Demand for wood, fiber, and energy from trees is on the rise, meaning every purpose-grown tree has to work harder than ever before. When it comes to producing trees for pulp and paper or timber, foresters know the right methods and types of trees to be successful. Summerville, S.C.-based ArborGen helps foresters with planting for biomass, and helps to mitigate the risk of planting for future markets like biofuels. ArborGen is a leading developer of tree seedling products and one of the largest providers of conventional and technology enhanced seedlings to the forestry industry. The Biofuels Center of North Carolina and ArborGen are trialing short-rotation cottonwood trees for biofuels production on North Carolina’s Biofuels Campus in Oxford. In contrast to traditional sawtimber harvests occurring every 20-30 years, these short-rotation stands can be harvested every three-to-five years.

ArborGen’s FlexStand™ System allows better focusing of resources to the designated crop tree rows. This system allows foresters to optimize production for multiple end-users by planting trees in alternating rows for biomass and sawtimber on the same acreage. Although there are endless patterns and methods for planting a multiple-use stand, ArborGen suggests the simplest way is to plant one row of sawtimber and one for biomass. Resource focusing will reduce forest management cost as well as the amount of chemicals that are applied, which is an environmental plus that works well with certification standards.

Any alternating row system such as FlexStand™ can help foresters capitalize new market demands through increased productivity and variety in the quality of timber produced. Alternating rows for multiple end-uses creates a stand of purpose-grown trees that can be optimally managed for carbon sequestration and resource conservation.

The FlexStand™ System developed by ArborGen is just one example of a designing a creative planting system for mitigating risk while fully capitalizing on new technology to improve production and quality of the timber being grown on well-managed forestland. These cutting-edge techniques allow for more efficient, effective forest management that will help North Carolina meet its renewable energy demands in coming years.

For information, visit www.arborgen.com.

Biofuels Center adds former ambassador Jim Cain to board (Local Tech Wire)
Three private sector executives have been added to the board of directors for the Biofuels Center of North Carolina...

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Biofuels Center to promote "biofuels casting call" at State Fair's Green N.C. Pavilion
As part of its commitment to advancing public education, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina will officially launch its NCBiofuels.net campaign with a "biofuels casting call" at the North Carolina State Fair's Green N.C. Pavilion on 14 October 2010...

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Center staffers to attend Biomass South conference
Staffers from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina will be attending the Biomass South conference in Memphis, Tenn., later this month...

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U.S. Dept. of Agriculture announces public meetings on renewable fuels report
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report outlining a strategy to meet the nation’s renewable fuel mandate...

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Center seeks military partnerships director
The Biofuels Center of North Carolina is seeking applicants for the director of eastern and military partnerships opening...

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Maverick Biofuels hopes to build pilot biorefinery in North Carolina (Online PR News)
Maverick Biofuels, a second-generation biofuels company, announced that it is planning to build a pilot-scale biorefinery to produce mixed-alcohol biofuels from biomass and municipal solid waste...

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N.C. awards $8M for energy efficiency (Charlotte Business Journal)
Charlotte-area energy projects include $311,440 to place an ethanol transmission and loading facility at the ReVenture Eco-Industrial Park in Mecklenburg County that will move biofuels from rail tanker cars to fuel trucks for transport to fuel depots...

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N.C. State University awarded up to $2M to evaluate biomass feedstocks (Biomass Power & Thermal)
N.C. State University will receive up to $2.09 million to evaluate the impacts of biomass feedstock cultivation on hydrology, water quality, wildlife, plant diversity, soil productivity, carbon budgeting, economics, and safety, according to the DOE...

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Canadian company discovers new strain of microalgae, plans to make jet fuel (Biorefining Magazine)
A Halifax-based company has partnered with Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), and has plans to turn microalgae into jet fuel...

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Ceres publishes crop management guides for switchgrass, high-biomass sorghum (Agri Marketing)
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. has published two new crop management guides that include the most current recommendations on the establishment, management, and harvest of switchgrass and high-biomass sorghum...

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Genetically altered trees, plants could help counter global warming (Chem.Info)
Forests of genetically altered trees and other plants could sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year and so help ameliorate global warming, according to estimates published in the October issue of BioScience...

