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. "

Ford May Impliment Ethanol Injection in Vehicles

This is one of the more promising ethanol technologies. It would mean a substantial miles per gallon improvement using ethanol as opposed to the substantial loss using ethanol in current flex fuel vehicles. I can't help but think this would be a huge hit with motorists. -- Jeff Goettemoeller
MIT Ups MPG 30 Percent With Ethanol-Injected Engine | TechFreep Automotive: "Ethanol Boosting Systems is currently working alongside Ford to implement the ethanol-injection system in future models."

Leftovers from harvest are potential fuel source

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Leftovers from harvest are potential fuel source:
by Hal Bernton -- October 16, 2006
"Federal studies at the University of Nebraska's research center in Mead indicate that on some lands all the corn residues should be left.
On others, only a portion should be removed, and researchers here are scrambling to develop new guidelines they hope farmers will respect."

Chevron and NREL to Advance Cellulosic Biofuel

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Chevron and NREL to Advance Cellulosic Biofuels:
October 6, 2006
"Researchers from CTV and NREL will collaborate on projects to develop the next generation of process technologies that will convert cellulosic biomass, such as forestry and agricultural wastes, into biofuels such as ethanol and renewable diesel."

Glue made from ethanol leftovers might be worth more than fuel

This could be a great way to make cellulosic ethanol viable. Rather than trying to squeeze out more ethanol, making good use of coproducts might make the whole operation profitable with existing ethanol extraction technology. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Glue made from ethanol leftovers might be worth more than fuel | WTN:
by Margaret Broeren, Wisconsing Technology Network -- September 26, 2006
"Rather than dwelling on finding ways to squeeze extra ethanol out of biomass from crops such as switchgrass, Weimer is concentrating his research on the leftovers. He thinks that the large heap of fermentation residue from the ethanol-making process - what many people consider a byproduct - could be far more valuable than the ethanol itself."