CONTROL UNION'S VERKERK SAYS BIOFUELS WILL GROW EUROPE CANOLA MARKET
Scott Larson, Star Phoenix, December 16, 2011
A new market for canola growers is opening up in Europe.   While Canadian canola has been shut out of Europe's food chain because of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the burgeoning biofuel sector can be open to canola oil, said Bas Verkerk, managing director of Control Union Canada Inc.
> Read more:http://www.thestarphoenix.com

DOE RESEARCHERS ACHIEVE IMPORTANT GENETIC BREAKTHROUGHS TO HELP DEVELOP CHEAPER BIOFUELS
U.S. Department of Energy News, December 22, 2011
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have announced a major breakthrough in engineering systems of RNA molecules through computer-assisted design, which could lead to important improvements across a range of industries, including the development of cheaper advanced biofuels. Scientists will use these new “RNA machines”, to adjust genetic expression in the cells of microorganisms. This will enable scientists to develop new strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that are better able to digest switchgrass biomass and convert released sugars to form three types of transportation fuels – gasoline, diesel and jet fuels.
> Read more: http://energy.gov

THE FAT OF THE LAND
The Economist, 12/3/11
Another way for motorists to declare independence from the oil companies is to make fuel at home -- well, diesel at least.    Peter Ferlow, of Vancouver, British Columbia, is one of the leaders of a growing band of enthusiasts who brew their own car fuel. His diesel engine runs on oil collected from the kitchen of a local pub.   For as little as $620, an off-the-shelf reactor can be purchased to produce batches of 120 litres.  Or, if authorities ban home esterification, with a bit of modification, many diesel engines will run on unesterified vegetable oil, too.
>Read more: http://www.economist.com

NEB REPORT FORECASTS SECURE ENERGY FUTURE FOR CANADA TO AT LEAST 2035
National Energy Board News Release, November 22, 2011
A National Energy Board (NEB) report examining energy trends in Canada projects that Canada’s energy supply to 2035 will grow to record levels and energy markets will function well, providing Canadians with adequate energy.  The share of biofuels in transportation-sector energy consumption triples over the projection period, from 1.1 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 2035, while the share of renewable-based electricity generation increases from 62 per cent to 67 per cent in 2035.
> Read more: http://www.neb-one.gc.ca

RENEWABLES — DISRUPTOR? OR DISRUPTED?
Garry Golden, Mechanical Engineering, December 2011
Compare lifecycle costs and relative merits of leading renewable energy technologies.  Traditional forecasting techniques offer only a limited view compared to scenarios that explore key uncertainties about how renewable systems might evolve in the years ahead: fast growth but slow capture of market share.   Today, renewables account for 8 percent of U.S. national energy production. But numbers can be misleading. Most of this market share is not due to the symbolic renewables of wind and solar that dominate the current U.S. and global discussion, but to the more traditional renewables of biomass and hydroelectricity.  But expect the unexpected.
> Read more: http://memagazine.asme.org

SUNN HEMP SHOWS PROMISE AS BIOFUEL SOURCE
Ann Perry, USDA ARS News, January 3, 2012
Work by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that farmers in the Southeast could use the tropical legume sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) in their crop rotations by harvesting the fast-growing annual for biofuel.  The HHV (higher heating value) for sunn hemp biomass exceeded the HHV for switchgrass, bermudagrass, reed canarygrass and alfalfa.
> Read more: http://www.ars.usda.gov

WOOD: THE ULTIMATE “DROP-IN” FUEL
David Bransby, Biofuels Digest, December 28, 2011
Wayne Keith has come up with his own version of a “drop-in” fuel: wood, or any other biomass you can deliver in small chunks, that can literally be dropped into the down draft gasifier that powers his pickup.  To accomplish the task, Wayne used some knowledge found by the Germans who had figured out how to run their military vehicles with small wood gasifiers when they ran out of gas supplies in World War II; and adding to that, his own experience with building wood burning stoves and working on cars helped.  In 2011, Wayne officially broke the world wood gas speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, independently recorded at 71 mph.
> Read more: http://biofuelsdigest.com

BIO-BASED CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS GROW 140% TO $19.7 BILLION IN 2016
Lux Research News Release, December 13, 2011
A recent report by Lux Research predicts that the bio-based chemicals and materials industry, carefully nurtured from labs to factories, has reached a tipping point and capacity will double in market potential to $19.7 billion in 2016, as its global manufacturing capacity zooms 140%.  Consumer preference, corporate commitment, and government mandates and support – are driving development in this space.  Other findings: Bioplastics steal the scene but will slow down; Cellulose polymers and starch-based plastics dominant; Consolidation will occur both within sectors of bio-based materials manufacturing, and regionally, as leaders buy up technologies and access to feedstock.
> Read more: http://www.luxresearchinc.com

