Imagine--Fuel Alcohol From Pea Starch!

Field peas for ethanol production are potentially attractive because it is a short season, cool weather crop that can be grown in regions too cold for corn. It may also be planted before or after a warm weather crop for more production in a year off a given poece of land. It's also a legume and thus requires no added nitrogen fertilizer, a large energy saving feature compared to corn. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Imagine--Fuel Alcohol From Pea Starch! / March 28, 2006 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service:
by Jan Suszkiw
"During studies, the fermented pea starch produced somewhat less ethanol than corn (1.7 gallons per bushel versus 2.8), because the legume had less starch to begin with. But the pea starch fermented just as easily as corn starch. Potentially, the high yield of enriched protein, together with the fermentation leftovers, could be sold as livestock feed. "

Brazilian Ethanol is Sustainable and has a Very Positive Energy Balance -- IEA Report

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa:
Biopact.com -- October 8, 2006
"The study also concludes that the energy balance of Brazilian ethanol ranges between 8.3 (average) and 10.2 (best case). "

Breeding Soybeans for Ethanol and Fiberboard

This news could be very significant for two reasons. First, soybeans do not require nitrogen fertilizer, commonly produced from natural gas. This means ethanol from soybean stalks would have a better energy balance. Secondly, these researchers say they may be able to breed soy cultivars with stalks that convert more easily to ethanol. This would decrease the cost of cellulosic ethanol production. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Breeding Soybeans for Ethanol and Fiberboard / November 22, 2006 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service:
"Soybeans have an advantage over corn and other crops because they don't need commercial nitrogen fertilizer. This helps ensure that producing ethanol or other products from soybeans uses less energy. "

Two Delaware Landfill Gas-to-Energy Plants Produce Methane

Two Delaware Landfill Gas-to-Energy Plants Produce Methane:
Nov. 23, 2006
"Thousands of tons of naturally occurring methane, a potent greenhouse gas, will be captured and converted into 'green' electricity."

Biomass Company Prepares Waste Rice Straw Harvest for Ethanol

Biomass Company Prepares Waste Rice Straw Harvest for Ethanol:
Nov. 24, 2006
"Colusa Biomass Energy Corporation (CBEC) announced the completion of its first-ever rice straw harvesting operation in Colusa County, California. "

MIT's pint-sized ethanol-boosted car engine promises high efficiency, low cost - MIT News Office

MIT's pint-sized car engine promises high efficiency, low cost - MIT News Office:
by Nancy Stauffer -- Oct. 25, 2006
"The impact on U.S. oil consumption could be substantial. For example, if all of today's cars had the new engine, current U.S. gasoline consumption of 140 billion gallons per year would drop by more than 30 billion gallons."

Driving the Future of Energy Security

Senator Dick Lugar - Driving the Future of Energy Security:
Sen. Richard Lugar -- Aug. 29, 2006
"We must move now to address our energy vulnerability because sufficient investment cannot happen overnight, and it will take years to build supporting infrastructure and to change behavior. In other words, by the time a sustained energy crisis fully motivates market forces, we are likely to be well past the point where we can save ourselves from extensive suffering. "

Tom Harkin: HARKIN CALLS FOR STUDY OF PIPELINE DISTRIBUTION OF ETHANOL

Tom Harkin: HARKIN CALLS FOR STUDY OF PIPELINE DISTRIBUTION OF ETHANOL:
harkin.senate.gov -- Sept. 29, 2006
"We continue to hear comments that it can�t but done efficiently, but it is happening right now in Brazil. The goal of this bill is to examine the issue and get all the facts on the table."

Tom Harkin: HARKIN APPLAUDS PLANS FOR NEW ETHANOL PRODUCTION FACILITY

Tom Harkin: HARKIN APPLAUDS PLANS FOR NEW ETHANOL PRODUCTION FACILITY:
harkin.senate.gov -- Nov. 20, 2006
"WASHINGTON D.C. --- Senator Tom Harkin, a leading proponent of increasing alternative energy production and use, today applauded Broin Companies and its plan to build a cellulose-to-ethanol production facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa. "

New hybrid car runs on methane from cow manure

New hybrid car runs on cow power:
by Cookson Beecher, Capitol Press -- Nov. 3, 2006
"FERNDALE, Wash. - The Viking 32, a hybrid car that runs on electricity and biomethane, is a 'sweet' car by anyone's standards."

Turning Kitchen Grease into Biogas

Another case of turning waste into power. We need more of this kind of innovation. -- Jeff Goettemoeller
Turning Kitchen Grease into Biogas:
Nov. 17, 2006
"One California city is using biogas made from restaurant grease to power 80 percent of its wastewater treatment plant. "

Xethanol Acquires Cellulosic Ethanol Plant in NC

Xethanol Acquires Fiberboard factory in NC:
RenewableEnergyAccess.com -- Nov. 20, 2006
"We plan to re-open the facility in 2007 as a pilot plant to demonstrate the technical feasibility and economic viability of using wood chips as a cellulosic feedstock."

Broin Companies to Expand Voyager Ethanol Plant in Emmetsburg, IA to Include Cellulose to Ethanol Commercial Production

Broin Companies to Expand Voyager Ethanol Plant in Emmetsburg, IA to Include Cellulose to Ethanol Commercial Production:
Biofuels Jornal -- Nov. 20, 2006
"Sioux Falls, SD and Des Moines, IA - Broin Companies, the nation's largest dry mill ethanol producer, announced Nov. 20 its plans to build a cellulose-to-ethanol production facility in the state of Iowa with a completion date expected in 2009. "

Peak Oil: Even If The Optimists Are Right, Time Is Getting Tight

Peak Oil: Even If The Optimists Are Right, Time Is Getting Tight:
by Mike Byfield -- Nov. 20, 2006
"Peak oil proponents and skeptics agree that world production will eventually crest. Also, both sides of this debate accept that the decline curve will be gradual rather than sudden (with a little luck). Their common ground, although limited and easily obscured by emotional intensity, is slowly growing."

