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[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
Embraer, GE, Azul and Amyris in Renewable Jet Fuel Evaluation Project
November 19, 2009
| Amyris engineers microbes to convert sugar to hydrocarbon fuels. Micrograph of fermentation fluids from production of Amyris Renewable Diesel (Nov 2007). Source: Amyris. Click to enlarge. |
Embraer, General Electric, and Amyris Biotechnologies, a synthetic biology company focused on developing renewable hydrocarbon biofuels (earlier post) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate the technical and sustainability aspects of Amyris’ No Compromise renewable jet fuel. The initiative can culminate in a demo flight, by early 2012, of an Embraer E-Jet using GE engines and belonging to Azul Linhas Aéreas.
This collaboration combines industry leadership in airframe and engine manufacturing, a new and committed airline, and next-generation jet fuel development and production. The goal is to accelerate the introduction of a renewable jet fuel that could significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and provide a long-term sustainable alternative to petroleum-derived jet fuel.
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UCLA Researchers Engineer Cyanobacterium to Produce Fuel and Chemicals Precursor from CO2
November 16, 2009
Researchers at UCLA led by Dr. James Liao have genetically engineered the common photosynthetic cyanobacterium—Synechococcus elongatus—efficiently to produce isobutyraldehyde and isobutanol directly from CO2. Isobutyraldehyde is a precursor for the synthesis of other chemicals, and isobutanol can be used as a gasoline substitute.
A paper on their work was published online in Nature Biotechnology 15 November. In December 2007, biofuels company Gevo acquired an exclusive license for a method developed by Dr. Liao for modifying the metabolic pathway of E.coli bacteria for the non-fermentative synthesis of higher alcohols including isobutanol, 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol and 2-phenylethanol from glucose. Dr. Liao is on Gevo’s scientific advisory board. (Earlier post.)
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US Navy Researchers Synthesize Renewable High-Density Fuel With Properties Similar to JP-10 (Missile Fuel)
November 14, 2009
US Navy researchers have synthesized high-density fuel candidates in up to 90% yield from ß-pinene, a renewable compound derived from wood and plant sources. Pinenes (C10H16) are important constituents of pine resin; they are also found in the resins of other conifers, and more widely in other plants. A paper on their work was published online 13 November in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels.
The synthesized fuels have a density of 0.94 g/cm3 and a net volumetric heating value of 39.5 MJ/L (141,745 BTU/gallon). These values are nearly identical to those for the tactical fuel JP-10 (primarily composed of exotetrahydrodicyclopentadiene). JP-10 is commonly used in cruise missiles and other air-breathing missle systems.
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DOE and USDA Select Projects for More Than $24M in Biomass Research and Development Grants
November 13, 2009
The US Departments of Agriculture and Energy selected projects for more than $24 million in grants to research and develop technologies to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products. Of the $24.4 million announced today, DOE plans to invest up to $4.9 million with USDA contributing up to $19.5 million. Advanced biofuels produced through this funding are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared to fossil fuels.
Projects selected must contribute a minimum of 20% of matching funds for research and development projects and 50% of matching funds for demonstration projects. Funding is provided through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and DOE’s Biomass Program.
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Accenture Reports Identifies 12 Disruptive Technologies Most Likely to Transform Supply and Demand of Transport Fuels and Cut Emissions Within Next 10 Years
November 10, 2009
| Accenture timeline for evolution of electrification technologies, the “game-changing” subset of the disruptive technologies. Source: Accenture. Click to enlarge. |
Accenture has identified 12 technologies that it concludes have the potential to disrupt the current views of transport fuels supply, demand and GHG emissions over the next 10 years. In a report comparing advances in combustion engines, biofuels, electrification and other technologies, Accenture warns that the commercial viability of those disruptive technologies will be delayed unless regulators more proactively support the transformation of science into applied technologies.
“Betting on Science – Disruptive Technologies in Transport Fuels” selected 12 innovations in electrification and genetically modified biofuels, as well as existing fuel sources that will have the most immediate impact on emissions and on the gasoline and diesel markets. The study profiled 25 companies that aim to commercialize these technologies in the next five (i.e., by 2014) and also examines different global markets.
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Joule Achieves Direct Microbial Conversion of CO2 into Hydrocarbons
November 09, 2009
Joule Biotechnologies, Inc. reported a major step forward in its development of renewable fuels, achieving direct microbial conversion of carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons via engineered organisms, powered by solar energy. (Earlier post.) The breakthrough was made possible by the discovery of unique genes coding for enzymatic mechanisms that enable the direct synthesis of both alkane and olefin molecules. Production was achieved at lab scale, with pilot development slated for early 2011.
Joule is advancing a new, photosynthesis-driven approach to producing renewable fuels, avoiding the economic and environmental burden of multi-step, cellulosic or algal biomass-derived methods.
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Honeywell’s UOP and China National Petroleum Corp. to Collaborate on Biofuels Projects in China, Including Renewable Diesel and Renewable Jet
November 04, 2009
| UOP’s Ecofining process produces drop-in hydrocarbon fuel replacements from natural oils. Source: UOP. Click to enlarge. |
UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) under which the two companies will collaborate on a range of biofuels technologies and projects in China.
