Reading: Fuel for thought

While digging around the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) web site I discovered Fuel for thought, a publication by the Future Fuels Forum 2007. This June 2008 publication informs us how the Future Fuels Forum thinks transport fuels will pan out in our future with modelling from now to 2050.  It is an [...]

Amyris opens a pilot plant for No Compromise™ renewable diesel

Amyris have recently announced that they have opened their first pilot plant for the production of what they are calling No Compromise™ renewable diesel fuel.

Shell and Virent convert plant sugars directly into biogasoline

Shell and Virent have been collaborating for a year on technology that can convert plant sugars directly into petrol and petrol blend components, rather than ethanol. This biogasoline matches petroleum gasoline in functionality and performance.

Asia looking hard at coal-to-liquids

An article in The Australian today suggests that the ever increasing price of oil is encouraging Asia, holders of one-third of the world’s coal deposits, to have a good hard look at coal-to-liquids plants for the production of synthetic petrol and diesel.

The Price of Biofuels – Do we really have any alternative to biofuels?

This excellent series three part series written by David Rotman and published in the MIT Technology Review is well worth reading if you are at all interested in biofuels. It is very US and ethanol focussed but appears to be a well balanced summary of what I’ve been reading lately. Biodiesel doesn’t get a mention [...]

Syntec acquires ethanol catalyst technology to convert biomass to alcohol

Canadian company, Syntec Biofuel Inc. (Syntec). Syntec has acquired ethanol catalyst technology which has been developed to convert biomass into ethanol, butanol, methanol and propanol. Biogas and syngas from wood waste, organic waste, corn stover, sugar bagasse, switch grass, poplar etc. is becoming economically viable for some producers so Syntec are starting to test their catalysts in an industrial environment in order to quantify the life of the catalysts prior to commercialization.

Choren chooses site for biomass-to-liquids plant

Choren’s future plans involve the development and commissioning of their first full scale BTL production plant in Germany. In a press conference held on December 18th Choren announced Schwedt as the intended site for the first of the so-called Sigma plants.

US Defense contracts design of portable synfuel plant

Diversified Energy Corportation and Velocys Inc. have been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to design a transportable system that can convert waste products generated at military installations into 50 – 500 barrels per day of high performance renewable fuels such as diesel and aviation fuel.

The 2007 Michelin Challenge Bibendum

The Michelin Challenge Bibendum is a sustainable mobility test and evaluation event conducted in the form of a rally program. Categories under test include acceleration, maneuverability, local pollution, noise, fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions. This year’s event was held in Shanghai where an interesting array of vehicles running on a variety of fuels fought for the honours.

Linc Energy moves to clean up its coal-to-liquids

Linc Energy has formed a joint venture with BioCleanCoal to develop a bioreactor which will convert CO2 into oxygen and solid biomass through a photosynthesis process. The aim is to permanently and safely remove CO2 from Linc Energy’s coal-to-liquids processes thereby preventing it from entering the atmosphere.