| Biofuels Image of the Month |
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| A thank-you note (above) from an Exploris Middle School (Raleigh, N.C.) student portrays a Biofuels Center staffer giving a presentation on biofuels production from North Carolina feedstock crops like Arundo donax. The Center regularly speaks to classes and civic groups and seeks to engage constituents statewide through other educational opportunities. Click here to learn more about scheduling speaking engagements in your region. |
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| Biofuels Industry Spotlight |
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North American Bio-Energies (dba Foothills Bio-Energies) has been producing biodiesel in North Carolina since 2006. The company was created to pursue renewable, sustainable energy sources and to create economic development around these sources in smaller, economically challenged communities. The Foothills refinery is located in Lenoir (Caldwell County) at a former adhesives production facility, which served the furniture industrial complex previously headquartered there. To date, Foothills Bio-Energies has produced approximately 2.5 million gallons of biodiesel fuel and is currently producing approximately 100,000 gallons per month.
The facility produces fuel from locally and regionally produced feedstock resources such as animal fats, canola oil, and soy oil. As Foothills Bio-Energies considers itself a citizen of the community, it purchases plant equipment, materials, and services nearby whenever possible to support and promote local economic development.
The company works closely with local educational entities, providing tours to classes from local middle and high schools as well as Appalachian State University, Caldwell Community College, and Gaston College. Foothills Bio-Energies is also an active member of the Caldwell Green Commission, a non-profit whose central goal is to attract renewable- and sustainable-related business entities to the region.
Foothills Bio-Energies is a registered refiner and blender, selling both B100 and other biodiesel blends to local and regional fuel distributors as well as other direct end-use customers. A member of the National Biodiesel Board, Foothills is also one of the founding members of the North Carolina Biodiesel Association, which includes Blue Ridge Biofuels, Piedmont Biofuels, Triangle Biofuels, and Patriot BioDiesel.
For more information about Foothills Bio-Energies, visit www.foothillsbio-energies.com.
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| Biofuels Center News |
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Center convening on civic biofuels projects set for early December
On 8 December 2011, the Biofuels Center will convene a meeting around the development of civic and small-scale biofuels projects in North Carolina...
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Center continues public outreach efforts
As part of its role in educating the public about biofuels and the biofuels industry in North Carolina, the Biofuels Center recently connected with civic group members and students alike at various speaking engagements across the state...
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North Carolina Biodiesel Association holds annual meeting
The annual meeting included a number of agenda topics ranging from feedstock supply issues to a technical update on biodiesel production processes...
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| North Carolina Biofuels News |
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First dual-biofuels station opens in Raleigh (WNCN-TV)
The first alternative fuels station in Raleigh opened on New Bern Ave. selling E85 ethanol and B20 biodiesel...
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Novozymes targeting biofuels, pharma, and emerging markets (The Wall Street Journal)
Novozymes says its big growth driver in the future will come from its enzyme technology for producing fuel from agricultural waste, demand for which it expects to explode globally over the next decade...
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| News Around the Globe |
Solazyme completes first commercial flight on biofuels (Renewable Energy Magazine)
According to the renewable oil and bioproducts company, a United Airlines Eco-skies Boeing 737-800 took off using Solajet, Solazyme’s algal-derived renewable jet fuel, the world’s first commercial aviation flight on a microbial-derived biofuels...
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Biofuels flights signal demand from US airlines (Aviation Week)
As airlines launch the first commercial biofuel flights in the U.S., the government is working with industry to scale up production of biomass-derived jet fuel to commercial quantities beginning in 2012...
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US Navy tests biofuels to power ship in its largest alternative fuel demonstration to date (The Washington Post)
The U.S. Navy launched its largest alternative fuel test to date on Wednesday, pumping 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel into a destroyer ship that will embark on a 20-hour trip along the California coast...
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Sorghum packs punch for Arizona's biofuels industry (Western Farm Press)
As versatile in their function and application as traditional fuels, biofuels developed from biomass such as sugar or grain crops or algae could become widely used in the future as a source of power for a range of technologies, including automobiles and airplane engines...
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Report debunks myths about ethanol (Governors' Biofuels Coalition)
The Conference Board of Canada has produced a report that blows away some of the long-held objections to ethanol...
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Enzyme plant readies to supply biofuels facilities (CBS News)
Monroe said the ethanol industry has the potential to provide a much bigger share of the nation's fuel supply than the renewable fuels standard requires...
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Modded Mazda Miata Spyder uses biofuels (EarthTechling.com)
The real interest lay under the hood and in the gas tank: Powered by Mazda’s MZR 2.0-liter engine, the Spyder is fueled by BP’s isobutanol, a biofuel produced (like ethanol) from agricultural feedstock...
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| Biofuels Education Spotlight |
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The Appalachian State-Catawba County Biodiesel Facility is located at the EcoComplex, an 805-acre site centered on the Blackburn Landfill. The EcoComplex is an ecological‐industrial park whose mission is synergistic waste and resource management, renewable energy production, and local economic development through public and private partnerships working in close geographic proximity.
The biodiesel facility was developed by Appalachian State University and Catawba County through a mutually beneficial partnership that provides ASU a location to conduct research, testing, and outreach activities while providing Catawba County with ASTM-specified biodiesel fuel for its landfill operational equipment. This facility is a natural fit for the EcoComplex, incorporating waste heat from the GE‐Jenbacher engines, landfill buffer areas for oilseed crops, and an on‐site feedstock processing station for oil and meal production. Through federal, state, and foundation grants, Appalachian State University funded the process line; analytical lab; and research instruments with capabilities of real‐time reaction monitoring (NIRs), compound identification (GCMS), and emissions analysis with a chassis dynamometer. Catawba County funded the LEED-certified building that houses the facility, fueling equipment, and the feedstock processing station.
The goal of the biodiesel facility is to provide essential data to biodiesel producers and users in North Carolina through the following key activities: (1) to experiment with modular processing elements to determine which components work together to provide the best overall production performance, fuel quality, and emissions; (2) to expand feedstock crop research efforts in planting and harvesting, crop rotation, yield, and species selection; and (3) to develop and implement accurate, practical, and sustainable biodiesel combustion and emissions testing protocol for fuels produced by the facility from various test feedstocks.
To learn more about the Appalachian State-Catawba County Biodiesel Facility, click here.
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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.
Report: Ethanol's Potential Contribution to Canada's Transportation Sector
This report was commissioned by the independent research organization, the Conference Board of Canada...
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BlackGold Biofuels
Black Gold Biofuels specializes in resource recovery from wastewater...
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Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet powered by a biofuels blend...
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Computed NOx emission characteristics of opposed-jet syngas diffusion flames
In this paper, a detailed numerical study on NOx emission characteristics of syngas diffusion flames under counterflow configuration is presented...
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Arundo donax
Arundo donax is a perennial energy cane that is being researched as a potential biomass crop for cellulosic ethanol production in North Carolina...
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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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