Biofuels GREAT for high performance cars!

Cellulosic ethanol needs to be in the mix of "clean fuels" our country needs. As long as waste agricultural materials are used (waste wood, corn husks etc.), we won't increase food prices.

clipped from domesticfuel.com Listen to an interview with Tom Slunecka here: KL Process Design Group was the first company to get a small-scale cellulosic ethanol plant on-line using waste-wood material to produce about 1.5 million gallons of ethanol a year. The company is currently providing teams in the American LeMans Series with an 85 percent cellulosic ethanol racing fuel. Slunecka explained that there are several different processes that can be used to convert biomass into biofuels. “Our process is a heat and mechanical pre-treatment process. There is a biochemical process, there is a syngas process, and then there are combinations of all the above,” he said. “There is no silver bullet. We’re gonna need them all to produce the amount of fuel that is needed.” And that would be the amount of cellulosic ethanol required under the energy bill passed by Congress last year. “The Renewable Fuels Standard does require that we have over 21 billion gallons of renewable fuels created from biomass over the next ten years,”

No Bigger Energy Waste

Technology capable of converting flared gas to usable commodity is worth $50billion/year

clipped from www.theage.com.au World Bank calls on oil producers to cut $50bn gas fire THE world's oil producers are wasting more than $50 billion a year of natural gas by burning it off in flares — and adding significantly to the world's greenhouse gas emissions in the process. The bank said the amount was equivalent to 27 per cent of the entire US consumption of natural gas, and 5.5 per cent of global gas output. Had it been sold in the US at 2006 prices, it would have been worth $US40 billion ($A53 billion at 2006 exchange rates). "In Africa alone, about 40 billion cubic metres of gas are burned every year, which, if put to use, could generate half the electricity needed in that continent." The bank is trying to generate common action by all stakeholders to reduce gas flaring, and find markets and infrastructure to put the surplus gas to use.

The Case For Clean Fuel From Coal and Municpal Waste

It's amazing how long it took people to realize than surrendering farmland to "fuel farm" would drive up the price of food.

clipped from images.google.com clipped from uk.reuters.com Biofuels won't solve world energy problem: Shell The remarks follow protests in Brazil and Europe against fuels derived from food crops. Food shortages and rising costs have set off rioting and protests in countries including Haiti, Cameroon, Niger and Indonesia. "Now the world is facing a shortage of food," Qatar's Abdullah al-Attiyah said, answering a question at a news conference. "I don't think we should blame oil, we should blame biofuels." clipped from uk.reuters.com But concern over meeting the biofuels targets has fuelled fears that sky-high food prices may rise even further if fertile arable land in Europe is turned over to growing "energy crops". First-generation biofuels usually come from food crops such as wheat, maize, sugar or vegetable oils. They need energy-intensive inputs like fertilizer, which make it harder to cut emissions contributing to climate change.

Air Force Committing Lots of Land For Fuel Developers

The Air Force is doing what it can to pave the way for environmentally superior products that are "home grown". They have completed much testing and are providing substantial land and forward contracts to get developers to take part.

clipped from eyeball-series.org clipped from www.flightglobal.com USAF to provide facilities for private synthetic fuel development Commercial synthetic fuel production and research into reducing the carbon dioxide output of the synthesis process could take place at the US Air Force's Malmstrom AFB in Montana under the USAF's Enhanced Use Lease programme. Work at Malmstrom AFB could include carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies to solve synthetic fuel's CO2 problem. Carbon capture could involve injecting the waste CO2 into the ground for storage. "If the air force is contributing to that research and can liquefy coal and capture the greenhouse gasses and store those safely underground that would be a big boon for [coal-to-liquid] technology," says the US Senate's committee on energy and natural resources. Meanwhile, the USAF continues its drive to certificate its entire fleet to use synthetic fuel by 2011. A Boeing B-1 bomber flew with synthetic fuel on 19 March.

Air Force Flies Another "Bird" on Coal

The Air Force is very comfortable using Synthetic fuel now in its aircraft. It's technology of choice to date is fuel synthesized from coal.

clipped from www.flightglobal.com US Air Force B-1 to fly supersonic on synfuel The US Air Force plans make the first supersonic flight on synthetic jet fuel this week, using a Rockwell B-1B bomber powered by General Electric F101 afterburning engines. The flight will be another milestone in USAF plans to certify its entire inventory of aircraft to use a 50:50 blend of synthetic and conventional jet fuel by early 2011. A B-1B Lancer based at Dyess AFB in Texas will make the supersonic demonstration flight. The USAF has already certified the Boeing B-52 bomber and C-17 airlifter to fly on synthetic fuel. The B-52 flew with the blended fuel in two engines in September 2006, and all eight engines in December that year. The C-17 completed the first transcontinental flight on blended fuel in December 2007. the USAF plans to meet half its domestic requirements with US-produced coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel by 2016.

University Creates Fuel Technology for Commercialization

Universities are a gold mine for great product innovation. Development companies lead the charge to make it work in the commercial marketplace.

clipped from www.bizjournals.com CleanTech, HFTA sign licensing agreement CleanTech Biofuels Inc. said Tuesday it entered into a licensing agreement with HFTA of Livermore, Calif., to license technology developed by scientists at the University of California-Berkeley (UCB). HFTA was formed by the UCB scientists who developed technology using nitric acid to hydrolyze biomass. University City, Mo.-based CleanTech Biofuels Inc. (OTCBB: CLTH) is a development stage company working on technologies to convert cellulosic material in municipal solid waste, green waste, and other cellulosic waste materials into fermentable sugars for the production of fuel-grade ethanol.

Government Supports Saving Money on Biomass

clipped from www.energycurrent.com U.S. DOE invites applications for biomass research fund USA: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently unveiled more than US$4 million of research funding to projects focusing on develping cost effective and environmentally friendly biomass conversion technologies. Combined with a university cost share of 20 percent, up to US$4.8 million will be made available to new projects aimed at developing biochemical, thermochemical, and chemical processes to reduce costs and improve the energy yields from biomass conversion. The U.S. DOE expects to select 12 projects under this new round of funding. Applications for the new research fund will close on June 2, 2008.