Thursday, June 21, 2007

World Energy Statistics

BP has published their 2007 Review of World Energy. It has current usage data as well as historical data. It looks ata variety of energy sources, but does not delve into renewable energy too far.

Extreme Enzymes

Sandia National Laboratories has a research program that looks at using enzymes from extreme environments for breaking cellulose away from lignocellulosic materials. Science Daily has a well-written article about it. Renewableenergyaccess.com also has one here.

Will cellulosic ethanol help the forest products industry?

The Biofuel Review has an interesting article that discusses the Lignol technology and looks at its potential impact on the North American forest products industry.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Tennessee Biofuels Initiative Funded

With the passage of the Tennessee State Budget this week, the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative is off and running. The funding, outlined here, provides for the construction of the biorefinery and for operating and research.

For more information of the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative, visit the project website.

Pilot Corporation Introduces E-85 to Knoxville

On Wednesday June 6, the Pilot Store at Walker Springs Road in Knoxville TN began selling E-85. On Friday June 8, E-85 was selling for $0.30 less than gasoline and sales were brisk (article here).

This E-85 location is part of a larger effort by the State Government's Green Island Corridor program to make biofuels more available in the state. To find out more about the program and the locations of biofuel stations it has funded, visit the website.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Wood Energy Subsidies in Texas

The State Legislature of Texas recently passed a bill that provides a subsidy of $20 per dry ton of wood waste that is used in power facilities. There has been some coporate concern in the forest products industry about the bill and others. You can read more about it in the Lufkin Daily News.

Bioenergy and the Pulp-Paper Industry

Scott Miller of Price BIOstock Services and renowned blogger has an interesting article on the "U.S. Paper & Pulp Industry Assesses Its Bioenergy Future." Scott attended the TAPPI sponsored International Conference on Renewable Energy - 2007 and has written a nice summary article on the industry here.

Tennessee Biofuels Initiative

The Metropulse Newspaper in Knoxville has a lengthy article here on the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative.

ORNL gains $1 million biofuels grant

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports here that ORNL has received just over $1 million for work on poplar genetics.