CHEMICALS AND BIOFUEL FROM WOOD BIOMASS
Physorg.com, December 19, 2011
A method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for biofuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Butanol is particularly suited as a transport fuel because it is not water soluble and has higher energy content than ethanol.
> Read more: http://www.physorg.com

COKE INVESTS IN FIRMS TO ACCELERATE BIOPLASTICS
Mike Verespej, European Plastics News, December 16, 2011
Coca-Cola Co. is investing millions in three bio-based companies (Virent, Gevo, and Avantium Research and Technology) in an effort to accelerate the development of a PlantBottle made entirely from plant-based feedstocks.   Coke’s aim is to advance the technology to make purified terephthalic acid from non-petroleum sources.
> Read more: http://www.europeanplasticsnews.com

DANVILLE FIRM WORKS ON PLANT-BASED COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Tara Bozick, GoDanRiver.com, December 11, 2011
What if natural fibers could replace fiberglass for bio-renewable materials that weigh even less?  Start-up product development firm 3F has developed a chemical coating treatment to apply to bast fibers (from the skin of a plant) to overcome the problem of moisture absorption and to better connect the fiber and plastic for a stronger reinforced plastic.
> Read more: http://www2.godanriver.com

FROM COCONUT HUSKS TO CAR PARTS
Canadian Plastics, 12/18/11
In an effort to reduce the use of petroleum and make the parts lighter and more natural-looking, the Ford Motor Co. has teamed up with branded consumer product manufacturer Scotts Miracle-Gro Company to incorporate coconut fibers as a renewable feedstock in molded plastic parts for Ford's vehicles.   Discarded coconut husks, also called coirs, are a waste stream from Scotts' soil and grass seed products.  Ford researchers combine it with plastic to deliver additional reinforcement to the part while eliminating the need for some petroleum.
> Read more: http://www.canplastics.com

SOMETHING NEW FROM SOMETHING OLD
David Manly, Canadian Biomass, December 22, 2011
Canadian researchers are working on a product that is completely renewable, abundant, non-toxic and could be added to any number of products to make them stronger -- NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC).   NCC's are extracted from cellulose, found in plant matter, through acid hydrolysis and purified. The resulting product is around 100 - 200 nanometres in length, soluble in water, flexible and responsive to electricity as well as magnetism.  Applications range from high-volume products such as composites, paints, and other materials, to low-volume applications, such as tissue engineering, bonding, drug/gene delivery.
> Read more: http://www.canadianbiomassmagazine.ca

SONY DEMOS PAPER-POWERED BIO-BATTERY
Dante D'Orazio, The Verge, December 20, 2011
Sony recently demoed a battery at the Eco-Products 2011 exhibition in Tokyo that was able to power a small fan using a mash of paper or cardboard.  Much like how a termite eats wood, enzymes in the water mixture broke down the cellulose in the paper, and then the resulting glucose (sugar) was harvested, giving the cell the resources needed to make a working battery, without metals or environmentally unfriendly chemicals.
> Read more: http://www.theverge.com

UND RECEIVES PATENT FOR REVOLUTIONARY RENEWABLE CHEMICAL INVENTION
University of North Dakota Newsroom, December 2011
A UND invention recently approved by the U.S. government will green up the production of several vital industrial chemicals.  The patent, titled “Method to Produce Short Chain Carboxylic Acids and Esters from Biomass,” is for a technology developed under the Sustainable Energy Research Initiative and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) supercluster program.  Feedstock oil from oilseed crops (such as soybeans and sunflowers), algae, microbes, waste cooking oils, and other sources are placed in a cracking reactor where the long-chain oil molecules are broken up into smaller fragments, including short chain fatty acids. These acids are extracted from the reactor outlet liquid using water or a base and purified into commercial grade products, such as industrial chemicals currently used in making polymers and for applications in the food industry, in agriculture, and in coatings and lubricants.
> Read more: http://und.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER TEAM SOLVES GLYCEROL PROBLEM
Manchester Evening News, January 4, 2012
Two researchers at the University of Manchester have solved the problem of what to do with a global surplus of a by-product from the biodiesel manufacturing process. The university team has developed new uses for the material by using a bacteria to convert glycerol into succinic acid, which is used in a variety of products from medicines to food flavours.
> Read more: http://menmedia.co.uk

YEAST BREAKS DOWN BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC: RESEARCH
Trevor Stokes, International Business Times, 11/30/11
Plastic "mulchfilms" spread across fields of hakusai cabbage and daikon radishes keep the vegetable crops weed-free and the drip-irrigated soil moist.  However, after each harvest, farmers have to get ride of millions of acres of the plastic.  Even if biodegradable plastics are used, the breakdown can be irregular because of the weather and degradation may not occur by next planting.  A Japanese research group identified the yeast strain Pseudozyma, common worldwide, that excretes an enzyme that eats away at biodegradable plastics, giving a potential tool in a vegetable farmer's arsenal.
> Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com

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