| Biofuels Image of the Month |
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| Clean Burn Fuels in Dundarrach, North Carolina, is the state's first major ethanol plant. The $100 million facility is the largest on the East Coast. Learn more about Clean Burn Fuels in the Biofuels Company Spotlight. |
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| Biofuels Company Spotlight |
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After two years of construction, Clean Burn Fuels, LLC, is in the final stages of building North Carolina’s first major ethanol plant. The $100 million facility will be the largest on the East Coast. The plant is located in Dundarrach near Raeford, North Carolina, and will initially produce approximately 60 million gallons of ethanol per year. It has potential room for expansion to 240 million gallons per year.
While ethanol production is the focus of Clean Burn Fuels, the plant will also produce and sell its co-products. DDGS (Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles) are rich in cereal proteins, minerals, and vitamins, and are an excellent source of digestible protein and energy for hog, poultry, and cow farms. Clean Burn Fuels will sell the DDGS locally as a low-cost feed. The facility will also capture and compress food-grade level carbon dioxide gas to a liquid form. The majority of the CO2 will be sold as a liquid and the balance as a solid (i.e., dry ice).
The process from hammer mills to final product storage is approximately 60 hours, with 50 hours spent in fermentation. Clean Burn Fuels will produce 170,000 gallons of ethanol and 18,000 bushels of DDGS per day. The facility will operate 355 days per year, 24 hours a day.
Clean Burn Fuels currently employs 41 people, and is expected to employ over 100 people in its ethanol, DDGS, CO2, and trucking operations. It will also bring millions of tax dollars to the mostly rural Hoke County. Find out more at www.cleanburnfuels.com.
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| Biofuels Center News |
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HCL CleanTech establishes administrative and pilot plant facilities in North Carolina (MSN Money Worldwide)
An Israeli biofuels technology company has announced a partnership with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to open its U.S. headquarters in the Triangle region and build a biofuels pilot plant in Durham....
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Biofuels Center, U.S. Department of Defense explore collaboration on military biofuels (Mecklenburg Times)
Spurred by legislation requiring military bases to get more energy-efficient, a new market is opening up in North Carolina. With its nationally ranked universities, skilled and educated workforce, and strategic...
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Researchers assess energy canes on North Carolina's Biofuels Campus, across state
NC State University Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist Dr. Ron Gehl and graduate student Stephanie Haines visited energy canes research plots across the state in late March 2010, including plots at the Biofuels Campus...
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Center connects with elementary to high school students about renewable fuels
The Biofuels Center recently connected with students from three different schools in their classrooms and at career fairs...
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Center presents biofuels opportunities at community colleges workshop
The Biofuels Center was invited to present at a North Carolina Community College System workshop on integrating green technologies into curricula...
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Center seeks Director of Forestry
The Biofuels Center is seeking applicants for the director of forestry opening. This person will serve as key conduit to forestry and forest products constituencies, partners, and activities...
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| North Carolina Biofuels News |
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Evolution Resources signs biofuels agreement with N.C. State University (Biomass Magazine)
Evolution Resources, an advanced biofuels production company that produces cellulosic ethanol, has signed a testing services agreement with North Carolina State University...
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Multimillion-dollar coffee business big on sustainability, biofuels (Raleigh News & Observer)
Even though he's always had a deep love for coffee and has built a multimillion-dollar coffee business, Larson said he's really a crusader for sustainability...
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Biofuels grants will bring jobs to North Carolina (Raleigh News & Observer)
A giant nonprofit and a technology startup in the Triangle each snagged a slice of a $78 million federal stimulus grant to promote biofuels research. Both grant recipients are hiring engineers, project managers and...
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| News Around the Globe |
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Planes may fly mostly on biofuels within 10 years (CBS3.com)
Within a decade, passenger planes will be flying on jet fuel largely made from plants — flax, marsh grass, even food waste — as airlines seek to break away from the volatile oil market and do their part to fight climate change...
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U.S. airlines, military join forces on biofuel development (ATW Daily News)
U.S. Air Transport Association and the Defense Logistics Agency's Defense Energy Support Center signed a strategic alliance agreement designed to spur the development and deployment of alternative aviation fuels...
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Virent and Shell start world's first biogasoline production plant (PR Newswire)
Virent Energy Systems, Inc., (Virent®) and Shell announced the successful start of production at the world's first demonstration plant converting plant sugars into gasoline and gasoline blend components...
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Industry rivals agree cellulosic ethanol production nearing cost-competitive prices, commercialization (Reuters)
Danish food ingredients and enzymes maker Danisco "agrees fundamentally" with rival enzymes producer Novozymes' view of the costs of producing second-generation bioethanol, Danisco's chief executive said...
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| Biofuels Education Spotlight |
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Many students who are interested in biofuels careers and other green industries are getting their start at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. At N.C. A&T’s School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, students can learn the science, engineering, and business of biofuels. For undergraduates, the best way to prepare for a career in biofuels is to major in Biological Engineering.
“We are very enthusiastic about nurturing new talent in biofuels, because we know this is a growth industry with lots of potential for engineers to make a difference in the world,” said Dr. Ghasem Shahbazi, director of the Biological Engineering Program. “A lot of questions are facing the industry right now,” he continued. “The most urgent is, how do we produce abundant energy economically and efficiently from plants and other biological organisms, like algae and bacteria?”
Students enrolled in this program learn biology, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, and then use these skills in the N.C. A&T labs and at the University Farm to help solve real-world problems.
“We know where the jobs are, and we know how to help students make the most of their college experience to fit their interests with opportunities in industry,” Shahbazi said.
The university also offers a PhD in Energy and Environmental Systems with a concentration in sustainable bioproducts, which is a good fit for graduate students seeking a career in biofuels or bioproducts.
Undergraduates who want to find out more should visit www.ag.ncat.edu, or contact Dr. Shahbazi at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. PhD candidates should visit to www.ees.ncat.edu, or contact Dr. Keith Schimmel at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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| Biofuels Center Podcasts |
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Alganomics CEO and senior research scientist Dr. Kim Jones discusses her algae research with Biofuels Center communications manager Shane Reese.
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N.C. State University researcher Richard Venditti talks about his low-cost industrial sludges-to-ethanol project with Biofuels Center communications manager Shane Reese.
+ Click Here to Listen
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| Biofuels Wiki Recent Updates |
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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.
Thermochemical Conversion Process
A thermochemical conversion process is one of several methods of converting biomass to biofuels. Perhaps the best known thermochemical conversion process is the Fischer–Tropsch process...
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Sugarbeets
Hybrid sugarbeets are being designed for use as an ethanol fuel feedstock. To optimize their performance, these hybrids are designed to produce a maximal amount of sugar...
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ASPO
ASPO or the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas Ireland is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of the phenomenon of peak oil and raising awareness about it...
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Billion Ton Study
The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognized that biomass is a strategic resource in helping the United States reduce its dependence on imported fuel...
+ Read More
IDEA Engineering of NC, LLC
IDEA is a full service engineering and design firm active in the biofuels space with three office locations. It has served the renewable energy, polymer, chemical and biopharmaceutical industries since its inception...
+ Read More
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The Biofuels Center of North Carolina is developing a sustainable, statewide biofuels industry to reduce North Carolina’s dependence on imported liquid fuels and to create jobs. The goal is to replace 10% of the state’s liquid fuel consumption with home-grown and -produced biofuels by 2017. Find out more at www.biofuelscenter.org |
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