Innovative Jet Can Travel Four Times the Speed of Sound-

A new jet was revealed at the Paris Air Show on Sunday, which can reportedly reach speeds of 3,125 MPH — or four times the speed of sound! The jet, called ZEHST (for Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation) is a “green” version of the Concorde; powered by a seaweed-based biofuel, along with hydrogen and oxygen gases. France-based EADS is overseeing the project, and says it expects ZEHST to carry around 100 passengers and take off on a regular runway without creating any “sonic boom” noise. “It is not a Concorde but it looks like a Concorde, showing that aerodynamics of the 1960s were already very smart. The plane would fly just above the atmosphere, meaning it could fly at more than 3,000 mph, ” Jean Botti, innovation and technology director of EADS, told the Daily Mail. “We’re not talking about a product that we launch in the next few years. We have to see security, integration of different technologies, and how man reacts to it,” added EADS boss Louis Gallois. The 100 percent solar powered airplane, Solar Impulse, also made an appearance at the air show.

Investment Marks Leap in Clean Fuel Development for America-

The Obama Administration has long been pushing the use of renewable fuels and in an effort to further discourage sole use of oil for transport, the DOE has been authorized to grant up to $36 million for companies which manufacture bio-based products. It will be funding six small-scale projects in California, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. “Projects such as these are helping us to diversify our energy portfolio and decrease our dependence on foreign oil,” said Secretary Chu. “Together with our partners, the Department is working hard to expand the clean energy economy, creating jobs in America and providing sustainable replacements for the fuels and products now provided primarily by petroleum.” The following projects were chosen:

• General Atomics (up to $2.0 million, San Diego, California): The proposed project aims to reduce energy, capital, and operational cost for algal fermentation processes. This will increase production of algal oils, which can be further refined into advanced biofuels.
• Genomatica, Inc. (up to $5.0 million, San Diego, California): This project will deliver an engineered organism and optimized fermentation process to enable the conversion of cellulosic sugars to the valuable industrial chemical, 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Such technology will enhance the commercial profitability of integrated biorefineries by enabling co-production of high-volume fuels and the higher-margin commodity chemical, BDO.
• Michigan Biotechnology Institute (up to $4.3 million, Lansing, Michigan): The project will focus on improvements to a pretreatment process, which provides a stable, conversion-ready intermediate of consistent quality at a cost and in a format compatible with long-term storage and ease of transfer between multiple modes of transportation.
• HCL CleanTech, Inc. (up to $9.0 million, Oxford, North Carolina): This project will develop and demonstrate process improvements for pretreatment, conversion to sugars, and subsequent conversion of those sugars to fuels. The complete integrated process will use concentrated hydrochloric acid hydrolysis to convert pre-extracted biomass feedstocks including wood waste into fermentable sugars, and then further convert the sugars into diesel products.
• Texas Engineering Experiment Station (up to $2.3 million, College Station, Texas): The focus of this project will be on developing a novel pretreatment for cellulosic biomass feedstocks using a combination of chemical and mechanical processing. Once the cellulosic feedstock has been pretreated it can be converted into biofuels, including hydrocarbons.
• Virent (up to $13.4 million, Madison, Wisconsin): The overarching objective of this project is to develop a fully integrated process that can efficiently and cost effectively convert a cellulosic biomass feedstock, such as corn stover, to a mix of hydrocarbons ideally suited for blending into jet fuel.

While this may be a significant leap in the effort to suppress America’s reliance on foreign oil imports, there is still much to be considered when using food crops (like corn) for fuel. Large scale production, for example, would heavily increase the costs of such produce and may, in fact, cause widespread famine throughout the globe.

Department of Energy Press Release-

As part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive plan to address rising gas prices, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu have announced a total of $47 million to fund eight research and development projects that will support the production of biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products from a variety of biomass sources. These investments in clean, sustainable transportation fuels will help reduce U.S. oil imports, support economic development in rural America, create clean energy jobs for U.S. workers, and protect American families and businesses from future spikes in gas prices.