Under the terms of the agreement, announced at the 20th meeting of the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), the companies will collaborate to demonstrate existing biofuels technology to produce green transportation fuels using feedstocks available within China. CNPC will evaluate the installation of a demonstration-scale UOP/Eni Ecofining process unit (earlier post) for the production of renewable diesel fuel, as well as a larger-scale unit at an existing or new CNPC refinery site.
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PetroAlgae to Partner with IndianOil Company on Algae-Based Fuels
Florida-based PetroAlgae Inc. (PA) (earlier post) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into an agreement to license its proprietary micro-crop technology to IndianOil Corporation Limited (IOCL) for the future commercial-scale production of biodiesel from algae. ICOL is the 18th largest petroleum company in the world, and is currently India’s largest company by sales.
IOCL and PetroAlgae will initially collaborate on adapting the algal strains and technology developed by PA to suit Indian conditions. Thereafter, IOCL will build a pilot to demonstrate the commercial viability of the technology. A commercial production facility with a capacity of 200,000 TPA of biodiesel would follow, which would also produce a high-value protein that can be used as feedstock for animal feed production as a by-product.
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Researchers Discover That Fullerenes Support Hydrogenation Without Noble Metal Catalysts Under Mild Conditions
November 02, 2009
| Fullerenes can drive hydrogenation under mild conditions. Credit: ACS, Li and Xu. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at Nanjing University in China have shown that fullerenes (cage-like, all-carbon nanostructures) can function effectively as novel non-metal hydrogenation catalysts. Catalytic hydrogenation—used to refine crude oil, synthesize ammonia, and now in multiple processes to produce bio-hydrocarbon fuels from renewable fats and oils—conventionally relies on transition-metal catalysts.
Current catalysts and processes typically require high temperatures and pressures. The ability to replace these catalysts with carbon-based substitutes operating under milder conditions could reduce process costs—as well we environmental effects from metal pollution.
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Consortium Wins $2.2M ARPA-E Award for Direct Solar Bio-Hydrocarbon Fuel Research; Biocatalytic Coatings Using Bacteria Embedded in Latex
October 30, 2009
A consortium comprising researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with BioCee, a University of Minnesota start-up company as the commercialization partner, has been awarded $2.2 million from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program for a research proposal to use bacteria to produce bio-hydrocarbon fuels from CO2 and sunlight. (Earlier post.)
The consortium proposes to use an innovative artificial symbiotic colony of photosynthetic bacteria with Shewanella, a hydrocarbon-producing bacteria. The photosynthetic organisms will use sunlight to convert CO2 to sugar, which the Shewanella will then convert to bio-hydrocarbons. The bioreactor will use biocatalytic coatings—bacteria embedded in a thin latex coating.
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Dynamotive Upgrades BioOil from Multiple Biomass Sources to a Uniform Hydrocarbon Product
October 28, 2009
Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation has successfully applied the BINGO (Biomass INto GasOil) BioOil upgrading process to BioOils produced from a variety of feedstocks. (Earlier post.) The feedstocks from which the BioOils were produced included sugarcane bagasse, bark rich forest trimmings, softwoods and palm fronds. BioOils upgraded were of widely varying quality and in some instances had been in storage for several years.
BINGO (Biomass INto GasOil) is a two-stage process first involving pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass to produce a primary liquid fuel, BioOil, which is then hydroreformed to a Stage 1 gas-oil equivalent liquid fuel that can either be directly utilized in blends with hydrocarbon fuels for industrial stationary power and heating applications or be further upgraded to transportation grade liquid hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline/diesel) in a Stage 2 hydrotreating process.
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ARPA-E Awards $151M to 37 Projects for Transformative Energy Research
October 26, 2009
The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 37 energy research projects for $151 million in funding through the recently formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). This is the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving total of $400 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Among the projects selected are an effort to develop new metal-air batteries using advanced ionic liquids with 6-20 times the energy density of Li-ion batteries at < 1/3 the cost; a project to produce a flow of gasoline directly from sunlight and CO2 using a symbiotic system of two organisms; and a new type of engine for use as a genset in a plug-in hybrid vehicle that is five times more efficient than traditional auto engines in electricity production, 20% lighter, and 30% cheaper to manufacture.
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MIT/RAND Study Concludes Three Types of Alternative Jet Fuel May Be Available in Commercial Quantities Over the Next Decade
October 25, 2009
| Normalized well-to-wake GHG emissions for low-, baseline- and high-emission cases for jet fuel pathways under different land use change scenarios. From Hileman et al. Click to enlarge. |
A joint MIT/RAND study of the near-term commercial feasibility of alternative jet fuels has concluded that three types of alternative jet fuels may be available in commercial quantities over the next decade: Jet A derived from Canadian oil sands and Venezuelan Very Heavy Oils (VHO); Fischer-Tropsch (FT) jet fuel produced from coal, a combination of coal and biomass, or natural gas; and hydrotreated renewable jet fuel (HRJ) produced by hydroprocessing renewable oils.
