biofuel

Bacteria found in the Yellowstone National Park’s hot springs could one day help produce cheaper ethanol fuel. Scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have found that the C. obsidiansis bacteria first found in Yellowstone could be the ideal micro-organism for breaking down complex, woody plants such as switchgrass; simplifying the production of ethanol [...]

Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) are to trial a plant that will produce biogas from waste food to power cars. Everything from overripe fruit to stale bread will be collected from the nearby Stuttgart wholesale market, with the waste food processed by various micro-organisms in a two-stage digestion process [...]

Tuesday 7 February, 2012. The Green Piece Column. Last week was a bad week for the biofuel industry with leaked data from the European Commission (see story) seeming to support the stance of charities Friends of the Earth (FOE) and ActionAid in suggesting that some of our current biofuel sources are inexcusably unsustainable (see story). [...]

Biodiesels made from palm oil, soybean and rapeseed are more polluting than than regular fossil fuel sources, according to new data from the European Commission leaked to Euroactiv. New analysis from the Commission, assessing the effects of Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) and leaked to the press, suggests that greenhouse gas emissions from some biodiesel [...]

As it bids to reduce emissions from its transport fuels, the California Energy Commission is looking for proposals to provide funding for new biofuel production facilities in the state that could help to produce low carbon transportation fuels. Having made around $37million available under this solicitation, California hopes to encourage production of fuels such as: [...]

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed its 2012 percentage standards for four fuels within its Renewable Fuel Standard programme. It has announced the following volumes and standards: biomass-based diesel (1.0billion gallons, 0.91 per cent); cellulosic biofuels (8.65billion gallons, 0.006 per cent); advanced biofuels (2.0billion gallons, 1.21 per cent); and total renewable fuels (15.2billion [...]

The production of biofuels is a bigger cause of land grab deals than was previously thought, a new report suggests. New and extensive research by the International Land Coalition  (ILC) reveals that more than half of all land grabbing deals in developing countries over the last decade are attributably to biofuel production. Covering a full [...]

One of the most fashionable capital cities in Europe – Stockholm – welcomed its first refuelling station for liquefied methane gas, LNG/LBG earlier this week. The filling station is part of a BiMe Trucks project that sees Volvo Trucks team up with AGA, with the latter supplying the liquefied gas. Its overall aim is to [...]

The UK is likely to miss its renewable fuel for transport targets without significant investment into a new generation of biofuels according to a new study from the National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC) commissioned by UK government. Prepared on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Transport (DfT), [...]

One of the most important figures in the fuel industry believes that biofuels will be the single most important alternative to hydrocarbons over the next 20 years – even ahead of electricity and hydrogen. Arthur Reijnhart, the general manager of alternative energies and fuel development strategy for Shell, believes there will be an increasingly diverse [...]