Oil giant BP has invested in biofuel startup CoolPlanet BioFuels, according to an announcement on Thursday. CoolPlanet BioFuels is the biofuel startup you have never heard of but that has unusually famous investors like GE, Google, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips. Read More »
Cleantech
Poet’s so-called “Project Liberty” biofuel plant, which will use corn waste instead of edible corn, is getting some support from the U.S. government. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it will offer Poet a $105 million loan guarantee to build out Project Liberty in Iowa. Read More »
Despite a series of successful biofuel IPOs recently, and a number of biofuel IPOs in the pipeline, the production of next-gen biofuels, in any kind of volumes that would make a dent in the transportation sector, seems to be creeping, very slowly forward. Read More »
More bad news about cellulosic biofuel maker Range Fuels. The financially-strapped company reportedly plans to shut down its plant in Georgia after making just one batch of ethanol. It needs to more raise more money and tackle technical problems at its first commercial plant. Read More »
Cello Energy, the beleaguered infamous biofuel company that’s been hit with fraud allegations, has finally dropped off of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of potential cellulosic ethanol suppliers for 2011. I seriously can’t believe the company was on the list for so long. Read More »
The well-funded Range Fuels said it has begun producing cellulosic methanol from its first commercial factory and plans to begin making cellulosic ethanol sometime this quarter. Read More »
The EPA has awarded $2.38 million under the Small Business Innovative Research program, including four awards (under the biofuels and vehicle emissions category) for R&D firms working on tech related to biofuels. Read More »
Cellulosic ethanol startup Enerkem needs trash and money. Massive trash company Waste Management has lots of both. The two said Wednesday that they’ve gotten together, with Waste Management making a strategic investment in the Montreal-based company as part of a 53.8 million Canadian… Read More »
Selling the Smart Grid to Average Joe: Smart grid analyst Jesse Berst examines how the Electrification Roadmap released this week by a coalition of heavyweight CEOs could be an inflection point for the smart grid. “Electric transportation is something the public wants; it will take a… Read More »
At Senator Harry Reid’s Las Vegas Clean Energy Summit on Monday, the two ends of the ethanol spectrum — first generation corn ethanol and next-generation cellulosic ethanol — were in full representation, but the stark contrast between the group’s diverging goals was clear. While the… Read More »
As far as speed bumps for cellulosic ethanol ventures go, this one’s a doozy: Jurors in a federal court have ordered Cello Energy, a biofuel startup run by Alabama’s former ethics chairman, Jack Boykin, and backed by both Silicon Valley cleantech investors Khosla Ventures… Read More »
Call it ethanol-on-the-cob. Corn ethanol giant Poet announced plans today to power its cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, with methane derived from corn cobs — rather than natural gas. Never before have corn cobs been used as a feedstock in this way, Poet CEO Jeff… Read More »
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