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BIOETHANOL NEEDS BIOTECH
NOW
Nature Biotechnology, 24 (725), 2006
Dependency on fossil fuels is not only depleting fuel stores, but also
has detrimental effects on the environment, and biofuels seem to be the
answer to both problems. Bioethanol, however, is in need of a
biotechnology boost, according this editorial. Although bioethanol is
promising, its production has moved the US away from natural gas to coal
in running biofuel refineries. The main source of bioethanol, corn, also
requires large amounts of fertilizer and pesticide to cultivate, leading
to runoffs in fields that bleed into and contaminate groundwater.
Biotechnology could solve these problems by engineering crops that have
greater carbon-fixing efficiency, or that require little or no
fertilizer or pesticide. The editorial also speculates that biotech
innovations "will be central in transitioning bioethanol production
from corn grain to more sustainable, energy-efficient, but recalcitrant
feedstocks, such as cellulosic biomass," which includes wood chips
and switchgrass.
Read more: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n7/full/nbt0706-725.html
BIOFUELS CAN CAPTURE SUN'S ENERGY,
REDUCE NEED FOR OIL
Anthony Verbalis
The Morning Call Online, September 6, 2006
Energy from the sun gives us good reason to hope that we can survive the
problems of fossil fuel depletion and pollution. because the energy flow
from the sun is spread out over the entire surface of the Earth, it is
quite a challenge to collect and concentrate solar energy into a package
as compact as, say, a gallon of gasoline. One strategy for doing this is
to employ growing plants to collect the energy.
Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-verbalis9-6sep06,0,7226568.story?coll=all-opiniontop-hed
CAN BIOFUELS FINALLY TAKE CENTER
STAGE?
Charlotte Schubert
Nature Biotechnology, 24 (725), 2006
Lignocellulose is the world's most abundant biological material,
comprising the woody parts of plants that can be found in wheat straw,
corn husks, or discarded rice hulls. Research is now underway in both
the Americas and Europe to derive the most energy from this potentially
rich source: scientists at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire have
engineered microbes to produce ethanol of cellulose, although at low
yields; other researchers are hopeful that bacteria that convert biomass
into hydrogen, and algae that yield biodiesel will soon be available.
Read more: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v24/n7/full/nbt0706-777.html
COLUSA BIOMASS ENERGY
SELECTS SITE FOR ITS TEN MILLION GALLON PER YEAR ETHANOL BIO-REFINERY
Martketwire, August 21, 2006
Colusa Biomass Energy Corporation has announced it has selected a
15-acre site for its bio-refinery which is expected to produce 10
million gallons per year of ethanol. The bio-refinery is engineered to
convert waste rice straw residue into ethanol. The plant is based on
CLME patented and proprietary technologies that converts waste biomass
into ethanol for use in transportation fuels. It is important to note
that the CLME technology takes nothing from the food stream but only
consumes waste biomass such as straws, wood chips, forest slash and
orchards trimmings.
Read more: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=155688
For more detail on Colusa's technology: http://www.colusabiomass.com/
GARBAGE-BURNING FURNACE HOT IDEA FOR
ENERGY SOURCE
Winnipeg Free Press, September 5, 2006
Headingley's BioAgronics has developed a gasifier that burns garbage as
an energy source. BioAgronics' device pumps out roughly 13 million BTUs
(British thermal units -- the amount of energy it takes to heat one
pound of water one degree Fahrenheit) an hour.
Contact the ITC Library for the article or look for further
information at: http://www.bioagronics.com/
GS ENERGY ANNOUNCES BIOENERGY
PROGRAM
Business Wire, September 11, 2006
GS Energy Corporation has announced its plans to build, own and operate
biomass-derived energy facilities co-located at renewable fuel
production facilities, specifically facilities with biomass gasification
capabilities. According to a recent announcement, GS AgriFuels intends
to use standard fuel production technologies and a number of proprietary
technologies, including innovative pre-treatment, process
intensification, gasification, catalytic, and carbon capture
technologies, synergistically at small-scales to enable the refining of
many forms of biomass into clean fuels, including biodiesel and ethanol.
Read more: http://www.gs-energy.com
HYBRID FUELS TO GET ETHANOL FROM
FARM WASTES
GLOBE-Net, August 16, 2006
Hybrid Fuels (Canada) Inc. has signed an agreement in principle to
create a joint venture with the A4 Bar Cattle Company Ltd. to develop
the Siksika A4 Bar Farm Operations Project, which will use waste from an
atmospherically controlled cattle barn to produce ethanol and energy.
The project is expected to produce up to 3,000 litres of ethanol daily
during its initial phase, and will also generate up to 1 megawatt of
power.
Read more: http://www.globe-net.ca/search/display.cfm?NID=2255&CID=9
IOWA STATE RESEARCHERS EXPLORE
TURNING FUEL ETHANOL INTO BEVERAGE ALCOHOL
News Release,August 21, 2006
Fuel ethanol could be cheaply and quickly converted into the purer,
cleaner alcohol that goes into alcoholic drinks, cough medicines, mouth
washes and other products requiring food-grade alcohol, say Iowa State
University researchers.
Read more: http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/aug/ethanol.shtml
NRCAN'S CETC UNVEILS TEST BED FOR
NEW COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES
Heads Up CIPEC Newsletter, July 15, 2006
A critical role for industrial furnace operators in Canada is to seek
out new ways of optimizing combustion performance of their furnace
systems. CANMET Energy Technology Center (CETC) in Ottawa has come up
with a solution in the form of a Pilot-Scale Industrial Furnace (PSIF)
that can be used for the development and implementation of advanced
industrial burners and controls.
