As I wrote last month, global biofuels production is nearing 2 million barrels per day – an impressive number that ranks biofuels ahead of Libya among oil producing nations – but most of this consists of conventional biofuels derived from corn starch and sugarcane. While these fuels may meet ground transportation needs, they lack the performance (more…)

NASA has developed a system capable of growing large amounts of algae for biofuel production within a network of floating plastic bags, an innovation its developers say could ultimately produce a new fuel source.

By pumping wastewater and carbon dioxide into four nine-meter plastic bags at a demonstration plant in (more…)

A U.S. startup says it has raised enough funding to significantly expand what it calls the world’s first commercial-scale algae biofuel farm, a 300-acre project its developers say could produce 1.5 million gallons of algae-based crude oil by 2014.

Sapphire Energy, which so far has received more (more…)

At the moment, America’s number one crop for producing biofuel is corn. However, naturally growing plants like switchgrass also have great potential as a biofuel crop because they do not require much, if any, inputs such as watering, fertilizing, or pesticides. To date, it has been difficult to find the ideal location for harvesting the right grasslands to make it (more…)

As oil prices soar, the exploration of alternative fuel sources continues. Primus Green Energy, based in Hillsborough, New Jersey, has created a high quality, 93-octane bio-gasoline at a price that will be both competitive and profitable once production is scaled up. (more…)

One of the major criticisms of biofuels is that they compete with food in terms of land use, driving prices up. In order to solve the problem, how about looking to the ocean as a source of biofuel?

Scientists from different departments at Tel Aviv University have discovered that marine macroalgae, (more…)

In January of this year, Joule Unlimited received another $70 million in funding to pursue the expansion and commercialization of its biofuel process. The new money is marked for the build-out and operation of its facility in New Mexico. This, the company says, will help it show how its process can be expanded incrementally while still producing sufficient fuel to be a real (more…)

A U.S. biotechnology company is planning to build the nation’s first commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels plant in Mississippi, where it will be able to use wood chips and other plant matter as an alternative to corn in the production of ethanol.

Virdia, a California-based company formerly known as (more…)

The Algal Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, announced the recipients of the second annual Algae Industry Leadership awards.

The annual Algae Industry Leadership Awards recognize those that demonstrate outstanding leadership in helping increase the awareness of, (more…)

Biofuel production has ratcheted up to become a major part of America’s energy and agricultural industries. Corn, or maize, is by far the most widely grown crop to be converted into ethanol. However, the dominance of maize in the biofuel industry is not without its pitfalls. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have identified a temperate- (more…)