The nation’s biggest biodiesel is making a student’s Christmas a bit greener.
HERO BX has awarded Erie, Pa. native Katherine Tarr, a $1,000 scholarship. This company press release says the award was given in conjunction with the Erie movie premier of the Sundance Film Festival award winning film, FUEL:
Cynobacteria, whom we know better as pond scum, could prove to be very useful, at least as a high yield source of biofuel. Scientists at the Arizona State University have been able to genetically engineer the bacteria into an easier biofuel source with high yield. Researchers achieved these results by adding genes from the bacteriaphage to the cynobacteria.
If you are interested in the science behind the fuel, you’ll enjoy this look at the bio-chemistry of pond scum, a feedstock we can’t ignore in planning for the future of our oil supplies.
An algae pond at Sapphire Energy, one of the beneficiaries of the latest funding for the biofuel industry. (image: xconomy.com)
If you’re worried that the United States’ energy sector is ailing, be apprised that the biofuel industry just got a major shot in the arm. Last Friday, the US government announced that 19 biorefinery projects will receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Financial Times has reported. According to US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the money will go toward the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial facilities across 15 states. Such ambitious funding of biorefineries is part of a broader federal effort to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, spur the creation of the domestic biofuel industry, and create jobs in rural areas of the country, which have suffered greatly since the recession of late 2007.
I am happy to see this sector of industry get some much needed support from the government, and I am confident the tax incentives for biodiesel blenders will stay in effect.
To help build the foundation of a biomass industry in the United States, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture have selected 19 biorefinery projects in 15 states to receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects were chosen to speed up the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial-scale facilities for advanced biofuels, biopower and bioproducts using biomass feedstocks.
It almost sounds too good to be true, making fuel from agricultural wastes, but it can happen. I still like soybean oil, because the waste from that biodiesel is still soy meal.