By Wayne Lee, CEO, Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. In August 2017, I published an article which focused on important things that attorneys involved in biofuels or biochemical litigation should look for when choosing an expert witness.[1] This article explores the subject of expert witnesses in a bit more depth, including where to find the best…
The Oregon Clean Fuel Standards provide an incentive for low carbon fuels sold in Oregon. The Clean Fuel Standards require an annual average carbon intensity (CI) that a regulated party must comply with. There is a standard for gasoline and gasoline substitutes and one for diesel and diesel substitutes. The baseline year for the program…
Biofuels companies are making rapid advances. Companies from around the globe are making headlines almost daily. Those like Cosan, Verbio, REG, Green Plains, and Gevo maintain large market caps. The large oil companies have entered the bioeconomy also, investing in the future of biofuels more than ever before, the aviation, maritime, and other transportation industries…
Ethanol gas is the mixture of ethanol with gasoline. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from plant material, such as corn, sugar cane, grasses, or woody biomass. The worldwide use of ethanol as a fuel has increased dramatically. Ethanol has a higher-octane number than gasoline, giving it the ability to be blended into lower octane…
Bio-Oil is a generic term for a complex mixture of chemicals obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass including lignocellulose agricultural wastes and wood products. The composition of the oil can vary significantly depending on the biomass source, pretreatment, the method of pyrolysis, and the use of catalysts. Bio-oil typically contains significant amounts of…
Climate change realities are upon us. The scientific evidence is clear. NASA tells us that the current warming trend is of particular significance because it is unequivocally the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and is proceeding at an unprecedented rate. Human activities have warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land and widespread and…
Energy consultants are part of environmental consulting, focusing on optimizing energy usage and the sources from which the energy is derived. The object of energy consulting is to reduce operational costs, including more environmentally friendly sources of energy, and increased corporate social responsibility (CSR). Especially with the recent volatility in the energy industry, energy consulting…
Using biomass to produce energy makes sense because biomass and biofuels made from biomass are alternative energy sources to fossil fuels—coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Thus, while burning fossil fuels or biomass does release carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, the plants capture a nearly equivalent amount of CO2 through photosynthesis while they are growing. …