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Biofuels

ClearFuels-Rentech, recently celebrated the completion of a pilot-scale, biorefinery in Commerce City, Colorado.

ClearFuels-Rentech, recently celebrated the completion of a pilot-scale, biorefinery in Commerce City, Colorado.

Advanced Biofuels: How Scientists are Engineering Bacteria to Help Drive America
Strains of E. coli bacteria were engineered to digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. | Image courtesy of Berkeley Lab.

Researchers at the Energy Department's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered the first strains of the bacteria to digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into all three types of transportation fuels -- gasoline, diesel and jet fuels.

Sapphire Energy Out to Prove That Crud Can Take On Crude
An aerial view of Sapphire Energy's integrated biorefinery in Luna County, New Mexico. | Photo courtesy of Sapphire Energy.

For most people, the notion that the green gunk coating various pond and river bottoms is a potential fuel source sounds like science fiction. But the fact is, several projects sponsored by the Energy Department are actively developing various ways to turn that “green gunk”, called algae, into a renewable and sustainable transportation fuel that will help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Move Over Flash Pyrolysis, There's a New Bioenergy Sheriff in Town
Jonathan Peters, a researcher at RTI International (an ARPA-E awardee), characterizes the water content of a bio-oil sample. | Courtesy of RTI International.

Catalytic biomass pyrolysis: there’s three words you don’t hear every day. But thanks to funding from ARPA-E, this new way to make biofuels could transform how we make transportation fuel.

Washington State Becomes Largest Public Consumer of Biodiesel
Auto and passenger ferries operated by the Washington State Transportation Department shuttle more than 11 million people across the Puget Sound every year. Now, the electric-diesel engines that propel these vessels are powered by a blend of soy-based biodiesel and petroleum diesel. | Photo courtesy of <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">Joe Mabel</a>.

With a $165,000 Recovery Act loan, the state of Washington is advancing its efforts toward clean energy and is now the largest public consumer of biodiesel in the country.