Bioethanol News

GranBio Investimentos, a Brazilian biotechnology company, has started production at its cellulosic ethanol plant in Alagoas, Brazil. The company invested $190 million (€149 million) in the facility, which is the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the southern hemisphere. The Bioflex 1 plant has the capacity to produce 82 million litres per year of ethanol from sugarcane waste.
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Green Fuel's ethanol plant in Chisumbanje, Zimbabwe, is reportedly discharging harmful waste matter. Zimbabwe's parliament has heard how the waste matter has reportedly caused some people to become partially blind, while others are developing feet sores. Appearing before a parliamentary committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Mutsa Chasi, head of Environmental Management Agency (Ema)…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved permits for Archer Daniels Midland's ethanol plant. The permits enable the underground injection and storage of carbon dioxide emissions from an ethanol plant. Issued under the relatively new Underground Injection Control Program Class VI, the permits are expected to facilitate carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) activities. Plans call…
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Argentina's cooperatives association (Aca-Bio) has started work on a $130 million ethanol plant outside the city of Villa María. The plant will process 380,000 tonnes per year of corn, which will produce 125,000 cubic metres per year of biofuel. Excess steam will power a turbine that will then be used to power the plant. Operations will start in February. 
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Energy Management Solutions (EMS), a subsidiary of ICM, has signed two new plant management agreements with Red River Energy, Rosholt, South Dakota and Midwest Renewable Energy, Sutherland, Nebraska. The Red River Energy ethanol plant, which has a current operating capacity of 25 million gallons per year, will shortly restart full production after an 18-month idle period. The Midwest Renewable…
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Buffalo Lake Advanced Biofuels has restarted its Minnesota, US plant. Repairs and upgrades have been installed and tested on the plant since June. The 18 MMgy plant was originally idled in 2009. It was then purchased by Purified Renewable Energy and run briefly in 2012. The company then filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and the facility was bought by West Ventures, one of the companies'…
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Swedish Taurus Energy has partnered with France-based CIMV, and sent a proposal to the EU Commission detailing the construction of a demonstration plant for the production of ethanol from biomass. The plan is for the demonstration plant will be built in France. Taurus Energy will be responsible for the yeast-based fermentation step in the process and the demonstration plant will be built in…
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The Lufthansa Group is operating its LH 190 flight from Frankfurt to Berlin Tegel using a 10% blend of the new biofuel component farnesane. This is the first scheduled flight in Europe to run on this sugar-based bio-kerosene fuel mix. A rig test at Lufthansa Technik's facility in Hamburg last year, as part of the EU's 'Blending Study' project preceded Lufthansa's flight. Lufthansa has also…
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Renewable energy technology provider INEOS Bio is restarting its new cellulosic ethanol plant in Florida after contamination forced it to decrease production considerably. The company has upgraded the facility's technology and is also finishing the installation of equipment to remove impurities from one of the plant's process streams. As a result, this contamination has disrupted production. The…
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DuPont Industrial Biosciences (DuPont) has selected Murex to market cellulosic ethanol produced from its 30 million gallon plant in Nevada, Iowa. Once completed, the facility will be the largest cellulosic ethanol plant in the world. The Nevada biorefinery will use all parts of the corn stover – the stalks, leaves and cobs. 'We are excited to work with an industry leader such as DuPont to…
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Germany's biofuel consumption was 2.9 million tonnes in the year to October, a drop of 8.9% compared with the first 10 months in 2012, reports the country's economics agency BAFA. Despite a 0.5% increase in total road fuel consumption, bringing the total to 43.75 million tonnes and blending rates dropping for all biofuel types, the overall consumption still fell. There was however a 9.5% increase…
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A new ethanol plant may be built in Onida, Iowa, US. Plans started earlier this year for a facility that is capable of producing 70 million gallons per year of ethanol and 200 tonnes of distiller’s grain. ‘What ethanol has done for agriculture is help balance supply and demand,’ says Walt Wendland, who, along with Chris Schwarck, has been involved in the start-up of several…
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