In January, the European Parliament voted in support of a movement to reject the European Commission’s (EC) proposal to implement Article 7a of the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD). The European renewable...

On 15 January, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released RIN generation data that indicates the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) statutory requirements established by Congress in 2007 could...

The European ethanol market has been going through a season of maximum producer output, with manufacturers ramping up capacity since last November. As always, this production increase has coincided with...

Second generation (2G) ethanol finally became a reality in 2013 when the first commercialscale production plant came online in Crescentino, Italy. Since then, a handful more 2G ethanol plants are in the...

In October 2014, Biochemtex, a biochemical technology and process provider owned by the Mossi Ghisolfi Group, and advanced biofuels producer Beta Renewables signed a contract with one of the leading Slovak...

On 12 January this year, Finnish forestry company and renewable energy producer UPM started commercial production at its biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland. In 2008, with the popularity of printing paper...

The European biofuels industry is facing issues regarding legislation proposed and discussed by the European institutions. Despite these challenges, biofuels remain the only sustainable and immediately...

The market’s dependency on government policy has again stifled spot trade for physical biodiesel in the US early in 2015, which follows a year in which the industry shrunk amid uncertainty over the...

Following the 2007/2008 financial crisis, new regulations introducing more stringent solvency and liquidity requirements has meant the banking sector has had to improve its capital position. Considerable...

Biodiesel factories built with specific virgin oil feedstock supply chains in mind have seen their business model blown off course. Feedstock costs linked to food prices coupled with biodiesel prices capped...

In the July Short-Term Energy Outlook, the US Energy Information Administration predicts ethanol production will average 940,000 barrels per day, more than a third of a billion barrels in total, in 2015....

Biofuels manufacturing is a wet process, where a carbonbased feedstock such as corn, sugarcane bagasse, or residue from a food processing facility is processed to generate a mash rich in fermentable sugars....

The economic viability of biofuels is largely dependent on two things: the price of oil and the efficiency with which producers transform raw biomass into finished product. While the price of oil is largely...

There is a widely agreed need that the system tracking sustainably certified biomass from the source to the consumer should be robust. The concern is that inconsistencies, mistakes or even fraud can creep...

For a company such as Modern By-Products (MBP Group), being certified as sustainable is of the utmost importance. MBP collects, handles and processes by-products – predominantly oils and fats –...

Improving genetics and optimising the agronomy of jatropha are the two driving forces behind JOil’s R&D efforts. For six years since 2008, the company collected germ plasms from all over the...

Jatropha, a fast growing, non-edible, subtropical tree that produces oil bearing seeds, is native to Central America but has been naturalised throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world....

Today, companies and research institutes are focusing their efforts on meeting global demand for sustainable plant oil by working towards scientific commercialisation of a dedicated biodiesel crop that...

T he fruit husks and seed shells of jatropha pressed to fuel pellets represent an additional and valuable bioenergy product with high economic potential. High quality fibres can be extracted from the soft...

Waste- and wastewater streams released in the production processes of biofuels or bio-based chemicals are valuable resources for energy production. With anaerobic technology, biodegradable components present...

2014 was the year of second generation ethanol with the openings of several plants in North and South America. A number of other multi-partner global projects have also been announced or are currently...

The global demand for fossil fuels is swelling against a tight economic environment and the Middle East is no exception. The domestic consumption of energy in the region is increasing at an astonishing...

Following the rise in oil prices, the renewable energy industry needed to quickly find an alternative solution for accessing stored solar energy, preferably a sustainable alternative that could be adapted...

Over the last 10 years, the algae industry has gone through a considerable amount of hype and despair to finally reach the current realistic approach. Accordingly, the promises that were given to the biofuels...

One of the biggest areas for concern regarding risk management for biofuels producers lies in effective communication and consistent application of risk management policy. A divide can develop across a...

Nearly 5% of the global liquid fuel market is met by biofuel alternatives today. With supply dominated by ethanol and biodiesel, first generation production models have proven to be relatively successful...