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







