On August 10, 2016, India's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan spoke at a conference in New Delhi about the future of India's biofuel market. He discussed how a target five percent biodiesel blend and a ten percent ethanol blend in gasoline could increase the biofuels market from 65 billion rupees to 500 billion rupees by 2022. The Indian biofuel industry is currently trying to achieve a five percent biobased blend for both diesel and gasoline, and...
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July 22, 2016
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? Forbes, "The Unintended Consequences of First Generation Biofuels" ? GEN, "Is Synthetic Biology a Game-Changing Technology?" ? The Straits Times, "Singapore Scientists Mine Butanol from Food Waste" ? Boeing, "Boeing, South African Airways and Mango Celebrate Africa's First Commercial Flights with Sustainable Aviation Biofuel on Boeing's 100th Anniversary" ? Materia, "The World's First Biobased Bridge"...
July 22, 2016
Neste Publishes “4 Reasons Why The World Needs Biofuels”
On July 12, 2016, Neste, a BRAG member, published "4 Reasons Why The World Needs Biofuels," highlighting the positive results of seeking alternative, low-carbon sources of renewable energy. The article mentions that "biofuels offer a solution to reduce carbon emissions of traffic when other solutions, such as switching to electric vehicles, is not an option due to high vehicle costs or lack of vehicle charging network." Biofuels also help to combat climate change, respond to...
July 1, 2016
Agenda Of Biotechnology For Clean Vehicles Session Released; Includes Synthetic Biotechnology, Advan
On June 22, 2016, DOE released the detailed agenda for the Biotechnology for Clean Vehicles: Harnessing Synthetic Biology To Enable Next-Generation Biomaterials And Biofuels session at the Sustainable Transportation Summit. The session is hosted by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and will focus on how novel biomaterials and renewable fuels can be used to improve vehicle efficiency and sustainability. The session will also discus the role of synthetic biology in...
March 18, 2016
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? MIT Energy Initiative, "MIT Researchers Turn Waste Gas into Liquid Fuel" ? Comet Biorefining, "Comet Biorefining Awarded $10.9 Million SDTC Grant for Bio-Based Chemicals Plant" ? IFAS News, "UF/IFAS Scientists Closer to Finding Key to Converting Algae to Biofuel" ? United Airlines, "United Airlines Makes History With Launch of Regularly Scheduled Flights Using Sustainable Biofuel" ? BE-Basic, "BE-Basic And CLIB Agree to Increase Partnerships to...
March 4, 2016
Boeing, Aeromexico, And Mexico’s Airports And Auxiliary Services Join To Develop Aviation Biofuels
On February 24, 2016, Boeing, Aeromexico, and Mexico's Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA) announced the start of a collaboration to advance research and development of sustainable biojet fuel in Mexico. The program will work with Mexico's Sector Fund for Energy Sustainability and is coordinated through the Mexican Bioenergy Innovation Center. The program is expected to include jatropha, salt-tolerant Salicornia, and sewage as feedstocks for the aviation biofuels, which should...
February 26, 2016
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? Newsweek, "Biofuel From Fungi: Barnyard Poop Has Potential To Be Broken Down And Turned Into Energy" ? EUWID Paper, "Kaidi Plans Biofuels Production In Finland" ? Genomatica, "Versalis And Genomatica Produce Bio-Rubber With Bio-Butadiene From Sugars" ? National Renewable Energy Laboratory, "Renewable Fuels From Algae Boosted By NREL Refinery Process" ? Comet Biorefining, "Comet Biorefining To Build First Commercial Biomass Sugar Plant In Sarnia,...
October 20, 2015
EPA’s Office of Inspector General Orders New Ethanol Emissions Study
In a memorandum dated October 15, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that it plans to begin preliminary research on the lifecycle impacts of EPA’s renewable fuel standard (RFS). The stated objectives from the memorandum are to determine whether EPA: (1) complied with the reporting requirements of laws authorizing the RFS; and (2) updated the lifecycle analysis supporting the RFS with findings from the...
On October 13, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice inviting comments on its analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the production and transport of jatropha curcas (jatropha) oil feedstock for use in making biofuels such as biodiesel, renewable diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas. This notice was issued as a result of two petitions: (1) Global Clean Energy Holdings’ and Emerald Biofuels, LLC’s petition...
EPA is inviting public comment on its analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the production and transport of cottonseed oil feedstock used in the production of biofuels. The Federal Register notice also provides an overview as to how EPA may apply its analysis in future determinations, as to whether biofuels from cottonseed oil will meet the criteria for renewable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard program. EPA notes that, based on its current analysis,...