News

Cool Planet BioFuels announced today that it has made a major breakthrough in converting biomass to gasoline. The Company achieved 4,000 gallons/acre biomass to gasoline conversion in pilot testing using Freedom™ giant miscanthus, an advanced bioenergy crop. The giant miscanthus was developed at Mississippi State University and provided from a high yield plot by Repreve Renewables.

Cool Planet's cellulosic gasoline is chemically identical to fossil gasoline. The only way it can be detected is by carbon 14 isotope analysis which determines the ratio of carbon from biomass versus carbon from fossil sources in a fuel mixture. Since this gasoline has no oxygenates, it is not subject to the ethanol blend wall and can be seamlessly mixed with pump gas. Cool Planet's fuel has been tested by independent laboratories as well as four of the top ten gasoline producers in the world. The Company has received California (CARB) and U.S. EPA approval for fleet testing as a splash blend with conventional pump gasoline.
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The tentative itinerary for the event includes a keynote address from Advanced Biofuels Association President Michael McAdams. Presentations from insiders and universities will follow, focusing on giant miscanthus research and end-uses, including information on pellets from miscanthus, miscanthus for biopower, miscanthus in the poultry industry, torrefied technology and liquid fuels.
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Congress last week approved $17 million funding for FY 2012 for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, a stunning blow for a program that just two years earlier was authorized for funding up to $552 million.
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The American farmer has already commercialized growing on a monumental scale through innovations that rival that of the information technology industry for speed of change. Corn, soybean, cotton and wheat production yields are often-ignored testaments to this fact. This same dedication and quickness is critical now to America’s energy independence.
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On a January morning in Soperton, Ga., farmers mingled with academics and investors in a large steel-beamed barn, sipping coffee and brainstorming biomass. As they chatted about the search for clean energy, thermometers registered a rare (for south Georgia) 27 degrees, at-the-pump gas prices hovered just under $3 per gallon and deepwater oil drilling lawsuits dotted the headlines. But among those gathered for Repreve Renewable’s first-ever field day, optimism was palpable.
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...Brian Baldwin, a researcher with MSU’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, spent over a decade developing Freedom. Tests show that in the mild climate and sandy soils of the southeast, the variety outperforms all other strains of miscanthus.
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We've compiled a list of articles, scholarly papers, and presentations on carbon sequestration, carbon mitigation in soils, and GHG lifecyce analysis of giant miscanthus and other energy crops.
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While energy crops alone won’t secure a fossil fuel-free planet, they do represent an enormous opportunity to curb our dependence on harmful fuels. Experts predict these crops will contribute significantly to the world’s renewables portfolio in the not-too-distant future, but obstacles currently blocking market penetration make growing or using energy crops a risky endeavor.
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The first annual Freedom Miscanthus Field Day was in mid-January and Farm Bureau TV was there to cover it. It was an opportunity for potential growers and landowners to learn about the benefits of growing a crop that could possibly be the biomass fuel of the future.
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Growing America's Fuel

Three major announcments today will pave the way for miscanthus growers and facilities using the crop:

Renewable Fuels Standard.
EPA has finalized a rule implementing the long-term renewable fuels mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2022 established by Congress. The Renewable Fuels Standard requires biofuels production to grow from last year’s 11.1 billion gallons to 36 billion gallons in 2022, with 21 billion gallons to come from advanced biofuels. Increasing renewable fuels will reduce dependence on oil by more than 328 million barrels a year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than 138 million metric tons a year when fully phased in by 2022. For the first time, some renewable fuels must achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions - compared to the gasoline and diesel fuels they displace – in order to be counted towards compliance with volume standards. To read the full rule, please click HERE.

Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
USDA has proposed a rule for Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to convert biomass to bioenergy and bio-based products. USDA provides grants and loans and other financial support to help biofuels and renewable energy commercialization. BCAP has already begun to provide matching payments to folks delivering biomass for the collection, harvest, storage, and transportation of biomass to eligible biomass conversion facilities. To read the full rule, please click HERE.

Biofuels Working Group
In May, President Obama established the Biofuels Interagency Working Group – co-chaired by USDA, DOE, and EPA, and with input from many others – to develop a comprehensive approach to accelerating the investment in and production of American biofuels and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Today the Working Group released its first report: Growing America’s Fuel – a new U.S. Government strategy for meeting or beating the country’s biofuel targets. The report is focused on short term solid government solutions supporting the existing biofuels industry, as well as accelerating the commercial establishment of advanced biofuels and a viable long-term market by transforming how the U.S. Government does business across Departments and using strategic public-private partnerships. To read the full report, please click HERE.

Southern Farmer Magazine Article

“It recycles nutrients to the roots,” Jennings says. “Also, it adapts nicely to marginal land and can be harvested with existing farming equipment. It really is the perfect ‘energy crop’ for Southern farmers.”
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AgWired Interview

AgWired interviews John Holmes and Phillip Jennings from the show floor of AG CONNECT in Orlando. Audio also included.
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Southeast and Energy Grasses show best potential

Experts at AG CONNECT '10 agree that perennial energy grasses tend to help improve soil quality and water use (they use less) and that the Southeast is likely to be the epicenter of cellulosic development.
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First branded type of Giant Miscanthus Grass is Commercialized

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first guaranteed, university-backed strain of giant miscanthus grass is now available and is being commercialized by REPREVE Renewables LLC, a leader in biofuel innovation, which has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Mississippi State University (MSU).
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At full maturity, it yields up to 25 tons per acre. “Because of the high vigor and rapid multiplication of the plant rhizomes, we are able to harvest each year with high multiplication,” said Phillip Jennings, COO of REPREVE Renewables. Yield on one-year-old material is 8 tons, second-year regrowth yields 14 tons and third-year regrowth yield is 20 tons, Jennings said.
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From TechPulse360.com:
One company hopes to turn this desert of energy awareness into a paradigm of bio-energy – and it believes Giant Miscanthus Grass holds the key.
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ATLANTA — It just got easier for farmers and landowners to join the green energy movement. An extremely fast growing plant raised for biofuel has just hit the market via one Georgia company.
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Collaboration between a Mississippi State University research agronomist and Georgia’s REPREVE Renewables may offer the Southeast the “Freedom” to be the center of alternative energy production in the United States.
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