Andrew Murfin, general manager at Shell’s Advanced Biofuels division, has become the latest in a long line of people to declare that he will be taking part in this year’s Biofuels International Conference. Murfin joined Alternative Energies in 2009 and was appointed GM Advanced Biofuels at the beginning of 2013. In his current role, he has global accountability... [Read More]

The world needs to implement the Paris Agreement to meet the global challenge of climate change, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged. Guterres was highlighting the seriousness of the impact of climate change on the planet and its inhabitants.  “The effects of climate change are dangerous and they are accelerating,” Secretary-General... [Read More]

Finnish consumers have already reduced emissions by an amount equal to 560 flights around the world, using Neste MY Renewable Diesel. This is despite the fuel only being released at the start of the year. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is produced 100% from waste and residues, and was launched into the Finnish market at the start of 2017. Using the fuel, Finnish consumers have... [Read More]

India-based bioethanol producer Praj Industries has announced its fourth quarter and full-year 2017 results. Income from operations stood at Rs. 311.7 crore (€4.31m) compared to Rs. 345.9 crore the year before for the quarter. Q4 profit before tax stood at Rs. 36.8 crore for the period compared to Rs. 45.8 crore the year before. Elsewhere, for the full-year, income... [Read More]

A new sustainable biofuels initiative has been launched with the intention of handing freight companies “control of their carbon footprint”. The GoodShipping programme from Dutch company GoodFuels is designed to ‘accelerate’ the amount of low-carbon fuels in the marine-fuel mix. Put simply, it allows the cargo owner to purchase low-carbon, compatible... [Read More]

US advanced biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group (REG) has hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of the company’s operations centre in Amsterdam. The team in Amsterdam will support the company’s international operations and work closely with the operations center in Ames, Iowa.  REG utilises an integrated procurement, distribution,... [Read More]

Bioenergy researchers are looking for ways to increase the efficiency of biofuel production in an unusual place – fungi. Finding a cost-effective way to breakdown bioenergy crops is one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable biofuels production. A team from the University of California, Santa Barbara are focusing their research on the estimated 1.5 million species... [Read More]

UPM Biofuels has received an RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials) certificate for its UPM BioVerno renewable diesel and naphtha and its production sidestreams turpentine and pitch (resin). RSB verifies the sustainability and reliability of feedstock sourcing and production.  In RSB certification, the sustainability of biofuels is evaluated against... [Read More]

Zimbabwe will need more biofuels to blend into its fuel supply as it pushes ahead with ethanol production, according to the Zimbabwe Mail. Zimbabwe will now increase its mandatory petrol blending from 5% to 10%. This comes after government in March reduced to 5% from 15% the mandatory amount of local ethanol to be blended with petrol as President Robert Mugabe’s... [Read More]

Neutral Fuels, a biodiesel producer based in the UAE, has become the first company in the world to commercialise an enzymatic biofuel. For six years Neutral Fuels has been producing biodiesel using cooking oil, supplying high profile clients such as McDonalds UAE, which runs a fleet of renewably fuelled trucks on B100 biodiesel. Karl W. Feilder, Neutral Fuels’ CEO... [Read More]

The US Environmental Protection Agency has published its Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) generation data for April 2017. Created in 2005 under that year’s Energy Policy Act, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a national policy requiring a certain volume of renewable fuel to replace or reduce the quantity of petroleum-based transportation fuel, heating oil... [Read More]

The renewable energy sector employs 9.8 million people worldwide, according to a newly published study from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). “Falling costs and enabling policies have steadily driven up investment and employment in renewable energy worldwide since IRENA’s first annual assessment in 2012, when just over seven million people... [Read More]

The global energy transition needs to speed up in order to tackle climate change, according to industry experts. The energy revolution will also not be “smooth” and will be driven largely by disruptive consumers as they run towards decentralised generation. That was the overall conclusion theme reached by energy professionals during the first session of yesterday’s... [Read More]

Indian union minister Nitin Gadkari will urge the country’s finance minister to reduce the goods and services tax (GST) rates on cars that run on biodiesel, as well as hybrid vehicles, according to Times of India’s The Economic Times. GST rates announced last week would see hybrid cars and biodiesel vehicles attract similar tax rates to luxury cars and SUVs. The... [Read More]

Scientists are developing gold catalysts to recycle one of the main by-products of biofuel production, glycerol. The chemical products obtained from the process are valuable to medicine, agriculture, the cosmetics industry and other sectors. Published in the journal Current Organic Synthesis, the study was completed by scientists from the University of Milano, the National... [Read More]

Aemetis has announced that its India-based subsidiary Universal Biofuels has signed a three-year biofuels supply agreement with BP Singapore (BPS), the regional trading arm of BP, which has an expanding biofuels portfolio.   "The agreement sets forth the logistics, pricing and other terms of the supply to BPS of low carbon biodiesel," said Eric McAfee, chairman and... [Read More]