biofuel

In the tall grass, researchers find energy alternative

A perennial grass that grows as tall as 13 feet, requires little to no fertilizer, and can be stored away in bales almost indefinitely could be the next hope for efficient ethanol production.

At least that's the thinking of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have been field testing a sterile grass known as Miscanthus giganteus, a distant cousin of switchgrass. In a report released Wednesday, the researchers said that the biofuel crop proved in field tests to be significantly more productive than other crops like corn in producing biomass for ethanol--an alternative to gas.

"By … Read more

World Bank: Biofuels lift food prices 75 percent

Demand for biofuels in Europe and the United States has forced up food prices 75 percent around the world, according to a World Bank report that was leaked and published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday.

The number stands in sharp contrast to the 3 percent contribution to higher food pricing estimated by the United States Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, a study commissioned by food manufacturers pegs the contribution of biofuels on food prices at between 25 percent and 35 percent. (Click here for PDF).

The reports will surely heat up the debate on biofuels policy one week before the … Read more

Algae-to-energy company GreenFuel replaces CEO

GreenFuel Technologies, a closely watched algae start-up, has hired a new CEO to place interim CEO Bob Metcalfe.

Simon Upfill-Brown will join the company in mid-July from Haltermann Custom Processing, where he was CEO of the chemical manufacturing firm. He was general manager of Haltermann Dow after Dow Chemical bought the company in 2001 until it was spun out this year as a separate company.

In a statement, Upfill-Brown said "algae has come of age."

"By developing and scaling our algae farming technologies, we aim to play a huge role in solving the world's energy problems: … Read more

Beware the allure of ethanol investing

I am a fan of ethanol. The addition of corn ethanol to our US fuel supply chain has had a significant impact in keeping gasoline prices way lower than they otherwise would have been, and has paid for the subsidies many times over. But that has not translated to gains for ethanol stocks, which are down on the order of 50% over the last year according to the Camino Energy index, and it won't change anytime soon.

As the bellwether US ethanol pureplays are finally down to earth, and my predictions have come to pass. Two years ago ahead … Read more

Biotech pros press algae into biodiesel production

Algae, it seems, is the new darling of the biofuels world. Aurora BioFuels on Tuesday announced that it has raised $20 million to build open-pond algae farms to make bio-oil.

It's one of several funding announcements from start-ups looking to make algae a commercially viable alternative to soy, canola, or fry grease to make fuel for diesel vehicles.

Aurora BioFuels, started by University of California at Berkeley students, has a process that it says can create biodiesel at yields that are 125 times higher and have 50 percent lower costs than today's production methods.

The company intends to … Read more

Out of the frying pan and into the power grid

If fry grease can run a Mercedes, why can't it power the restaurant it came from?

That's the idea behind Owl Power Company's Vegawatt power system, a machine that converts a restaurant's waste oil into electricity and hot water.

Co-generation, where a fuel is burned to make electricity, is regularly done at landfill incinerators or industrial biomass generators. There are also home co-generators, such as the Freewatt from Climate Energy.

Owl Power's twist on co-generation is that it lets restaurants use what's normally a waste product as a fuel for themselves.

James Peret, the … Read more

As gas costs climb, driving dwindles

Gasoline prices this week reached a new record average of $4.02 per gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

Two-thirds of Americans have already changed how much they drive due to high prices at the pump, according to a poll commissioned by Access America Travel Insurance and Assistance.

Seventy-four percent of those polled said they would drive less, once gas hits $4 per gallon. Eighty-five percent said $5 costs per gallon would motivate driving changes.

The median price to spark a shift in driving habits was $3.20 per gallon, which was near the average several months ago. … Read more

Biofuels and food prices: Running the numbers

Clean-energy research firm New Energy Finance has waded into the "food versus fuel" debate and finds that oil is a bigger factor in rising food prices than biofuels.

New Energy Finance, which will release its report Tuesday, also finds that changing food patterns around the world, growing population, and rising input costs, such as fertilizers, are contributing to upward pressure on food prices.

Biofuels production, too, is contributing to food price inflation, but New Energy Finance said that is "far from the dominant factor." It found that areas where biofuel productions have had a significant impact … Read more

Khosla: Setting the story straight

This guest post is from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, writing a rebuttal to pointed accusations flung at him from the Wall Street Journal in an editorial titled "Khosla's Conspiracy." He wants to set the story straight on where he stands with biofuels, government subsidies, and their link to the global food crisis.

To my surprise, this morning I found myself cited by the Wall Street Journal as a strong advocate of subsidies for food-based ethanol, and as a recipient of "federal dole" who ought to "take a vow of embarrassed silence." While I … Read more