The company that operates the largest trucking fleet in the waste industry is fueling more and more trucks with so-called trash gas. On Tuesday, Houston-based Waste Management Inc. will add its 1,000th truck fueled with natural gas. Powered with captured and converted methane gas from the company's Altamont, Calif., landfill, the new truck will service Long Beach, picking up recyclables.

North America's largest waste services company, Waste Management operates almost 300 landfills and runs 22,000 big trucks daily, 720 of which are in Southern California. All of the trucks Waste Management runs out of its L.A. Metro fueling station are powered with liquefied natural gas (LNG) derived from the methane generated through decomposition of organic waste in its Altamont landfill. Since November 2009, the landfill has been generating as much as 13,000 gallons of LNG per day.

A team of scientists from the University of Sheffield have developed an innovative device which will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient.

The research team has adapted a unique bioreactor for use in the production of alternative renewable fuels, to replace fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel. The manufacture of biofuels currently requires vast amounts of power and when the process uses too much energy, it is uneconomic.

By MICHAEL TOTTY

It's a tall order: Over the next few decades, the world will need to wean itself from dependence on fossil fuels and drastically reduce greenhouse gases. Current technology will take us only so far; major breakthroughs are required.

By Jeremy Jacquot

Ubiquitous and easy to grow, algae has long been a promising biomass-to-fuel candidate in the eyes of researchers. Now algae is a burgeoning sector in biofuels with several high-profile start-ups, including Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics, and the interest of big-time investors like Bill Gates and ExxonMobil. Of course, hurdles still exist to make a competitive fuel. Algal biofuels still cost too much to produce—over $8 a gallon (pdf), according to the DOE. Furthermore, most existing strains do not yield oil in the quantities needed to quickly scale up to commercial production of biofuels. Companies also need to worry about contaminating local ecosystems and the amount of water needed to grow cultures in large batches. Despite these challenges inroads—and actual fuel—are being made in the nascent field. Here are 5 projects leading the pack today.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2008) — In the world of alternative fuels, there may be nothing greener than pond scum.  Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day.

As part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.

The gig: Chief executive of Sapphire Energy Inc., a San Diego biofuels company that develops algae-based fuel that has been used experimentally to power airplanes and, recently, a car that was driven across the country. The serial entrepreneur has had a hand in starting several companies in industries including medical engineering and biotechnology.

Source:  LA Times
Date:  October 4, 2009
Byline:  Tiffany Hsu

"Fields of Fuel" addresses the issue of alternative energy and biofuels with a case that it could even stop war. Eco-crusader Josh Tickell with the help of Willie Nelson, Niel Young, Jimmy Carter and many other famous faces makes the case for why alternative fuels are not only needed but morally right. The film's sentiments are focused on the future of clean and green fuels.

Fuel is the quest to stand up to our country’s addiction to oil and propose alternative solutions. It recently won Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and is in many ways unlike any other documentary I’ve seen recently.

T. Boone Pickens made a fortune in oil and other fossil fuels. So, I was skeptical when I first heard of the Pickens' Plan to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Could an old oil man become a born again environmentalist, can a leopard change its spots? Skeptical yet intrigued, I decided to check it out for myself.

When Henry Ford first introduced the Model T it came with an engine that could burn both gasoline and ethanol. It was the first flex-fuel vehicle.

Farmers back then took advantage of this flexibility by distilling their own ethanol to run their vehicles, bypassing the pumps of the then nascent oil industry.