In South Dakota, POET Energy said that it was accelerating the schedule for its $4 Million pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in Scotland, and would open the facility by December. “Our expanded research effort has led to several significant strides in the development of cellulosic ethanol technology at the lab scale in recent months,” said Jeff [...]
Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov, in a note to investors in BioFuel Energy regarding its liquidity crisis, wrote that “there is a realistic prospect of obtaining additional working capital, and we believe management’s roadmap toward resolving this liquidity crisis by year-end is credible. Therefore, at this point, we do not foresee bankruptcy or some other [...]
In Hawaii, Imperium Renewables closed the door on a once-bright Hawaiian future when it closed its Honolulu office and laid off additional personnel, including Chief Operating Officer David Leonard. The company had planned to construct a $90 million biodiesel plant and supply Hawaiian Electric’s newest power plant with up to 12 Mgy.
The company, which did [...]
At the American Coalition for Ethanol annual conference this week in Nebraska, presenters highlighted new markets for products from ethanol plants. VeraSun touted the extraction of corn oil, while Chippewa Valley ethanol touted its food flavoring s extract alcohols, aromatherapy products, hairspray and “priairie” brand organic vodka.
Brent Searle, economist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture: “We’re kind of at the stage with biofuels where we were in early computers. They were big. They were clunky. They weren’t as efficient as we’d like them to be. Looking back, they looked pretty silly compared to what we have now … (but) you gotta [...]
In Malaysia, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said that the lowered price of crude palm oil made it possible for the country’s 15 biodiesel plants to resume full production at full capacity and make a profit. The government, he said, would buy 500,000 tonnes of biodiesel in the next year [...]
In Kenya, an article in IRIN highlighted the struggles of the newborn local jatropha industry. The industry profile highlighted the impact of rising diesel costs, and a 500 percent increase in the price of jatropa seeds from $15 per kilo to $92 per kilo. Test planting results have shown that local jatropha would take up [...]
In Thailand, General Motors announced an agreement with state oil company PTT to support research into cellulosic ethanol, expend biodiesel sources, develop alternative fuels including compressed natural gas, as well as expand R&D for hybrid and fuel cell engine technologies. GM also announced a partnership with the Thailand Automotive Industry Association that would propose an [...]
Researchers at Ames Lab are reporting that they have developed metallic alloy-based mesoporous nanospheres, akin to microscopic sponge balls with thousands of channels running though them, to increase the surface area of syngas catalysts by 100 times. The research team had previously found that ethanol yields from syngas can be increased if the surface area [...]
The International Herald Tribune published a useful comparison of the energy policies of Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama, including comparisons on offshore drilling, the strategic petroleum reserve, windfall profits tax, alternative energy, speculation on futures markets, nuclear power, gas tax holiday, climate change, oil use, the arctic national wildlife refuge, energy research, vehicle fuel economy and electricity.