The study compared five different groups of potential alternative jet fuels on the basis of seven criteria: compatibility with existing aircraft and infrastructure; maturity of the fuel-production technology; near-term production potential; near-term production costs; life-cycle GHG emissions (“well-to-wake”); emissions affecting air quality; and the relative merit of using the fuel in aviation versus ground transportation. The focus of the work was on alternative jet fuels that could be available commercially in the next decade using primarily North American resources.
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Honeywell Tests 50% Renewable Jet Fuel Blend on TPE331 Engines; Comparable Performance to Conventional Fuels, 15-50% Lower Emissions
October 21, 2009
| TPE331 turboprop engine. Click to enlarge. |
Honeywell has completed initial testing of renewable jet fuel on its TPE331 turboprop engine, its TFE731 turbofan engine and a commercial Auxiliary Power Unit, with performance and fuel economy results comparable to typical aviation fuels.
Honeywell is part of a consortium of aviation companies, major airlines and engine manufacturers that have been testing bio-based jet fuels. For the past several months, Honeywell has been testing a biofuel blend developed by UOP LLC, a Honeywell subsidiary based in Des Plaines, Ill., which is 50% jatropha and algae-based biofuel, and 50% petroleum-based fuel. The engine tests included evaluation of combustion characteristics and a full-engine test for the TPE331 turboprop engine.
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Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP and Government of Mexico Launch Research and Advocacy Collaboration to Drive Commercial Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels
October 20, 2009
Boeing, the Airports and Auxiliary Services agency (ASA), an arm of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport, and Honeywell’s UOP are collaborating to identify, research and further the development of a commercially-viable market for Mexico-sourced sustainable aviation biofuels that are drop-in hydrocarbon replacements for current petroleum-derived aviation fuel.
ASA, which is responsible for all fuel management and airplane refueling operations in Mexico, together with Boeing made the announcement last week on the eve of the annual ALTA Aviation Leaders Forum, a gathering of more than 400 senior airline and aviation industry executives.
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Secretary of the Navy Sets Target for 50% of Total Energy Consumption from Alternative Sources by 2020; Role for Biofuels and EVs
October 15, 2009
In a speech at the Naval Energy Forum, US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus set out five energy targets for the department to meet over the course of the next decade, including the overall goal of half of the total energy consumption for ships, aircraft, tanks, vehicles, and shore installations coming from alternative sources by 2020.
Another of the five goals is for the Department of the Navy to reduce petroleum use in its 50,000 strong commercial fleet by half by 2015. It will do that, Secretary Mabus said, by replacing the current fleet, as they go out of service, with a new composite fleet of flex fuel vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and neighborhood electric vehicles.
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French Synthetic Biology Company Announces Proof-of-Concept of Process to Produce Isobutene from Sugars; New Pathway for Renewable Hydrocarbons
October 14, 2009
Global Bioenergies, a French startup located on the Genopole campus close to Paris, announced the proof-of-concept of a synthetic metabolic pathway for producing isobutene, a key chemical building block that can be converted into transportation fuels, polymers and various commodity chemicals.
Global Bioenergies’s pathway involves enzymes carrying out reactions unobserved in nature. The process—essentially a biological analog of the Fischer-Tropsch process, but one that does not require a high-temperature step—involves the production of a gas that spontaneously volatilizes during the reaction. This characteristic of the process eliminates two major costs associated with fermentative pathways that produce a liquid product:
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NSF Awards NCSU Team $2M For Research on Deriving Drop-in Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels from Algae
October 08, 2009
| Dunaliella. Source: Texas A&M. Click to enlarge. |
The National Science Foundations has awarded a team of researchers at North Carolina State University a $2-million grant to develop and scale up a unique, multi-step catalytic process to convert a wide range of fats, oils, and lipids produced by algae into transportation fuels that are chemically and physically similar to their petroleum counterparts. The award is one of the eight Hydrocarbons from Biomass (HyBi) projects awarded through the NSF Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI). (Earlier post.)
The team will begin working with marine algae called Dunaliella, which grow in brackish or salty water. The first of many parallel steps for the research effort is to mass-culture the best oil-producing strains of Dunaliella, and then to map the Dunaliella genome and identify the genes responsible for regulating the quantities and qualities of the produced fatty acids.
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Boeing, UOP, Masdar Institute and Industry Team Launch Study on Sustainability Of Renewable Jet Fuel Made from Halophytes
October 06, 2009
| UOP’s hydrotreated renewable jet fuel process and LCA. Source: Evaluation of Bio-Derived Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosenes. Click to enlarge. |
Boeing and Honeywell’s UOP are commissioning a study on the sustainability of a leading family of saltwater-based plant (halophytes) candidates for renewable jet fuel. The study is being commissioned as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group consortium (earlier post).
The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi will lead the study, which will examine the overall potential for sustainable, large-scale production of biofuels made from salicornia bigelovii and saltwater mangroves. Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and UOP will also participate in the analysis, which will include an assessment of the total carbon lifecycle of biofuels.
