Bioethanol News

The Transport Energy Task Force has highlighted the important role sustainable biofuels will play in meeting the UK's future transport needs, in its concluding report. The report identified that there is a clear role for sustainable biofuels over the medium to longer term and at least to 2030 when fossil transport fuels will still be dominant. It also called for a 'robust and long-term route for…
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In Washington, ethanol and agriculture industry groups have written a letter to the House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Programs Committee on Appropriations to advocate for continued funding of US blender pump initiatives and US export promotion efforts. The letter countered a request led by Representatives Bob Goodlatte, Peter Welch, and Jim Costa to eliminate…
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Under a recently signed commercial agreement, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) will begin using Syngenta's Enogen corn enzyme technology at its Council Bluffs ethanol production facility in Iowa, US, following the 2015 harvest. SIRE is a dry-mill grain processing facility that consumes more than 40 million bushels of corn to produce more than 125 million gallons per year of ethanol. SIRE…
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Celtic Renewables, the world's first company to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry, has received £500,000 (€702,124) in a new round of investment, taking its valuation to £10 million. The company has announced investment worth £250,000 from the Scottish Investment Bank. The investment arm of Scottish enterprise, with a further…
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Ergon Biofuels, a subsidiary of Ergon, a privately held company that operates under six primary business segments (refining and markets; asphalt and emulsions; transportation and teminaling; oil and gas; real estate; and corporate and other) has entered into a comprehensive services arrangement with logistics company Gavilon to originate and market grain at the company's Mississippi facility in…
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Ceres, an agricultural biotechnology company, and Brazilian energy company Raízen have signed a multi-year collaboration agreement to develop and produce sweet sorghum on an industrial scale. Sweet sorghum can be grown to complement existing feedstock supplies and extend the operating season of Brazilian sugarcane-to-ethanol mills. Under the collaboration, the companies will each…
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Praj Industries, a global process solutions company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to become a Gevo licensee for producing renewable isobutanol at sugar-based ethanol plants. Under the MoU, Praj will undertake to license up to 250 million gallons of isobutanol capacity for sugar-based ethanol plants over the next 10 years. Gevo will market the isobutanol produced by Praj's…
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In San Francisco, US, petrol blended with 85% ethanol (E85) is now available to flex-fuel vehicle owners. Robert White, VP of industry relations at the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), says: 'There are more than 18 million flex-fuel vehicles registered in the US. Drivers of these vehicles deserve access to E85.' E85 is approved for use in all flex-fuel vehicles and more than 3,450 stations are…
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The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will award start-up private company Renergi with $5.2 million (€4.5 million) in funding for the design and construction of a pilot-scale biofuel plant in Perth. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht explains that the project would result in simple, cost effective production of renewable energy from biomass: 'Renergi was created out of Curtin University to…
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Calgren Renewable Fuels has opened a new manure-to-ethanol plant in California's San Joaquin Valley, located in one of the top dairy producing counties in the US and also one of the country's most air-polluted areas. The Calgren Ethanol Biodigester sits around 60 miles south of Fresno and will help reduce emissions and dependence on fossil fuels in the area while contributing to efforts in…
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Ethanol producer Aventine Renewable Energy has installed a $2.4 million (€2 million) Valicor corn-oil separation system at its Nebraska Energy plant in Aurora, Nebraska. 'By investing in this system we are adding to our revenue stream and diversifying beyond ethanol production in Nebraska,' says Mark Beemer, Aventine president and CEO. The system began operations in early January. Since corn…
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Edinburgh, Scotland-based Celtic Renewables has become the first in the world to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry. The company now plans to build a production facility in central Scotland after manufacturing the first samples of biobutanol from the by-products of whisky fermentation. Celtic Renewables, a spin-out company from the Biofuel Research…
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Two US senators have introduced legislation to eliminate the renewable fuels standard (RFS) corn ethanol mandate. Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced the 'Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015' last week. 'The federal mandate for corn ethanol is both unwise and unworkable,' says Senator Feinstein. 'Roughly 40% of corn in the United States is currently used for…
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Ghent Bio-Economy Valley (GBEV) and Malaysian Biotechnology (BiotechCorp) have signed a collaboration agreement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in support of companies and research institutes in the bio-economy business in Belgium and Malaysia. The main goal is to facilitate collaboration and the development of commercial applications in both countries. A non-profit and network organisation, GBEV…
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