Gevo and Butamax Advanced Biofuels, a joint venture between BP and DuPont, have entered into worldwide patent cross-license and settlement agreements, ending a patent dispute related to technologies for the production of bio-based isobutanol. This settlement ends all of the lawsuits and creates a new relationship between the companies, aimed at leveraging each other's... [Read More]

Denso will build a large 20,000m2 test facility for the culture of Pseudochoricystis ellipsoidea, an oil-producing microalgae patented by DENSO that is used to help reduce CO2 emissions. The new facility, set to start operations in April 2016, will be located in Amakusa, Japan and will be used to perform verification tests needed to establish large-scale... [Read More]

US ethanol exports are expected to be the second largest on record this year, as ethanol export promotion efforts ramp up by the US Grains Council (USGC) and its partners Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, and USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. ‘Efforts to promote increased exports of US ethanol are showing progress, with global ethanol exports... [Read More]

The US tax authority IRS has published a notice informing claimants about the federal income tax treatment of fuel credits under sections 6426(c) and (d) of the internal revenue code. These sections regulate the federal payments made to biodiesel and alternative fuel producers in compensation for producing these fuels. The section 6426(c) allows a blender of a biodiesel... [Read More]

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has completed its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Imperium Renewables. REG paid Imperium $15 million (€13.4 million) in cash and issued 1.675 million shares of REG common stock in exchange for substantially all of Imperium’s assets, including the 100-million gallon nameplate biodiesel refinery and terminal at the Port... [Read More]

Indonesian fuel distributors Pertamina and AKR are set to purchase 765,000kl of subsidised biodiesel for the remainder of 2015. 339,000kl of the total will be purchased between August and October from five producers, including Wilmar, Eterindo, Musim Mas, Pelita Agung, and Darmex Agro. Negotiations to supply the missing 426,000kl of fuel are undergoing between Pertamina... [Read More]

Strong hydrous ethanol prices in the southeast Brazilian market have led to a higher parity against gasoline for the first time in six months, the latest data from Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP) shows. According to the data, the southeast region hydrous ethanol prices averaged 61.5% of the price of gasoline, up from 61.3% in the previous week. The fuel's... [Read More]

Poplars may soon be harvested as a new source of biofuels in the US Pacific Northwest. The Advanced Hardwood Biofuels (AHB) Northwest Project is hoping to build the world's first biorefinery for trees. Other trees often grown for harvest, such as Douglas fir and red cedar take 50 years to grow, while poplar will typically ready for harvest in just 3 years. Tree farmer... [Read More]

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing approximately $63 million (€57 million) in loans and grants into 264 renewables projects, including biofuels and renewable energy projects. The investments are a part of USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). ‘This funding will have far-reaching economic and environmental impacts nationwide,... [Read More]

To cut the cost of biofuels, their production-process can be enhanced to include additional valuable biochemical compounds. A recent experimental study focuses on one source of biomass: residues from Brazilian palm oil production. Biofuels still have a long way to go to become sustainable substitutes for fossil fuels. A number of social and environmental hurdles have to... [Read More]

Malaysia's biodiesel exports surged twelvefold year on year to 46,601mt in July, bolstered by an open arbitrage to Europe. Exports are at their highest level since the Malaysian Palm Oil Board began reporting statistics in January 2008. The July total was up from 3,610mt in July 2014 and also up 105.56% from 22,670 mt in June, the board's data shows. The total value... [Read More]

South Africa is reforming its biofuels funding incentive in the wake of global crude oil prices dropping by half over the past year. The South African government is concerned that the funding programme is becoming unaffordable. The country has set an initial target of having 2% of its annual fuel consumption – totalling at around 400 million litres – come from... [Read More]

Ethanol producer Poet has made a positive impact on the US economy, the company’s first published economic impact study suggests. The study, published yesterday, reports Poet has generated a total of $13.5 billion (appr. €12bln) in sales for US businesses, added $5.4 billion in national gross domestic product, supported an estimated 39,978 full time jobs, and... [Read More]

The EU has given permission to the Czech government to continue providing aid for biofuels until the end of 2020. The Czech government’s aid system, launched in 2008, provides cuts in excise duty or tax refunds to pure or highly concentrated biofuels. All biofuels benefiting from the aid programme must meet set sustainability criteria. ‘The commission concluded... [Read More]

Propel Fuels has begun offering Neste’s renewable NexBTL diesel at 13 Southern California locations. The provided fuel is marketed as Diesel High Performance Renewable (HPR) and it consists of 98.5% NexBTL. Diesel HPR has also been launched in commercial and bulk availability across California, with the fuel bundled with Propel Fuels’ CleanDrive emissions account... [Read More]

The Philippines' National Bioethanol Board (NBB) says the future of the bioethanol industry in the country looks promising, as local and foreign direct investments in the sector have grown from $206 million in 2012 to $386 million in 2015. Investments are projected to double to $770 million in 2016. ‘When the policy guidelines on the utilization of locally-produced... [Read More]