The US Energy Information Administration has released its 'Monthly Biodiesel Production Report', which states that 123 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the US in December 2014. Biodiesel production during this period was around 15 million gallons higher than production in November 2014. . Biodiesel production from the Midwest region contributed towards approximately... [Read More]

NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has purchased Gevo's renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) for aviation use at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Renewable technology company Gevo's ATJ is manufactured at its demonstration biorefinery located in Silsbee, Texas, using renewable isobutanol produced at its Luverne, Minnesota, isobutanol... [Read More]

Byogy Renewables, a biofuels producer based in San Jose, CA, acting through its AusAgave Agricultural Division Headquartered in Aldgate, Australia, has executed an MoU and Work Plan with EMBRAPA, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, a Brazilian Government institution under the Ministry of Agriculture, to introduce adapted agave plants from Australia into Brazil... [Read More]

On 16 March 2015, Brazil will increase its ethanol blend in petrol from 25% to 27%. 'This is an operation in which everyone wins,' said Eduardo Braga, the Minister of Mines and Energy. Tests carried out by energy company Petrobras in 2014 into the impacts of a higher ethanol blend on vehicle engines did not show any technical problems arising from the use of petrol mixed... [Read More]

Neste Oil says it is now the world's largest producer of renewable fuels from waste and residues. In 2014, the company produced nearly 1.3 million tonnes (1.6 billion litres) of renewable fuel from waste and residues. In practical terms, this is enough to power for two years all the 650,000 diesel-powered passenger cars in Finland with renewable NEXBTL diesel manufactured... [Read More]

Ghent Bio-Economy Valley (GBEV) and Malaysian Biotechnology (BiotechCorp) have signed a collaboration agreement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in support of companies and research institutes in the bio-economy business in Belgium and Malaysia. The main goal is to facilitate collaboration and the development of commercial applications in both countries. A non-profit and network... [Read More]

Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced that South African farmers will soon harvest their first crop of energy-rich tobacco plants, an important step towards using the plants to make sustainable aviation biofuel. Boeing and SAA, along with partners SkyNRG and Sunchem, also officially launched Project Solaris, their collaborative effort to develop an aviation... [Read More]

H.M. King Carl Gustaf XVI and H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden visited UPM's new biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland on 5 March, together with the President of the Republic, Sauli Niinistö, and his wife, Jenni Haukio. The visit at UPM was a part of the state visit programme of the Swedish royal couple in Finland.The biorefinery was chosen to form part of the programme... [Read More]

Two US senators have introduced legislation to eliminate the renewable fuels standard (RFS) corn ethanol mandate. Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced the 'Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015' last week. 'The federal mandate for corn ethanol is both unwise and unworkable,' says Senator Feinstein. 'Roughly 40% of corn in the United States... [Read More]

Biodiesel exports from Argentina reportedly rose 40% on the year in 2014 to almost 1.6 million tonnes, according to Reuters and the Federal Statistics Agency. Total production rose 29.4% to 2.58 million tonnes. Tax on biodiesel exports were cut by the Buenos Aires government last year as a way of boosting the sector, which had been affected by European biodiesel import... [Read More]

Fire crews were called to the main building of the REV Biodiesel facility in Gilbert, Arizona on Monday morning after reports of smoke. The smoke was reportedly caused by plastic heating up in a small storage container. Workers near the facility were advised to stay inside while the smoke was cleared. No injuries were reported and the biodiesel company was able to resume... [Read More]

The Port of Rotterdam has announced that the throughput of biofuels was 15% lower in 2014 than in 2013, representing a decrease of 3.8 million tonnes. This, the port says, is primarily due to a decrease in imports of biodiesel from Indonesia and Argentina as a result of extra import duties and taxes on dumping. Declining imports have been compensated by the growth of domestic... [Read More]

Edinburgh, Scotland-based Celtic Renewables has become the first in the world to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry. The company now plans to build a production facility in central Scotland after manufacturing the first samples of biobutanol from the by-products of whisky fermentation. Celtic Renewables, a spin-out company from... [Read More]

Major biofuels producer Archer Daniels Midland has slowed its North American biodiesel output, reports Reuters. In a move that signals the industry's ongoing uncertainty over the US renewable fuels policy, production at ADM's Velva oilseed processing facility has been 'temporarily' shifted from biodiesel to other products. Production at its other North American facilities... [Read More]

The transition from a promising bench-scale lab concept with minimum funding, to obtaining funding to prove out a feedstock in a full-scale operation, often requires a creative solution to reduce feasibility testing costs and technologies. Many concepts, like new methods of processing a feedstock into biofuel, never make it to market because commercial-scale proof-of-concept... [Read More]

Ethanol producer Aventine Renewable Energy has installed a $2.4 million (€2 million) Valicor corn-oil separation system at its Nebraska Energy plant in Aurora, Nebraska. 'By investing in this system we are adding to our revenue stream and diversifying beyond ethanol production in Nebraska,' says Mark Beemer, Aventine president and CEO. The system began operations... [Read More]