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Phillips 66 progressing its conversion of California refinery to renewable fuels

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The plant will no longer produce fuels from crude oil, but instead will make fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soybean oils. The Santa Maria facility in San Luis Obispo County that currently provides crude oil feedstocks to the Rodeo facility will be idled and decommissioned. Earlier post.).

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Iowa State University researchers genetically boost algae biomass by 50-80%

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Researchers at Iowa State University have developed a genetic technique they say can increase biomass in algae by 50–80%. The key to this [increase in biomass] is combination of two genes that increases the photosynthetic carbon conversion into organic matter by 50 percent over the wild type under carbon dioxide enrichment conditions.

Iowa 210
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Iowa State researchers developing low-cost thermochemical process to produce sugars from biomass for bio-fuels and -chemicals; pyrolytic molasses

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Iowa State University (ISU) researchers have developed technologies to efficiently produce, recover and separate sugars from the fast pyrolysis of biomass. Brown and Iowa State researchers are presenting present their ideas and findings during tcbiomass2011 , the International Conference on Thermochemical Conversion Science in Chicago.

Iowa 186
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Iowa State Researchers Redesigning Enzyme for Bio-based Production of Isobutene

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Thomas Bobik, professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology at Iowa State University is heading an effort to redesign an enzyme for the bio-based production of isobutene, a gas that is currently used in the production of a variety of chemicals and in the manufacture of other fuel additives, adhesive, plastics and synthetic rubber.

Iowa 170
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Lux Research provides snapshot of oil majors’ investments in alternative fuels; BP leads investment frequency

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Lux Research has investigated the trends of corporate financing of alternative fuels from oil majors, based on a non-exhaustive database of more than 1,000 deals and partnership engagements from 2000 through September, 2014. Less active oil majors in this space include ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

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USDA provides $91M loan guarantee to Cool Planet for biogasoline blendstock plant; biomass pyrolysis and catalytic conversion

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Cool Planet has devised a biomass-to-liquids thermochemical conversion process that simultaneously produces liquid fuels and sequesterable biochar useful as a soil amendment. One of the catalytic conversion processes creates the high-octane gasoline blendstock. Earlier post.).

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Catilin Contributes Key Extraction, Sequestration and Conversion Technologies to NAABB Consortium Developing Algal Biofuels

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Catilin and its partner, Iowa State University - Center for Catalysis (ISU-CCAT), will provide key extraction, sequestration and conversion technologies. The balance of the algal oil, which contains free fatty acids (FFA) and triglycerides, will be converted to biodiesel using Catilin’s commercially available T300 catalyst.