Burning Bio News

The U.S. Agriculture Department has asked for public comment on a request by Syngenta Seeds Inc seeking to deregulate a genetically engineered type of corn that helps in the production of ethanol. If it is deregulated, the product could be transported and planted without the requirement of permits or other regulatory oversight by APHIS. This would be BIG news if genetically engineered corn became unregulated. The European and Asian markets will go nuts, even if it is perfectly safe.

Shenandoah, IA, Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (GPRE) ethanol plant has announced the formation of a joint venture to commercialize algae production using CO2 emissions from ethanol. BioProcess Algae LLC (BPA), is a joint venture between affiliates of Green Plains, CLARCOR Inc., BioProcessH20 LLC and NTR plc. Green Plains has committed approximately $1.4 million initial funding for a 25.5 percent interest in BioProcess Algae.

SunEthanol, a spinoff company from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has raised $25 million in Series B financing from a consortium of funders including BP and Soros Fund Management LLC, and is changing its name effective immediately to Qteros. The new name refers to its breakthrough Q Microbe technology for producing sustainable liquid fuel from non-food plants and wastes. We need to keep track of the players.

Ok, This is not news. I included it for your holiday entertainment. News would be finding two economists that DID agree. One Southern IL University professor, Jonathon Bean, is pro-oil. Any policies directed at alternative energy are driven solely by the fear of a crisis. Sylvia Secchi, also a professor at the same school, believes that the global recession has been caused by failed energy (oil) policies. As a Ph.D. economist myself, I don’t agree with either of them. Parts of both of their arguments are true, but neither one sees energy economics with the clarity of Biomass Rules, LLC.

Luis Algarin of Vermont Wood Energy Corp. planned to locate a pellet stove manufacturing company in Rutland, Vermont has fallen through. There were issues with the MN-based manufacturing technology and local leasing issues.

Citing high construction costs and increased carbon emissions, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission Tuesday unanimously denied Alliant Energy’s application to build a coal-fired power plant in Cassville or in Portage. Alliant planned to burn up to 20 percent biomass. Coal is cheap and plentiful in the US. When mixed together the biomass can clean up the emissions. When shifting to new energy systems intermediate steps (like coal firing with biomass) are necessary steps.

John Deere slash bundler was demonstrated last week in Diboll, TX by Angelina Fuels, LLC. This portable biomass bundler looks like it may change the economics of biomass handling. It pulls small diameter branches together into a manageable bundle. The JD Bundler is made in Europe and the one demonstrated last week is the third one to be sold in the US. If you follow the link, there are a few photos.

Willmar Municipal Utilities (MN) will test a new “recipe’’ for producing energy: corn cobs and coal. The planned February test burn will provide useful information to the utilities about the heat characteristics and also emissions data for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Montana has cemented its position as the standard-bearer for a large six-state effort called the Fuels for School and Beyond Program. The Big Sky state has nine of the 14 biomass boilers currently operating under the program, including ones in Glacier and Eureka high schools.

U.S. Sugar Corp. has entered into an agreement with renewable energy company Coskata to explore building a 100 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol facility in Clewiston, Florida, converting leftover sugar cane material into ethanol.

A North Carolina A&T State University agricultural engineering professor has received Department of Defense funding totaling $770,000 to turn waste materials into biopower. The program concentrates on two areas: the demonstration of used oil from the cafeteria at Fort Bragg military base, and the use of wood residue from wood lots and construction on the base.

Raven Biofuels International Corporation has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Larson Engineering to begin engineering for Raven’s proposed Mississippi biorefinery. The biorefinery plans to produce 33 million gallon cellulosic biofuels from wood, based on a projected 21 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol and 12 million gallons of furfural products, plus lignin cake.

By denying an appeal last week, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors cleared the way for Roseburg Forest Products to go forward with its plans to fire up a 15 MW closed-loop co-generation power plant in Weed, CA. An appeal had been filed by a coalition of 40 individuals and three community and environmental groups. Appellants asserted that the Final EIR was flawed and that questions remained unanswered concerning issues such as air quality, water quality, and noise pollution.

IL Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced that Illinois River Energy, LLC in Ogle County received a $4 million Renewable Fuels Development grant to help build a new $120 million-plus ethanol production facility in Northern Illinois. The new facility will be a 50 million gallon per year ethanol production facility, adjacent to the company’s existing 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility.

The two teams at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville were awarded grants from EPA’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) program for their research on biomass, or plant materials used to produce energy. One of the Arkansas teams is looking at using butanol, an alcohol produced from biomass, as a fuel additive to increase fuel efficiency, reduce pollution and increase production efficiency. The second team is working on using methanol to more easily and efficiently convert feedstock into biodiesel. Nationwide, this year, EPA awarded 43 Phase I and six Phase II grants for a total of $880,000 to student teams representing 39 institutions in 23 states .Additional information about the P3 program, as well as the grant winners and their projects, is available at http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/index.html.

BlueEarth Biofuels LLC has filed a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Co. and subsidiary Maui Electric Co., claiming that the isle utilities attempted to force it out of a deal to operate a biodiesel production facility on Maui.

Fort Collins-based Solix Biofuels announced Tuesday it will build an algae biofuel facility in Durango, taking advantage of the industrial environment and expansive land in southern Colorado. Set to build on 10 acres of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, the plant will include photo-bioreactors to grow algae as well as a lab facility. The first phase of the two-part project is expected to be completed in 12 to 18 months.

Amyris Opens Synthetic Diesel Pilot Plant in Emeryville, CA. The company, which crafts synthetic biological organisms to produce chemical compounds, will fine tune its process in Emeryville over the next year-and-a-half, and it aims to begin commercial production by June 2010 in Brazil.

Green Earth Technologies announced today that their G-OIL(TM) Ultimate Biodegradable green motor oils are now being offered in a bulk program. G-OIL is environmentally safe green motor oil made with American-grown renewable animal fats utilizing the power of nanotechnology. The new bulk program will allow customers to purchase G-OIL 10W-30, 5W-30, 10W-40 and SAE 30 in 55 gallon drums, 275 gallon totes and 6,750 gallon tankers.

The Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research {EPSCoR) announced it has received $20 million in new funding from the National Science Foundation and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. The combined $4 million in annual support is renewable for the next five years and enables Oklahoma EPSCoR to support research under its new theme area, “Building Oklahoma’s Leadership Role in Cellulosic Bioenergy.”