Joule has announced the successful results from third-party testing of its ethanol fuel, setting the stage to obtain certification for commercial use. Initiated by AUDI, Joule's strategic partner in the automotive space, the test results confirm that Joule's ethanol meets the following standards in the US and Europe, respectively: - American Society for Testing and Materials... [Read More]

As of May, UPM's new wood-based BioVerno diesel fuel has been available at St1 and ABC service stations in Finland. The product, sold as a part of St1's Diesel Plus and ABC's Smart Diesel range, is a result of UPM's own innovation and is produced at the UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery, Finland. It uses crude tall oil, a residue of UPM's pulp making process, as a raw material.... [Read More]

BioEnergy International (BDI) has completed the expansion of a biofuel plant in Spain. Oils and animal fats with very high free fatty acid (FFA) content will be converted into second generation, standard compliant biodiesel. ecoMotion Biodiesel, part of the international Saria Group, commissioned BDI with the installation of a high free fatty acid (FFA) esterification... [Read More]

Biotechnology company Dyadic International has announced details regarding 2G Biopic, a new advanced biofuels project funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme. In the 2G Biopic project, Dyadic's subsidiary Dyadic Netherlands will work in collaboration with Compagnie Industrielle de Matière Végétale (CIMV) and five other industry partners... [Read More]

SJC Bioenergia, a joint venture between Cargill and Group USJ, has purchased technology from Fluid Quip Process Technologies (FQPT) to integrate corn ethanol production at its sugarcane ethanol facility located in Quirinopolis, Brazil. SJC Bioenergia will utilise FQPT's SGT milling, BOS front-end corn oil, Fiber Separation, and MSC Protein Recovery systems. The combined... [Read More]

Renmatix, a technology licensor for the conversion of biomass into cellulosic sugar, has acquired existing assets of the former Mascoma 56,000ft2 manufacturing facility in Rome, New York. The new feedstock processing facility is dedicated to the first step in conversion to cellulosic sugar (from different types of biomass materials) utilising proprietary Plantrose process... [Read More]

Alaska Airlines is to purchase renewable jet fuel from Gevo and fly the first-ever commercial alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) flight, after the two companies signed a strategic alliance agreement. The demonstration flight is expected to occur after Gevo receives ASTM International certification for its fuel, sometime in mid to late 2015. Gevo has been working through the rigorous... [Read More]

Pacific Ethanol, a producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the western United States, has begun commercial production of corn oil at its Madera, California plant. The corn oil production process utilises Valicor's proprietary VFRAC corn oil recovery system. Neil Koehler, the company's president and CEO, says: 'We are pleased to be producing corn oil at our... [Read More]

Associated British Foods (ABF) has completed a contract with BP to acquire its 47% stake in Vivergo Fuels. ABF is now the majority shareholder with 94%. Mark Chesworth, MD of Vivergo, says: 'With our shareholder's support, we've steadily ramped up production and are now operating at full capacity, producing enough bioethanol to meet around half of the UK's current demand... [Read More]

In India, Algae.Tec has delivered its first algae photobioreactor to Jamnagar province. The photobioreactor is part of Algae.Tec's contract with energy company Reliance Industries to build an 84 gallon per day pilot plant at the world's largest oil refinery. The initial container holds the algae photobioreactor assembly, which will be located adjacent to the refinery.... [Read More]

Novozymes has announced a deal to supply enzyme technology to a new biorefinery that will be built by St1 Biofuels in Kajaani, Finland. The facility will be co-located at a sawmill site, and will be the first facility in the world to use sawdust from softwood as feedstock to produce cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale. The process uses steam-explosion to open up the... [Read More]

In the US, Cargill has acquired Colorado-based OPX Biotechnologies' proprietary fermentation-based processes and systems. These technologies are used to produce bio-based chemicals from sugars for use in non-food applications such as lubricants, detergents, plastics, agrichemicals and personal care products. Cargill is already a large supplier of carbohydrates and other... [Read More]

Fulcrum BioEnergy, a producer of renewable fuels, has awarded a $200 (€176 million) million fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Abengoa for the construction of its Sierra BioFuels plant. The facility, which will convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into transportation fuels, will utilise Fulcrum's process for converting household... [Read More]

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) has released a new draft standard which is an 'add-on certification module' to the RSB standard for biofuels and bio-products. Entitled 'Low iLUC Risk Biomass Criteria and Compliance Indicators', compliance with this new standard means producers will be able to demonstrate that biomass was produced with no indirect impact... [Read More]

In Indiana, US, Chad Ducey has pleaded guilty for his role in a multi-state scheme to defraud biodiesel buyers and US taxpayers by fraudulently selling biodiesel incentives. His two brothers, Chris and Craig Ducey, have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the same scheme. The three brothers operated E-biofuels from a facility in Middletown, Indiana. As part of the scheme,... [Read More]

Agribusiness company Thompsons Limited has announced an agreement with IGPC Ethanol to partner for sourcing corn for IGPC's 50MM gal/yr. ethanol facility in Aylmer, Ontario effective 1 October 2015. IGPC Ethanol commenced operations in the fall of 2007. Since that time, it has used the services of Cargill to source local corn. 'This change in no way reflects upon the performance... [Read More]