revised RFS biofuels mandates proposed: “slashing” not the right word

Well, EPA has finally proposed the revised bioenergy production mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) retroactively for 2014, for this year, and for 2016.  Not a big surprise that it was less than the original mandates, and I’d like to put … Continue reading →

May 2015

revised RFS biofuels mandates proposed: “slashing” not the right word

Well, EPA has finally proposed the revised bioenergy production mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) retroactively for 2014, for this year, and for 2016.  Not a big surprise that it was less than the original mandates, and I’d like to put this in perspective rather than say “biofuel targets have been SLASHED!!!”.  The revised mandates continue...

May 2015

Why are oil prices so low and what does it mean for alt energy?

Oil prices are lower than they have been in 4 years, but what has changed lately?  At first glance, not much in the big picture: no big new reserves have been found or really cheap ways to extract & process … Continue reading →

May 2015

BECCS keeps on truckin’ in IL

A quick update on ADM’s Illinois ethanol plant w/ carbon capture and storage (previously discussed here): ADM Carbon Capture Reaches 1 Million Metric Tons Apparently they’ve geologically sequestered 1,000,000 Mg CO2 fixed from the atmosphere by corn plants since 2011.  … Continue reading →

May 2015

New UT study pessimistic on future of US fracking boom

This interesting recent Nature News Feature caught my eye: Natural Gas:  the Fracking Fallacy Researchers at the University of Texas recently conducted a study of the reserve size of the four most productive US shale gas formations, and came up … Continue reading →

May 2015

Guest Post: reducing paper waste in university settings

Today’s post comes from Nikunj Sharma, a 4th year student at Amity University in India.  He is working on biodiesel from microalgae and is also interested in energy economics and sustainable development.  His post highlights issues of paper waste with some … Continue reading →

May 2015

Hints of major changes in 2014 RFS mandates

As the election season winds down, we expect the Obama administration to release the long awaited volumes of renewable fuel that should be blended for 2014 (which the RFS law specifies EPA should have released November 2013).  A recent article linked … Continue reading →

May 2015

BD agrees- EISA targets were realistic, but timelines were crazy

In the wake of one commercial-scale facility (POET-DSM Project Liberty) having come on line, and just days before the grand opening of the next one (Abengoa’s Hugoton facility) Biofuels Digest has posted the first part of a two-part review of … Continue reading →

May 2015

3.5 M new cellulosic RINs in August?!? Or did EPA just sink the 2nd-gen biofuel market?

What drove the registration of 3.5 million new cellulosic RINs in August, after less than 5,000 the month before??  Looks like EPA recently changed the rules in a huge way: http://bakken.com/news/id/218997/new-biogas-rules-renewable-fuel-standards/ Now, bio-methane produced from all sorts of sources (wastewater … Continue reading →

May 2015

faulty cement well casings cause of fracking related contamination

A new study finds that the well casing – the cement that seals the drill holes – to be the cause of fracking related water contamination.  It has been a little unclear if the well casings were the cause of … Continue reading →

May 2015