Tag Archives: united-states
US Steps Up Advanced Biofuels Support With $25m Funding
Algae biofuels producers win lion’s share of funding as United States’ first commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels plant opens in Florida By BusinessGreen staff 05 Aug 2013 The US government has awarded grants of over $22m to companies using algae and other biomass to produce fuel in the latest show of support for the nascent advanced biofuels sector. Hawaii Bioenergy, San Diego-based Sapphire Energy, and New Mexico State University will each receive $5m in Department of Energy funding to advance the development of algae-based fuels as a direct replacement for conventional fuels, while California Polytechnic State University was awarded $1.5m to cultivate more productive algae strains. In addition, FDC Enterprises was given $6m to improve processes for collecting and distributing wood, grass and agricultural waste that can be converted into fuel. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Announcing the funding last week, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said: “By partnering with industry and universities, we can help make clean, renewable biofuels cost-competitive with gasoline, give drivers more options at the pump and cut harmful carbon pollution.” [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Currently, the US transportation sector accounts for two-thirds of the country’s total oil consumption and one-third of its greenhouse gas emissions. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] The Obama administration has sought to bring forward the production of next generation fuels to insulate the country from oil price shocks and reduce its dependence on imports. It aims to produce cost-competitive drop-in biofuels by 2017 and algae biofuels by 2022. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] As well as funding advanced biofuels producers, the US military has also jointly invested in plants to ensure there is sufficient supply of sustainable biofuels. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Cellulosic biofuels made from non-food feedstocks, waste materials and algae can directly replace petroleum fuels in vehicles and refineries and in theory do not pose the same challenges as first generation fuels made from crops such as wheat or corn. Campaigners have claimed industrial-scale production of biofuels can hinder food production, drive deforestation, and produce more emissions over their life cycle than fossil fuels. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] However, advanced biofuels production still remains at relatively low levels, despite long-standing targets in the US, and the country’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant only came online last week. [font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] INEOS Bio’s Indian River BioEnergy Center in Vero Beach, Florida, a joint venture between INEOS Bio and New Planet Energy, is expected to convert wood scraps, grass clippings and other waste materials into eight million gallons (30.3 million litres) of transportation fuel a year, as well as 6MW of energy for heat and power. Continue reading
9 killed in Indian consulate blast in Afghanistan
9 killed in Indian consulate blast in Afghanistan (Reuters) / 4 August 2013 Suicide bombers attacked the Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s eastern capital Jalalabad on Saturday, killing nine people, including children, mostly in an adjacent mosque, officials said. Twenty-three people were injured. Guards at a checkpoint stopped the three attackers as their car approached the building around 10am, the office of Gul Agha Sherzai, governor of Nangarhar province, said in a statement. Two attackers leapt out of the car and a gunfight broke out, while the third remained inside and detonated his explosives. The blast badly damaged the mosque and dozens of homes and small shops in the area. All three assailants were killed in the explosion. The Taleban, which spearheads armed opposition to Western-backed President Hamid Karzai’s government, denied it was responsible. “Explosion in front of India’s Consulate in Jalalabad. All Indians officials safe,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said on Twitter. The bombing followed a world-wide travel alert issued by the United States on Friday, saying that Al Qaeda could be planning attacks in August, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. The United States has ordered the closure of 21 embassies and consulates on Sunday, including its Kabul mission. All the casualties were civilians, the governor said, though one health official said a soldier was among the injured. Most of those killed or injured were inside the adjacent mosque, according to Nangarhar police chief Mohammad Sharif Amin. India’s Kabul embassy came under attack in both 2008 and 2009, with dozens of people killed. The eastern border province of Nangarhar, and its capital Jalalabad, have long been a hotbed of insurgent activity. In June, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) decided to withdraw foreign staff and suspend some activities in the area after an attack that killed a guard and injured three others. The assault was the first of its kind on the strictly neutral ICRC in Afghanistan since it started operations in the country in 1987. On Friday, a five-hour battle between Afghan security forces and Taleban fighters in the province’s Shirzad district killed dozens of Afghan police and insurgents, officials said. Continue reading
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