Biodiesel News

Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced that South African farmers will soon harvest their first crop of energy-rich tobacco plants, an important step towards using the plants to make sustainable aviation biofuel. Boeing and SAA, along with partners SkyNRG and Sunchem, also officially launched Project Solaris, their collaborative effort to develop an aviation biofuel supply chain with a…
Read More »

Palm oil is predominantly consumed for food applications, however in the last decade palm oil consumption for biofuels has increased considerably. According to Frost & Sullivan, global palm oil production is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.9% in the period 2011 to 2020 to reach 84 million tonnes. The majority of this growth is expected to come from Indonesia with…
Read More »

Agro BioFuels and BioEnergy, a joint venture between the US branch of India-based Agro Pulping Machinery and JatDiesel, is set to invest $11 million (appr. €9.8 million) in a 15 million gpy biodiesel plant near Dayton, Ohio, US. The plant, once finished, will produce fuel from oils and fats derived from plants and animals. The company has addressed concerns about smells and hazards and hopes…
Read More »

Argentina’s biodiesel production is expected to decrease by 30% in 2015 as growth of domestic demand cannot compensate for declining foreign exports. The Argentine Biofuels and Hydrogen Association (ABHA) estimates this year’s total biodiesel output to cap at 1.8 million tonnes, a significant decrease from 2.58 million tonnes in 2014. Exports are expected to decline by 55% and the…
Read More »

A project established to grow seaweed for the production of biofuel and pharmaceutical products has been launched in Ghana. The project, which is the first of its kind in Africa, is planned to start late January and will establish the cultivation of seaweed along Ghana's coastline. The project will be led by a team of experts from the Technical University of Denmark, Kwame Nkrumah University of…
Read More »

Hainan Airlines, Boeing and Sinopec have celebrated China's first passenger flight with sustainable aviation biofuel. The regularly scheduled Hainan Airlines flight – which carried more than 100 passengers from Shanghai to Beijing – used biofuel made by Sinopec from waste cooking oil collected from restaurants in China. Both of the airplane's CFM International CFM56-7B engines were…
Read More »

Boeing and Japanese aviation industry stakeholders have charted a course to develop sustainable aviation biofuel for flights during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, when millions of people are expected to visit Japan. The Initiatives for Next Generation Aviation Fuels (INAF) – a consortium of 46 organisations including Boeing, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines, Nippon…
Read More »

Florida Biodiesel has completed the sale of a B-500 biodiesel plant to the Grand Bahama Power Company (GBPC) in the Bahamas. The biodiesel production equipment, using waste cooking oil as feedstock, will be used to demonstrate green fuel technology and produce biodiesel for the Bahamas. The B-500 plant is economical to operate and will allow the GBPC to produce 1,600 gallons of biodiesel a…
Read More »

A research team from National Taiwan University have formulated a synthetic nanoparticle that is able to extract oil from algae and turn it into biodiesel. The team, led by NTU chemistry professor Wu Chia-wen, synthesised a magnetic nanoparticle for harvesting microalgae, extracting algae oil, and converting the oil’s fatty acids into a methyl ester, which is used in biodiesel. ‘The…
Read More »

The SCMS Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology R&D in Kochi, southwest India, has filed for a US patent after successfully developing and standardising a process for producing biofuel from coconut oil. Coconut methyl ester (CME) can power diesel automobile engines. The centre conducted a 20-month study of the fuel, with research comprising optimisation of the production of CME from…
Read More »

In India, the Biodiesel Manufacturers Association (BEMA) has been launched with a focus on expanding the nation's biodiesel market, decreasing air pollution and reducing its dependence on foreign oil. The BEMA group is an eight-member association, the chairman and president of which has been named as Sanjeev Gupta, president of advanced renewable fuels and biochemicals company Aemetis…
Read More »

Iranian researchers have produced biodiesel from flixweed as a potential renewable energy substitute for fossil fuels.  Under a project to deliver a new generation of green transport fuel, researchers at the Islamic Azad University (IAU) produced 2 litres of biomass which could be turned into biofuel. ‘Engine and field tests of the synthetic green fuel are currently being…
Read More »

Scania has given the green light to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) being used to power its Euro 6 range, provided the fuel used meets technical specification TS15940. Vehicles using HVO – which chemically mimics fossil-fuel-based diesel – can under optimal condition achieve up to a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions. HVO does not affect a vehicle's characteristics or its maintenance…
Read More »

Neste Oil says it is now the world's largest producer of renewable fuels from waste and residues. In 2014, the company produced nearly 1.3 million tonnes (1.6 billion litres) of renewable fuel from waste and residues. In practical terms, this is enough to power for two years all the 650,000 diesel-powered passenger cars in Finland with renewable NEXBTL diesel manufactured from waste and…
Read More »