biofuel

In the search for renewable alternatives to gasoline, heavy alcohols such as isobutanol are promising candidates.[read more]

One of the most abundant forms of renewable energy available in the United States is wood residue from forestry operations. The carbon in wood residue is bound to go back to the atmosphere, either as carbon dioxide (CO2) as a result of combustion (natural or controlled fire), or through methane (CH4), as a result of decomposition....[read more]

Imagine if every day when you arrived at work, you might or might not have electricity to power your laptop, which is at 33 percent battery charge. Definitely throws a wrench into your agenda. While you could call it a day and hope for the best tomorrow, the deadline still looms and you’re nowhere closer to getting done what needs to get...[read more]

When you’ve seen your soldiers die protecting a fuel convoy, you know that the need for clean energy and efficiency is real, urgent, and transcends political squabbling. This Sunday four high-ranking officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines spoke out in support of a clean energy future for America. They published an op-ed in...[read more]

Failure is tough. Many businesses fail, including some very viable ones. They fail all the time. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), 50 percent of all new businesses fail during the first year and 95 percent during the first five years. Some fail fast, some die a slow, painful death. The question is not whether failure is good or bad, it's what you learn from it that counts.[read more]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the establishment of the first Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) Project Area to promote the production of dedicated feedstocks for bioenergy. This project will help spur the development of next-generation biofuels and is part of Obama Administration efforts to protect Americans from...[read more]

Engineers are constantly trying to make airplanes more efficient, and there's finally a big push to do so. In “The Future of Flight,” Special Correspondent Josh Zepps takes a look at how the aviation industry is evolving to meet new needs and pressures, with new aircraft designs and advanced fuels.[read more]

After my recent posting on resurgent food vs. fuel competition from expanding corn ethanol production, one of my contacts called to ask if I was familiar with an industrial process developed by Celanese Corporation for producing ethanol from a variety of feedstocks, including natural gas, coal, and potentially cellulosic biomass. My...[read more]

After five years of practical experience the time has come for Imtech, one of the leading companies for technical building equipment in Germany, to offer a promising procedure for the treatment of residual household waste to the international market: At the exhibition area “Metropolitan Solutions” at the Hanover Fair in Germany, Imtech...[read more]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced recently that Americans will soon have more choices at the gas pump through a USDA program that will provide funding for installation of flexible fuel pumps. USDA is issuing a rule to clarify that the definition of renewable energy systems in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) includes...[read more]

I see that Google's venture capital fund is investing in a startup company that would produce hydrocarbon fuels from cellulosic plant matter, with the added twist of sequestering carbon in soil. This is another signpost of the growing interest in non-alcohol biofuels, often referred to as "drop-in" fuels, for both oil replacement and...[read more]

Join the forum discussion on this post  Problem? What Problem? Following my recent post What You Aren’t Being Told About Ethanol and Corrosion, someone made a comment that gets to the root of why many ethanol proponents mistakenly see me as an enemy of ethanol (indeed, one of the Top 10). The person said that if there are problems...[read more]

SG Biofuels and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) today released results of a study revealing the performance and emissions benefits of using Jatropha oil as a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel in industrial furnaces used for electric power generation and industrial heating. Testing by BNL of Jatropha oil provided by SG Biofuels...[read more]

Nirmal V. Gnanapragasam, Bale V. Reddy and Marc A. Rosen of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology have published a new paper titled „A Methodology for Assessing the Sustainability of Hydrogen Production from Solid Fuels.“  This paper introduces a methodology for for assessing...[read more]

There is widespread interest in biofuel crops as a solution to the world’s energy needs, particularly in light of concerns over greenhouse-gas emissions. Despite reservations about their adverse environmental impacts, no attempt has been made to quantify actual, relative or potential invasiveness of terrestrial biofuel crops at an...[read more]