Sweetwater Energy, a Rochester, NY-based biotechnology company and Estonia-based AS Graanul Invest, is going to build a commercial-scale integrated biorefinery that will produce cellulosic sugars and ‘highly pure’ lignin from 50,000 tons of local hardwood each year. In addition, the plant will allow the two companies to work with corporate partners to create... [Read More]

April 20, Ireland’s Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment published a policy statement confirming its intention to increase the biofuel obligation to 10% from 1 January 2019 and to 11% in 2020. Ireland’s Biofuels Obligation Scheme requires suppliers of road transport fuel to ensure a certain proportion of the fuel that they place on the... [Read More]

The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) has asked the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC to decide whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broke the law by granting Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waivers to an increasing number of small refineries. The petition specifically called for a review of the EPA’s “decision to modify the criteria or lower... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

Reuters is reporting that a refinery owned by billionaire and former Trump advisor Carl Icahn has received a waiver freeing it from its obligations under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The waiver will allow the refinery to save millions of dollars on what would otherwise be used to blend biofuels into its products or buy renewable identification numbers (RINs) from... [Read More]

The new pre-treatment unit passes first production tests required to supply BP Singapore under a three-year feedstock supply agreement.   Aemetis announced 25 April that its subsidiary Universal Biofuels has completed the production of high quality, distilled biodiesel from lower quality, high free fatty acid (FFA) waste feedstock using its recently constructed pre-treatment... [Read More]

UPM Biofuels has received the ‘world’s first’ RSB (Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials) low ILUC (indirect land use change) risk certification. Specifically, the RSB low ILUC risk certificate has been received for crude tall oil, the feedstock used at UPM BioVerno renewable fuels production at the Lappeenranta biorefinery in Finland. The certification... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

A project called Biogo-for-Production has developed new nanocatalysts to create an integrated modular and highly efficient process for producing fuels from renewable energy sources. The researchers focused on the development of advanced nanocatalysts, coupled with advanced reactor concepts to realise modular, highly efficient, integrated processes for the production of... [Read More]

ePure (the European renewable ethanol association) is calling for the EU to adopt a policy that encourages domestic production of sustainable biofuels. The move follows two decisions by the EU Parliament, one to promote protein crops for animal feed (to ease demand for feed from South America) and one to meet the emission reductions agreed to under the Paris agreement. The... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

Veolia has launched an innovative online trading platform with the aim of making it easier to sell and buy organic resources. Aimed at a variety of industries, one potential beneficiary could be the biofuels sector. Dubbed BioTrading, the new website will function as a sales and auction market place. The idea, according to Veolia, is to connect buyers to the rest of the... [Read More]

Brazilian researchers have improved the understanding of how enzymes breakdown biomass to improve their modification. The scientists hope that the research will lead to advances in enzymes used in the biofuels industry. Researchers at the University of Campinas in Brazil, with colleagues from Rio de Janeiro State University, have published a study furthering our understanding... [Read More]