China Overtakes US as World's Largest Energy User

According to IEA, China Passes U.S. as World's Biggest Energy Consumer.

Good news or bad news?

To the global energy resources, it is bad news because it is a giant engine of global energy-demand growth

To the renewable energy developers, it is good news because it means challenges and opportunities, which may stimulate the technological development under the current cool-down environment for renewable energy.

Some good news about potentially expanding ethanol use.

EPA Makes Progress Toward Approval of E15

ACE Urges Agency to Approve E15 and Higher for All Passenger Vehicles

Inhibitions from oligomers

An intersting research paper with new findings: "xylobiose and higher xylooligomers were shown to inhibit enzymatic hydrolysis of pure glucan, pure xylan, and pretreated corn stover."

"Thus, b-xylosidase alone does not appear to be sufficient to hydrolyze high DP soluble xylooligomers, and supplementation with both xylanase and b-xylosidase appears desirable to realize high monomeric xylose yields, as found for pure xylan and AFEX and SO2 pretreated corn stover."

What about other oligomers such as mannooligomers in softwood?

Pretreatment: Low temperature and atmospheric

Here is a paper on low temperature pretreatment. What other methods?

• Alkaline peroxide?
• Oxygen-alkaline treatment?
• Ozone?
• Liquid ammonium?

All of these work but which one is more practical in terms of environmental issue and cost?

What about biopulping process?

Two new papers on genetic modification of biofuel feedstocks

1. Genetic modification of lignin biosynthesis for improved biofuel production

2. Genetic improvement of C4 grasses as cellulosic biofuel feedstocks