Biopact: February 2007 Digest
Biopact Blog writes many stories that are relevant to the study of BIOstock, BIOconversion, BIOoutput, and BIOwaste.
Rather than summarize and reprint excerpts from this excellent source of information, a breakdown of each month's most relevant titles is provided in one updated article...
BIOstock...
• Eyes in the sky: ESA images forests in 3-D to analyse biomass
• Net energy of biofuels made from crops grown in the North comes at a high cost - study
• Green giant Russia to produce 1 billion tons of biomass for exports
• China to develop energy forests the size of England
• Valencia to make ethanol from orange peels
• Florida grants US$ 1 million to study cellulosic ethanol from sugarcane bagasse
BIOconversion...
• BP selects Berkeley and partners for US$500 million energy biosciences institute
• Can you tackle global warming? Play the Climate Challenge game to find out
• U.S. to import biofuels from Brazil, Panama
• DuPont outlines commercialisation strategies for biobutanol, cellulosic ethanol
• Quick comparison of renewable energy and fossil fuel prices
BIOoutput...
• Scientists propose cold storage of CO2
• MIT scientists look at saline aquifers for CO2 storage
• The bioeconomy at work: methane storage tanks for cars made from corn cobs
• Going negative: carbon-burial test will monitor leaks
• Capturing carbon with "synthetic trees" or with the real thing?
• Climate change heating up China faster than rest of the world - report
• Fuel Cell Energy signs 10-year manufacturing & distribution agreement for its biofuel capable fuel cells in South Korea
• EU opens public consultation on carbon capture and storage
• EU seeks to force transport CO2 rules on trade partners
2 comments:
I have been a researcher in biofuels since last 5 years...Looking at the overall scenario concerned with bioethanol prospects,investments by governments and the industry for R and D , i get a feeling, that the whole thing is standing at the edge and waiting for a single development "cellulose to ethanol". Any comments on this....by anybody out there
There are numerous biofuel directions being pursued at the same time. Some involve making sugar fermentation more carbon efficient, some involving BioOil and biodiesel, some producing bioproducts other than ethanol. But you are right - there is a tremendous level of anticipation about cellulose to ethanol that didn't exist two years ago.
The recent DOE awards of matching funds for 6 commercial scale deployments is a bellweather of how far we have come and an indication that the DOE thinks the scientific development is investment worthy. Within this field there are many processes under consideration and they all deserve federal and state support to move forward - both monetarily and through policy reform.
There will be no significant progress made on commercial-scale technologies without deployments. The next few years are really going to be interesting particularly if we fast-track it.
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