Gentlemen, Start Your Plug-Ins

Gentlemen, Start Your Plug-Ins: Electric Plug-in Hybrid | Committee for the Present Danger | R. James Woolsey:
By R. James Woolsey, Jan. 2, 2007
"Electricity is about to become a major partner with alternative liquid fuels in replacing oil."

Renewable Energy Roadmap: Rural America Can Prosper

Renewable Energy Roadmap: Rural America Can Prosper:
Dec. 28, 2006
"Report from the University of Tennessee finds the 25x25 goal will boost farm income and create millions of jobs. "

Nebraska Cattlemen Adopts Ethanol Policy

Nebraska Cattlemen Adopts Ethanol Policy > Nebraska Cattlemen > News Releases:
December 1, 2006
"Nebraska Cattlemen members heard from cattle, corn and ethanol industry experts and discussed the complex situation before adopting policy. The cattlemen believe ethanol production can be a big benefit to ranchers, feeders and corn farmers if ethanol production transitions to a free market industry. In addition, because dramatic corn price fluctuations are costly and disruptive to all parties, the Nebraska Cattlemen favors measures that would counter the effects of harmful trade actions that could be made by foreign oil producing countries."

Japanese brewer develops monster sugarcane for ethanol

Fueling Station | Tampabay.com - St. Petersburg Times: Brewers grow monster cane for ethanol.

Colorado bullish on cellulosic ethanol

This article is a good overview of where things stand with cellulosic ethanol. If an initial commercial refinery is successful, more will likely be built in a hurry. -- Jeffrey
Rocky Mountain News - Denver and Colorado's reliable source for breaking news, sports and entertainment: Energy & mining:
by Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News Dec. 26, 2006
"Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently told a congressional hearing that cellulosic ethanol is the only alternative fuel that could make a dent on the nation's oil consumption."

Gov. Jeb Bush supports hemispheric commission to promote ethanol

Gov. Bush throws support behind ethanol initiative: Gov. Jeb Bush tips his hat to renewable fuels with the launch of a hemispheric commission to promote ethanol:
"Dec 19, 2006 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Gov. Jeb Bush, in his last Miami appearance as governor, threw his weight behind a hemispheric project aimed at having drivers tank up on sugar or corn and not just petroleum."

You’ve Heard of Ethanol; Here Comes ‘Grassahol’

This article talks about research at Oklahoma State University on making ethanol from switchgrass through gasification. It's an alternative worth exploring. Gasification could also be used to make other end products depending on market pricing and what makes sense at the time. -- Jeffrey
MND: » You’ve Heard of Ethanol; Here Comes ‘Grassahol’: "The entire plant, diced into bits, is burned at high temperatures in a device called a “gasifier.”"

New York Plans $20 M Cellulosic Ethanol Demonstration Plant

New York Plans $20 M Cellulosic Ethanol Demonstration Plant:
Dec. 21, 2006
"Mascoma Corporation received a $14.8 million award "

My Big Biofuels Bet

Wired 14.10: My Big Biofuels Bet:
by Vinod Khosla -- Oct. 2006
"IT MAY SURPRISE YOU TO learn that the most promising solution to our nation’s energy crisis begins in the bowels of a waste trough, under the slotted concrete floor of a giant pen that holds 28,000 Angus, Hereford, and Charolais beef cattle."

Jeff Simmons Returns to Pilot Rahal Letterman Ethanol IndyCar Entry

driving ethanol: EPIC News Releases:
"HILLIARD, Ohio (November 9, 2006) - Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) announced today that Jeff Simmons with primary sponsorship from ICM, Fagen Inc. and Broin Companies, would once again pilot the No. 17 Team Ethanol/Dallara in the IndyCar Series. The team also announced the signing of veteran IndyCar Series driver Scott Sharp with primary sponsorship from The Patrón Spirits Company, which completes the team’s two-car 2007 IndyCar Series line-up."