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UOP Renewable Jet Fuel Technology to Produce Almost 600,000 Gallons of Renewable Jet Fuel for US Navy and Air Force
October 01, 2009
| Process flow diagram for the production of synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) for jet fuel. Source: UOP. Click to enlarge. |
UOP LLC’s renewable jet fuel process technology will be used to produce almost 600,000 gallons of renewable jet fuel for the US Navy and Air Force as part of a joint program for the US Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) for alternative fuels testing and certification.
Working with feedstock partners Sustainable Oils, Solazyme and Cargill, Honeywell’s UOP will produce up to 190,000 gallons of fuel for the Navy and 400,000 gallons for the Air Force from sustainable, non-food feedstocks including animal fats, algae and camelina. (Earlier post.) The initial fuel, to be tested in a 50:50 blend, will be delivered in 2009 and 2010 to support certification and testing of alternative fuels for US military aircraft.
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Gevo Biobutanol Retrofit Plant Starts Up; Gevo Launches Development Company to Retrofit Ethanol Plants
September 30, 2009
Gevo, Inc., a biobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons company, announced the start up of its first biobutanol demonstration plant designed from retrofitting an existing demonstration scale ethanol plant to produce biobutanol. (Earlier post.) In successfully producing biobutanol at the 1 million gallon per year pilot plant in St. Joseph, Missouri, Gevo is demonstrating the viability of its technology for retrofitting existing ethanol plants to make biobutanol.
Gevo’s biobutanol can be blended directly into gasoline. Gevo’s technology also enables using the biobutanol for the production of renewable hydrocarbons such as isooctene and isooctane for the gasoline market, renewable jet fuel and renewable diesel blendstocks. In addition, Gevo’s technology enables the production of a wide variety of chemicals such as isobutylene and paraxylene from renewable resources.
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NSF Awards $40M in 20 Grants for Research on Natural Systems, Including 8 Projects for Obtaining Hydrocarbons from Plants and Microorganisms
September 29, 2009
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is awarding 20 grants for FY 2009 in two research areas on natural systems: biosensing and bioactuation (12 awards); and obtaining hydrocarbons from biomass and microorganisms (8 awards). The awards total of $39,991,202 over four years to 94 investigators from 27 institutions through the NSF Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI).
The group investigating the production of bio-hydrocarbons will produce hydrocarbons by pioneering processes for chemically converting plant material and by natural microbial and fungal processes that are even less-explored. They will also investigate methods for making hydrocarbon production fast, continuous, scalable, and cost-effective. Non-food sources of biomass with great energy potential include crops such as algae, switchgrass and poplar trees, and residues from lumber and agriculture.
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LS9 Closes $25M Round; Chevron Takes a Stake
September 24, 2009
| LS9 modifies the ACP pathway in bacteria to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals with optimized properties. Source: LS9. Click to enlarge. |
LS9 Company, a synthetic biology company producing renewable fuels and chemicals directly by fermentation, has successfully completed a $25 million round of funding. Participating investors included CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC; Flagship Ventures; Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
LS9 has engineered a one-step process using to convert fatty acid intermediates into petroleum replacement products via fermentation of renewable sugars. LS9 has also discovered and engineered a new class of enzymes and their associated genes to efficiently convert fatty acids into hydrocarbons.
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Mascoma Announces Feedstock Processing and Lignin Supply Agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures; Chevron Working on Converting Lignin to Hydrocarbon Fuel Components
September 14, 2009
Mascoma Corporation has entered into a feedstock processing and lignin supply agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), a division of Chevron USA, Inc. Under terms of the agreement, CTV will provide various sources of lignocellulosic feedstock to Mascoma. Mascoma will then convert the feedstock to cellulosic ethanol through its proprietary process, which produces lignin as a by-product.
Mascoma will provide this lignin to CTV for evaluation. CTV is developing proprietary technology and catalysts for the conversion of lignin into hydrocarbon components for transportation fuels. Chevron has filed applications for two patents on processes to convert lignin to a hydrocarbon feedstock via hydroprocessing; both applications were published on 3 September 2009.
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DESC Awards Solazyme Contract for Naval Renewable F-76 from Algae, Sustainable Oils Contract for Renewable JP-5 from Camelina
September 10, 2009
The Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) awarded an estimated $8.5-million contract to Solazyme, Inc. for an algae-oil derived renewable F-76 shipboard fuel for the US Navy. DESC also awarded Sustainable Oils, LLC a $2.7-million contract for Hydrotreated Renewable HRJ-5 for Navy aviation use. The Navy currently consumes 34.5 million barrels of fuels per year: 42% of that is for aviation, 40% for ships.
