Butamax Advanced Biofuels, a 50/50 joint venture between BP and DuPont, has announced the acquisition of Nesika Energy and its ethanol facility in Scandia, Kansas. Butamax will now start engineering work to add bio-isobutanol capacity to the facility. A cost-effective alternative to isobutanol, bio-isobutanol is derived from renewable feedstocks. It provides an option... [Read More]

The long running controversy regarding palm oil is coming to a climax, with members of the European Parliament (MEPs) set to debate a report calling on the European Commission to phase out palm oil in biofuels. The controversial report also calls for a single certification scheme for the commodity to enter the EU market. Czech GUE (Confederal Group of the European United... [Read More]

The Biofuels Association of Australia (BAA) has strongly rejected claims from the Federal Productivity Commission that the biofuels industry fails to support the agriculture sector or the community. In a recent report to Australia’s government, the Productivity Commission urged Queensland, New South Wales and the Commonwealth governments to stop supporting the biofuels... [Read More]

A new study may have found a solution to the negative effects biofuel production can have on food production. The use of sequential cropping – one crop sown after another has been harvested – may be able to provide foodstock for biofuel production without adversely affecting food production, according to the study by Ecofys. Support for the biofuels industry... [Read More]

The global bioethanol market will rise to $9,544 million by 2022, according to a report by Big Market Research. Valued at $5,652 million in 2015, the bioethanol market is forecast to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6% up until 2022. The report identifies a number of factors which are driving the growth of the bioethanol market. The rise in environmental... [Read More]

Gevo has announced its financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2016. The US renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company announced a net loss per share of ($0.33) for the quarter. The company announced that gross loss was $2.3 million (€2.14m) for the three months ended December 31, 2016, versus $1.7 million in the same quarter in... [Read More]

China has opened the world’s first production line that converts coal into ethanol, the main chemical ingredient in alcohol, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has announced. The facility in Xingping, Shaanxi province, which went into service in January, was developed by the academy’s Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the State-owned Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum... [Read More]

A key economic advisor to Australia’s federal government has claimed motorists in Queensland are paying more for petrol because of the state government’s biofuel mandate. The Productivity Commission has urged Queensland, New South Wales and the Commonwealth governments to stop supporting the biofuels industry by the end of next year. It’s also dismissed... [Read More]

The Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) has announced that the state’s capacity to produce biodiesel is rising by 20%, from 334 million gallons (1.5 billion litres) a year to close to 400 million gallons (1.8 billion litres) a year. Proactive state policies have played a pivotal role in the growth, as well as expansion projects either recently completed or currently in progress,... [Read More]

The Indonesian government has submitted a complaint to the WTO over the US’ National Biodiesel Board’s (NBB) petition to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties against dumped and subsidised biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia. “Of course we feel that this is a disadvantage for us. We have already lodged our complaints with the WTO,”... [Read More]

Investigators believe they have found the source of the mystery biodiesel spill in the Columbia River. Last week US officials confirmed that biodiesel had leaked into the Columbia River somewhere close to Wenatchee, Washington. Exactly where the spill originated remained a mystery, however. A coordinated investigation by state and federal authorities has now identified... [Read More]

A farmers’ cooperative in Iowa, USA, has staged a demonstration in the state to convince more farmers to switch to biodiesel. The United Farmers Cooperative, based in the town of Afton, compared two trucks head to head to highlight the benefits of biodiesel. One of the trucks was fuelled with a 5% blend of biodiesel (B5), the other with a 20% blend (B20). The results... [Read More]

The Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) claims that high taxes are making biodiesel substantially more expensive than regular diesel in the country. The association has also called on India’s central government to continue with excise duty exemptions for the sector. “The industry is just not moving ahead because of skewed rates of taxation, which continue... [Read More]

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has announced its support of the US’ National Biodiesel Board’s (NBB) anti-dumping and countervailing duty complaints against dumped and subsidised biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia. NBB reported that the US biodiesel market had suffered severe damage as a result of illegal trade activities which escalated by... [Read More]

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) said it has filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition with the US government to investigate imports from Argentina and Indonesia, saying the countries have violated trade laws by flooding the US market with dumped, subsidised biodiesel. The petition was filed with the US Department of Commerce and the US International... [Read More]

US ethanol trade body Growth Energy’s CEO, Emily Skor, has released a statement in relation to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s confirmation hearing for President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. Skor said: “The role played by the Secretary of Agriculture is of critical importance to the biofuels... [Read More]