and Honda

Mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:02:04 +0000

Virent Energy Systems Inc. of Madison has raised $46.4 million in its latest financing round. Royal Dutch Shell PLC has been a research partner with Virent for several years and now has taken an equity stake that gives Shell one of seven seats on the Madison-based biofuels firm’s board of directors. In March, the companies announced the start-up of the world’s first biogasoline production plant, which can generate more than 10,000 gallons per year of biogasoline. “A lot of the cynics out there say renewable fuels are always five years away. You can say now that they’re not even five years away,” said Jim Lane, editor of Biofuels Digest.

DOE Announces $11M for Biofuels Technology Development

Mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:00:47 +0000

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $11 million in funding over three years for research and development in the area of thermochemical conversion of biomass into advanced biofuels that are compatible with existing fueling infrastructure. The objective of this funding is to improve the conversion of non-food biomass to liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuels via pyrolysis, a process that decomposes biomass using heat in the absence of oxygen to produce a bio-oil that can be upgraded to renewable diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel. Applications for this funding opportunity are due July 9, 2010.

Algae Successfully Test-Fired with Coal, UT

Mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:58:30 +0000

Siemens Energy has successfully completed the first firing of PetroAlgae Inc.’s biocrude fuel, a plant-based, micro-crop biomass material that is processed into a solid residue. The biocrude fuel was combined with pulverized coal in a pilot-scale burner with a thermal capacity of approximately 4 MMBtu/hr. The testing was performed at a test bed installed at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and results show that the biocrude/coal fuel mixture burned well, and produced 20 percent lower nitric oxide (NOx) emissions than coal alone.

Group Seeks to Commercialize CO2 to Diesel Technology

Mark — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:57:02 +0000

An alliance of industry, academic and government organizations, formed to commercialize technologies that will utilize concentrated solar energy to convert waste CO2 into diesel fuel. The solar reforming technology platform will be colocated next to industrial facilities that have waste CO2 streams such as coal power plants, natural gas processing facilities, ethanol plants, cement production facilities and other stationary sources of CO2. A solar reforming system is currently being demonstrated in Sacramento, CA, and demonstrations will continue both at Sandia’s facilities in New Mexico and at a power plant project site in Bakersfield, CA.