Biodiesel News

On 2 April, shortly after 6pm, a fire broke out at the REG Geismar biorefinery in Louisiana, US. The fire was contained within a few hours and completely extinguished at approximately 11pm. Two employees were injured. An assessment and investigation into the cause of the fire and the damage to the facility is ongoing and the biorefinery will remain shut down until these assessments are complete…
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Biodiesel sales activity is accelerating in India with travel bus operators who cater to the tourism industry, says California-headquartered advanced renewable fuels and biochemicals company Ametis. Aemetis has expanded sales activity since the Government of India allowed biodiesel manufacturers to sell to customers directly. India's diesel market is estimated at 25 billion gallons per year. This…
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Biofuel manufacturer Viridis Fuels will receive a $3.4 million (€3.15 million) grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to build and operate a biodiesel production plant in Oakland. The funding is part of more than $83.7 million in grants and loans that the CEC has approved for 46 renewable projects, ranging from a plant that converts forest waste to electricity to a manufacturing…
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Algenol has joined the US Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, and the US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, on a business development mission to China. Algenol joins a team which also includes the likes of GE, Southern Company, Honeywell, Praxair, Alcoa and Lockheed Martin. 'The companies selected [...] are key reminders that, through world class innovation of US companies, we can decrease…
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Total has announced an investment of €200 million to transform the La Mède refinery and create France's first biorefinery, which will be one of the biggest in Europe, to meet growing demand for biofuels. In order to sustainably restore the competitiveness of its La Mède site, Total will transform some existing units for activities with strong future prospects. The group will…
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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…
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A survey of the algae industry conducted by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) shows high expectations for continued growth in the sector as well as increased production of a wide range of algae-derived products. The survey was conducted in February 2015 and includes more than 230 responses from companies and individuals involved in directly producing and buying algae or algae-derived products,…
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Dragonair, part of the Cathay Pacific Group, will operate will operate its first-ever commercial flight using a certified sustainable biofuel blend later this month. The KA859 service from Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport to Hong Kong on 21 March will take off with the aircraft tanks filled with a 50/50 blend of fossil-based jet fuel and bio-based jet fuel, refined from 100% used cooking oil as…
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Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, has plans to increase the diesel blending rate this year to cut fossil fuel import costs, reports Bloomberg. The blending rate will be raised from 10% to 15% this year and subsequently to 20%, according to Sofyan Djalil, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. Indonesia is promoting biofuel use in an attempt to help utilise increasing supplies…
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In the US, renewable fuels company Red Rock Biofuels has formed a strategic partnership with Flagship Ventures that sets the stage for the construction of its first commercial scale refinery in Lakeview, Oregon. As part of this partnership, Flagship Ventures, a venture capital and venture creation firm focused on innovations in healthcare and sustainability, will invest in Red Rock, assume a seat…
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Nano Labs has entered into a joint venture agreement with DerTek to launch a research and development, marketing, and manufacturing programme to produce biofuels in North America. The JV will initially begin in Mexico. DerTek is a technology-based company presently located in Mexico that has developed a novel technology highly effective as a catalyser to produce biofuels from organic oils using…
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Small-scale biodiesel processing equipment from Springboard Biodiesel, a California-based, clean-tech manufacturer, is to be installed at Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. Springboard Biodiesel's BioPro 380EX and SpringPro T76 comprise a small-scale biodiesel processing system designed to inexpensively convert the base's used cooking oil into ASTM-grade biodiesel that can…
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