Argentina's government plans to raise its requirement for ethanol blend in gasoline from the current 12% to up to 26% from next year, according to a report in Reuters. Information about the country's intention to follow suit with Brazil's long-standing ethanol policy came from Patrick Adam, executive director of Argentina's corn ethanol chamber. A spokesman for the energy... [Read More]

Spanish renewable energy giant Abengoa Bioenergy said a US bankruptcy court has approved financing to help the firm restart its Nebraska production operations. The US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued an order approving “up to $41 million of debtor in possession financing for the six Abengoa Bioenergy companies that had recently filed for... [Read More]

The Center for Biological Diversity, a non-profit conservation organisation, and seven other groups have urged the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to withdraw, what they describe as, a misleading and inaccurate report on second-generation biofuels. In a letter to the UN organisation, the groups wrote that “the report contains so many factual... [Read More]

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, a Dutch airliner, is launching around 80 flights from Oslo to Amsterdam using only biofuel on its Embraer 190 aircraft. The flights will be operated over the coming five to six weeks, the Dutch airliner said. During these flights Embraer SA will be measuring the efficiency of biofuel in comparison with kerosene. This means that around 80 commercial... [Read More]

An enzyme responsible for making hydrocarbons has been discovered by US-based scientists studying a common green microalga called Botryococcus braunii. The scientists are based at agricultural research specialist Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The study, published in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications, could enable scientists to use the enzyme in... [Read More]

Vietnam’s state-owned oil company PetroVietnam has confirmed that its Dung Quat bioethanol plant has halted its operation due to high production costs making its products uncompetitive in the market.  As petrol prices have been falling in the world market, E5 biofuel cannot compete with RON92, and as a result, the plant has stopped production after a long period... [Read More]

Summit Agricultural Group (SAG), a renewable energy, agribusiness development, and production agriculture company, has broken ground on the first large-scale corn ethanol production facility in Brazil. The $115 million (appr. €101m) plant is an international collaboration between Iowa-based SAG and the Brazilian agribusiness Fiagril. The production facility is being... [Read More]

Six biofuel trade associations have sent a letter to leaders of the US House of Representatives and US Senate to ask for a multiyear extension of advanced biofuel tax credits. In December, the US Congress granted a two-year extension to the second generation biofuel producer tax credit, the special depreciation allowance for second generation biofuel plant property, the... [Read More]

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have developed a natural process, reverse photosynthesis, to produce biofuels and energy from sunlight. The process involves breaking down plant biomass using the energy in solar rays combined with monooxygenases enzyme. The resulting product can then be used as chemicals, biofuels or other products. According to... [Read More]

Environment and sustainability professionals have high levels of work satisfaction because they find their jobs personally, professionally and financially rewarding, according to new research. Statistics released by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) show that 82% of its members are satisfied with their career – the highest figure ever... [Read More]

More than two thirds of Germans view biofuels in a positive light, a new study suggests. The representative survey, conducted by market survey analysts TNS Infratest, questioned more than 1,000 German residents and found that the majority of Germans appreciate biofuels as "being environmentally-friendly". Around 39% base their positive attitude as biofuels being more "sustainable"... [Read More]

A University of Virginia researcher has said that feedstock such as sugar cane should not be used for biofuel production and be used for food production to help feed people. Paolo D’Odorico is a professor of environmental sciences at UVA and says close to 700 million people today could be fed if the biofuel agriculture went toward edible food. Speaking about crops... [Read More]

Renewable Energy Group (REG), a US-based biofuels producer, is expanding its Iowa-based laboratory to boost renewable chemical related biotechnology research, development and commercialisation. The lab expansion will include the installation of fermentation equipment and significant analytical capabilities, REG said in a statement. Upon completion, full-time positions... [Read More]

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a US-based global food processing and commodities firm, has struck a deal to dispose of its sole Brazilian ethanol plant, citing a "challenging" environment for the biofuel. The Minas Gerais distillery, and its sugarcane plantation, which has the capacity to process up to 1.5m tonnes of cane a year, and produce 37,000 gallons of ethanol, will... [Read More]

Emerging opportunities for algal biofuels, particularly in the Persian Gulf region, may propel the success of the industry, a new market study by Future Market Insights finds. Algae was first discovered as a fuel alternative in 1978 under the leadership of US president Jimmy Carter at a time when fuel prices were high, demand was high, and supply was low and depleting... [Read More]

Cellulosic Sugar Producers Cooperative, an Ontario, Canada-based farmer's cooperative, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Comet Biorefining to collaborate on the development of a sustainable agricultural biomass supply chain in southwestern Ontario. Comet Biorefining recently announced Sarnia, Ontario, as the location of its commercial-scale biomass-derived... [Read More]