A new 50 MW power plant in Oahu, Hawaii, will run on a biofuel blend, which will include liquid fuels and natural gas. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will soon become available on the island as part of Oahu's plan to lower its reliance on oil and coal. Helsinki-based Wärtsilä Corporation will supply the plant to Hawaiian Electric Company. The project currently awaits... [Read More]

A new plant producing Exilva microfibrillar cellulose (MFC) will be built at the Borregaard site in Sarpsborg, Norway. Borregaard's Board of Directors has decided to invest NOK 225 million (€27 million) in the facility. Exilva MFC is based on natural and renewable raw materials. It has the potential to replace products derived from petrochemicals, and organic solvent... [Read More]

Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP), Galva, Iowa, has received EPA certification to generate D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for cellulosic ethanol produced using Cellerate process technology. Delayne Johnson, CEO, QCCP, says the move will prevent the biofuels industry from arguing a lack of D3 RINS are present to justify Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume... [Read More]

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is suing the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to provide documents relating to the oil industry's attempts to affect the outcome of the 2014 renewable fuel standard (RFS). Last May, CREW asked for an investigation by the EPA's Office of Inspector General and filed a Freedom of Information Act... [Read More]

Renewable fuel producer Crimson Renewable Energy is retrofitting its Bakersfield, California, US biodiesel plant. Retrofitting the plant will modernise its capabilities, increase the plant's capacity to 75,000 tonnes a year and ensure waste materials are processed efficiently and sustainably into low carbon biodiesel transportation fuel. The plant, which has been operating... [Read More]

Airline Boeing and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (CACC) has opened a biofuels demonstration plant that will turn waste cooking oil, or gutter oil as it known in China, into sustainable aviation biofuel. The plant has a production capacity of 160 gallons per day and estimates suggest that 1.8 billion litres of aviation fuel may be produced per year in China from gutter... [Read More]

Agricultural research institute The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and Evofuel, the wholly owned subsidiary of plant genomics company Evogene, which specialises in enhancing crop productivity for the biofuels industry, have signed a joint research agreement to advance castor cultivation in Brazil. The cooperation will primarily focus on technologies... [Read More]

DuPont and Ethanol Europe have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of the Republic of Macedonia to develop a commercial-scale 2G ethanol plant to supply the European market. According to the terms of the MOU, the government of Macedonia will facilitate the project by establishing a viable supply chain using energy crops, increasing local... [Read More]

Air France-KLM plans to fly weekly flights from Toulouse to Paris using a blend of kerosene. The airline will fly planes with a 10% blend of biofuel until September next year. Airlines are moving toward using clean fuel following assurance from the International Air Transport Association to cut emissions by 50% by 2050 from 2005 levels.... [Read More]

The Egyptian government proposes the UAE invest $250 million in a 100,000 tonne per year molasses-based ethanol plant. Egypt has also suggested the purchase of a $240 million ethanol plant that would use 100,000 tonnes per year of rice straw as feedstock. The UAE has expressed interest in investing in the country's petrochemical sector and is currently deciding which project... [Read More]

Abengoa has officially opened its second generation cellulosic ethanol plant in Hugoton in the US state of Kansas. Construction on the biorefinery finished in mid-August and it began producing cellulosic ethanol at the end of September. It has the capacity to produce up to 25 million gallons per year. The plant utilises only second generation biomass feedstocks such as... [Read More]

In the US, Simple Fuels is to acquire the assets of California-based Yokayo Biofuels. The transaction includes the sale of Yokayo's biodiesel operations, as well as its oil collection activities and deep fryer oil collected from local restaurants. It has been reported that Simple Fuels will continue producing and supplying biodiesel at the same price of $4.70 (€3.70)... [Read More]

Sagay Central, a sugar milling and sugar growing company and partner of energy crop cultivator Viaspace, has shipped and planted Giant King Grass in Negros Occidental, the Philippines. Sagay Central crushes 4,000 tonnes of sugarcane daily and produces 150,000 tonnes of sugar per year. The Giant King Grass was harvested from Viaspace's nursery in California, US and inspected... [Read More]

Valero's ethanol plant in Montgomery County, Indiana caught fire on 13 October, just after1.30am. The blaze, it has been reported, started in the dryer area and the plant's west section has suffered major damage. No one was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation.... [Read More]

State-owned oil and gas corporation Indian Oil and technology company Celanese have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the potential of a joint investment in an ethanol plant to be built in India. The project, which is expected to be located in Paradip in the state of Odisha, will be based on TCX technology from Celanese. It will utilise petroleum coke (petcoke)... [Read More]

Chempolis, a Finland-based biorefining technology corporation, has signed a partnership agreement with Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to jointly build a biorefinery in the state of Assam, northeast India. The new facility will coproduce bioethanol and furfural and acetic acid from locally sourced cellulosic biomass, using Chempolis' Formicobio technology. Bamboo, which... [Read More]