Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is extending for five years its agreement to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other partners to help develop a viable biofuel for the aviation industry. The Secretary signed the agreement with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at the Advanced Biofuels Summit at Gaylord National Harbor [...]
Northern Maine Hospital Gets Biomass Boiler
A northern Maine hospital has a new biomass boiler that will offset the need for 100,000 gallons of heating oil per year. An open house to show off the new boiler at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent is scheduled for Monday. The new boiler utilizing local trees and other dead vegetation will help [...]
West Virginia University Part Of $10 Million Biofuels Project
The northeast could help lead the way to a renewable energy-based economy by using marginal agricultural land and reclaimed and abandoned mined land to grow energy crops such as perennial grasses and fast-growing woody plants. That’s the goal of a new research and education project drawing on West Virginia University expertise and supported by a [...]
Aviation Biofuel Is A US$100 Billion Plus Business Opportunity
With jet fuel demand set to rise by 1600% by 2050 and key customers from KLM, Virgin Atlantic and the US Navy actively pursuing alternatives, the stage is set for innovative biotech and fuel companies to grab the alternative aviation fuel market. Just a few weeks ago, the DOD committed first phase funding of five [...]
SOU To Study Building A Biomass Cogeneration Plant
Southern Oregon University officials say a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the feasibility of a 1.2-megawatt woody-biomass cogeneration plant on the campus may lead to the real deal. Such a power plant could meet 100% of SOU’s electrical needs as well as 70% of its heating demand, they said. “SOU [...]
USDA Announces Support For Growth Of Renewable Feedstocks For Advanced Biofuels
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced payments for 125 advanced biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of non-food sources, including waste products. “Advanced biofuels are a key component of President Obama’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy to reduce the Nation’s reliance on foreign oil and [...]
Forest Products Lab To Open First-Of-Its-Kind Pilot Plant
The Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis. this week opened a $1.7 million nanocellulose pilot plant that will help support the emerging market for wood-derived renewable materials. A grand-opening ceremony was held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the laboratory at 1 Gifford Pinchot Drive, with presentations by officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and [...]
USDA Helps Northern Maine Medical Center Fund $3.6 Million Biomass Project
Thanks to funding secured through USDA Rural Development, Northern Maine Medical Center will produce cleaner, more cost-efficient heat by year’s end. The $3.6 million federal loan, coupled with a $750,000 grant from the Maine Forest Service, is funding construction, purchase and installation of a state-of-the art biomass furnace at the hospital. The new furnace replaces [...]
Biobased Preference Needs To Prefer American-Made Forest Products
In an effort to help restore markets for forest products and alleviate some of the financial burden faced by America’s family forest owners, Congressmen Glenn Thompson (PA-5th) and Kurt Schrader (OR-5th) recently introduced the Forest Products Fairness Act of 2012. Reps. Thompson and Schrader cosponsored the bill to fix an issue in the Farm Bill’s [...]
LanzaTech Set To Transform Range Fuels’ Assets
The technology to transform wood into ethanol on a large scale has yet to be developed. LanzaTech, the company that purchased Range Fuels’ assets in a foreclosure sale in January, may just be the first. As reported in Post-Mortem: Range Fuels Sputters to the Auction Block, the sale of Range Fuel’s assets was arranged after the Department [...]