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Ford examines algae benefits as a sustainable biofuel (Silicon Republic)
Ford scientists are testing the suitability of renewable energy sources, such as algae, as potential automotive biofuels in an effort to better understand the use of biomass to produce future biofuels...

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Chevrolet Volt will also run on E85, biodiesel (International Business Times)
The Volt—an electric vehicle with an innovative rechargeable electric drive system that also runs on gasoline, E85, or biodiesel—is set to enter the market next year...

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NASCAR close to deal with ethanol group (Sports Business Journal)
NASCAR is poised to sign its first new high-profile sponsorship in 20 months and take a significant step forward in the green initiative it began two years ago by aligning with an ethanol lobby group known as Growth Energy [free trial registration required]...

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N.C. State University researchers have teamed with researchers from four universities to form the Center for BioEnergy Research and Development (CBERD). Seeded by funding from the National Science Foundation through the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program, CBERD has developed partnerships with over 25 companies, federal laboratories, and state agencies. CBERD is singularly focused to make transformative discoveries to enable the lignocellulosic-based bioindustry to grow, establish, and maintain global competitiveness in the critical bioenergy and bioproducts arenas.

A vibrant biofuels and bioproducts industry in North Carolina encompasses sustainable production of energy crops, effective pretreatment prior to biofuel production, efficient conversion to valuable biofuels and products, and continual evaluation of the material and economic inputs that drive these activities. Responding to input from the members of the CBERD Industrial Advisory Board, N.C. State researchers in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Engineering, and Natural Resources have initiated a comprehensive collection of projects that address the full range of these activities focused in North Carolina.

The yield of tropical sugarbeets—suitable for cultivation in North Carolina—is being evaluated in field trials in an effort to identify new, productive sources of biomass. Novel oxidative pretreatment technologies for lignocellulosic ethanol production are being developed and applied to energy canes and switchgrass. Advanced thermochemical technologies for the production of wood-based bio-oils, a potential replacement for petroleum in many applications, are being evaluated using North Carolina softwoods. An interdisciplinary team of microbiologists and engineers is evaluating the performance of a unique bacterial reaction system that can convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. Life-cycle analysis (i.e., economics, energy, and material) of the production of biofuels from wood completes the CBERD research portfolio at N.C. State.

These projects reflect the strong interdisciplinary nature of bioenergy research and capabilities at N.C. State, as well as the commercial importance of research activity at the university. CBERD membership affords the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, and all member companies, access to research funded across five universities, providing an outstanding leverage opportunity as well as a window on technologies that will bring significant economic benefit to the growing biofuels industry in North Carolina.

For more information about this research, contact Dr. Steven Peretti at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Biofuels Center director of communications and education Norman Smit discusses the launch of the NCBiofuels.net public education campaign with Biofuels Center communications manager Shane Reese.

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Biofuels Center director of farming Sam Brake and N.C. State University researchers talk about the Bioenergy Field Day in Oxford with Biofuels Center communications manager Shane Reese.

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The Biofuels Wiki is a one-stop, collaborative site where reliable knowledge about liquid renewable fuels can be found—think of it as a biofuels encyclopedia on the Internet. To add or edit content on the site, click here to register.


NAVAIR
The Naval Air Systems Command (or NAVAIR) is a United States Navy command headquartered in Patuxent River, Md., with military and civilian personnel stationed at eight principal continental United States sites and one site overseas...

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Renewable Fuels Association
The Renewable Fuels Association is a national trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry...

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Camelina
Camelina, also known as gold-of-pleasure or false flax, is in the same family as rapeseed, the source of canola oil...

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Energy crop
A plant domesticated for use in agriculture and is produced as a low-cost and low-maintenance feedstock to be used for biofuels...

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Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit takes place in the last week of November every year, and session topics include innovation in feedstocks, advanced biofuels, trading, commercialization, and policy…

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14-24 October 2010 -
North Carolina State Fair
Raleigh, N.C.

21 October 2010 -
Energy Policy Council Meeting
Raleigh, N.C.

22 October 2010 -
AgBiotech Industry Round Table
Research Triangle Park, N.C.