Oil refiner and renewable solutions developer Neste is planning to start selling diesel produced entirely from renewable raw materials at selected stations in Finland around the turn of the year. Majority of the feedstock Neste uses to refine the renewable diesel consists of waste and residues. The product launch is one of Neste's ways to participate in the centenary of... [Read More]

US biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group (REG) has redeemed in full of the $100 million (€88.7m) Gulf Opportunity Zone (GOZone) bonds ahead of their 2033 maturity date. The bonds were issued by the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA) to help finance construction of the company’s 75 million gallon renewable hydrocarbon diesel refinery in Geismar,... [Read More]

LiqTech International, a Denmark-based clean technology company, has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) to supply a $1.8 million (€1.6m) filtration system for a 100,000tpy Chinese bioethanol plant. The bioethanol plant, to be located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, is scheduled to be in operation in 2017 and when completed it will be the largest... [Read More]

Member of the US House of Representatives for Minnesota Tom Emmer has voiced his support for the state’s ethanol industry after a meeting with local biofuel producers. Emmer recently met up with the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MBFA) to learn more about Minnesota's ethanol industry and show his support for clean homegrown renewable biofuels. "Minnesota and America's... [Read More]

Petroleum products refiner Tesoro Corp. has agreed to acquire renewable fuels and chemicals company Virent to support Virent's success in bringing biofuels technology to commercial scale. Virent's BioForming technology can convert sugars and other biomass derived feedstocks into renewable petrol blendstocks and aromatics, which are fully compatible with existing fuel infrastructure... [Read More]

Biofuels producer Gevo has entered into a heads of agreement with German airline Deutsche Lufthansa to supply Gevo’s alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel. The fuel will be produced at Gevo’s first commercial hydrocarbons facility, intended to be built in Luverne, Minnesota, US. The terms of the agreement contemplate Lufthansa purchasing up to 8 million gpy of ATJ from... [Read More]

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, a testing and analysis instrument specialist, has announced the release of its new ‘BioEthanol Analyzer’ for quality control testing at bioethanol plants. According to the firm, which is the US subsidiary of Japan-headquarted Shimadzu Corp., its analyser is an advanced tool for real-time monitoring of the fermentation process... [Read More]

BioFuelNet Canada, a Canadian research network on advanced biofuels, has slammed the findings of a recent study by Professor John DeCicco from the University of Michigan and colleagues which states that biofuels are worse than gasoline in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In the study, when DeCicco and colleagues calculate the CO2 emissions going into the atmosphere,... [Read More]

Bioforever, a consortium of 14 European companies, has announced the start of a demonstration project for the conversion of woody biomass to biochemicals. Bioforever is an acronym for bio-based products from forestry via economically viable European routes. The consortium intends to demonstrate the feasibility of various new value chains from lignocellulosic feedstocks... [Read More]

Energy-intensive industries and the products they make can play a considerable role in the global effort to tackle climate change, according to a new report from the World Bank Group, CLASP and Carbon Trust. Making them part of the solution while helping them stay competitive is a key challenge for policy makers, the report highlighted. ‘Climate-friendly technologies’ The... [Read More]

Latvia has boosted its biofuel production over the past decade, according to official statistics from the country’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSM). According to the CSM, Latvia has seen its production soar nearly 20 times in the past decade while 2015 consumption compared to 2014 was 203% higher. Biofuels remains a small portion of the country’s overall renewable... [Read More]

Large-scale seaweed farms could become an important source for biofuels production in the UK, a new report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) suggest. The government department recently unveiled a report entitled, Seaweed in the UK and abroad – status, products, limitations, gaps and Cefas role. In the report, Defra stated that seaweed... [Read More]

US powerboat competitors have used high-level ethanol-petrol blends in their boats to race in two competitions. In late August, competitors from around the US participated in two major powerboat racing competitions, the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Missouri, and the Mentor Superboat Grand Prix in Mentor, Ohio. Many of the top performing boats at each event... [Read More]

Increasing biofuels production in the US could be posing a threat to the country’s already troubled bee population, a new study finds. The Northern Great Plains of North and South Dakota, which support over 40%of US commercial honey bee colonies, are quickly becoming less conducive to commercial beekeeping as a result of land use changes, according to a US... [Read More]

China and the US – the top two greenhouse gas emitters in the world – have both agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement, a global framework to limit the effects of climate change. While China had already earlier announced that it would ratify the agreement, the joint announcement has been hailed by climate campaigners as a significant advance in combating global... [Read More]

If bioenergy represents a sustainable energy future for the planet, then why must it compete with oil prices to be deemed a feasible energy alternative for the society?  The answer is simple: It is because the value of bioenergy is indexed on to the cheapest source of fossil energy available on this planet. The generalisation of all energy sources on the basis of... [Read More]