Clariant, a Swiss specialty chemicals producer, and Werner & Mertz (W&M), the producer of Frosch cleaning products, has launched a project which expands the possible applications of bioethanol. Clariant’s sunliquid cellulosic ethanol – made from agricultural residues such as straw – will be processed into detergents, cleansers and cleaning agents... [Read More]

Alliance BioEnergy Plus has formed a strategic alliance with Harvesting Technology (HT) for the inclusion of its licensed and patented advanced separation process. Alliance plans to utilise the separation technology alongside its CTS cellulose conversion process in ethanol applications.  When used in a dry mill corn ethanol plant, the HT process is able to separate... [Read More]

The government of Argentina has more than doubled export taxes on biodiesel, further distressing the industry already suffering from low oil prices and closed markets. The export taxes were increased in February to 3.89pc from 1.62pc in January, which were the lowest since the government implemented a sliding-scale system of export duties for the biofuel in 2012. The biodiesel... [Read More]

The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) is partnering with Lianhenghui Investment Co. to construct a five-acre algae production facility in Zhengzhou, China. The facility will feature the centre’s novel photobioreactor technology for growing algae, which will be used for the production of fuels, nutraceuticals, and bioplastics. Lianhenggui... [Read More]

Interest from Mexican buyers in US ethanol imports is growing, with purchases increasing 1,756% from 2006 until last marketing year. According to the US Grains Council (USGC), in 2006/2007 Mexico bought just 6.8 million litres of US ethanol, while during the 2014/2015 marketing year purchases were 126.5 million litres. Mexico’s current imports of US ethanol... [Read More]

Pacific Ethanol, a US producer and marketer of renewable fuels, and Whitefox Technologies, a UK-based clean fuel membrane specialist, have entered into a technology license and purchase agreement for an industrial scale membrane system that separates water from ethanol in the plant's distillation system. Pacific Ethanol expects commercial operations using the new technology... [Read More]

The European renewable ethanol association (ePURE) has urged the European Commission to introduce a binding framework promoting the use of renewable fuels in transport. In a submission to the public consultation for the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII), which is being drafted this year and will cover the period 2020-2030, ePURE sets out the case for a binding framework... [Read More]

Green Plains, a US-based commodity processing firm, said that it had a fourth-quarter loss, from a profit a year earlier, due to depressed selling prices for ethanol. The Omaha-based company said the net loss was $3.6m (€2.73m), or 9 cents a share, from net income of $42m, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 11% to $740m, compared with $830m for the same... [Read More]

The Australia-based Queensland Government is to investigate the establishment of a biofutures industry development fund, which would look to financially assist first mover investment in the biofuels industry. According to local news website Daily Mercury, Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk made the announcement following the second meeting of her Biofutures Cabinet Committee. "I've... [Read More]

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday barred President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) from taking effect until legal challenges against the legislation are solved. In a tight vote of 5-4, the court decided to put the plan on hold after receiving a request from 27 US States, led by Texas and West Virginia, and several businesses to block the CPP. The regulation is intended... [Read More]

Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group, a Chinese renewable energy giant, is planning to invest €1 billion in a new wood-based biodiesel plant in Finland, as the country looks to replace fossil fuels with biofuels. Kaidi said the plant would use wood-based biomass as its main raw material and it is scheduled to start operations in the northern city of Kemi by the end of... [Read More]

Lincoln Terminal Co., a US-based oil and products and biofuels marketing company, has acquired a new terminal, called Eco, in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to reports on news website TankTerminals.com, Lincoln's Charlotte terminal will have a total capacity of 130,000 bbl, and serves gasoline, ethanol and biodiesel. The terminal can also cater for different products... [Read More]

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), a US-based food processing and commodities trading company, is conducting a strategic review on its ethanol mills, as its ethanol arm continues to be hit by falling oil prices. The firm announced, last week, that two of its dry ethanol mills, based in Nebraska and Iowa, will be reviewed for "strategic options" — an analysis that... [Read More]

Argentina is set to beef up its ethanol production by increasing the required blend of ethanol in gasoline from 10% to 12%, according to media reports. The South American country's President, Mauricio Macri, said the additional ethanol would be exclusively derived from sugar, according to news agency Reuters. The increase should provide a boost to farmers there who have... [Read More]

Egregor Biotech and Evolution Group is planning to construct a bioethanol plant in the forest-rich Komi Republic in Northern Russia. The plant would process 400,000 tpy of unusable timber and sawmill residues into 100,000 tonnes of ethanol, according to the Komiinform news agency. Egregor has already invested RUB15 million (€177,000) in the project, but the total... [Read More]

Neste, a Finland-based renewable diesel producer, reported better than expected fourth-quarter profits and dividend thanks to high European refining margins and favourable foreign exchange rates. Neste, which has two conventional refineries in Finland and renewable diesel refineries in Singapore and Rotterdam, said its core operating profit in the quarter rose 39% from... [Read More]