The EPA has long promoted cellulosic ethanol as the future of biofuels, but technical challenges have kept production far below targets. A recent rule change allows RNG, renewable natural gas, to qualify as cellulosic biofuel even though RNG is not cellulosic, but this helps EPA appear to be meeting their goals. RNG growth has been… Keep reading →
The Renewable Fuel Standard was designed to introduce increasing volumes of biofuels into the US liquid transportation fuel system as part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The standard has been expanded over time with greater focus given to advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol that do not use food crops as a direct feedstock. Blending… Keep reading →
Agricultural and forestry waste like corn stover and lawn clippings can be used as a source of sustainable fuel to power vehicles of all types—even racecars and airplanes. This non-food biomass contains the raw materials and molecular compounds needed to create cellulosic ethanol, a fuel source that has the potential to slash carbon emissions by… Keep reading →
Originally Posted on TheEnergyCollective.com If I asked you to think of renewable energy what comes to mind? I imagine it is skyscraper-sized wind turbines, solar panels on suburban roofs or massive hydro-electric dams. You probably do not think of burning wood or converting crops to liquid fuel to be used in cars. Yet throughout the world… Keep reading →
Ten US Senators yesterday released a bill to cut the corn ethanol mandate from the Renewable Fuel Standard. The high-profile political battle, which has been called a “fight between Big Corn and Big Oil,” entered a new phase with the introduction of this bi-partisan bill. “I strongly support requiring a shift to low-carbon advanced biofuel,… Keep reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
By Javier E. David Imagine a world where leftover corn, wheat and wood chips can be used to power your car. That’s the aim of cellulosic ethanol, a budding sector of the renewable fuel industry that finds itself struggling to reassert itself in a world of renewed popularity for oil and gas. The process aims… Keep reading →
Five years isn’t long in the energy business, where project development cycles can stretch into decades. That makes the emergence of the cellulosic biofuels business as a commercial force in the US in the past five years even more striking.
While the industry is making rapid strides to commercial maturity and widespread use, it has lacked common templates for creating and building successful production facilities that can be integrated into all-important infrastructure. The Advanced Ethanol Council, only five years after Congress called for aggressive development to alleviate US dependence on foreign oil and the Renewable Fuel Standard was signed, is seeking to provide highly detailed information about those facilities that are under development. Keep reading →
