Changes to the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) will ‘double’ the use of renewable fuels in the UK transport sector, according to a statement from the Department of Transport. Included in the revised (RTFO) are new biofuel targets set to come into force on 15 April. Transport fuels owners who supply 450,000 litres a year or more will be... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

A letter from five corn-state Senators’ follows criticism from the biofuels industry of the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of waivers. In a 9 April letter to the President, five Senators urged Trump to halt the EPA’s use of ‘hardship’ waivers to relieve refineries of their obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It was... [Read More]

New insights into how plants build cellulose could have import implications for the production of biofuels, according to new research from Penn State University. "Cellulose is the single most abundant biopolymer on earth," said Ying Gu, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State and senior author of the paper published in the Proceedings of... [Read More]

German renewable fuel producer Natural Energy West is to reduce its biodiesel output by 50%. According to Reuters, the company is making the cuts in response to surging biodiesel imports from Indonesia and Argentina to the EU. Reuters reports that the company will cut output ‘immediately and for an indefinite period’. Natural Energy West produces around 240,000... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

The UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published its Energy Trends data for 2017. The report includes in depth statistics on the country’s biofuels industry. According to the report, overall biofuel consumption in transport was down 0.5% on the previous year, falling from 1,467 million litres to 1,460 million litres. However, year... [Read More]

A new, £5 million project is set to develop the bioeconomy across Yorkshire, the Humber region and the Tees Valley in the north of England. Dubbed the THYME (Teesside, Hull and York - Mobilising Bioeconomy Knowledge Exchange) project, the three year initiative is being led by the University of York. It’s aiming to ‘build on’ expertise and innovation... [Read More]

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have identified a species of bacteria that converts cellulose into biobutanol, a replacement for petrol. The scientists first discovered and cultivated the bacterium in 2015 by isolating it from mushroom crop residue. The team claims that producing biofuels with the microorganism could replace traditional processes for... [Read More]

The US trade association is calling out the EPA following court approval of the agency’s settlement with the bankrupt refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) and its granting of a ‘small refiner’ waiver for refining giant Andeavor. Damage to the environment and to agricultural communities are among Growth Energy’s complaints about these exemptions... [Read More]

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... [Read More]

The three smallest of Andeavor’s ten oil refineries are now exempt from US biofuels legislation. The ‘hardship’ waiver is meant to protect smaller refiners from being disproportionately impacted by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Last year, Andeavor posted $1.5 billion in net profits. The exemption allows Andeavor to disregard legislation requiring... [Read More]

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted that unfairly dumped biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia have unfairly harmed US industry. ITC voted 4 – 0 in favour of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition’s position that the industry has suffered because of the imports. According to NBB, the ITC decision means antidumping orders... [Read More]

A bipartisan plan is to be unveiled March 28 for support biofuels at a national level to address the country’s increasingly pressing energy security concerns and to systemically promote the development, production and use of biofuels. The industry body Bioenergy Australia is throwing its weight behind Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and... [Read More]

The US Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkley Lab) have discovered an enzyme that enables the production of a renewable alternative to toluene, a petroleum-based octane booster in gasoline that sells 29 million tons per year. According to the researchers, the enzyme enables the production of aromatic hydrocarbon... [Read More]

The US National Biodiesel Board has expressed its disappointment at the news Congress hasn’t renewed the biodiesel tax credit. On 22 March, Congress passed a $1.3 trillion spending package to fund the federal government until September and prevent another shutdown. NBB campaigned for a renewed biodiesel tax credit to be included in the package, but it hasn’t... [Read More]