Bluefire Ethanol is , a company which has graced the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” top 20 since its establishment — and which has won a series of DOE grants and competitive awards going back several years. Its weak acid hydrolysis process converts municipal solid waste and other municipal and agricultural residues to sugars and thereafter ethanol — a process proven at pilot and demo scale since 2004 with a project that was completed in Japan. Today, Bluefire has a fully-permitted, “shovel-ready” project in Lancaster, California that is stalled for lack of debt financing, and a project coming along quickly in Mississippi that will similarly hit a wall in a few months when permitting is complete.
Archive for the ‘Next Generation Fuels’ Category
Waiting for Godot: The financing of advanced biofuels
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Posted in Bioenergy, Biofuels General, Biotechnology, Ethanol, Finance & Investment, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
Free, Hot Biomass Downloads
Friday, March 5th, 2010- Biofuels Research and Development Initiatives – Feedstock Development
This US multi-government department and agency group commissioned an overview of efforts aimed at producing more and better feedstocks with higher yield and faster payback. (more…)
Posted in Agriculture, BioPower Generation, Bioenergy, Biofuel Policy & Regulation, Biorefineries, Forestry and Pulp, Future feedstocks, Jatropha, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
FloridaAlgae’s Baby Bloomers revisited: after “the summer of algae,” a shock, some awe, and a surge
Monday, February 22nd, 2010OriginOil’s new system
It was just a few months ago that expectations ran so high during the “Summer of Algae” that it seemed as if, any day, the national energy solution would be announced by an enterprising company, or two or three or 103, who had conquered the problems of industrializing growth rates and oil extraction like an assault team at Iwo Jima. Only the “we, band of brothers” would hold PhDs instead M-1 carbines. (more…)
Posted in Algae, Biofuel Policy & Regulation, Cellulosic Ethanol, Ethanol, Finance & Investment, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Industry news, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off
Two for the Sunshine State: LS9, Algenol biofuels projects greenlighted in Florida
Monday, February 22nd, 2010In Florida, algal ethanol and renewable drop-in fuels advanced suddenly in the Sunshine State with the approval of a $10 million Lee County incentive for Algenol that will bring the company’s research laboratory, new corporate headquarters and production facility to South Florida.
On the other side of the state, LS9 announced that they have selected an existing site in Okeechobee for a 100,000 gallon pilot plant opening this year, that could be expanded to 10 Mgy as soon as 2012. (more…)
Posted in Algae, Bioenergy, Biotechnology, Cellulosic Ethanol, Diesel, Ethanol, Industry news, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
Aviation biofuels – the major developments, opportunities, players and issues
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Aviation biofuels are the hottest topic in the field as 2010 begins, no question about it. This month, Rentech signed an off-take agreement with 13 airlines for renewable, drop-in jet fuel made from waste biomass; AltAir signed with 14 airlines for renewable, drop-in jet fuel made from camelina oil. Later this quarter, Dynamic Fuels will open a commercial-scale facility in Louisiana that can manufacture up to 75 million gallons per year, again from waste biomass. (more…)
Posted in Aviation fuels, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
The “new jatropha”: SG Biofuels partners with Life Technologies to accelerate new cultivar development by 60 percent; product line this year, says CEO
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010In California, jatropha pioneer SG Biofuels announced a strategic alliance with Life Technologies Corporation, a provider of innovative life science solutions, to advance the development of Jatropha as a sustainable biofuel. (more…)
Posted in Aviation fuels, Diesel, Future feedstocks, Jatropha, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
Cyanobacteria: the new biofuels platform?
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010BUENOS AIRES – It is early afternoon and the sun is moving west along the Rio de la Plata in the general direction of the Paraná, the river that continues northeast towards Santa Fe province and the great soy fields of the Argentine. It continues north into Brazil and anchors the great sugarcane ethanol fields west of Sao Paulo. (more…)
Posted in Algae, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off
A 60 Sec Interview with Marc Van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of SBAE Industries – Marc discusses the importance of developing a holistic, multi-product business model for the viability of a large scale algae fuels production.
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010How has SBAE Industries become a leading company in the development of micro-algae?
SBAE Industries has started activities almost 4 years ago. Based on its understanding of algae, the company developed two algae production platforms. One of them, DiaForce, is enabling mass production of algal biomass which is suited for the biofuels market. (more…)
Posted in Algae, Future feedstocks, Interviews, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
The Who, What and When of Advanced Bioprocessing Technologies
Friday, December 18th, 2009Policymakers are known to equate biofuels with first-generation ethanol, biodiesel, and cellulosic ethanol. More recently, they have embraced exotic technologies such as the algae platform for advanced biofuels. As one industry wag put it, “You tell them about first-generation, second-generation and third-generation biofuels, and then they tell you that the one that really want to get behind is fourth-generation.” (more…)
Posted in Algae, BioPlastics, Biorefineries, Biotechnology, Cellulosic Ethanol, Finance & Investment, Forestry and Pulp, Future feedstocks, Helioculture, Next Generation Fuels, cyanobacteria | Comments Off
15 airlines sign with Rentech, AltAir for 325 million gallons per year in renewable jet biofuel
Friday, December 18th, 2009In Washington, the Air Transport Association of America announced that 15 airlines from the US, Canada, Germany and Mexico have signed MOUs with AltAir Fuels and Rentech – for the entire output of two new biofuel facilities that will be constructed in Mississippi and Washington state. (more…)
Posted in Aviation fuels, Biotechnology, Future feedstocks, Next Generation Fuels | Comments Off
