Bioreactor: how to make oil growing algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations and remove 75 per cent of CO2 from power station exhaust

For its supporters the idea of growing single-celled algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations was the ultimate in recycling; and now one of them, CleanTech, has developed a bioreactor based on a patent held by a group of scientists at the Ohio Coal Research Centre, at the University of Ohio, reported The Economist, (8/9/2007, p. 6).

Air New Zealand partners with Boeing, Rolls-Royce to test biofuel blend in 747

Air New Zealand would start ground-breaking aircraft testing of biofuels as early as next year and believed the technology could become commercially viable for airlines sooner than expected, wrote aviation writer Steve Creedy in The Australian (29/9/2007, p.35).

First Aus export of biodiesel leaves for Asia, US: green alternative the ‘way of the future’, says Natural Fuels chair

Australia’s first export shipment of biodiesel has been loaded on a freighter bound for Asia and the US, as former Liberal leader and company director John Hewson described the green alternative as the way of the future, reported The Australian Financial Review (3/8/2007, p.17).

Ethanol-blended petrol on sale in Tas for first time: LRP to be phased-out

Ethanol-blended petrol went on sale in Tasmanian service stations for the first time in late July, reported The Mercury (28/7/2007, p.5).

New lobby group emerges at Brisbane conference: ethanol needs to get much cheaper than petrol, says Biofuels Association of Australia

A new lobby group emerged at the Australian Ethanol and Biodiesel Conference in Brisbane, wrote Graham Fuller in Queensland Country Life (27/9/2007, p.13).

Indonesia orders Bali lobbying-frenzy to reverse first-round Kyoto agreement that does not include tradeable emissions from forest land

The APEC summit will help set the stage for the UN climate change conference in Bali in December by putting the Kyoto protocol to one side “and just talking about the Earth”, according to Indonesia’s Environment Minister, reported The Australian (4/9/2007, p.7).

Federal Court case: Monaro district grazier seeks billions of dollars in compensation from Fed Govt for carbon credit payments denied to farmers

The bid in the Federal Court by Monaro district grazier, Peter Spencer, to seek billions of dollars in compensation from the Federal Government for carbon credit payments denied to farmers, was to come up for a further hearing in Canberra on 31 August, reported The Land (30/8/2007, p.14).

Biofuel feedstock: only real waste-biomass we have is urban waste, otherwise dumped in landfill, says enviro consultant

Straw and grass have been suggested as good feedstock for biofuel plants, but were they really waste?, asked Dr Peter Wylie, a researcher and consultant specialising in environmental issues, in The Courier Mail (1/9/2007, p.58).