The clock is ticking on public acceptance of ethanol as the United States’ corn-based industry is under relentless attack. With cellulosic conversion technologies as the ostensible lone saving grace for ethanol, Biomass Magazine takes a look at what fruits the first-quarter ‘08 produced.

It’s touted as a superior renewable fuel but challenges have stymied the industrial-scale production of biobutanol. Now, however, Dupont and BP have teamed to develop and commercialize the fuel. This comes as scientists announce advancements in the design of process technologies and the engineering of microbes aimed at improving the economics of mass-producing biobutanol.

California, according to some dairy commercials, is home to happy cows. So many cows, in fact, that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. estimates that dairy manure makes up 20 percent of the state’s available waste biomass for conversion into renewable fuels. The company is aggressively courting developers of anaerobic digestion and biomass gasification projects to provide biomethane for its millions of natural gas customers.

Purdue University researchers have implanted poplar trees with genetic material from rabbits. The trees are destined for a Herculean task: cleaning up a contaminated site that housed an oil storage facility. The site, called Peter’s Pond, was tainted by contaminated oil stored there nearly 40 years ago. The process, called phytoremediation, allows transgenic trees to slurp up underground contaminants.

Construction will start soon on a giant wood-fueled power station in Wales. But where will all that wood come from? Where will the ash go? And why not use the waste heat?

Research into all facets of biomass-supported industries is taking off at schools throughout the country. North Dakota State University is combining and coordinating its efforts to a better biobased program.