Biofuels

A large-scale test on the effectiveness of switchgrass to make ethanol gave the native grass high marks on energy production and greenhouse gases.

Switchgrass is a favorite of politicians and cellulosic ethanol advocates who say that the grass, which can grow to nine feet, is a better feedstock than corn--the source of most ethanol made today.

A study published on Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that switchgrass contains five times more energy than it takes to grow it, which makes it significantly more cost-effective than corn.

The average greenhouse gas emissions from cellulosic … Read more

Better Biodiesel, a Utah-based producer of biodiesel fuel, said Friday that it plans to buy GeoAlgae Technologies for an undisclosed sum. GeoAlgae Technology, or GAT, makes inexpensive feedstock for the production of biodiesel, the companies said.

The buyout is Better Biodiesel's first public news since announcing this summer that it would suspend fuel production after its manufacturing fuel processor caught fire. (Better Biodiesel produces roughly 3 million gallons of biodiesel annually, according to the company.) The company said it has developed a waterless technology that can produce biodiesel from low-grade feedstocks without expensive pre- and post-processing of materials. That … Read more

Biodiesel manufacturer Imperium Renewables has withdrawn its plans to go public, citing "unfavorable market conditions."

The Seattle-based company filed the paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. It had filed to go public in May, and had plans to raise $345 million.

The news comes a few weeks after the company replaced its then-CEO, Martin Tobias, naming President John Plaza as interim CEO and investor Nancy Floyd as chairman.

Imperium Renewables said that Tobias' departure was part of a planned transition, but company watchers noted that his leaving was abrupt and not well publicized. (The company … Read more

Another day, another CEO ouster at a green tech start-up.

Martin Tobias is out as chairman and CEO of Imperium Renewables, the company has announced. John Plaza, who founded the company with Tobias, is interim CEO while Nancy Floyd has taken over as chairman.

Tobias has been the spokesman and public figure for Imperium since its founding. The company has raised more than $200 million dollars and earlier this year christened a 100-million gallon refinery in Washington state. It has plans to build similar sized facilities in Hawaii, Argentina and elsewhere.

The ouster of Tobias is something of a surprise. … Read more

Things are looking up for lowly sea algae.

Fuels giant Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum on Wednesday announced the creation of a joint venture called Cellana to make biodiesel from algae in Hawaii.

The plans call for growing algae in ponds of seawater using strains of algae that are native to Hawaii. It will be placed near other industrial sites that produce algae for the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries.

Cellana said that algae can produce 15 times more oil per hectare than rape, palm soya, or jatropha plants.

Algae growth also has been proposed as a way to absorb … Read more

A recent study shows that damming the Red Sea could provide 50 gigawatts of emissions-free hydroelectric power. This would be the largest power plant in the world. However, tens of thousands of people would have to be displaced, not to mention untold ecological damage.

Hank Green at EcoGeek writes about how this would impact the Middle East politically:

"The project would provide enough power to switch off oil-burning power plants throughout the Middle East. Political scientists are already estimating the stability such a project would bring to the region."

Sustainable leadership

"Sustainability" is now becoming a … Read more

Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, it's a royal pain to make.

Most industrial hydrogen producers currently make the gas by heating methane and water to 815 degrees Celsius and causing a reaction. Unfortunately, this process generates 9.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilo of hydrogen, so it's not environmentally friendly or cheap.

Other companies like Signa Chemistry have come out with chemical catalysts that can strip hydrogen from water.

Then there is electrolysis, which involves cracking water molecules with electricity. Electrolysis doesn't produce any greenhouse gases or chemical residues so … Read more

Mascoma, which hopes to make cellulosic ethanol out of old wood chips and weed-like plants, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday for its first plant that is expected to start producing fuel by the end of 2008.

The plant, in Rome, N.Y., will be capable of churning out 500,000 gallons of fuel a year when fully operational. While that sounds like a lot, it's small for the fuel industry. (Americans consume about 150 billion gallons of gas a year.) Thus, the plant will serve as a showcase for Mascoma's technology. The company, a spin-out of … Read more

The face behind the wheel of a hybrid car is most likely to belong to an upwardly mobile, physically active person with tech savvy, according to a report by Scarborough Research (PDF).

Forty-two percent of those polled earn six figures or more each year. The group is more than 20 percent likely than average to be at least 50 years old. Nearly a third hold a postgraduate degree, with the rate of college graduation more than doubling the U.S. average.

Only 14 percent of hybrid owners identify as Republican, while 38 percent are Democrats, and 34 percent call themselves … Read more