Bioethanol News

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was mistaken to use the methodology it did for lowering the 2016 renewable fuel standard. The decision is being hailed as a major victory for the biofuels industry. The ruling was made on Friday (28th July, 2017). This decision was in response to a joint petition filed in January…
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The Biofuels International Conference, a world leading biofuels event, will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 4 and 5 October 2017, covering the whole biofuels supply chain. The show will focus on all the new developments and the latest challenges. Topics covered in the seminars include global policy uncertainty, reintroducing E10, REDII, and the future of the bioethanol market. For the first…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has held a public hearing on the proposal for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and has heard the views of industry experts. US trade body National Biodiesel Board (NBB) had several witnesses testify before the EPA staff and advocate for higher volumes of advanced biofuels and biomass-based diesel. “The current numbers short-change the progress…
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Fuel retailer the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and carbon-recycling company Lanzatech have signed a statement of intent to build what they claim is the world’s first refinery for off gas-to-bioethanol production in India. The new facility is set to be constructed at IOC’s Panipat refinery Hayrana, at an estimated cost of 350 crore rupees. According to an IOC press release, it will be…
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German biofuels producer CropEnergies has reported strong first quarter results. In the company’s statement for the first quarter of the current financial year 2017/18 , CropEnergies said revenues increased by 38% to €231 million, compared to €168 million the year before. The main reasons for the growth were the “significantly increased sales volumes of bioethanol as well as…
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MEP Sean Kelly, the lead negotiator for the largest group in the European Parliament on the Renewable Energy Directive, has heavily criticised the European Commission’s proposal to phase out conventional biofuels made from food or feed crops. Proposed changes to the Renewable Energy Directive, dubbed ‘RED II’, would see a gradual phase out of crop-based biofuels such as ethanol…
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New research claims that the concentration of ultrafine particles less than 50 nanometres in diameter, which studies have shown to be harmful to human health, increases in the air when motorists switch from ethanol-to-gasoline. Carried out by Franz M Geiger, a professor of chemistry at the National University of Singapore, the research found that when higher ethanol prices pushed drivers in Sao…
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Finnish firm Suomen Bioetanoli is looking for substantial new funding for two new biofuels plants, following the withdrawal of a major investor on the project. According to yle.fi, a €200 million deal with Chinese investor fell through because the Chinese financier was unable to together the funding for the project. The result is a large funding hole in the planned project to construct…
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Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor has released a statement in response to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ (EPW) decision to not consider the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act (S. 517) before Congress adjourns for the August recess. The statement from the US bioethanol trade body stated:  “We are disappointed the EPW committee decided not to consider the…
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US production of bioethanol has continued to grow in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Through the first six months of 2017, US weekly ethanol production averaged 1.02 million barrels per day (b/d), an increase of 5% over the same period in 2016. On a weekly basis, US ethanol production set a record of 1.06 million b/d in the week of January 27, 2017, and it has…
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The renewable ethanol association ePURE has responded to Hans-Olaf Henkel and Marijana Petir, two MEPs in the European Parliament who recently stressed the importance of biofuels in the decarbonisation of the EU’s transport sector. In a recent article  in The Parliamentarian, Petir and Henkel discussed the future of the EU’s energy sector and the promotion of renewable…
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Cellulosic biofuels could provide an environmentally sustainable way of meeting energy needs, providing certain principles are met, according to an article appearing on Science Daily. “The climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels is actually much greater than was originally thought,” Phil Robertson, professor of Ecosystem Science at Michigan State University, told Science Daily.…
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US biofuels producer Pacific Ethanol has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Illinois Corn Processing, for $76 million (€66m), which includes $15 million in working capital. ICP is a 90 million gallon per year fuel and industrial alcohol manufacturing, storage and distribution facility adjacent to the Pacific Ethanol Pekin facility and is located on the Illinois River. ICP…
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US-based Blue Flint Ethanol has celebrated a successful ten years of operations during an onsite celebration at its ethanol biorefinery near Underwood, North Dakota. “We are proud to be celebrating ten years of successful operations at our Blue Flint facility. This success has been a team effort driven by our dedicated employees and supported by our business partners and the local and state…
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