About the Biofuels Wiki

How it started

The Biofuels Wiki was started in 2008 after a wide-ranging group of people from diverse professional backgrounds came together for a Strategic Convening at the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to discuss the impact that the alarming level of misinformation on the world wide web was having on the nascent biofuels industry in the state. At that meeting and a series of follow-up meetings, there was consensus that neither the facts about biofuels nor authoritative research and information could be easily found, updated or connected and that deliberate campaigns to obfuscate the real picture about renewable fuels needed to be addressed with accurate, science-based information. In response to that convening of thought leaders, the Biofuels Center launched the first site of its kind connecting information about renewable liquid fuels for the global biofuels community - the Biofuels Wiki. The site seeks to provide value-neutral, referenceable information about the global biofuels value chain as well as related subject matter and connect wiki visitors back to authoritative and authentic websites and research in this space.

Anybody with an internet connection and an interest in biofuels may contribute their knowledge, expertise and information to the site. Unlike some, content on this site is not anonymous. This is both for transparency as well as to facilitate content attribution and for professional development and industry networking. The Biofuels Center is not responsible for content on the site. All registered users, including the Biofuels Center, maintain and grow the content on the site. From the date the Biofuels Center launched the Biofuels Wiki, it has hosted the site and supported its technical development. The Center steps in only to prevent "wiki vandalism", off-topic or inappropriate content, or abusive users, which are deleted.

Early website technical expertise and development was originally provided by Skylar Studios, based on the open source canvaswiki software.

DOE funding to upgrade the Biofuels Wiki

In 2010, recognition of the valuable role the site plays resulted in the U.S. DOE providing some funding to upgrade the Biofuels Wiki to enable it to better serve visitors, enhance its capability in educating the public, and build on its business-to-business capacity. Funding was provided from the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EE0000157. A disclaimer about that funding is HERE. Multimedia on the web and less-than-ideal search capabilities in canvaswiki prompted a site upgrade to Foswiki. Foswiki site development with the federal dollars was provided by Skyloom. Key new features enabled on the upgraded Biofuels Wiki include:

• The ability to attach and play video and audio files in the wiki. The original site could display text and images only.
• An improved text editor toolbar, making content creation and text editing easier
• Integration with LinkedIn to allow contributors to obtain the benefit of increased professional visibility for their content creation on the Biofuels Wiki and also for industry networking.
• Improved search
• Improved automatic linking of terminology and concepts in the wiki

The founder and administrator of the Biofuels Wiki is Norman Smit, Integrated Media Strategist at the Biofuels Center of North Carolina. To report abuse or draw attention to technical issues, click HERE or visit the Contact us page, which can also be reached from the left hand menu at any time.