Xethanol Corp. Joins Renewable Spirits to Produce Ethanol From Citrus Peels, Plans Pilot Production Facility in Bartow, FL

Xethanol Corp. Joins Renewable Spirits to Produce Ethanol From Citrus Peels, Plans Pilot Production Facility in Bartow, FL (OrlandoBizJournal)
Dec. 13, 2006

Mixed Species Native Prairies better than Corn for Ethanol Production

The key to this Minnesota study is it shows that a diversity of native prairie grasses and forbes (broadleaf flowering natives) can produce a great amount of ethanol per acre. This mixed stand was invented by nature and it is what built the soil of the great plains into some of the reichest, deepest soil in the world. Expanding such plantings will improve wildlife habitats, soil quality, and water quality while producing much more ethanol per acre than is now possible with grain crops. If this is not a win-win idea, I don't know what is. Government policies should be changed to encourage planting these bio-diverse mixed plantings of native plants on CRP land and marginal lands for energy production. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Native Prairie Plant Bio-based Fuel alternative to Petroleum better than Corn based Ethanol | Best Syndication:
by Dusty Rhodes -- Dec. 11, 2006
"A study from the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences found that a mixture of native perennial grasses and other flowering plants are a better source of energy per acre compared to corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel."

Indy Test Offers Sneak Peek at New Ethanol Fuel, Honda Engine

Indianapolis 500
Oct. 2, 2006

Engineered yeast improves ethanol production

Engineered yeast improves ethanol production - MIT News Office:
by Anne Trafton -- Dec. 6, 2006
"The new strain produced 50 percent more ethanol during a 21-hour period than normal yeast."

Sen. Harkin wants new farm bill to aid cellulosic ethanol expansion

Cattle Network - Connecting The Beef Industry Worldwide:
Dec. 6, 2006
"WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. farm sector will have to go through transformations as cellulose becomes a viable feedstock for the country’s ethanol production and Congress will help that come about when it writes a new farm bill next year, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Wednesday."

Cellulosic ethanol legislation needs fixing

The Strange Legislative History of the Cellulosic Ethanol Mandate:
by David Morris, Institute for Local Self Reliance -- Dec. 4, 2006
"One of the first orders of business for the new Congress should be to eliminate a single sentence in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 added in the waning hours of the Conference Committee. If it does not, the commercialization of ethanol made from cellulose could be delayed."

Mascoma to build first cellulosic ethanol refinery in New York

Ethanol maker Mascoma heads for the forests | News.blog | CNET News.com:
Nov 29, 2006
"The company has decided to focus on wood chips as its feed stock for its first plants, which will be constructed next year and operational in 2008, South said."

Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum in Arid Tropics

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa:
Oct. 14, 2006
"the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has successfully helped in achieving commercial production of ethanol from juice of the sweet sorghum stalk."

OSU Researches On-Farm Ethanol from Sorghum

OSU is helping to perfect this process. Maybe it will have promise. -- Jeffrey
OSU-Stillwater || Welcome To Oklahoma State University - Stillwater:
By Mandy Gross -- March 20, 2006
"Initial experiments investigated the use of temperature-tolerant yeast strains with results indicating that fermentation is possible and that little or no pretreatment of the “juice” is necessary, Bellmer said."

On-Farm Ethanol Production from Sweet Sorghum

Sorghum produces far more fermentable sugar per acre than corn. It also requires fewer fertilizers and less water. The problem of transporting bulky stalks to refineries and storing them have prevented sweet sorghum from being used as an ethanol crop. Perhaps on-farm distillation could overcome these barriers. The yield of ethanol per acre would undoubtedly be higher than for corn. Fuel inputs for processing would be less as well because the juice is already a sugar, ready to be distilled. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Excellent For Ethanol:
by Peg Zenk -- Nov. 1, 2006
"A mobile distillation unit that could be moved from farm to farm is the centerpiece of McClune's on-farm sorganol production concept."

Japanese Company to produce cellulosic ethanol from palm waste

Bioenergy pact between Europe and Africa

Chevron Energy Solutions to Prepare Proposal to Develop High-Efficiency Ethanol Plants for Ethanex Energy

Ethanex plans to use fractionation of corn kernels and they will power these refineries with biogas from the gasification of a portion of the corn kernels not used for ethanol. They will also co-locate with a coal-fired power plant in at least one case to utilize waste heat. All these approaches should result in lower production cost and a better energy balance for the ethanol produced. The company web site says they expect a production cost of 90 cents per gallon. -- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
Chevron Press Release - Chevron Energy Solutions to Prepare Proposal to Develop High-Efficiency Ethanol Plants for Ethanex Energy:
Oct. 10, 2006
"The plants, to be located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas, will each produce about 132 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol annually. "

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. "