A team from US Grains Council (USGC), a US grains export advocate, and two ethanol industry representatives have completed an overview of ethanol’s possibilities in East Asian markets. The group traveled to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan is December 2015 to review the ethanol markets in these countries and evaluate potential for ongoing US ethanol export promotion programmes... [Read More]

Dutch GoodFuels Marine, the first marine biofuel company focused on the global commercial fleet, has received the highest standard of certification from the Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). The two-year certification, which assesses the sustainable viability of the biomaterials used by GoodFuels to generate marine bunker fuel, enables the company to actively... [Read More]

The board of directors of Australian Renewable Fuels (ARFuels), the country’s largest biodiesel producer, has placed the company into voluntary administration. Under Australian law, voluntary administration is a form of insolvency arrangement, which creates an opportunity for flexible approaches to bring about a better outcome for stakeholders than may otherwise... [Read More]

A bacterium found in the remote Gobi Desert may become a valuable partner for researchers working with biofuels. The bacterium has shown talents for using the sun's light as energy and now researchers have revealed that it can be found in surprisingly many different places, including water treatment plants. To date, species capable of performing photosynthesis have been... [Read More]

French renewable energy firm Global Bioenergies has completed a €6.5m private placement with French and international investors. The proceeds of the placement will be used to further the development of its isobutene process and to launch commercial roll-out. The company placed 274,931 new shares at a par value of €0.05 per share, at a unit price of €23.70,... [Read More]

US-based petroleum specialist Tesoro Corp. has announced a plan to foster the development of biocrude made from renewable biomass, which can be co-processed in its existing refineries, along with traditional crude oil. Converting renewable biomass into biocrude is expected to enable existing refining assets to produce less carbon-intensive fuels at a significantly lower... [Read More]

Spanish renewable energy business Abengoa is planning to restructure its firm, shrink itself by about a third to avoid bankruptcy and potentially sell off its bioenergy arm, according to media reports. According to media agency Bloomberg, the firm is making the plans to convince creditors it can survive as a smaller company. Quoting a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg... [Read More]

The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), a non-consortium supported by Etihad Airways, Boeing and Honeywell UOP, claims that it will soon launch the world's first bioenergy research facility using desert land, irrigated by seawater, to produce both food and aviation fuels in Abu Dhabi. The facility will be launched in March and is located on a two-hectare... [Read More]

US-based biofuel plant company Ensyn will start producing renewable fuel from its biofuel plant in Georgia from January 2017. Ensyn told local press that its Dooly County facility in Georgia will use 440 tonnes of wood tops and tree limbs to produce electricity and other fuels. It plans to produce 20m gallons of fuel ever year. Terrell Hudson, the Dooly County Commission... [Read More]

Chemical producer DuPont Industrial Biosciences and agricultural specialist Archer Daniels Midland Co. have developed a method of producing furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME) from fructose. The firms said the new breakthrough process had potential to open up a "vast landscape of bio-based materials offerings". The technology has applications in packaging, textiles,... [Read More]

Biotech specialist Novozymes has cut its long-term growth expectations as the prolonged oil price slump is delaying the development of the advanced biofuel industry and hurting sales to other sectors, the firm said. Novozymes, which makes enzymes that speed up or improve chemical processes in a variety of industries, now expects organic sales growth of 6-7 % a year from... [Read More]

Brazilian biodiesel producer BSBIOS will invest BRL80 million (€18.3m) to double production at its Marialva unit. The company expects the expansion to be concluded in 2017, boosting the site's biodiesel production capacity from the current 208 million litres per year to 416 million. BSBIOS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Parana's state government. The... [Read More]

The implementation of the Indonesian B20 biodiesel programme may be delayed due to low crude oil prices. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) suspects the B20 programme will not be fully implemented this year as was announced earlier in January. According to executive director of GAPKI, Dr. Mohamad Fadhil Hasan, due to crude oil process going under $30 (€27.55)... [Read More]

US ethanol producer Poet said it plans to add 25m gallons of annual ethanol production capacity at three of its plants in the course of 2016. Poet Biorefining – Hanlontown in Iowa; Poet Biorefining – Hudson in South Dakota; and Poet Biorefining – Caro in Michigan, each filed separate expansion permits within their respective states and will soon be producing... [Read More]

A shareholder group of the Swiss agribusiness Syngenta are opposing the company’s planned sale to ChemChina and have called for a change in the company’s leadership. According to Reuters, the managing director Folke Rauscher of the shareholders who represent about 10% of Syngenta’s capital is calling for a “comprehensive renewal” of the group’s... [Read More]

Kakira Sugar Works, a Uganda-based sugar giant, said it will start commercial output at its $37m (€34m) ethanol plant by the end of July. The sugar firm hopes to produce 20m litres of ethanol using 74,000 tonnes of molasses — the by-product of sugar production — annually. Speaking to local news agency The Independent, Kenneth Barungi, the assistant general... [Read More]