Daily Archives: March 2, 2012

SOPERTON, Ga., March 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cool Planet Biofuels, a developer of negative and neutral carbon fuels, announced its use of REPREVE(R) Renewables' FREEDOM(TM) giant miscanthus to manufacture tank-ready gasoline. REPREVE Renewables provided feedstock to Cool Planet Biofuels for testing in its process. By using FREEDOM, Cool Planet reported that they were able to achieve a 4,000 gallons/acre conversion rate, which outperforms other feedstocks such as corn, switchgrass and wood on yield. The resulting fuel, claims Cool Planet, is chemically identical to gasoline from fossil fuel and is currently being road-tested in cars in California.

REPREVE(R) Renewables, LLC, is a leader in biomass energy solutions and the exclusive supplier of FREEDOM giant miscanthus. FREEDOM was developed at Mississippi State University as the best bioenergy crop for growing in the Southeast. REPREVE Renewables is focused on commercializing FREEDOM giant miscanthus by providing planting material and growing protocols to growers in the Southeast United States.

Phillip Jennings, a REPREVE Renewables founder, said the development from Cool Planet is a big step in bringing drop-in gasoline from grass to the marketplace.

"When gasoline can be made from plants, it's important to grow the most plant material per acre," said Jennings. "The yield per acre of FREEDOM giant miscanthus is unmatchable among purpose-grown energy crops. We look forward to the day when producing 3,000-4,000 gallons of gasoline per acre of land is done on a commercial scale. REPREVE Renewables is ready to do our part to make it happen."

The announcement demonstrates what is achievable under optimum growing conditions in the Southeast United States. Cool Planet estimates under more routine growing conditions, an average yield of 3,000 gallons per acre. In two years, Cool Planet has accumulated a list of investors that includes oil giant BP's venture capital arm, BP Technology Ventures; General Electric Co.; ConocoPhillips; Constellation Energy Group; NRG Energy Inc.; Google Ventures; Shea Ventures; and North Bridge Venture Partners. REPREVE Renewables continues to work with companies like Cool Planet Biofuels to bring renewable energy to commercial scale.

About REPREVE Renewables:

REPREVE Renewables, LLC, with R&D headquarters in Soperton, Georgia, is an innovator in the quest to bring workable solutions for renewable energy to market. The Company participates in the research and commercialization of viable non-food biomass solutions for renewable energy, thus decreasing U.S. dependency on foreign oil. REPREVE Renewables has the exclusive license from Mississippi State University to commercialize FREEDOM giant miscanthus, a bioenergy crop from which electricity and fuel can be produced effectively and efficiently. For more information about REPREVE Renewables, visit http://www.repreverenewables.com or http://www.freedomgiantmiscanthus.com.

FREEDOM is a trademark of Mississippi State University, used under license.

REPREVE is a registered trademark of Unifi, Inc., used under license.

For more information, contact:

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REPREVE(R) Renewables' Freedom(TM) Giant Miscanthus Used by Cool Planet to Produce Gasoline

Editors note: Every Friday throughout the run of From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen, we will feature unique and original posts by staff writers, musicians, visual artists, and more, with a focus on a range of issues including protest, dissent, and the role of art in politics and political campaigns. Todays post is from Courtney Swafford of Wilmington, DE who was recognized with a Scholastic Art & Writing Award for the following story.

Wolf, featured in the ART.WRITE.NOW. exhibit, was created by Komrorng Bo, a graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia.

To write is to share. I write in order to communicate to others, in the hopes that they can somehow appreciate what I mean to tell them. When I won my medal from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, that hope was realized; I knew that Id succeeded, and I was beside myself. Knowing that someone else had read my work and understood me, that they could connect to it themselvesthis knowledge gave me affirmation that Id never had before.

The world often judges by class rank or sports trophies, and as a homeschooler I simply didnt have opportunities like these to prove myself. The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards changed that. They gave me a sense of validation, not as a homeschooler compared to those from more standard forms school, but as a writer compared to other writers. Recognition like this is invaluable, and I cannot thank the people at the Awards enough for all that theyve done for me and for other young artists and writers.

Jesus face fell off a long time ago. Ive watched the spidery cracks spread through the paint of the icon from the day I first noticed them in sixth grade, as I pretended to watch the priest. Now the picture hangs in the small recess where the priest stands, at the front of the chapel. The niche is so small that the priest, old, fat and insipid, has to squeeze around the corner to get behind the pulpit. The poor lighting back there hits his crinkled face at odd angles so that it looks like a dress shirt thats been slept in. His sagging, crumpled skin scrunches and creases in an endless maze of flesh as he deadpans the Book of Judith to his audience of lethargic schoolchildren. No one really listens. They just stare, glassy-eyed, while the monotone slogs through the heavy air in the vestry. Who was Judith? Nobody knows, and nobody really cares. The air is too muggy for that. The priest reads on for a few lines more, then stops and intones, This is the word of the lord. Then he steps out from behind the pedestal, and his flowing sleeve brushes some flakes of paint off from Jesus hair. Theres a small heap of these paint chips on the floor under the painting. The priest steps on them every time he goes back there, grinding them into the burgundy carpet. Down in the pews, all of the students laboriously stand themselves up and pull out their Psalters. The books are old, the tune is old, 264 ShOrT ShOrT STOrY the words are old, and we cant read music. Our indistinct mumble flounders its way through the meaningless characters on the pages. No one knows the song, and no one really cares. After all, who wants to praise a faceless god?

Swaffords piece won a Gold Key, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers highest level of achievement on the national level.

ART.WRITE.NOW., a traveling exhibition featuring works by winners of the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, will be on display at the National Constitution Center through Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

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Freedom Friday: Cracking God

The solution might seem simple.

Freedom Hill Elementary School in Vienna exceeds its capacity by about 100 students. Neighboring Lemon Road Elementary School in Falls Church is about 100 students under capacity. Why not shift 100 students from Freedom Hill to Lemon Road?

Parents of students at these schools say it isnt that easy because the debate is about which students get shifted. This week, Fairfax County Public Schools staged two community meetings to get parents views on two options of how to reassign students from Freedom Hill to Lemon Road.

Option A would reassign a portion of students living in Idylwood Apartments, located on the northwest side of Idylwood Road. Option B would reassign students living in Marshall Heights and Dominion townhomes and a portion of Idylwood Apartments to Lemon Road.

Both options would decrease student enrollment at Freedom Hill, as well as lowering the schools percentages of English for Speakers of Other Languages students and students eligible for free and reduced-price meals.

While Option B would see a greater transfer of students to Lemon Road, Option A shows a greater growth in students eligible for ESOL and free and reduced-price meals programs for Lemon Road, which would go from 21.7 percent ESOL to 28.4 percent and from 25.3 percent free and reduced-price meals to 30.8 percent.

The PTA believes Option B would be the most fair to both schools, said Lemon Road PTA President Jenn Brunner. It will bring the most students over to Lemon Road.

Additionally, she said the socio-economic demographics of the students who would be shifted under Option B more closely match the demographics at Lemon Road.

Freedom Hill parents, however, say they take a different view of these options.

Geographically, it makes more sense to us to keep those townhouses, said Freedom Hill parent Dianne Gurdak. I think anyone at Lemon Road would say Option B because they get less free and reduced lunch. They get less ESOL. And theyll say they are helping Freedom Hill, but its only 10 kids or so [more under Option B].

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Crowding solution for Freedom Hill not so clear