According to Renewable Energy, a new Market Report published by market intelligence provider, Key Note, the renewable energy industry in the UK achieved continued growth over the past 5 years, with consumption of renewable energy (including biofuels, biomass, wind, wave and tidal, hydro, transport, heat pumps, solar energy) increasing by 61% between 2009 and 2013. Despite... [Read More]

Alkol Biotech has started shipment of its EUnergyCane sugarcane hybrid grown in Spain. A Danish provider of cellulosic ethanol technologies, who has bought the product and will receive it as dry bagasse, will use the hybrid to test its technologies. Its target audience is the increasingly large cellulosic ethanol market in Brazil. Al Costa, CEO, Alkol Biotech, says: 'There... [Read More]

Warrington's Stobart Group has signed a £110 million biofuel supply deal with a Welsh company. In the agreement, Stobart Energy will source, process and supply 250,000 tonnes per year of recycled waste wood to Margam over 14 years. The Transport business will also transport the product which will generate additional revenue for the company's Energy Division. 'This... [Read More]

Following an explosion at the JNS Biofuel plant a year ago, the rebuilt New Albany, Mississippi plant has received all the permits it needs to reopen. However, state and local officials are unaware of when this will take place. Danny Jordan, president, Union County Board of Supervisors, said: 'Our emergency management director keeps a good eye on what's going on, and MDEQ... [Read More]

A project established to grow seaweed for the production of biofuel and pharmaceutical products has been launched in Ghana. The project, which is the first of its kind in Africa, is planned to start late January and will establish the cultivation of seaweed along Ghana's coastline. The project will be led by a team of experts from the Technical University of Denmark, Kwame... [Read More]

Last year's StocExpo broke all records, attracting over 2,940 visitors, making it the most successful show in its history. StocExpo 2015 returns on 17-19 March at the Ahoy, Rotterdam, bigger still with an expanded show floor and its strongest ever conference programme and speaker line-up. Nick Powell, StocExpo & Tank Storage Portfolio Event Director commented on the... [Read More]

Green Biologics (GBL) has secured a total of $76 million (€65 million) in debt and equity financing. The renewable chemicals company closed an internal follow-on equity round of $42 million co-led by Swire Pacific and Sofinnova Partners. Existing investors Capricorn Venture Partners, Oxford Capital Partners, Morningside Technology Partners and ConvergInce Holdings,... [Read More]

A semi-truck tanker carrying ethanol caught fire on 19 January. Surrounding roads had to be closed in both directions while firefighters put out the flames. It remained closed following the incident as a safety precaution while the tank cooled. The trailer's brakes caught fire and ignited the trailer's passenger side tires, where the fire was contained. There was no structural... [Read More]

A recent study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) in Heidelberg, Germany, found that biodiesel made from animal fat reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 85% compared to fossil fuels. The EU institutions have recognised that biodiesel made from animal fat is highly sustainable and offers significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions... [Read More]

On 20 January, several fire crews responded to a fire at Big Rivers Resources' ethanol plant in Boyceville, Wisconsin, US. Reports from the Boyceville Fire Department say that the fire was started by a bearing on a motor that caught fire in a duct. The plant was shut down and evacuated. No one was injured. The fire was contained inside the building. To date, no damage... [Read More]

Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, has raised more than $16 million (€13.8 million) in equity. The funding will support the roll-out of Edeniq's Pathway Platform, which increases ethanol yield at existing plants by 3-6% through the conversion of starch and cellulosic corn kernel fibre into ethanol. The equity investment was led by I2BF Global... [Read More]

A fire broke out on the 19 January at the Illinois River Energy plant in Rochelle, Ogle County, Illinois. Emergency services responded to the fire and remained on the scene for a little over an hour. The fire started in a grain room of the ethanol plant after corn had been burnt following an electrical fault. No injuries were reported. There was minor damage to some of... [Read More]

Scientists are now successfully applying technologies utilised by farmers and ethanol facilities to maximise the quality and accuracy of carbon modelling for biofuels. A newly-released white paper, entitled 'Re-thinking the Carbon Reduction Value of Carbon Ethanol Fuel, written by Ron Alverson, president of the American Coalition for Ethanol board of directors, explains... [Read More]

The Zimbabwean government has given Zimbabwe Bio-Energy, a joint venture between a group of private investors and the Development Trust of Zimbabwe, the go-ahead to develop its $500 million (€432 million) ethanol plant project in Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi. The project, which will be the largest in the country, is expected to have more than 5000 employees and promote... [Read More]

On 14 January, Boeing and Embraer opened a joint sustainable aviation biofuel research center in a joint effort to further develop the aviation biofuel industry in Brazil. At the Boeing-Embraer Joint Research Center in the São José dos Campos Technology Park, the companies will coordinate and co-fund research with Brazilian universities and other institutions.... [Read More]

The US biodiesel market shrunk in 2014 following policy uncertainty in Washington that destabilised the industry and caused many biodiesel plants to shut down or reduce production. According to EPA data, total US biodiesel consumption fell to 1.75 billion gallons for 2014, down slightly from nearly 1.8 billion gallons in 2013. The downturn came as the Obama Administration... [Read More]