Links

• BC International Corporation, Jennings, Louisiana - This company is building the world’s first commercial facility for manufacturing ethanol from sugarcane wastes. The project, which involves the U.S. Department of Energy, is retrofitting a former petroleum refinery that was more recently used as a molasses-to-ethanol plant.
• Beef in Your Tank, Beef magazine, 2006 - Describes how Argent Group, a Scottish rendering company in the United Kingdom, combines beef tallow with used cooking oil to produce high-value biodiesel as well as fertilizer, glycerin, and British-grade heating oil.  
• Bioenergy and Biofuels, National Ag Library, USDA.
• Biofuels from Switchgrass: Greener Energy Pastures, Bioenergy Information Network - This site provides examples of how switchgrass is being tested as a biofuel that could be grown by farmers.
• Biomass Action Plan, European Commission - This links to the Commission's biomass and biofuels plans.
• Biomass Program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)  - The Biomass Program supports research and development that focuses on biomass characterization, thermochemical and biochemical biomass conversion technologies, bio-based products development and biomass process engineering and analysis. 
• Biomass Research and Development Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy - The Biomass Initiative is a multi-agency effort to coordinate all federal bio-based products and bioenergy research.
• Biomass Statistics, Iowa Public Television.
• Chariton Valley Biomass Project - This project in southern Iowa involves a group of about 60 switchgrass growers. In addition to studying switchgrass as an alternative energy crop, the producer group, Prairie Lands Bio-Products, Inc., is looking at other products and markets derived from the plant, such as paper, fiberboard, mulch and logs.
• Clean and Diversified Energy Initiative, Biomass Task Force Report, Western Governors Association, 2006.
• Corn Stover Collection Project, U.S. Department of Energy, 1998 - This pilot project examined the feasibility of collecting corn stover for processing ethanol. A corn stover facility was built in Harlan, Iowa, and 440 corn growers contracted about 50,000 acres.
• Corn Stover for Bioethanol – Your New Cash Crop?, NREL, 2001 - This article discusses the benefits and possibilities of harvesting and converting corn stover into ethanol.
• Determining the Cost of Producing Ethanol from Corn Starch and Lignocellulosic Feedstocks, Joint study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Energy, 2000 - This government study looked at two possible ethanol-producing processes: one using corn starch and the other using lignocellulose.
• DOE and USDA Award $25 Million in Joint Biomass Research and Development Initiative, 2004.
• Economic Analysis of the Conditions for Which Farmers will Supply Biomass Feedstocks for Energy Production, James Larson, Burton English and Lixia Lambert, University of Tennessee, 2007 - This AgMRC-funded study developed a farm-level model to evaluate contract biomass feedstock production, that is, corn stover and switchgrass, for a grain farm. Four potential types of contracts were analyzed; each offered different levels of biomass price, yield and production cost risk sharing between the farm and the processor.
• Environmental Issue Overview, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1993 - Abstract of a technical report on the environmental issues related to biomass use for energy or industrial product development.
• Grass for Biomass Project Fires Up, Hay & Forage Grower, 2002 - This article provides an overview of preliminary research findings on the Chariton Valley Biomass Project in Iowa.
• Manure Digestion System, Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, 2003 - This site provides an overview of a manure digester, including a description, benefits and costs.
• Northeastern California Ethanol Manufacturing Feasibility Study, Quincy Library Group, 1997 - The U.S. Department of Energy’s Biofuels Program joined with the Quincy Library Group of Northern California to conduct an ethanol feasibility study. The study examined the effects of thinning two national forests and converting the wood into ethanol.
• Oregon Cellulose Ethanol Study, Oregon Office of Energy, 2000 - This ethanol research evaluated the near-term potential of a cellulose-based ethanol industry in Oregon.
• Stirling Energy Systems - A private company developing clean, cost-effective, efficient energy from renewable resources including solar, wind, biogas and hydrogen.
• Synergism Between Agricultural and Energy Policy: The Case of Dedicated Bioenergy Crops, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, 2001 - This biomass research study indicates what crop prices and programs would do if more acres were planted in switchgrass.
• Thermix Combustion Systems - Overview of a new system that uses hog manure in an integrated approach. The system produces a fine dry powder that exhibits excellent combustion properties.
• Western Regional Biomass Energy Program, Western Governors Association.
• Xcel Energy Bay Front Case Study, Eric Anderson and Andrew Dane, University of Wisconsin, 2008 - This energy plant currently operates by burning wood, coal, and limited amounts of shredded tires but has steadily reduced its coal usage and increased its percentage of power produced by wood. This practice has helped the local economy by creating a new market for woody biomass to complement existing wood and wood product-related industries, resulting in additional revenue streams for woody biomass suppliers in the region.
   

Links checked November 2009.