LOTS of biofuels news today. From fungus to chicken to jatropha, everyone’s talking about how biotech is helping create clean renewable fuels. Here’s the scoop:

BIOFUELS FROM CHICKEN?!? – A recently published paper by the American Chemical Society describes a new and environmentally friendly process for developing biodiesel from commercial feather meal, a waste product of the poultry industry. In their study, A Green Process for Producing Biodiesel from Feather Meal , Nevada scientists noted:

“Currently feather meal is used as animal feed and fertilizer because of its high protein and nitrogen content. With as much as 12 percent fat content, feather meal has potential as an alternative, nonfood feedstock for the production of biofuel…”

“Given the amount of feather meal generated by the poultry industry each year…this process could create 153 million gallons of biodiesel annually in the U.S. and 593 million gallons worldwide.”

ASEXUAL FUNGUS & THE KEY TO BETTER BIOFUELS – According to U.S. News and World Report, a team of researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have made Trichoderma reessei have sex for the first time since its discovery. The same scientists suggests that this new development in improving asexual fungi could lead to better and more cost-effective ways of making biofuels.

“The scientists managed to successfully mate Hypocrea jecorina with two mutant Trichoderma reesei strains known to be especially good at breaking down cellulose with existing wild strains…Sex can also lead to more fit strains. The methods used to create mutants could lead to strains of Trichoderma reesei that are good at making enzymes that break down cellulose…”

“These findings might lead to better and more cost-effective ways of making biofuel. “I would be happy to see gas stations selling affordable bioethanol made from waste and plant material one day,” Schmoll said. The researchers also noted that Trichoderma includes species that help plants by killing harmful fungi, and discovering ways of breeding strains of them together could help out farmers.

To read the full U.S. News and World Report article click HERE.

FIRST JATROPHA-BASED BIODIESEL PLANT EXPECTED IN NIGERIA – Shout out to Jim Lane at BioFuels Digest for keeping us informed of the latest developments of biofuels in other countries. According to Jim’s post:

“the Natural Research Institute for Chemical Technology has said that it believes that Nigeria will have its first jatropha-based biodiesel plant operating this year. B20 has been used for several years, produced at a pilot plant constructed by Sweden’s Ericsson, to provide B20 biodiesel for mobile base stations not connected to the national grid.

To read Jim Lane’s complete blog post visit HERE.

BIOFUELS MAKER CALLS FOR INCREASE IN BLEND RATE – And, on the policy side, ethanol maker Poet says that if the EPA doesn’t increase the blend rate for gasoline, cellulosic biofuels development will be in jeopardy. More from Bloomberg:

The lack of a government decision to raise the “blend wall” to 15 percent from 10.2 percent is the biggest obstacle to biofuels industry development, Jeff Broin, Poet’s chief executive officer, said today in an interview. The industry needs to expand sources of supply to ensure financing for new projects, he said. Poet is the biggest U.S. ethanol producer.

“The blend wall is holding up potential investment,” he said. “We believe there are dollars available” to re-open corn- based plants and build new refineries that make ethanol from grasses, crop waste and wood chips, should the EPA raise the ethanol limit, he said. The industry has idled plants capable of producing about 2 billion gallons of ethanol a year, he said.