AIR NZ EMBRACING BIOFUELS
Tvnz, Jun 5, 2008
Air New Zealand will become the first airline in the world to test second-generation biofuel when a jumbo jet takes to the sky this year powered by the oily nuts of the jatropha plant. Jatropha, which is considered an invasive species in Australia, has been coined a "wonder plant" due to the high oil content of its seeds and can grow in wasteland with little need of water or fertilizer.
> Read more: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1830035
> Further detail: http://www.jatropha.org.nz/

ALGENOL SIGNS $850 MILLION DEAL WITH BIOFIELDS TO DEVELOP 100 MGY ALGAE ETHANOL PLANT, 1 BGY CAPACITY EYED
Biofuels Digest, June 12, 2008
Algenol Biofuels announced an $850 million investment from Mexico’s BioFields, using the company’s technology to produce ethanol from micro-algae.  Using a process developed in the 1980s, the company said that it plans to initially produce 100 Mgy of ethanol at its first plant using saltwater, in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, and will increase production by 2012 to 1 billion gallons, with a projected yield of 6,000 gallons per acre.
>Read more: http://tinyurl.com/4m7ruz

CATALYTIC HYDROTHERMAL GASIFICATION OF BIOMASS
Elliot
Biofuels, bioproducts and biorecycling, June 2008, p. 254
A recent development in biomass gasification is the use of a pressurized water-processing environment to avoid drying of the biomass.  This paper reviews the research undertaken developing this new option for biomass gasification.
> Contact the ITC library to obtain this article.

DEVELOPING CANADIAN SEED OILS AS INDUSTRIAL FEEDSTOCKS
Fobert, et al.
Biofuels, bioproducts and biorecycling, June 2008, p. 206
Vegetable oils have enourmous potential as alternatives and replacements for fossil oil in high-value industrial applications.  A major research thrust in Canada involves delivering the next generation of industrial oil profiles in the seeds of non-food crucifers.  Progress in increasing the range of available fatty acids and improving the chemical homogeneity of Canadian crucifer seed oils are reviewed in this article.
> Contact the ITC library to obtain this article.

DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING OF BIOMASS TO BIO-OIL FOR SUBSEQUENT PRODUCTION OF FISCHER-TROPSCH LIQUIDS
Wright and Brown
Biofuels, bioproducts and biorecycling, June 2008, p. 229
This study compares centralized processing to distributed processing of biomass for subsequent production of Fischer-Tropsch liquids (FTLs) at a centralized catalytic synthesis facility.  Distributed processing in this study is based on fast pyrolysis to bio-oils, which are more economically transported to a centralized F-T plant where bio-oil is gasified and the syngas catalytically converted to FTLs.
> Contact the ITC library to obtain this article.

FROM EARTH TO ENGINE: BIOFUEL, ZIMBABWE AND ASTM INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
ASTM Standardization News, May/June 2008, p. 26
ASTM International Standards provide a framework to contribute to Zimbabwe's energy independence as well as a better quality of life.  Zimbabwe has concentrated largely on cultivating Jatropha curcas, a perennial oilseed plant, promoting research since 2002 about biodiesel made from its seeds, and using ASTM standards for ethanol to guide the research.
> Read more: http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/MJ_2008/chiwozva_mj08.html

FUNGUS THAT PRODUCES BIOFUELS FROM PLANTS: GENOME SEQUENCED
Bioforum News, N. 4, 2008
The fungus Trichoderma reesei was discovered in the South Pacific during the Second World War, where it was damaging American military equipment and was defeating every attempt at protecting the equipment with cotton cloth. The fungus contains a number of enzymes, cellulases, with potent catalytic properties that break down plants. It is considered to be the world’s most efficient fungus at breaking down the cellulose in plant cell walls into simple sugars, which it feeds on. After fermentation, simple sugars can easily be transformed into biofuels such as ethanol.
> Read more: http://www.bioforum.it/04/news03.htm

