Zero-cost materials such as water hyacinth and grass have the potential can yield a high percentage of biofuel, Indian researchers have discovered. Research conducted by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITK) indicates that pore-scale phenomena can be used to increase the yield of fermentable sugars and bioethanol from hemicellulose. Water hyacinth,... [Read More]

The development of large-scale energy projects, including the Site C hydroelectric dam, threatens to drive bioenergy and biofuel production away from British Columbia (B.C.), experts warn. Jack Saddler, a researcher at the University of B.C. and part of a project to convert forest residues to biojet fuel, told CBC News that big energy projects could drive out innovation... [Read More]

Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels will build an on-site enzyme manufacturing (OSM) facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa, pending state and local approvals. The facility will be integrated into the Project Liberty technology package, replicable in future facilities. For Project Liberty, the OSM will directly pipe enzymes into the Liberty production process without requiring downstream... [Read More]

Creditors of Abengoa Bioenergy US Holding, a unit of Spanish renewable energy company Abengoa, have reached an agreement over the distribution of asset sale proceeds, removing a key hurdle for the company to exit bankruptcy, according to Reuters Abengoa Bioenergy was one of dozens of US Abengoa subsidiaries that filed for US bankruptcy protection last year while the Seville-based... [Read More]

Growth Energy, a trade body for US ethanol producers, has welcomed the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response to Pruitt’s confirmation, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor, issued the following statement: “We congratulate Pruitt on his confirmation as Administrator of the EPA.... [Read More]

Pacific Ethanol, a US renewable fuels producer, and Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, have announced that they have entered into a technology licensing and purchase agreement to enable the production of cellulosic ethanol at Pacific Ethanol’s Madera, California plant using Edeniq’s Pathway and Cellunator technologies. The Madera plant... [Read More]

US ethanol company ACE Ethanol has received a pilot facility which uses patented cellulosic ethanol technology from D3MAX. The pilot facility will be installed at ACE Ethanol’s Wisconsin plant in late February. Installation is expected to be complete by mid-March with start-up and testing at the facility taking place over the ensuing two months. “We are very... [Read More]

Argentina has the potential double its current 12% ethanol blending mandate in the next two to three years, according to a government official. Nestor Roulet, secretary of added value at the Argentinian Ministry of Agriculture, told Reuters that the South American country’s annual ethanol consumption could rise to 2 million m3, which could help Argentina reduce its... [Read More]

Overall global biofuel output is projected to reach 67 billion gallons per year (BGY) by 2022, from the 59 billion gallons achieved in 2016. According to a fresh market report by Lux Research, new biofuel technology is “finally” starting to push aside traditional biofuels, such as first-generation biodiesel. New facilities based on non-food feedstocks and producing... [Read More]

The Rwandan government is abandoning a $35 million (€33m) biodiesel pilot project, according to a report in The East African. Officials of the National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) told Rwanda Today that the government decided to ditch the project after realising it was not viable. NIRDA director-general Joseph Mungarurire cites difficulty... [Read More]

US advanced biofuels company has announced that it has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) with HCS Holding (HCS) to supply isooctane under a five-year offtake agreement.  HCS is a manufacturer of specialty products and solutions in the hydrocarbons sector, operating under the brands Haltermann Carless, ETS Racing Fuels and EOS.  HCS is owned by HIG Capital. ... [Read More]

German bioethanol producer CropEnergies has increased its forecast for the current financial year 2016/17. In a statement, the company said that the main reasons for the better earnings were “spot prices for bioethanol which continue to be significantly higher than the previously expected forward prices as well as the high capacity utilisations in all four production... [Read More]

There have been at least four major power outages in several states in Australia over the last 5 months impacting millions of customers due the country’s switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources, according to UK-based union GMB. GMB, the union for workers in the energy sector in the UK, is calling on the UK and devolved governments as well as Ofgem and National... [Read More]

A group of Republican elder statesmen is calling for a tax on carbon emissions to fight climate change, according to a report in the New York Times. The group, led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, with former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and Henry M. Paulson Jr., a former secretary of the Treasury, says that taxing carbon pollution produced by burning... [Read More]

Indian ethanol producer Praj Industries has published steady quarterly results and has announced that it is positive about its cellulosic ethanol opportunities. Income from operations stood at Rs 232.74 crore for quarter three 2017, compared to Rs205.79 crore the same period the year before. Profit before tax was around Rs 15.98 crore (Q2 FY17: Rs 6.28 crore, Q3 FY16:... [Read More]

Coffee chain Caffè Nero has unveiled plans to recycle coffee grounds from 122 of its London stores to make coffee logs, which can be used in boilers and woodburners. The scheme, which was formally announced late last week but which has been running since July 2016, sees recycling specialists First Mile pick up coffee waste from Caffè Nero stores and take... [Read More]