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Biodiesel could be economically produced from processed chicken innards, say scientists in Nevada. ‘Chicken feather meal’ is a gruesome by-product of the poultry industry, consisting of chicken feathers, blood, and innards processed at high temperatures with steam. 11 billion pounds of this is produced every year in the US alone. Because of its high protein and nitrogen content it is often…
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Colorado-based cellulosic ethanol specialist ZeaChem is on track to achieve yields of over 2,000 gallons per acre per year at a demonstration plant under construction in Boardman, Oregon, US. This yield is comparable with algae, but with fewer technical challenges to surmount. By contrast, the highest attained yields of ethanol from corn are about 450 gallons per acre per year. The…
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The US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are together planning to award $6.3 million (€4.4 million) in research grants towards the development of second-generation feedstocks for conversion to bioethanol. The joint programme will award seven grants, initially for a maximum of three years. Energy secretary Steven Chu recently highlighted the benefits of…
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The world market for biofuels is set to rise from $100 billion (€70 billion) to over $280 billion by 2022, according to a report by the Pike Institute. The report predicts that the increasing number of countries introducing biofuel consumption mandates and the higher production capacity from improved second-generation feedstocks will drive a worldwide annual growth rate of 15% between 2009…
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Italian biodiesel producers currently producing from food crops are working together to substitute seaweed for first-generation feedstocks. The eight companies involved in the €10 million scheme currently produce diesel from crops like corn and rapeseed. They hope to be able to produce fuel from seaweed commercially within five years. ‘The initiative aims to substitute or integrate the raw…
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Pakistan’s 27 million acres of saline land provide an ideal medium to cultivate algae for biofuel production, according to Ehsan Ali of Mie University of Japan. Various organisations are already aiming to produce biofuel from jatropha and castor oil cultivated in Pakistan, but the use of algae as a feedstock would have numerous benefits for the country, Ali said in a recent seminar. In…
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US-based Aston Renewable Resources has signed a deal with French nuclear power expert Areva to contribute €100 million to the development of biomass plants across India. Astonfield will contribute about €60 million to the project, which is rumoured to include 10 planned biomass facilities with a capacity of about 10MW each. Construction of the first facility in West Bengal state is…
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Healy Biodiesel is to convert from production of traditional biodiesel to become the first commercial producer of a new type of renewable diesel. The Kansas-based producer signed a letter of intent with New Mexico’s Cetane Energy on 17 July. It is to abandon transesterification to become the first manufacturer to produce renewable diesel using Cetane’s patent-pending hydroprocessing…
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The global biofuels market is set to grow by an average of 12.3% a year between 2007 and 2017, according to a report by industry research specialists RNCOS. Global ethanol and biodiesel production will grow at 6.04% and 5% a year respectively between 2008 and 2019. In the near future, the increase in biofuel production will largely be driven by ethanol from Brazil and the US, which pledged to…
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The Arctic Technology Centre (ARTEK) is heading a pilot study to produce biofuel from fishing industry waste in Greenland. The Greenland Shark, one of the world’s largest species of shark, is killed in large numbers by fishermen, either accidentally when they become entangled in nets or deliberately to prevent predation of commercially valuable species such as squid. The flesh is toxic to…
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Irish green energy specialist Greenfield Project Management plans to produce bioethanol from sugar beets grown in Chernobyl soil too radioactive for food crops. Despite official warnings, many local people continue to grow food in the soil around the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. The radiation concentrates into roots and stalks which, after harvesting, are ploughed back into the soil,…
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One island’s food waste is being put to a greener use. One of the UK’s largest anaerobic digestion facilities and will generate 32,000 MW of energy a year by treating 165,000 tonnes of commercial food waste. The £20 million (€23.2 million) Whites Renewable Energy plant is to be built in Selby, Yorkshire, after North Yorkshire county council granted planning permission for the scheme.…
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All seven bioethanol plants US oil refiner Valero purchased on the bankruptcy of VeraSun are now running at capacity and making a profit. Valero bought the plants in March after VeraSun Energy was bankrupted by contracts locking the producer into paying above market price for corn. Four of the plants remained operating throughout the bankruptcy. Two were restarted by Valero. The seventh, a…
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In the US, the Department of Energy (DoE) has seen sense in scouring the ponds for renewable fuel potential. The Department has announced $85 million (€60 million) in funding for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels. The funding comes as part of the funds released from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The goal of the monies…
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