Breaking the natural barriers of second generation biofuels

Biomass energy is simply defined as energy from plants and plant-derived materials. Biomass is a general term from biological material derived from living or recently living organisms. There has been a recent drive to switch back to this “older” form of energy as the need to find alternatives to

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PROFILE Thailand: Sustainability through biofuels development and other renewables

From September 28 to October 9, Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, will be hosting the penultimate negotiating session before the final UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. As a new international climate change deal would be forged in Copenhagen to

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OriginOil to share renewable oil business model in algae conference

An algae-based renewable oil model for productivity will be shown by technology developer OriginOil at the National Algae Association’s quarterly conference on September 18 in Houston. The industry’s first ever comprehensive algae productivity model will be presented by the

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Mutations in enzyme-producing fungi mapped for increased biofuel production

An international team of researchers led by scientists at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE-JGI) are looking into mutations in the fungal strain Trichoderma reesei that could produce large quantities of biomass-degrading enzymes for biofuel production.

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Wisconsin utility to construct 50-MW biomass plant at Domtar’s Rotschild mill site

We Energies, the trade name of Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas, will add to its renewable energy portfolio by constructing a US $250-million biomass-fueled power plant at Domtar Corporation’s paper mill in Rotschild, Wisconsin. The plant will use wood, waste

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Germany: Government-subsidized 10-MW biomass plant under construction

In Germany, a biomass gasification power plant with significant investment from the government will be implementing new technology designed for decentralized heat and power generation. The plant is currently under construction at Geislingen-Türkheim, near the Swabian Alb.

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Nexterra receives 7.7 million dollars to commercialize biomass CHP system

Several Canadian research institutions and organizations awarded Nexterra Systems Corp., a leading supplier of biomass gasification systems, with 7.7 million Canadian dollars in funding for the commercialization of the company’s high efficiency biomass combined heat and power system.

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Scottish and Southern Energy plans 400-MW biomass proposal with JV partner

Forth Energy, the joint venture between utility Scottish and Southern Energy plc (SSE) and Forth Ports PLC, said it is proposing four dedicated biomass power stations at four sites in Scotland. The plants are planned to have a total installed capacity of 400 megawatts (MW), and are proposed

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Alternative fuel for military to be discussed in energy conference

A conference that will try to address rising military fuel costs through alternative fuel innovations will be held on October 19-20 in Washington DC, hosted by the American Institute of Engineers, an association of engineers and scientists. Organized by Technology Training Corp, a California-based

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Mercedes-Benz launches improved fuel cell model to be produced in late ‘09

Mercedes-Benz just launched its fuel cell car, the B Class F-CELL, which has improvements in output, torque, operating range and starting characteristics, among others, over the F-CELL A-Class launched in 2004. Mercedes-Benz’s F-CELL car uses a lithium-ion battery with an output of 35 kilowatts

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