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Boeing Begins Jet Biofuel Initiative

September 26, 2008 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has teamed up with 10 airlines, including Air France, Continental, and Virgin Atlantic, to form a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group. Flightglobal reports that the group will look for ways to make renewable jet fuel, with the goal of at least partially replacing fossil fuel used in airplanes with biofuel by 2013. Boeing is funding two studies on making jet fuel from algae or the plant jatropha, being done at the Natural Resources Defense Council and Yale.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: airplanes, biofuels, Boeing, Flightglobal

Tax Breaks Proposed for Hybrids, Wind and Solar Energy, Biofuels

September 12, 2008 2:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Richard Rubin, CQ Staff

The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are trying yet again to extend tax breaks for renewable energy, revealing on Thursday another attempt to break a continued logjam.

Chairman Max Baucus and ranking Republican Charles E. Grassley released a new tax package that will top $40 billion once revenue estimates are finalized.

"Here we are again," said Baucus, D-Mont. "I'm starting to feel like Don Quixote, except I'm not jousting at windmills. I'm jousting for windmills."

Tags: biofuels, nuclear energy, Richard Rubin, solar power, tax incentives, wind

Continue reading Tax Breaks Proposed for Hybrids, Wind and Solar Energy, Biofuels.

Garbage-to-Fuel Making Gains

July 24, 2008 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scientists have long considered converting garbage and crop waste into biofuels, but until gasoline hit record high prices it didn't make economic sense. Now, the New York Times reports, several companies are building plants to convert waste into fuel, and their products could be on the market within months. Big-name companies such as Honeywell, DuPont, and General Motors are starting to invest.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: biofuels, garbage, New York Times

Saltwater Crops For Food, Fuel?

July 15, 2008 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One concern with the increased use of biofuels (such as corn-based ethanol) is that they use up arable land and drive up the price of food crops. The Los Angeles Times brings us the story of a researcher who's looking for ways to grow crops for both food and fuel in areas with poor soil and a lack of fresh water. The scientist, Carl Hodges, grows a crop called salicornia, which he nourishes with seawater from a manmade canal. The paper says Salicornia seeds can be squeezed into cooking oil, ground into high-protein meal or even converted into biofuel.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: biofuels, Los Angeles Times, Salicornia

Happier Than a Pig in Biofuel

June 16, 2008 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

posted by Neil Savage, xconomy.com

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say the manure from a single pig could yield 21 gallons of crude oil. Wired Science reports though the pig-based fuel is not yet ready for use in your road hog, the analysis tells researchers how they can improve it. More important, says Wired, is that in doing this study, NIST developed a measurement technique that can be used in analyzing all sorts of fuels.

Tags: biofuels, manure, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, pigs, Wired Science

Farming seaweed could keep food crops out of gas tanks

June 10, 2008 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The growing emphasis on biofuels has policy makers concerned that devoting land to growing crops for ethanol or biodiesel is leading to a spike in food prices and threatening deforestation. Ricardo Radulovich, director of the Sea Gardens Project at the University of Costa Rica, argues that farming the sea could provide the environmental benefits of biofuel without the downside effects.

Tags: biofuels, ecosystem, environment, food