Advanced Biofuel

joule bacteria biofuel

Joule is a biotech firm developing a breakthrough photosynthesis based system for the production of liquid fuels using biocatalysts fueled by sunlight and carbon dioxide. The Joule process looks like many of the algal biofuel processes from the outside, but under the hood it is completely different. If proven successful the Joule process could be… Keep reading →

Haitians Continue To Struggle One Month After Earthquake

Is the Renewable Fuel Standard broken beyond repair? It depends who you ask, but it’s certainly problematic. The RFS enforced by the EPA was originally envisioned as a way to get more biofuel into the US transportation fuel market, but changing technology and consumption patterns have required continual adjustments to the law. The EPA recently… Keep reading →

Germany Invests In Renewable Energy Sources

Renewable transportation fuels like ethanol have been under the microscope lately, as fighting over the Renewable Fuel Standard ratcheted up in the days leading up to EPA’s proposed 2014 blending requirements. While corn-based ethanol received most of the attention – due to an investigative report highlighting some of the industry’s negative environmental impacts – the… Keep reading →

Reports Claims California Leads The Nation In The Green Tech Field

The debate about using ethanol and advanced biofuels to further US environmental goals recently reached a crescendo when the AP released a deeply-researched investigative report into the biofuel industry’s green credentials. The report came out right before the EPA announced its proposed 2014 biofuel blending requirements, a highly controversial issue unto itself. The degree to… Keep reading →

Extended Drought Pushes Corn Prices To Record Highs

As the US ethanol industry expanded, it quickly became clear that numerous limitations and complications came with using food crops – primarily corn in the US – to manufacture fuel. As is often the case in modern society, technology was seen as the solution.  Ethanol can also be made from non-food feedstock like switch grass,… Keep reading →

Rapeseed Plant - Renewable Resource For Biodiesel

EPA’s 2013 Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) require blending of 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels into transportation fuel, providing additional lead time and flexibility for compliance. On August 6, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its finalized volume and percentage standards for four renewable fuel categories – cellulosic, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuels, and total… Keep reading →


The development cycles for projects using established technology are famously lengthy in the energy sector, while the length of time it takes for new technology to be developed and brought to commercial scale runs to decades, if not longer.

The advanced biofuels business, lent a generous mandate by US politicians against the background of fears over energy security and rising oil prices in the middle of the last decade, has managed to accelerate the development cycle to a degree that would have been unimaginable a decade ago, representatives for the industry said on a call with reporters recently. Keep reading →