Slowly but surely, an extraordinarily important new industry is slowly taking shape, with the potential to transform the global economy.

After years of existing largely as an environmentalist’s fantasy, commercial production of biofuels for the world civil aviation industry is slowly becoming a fact, with production starting up across three continents.

The leading contenders for biofuel feedstocks are jatropha and camelina, both of which have their fervent supporters. While currently neither is capable of production at a price approaching that of Jet A1 civil aviation fuel derived from hydrocarbons, research and extensive investment are nevertheless investigating the possibilities. Leer más »

By Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2Tech/Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:00pm EDT.

Google Ventures has made its first biofuels investment. On Thursday afternoon, the venture arm of the search giant announced it has invested in a startup called CoolPlanetBioFuels, which makes what the company calls “negative carbon fuels.” CoolPlanetBiofuels has also raised funding from another group of well-known strategic investors recently: Energy Technology Ventures, which is made up of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. Leer más »

ShareIn Florida, Biofuels Digest announced that Solazyme, Amyris, Neste Oil, Ceres and Bunge led this years roster of Biofuels Digest Award winners.

The awards, first established in 2008, recognize excellence in the research, development and commercialization of biofuels, renewable chemicals and bio-based products. The awards are voted by the Biofuels Digest editorial board, based on nominations submitted by the Digest’s readership. Leer más »

As expected, 2010 proved to be a pivotal year for the U.S. biodiesel industry. With a new federal requirement for use of a targeted level of biodiesel as well as the reinstatement of the federal biodiesel blenders’ tax credit through 2011 now in place, most of the industry should be able to turn its focus back to producing more of this economically beneficial fuel.

The soybean checkoff has been a driving force behind the biodiesel industry from its inception, culminating in 2008, when the industry produced nearly 700 million gallons. In that time, the biodiesel industry became a powerful economic engine. According to a report by consulting firm LECG, LLC, the biodiesel industry supported nearly 52,000 jobs in 2008. Leer más »

The sheer scale of the future global food market demands that Argentina and Brazil pool their efforts, soy pool king Gustavo Grobocopatel told yesterday’s Club de la Unión Nacional luncheon.

World grain demand will double by 2035, he said — not just due to population growth but because the United States is shifting its maize (70 percent of world output) to biofuels, pushing up soy and other grain prices in the process, because Chinese meat consumption has shot up from seven to 60 kilos per capita (three-quarters pork) in a couple of decades and because urbanization (a majority of world population since 2006) is eating up land.

Two centuries of declining food prices have been reversed in recent years. Leer más »

The project is being developed by Bioscan in the region of Antofagasta, with co-financing InnovaChile. (Photo: CORFO)

A new project, which is financially supported by the Chilean government, will promote the diversification of energy through the production of biofuels from microalgae.

The main objective of the initiative is to develop algae production which captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and also creates competitively priced biodiesel fuels. Leer más »

GENEVA — The head of the world’s biggest airline association, IATA, berated the oil industry and governments on Friday for investing “peanuts” in cleaner biofuels.

“Biofuels could break the tyranny of oil and lift millions from poverty along with providing a sustainable fuel source for aviation,” Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association said. Leer más »

Ireland-based Ceimici Novel Ltd. recently announced it has developed an innovative catalyst for use in new and existing biodiesel plants. According to the company, use of its unique catalyst can reduce production costs, increase profitability and results in ‘greener’ biodiesel production.

The catalytic material SCRO-80, which has been titled “Smart Catalyst,” facilitates the transesterification process in minutes rather than hours, said Ben Engelen, Ceimici Novel’s market developer. While Engelen was unable to disclose any information regarding the chemical structure or composition of SCRO-80, he did note that that the catalytic material “will not suffer from obsolescence.” Leer más »

The world’s first commercial-scale seawater-based biofuels project boosts Egypt’s aquaculture profile. (Photo: Global Seawater).

EGYPT, Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 00:40 (GMT + 9)

Houston-based energy projects development company Energy Allied International and the Seawater Foundation and Global Seawater, Inc, pioneers in the development of Integrated Seawater Agriculture Systems (ISAS), have signed an MOU to develop the world’s first commercial-scale seawater-based biofuels project in Egypt: “New Nile Co.” Leer más »

Accelergy, USAF to evaluate Camelina, liquid coal jet fuel mix
Accelergy has begun production of biojet fuel using a mix of Camelina oil and liquefied coal for evaluation by the US Air Force (USAF). Separately, Accelergy signed a Camelina oil supply agreement with an Ohio company.

US Navy to test F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet with biofuels
In 2009, Accelergy entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with USAF for testing fully synthetic fuels that meet or exceed USAF JP-8 military jet fuel standards. Leer más »