CERA study challenges 'peak oil' theory

Oil & Gas Journal - CERA study challenges 'peak oil' theory:
by OGJ editors -- Nov. 16, 2006
"Instead of a peak, CERA says, production is more likely to trace an 'undulating plateau' that will last for a decade or more beyond 2030. "

Congressional peak oil caucus responds to CERA study

Congressional peak oil caucus responds to CERA study | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse:
by Roscoe Bartlett and Tom Udall -- Nov. 14, 2006
"Congressman Udall said, 'CERA's report is one of the most optimistic predictions for the peak in global oil production to date, and it still underscores the need to address this problem immediately."

Iowa plant chosen for test of new cellulosic ethanol technology

Radio Iowa: Emmetsburg plant chosen for test of new ethanol technology:
by Darwin Danielson -- Nov. 20, 2006
"Broin says the results of the commercialization of the process will result in 11-percent more ethanol from a bushel of corn and 27-percent more ethanol from an acre of corn and 83-percent less energy needed to operate the plant. "

Investors Back Experimental Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

Investors Back Experimental Ethanol Plant - New York Times:
by Miguel Helft -- Nov. 13, 2006
"The Mascoma Corporation, which is trying to produce ethanol from nontraditional sources, plans to announce today that it has received $30 million in financing from a group of prominent venture capital investors."

Alberta's first large-scale biofuel refinery planned

Alberta's first large-scale biofuel refinery planned:
by Geoffrey Scotton, CanWest News Service -- Nov. 14, 2006
"A $400-million integrated biodiesel and ethanol refinery the first complex of its kind in North America will be built in central Alberta."

RAND Study Says Renewable Energy Could Play Larger Role in U.S. Energy Future

RAND Study Says Renewable Energy Could Play Larger Role in U.S. Energy Future:
Nov. 14, 2006
"Renewable resources could produce 25 percent of the electricity and motor vehicle fuels used in the United States by 2025 at little or no additional cost if fossil fuel prices remain high enough and the cost of producing renewable energy continues falling in accord with historical trends, according to a RAND Corporation study issued Nov. 13."

VeraSun Energy Plans to Use One Feedstock to Produce Ethanol and Biodiesel

BFJ.com EXCLUSIVE: VeraSun Energy Plans to Use One Feedstock to Produce Ethanol and Biodiesel:
by Susan reidy, Biofuels Journal Editor -- Nov 15, 2006
"The Brookings, SD-based company announced Nov. 3 plans to produce biodiesel using oil extracted from distillers grains, a coproduct of ethanol production."

Mascoma ready to scale up cellulosic ethanol production

Technology Review: Making Ethanol from Wood Chips:
by Kevin Bullis
"Experimental methods for converting wood chips and grass into ethanol will soon be tested at production scale. "

Florida Company to Make Ethanol from Citrus Waste

Fueling Station | Tampabay.com - St. Petersburg Times: Citrus ethanol. A cheap Florida fuel option.:
by David Adams -- Nov. 4, 2006
"Unlike other 'five-carbon' sugars being experimented with, the citrus waste can easily be fermented into ethanol using regular brewers yeast."

Partnership to Develop Ethanol from Cellulosic Biomass

Partnership to Develop Ethanol from Cellulosic Biomass:
Renewable Energy Access -- Nov. 6, 2006
"Broin and Novozymes will collaborate on the next steps needed to bring cost-effective ethanol derived from corn stover to market."

New Technology could turn straw into ethanol and high-value byproducts

Straw into gold:
by Crystal Reid, Bismark Tribune -- Nov. 5, 2006
"Truly, any sort of wheat straw or biomass refinery is at least a decade away, researchers say. But North Dakota researchers recently released an economic feasibility study on a new technology that could make such refineries rival the economic impact of oil and ethanol refineries."

New Research Paper Finds Water Availability Critical to Growth of Ethanol Industry

BFJ.com EXCLUSIVE: New Research Paper Finds Water Availability Critical to Growth of Ethanol Industry:
by Susan Reidy, Biofuels Journal Editor -- Nov. 7, 2006
"Without some careful planning, water availability could stand in the way of growing the ethanol industry, according to a new paper from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)."

Bioreactor will convert CO2 into biomass, Ethanol, Biodiesel

This is yet another technology on the verge of commercialization that promises to improve the energy balance of ethanol. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
GreenShift Corporation - Press Room - GS CleanTech Releases Process Demonstration of CO2 Bioreactor Technology: "A 50 million gallon per year dry mill ethanol production facility consumes about 500,000 tons of corn. About one third of this mass exits the dry mill ethanol production process at the fermentation stage in the form of exhaust carbon dioxide.
As applied at a standard dry mill ethanol production facility, GS CleanTech's bioreactor consumes exhaust carbon dioxide and has the potential to significantly enhance the net energy value of corn-derived ethanol processes by producing a number of valuable co-products that can increase plant output and gross margins."

E3 Biofuels to Launch First Closed-Loop Ethanol Plant in Mead, NE

E3 Biofuels to Launch First Closed-Loop Ethanol Plant in Mead, NE:
October 30, 2006
"Mead, NE -- Dennis Langley, Chairman and CEO of E3 BioFuels, announces the Genesis plant will begin production in December 2006 at Mead, NE as the first-ever closed-loop system for distilling commercial quantities of ethanol using methane gas recaptured from cow manure, instead of fossil fuels. "