Every time columnist Michael Rosen travels to Brazil, he learns something new - usually about biofuels. On his most recent trip, he found more evidence that Brazil has found the cream of the biofuel crop in its abundance of sugar cane. What's even more impressive...
The future of biofuels in the United States, particularly corn-based ethanol, is being threatened by perceptions and politics rather than elevated by science and sound energy policy, asserts columnist Tom Still. In this edition of Inside Wisconsin, he says growing support for ending government ethanol...
The bloom is off the rose for biofuels, as higher food prices are linked to biofuel production, food riots have spread across developing nations, and as a United National official called use of food crops to produce ethanol a crime against humanity. In this edition...
Governor Jim Doyle's alternative energy plans calls for the state to generate 25 percent of its electricity and 25 percent of the fuel for cars and trucks from renewable sources by 2025, and targeted investments are part of the strategy. The latest example is a...
It may be five to 10 years before “green gasoline” derived from cellulose sources arrives at the pump, but a recent breakthrough by a former UW-Madison grad student has bypassed several hurdles. Making gasoline from cellulose sources such as switchgrass or poplar trees grown as...
Wisconsin is a natural laboratory for cellulosic ethanol, which is considered the next generation of biofuels beyond crop versions like corn-based ethanol, according to columnist Tom Still. In this edition of Inside Wisconsin, he says the state's agricultural, forest, and paper assets could someday help...
Passing on the opportunity to develop ethanol, Shell and Madison's Virent Energy Systems have instead agreed to collaborate on ways to convert plant sugars directly to gasoline, thereby addressing challenges posed by the technical properties of today's biofuels. Virent, a biofuels company working to commercialize...
In 2006, Wisconsin citizens spent $19.5 billion on energy, and costs increases are expected to continue in the foreseeable future. That according to Gov. Jim Doyle, who has announced a new $15 million program of state grants and loans for alternative energy development. ...
The Wisconsin Rapids mill of NewPage Corp. is one of four projects to receive a total of $114 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants designed to promote alternative energy production. The mill will use a $30 million grant to produce diesel fuel from wood...
Can Wisconsin truly become “the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy,” as Gov. Jim Doyle suggests? Perhaps not, but columnist Tom Still, in this edition of Inside Wisconsin, opines that if the state enacts the right renewable energy policies and incentives, it can be a part...