The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued new analysis on the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn-based ethanol. The analysis, conducted by ICF, found that typical corn-based ethanol achieves a 43 percent greenhouse gas reduction when compared to 2005-era gasoline, and by 2022, corn-based ethanol is projected to increase to a 50 percent greenhouse gas reduction... [Read More]

US President Barack Obama has urged the US to take bolder action in tackling climate change in his last presidential speech. In his farewell address, delivered on 10 January in Chicago, Obama  said: “We’ve  led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet.  But without bolder action, our children won’t have time to... [Read More]

US ethanol exports were off to a strong start for the first quarter of the 2016/2017 marketing year and were at their highest levels over the past five years. Exports totaled 353.2 million gallons for the months of September, October, and November 2016, according to data recently released by the US Department of Agriculture’s Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS). Brazil,... [Read More]

Global clean energy investment fell by 18% to $287.5 billion (€269.7bn) in 2016, dragged down by sharp falls in equipment prices and slowdown in key Asian markets. According to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), Chinese investment totalled at $87.8 billion, down 26% from the 2015 record high of $119.1 billion, while Japan invested a meagre $22.8... [Read More]

Global enzyme provider, CTE Global, has joined the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association as a vendor member. "We are pleased to welcome CTE Global to our roster of vendor members. CTE Global shares our goal in growing Minnesota's ethanol industry," said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association. In the United States, CTE Global works closely with... [Read More]

The European Commission’s (EC) proposed phase-out of conventional biofuels by 2030 threatens to remove one of the EU’s best options for reducing greenhouse gases and decarbonising transport, energy experts told MEPs. As the European Parliament gets ready to consider the controversial Renewable Energy Directive II proposal to phase out conventional biofuels... [Read More]

Renewable fuels will play a critical role in decarbonising the transport sector, and will complement the role of electric vehicles, Transport Minister John Hayes has said The UK’s Department for Transport will spend £20 million on supporting twenty innovative low-carbon projects. Speaking at a road transport conference in London, Transport Minister John Hayes... [Read More]

China has increased the anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) enacted on imports of US distiller’s dried grains (DDGS) from the levels proposed last year. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce (MoC), the new anti-dumping duties will range from 42.2% to 53.7%, up from 38.8% proposed last September, while anti-subsidy tariffs will range from... [Read More]

A new US post-election survey shows that decisive voters in the 2016 presidential election are staunch supporters of American ethanol, Growth Energy says. The survey of 3,000 Trump voters in the Midwestern battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota found that more than eight in 10 respondents agree with the President-elect's... [Read More]

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the publication of a report, titled Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities. According to the US department, the report is the first comprehensive assessment of the resource potential and technology opportunities provided... [Read More]

Japanese brewer Sapporo Holding has licensed Thailand-based fuel retailer PTG Energy to manufacture cassava-based bioethanol. The Nikkei Asian Review quoted Sapporo, when it said that “this will mark the world's first attempt at commercial production of ethanol from the pulp of the cassava, a plentiful Thai crop whose tuberous root is used to make tapioca”. Innotech... [Read More]

A Philippine-based institute has called for increased research into genomics to help improve the variety and yield of the country’s sugarcane, particularly by increasing its resistance to common diseases. To sustain the industry’s growth, new and superior varieties of sugarcane should be developed, Dr. Liwayway M. Engle of the Philippine Sugar Research Institute... [Read More]

Neste has launched a renewable diesel made entirely from waste and residues under the brand name Neste MY Renewable Diesel at select service stations in the Helsinki region. The product enables up to 90% lower greenhouse gas emissions throughout the life cycle of the fuel compared to conventional fossil diesel. "The launch of Neste MY is a long-expected opener in... [Read More]

Ethanol producer Abengoa has sold its 200,000tpy San Roque biodiesel operation to Spanish oil company Cepsa for €8 million.   According to media reports in El Economista, Abengoa sold its Spanish biodiesel operations via the courts. In a ruling dated 22 December 2016, Judge Ana Marín Herrero has approved the liquidation plan proposed by Abengoa Bioenergía... [Read More]

Martin McGuinness has stepped down as Northern Ireland's deputy first minister in protest against the handling of the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme that could cost taxpayers £490m, accoridng to media reports.  The Sinn Féin MLA's resignation took effect from 5pm GMT Monday, according to the BBC. He cited the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) conduct... [Read More]

US researchers have maintained that miscanthus, long speculated to be the top biofuel producer, yields more than twice as much as switchgrass in the US using an open-source bioenergy crop database gaining traction in plant science, climate change, and ecology research. "To understand yield trends and variation across the country for our major food crops, extensive databases... [Read More]