Biomass

The Chinese government has committed $15 billion over the next 10 years to the electric vehicle (EV) industry alone, while the U.S. Department of Energy spends $4 billion a year on research and development for a wide variety of energy-related tech.

The figures paint a portrait of two countries with vastly different approaches to growing industries and jobs, according to an Accenture report released today, "The US and China: The Race to Disruptive Transport Technologies," (PDF) which parses out the advantages and disadvantages each country has right now in the realm of alternative vehicles and fuels.

China … Read more

WASHINGTON--The Environmental Protection Agency said today it will delay for three years requiring biomass-fired boilers to have permits for emitting carbon dioxide emissions.

"We are working to find a way forward that is scientifically sound and manageable for both producers and consumers of biomass energy. In the coming years, we will develop a common sense approach that protects our environment and encourages the use of clean energy," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The EPA said that it plans to finish by July a rulemaking that will defer permitting requirements for CO2 emissions from biomass-fired and other biogenic sources … Read more

A commercial pilot project for carbon sequestration and large-scale algae biofuel manufacturing in Australia has been successfully completed, OriginOil announced today.

The company partnered with Australian energy company MBD Energy through a licensing agreement that has allowed both companies to share intellectual property on proprietary algae-to-fuel conversion processes.

The algae-to-fuel process in this case begins with an existing coal power plant.

CO2, given off as a byproduct of MBD Energy's coal-fired power plants, is captured by micro-algae. The micro-algae convert that captured CO2 and use it to reproduce, creating higher amounts of algae, which can then be used as … Read more

GE subsidiary GE Energy Financial Services and North Bridge Venture Partners will invest $8 million in a company developing a biofuel production process coupled with the production of biochar.

Cool Planet Biofuels converts cellulosic byproducts like plant waste and woodchips into biofuel that can be used in vehicles.

The company's byproduct from the process is biochar, or manmade coal as some call it, which just like conventional charcoal can be burned for fuel. It's something the company says qualifies its biofuel process as being carbon neutral.

The biochar can also be buried in the ground serving as both … Read more

The picturesque Cotswolds of England will soon be using those lovely animals dotting its hillsides to provide power to some of its homes.

A turnkey biogas station made by Alfagy plans to convert agricultural waste, including both feedstock and manure, into electricity.

The plant, which is scheduled to open November 1, is located on the southern outskirts of Cirencester, an ancient Cotswolds town famous for being a thriving mercantile city during the Roman Empire. But Alfagy says the station could reduce at least two of the area's current imports by using what its people have on hand.

While there … Read more

Adobe has hired Bloom Energy to install enough fuel cell servers to provide one-third of all electricity for Adobe's San Jose, Calif., headquarters, both companies announced today.

Specifically, Bloom will install 12 of its fuel cell servers on the fifth floor of Adobe's West Tower at the campus. Each Bloom box, as the company calls them, is roughly the size of a small van and contains thousands of ceramic fuel cells that can convert fuel and oxygen from the air into an electric current. For the Adobe installation, the units will use biogas for fuel.

One Bloom box … Read more

I have a dog. I'm a responsible dog owner; on a walk, after he does his business, I take care of it. The bag of waste is thrown into an always-open dumpster on the walk back to my apartment building.

But what if the contents of that bag could be used to power a park lamp? Indeed, the park where I and many of my neighbors walk our dogs has a single lamppost. And if an experiment by conceptual artist Matthew Mazzotta continues to be successful, my dog's doo might power it one day.

Mazzotta has a pilot project going in Cambridge, Mass., … Read more

Europeans will soon be able to throw their candy wrappers into the composting bin.

U.S.-based bioplastics producer Cereplast announced Wednesday that its patented bioresin will soon be used to make food packaging for a variety of foods in Europe.

The company signed a multimillion-dollar deal to supply its Cereplast Compostables 7003 bioresin to Sezersan Ambalaj, one of the leading producers of food packaging for Europe. Sezersan, which is based in Turkey, will use the resin to produce completely biodegradable food-packaging.

The bioresin is starch-based and can be created from corn, wheat, tapioca, or potato starches, making it 100 … Read more

The trash and recycling services company Waste Management is expanding into the organic gardening business, the company announced Wednesday.

The Houston-based company has acquired Garick, which manufactures things like mulch, garden compost, and playground turf made from recycled organic materials.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. WM only went so far as to announce that Garick's composting facilities will be used to augment WM's existing organic recycling services, and offer a line of organic garden products made from WM-collected biomass waste.

The new line of products will include organic garden compost, which is often referred to … Read more