Biomass

Summing Up TEDGlobal

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Over the last few days, experts in fields from neuroscience to music to energy came together to share ideas at the TEDGlobal 2011 conference. With Shell one of the conference sponsors, there was extensive discussion of the energy sector and the industry’s future.

Among the speakers was Pavan Sukhdev, an energy economist who worked at Deutsche Bank for 15 years before writing a groundbreaking report, The Economies of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.” Sukhdev chairs the Global Agenda Council on Biodiversity and Ecosystems for the World Economic Forum. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 15, 2011 at 2:30 PM

High On Pond Scum

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Two weeks ago, a Gulfstream G-450 loaded with journalists and executives from Honeywell’s energy division, UOP, departed from Morristown, New Jersey and touched down at Le Bourget Airport after an “utterly unremarkable” flight.

The purpose of the flight, which retraced Charles Lindbergh’s historic 1927 pond crossing, was to prove for the Paris Air Show the viability of the fuel that held them aloft: 50-50 blend of jet fuel and a biofuel derived from camelina, a seed plant. The blend saved 5.5 metric tons of carbon emissions for the flight compared to straight jet fuel, according to the company. (A 747 crossed the Atlantic several days later on a similar biofuel blend.) Keep reading →

 /  Published July 14, 2011 at 2:30 PM

Green Oil?

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This video shows algae, which eats carbon dioxide and excretes oil, in action. Over time, the biomass falls away to the bottom and leaves the oil at the top.

This technology is part of a new movement towards green oil, including products like ethanol, biofuels and oils like this one from algae. While the number of companies working on extracting the oil has multiplied, few companies specialize in harvesting the algae itself. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 13, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Feed Me With CO2

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Producing oil from algae is cool, its green, its clean and it may also allow coal plants to continue producing emissions-intensive electricity.

In an interview with Breaking Energy, OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry said that with its high consumption of CO2–it takes two tons of carbon dioxide to feed one ton of algae–the green species can be a major asset in the effort to curb carbon emissions. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 13, 2011 at 6:00 AM

A Brighter Way For Dog Waste

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Arizona State University students plan to find a ‘brighter’ solution for excess dog waste in Cosmo Dog Park.

The Gilbert City Council has set up a program that will encourage ASU Polytechnic Campus students to engineer a dog waste digester for the town’s Cosmo Dog Park. The students will design and build a technology that will use the waste to generate methane and power lights within the park. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 12, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Burning Up For Renewable Baseload Power

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Biomass has a problem: It burns.

Biomass-fueled electricity has an image problem created by its use of a combustion technology; biomass power plants burn something, emitting pollution from a smokestack. This fact has framed the debate over whether power from naturally-grown renewable fuels are truly green or simply greenwashing. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 7, 2011 at 6:00 AM

DOE Invests For American Energy Independence

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When looking into America’s future, one thing is clear-energy matters.

The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to invest in innovation for affordable clean energy technologies, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy director Dr. Arun Majumdar said in a webcast on Wednesday. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 1, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Coal To Biomass In The Old Dominion

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Brown may be the new green.

Dominion Virgina Power wants to expanding its efforts to swap coal for biomass, animal and plant waste matter. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 28, 2011 at 11:35 AM

Yeast In Your Tank: Biofuels Update

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Fermentation is one of mankind’s oldest technological innovations, but it is also potentially the key to solving the evolving response to potential fossil fuel shortages.

A key “yeast technology” is at the heart of a takeover deal announced today by Dutch firm Royal DSM for fellow Dutch firm C5 Yeast BV from agricultural processing giant Royal Cosun. The C5 Yeast unit was part of Royal Nedalco, an alcohol unit divested by Cosun earlier this year. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 28, 2011 at 10:30 AM

A Look At Global Renewables

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In the last few years, the world has seen a steady increase in renewable energy production and consumption. Key to this increase has been the increased flow of private and government capital to these projects. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 24, 2011 at 9:15 AM
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