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NARA member receives approval for bio-jet fuel

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The Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) congratulates our fuels partner, Gevo, Inc. for ASTM International’s inclusion of Gevo’s alcohol to jet (ATJ) synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK) into ASTM D7566 (Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons). This inclusion makes Gevo’s ATJ-SPK eligible to be used as a blending component, up to 30%, in standard Jet A-1 fuel used by commercial airlines in the United States and in many other countries around the globe.

As previously announced, …more

U.S. Government posts Biofuels Data Sources matrix

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A Biofuels Data Sources matrix was recently posted by the DOE’s Energy Information Administration and USDA’s Economic Research Service. The matrix provided links to information related to:

IDX mentor receives teaching award

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Dr. Karl Olsen
Dr. Karl Olsen

Karl Olsen, clinical assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Washington State University, will receive the annual President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Non-tenure Track Faculty.

Dr. Olsen is an instructor for the Integrated Design Experience (IDX) course. Additional instructors include Tammi Laninga and Michelle Vachon. IDX has partnered with NARA and northwest stakeholders …more

Sugar yields from two feedstock sources

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Pretreated FS-10 post-harvest forest residuals. NARA image.
Pretreated FS-10 post-harvest forest residuals. NARA image.

Pretreatment is the process that breaks up major wood components (lignin and polysaccharides like hemicelluloses and cellulose) so that enzymes can degrade (hydrolyze) the polysaccharides into simple sugars. Effective pretreatment and hydrolysis are necessary to achieve high sugar quality and yield. The sugars derived from the pretreatment/hydrolysis process can …more

NARA will host a wood-based biofuels conference

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NWBCC2016-front copy

In the past decade, funding agencies (USDA-NIFA and DOE), stakeholder coalitions (SAFN), state agencies, and industry have invested millions of dollars and substantial time to envision a Pacific Northwest industry that uses wood-based biomass to produce liquid biofuels and other co-products. USDA-NIFA funded programs like the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) and Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest (AHB) will end in 2016. These programs, …more

Lignin to plastic opportunities

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cup-973101 copy

Under the conditions evaluated by NARA to convert post-harvest forest residuals into biojet fuel, approximately two-thirds of the woody material is left over as a byproduct. This left over material is rich in lignin, a complex polymer molecule found in plant cell walls.

The USDA-NIFA, through the NARA grant, funds research to develop high-value chemicals and materials that can be made from the lignin-rich material left after the …more

Slash removal and microbial communities

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Monitoring equipment at the NARA long-term soil productivity site.
Monitoring equipment at the NARA long-term soil productivity site.

A key issue attached to the use of post-harvest forest residuals (slash) to make biojet fuel and other chemical products is how slash removal impacts the productivity and ecology of a working forest. The USDA-NIFA, through the NARA project, funds research to evaluate the impacts of …more