The advanced biofuels produced through these projects are also expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent compared to fossil fuels. “The projects selected today will help produce affordable, renewable biofuels right here in the U.S. to power our cars and trucks,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “President Obama set a bold national goal to reduce America’s oil imports by one-third in a little more than a decade. By developing and commercializing advanced biofuels, we will create new economic opportunities for rural communities, provide consumers with new options to fuel their vehicles, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” The projects are funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative and will help increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products to diversify the nation’s energy resources. Funding is provided through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and DOE’s Biomass Program. Each award was made through a competitive selection process. Grant recipients are required to contribute a minimum of 20 percent of matching funds for research and development projects and 50 percent of matching funds for demonstration projects. Awardees must pursue projects that integrate science and engineering research in three areas: feedstocks development, biofuels and biobased products development, and biofuels development analysis.

The following projects have been selected for awards:

-U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula, Mont., $5,309,320. This project will develop an integrated approach to investigate biomass feedstock production, logistics, conversion, distribution and end use centered on using advanced conversion technologies at existing forest industry facilities.

Through federal funding and leadership for research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.

DOE’s Biomass Program works with industry, academia, and national laboratory partners on a balanced portfolio of research in biomass feedstocks and conversion technologies. For more information on DOE’s Biomass Program, please visit the Biomass Program website.

Widely Grown Agave Plant is Answer to World’s Fuel and Energy Needs, Experts Say-

Experts agree that agave, a plant used in the production of tequila, can be a sustainable biofuel source because it would not compete with food crops or threaten water supply. According to research papers published last month in an issue of Global Change Biology Bioenergy, this plant can not only sustain high yields, but can easily withstand extreme temperatures, droughts and CO2 increases. Roughly 20 percent of the world is semi-arid, and with around 200 species of agave growing around the world, experts say that this plant could be the answer to meet, or even exceed, the world’s energy needs. Agave mapisaga and Agava salmiana are two varieties in particular which produce crop yeilds that surpass productivity from corn, soybean, sorghum, and wheat. To boot, even without irrigation these varieties still can maintain high yields. Arturo Velez, head of the Agave Project and former coordinator at the National Confederation of Forestry Producers, says that certain Agave species can generate twice the dry biomass per hectare of hybrid poplar, three times the sugar of sugarcane, and four times more cellulose than eucalyptus — plus, capture five times more CO2 than the most productive ecosystem. “Mexico has 80 million hectares of arid and semiarid areas with no productive potential in which 5,600 million tons of dry biomass could be obtained from agave,” he said. Various species of agave are currently in use throughout Mexico for tequila production, bacanora drinks and henequen fibre. But as of now, up to 80 percent of the plant’s biomass is being discarded.

New Plan Will Turn Sludge into Energy-

Sewage treatment facilities in New York City are now on course to begin generating and selling clean energy. Methane gas will be captured from digesters, heating fuel will be extracted from waste, and butanol — a gasoline alternative — will be extracted from algae that grows in wastewater. This will help reduce the 1,200 tons of waste that end up in landfills each day through NYC residents. Sewage facilities city-wide presently use around half of the methane generated by the digesters to supply roughly 20 percent of the electricity used by the plants, but with this new plan NYC will sell the excess power. Currently, the city is searching for companies to convert its waste into renewable energy, fertilizer, as well as paving and building materials. Contracts should be secured by 2013. NYC also aims to construct wind and solar power generating systems at its wastewater treatment plants on Staten Island.

Garbage Trucks Running on Clean Fuel from Trash-

Waste Management Inc., a U.S.-based garbage and recycling company, recently announced that it has been using “green” fuel for around 500 trucks in their California fleet. The environmentally-friendly alternative is much cleaner than standard diesel — and is actually made using old, rotting trash from a 240-acre landfill in the San Fransisco and Oakland area. In November, the company began sending the refuse out to a facility that purifies the waste and converts it into liquefied natural gas. “We’ve built the largest landfill-to-LNG plant in the world; this plant produces 13,000 gallons a day of LNG,” says Jessica Jones, a landfill manager for Houston-based Waste Management. “It will take 30,000 tons a year of CO2 from the environment.” A major problem with rotting trash is the methane it produces and releases into the atmosphere. “Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide,” Tom Frankiewicz, program manager for EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program in Washington, says in an e-mail. “Methane is also the main component of natural gas, so by capturing and using methane as an energy source you get an even bigger bang for the buck.”

