biofuel

- by Aaron Beswick, May 15, 2014, Source: Truro Bureau

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"193","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 300px; height: 220px; float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;","title":"Photo: Industcards.coom"}}]]Nova Scotia is having trouble keeping up with the requirement for fibre at the biomass boiler at Point Tupper, says the natural resources minister.

“There’s not enough fibre right now in the province to support demands placed on that sector,” Zach Churchill said Thursday, referring to the amount of fibre available on Crown land.

Churchill was responding to questions from reporters about whether hardwood sawlogs are being burned in the boiler to produce electricity rather than going to hardwood sawmills where they could be processed into a higher-value product.

[Contact the EPA at cleanenergy@epa.gov by May 30 and urge them NOT to include biomass energy in their plans. -Ed.] 

- Erin Voegele, May 8, 2014, Source: Biomass Magazine

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"189","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 299px; margin: 5px 10px; float: left; height: 211px;"}}]]The U.S. EPA is seeking public comments on its new draft action plant for the RE-Powering America’s Land Initiative. The program promotes renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites.

In August 2013, the EPA announced an update of its RE-Powering Mapping and Screening Tool. The updated tool showed vast potential for the development of bioenergy projects on contaminated lands, landfills and mine sites. According to the EPA, the updated tool identified 9,591 sites as potential locations for biorefinery facilities, 9,666 sites for potential biopower development and 1,947 sites as potential locations for landfill gas energy projects. To date, however, most projects developed through the initiative focus on wind or solar power generation. Of the 110 installations developed so far, only one is a biomass project. That project, the 20 MW Savannah River’s Biomass Steam Plant, is located on a Superfund site in Aiken, S.C.

[Yet another bad idea fueled by the fantasy of infinite growth. -Ed.]

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- May 9, 2014,  Source: Phys Org

A key challenge in the biofuels landscape is to get more advanced biofuels—fuels other than corn ethanol and vegetable oil-based biodiesel—into the transportation pool. Utilization of advanced biofuels is stipulated by the Energy Independence and Security Act; however, current production levels lag behind proposed targets. Additionally, certain transportation sectors, such as aviation, are likely to continue to require liquid hydrocarbon fuels in the long term even as light duty transportation shifts to alternative power sources.

A multi-university team lead by George Huber, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has addressed both challenges through the concerted development of technology designed to transform lignocellulosic biomass into a jet fuel surrogate via catalytic chemistry. This promising approach highlights the versatility of lignocellulose as a feedstock and was recently summarized in the journal Energy & Environmental Science by team member and lead author Jesse Q. Bond, Syracuse University Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering.

- March 4, 2014. Source: Environmental Leader

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"119","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 333px; height: 259px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; float: left;"}}]]Estimates for potential biofuel feedstock crop yields from some widely cited research studies may overstate those yields by as much as 100 percent, according to research by the International Council on Clean Transportation.

One key factor in developing a sustainable biofuels policy is to realistically estimate the amount of biomass that can on average be grown on a given amount of land to produce cellulosic biofuel. But Will energy crop yields meet expectations? found that the highest predicted yields, and associated expectations of how much biomass could be grown for energy, could not be supported by an overview of studies in this field.

- by Christopher Martin, March 18, 2014. Source: Bloomberg Businessweek

[Read more about Khosla: Cellulosic Ethanol: A Bio-Fool's Errand -Ed.]

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"119","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"374","style":"width: 333px; height: 277px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; float: left;","width":"480"}}]]Kior Inc. (KIOR:US), the Vinod Khosla-backed operator of the first U.S. commercial-scale cellulosic biofuel plant, fell the most on record after management told regulators they have serious doubts about staying in business.

Kior declined 41 percent to 63 cents at 10:23 a.m. in New York, the most intraday since its June 2011 initial public offering at $15.

The company needs additional capital by April 1 and its only potential source of near-term financing is a March 16 commitment letter from billionaire investor Khosla, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday.

UK biomass project halted, developer blames “erosion of support” for biomass

– by Nina Chestney, March 7, 2014. Source: Reuters

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"60","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","style":"width: 333px; height: 333px; float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;","width":"480"}}]]Renewable energy developer RES has stopped a 300-million-pound ($500 million) project to build a biomass plant in Northumberland, northeast England, due to what it called inconsistent government subsidies.

The 100-megawatt (MW) plant was scheduled to be built at the Port of Blyth, creating 300 construction jobs and 50 operational jobs, RES said.

The company received permission to build the project from the government last year.

"It's bitterly disappointing for RES that we are unable to bring this exciting project forward, and deliver the significant boost it would have represented for the Blyth and Northumberland economy," RES Chief Operating Officer Gordon MacDougall said in a statement.

"However, the gradual erosion of support for dedicated biomass leaves us with no other option," he added.