The DESC is a field activity of the DLA. As the Department of Defense’s combat logistics support agency, DLA is responsible for providing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services. The Navy’s present base of petroleum-derived mobility fuels includes:
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UMass Amherst Licenses Catalytic Fast Pyrolysis Technology to Startup Anellotech to Produce Renewable Biogasoline
August 29, 2009
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| Huber’s process rapidly pyrolizes biomass in the presence of a zeolite (ZSM-5) catalyst. Click to enlarge. |
The University of Massachusetts Amherst recently granted a biofuels startup company, Anellotech, exclusive global rights to the university’s catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) technology developed by chemical engineer and UMass Amherst faculty member George Huber for producing renewable biogasoline and other biohydrocarbon fuels. (Earlier post.)
Huber’s patent-pending technique offers a low-cost, single-step process for turning sawdust, woody stalks and other waste biomass into gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and valuable chemical commodities such as benzene, toluene and xylenes. Huber is a co-founder of Anellotech and chair of Anellotech’s scientific advisory board.
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Diversified Energy Moves Ahead With New Projects for Omnigas and Centia Technologies
Diversified Energy Corporation, an alternative and renewable energy technology development company with a portfolio of several technologies, recently received support for further projects developing its HydroMax/OmniGas molten-metals based gasification technology (earlier post) and its Centia renewable biohydrocarbon drop-in fuel technology (earlier post).
The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) approved the second year of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) funding for Diversified Energy’s OmniGas molten-metals based gasification technology.
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BP and Martek Biosciences Enter a Joint Development Agreement to Deliver Advanced Microbial Biofuels
August 11, 2009
BP and Martek Biosciences Corporation signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to work on the production of microbial oils for biofuels applications. The partnership combines a broad technology platform and operational capabilities to advance the development of a step-change technology for the conversion of sugars into renewable diesel fuels.
Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Martek and BP will work together to establish proof of concept for large-scale, cost effective microbial biofuels production through fermentation. Martek, a nutritional products company, has developed and patented two fermentable strains of microalgae which produce oils rich in docosahexaenoic acid, DHA. A similar patented process was developed for a fungus that produces an oil rich in arachidonic acid, ARA. Both DHA and ARA are important nutrients for optimal infant development.
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EERC Awarded Subcontract to Help Produce 100% Renewable Jet Fuel from Algae
July 29, 2009
The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota has been awarded a subcontract by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to help produce renewable jet fuel from algae.
The effort is being funded by the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is a continuation of the first successful production of 100% renewable fuel for the US military by the EERC. Under a previous DARPA contract, the EERC advanced the development of a feedstock-flexible thermocatalytic cracking and separation process in its production of renewable JP-8 from vegetable oils. (Earlier post.)
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Joule Biotechnologies Introduces Its Technology for Producing Renewable Transportation Fuels
July 27, 2009
| Joule Biotechnologies uses proprietary, highly-engineered product-specific organisms to produce renewable fuels and chemicals. Click to enlarge. |
Joule Biotechnologies, Inc., a bioengineering startup, unveiled its Helioculture technology—a system that leverages highly engineered photosynthetic organisms to catalyze the conversion of sunlight and CO2 to usable transportation fuels and chemicals. Among the co-founders of Joule Biotechnologies is Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics George Church, who also co-founded LS9.
Joule’s SolarFuels meet today’s vehicle fuel specifications and infrastructure; the company expects to achieve widespread production at the energy equivalent of less than $50 per barrel. The company’s first product offering, SolarEthanol fuel, will be ready for commercial-scale development in 2010. Joule has also demonstrated proof of concept for producing hydrocarbon fuel and expects process demonstration by 2011.
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DOE to Award Up to $85M of Recovery Act Funding for Algal and “Drop-in” Renewable Hydrocarbon Fuels
July 17, 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award up to $85 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the development of algae-based biofuels, including renewable hydrocarbon fuels; and advanced, infrastructure-compatible cellulosic biofuels—i.e., “drop-in” renewable hydrocarbon fuels.
DOE is seeking consortia of scientists and engineers from universities, private industry, and government to develop new methods to bring the new biofuels to market in an accelerated timeframe. The partnerships are intended to enable cross-fertilization between multiple disciplines and provide the breadth of expertise necessary to develop new technologies to produce biofuels that can be used in today’s fueling infrastructure—e.g., renewable aviation fuels, renewable gasoline, and renewable diesel—from a variety of biomass feedstocks.
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ExxonMobil Launches Major Advanced Algal Biofuel Research and Development Program With Synthetic Genomics; More than $600M Targeted
July 14, 2009
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) has launched what it calls a “significant” new program to research and develop advanced biofuels from photosynthetic algae that are compatible with today’s gasoline and diesel fuels. As part of the program, ExxonMobil has formed a strategic research and development alliance with Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company focused on developing genomic-driven solutions and founded by genome pioneer, Dr. J. Craig Venter.
Under the program, if research and development milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million, which includes $300 million in internal costs. As part of the multi-faceted agreement, SGI will receive milestone payments for achievements in developing technology related to algal-based biofuels and related products. Total funding for SGI in research and development activities and milestone payments could amount to more than $300 million with the potential for additional income from licensing to third parties.