Read more: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/industrial/technical-info/library/newsletter/archives-2006/Vol-X-no-14-jul15.cfm?attr=24#c
PELLET AND COAL INDUSTRIES SURGING
FORWARD
Susan Bush
Iberkshires, August 11, 2006
Wood pellet and coal-burning stoves are currently a lower cost
alternative to fuels such as fuel oil or natural gas; but last year, a
shortage of pellets and a backlog of pellet stove orders impacted
consumers. Houston Pellet Inc., a firm based in British Columbia, is
building a new manufacturing facility in Schuyler, N.Y.. The company has
launched a BioFuel Energy Systems research, development and machinery
fabrication division. The purpose of the new division is to design,
test, refine and fabricate proprietary equipment and machinery, and is
believed to be the first of its kind built in the United States.
Read more: http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=20696
TURNING SLASH INTO CASH
Tyler Hamilton
Technology Review, August 14, 2006
A small company in Ottawa, Canada, says it has developed an economical
way of turning North America's vast supply of forest waste, called
"slash," into a carbon-neutral liquid for power generation and
chemical production. Advanced Biorefinery has developed a modular,
quick-to-assemble pyrolysis plant that can follow logging companies into
the bush and directly convert their leftover trimmings into a
clean-burning renewable fuel.
Read more: http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?RefID=88702
WEYERHAEUSER, NEXTERRA AND PAPRICAN
LOOK TO GASIFICATION TECHNOLOGY TO COMBAT HIGH ENERGY COSTS
Heads Up CIPEC Newsletter, July 1, 2006
Nexterra Energy Corporation, Weyerhaeuser and the Pulp and Paper
Research Institute of Canada (Paprican) are committing to a technology
verification project that could result in significant energy savings for
Canada's kraft pulp mills. The project will verify new technology
developed by Nexterra involving gasification - a thermo-chemical process
that uses heat to convert any carbon-containing fuel into a
clean-burning gas. If Nexterra's gasifier technology performs as
expected, the partners will wrap up the project by applying the
technology to Weyerhaeuser's existing cellulose fibre mill in Kamloops,
British Columbia, to demonstrate its commercial viability.
Read more: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/industrial/technical-info/library/newsletter/archives-2006/Vol-X-no-13-jul1.cfm?attr=24#b
WIND AND SUN AND FARM-BASED ENERGY
SOURCES
Agricultural Research Magazine, August 2006
What do Minnesota, Texas, and Alaska have in common? They all contain
remote areas and get lots of wind. ARS researchers have been working
closely with university scientists, industry, and landowners in those
states to develop renewable energy.
Read more: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug06/energy0806.htm
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PUBLICATIONS:
BIOMASS
INITIATIVE NEWSLETTER
Here is an information resource published by the Biomass Research and
Development Initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The monthly newsletter highlights research studies, reports,
news, U.S. regulation issues on the topic, providing much in the way of
statistical data and commercialization opportunities.
To subscribe to the online newsletter go to: http://www.biomass.govtools.us/
A
CANADIAN RENEWABLE FUELS STRATEGY
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association has released a biofuels
strategy as a guide for policy makers to implement the federal
government's commitment to creating a 5 percent Renewable Fuels Standard
by 2010. Policies
recommended as part of a Canadian Renewable Fuels Strategy include: Tax
credits for ethanol and biodiesel production, instead of the existing
excise tax exemption; Programs to encourage farmer equity investment in
renewable fuels production facilities and to support emerging
technologies; Clear standards for renewable fuels to ensure quality and
safety.
Detail: http://www.globe-net.ca/search/display.cfm?NID=2206&CID=8
Canadian Renewable Fuels Strategy: http://www.studio255.com/crfa/pdf/CR_Energy_Strategy_EN.pdf
COAL
GASIFICATION FOR POWER GENERATION
Research
Reports International's Coal Gasification for Power Generation report is
a 120-page overview of the opportunities for coal gasification in the
power generation industry. The
report, which can be purchased for $299, provides a concise look at the
challenges faced by coal-fired generation, the ability of coal
gasification to address these challenges, and the current state of IGCC
power generation.
Detail: http://www.researchreportsintl.com/products/product.cfm?report_ID=75
A
RENEWABLE ENERGY STRATEGY FOR CANADA
GLOBE-Net, September
5, 2006
The Canadian Renewable Energy Alliance (CanREA) has released a series of
eight background papers in support of its recommendations for a national
renewable energy strategy that would make Canada a world leader in
alternative energy. The
core elements reviewed in the background papers are: Energy Efficiency,
Green Power, Green Heat, a National Green Transportation Strategy,
Distributed Generation; Community Power Systems, Financing Mechanisms
for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and International
Cooperation. Each paper also includes an overview of the current
Canadian situation, best practices from around the world, and a set of
prescriptive principles or concrete steps recommended for government
action.
Background papers are downloadable at: http://www.canrea.ca/strategy.htm
WEB SITES:
ASSOCIATION
OF ENERGY ENGINEERS
http://www.aeecenter.org
CROP
BIOTECH UPDATE
CropBiotech
Net is the home of the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology
(KC). KC is the information sharing initiative of ISAAA, a
not-for-profit organization that delivers the benefits of new
agricultural biotechnologies to farmers in developing countries for
poverty alleviation.
http://www.isaaa.org/kc/
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