Norwegian biorefinery operator Borregaard has decided to invest NOK 63 million (€6.8m) in a project including an upgrade of a bioethanol plant and a facility to capture and store biogas.  The project has been awarded a grant of NOK 18.9 million from Enova, a Norwegian government agency which promotes environmentally friendly restructuring of energy end-use, renewable... [Read More]

Diane Black, member of the US House of Representatives (R-Tenn.), has an act that would extend the biodiesel blenders' tax credit for two years through 2018. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2016 unless Congress decides to extend it through Black’s Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Incentive Extension Act of 2016 (H.R. 5994). Since 2005, the $1.00 per... [Read More]

US ethanol trade association Growth Energy is calling for higher ethanol blends to be introduced in the aftermath a petrol pipeline leak that has left the pumps dry on many stations. A 9 September leak in the Colonial pipeline, which supplies petrol to many states in the southeast and east coast of the US has resulted not only in petrol shortages, but also price spikes... [Read More]

A US Navy Boeing EA-18G electronic attack aircraft completed a 100% biofuel powered flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland earlier this month (September). Dubbed the "Green Growler" the aircraft flew using a bio JP-5 fuel produced from alternative sources, replacing the petroleum based JP-5, powering its two GE 414 turbofan engines. “From... [Read More]

A porous metal-organic framework sorbent could boost the efficiency of ethanol production from cellulosic biomass by trapping compounds that inhibit fermentation, according to a study from the University of California. Woody plants and grasses hold enormous supplies of cellulose, from which ethanol can be produced via fermentation of sugars extracted from the plant... [Read More]

Business magnate and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has joined French oil giant Total in investing $14 million (€12.4m) in US biofuel specialist Renmatix. The company has developed a process that converts plant waste and biomass into sugars that can be converted into biofuels and bio versions of chemicals. The company hopes that this investment will help it to reach... [Read More]

A cross-party group of Midwest governors is urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to remove what they call a key hurdle that prevents the sale of motor fuel with 15% ethanol during the summer. In a letter sent yesterday to the EPA’s administrator Gina McCarthy, the governors pointed out that gasoline with 10% ethanol gets a regulatory waiver allowing it to... [Read More]

Sales of electric cars have fallen sharply after the UK government cut a grant scheme that encouraged drivers to switch from petrol. According to Department for Transport statistics, between April and June 4,200 plug-in cars were sold – the lowest for two years. The government announced last year that it would extend grants for electric cars for a further two years... [Read More]

Low-carbon fuel specialist LanzaTech has produced jet fuel from waste gases for Virgin Atlantic. LanzaTech said that it had produced 1,500 of its jet fuel called ‘Lanzanol’. Sincce 2011, LanzaTech has been working with Virgin to commit to producing the world’s first jet fuel derived from waste industrial gases from steel mills via a fermentation process. The... [Read More]

Renewable Energy Group has announced that the company sold more than 50 million gallons of biomass-based diesel during the month of August 2016. The sales volume created a new milestone for REG and was a first in the company’s history. “We are thankful for our customers, vendors and investors who made this milestone possible because of the relationships and... [Read More]

UK-based autoclave waste specialist Wilson Bio-Chemical has opened its micro autoclave fibre production plant for turning municipal solid waste (MSW) into biomass fibre that can be converted into chemicals or fuels. The facility has been developed with the help of the University of York subsidiary, the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) and is based at the... [Read More]

Edeniq, a US cellulosic and biorefining technology company, has announced that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Pacific Ethanol’s Stockton, California, plant using Edeniq’s Pathway Technology, allowing the facility to generate D3 cellulosic renewable identification numbers (RINs) for its cellulosic output under the renewable fuels standard... [Read More]

The US Department of Agriculture has provided $16,893 (€15,000) to Advanced Biofuels USA, a Maryland-based non-profit educational organisation, for a feasibility study of producing bio-jet fuel from energy beets grown on the eastern shore of Maryland. The study will look at the technical and economic aspects of a project being developed by the University of Maryland... [Read More]

Airliner KLM has signed a three-year biofuel offtake agreement with biojet fuel specialists SkyNRG and AltAir. As part of the agreement, KLM will purchase sustainable jet fuel for all flights departing from Los Angeles, US. The fuel, produced by AltAir Fuels and supplied by SkyNRG, is made from used cooking oil and delivered via the airport’s hydrant system. This... [Read More]

Boskalis, a Netherlands-based global dredging and marine expert, and GoodFuels Marine, a provider of marine biofuels to the global commercial shipping fleet, has tested UPM’s new sustainable wood-based drop-in biofuel on a marine vessel. The drop-in biofuel is called UPM BioVerno. The tests were conducted on a vessel working on the Dutch Marker Wadden nature restoration... [Read More]

Industry experts have backed a report by the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) which suggests that the UK will miss its 2020 renewable energy targets. Despite progress in some areas of its renewables commitments, there is simply not enough being done, ECCC says in its new report titled 2020 renewable heat and transport targets. The UK has... [Read More]