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Amyris Opens Renewable Products Demonstration Facility in Brazil; Final Scale-up Before Commercial Production of Renewable Fuels and Chemicals
June 25, 2009
| Amyris Renewable Products Demonstration Facility. Photo: Business Wire. Click to enlarge. |
Amyris Brasil Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Ltda., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc., opened the Amyris Renewable Products Demonstration Facility in Campinas, Brazil. The facility, located in the midst of the sugarcane processing industry, secures the final development step before full commercial production of Amyris’s renewable fuels and chemicals.
Amyris’s initial products include a renewable diesel fuel with performance properties that equal or exceed those of petroleum-sourced fuels and currently available biofuels. A key attribute of the fuel is that it is a renewable hydrocarbon—i.e., it is a drop-in replacement for petroleum-derived fuels, enabling it to be used in any kind of diesel engine and withstand extremely low temperatures without the need to alter engines. It can also be easily distributed within the existing fuels infrastructure.
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Virent Receives Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for BioForming Process to Produce Biohydrocarbon Fuels
June 22, 2009
| Overview of Virent’s BioForming process. Click to enlarge. |
Virent Energy Systems is receiving one of five 2009 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards (Small Business Award) for its BioForming process—a water-based, catalytic method to make gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel from the sugar, starch, or cellulose of plants that requires little external energy other than the plant biomass. (Earlier post.)
Virent’s catalytic BioForming process combines proprietary aqueous-phase reforming (APR) technology with conventional catalytic processing technologies used in petroleum refining—such as catalytic hydrotreating and catalytic condensation processes, including ZSM-5 acid condensation, base catalyzed condensation, acid catalyzed dehydration, and alkylation—to generate the same range of hydrocarbon molecules now refined from petroleum.
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Researchers Propose Milking Diatoms to Yield Massive Amounts of Oil or Bio-Hydrocarbon Fuels
June 18, 2009
| A pennate diatom, NaVicula sp., showing an oil droplet. Click to enlarge. |
Scientists in Canada and India are proposing a variety of ways of harvesting oil from diatoms—single cell algae with silica shells—using biochemical engineering and also a new solar panel approach that utilizes genomically modifiable aspects of diatom biology, offering the prospect of “milking” diatoms for sustainable energy by altering them to actively secrete oil products. Their communication appears online in the current issue of the ACS’ bi-monthly journal Industrial Engineering & Chemical Research.
Richard Gordon, T. V. Ramachandra, Durga Madhab Mahapatra, and Karthick B note that some geologists believe that much of the world’s crude oil originated in diatoms, which produce an oily substance in their bodies. Barely one-third of a strand of hair in diameter, diatoms flourish in enormous numbers in oceans and other water sources. They die, drift to the seafloor, and deposit their shells and oil into the sediments. Estimates suggest that live diatoms could make 10-200 times as much oil per acre of cultivated area compared to oil seeds, Gordon says.
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New One-Pot Catalytic Process For Hydrogenation of Bio-Oil to Produce Alkanes
May 12, 2009
| Plot of phenol conversion, cyclohexanol selectivity, and cyclohexanone selectivity for the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of phenol as a function of reaction time. Zhao et al. (2009) Click to enlarge. |
A team of German and Chinese scientists led by Johannes A. Lercher at the Technical University of Munich has developed a new catalytic process for the aqueous-phase hydrogenation of components of bio-oil directly into alkanes and methanol. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the process is based on a “one-pot reaction” catalyzed by a precious metal on a carbon support combined with an inorganic acid.
Bio-oil (or pyrolysis oil) is produced by fast pyrolysis or liquefaction of biomass. Although a promising second-generation renewable energy carrier, its high oxygen content, instability and lower energy content make direct use as an advanced liquid fuel not feasible. Consequently, there are a number of research initiatives underway exploring pathways for the efficient upgrading of bio-oil to a fungible hydrocarbon fuel. The US Department of Energy is also funding research in stabilizing bio-oils to support such upgrading. (Earlier post.)
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Life Cycle Analysis of Camelina-based Renewable Jet and Diesel Fuels Shows 84-89% GHG Savings Compared to Petroleum Fuels
April 28, 2009
| Greenhouse gas emissions for all fuels in this study, using one of the cultivation scenarios (Forward cultivation). Source: Shonnard and Koers (2009). Click to enlarge. |
A life cycle analysis (LCA) comparing camelina-derived renewable jet and diesel fuels to petroleum fuels and biodiesel found that the green jet and green diesel fuels are lower in fossil energy demand and also lower in GHG emissions compared to biodiesel, and that all the biofuels are lower in these impact categories compared to their fossil fuel counterparts.
Dr. David Shonnard and Kenneth Koers at Michigan Technological University conducted the LCA in collaboration with UOP, a Honeywell company. The study was based on camelina grown in Montana by Sustainable Oils and processed into renewable jet and diesel fuels using UOP hydroprocessing technology. (Earlier post.)
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Total Invests in Series D Round of Butanol and Renewable Hydrocarbons Company Gevo
Oil and gas major Total has invested an undisclosed amount in the series D round of advanced biofuels company Gevo.
