Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have suggested that chemically manipulated algae could be used to produce the next generation of renewable fuels – hydrogen gas.

"We believe there is a fundamental advantage in looking at the production of hydrogen by photosynthesis as a renewable fuel," senior chemist David Tiede said. "Right now, ethanol is being produced from corn, but generating ethanol from corn is a thermodynamically much more inefficient process."

The merger between VeraSun Energy Corp and US BioEnergy Corp bacame effective today (1st April) following approval by shareholders of both companies. Under the merger agreement, each outstanding share of US BioEnergy common stock will be converted into 0.810 shares of VeraSun common stock, representing a premium of approximately 11 percent based on Nov. 23, 2007, closing prices. The existing VeraSun shares will remain outstanding and will represent approximately 59 percent of the shares outstanding after the merger.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), announced (31st March) a strategic research alliance with Iowa State University (ISU) to identify promising cellulosic biomass conversion technologies. The collaboration, says the team, will bring three independently established programs together to help identify the most efficient and cost-effective methods for making liquid transportation fuels from plants.

A new article published in Conservation Biology, a publication of the Society for Conservation Biology, qualitatively contrasts major potential sources of biofuels, including corn, grasses, fast-growing trees and oil crops. The study highlights their relative impacts on the environment in terms of water and fertilizer use and other criteria to calculate the environmental footprint of each crop.

Amelot Holdings has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Three Rivers Biofuel company. Commenting on the deal Mr. Aziz Hirji, president and CEO of Amelot Holdings said; "Bud Stacy is the only man for this job. Bud's track record of designing, constructing, and operating large scale energy plants speaks for itself. He took Olgethorpe Power and turned it into a Fortune 500 top 50 utilities company. He is just the kind of person we need and want at Amelot to build our first class Jatropha biodiesel plants in the U.S. and around the world."

In a letter to the Australian Stock Exchange today (28th March) Peter Anderton, chairman and ceo, of the the troubled Australian biofuels company Agri Energy Ltd outlined the situation the company currently finds itself in, and its view of the future. Writing on behalf of the board Anderton explained that; "The main focus of the company is the Beatrice Biodiesel Project. With the increase in feedstock prices in the second half of 2007 which continued through January 2008 to early March 2008, the company suspended all construction and testing activity at Beatrice in early 2008 and is reassessing the Group’s options for the future."

A castor farming project, to plant, harvest and produce non-edible oil for the biodiesel industry, in Ethiopa has been unveiled today (28th March) by Global Energy. The company expects to commence seeding of castor in April,this year and harvest in August/September 2008. The expected yield of the harvest, says the company, is 28,000 tons of seeds producing approximately 12,000 tons of castor oil. The current commodity price for castor ranges from $700.00U.S. to $1100.00 per ton.

Chronic neglect of the agricultural sector in Asia and the Pacific is condemning 218 million people to continuing extreme poverty, and widening the gap between the region’s rich and poor, according to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008, launched today (27th March) by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

ESCAP’s focus on the agricultural sector comes amid signs of rising food prices, pressured by soaring demand for biofuels. The survey says that biofuels are not only hurting poor consumers in Asia and the Pacific through high food prices, but they are also failing to help the region's poor farmers who do not have the resources to adapt their land to the biofuel crops.