US oil giant ConocoPhillips and agribusiness leader Archer Daniels Midland Co announced on Thursday plans to collaborate on a new renewable "biocrude" fuel made from crops, wood and other sources.
"ConocoPhillips believes that the development of next-generation biofuels is a critical step in the diversification of our nation's energy sources," said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer at the Houston-based oil group.
"We are hopeful that this collaboration will provide innovative technology toward the large-scale production of biofuels that can be moved efficiently and affordably through existing infrastructure," he said.
The project will focus on the conversion of biomass from crops, wood or switchgrass into "biocrude," a non-petroleum substance that can be processed into fuel, as well as the refining of biocrude for transportation fuel.
Annual research investment will be at least US$5 million "for many years," said Lou Burke, manager of biofuels at ConocoPhillips.
Decatur, Illinois-based Archer Daniels will focus on making the biocrude, while ConocoPhillips will research ways to refine it, Burke said.
Archer Daniels is one of the world's largest processors of grains and a large producer of biodiesel and ethanol.
"Innovative collaboration like this will identify and bring to market feasible, economic and sustainable next-generation biofuels," Archer Daniels chairwoman and CEO Patricia Woertz said.
Biofuels, including ethanol made from corn starch and biodiesel made from soy beans, are drawing increased interest as energy sources after demand growth and concern over the adequacy of supplies pushed oil prices to record highs.
The news comes amid concerns that ethanol is diverting too much corn and other food crops into fuel.
Some have advocated the use of products such as switchgrass -- which grows wild on US prairies -- but commercial prospects for the alternative remain to be seen.
ConocoPhillips is the third-largest US oil company after Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp, which is the largest, and Chevron Corp, based in San Ramon, California.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing