Bioethanol News

Reuters is reporting that President Trump’s biofuel policy changes will include a reduction in the amount of controversial ‘hardship waivers’ issued. According to the wire service the administration is in the ‘last stages’ of officially proposing the changes to the law. Among the revisions is the introduction of E15 sales all year and the counting of ethanol exports…
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Valero Energy has acquired Pure Biofuels del Peru (PBF) through a subsidiary. According to Reuters, it is the refiner’s first infrastructure investment in South America. As the third largest fuels importer in Peru, PBF maintains a supply platform with customers including retailers, miners, and airlines.  The transaction was completed with cash and includes product terminals in Callao,…
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The company says the 410 horsepower vehicle can enable CO2 reductions of up to 90%. Scania has released an alternative fuel engine option for the new truck generation and Euro 6 emissions standard. The new bioethanol engine delivers 2,150 Nm, equal to that of its diesel counterpart. The fuel consumption is also on a par with a conventional diesel engine. The truck uses compression ignition…
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Congressman Austin Scott of Georgia and Congresswoman Lois Frankel of Florida, members of the Congressional Boating Caucus, introduced the Consumer Protection and Fuel Transparency Act of 2018 on 16 May. The legislation would ‘more clearly’ label E15 ethanol blended gasoline, which they say is ‘harmful and corrosive’, at pumps across the US. The aim of the bill is to…
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Scientists funded by the EU have designed cell structures that they say can break down biomass waste more effectively than one enzyme or a mix of enzymes. The EU-funded CellulosomePlus project has developed a new way to break down cellulose into sugar efficiently. Enzymes called cellulases, which are found in multi-enzyme cellulosome structures, break down cellulose efficiently into sugars. The…
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The Canadian province approved the measure on top of its carbon cap-and-trade system in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. 12 April, the provincial government in Ontario, Canada approved amendments to fuel legislation mandating a 10% blend of ethanol with gasoline from 2020. The changes also require the blended ethanol to achieve a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (to be…
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The German Bioethanol Industry Association (Bundesverband  der deutschen Bioethanolwirtschaft) has appointed a new managing director. Stefan Walter, a lawyer with significant experience in real estate and tax policy, was appointed by the BDBe board. He succeeds Dietrich Klein. “We are delighted to appoint Mr. Walter, who has extensive professional experience with trade associations, as…
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The biofuels industry applauded Japan’s decision to open up imports of corn-based ethanol from the US and expects demand from new market to reach almost 100 million gallons. The Japanese government has increased the mandated emission savings required of ethanol from 50% to 55% compared to gasoline. The policy also recognises US ethanol as a method for meeting this target. Previously,…
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Researchers at Stanford and other institutions have found a new way to implement cost-effective carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The study runs the numbers on different options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the US and found opportunities where they say it is not only commercially feasible with existing technology, but profitable. "We found that between tax credits for…
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Eighteen senators have signed a letter calling for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to allow 15% ethanol blends to be sold all year. The politicians asked for a timeline of the rulemaking process to clarify how the agency will permit E15 wholesale. They also asked to allow E15 to be sold while that process happens. Currently, the agency regulates the Reid vapour…
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Reuters is reporting that Poet has overtaken the grain merchant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in global fuel ethanol production. While both companies had production capacities around 1.8 billion gallons previously, Poet has grown its capacity to 1.9 billion and ADM has reduced to 1.6 billion. The wire service says that the change reflects the companies’ diverging strategies to address…
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Toyota has debuted a prototype of what it calls the world’s first hybrid flexible-fuel vehicle, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The flexible fuelled vehicle can be powered by both gasoline and ‘alternative fuels such as ethanol’. Key to the new vehicle, according to Toyota, is a new hybrid system that combines a combustion engine and an electrical powertrain. The new Hybrid FFV (flexible…
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Scientists have created a genetically modified yeast that could quicken the path towards synthetic yeasts for a number of industrial applications, including the creation of bioethanol. The Tufts University researchers have created a yeast that can more efficiently consume xylose, in turn enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, according to their study, published in the…
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Following a four a month shut down period, Britain’s largest bioethanol plant has reopened. Vivergo’s facility in East Yorkshire is Europe’s second largest bioethanol facility. It shut down in November 2017, citing unfavourable trading conditions. According to the company, these unfavourable conditions were driven in part by the Government’s inaction on the future of…
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