providing daily news coverage of the politics, commerce and technology of the biofuels market. http://www.biofuelreview.com Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:40:09 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.biofuelreview.com/images/M_images/bf_rss.gif http://www.biofuelreview.com providing daily news coverage of the politics, commerce and technology of the biofuels market. http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2068/ A hidden second option plants have for making an essential amino acid that could be the first step in boosting plants' nutritional value and improving biofuel production potential, has been discovered by scientists at Purdue University, it was announced today (31st March). The amino acid phenylalanine is required to build proteins and is a precursor for more than 8,000 other compounds essential to plants, including lignin, which allows plants to stand upright but acts as a barrier in the production of cellulosic ethanol. News - Research Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:16:56 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2067/ New investments totalling more than $5 million are to be made by the state of Pennsylvania, according to an announcement made by Governor Edward G. Rendell today (31st March). The projects are in six counties across the state and include three geothermal system installations, two biofuel projects, and one study that will examine the feasibility of mixed-income housing in Pittsburgh that would reduce utility consumption by up to 90 percent for its occupants. News - General Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:44:55 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2066/ A Memorandum of Understanding covering the research and development on a range of biofuels technologies and projects in India has been signed between the Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (IOCL) and UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, it was announced today (31st March). As part of the MoU the companies would evaluate installation of a demonstration-scale unit to produce green transportation fuels at an existing IOCL site using non-food feedstocks available within India. They would also evaluate the viability of pyrolysis oil technology to convert lignocellulosic materials, or plant biomass, into renewable power and heat. News - General Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:37:47 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2065/ A group of 11 UK institutions has come together with the aim of developing a commercial algae biofuel process capable of producing 70 billion litres of algae biofuel a year by 2030. The plan, unveiled by the Carbon Trust today (19th March), sees the group looking to develop an algae biofuels process which will bring the cost of the finished fuel down to less than $1 a litre. News - Algae Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:55:40 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2064/ A consortium of British businesses has been brought together by the Carbon Trust to develop a commercially viable process to turn municipal and wood waste into transport biofuel. The consortium, which will be led by Axion Energy, will work on the enhancement of the pyrolysis process to convert waste biomass into biofuel on a mass scale, to blend with fossil fuels.A key advantage of developing a process which will use existing organic waste, rather than plant crops, is that it overcomes many of the issues associated with some current biofuels, and can lead to even greater carbon savings by avoiding methane emissions from landfill. Carbon Trust analysis shows that the carbon footprint of this new pyrolysis biofuel could potentially achieve a carbon saving of 95% when compared to fossil fuels. This is a significantly higher carbon saving than some existing biofuels1 , which also do not currently factor in the impacts of land use change when calculating the carbon saving. News - General Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:55:06 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2063/ Researchers from the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR) have calculated that urban solid waste in Spain could be used to generate between 8.13 and 20.95 TWh (terawatt hours) or 7.2% of the country's electricity demand in 2008. The residues, from water treatment plants and livestock slurry, are, they say, alternative sources of renewable energy, which are more environmentally friendly and, in the case of solid urban waste, more cost effective. News - General Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:23:09 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2062/ Reed canary grass is an excellent fuel for biomass power stations according to research published this week by a team at Teesside University’s Contaminated Land and Water Centre. The project, started in 2004 by the BioReGen (Biomass, Remediation, re-Generation) project team, sought to see which plants could best be grown on brownfield sites as a way of improving unsightly blots on the landscape. News - General Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:11:30 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2061/ An agreement to establish a major aviation bioenergy research institution and demonstration project in Abu Dhabi was unveilled today (18th January) by Boeing, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Etihad Airways and Honeywell's UOP. The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project (SBRP) will, says the compaies, use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and coproducts. News - Aviation Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:02:54 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2060/ The policy paper released by Rice University recently (see previous story (content/view/2059/1/) ) is set to continue the orchestrated campaign to limit, and ultimately eliminate, the use of biofuels, according to a statement issued by the US Renewable Fuels Association. The RFA statement continues by suggesting that in its commentary, researchers from Rice rely upon out-of-date information and questionable assumptions to denigrate Congress, farmers, and ethanol producers for their support of domestically-based renewable fuels. News - General Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:57:07 +0100 http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/2059/ The United States needs to fundamentally rethink its policy of promoting ethanol to diversify its energy sources and increase energy security, according to a new policy paper by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.The paper, Fundamentals of a Sustainable U.S. Biofuels Policy, questions the economic, environmental and logistical basis for the billions of dollars in federal subsidies and protectionist tariffs that go to domestic ethanol producers every year. We need to set realistic targets for ethanol in the United States instead of just throwing taxpayer money out the window, said Amy Myers Jaffe, one of the report's authors. News - General Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:45:31 +0100