The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to cut 30 percent of carbon emissions over the next decade and a half. The proposed rule creates a flexible framework that allows states to cut emissions through utility efficiency programs, renewable energy procurement, on-site pollution controls and regional cap-and-trade programs.

Last fall, the EPA had finalized a carbon rule for new power plants. But the regulation of carbon pollution from existing power plants was publicly set in motion last June 2, 2014. For the next four months, EPA will welcome any additional comments and then will finalize the rule by June of next year.

"This plan is all about flexibility," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "We looked at where states are today, and we followed where they're going. Each state is different, so each goal, and each path, can be different." she added.

Some describe this as the most important development in Obama's second term. It will also be one of the most important developments for the renewable energy and efficiency industries since getting $90 billion through the 2009 stimulus package.

The Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils plant in Brazil has now begun commercial production of renewable oil. This was announced in the end of May 2014 by Solazyme Inc. The project, a joint venture between Solazyme Inc. and Bunge Global Innovation LLC., will continue production of renewable oils and is expected to reach capacity in the next 12 to 18 months.

"With production underway at the Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils plant, Solazyme is manufacturing products at three large-scale facilities, including our 2,000 metric ton per year (MT/year) integrated facility in Peoria, Ill., the 20,000 MT/year Iowa facilities in Clinton/Galva and the 100,000 MT/year facility in Brazil," said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme.

Ben Pearcy, managing director of sugar and bioenergy at Bunge Ltd stated, "The start of production at the Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils plant is an important milestone for this joint venture. We're proud of the work we have done with our partner Solazyme in bringing the world's first built-for-purpose renewable oil plant on line. We remain committed to the success of the joint venture and see significant market opportunities that we can address together."

Glycogen-producing cyanobacteria is a promising feedstock for ethanol production. Utilization of marine cyanobacteria as a glycogen producer can also eliminate the need for a freshwater supply. Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 is a fast-growing marine coastal cyanobacteria, however, its glycogen yield has not yet been determined. 

The optimal culture conditions for glycogen production in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 were investigated. The maximum glycogen production of 3.5 g/L for 7 days was obtained under a high light intensity, a high CO2 level, and a nitrogen-depleted condition in brackish water. The glycogen production performance in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 was the best ever reported glycogen or starch production in cyanobacteria and microalgae. Glycogen production of Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 was also evaluated in seawater and freshwater. The peak of glycogen production of Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 in seawater and freshwater were 3.0 and 1.8 g/L in 7 days, respectively.

Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 was proven to have a high glycogen production activity and glycogen can also be provided from coastal waters. This work supports Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 as a promising source for biofuel production.

Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) has potential for feedstock in biofuel production due to its seed oil being highly suitable for the production of the biodiesel and jet fuels. Physic nut, however, exhibits low seed yield due to poor and unreliable flowering. Flower regulation in higher plants is controlled by the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) –like genes. However, flowering genes in Jatropha have not yet been identified.

An FT homolog gene in Jatropha, named JcFT, was isolated to study the genetic control of flowering in Jatropha. Analysis revealed that JcFT was highly similar to the FT genes of other perennial plants. It was expressed in all tissues of adult plants, with the highest expression in female flowers, but was not expressed in young leaves. JcFT was overexpressed in Arabidopsis and Jatropha and resulted in extremely early flowering. Other known flowering genes were also up-regulated due to the overexpression of JcFT in the transgenic plants.

It was hypothesized that JcFT may encode a florigen that acts as a key regulator in flowering pathway. This was the first time a flowering gene was characterized in a biofuel feedstock plant.

The biosynthetic pathways for fatty alcohols are diverse and widely existing in nature. Previous studies have reported a Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, engineered with a fatty alcohol-producing pathway, and produced a relatively low yield of fatty alcohols. Based on these results, scientists are developing a strain with improved fatty alcohol production.

The photosynthetic production of fatty alcohols in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was improved through expression of the gene maqu_2220, derived from the marine bacterium Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8. The gene, Maqu_2220, has been proven to initiate the production of fatty alcohol. Aside from the work of Maqu-2220, the fatty alcohol yield was improved by silencing two other genes, sll0208 and sll0209, which are involved in hydrocarbon biosynthesis. This resulted in redirection of carbon from the hydrocarbon synthesis into the fatty-alcohol producing pathway, thus further increasing the fatty alcohol yield of the strain.

The highest yield of fatty alcohols was achieved in cyanobacteria by expressing the Maqu_2220 and knocking-out the two key genes involved in the hydrocarbon biosynthesis pathway. The production of fatty alcohols could be significantly increased further by blocking the whole hydrocarbon biosynthesis pathway.