Gevo was founded in 2005 by Drs. Frances Arnold, Matthew Peters and Peter Meinhold of the California Institute of Technology. The company is focused on the development of advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals based on isobutanol and its derivatives. Gevo’s technology enables the cost-effective, practical production of renewable hydrocarbons such as isooctene and isooctane for the gasoline market, renewable jet fuel and renewable diesel blendstocks. Gevo has already produced renewable gasoline and jet fuel that meet or exceed all ASTM specifications.
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Dynamotive Produces Renewable Gasoline and Diesel from Biomass in Three-Stage Process: Pyrolysis, Hydroreforming, Hydrotreating
April 25, 2009
Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation has successfully produced renewable gasoline and diesel from biomass at its research facility in Waterloo Ontario through a novel two-stage upgrading process of its pyrolysis oil, BioOil.
The BINGO (Biomass INto GasOil) process involves pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass to produce a primary liquid fuel, BioOil, which is then hydroreformed to a Stage 1 gas-oil equivalent liquid fuel that can either be directly utilized in blends with hydrocarbon fuels for industrial stationary power and heating applications or be further upgraded to transportation grade liquid hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline/diesel) in a Stage 2 hydrotreating process. (Earlier post.)
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Researchers Engineer Yeast to Produce Methyl Halides from Biomass; Precursors for Biohydrocarbon Fuels
April 22, 2009
| CH3I production from cellulosic feedstocks using a microbial co-culture. A. fermentans ferments cellulosic feedstocks to acetate and ethanol, which the modified S. cerevisiae uses to produce methyl halides. Adapted from Bayer et al. (2009). Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have engineered the industrial yeast S. cerevisiae to convert biomass to methyl halides with good yield. As end products, methyl halides (CH3X, X = Cl, Br or I) are used in a variety of applications. They can also be used as intermediates for the chemical synthesis of more complex carbon compounds such as fuel hydrocarbons.
Zeolite catalysts (e.g., ZSM-5 and SAPO-34) have been used to convert methyl halides to products including gasoline, olefins, aromatics, alcohols and ethers. A method to convert biomass to methyl halides thus enables the transformation of biomass into drop-in chemicals and liquid fuels—e.g., bio-gasoline—in a two-step process. A paper on the work was published online 20 April in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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New Nano-sized Photocatalyst for Artificial Photosynthesis; Step Toward Production of Carbon-Neutral Transportation Fuels
March 13, 2009
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| Under the fuel through artificial photosynthesis scenario, nanotubes embedded within a membrane would act like green leaves, using incident solar radiation (Hν) to split water molecules (H2O), freeing up electrons and oxygen (O2) that then react with carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce a fuel, shown here as methanol (CH3OH). Credit: Flavio Robles, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs. Click to enlarge. |
Artificial photosynthesis for the production of liquid fuels is a potential source for renewable and carbon-neutral of transportation energy. The basic concept is to integrate light-harvesting systems that can capture solar photons and catalytic systems that can oxidize water, then to combine this water oxidation half reaction with a carbon dioxide reduction step in an artificial-leaf type system to produce a liquid hydrocarbon, such as methanol (CH3OH), that can be stored, transported, and used for transportation or other applications.
Researchers with the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have now found that nano-sized crystals of cobalt oxide can effectively carry out the critical photosynthetic reaction of splitting water molecules. Heinz Frei, a chemist with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division, and his postdoctoral fellow Feng Jiao reported the results of their study in the journal Angewandte Chemie, in a paper entitled: “Nanostructured Cobalt Oxide Clusters in Mesoporous Silica as Efficient Oxygen-Evolving Catalysts.”
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Shell and Codexis Expand Collaboration to Hasten Commercialization of Iogen Cellulosic Ethanol Process; Work on Biohydrocarbons Continues
March 10, 2009
Royal Dutch Shell plc and Codexis, Inc. have expanded their collaboration to develop better biocatalysts that could accelerate commercialization of next-generation biofuels. Shell also increased its equity stake in Codexis and will take an additional seat on the company’s board.
As part of the agreement, Codexis will work closely with Shell and Iogen Energy Corporation to enhance the efficiency of biocatalysts used in the Iogen cellulosic ethanol production process. The Iogen demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada currently produces hundreds of thousands of liters of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residue, such as wheat straw. In 2008, Shell increased its stake in Iogen to 50%. (Earlier post.)
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Alberta Renewable Diesel Demonstration Shows Successful Cold-Weather Use of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Blends
February 21, 2009
The recently concluded Alberta Renewable Diesel Demonstration (ARDD), Canada’s largest cold-weather study of bio-derived diesel fuels, demonstrated the successful on-road use of low-level blends of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester, FAME) and hydrogenated-derived renewable diesel (HDRD) in a range of Canadian climatic conditions.
Designed as a two-phased study, the ARDD involved laboratory testing followed by real-world use of the diesel blends by Alberta trucking fleets. The on-road demonstration, which ran from December 2007 to September 2008, put first- and second- generation renewable diesel fuels on the road in 59 long-haul commercial vehicles across Alberta. During winter months (16 December 2007 through 15 April 2008) 2% blends of FAME (100% canola methyl ester) and HDRD were used. During the spring and summer, 5% blends of HDRD and FAME (comprising 75% canola methyl ester and 25% tallow methyl ester) were dispensed.
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EERC and Tesoro Partner on $1M Project to Produce Refinery-Based Renewable Drop-in Fuels from Crambe and Other Oilseed Crops
January 29, 2009
The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota is collaborating with Tesoro, an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products, on a $1-million project to evaluate renewable oil refining technologies for commercial production of renewable diesel fuel, jet fuel, and naphtha (a light hydrocarbon mixture with applications in production of gasoline blendstocks and chemical intermediates) from North Dakota oilseed crops, such as crambe.
The EERC has already demonstrated the production of 100% renewable jet fuel via a thermocatalytic cracking and separation process that can directly replace petroleum derived jet fuel through a project with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). (Earlier post.) The work with Tesoro will expand on this success to focus on additional feedstocks and diesel and gasoline blendstock production.
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New LCA of Four Different Soybean-Based Fuels Finds Potential for Significant Reduction in Fossil Energy Use and GHG Relative to Petroleum Fuels
December 26, 2008
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| Well-to-wheels GHG emissions and emission changes relative to conventional fuels, using five different approaches for co-product allocation: 1, displacement; 2, energy-value-based allocation; 3, market-value-based allocation; 4, hybrid I; 5, hybrid II. Click to enlarge. Credit: ACS |
A new energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission life-cycle analysis (LCA) by Michael Wang and colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory assesses the impacts of four soybean-derived fuels: biodiesel fuel produced via transesterification; two renewable diesel fuels produced from different hydrogenation processes; and renewable gasoline produced from catalytic cracking. A paper on their work was published online 23 December in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The researchers found that, although the production and combustion of soybean-based fuels might increase total energy use, they could have significant benefits in reducing fossil energy use (>52%), petroleum use (>88%), and GHG emissions (>57%) relative to petroleum fuels.
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Optimizing Algae for Biofuels Production by Genetically Truncating Their Chlorophyll Arrays
December 18, 2008
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| Photosynthetic O2-production with C. reinhardtii wild type and tla1 mutant as a function of Chl concentration. Note the greater rates of O2-production in the tla1 than in the wild type under conditions of high cell density (high Chl concentration). Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are developing an approach to improving the solar-to-biofuels energy conversion efficiency of algae in mass culture by genetically truncating the size of the light-harvesting chlorophyll arrays that serve to absorb sunlight in the photosynthetic apparatus. A paper on their work appears in a special energy issue of the open-access journal Optics Express.
Researchers have calculated, based on a quantum yield of 0.103 O2 per photon absorbed, that the productivity of microalgae under bright sunlight could be up to 75 g dry weight m-2 d-1. However, small-scale cultures of microalgae grown under full sunlight show maximal photosynthetic productivity of about 20-30 g dw m-2 d-1. The reason for this discrepancy, the Berkeley team of Mautusi Mitra and Anastasios Melis notes, is that green algae assemble large arrays of light absorbing chlorophyll (Chl) antenna molecules in their photosystems.
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IBN Team Uses Imidazolium Salts in Catalyst System to Convert Sugars into HMF Biohydrocarbon Fuel Intermediate
December 12, 2008
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| The NHC-Cr catalytic system has produced the highest reported HMF yields yet from both fructose and glucose. Click to enlarge. |
Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore have used imidazolium salts (IMSs) to develop a new efficient catalytic system for converting sugars into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a key intermediate compound that can be used to produce bio-derived hydrocarbon fuels. Commonly used as solvents for various organic reactions, imidazolium salts are room-temperature ionic liquids that are chemically stable and have low vapor pressure.
In a separate study, IBN researchers uncovered new redox properties of IMSs, which suggest that they could play an important role in disease prevention and treatment. A paper on the IMS-based catalytic system was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition; a paper on the study of the redox properties of IMSs was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers Publish Significant Advance in Genome Assembly Technology; Yeast as a Genetic Factory
December 05, 2008
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) have published a paper describing a significant advance in genome assembly in which the team can now assemble the whole bacterial genome, Mycoplasma genitalium, in one step from 25 fragments of DNA. Lead author Dr. Daniel G. Gibson and his team published their results in the online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The work was funded by the company Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI).
The new paper represents major improvements in the methods that the team developed and described in their January 2008 publication of the first synthesis of a bacterial genome, M. genitalium. (Earlier post.) That publication outlined how the team synthesized in the laboratory the 582,970 base pair M. genitalium genome using the chemical building blocks of DNA: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T).
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NREL and Petrobras to Collaborate on Advanced Biofuels Research
November 21, 2008
The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) have signed an agreement that could accelerate the development and international commercialization of advanced, second-generation biofuels. The announcement was made at the International Biofuels Conference in São Paulo, Brazil.
Petrobras and NREL have common interests in the development of next-generation biofuels technologies through biochemical and thermochemical routes from biomass. NREL conducts R&D related to techno-economic, environmental and sustainability evaluation of advanced biofuels in support of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and other partners.