REDEFINING AG WASTES AS COPRODUCTS
Dan Lemke
BioCycle, April 2008
The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute's (AURI) coproduct utilization program focuses on identifying and developing value-added uses for products with little value.  Crop residue, agricultural processing leftovers and biomass are products with value worth exploring.  They are moving into some exciting new areas, including renewable energy, fertilizer, environmental products and even animal care.
> Read more: http://www.biodieselnow.com/forums/t/20912.aspx

RESEARCHERS AT UTA WORK ON TURNING LIGNITE INTO OIL
Dallas Morning News, June 15, 2008
Researchers at University of Texas have adapted a process used in West Virginia to turn the state’s lignite reserves into crude oil.  The micro-reactors they have developed can reduce the time needed to produce biodiesel by at least 80 percent, costs a fraction of the outlay required for existing biodiesel plants, and uses machinery that is no larger than a suitcase.
> Read more: http://tinyurl.com/5awrao

WOOD TO WATTS: BIOMASS GASIFICATION
WILLIAM THORNTON
Birmingham News, May 16, 2008
Alabama Power and Auburn University are looking for new sources of energy, and they’re finding them in the state’s lush forests. Auburn University engineers gave Alabama Power Co. executives and employees a peek at the future with a demonstration of its mobile biomass gasification unit, which converts wood chips into power.  Alabama is estimated to have woody biomass equivalent to 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil. Counting just the residue from commercial logging and other activities, the state produces about 4 million dry tons a year, which equals about 10 percent of the nation’s annual gasoline usage.
> Read more: http://nrmdi.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/wood-to-watts-biomass-gasification/
> Additional information: http://www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/bio/FocusAreas.php

ALTERNATIVE FUELS TEST AUTOMAKERS' ABILITY TO SEPARATE SCIENCE FROM SNAKE OIL
STEVE RENNIE
Canadian Press, May 25, 2008
The notion that vehicles powered by compressed air, organic waste or even water could usurp the place of the internal combustion engine might be dismissed as the stuff of science fiction, but there are some who are actively pursuing these alternative "fuel" technologies.
> Read more: http://www.canadaeast.com/rss/article/306013

CERES LAUNCHES FIRST SEED BRAND FOR BIOENERGY CROPS
Ceres Press Release
April 29, 2008
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. plans to market its agricultural seeds and traits under the trade name Blade Energy Crops in the United States.  Blade will be the first multi-crop seed brand supplying the new market for non-food, low-carbon biofuel feedstocks.  These biomass-dense crops will be grown as raw materials for next-generation biofuels and bio-power. One of the great appeals of energy crops is that they can thrive on agricultural lands that are ill-suited to food production. The first products to be sold under the Blade name include the nation’s first switchgrass cultivars developed specifically for biofuels, EG 1101 and EG 1102, as well as high-biomass types of sorghum.
> Read more: http://www.ceres.net/News/NewsReleases/2008/04-29-08-News-Rel.html

CORN FUTURES OVER $8 PER BUSHEL: “WASHINGTON MAY HAVE TO SUSPEND OR REDUCE THE RENEWABLE FUEL STANDARD,” ANALYST WARNS
Biofuels Digest, June 17, 2008
Corn futures passed $8 per bushel for the first time yesterday, prompting fears of an ethanol wipeout. Analysts downgraded BioFuel (BIOF), VeraSun Energy (VSE) and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), among speculation that many ethanol plants, both operating under construction, would be closed or hibernated for the duration of the price crisis. Washington may have to suspend or reduce the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) because the industry ia unable to produce adequate volumes required under the mandate.
> Read more: http://tinyurl.com/4v9lwb

Here...

CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION APPROVED BY LEGISLATURE – – – Manitoba Now Committed in Legislation to Meet Kyoto Target by 2012: Rondeau
Manitoba News Release, June 12, 2008
Manitoba has solidified its position as a leader on action on climate change by passing legislation that commits the province to meeting its Kyoto target. This plan and legislation includes 60 specific actions to reduce greenhouse gases supported by more than $145 million in investments over four years. A new coal-reduction strategy includes a tax on coal emissions, capital support for coal-reliant industries to convert to cleaner energy and support for developing biomass, a coal alternative.
> Read more: http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?archive=2008-06-01&item=3885

PLANT CONSTRUCTION PROCEEDS DESPITE MILL CLOSURE
HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Northern Ontario Business, May 2008
The opening of the clean electricity cogeneration plant in Atikokan, Ontario will proceed despite the fact that its main source of fuel, Fibratech, is in receivership. The plant will create 40 well-paying jobs, and is being financed and built by Delta Energy Co. Ltd.  Electricity will be generated by gasifying waste wood such as sawdust or bark, or alternatively, trees that have been destroyed by forest fires or insect infestations.   Even though it is not currently in operation, Fibratech still has enough waste wood sitting on its property to feed the electricity plant for three years.  Delta is still looking into purchasing the waste wood from Fibratech's creditors.
> Read more: http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry/energy/05-08-gassy.asp

Elsewhere...

METHANE CAPTURED, USED BY ENERGY UTILITY
PG&E News Release, March 14, 2008
Vintage Dairy, a company located in Riverdale, California, will become the first dairy in the state to produce gas derived from animal waste that will be used by a utility, according to Pacific Gas and Electric.  Manure from 5,000 milk-producing cows and calves at the dairy is flushed into a covered lagoon that is more than three stories deep and equal in size to nearly five football fields. The manure decomposes producing methane, which after being “scrubbed” to meet PG&E’s standards for natural gas is delivered to the utility via pipeline.  The system was developed by BioEnergy Solutions.
> Read more: http://www.pge.com/about/news/mediarelations/newsreleases/q1_2008/080304.shtml

UM INVENTION PROMISES MAJOR ADVANCE IN BIOFUEL PRODUCTION
UM Newsdesk, March 10, 2008
Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, professors of cell biology and molecular genetics at the University of Maryland, have developed a process that may be able to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline, using bacterium from the Chesapeake Bay marsh grass.
> Read more: http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/release.cfm?ArticleID=1613

BY 2011, WORLD BIOFUELS DEMAND TO REACH 92 MILLION METRIC TONS
The Freedonia Group forecasts world demand for biofuels will expand nearly 20%/yr to 92 million metric tons in 2011, despite recent concerns about the impact of biofuels on the environment and world food supplies.  Market expansion will come from more than a doubling of the world market for bioethanol and even faster increases in global biodiesel demand.
> For further information: http://www.freedoniagroup.com/DocumentDetails.aspx?DocumentId=344226

FOOD SHORTAGES TURN CORN TO TOAST AS FUEL
Pam Radtke Russell
ENR: Engineering News-Record, 5/12/2008
The article reports on the decline in the appeal of the corn-ethanol industry following global food shortages and rising food prices. The Renewable Fuels Association blames rising food prices on many factors, such as skyrocketing oil prices and the global demand for grain and meat from booming countries like China and India. While ethanol has increased in price by about $1 a gallon since last fall, the market will likely continue to be shaky because of basic supply-and-demand principles.
> Contact the ITC library to obtain this article.

INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT
Released April 7, 2008
The UN report titled "The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development" states that the way the world grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with a growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse.
> Report: http://www.agassessment.org/index.cfm?Page=IAASTD%20Reports&ItemID=2713

August 18-22, 2008
Short Rotation Crops International Conference:
BIOFUELS, BIOENERGY, AND BIOPRODUCTS FROM SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST CROPS
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Details: http://www.cinram.umn.edu/srwc/

July 8, 2008
Understanding European & North American Pellet Markets
Maritime Bioenergy Working Group and the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC)
Moncton, NB
Details: http://www.canbio.ca/documents/Moncton08.pdf

October 6-8, 2008
Bioenergy: From Words to Action
CANBIO Annual Bioenergy Conference & Trade Show
Ottawa, Canada
Details: http://www.canbio.ca/documents/Ottawa08.pdf