Ground-Breaking Invention May Replace Conventional Plastic-

Arboform, an innovative liquid wood material invented by a German scientist, may completely eliminate the need for energy-intensive plastic products in the future. The ground-breaking invention uses an otherwise useless element of actual wood, lignin, which is then combined with natural resins, flax and fibers. The end product can be infused into molds to form intricate, precision-shaped objects usually made with environmentally hazardous petroleum-based plastics. Arboform, just like wood, is completely biodegradable and will break down quickly into harmless by-products like water and carbon dioxide. Virtually anything produced with conventional wood or plastic can be made with Arboform, such as toys, electronics, cups, automotive parts, helmets, furniture, guns, even jewelry. This novel creation will not only make use of the often discarded element of wood in the papermaking process, but will also help to offset tons of carbon emissions if mass produced as a bio-plastic.

Indian Parliament to Install Solar & Biomass Plant-

Through an arrangement with the Indian Parliament, the Punjab Energy Development Agency has invited bids for installing an 80 kW solar PV system. The solar array would provide battery backup for the Parliament building in the off-chance of a blackout, however over 50 percent of the generated power would be fed back into the grid. The project would help promote the use of solar PV systems which remain unpopular due to the high costs and lower efficiency when compared to other forms of clean energy. The installation is anticipated to initiate solar PV policy initiatives in homes and commercial buildings throughout the nation. Not to mention, the system would also serve as a demonstration of the feed-in tariff mechanism which is mostly untested in India. Some major companies have submitted bids, including Punj Lloyd, Wipro Ecoenergy and the Solar Energy Group of Reliance Industries. If this initiative is a success, the overall installed capacity could skyrocket to 20,000 MW over the next 12 years. Meanwhile, a new solar thermal system with a 2,000-liter capacity and a 0.5 tonne capacity biomass plant are also expected to be installed at the Parliament House.

Renewable Energy Could Supply U.S. Army with Clean Water, Power & Agriculture-

On top of the dangers of fighting a war against a terrorist-ridden nation, a huge challenge for the soldiers in Afghanistan is obtaining power, clean water and diesel fuel for military bases around the rural countryside. Soldiers sent out to gather clean water and refuel are put at major risk of attack. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been working in Afghanistan to develop other sources of power to diminish the necessity of such trips — which are costly, dangerous and sometimes deadly. The NREL reports that many soldiers are pushing to implement renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power to offer dependable electricity — as power generators are not always efficient. The nation of Afghanistan has abundant sunlight and plenty of open ground to build solar photovoltaic arrays; however, with bomb-wielding terrorist organizations lurking in the shadows, its tough to obtain money to erect such costly technologies. If implemented, solar power could be used to supply hot water and electricity for the bases. Not to mention, it could also power deep wells that would allow soldiers to obtain clean water. Once the soldiers vacate the areas, the PV arrays could be hooked up the a smart grid system to provide renewable energy to local residents. The NREL scientists are also working on technologies to generate power from the waste the base produces.

CleanTech’s Demonstration Vessel to be Installed at Fiberight’s Lawrenceville, Virginia Cellulosic Ethanol Pilot Plant-

CleanTech Biofuels – an early-stage provider of cellulosic biomass feedstock derived from municipal solid waste (MSW) for renewable power and biofuel production – recently announced an agreement with Fiberight LLC to install its demonstration vessel at Fiberight’s cellulosic ethanol pilot plant in Lawrenceville, VA. CleanTech’s patented Biomass Recovery Process, combined with Fiberight’s Targeted Fuel Extraction system, will create a fully-integrated MSW to cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant. CleanTech’s vessel is expected to be installed and operational by the end of August, 2010. “The installation of our vessel at the Lawrenceville plant will demonstrate that valuable renewable energy products can be produced from municipal solid waste,” said Ed Hennessey, CEO of CleanTech Biofuels, Inc. “This project will hasten commercialization of our technology and move us closer to realizing our goal of bringing combined waste-to-energy systems to municipalities, solid waste haulers, and operators of solid waste landfills and transfer stations.” Under the terms of the agreement, Fiberight will finance the transfer of the vessel, equipment upgrade, and all operating costs associated with running the vessel at the Lawrenceville plant. Moreover, CleanTech will have access to biomass produced at the Lawrenceville plant for delivery to companies interested in testing it as feedstock in their conversion technologies.