DOE Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced the funding for 46 multi-million dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) sited at universities, nonprofit organizations, national laboratories and private firms throughout the country. $277 of the $377 million was made available via…

The University of Wisconsin has brought the prospect of energy independence and economic potency to its newest degree program, which is the country’s first online Sustainable Management bachelors’ degree. The university extension has come together with several other University of Wisconsin campuses – UW Parkside, UW River Falls, UW Superior and UW Stout – so that they may create a degree program that provides green recruits with the organization abilities they will need to manage…

Sapphire Energy – based in La Jolla, California – recently announced that they expect to produce one million gallons of diesel and jet fuel annually by 2011, doubling their original estimation. The company, which is renowned in the algae fuel industry, has produced over $100M with help from big-name financiers such as Bill Gates, ARCH Venture Partners, Venrock and Welcome Trust. The company is also working with Continental and JAL commercial airlines to provide jet fuel…

Biomass is biological matter derived mainly from plantlife, and can be a viable source of renewable energy when used properly. However, there are still major disadvantages to biomass production. Burning organic materials as fuel — especially using certain sources such as corn ethanol — still releases carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants into the atmosphere. In some cases, even at levels above standard fuel sources such as natural gas and coal. Not to mention, when biomass is harvested at unsustainable rates, it can severely damage ecosystems and consume large amounts of already rapidly depleting water. As it stands now, it takes much more water and energy to plant, cultivate and harvest crops and trees used for biomass than it seems to be worth in terms of net energy gain. Furthermore, even if new trees are…

Biomass fuels use living or recently deceased plant materials and other organic products, such as industrial, domestic and agricultural waste to produce electricity, heat and oil. Most bioenergy resources are readily available throughout the world and are directly used to generate biofuel. Sources include poplar, sugarcane, switchgrass, corn, miscanthus, willow, hemp, sorghum and eucalyptus trees, to name a few. Other sources include waste products left behind after plant materials have been recently used for other purposes or consumed by animals. In 2002, biomass supplied about 47 percent of all renewable energy consumed in the US and has supplied more energy to the country than any other form of clean renewable energy. Biomass supplied almost six times the amount of energy of geothermal, solar, and wind energy sources combined. Globally, biomass meets about 14 percent of the world’s energy needs (SOURCE: OREGON BIOMASS ENERGY).