By Erin Voegele | February 20, 2012/The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a Farm Bill hearing on Rural Development and Energy on Feb. 15. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack opened the testimony by speaking about the importance of energy policy in the Farm Bill.

“Biofuels, biomass, wind and solar rely primarily on farm, ranch, and forest lands, the potential for renewable energy development resides predominantly in our Nation’s rural regions,” Vilsack said. “Certainly, renewable energy is an important source of jobs and economic growth in rural communities across the country, while biofuels and biomass offer exciting new opportunities for entrepreneurs and, in particular, for American agricultural producers. Our nation’s future depends on out-innovating, out-investing, out-educating, and out-building our competitors in an increasingly integrated and competitive world economy.” Leer más »

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 »

(Reuters) – Rising biodiesel production may cut Brazil’s 2011 soyoil exports and Argentina’s soyoil shipments will also be lower than potential, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.

Brazil, the world’s No. 2 soyoil exporter, may sell only 1.50 million tonnes of soyoil overseas in the 2011 calendar year, down from 1.56 million tonnes in 2010, Oil World forecasts. Leer más »

Comment on this post Posted by Joanna Schroeder – June 7th, 2011.

Biodiesel is going to outer space. Well, not exactly but the jatropha plant will be part of the shuttle Atlantis’ last mission to space launching this July. Assistant Professor Wagner Vendrame, who works in the department of horticulture at the University of Florida’s research center in Homestead, Florida, will send the experiment to look at the effect of low gravity on the growth of the jatropha cells, a plant being researched for its viability to make biodiesel. Leer más »

By Stephan Nielsen – May 6, 2011.Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM), the largest grain processor, and Cargill Inc. are spearheading a push to invest about $560 million in new biofuel refineries in Brazil, a country that already has twice the capacity it needs.

The U.S. agribusinesses have joined Brazilian companies that are expanding facilities in a bet the government will double to 10 percent the amount of biofuel that must be blended into petroleum-based diesel, driving up demand overnight. Leer más »

17 March 2011/Renewable energy firm Mission NewEnergy and palm oil producer Felda Global Group have entered into a long-term supply agreement to establish the first fully integrated ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification System) certified palm biodiesel supply and production chain in Asia. 

Together Felda and Mission have completed ISCC certification of two of Felda’s mills and eight plantations, located in Peninsular Malaysia. Mission’s 100,000tpa plant in Kuantan was the first biodiesel facility outside of Europe to gain full ISCC certification.  Leer más »

By National Biodiesel Board | January 12, 2011/ NBB CEO Joe Jobe is among the five speakers presenting during the biodiesel symposium at the 2011 North American International Auto Show.

National Biodiesel BoardThe North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit has long been known as the event of the year for the latest vehicle technologies and innovations, setting the pace and direction for the world’s economic future. What more fitting venue, then, to also highlight the fuel that will be used increasingly now and in the future to power these vehicles in a cleaner, greener, more sustainable manner: biodiesel—America’s first advanced biofuel. Leer más »

UK explorers claim fastest Antarctic land crossing.

LONDON — A British expedition team say they have broken previous records to achieve the fastest ever land crossing of Antarctica.

The Moon Regan Transantarctic Expedition left Union Glacier on November 25 and arrived on the Ross Ice Shelf on Thursday, after covering 1,945.9 kms in 303 hours, it announced on its website.

The ten-man crew of researchers, scientists and explorers will now retrace their tracks to the South Pole, and back to the west coast at Union Glacier. Leer más »

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL, Nov 29, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Alternative Fuels Americas, Inc. (pinksheets:NSIH) announced today that it will be acquiring Sustainable Agro Biotech, LLC, a Puerto Rico based company active in the research and development of algae for biofuels.

Sustainable Agro Biotech, LLC has been developing proprietary technologies to recycle carbon dioxide emission into microalgae varieties with robust growth and oil production capabilities and to achieve commercially feasible harvesting of microalgal products. The Company operates facilities in Gainesville, Florida and a 10 acre facility in Puerto Rico in partnership with University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. AFA will work with the Sustainable Agro Biotech team to further its research and develop a viable algae-to-biofuels capacity. Leer más »

By James Cartledge/A consortium of scientists and engineers from public and private sectors, as well as academia, has successfully produced biodiesel using oil extracted from algae.

The National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), which received a $44 million stimulus grant in January (see this BrighterEnergy.org story), produced the biodiesel from algae that meets specifications set by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Leer más »