The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC) extends its praise to Sens. Al Franken (D-MN) and Kit Bond (R-MO) and Reps. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Paul Tonko (D-NY) for introducing the Thermal Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act of 2010 in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (S. 3626 and H.R. 5805, respectively). [...]
Klamath Falls Bioenergy Plans Plant for Oregon
Klamath Falls Bioenergy, a subsidiary of Northwest Energy in Bellevue, Wash., is seeking a site to build a 35 MW bioenergy power generation plant in Klamath Falls, Ore. The facility will cost $70-$120 million and employ 175 during construction, 30 permanent jobs during operation and 100 associated woods jobs related to logging and hauling biomass. [...]
Novozymes, Lignol Partner to Make Biofuel
Novozymes, the world’s leading producer of industrial enzymes, and Lignol Energy Corp., a leading company in the cellulosic ethanol sector, today signed a research and development agreement to make biofuel from wood chips and other forestry residues. The partners aim to develop a process for making biofuel from forestry waste at a production cost down [...]
Zeachem Breaks Ground In Oregon
Thanks in part to a $25 million federal grant, Colorado-based biorefiner Zeachem broke ground in early June on a cellulosic ethanol demo plant in eastern Oregon near Boardman. Company officials say the facility will produce 250,000 gallons of ethanol annually, plus ethyl acetate. The plant is using poplar fiber from Greenwood Resources irrigated fiber farms [...]
Florida PSC Approves 100 MW Cogen Plant
The Florida Public Service Commission recently approved the city of Gainesville’s proposal to build a 100 MW wood-burning power plant, reversing course from February, when the commission appeared poised to deny the project before giving city officials more time to answer concerns. The proposal features a 30-year contract between Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) and American [...]
First To Finance The Second Project
Financing is currently the biggest hurdle to building the first generation of pilot scale and industrial cellulosic ethanol plants, say two industry CEOs in a recent Minnesota Public Radio interview. According to Arnold Klann, of BlueFire Ethanol, which is trying to build a cellulosic ethanol plant, “What we’re hearing from all the lenders, and we’ve [...]
Verenium Awarded DOE Funding for Demonstration-Scale Facility
Verenium Corp., a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, has been awarded an additional $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund ongoing activities at its demonstration-scale facility in Jennings, Louisiana. This cooperative agreement is an extension of the grant previously awarded to the company in [...]
Range Fuels Plans Ethanol Plant for Georgia
Colorado-based Range Fuels Inc. is planning construction of an ethanol plant in Georgia, near Soperton after receiving loan guarantees from the USDA Biorefinery Assistance Program. Production is projected to begin this year, producing biofuel out of pine chips. The biofuel will then be mixed with diesel. Later in the year, the plant will begin producing cellulosic ethanol, [...]
Ethanol Production Hits Record Pace In January
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. ethanol production began 2010 on a record pace that’s 23% higher than in 2009. According to information from the EIA, January 2010 ethanol production averaged more than 818,000 barrels per day (b/d). That’s an increase of 188,000 b/d over January 2009. Ethanol demand, as calculated by the [...]
Cobalt Seeks Beetle-Kill Biofuel
California-based Cobalt Technologies has partnered with Colorado State University to perform engine testing with a gasoline-butanol blend made with the biobutanol from beetle-killed wood. The fuel testing will be performed at Colorado State University’s renowned Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory under the auspices of the university’s Sustainable Bioenergy Development Center. Cobalt Technologies is claiming to [...]