News

A federal judge was asked by a group representing multiple biofuel companies to force the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to freeze its Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) small refinery waivers until lawsuits challenging its actions have been resolved, Reuters reports. The group, named Producers United, is formed of several undisclosed biofuel firms. It argues that the EPA has violated the…
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According to a government researcher, China is set to at least triple its ethanol production capacity by 2020 in order to keep up with growing demands for cleaner fuels, Reuters reports. At an industry event, China National Renewable Energy Centre researcher Don Kejun outlined how China was currently building or seeking permission for new ethanol plants to produce a potential capacity of 6.6…
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ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), has announced details of its upcoming Global Sustainability Conference 2018, set to take place on 20 February in Brussels, Belgium. According to ISCC, the overarching topic of the conference will be the future of bioenergy, a highly topical theme at a time of political and legislative uncertainties such as the RED II negotiations. ISCC…
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Green nano-chemistry company Sylvatex and Valicor, a specialist in advanced separations and recovery, have announced a new joint development agreement (JDA). The JDA will see the development, construction and commercialisation of Sylvatex’s MicroX technology, which can convert distillers corn oil (DCO) and other plant-based oil feedstocks into the company’s proprietary renewable…
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Few topics in business today stir more debate than blockchain and digital coins. It is important, however, to not get distracted by the hype and polarisation of that discussion. Blockchain and digital coins are technologies that can bring important changes to the commodities markets, and for that reason are receiving growing attention and investment from players in the oil, natural gas, metals,…
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The new pre-treatment unit passes first production tests required to supply BP Singapore under a three-year feedstock supply agreement.   Aemetis announced 25 April that its subsidiary Universal Biofuels has completed the production of high quality, distilled biodiesel from lower quality, high free fatty acid (FFA) waste feedstock using its recently constructed pre-treatment unit at a…
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Scientists use technique to automatically predict the amount of biofuel produced by microbes. Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say they have developed a way to use machine learning to dramatically accelerate the design of microbes that produce biofuel. Their computer algorithm starts with data about the proteins and metabolites in a…
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US drivers have logged 5 billion miles on E15 ethanol, trade association for the US ethanol industry, Growth Energy, has announced. Growth Energy has been working with Prime the Pump, a non-profit dedicated to helping build the infrastructure and distribution of higher biofuel blends. According to Growth Energy, this collaboration has doubled the number of E15 stations four years in a row to…
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According to new data, European renewable ethanol association (ePURE) members produced 5.84 billion litres of ethanol and 5.71 million tonnes of beneficial co-products in 2017. This record high greenhouse gas reduction, compared to petrol is being attributed to major production of animal feed.    There has been an average of more than 70% greenhouse gas savings compared to petrol in…
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Reported by Pakistani news outlet Daily Times, the Government College University (GCU) in Lahore has signed a joint research project with the Bartin University in Turkey, researching a cost-effective production of bioethanol. According to the report, Bartin University’s Dr. Ahmet Karada explained that both Turkey and Pakistan are importing 95% of their energy requirement. GCU’s vice…
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Reuters reports that BP’s chief executive for biofuels, Mario Lindenhayn has said that the latest biofuels policy in Brazil has improved the outlook for ethanol production. Brazil expects that by 2020 its policy, RenovaBio will be enacted. The policy should face no obstacles and won’ be stopped by the government of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, Lindenhayn predicts. BP’s…
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600,000 tonnes of Argentinian biodiesel were sent to Europe between September 2017 and mid-January 2018, according to Reuters. The wire service cites Argentina’s main biofuel group, Carbio, for the figures. The surge in imports came after the EU lowered import duties on Argentinian biodiesel, Reuters reports. In September, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled against measures taken by…
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FS Bioenergia, a joint venture between Tapajós Participações and Summit Agricultural Group, is planning to open the company’s second corn-only ethanol plant in Mato Grosso, Brazil, following R$1 billion (almost €250 million) in investment. The new plant will also have the capacity to co-generate energy at a capacity of 170 thousand MWh per year. This is enough to…
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Scientists have created a genetically modified yeast that could quicken the path towards synthetic yeasts for a number of industrial applications, including the creation of bioethanol. The Tufts University researchers have created a yeast that can more efficiently consume xylose, in turn enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, according to their study, published in the…
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