Neste Oil has announced that its Neste Pro Diesel containing NEXBTL renewable diesel is now available in Lithuania. The fuel will be distributed through the company's local retail network and its 51 stations. Up until now, Neste Pro Diesel was only available in Finland. 'The Baltic region, and the Baltic countries in particular, is a key market area for us,' says Panu... [Read More]

US-based renewable fuels producer BlueFire Renewables has finalised and signed a new master engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its cellulosic ethanol plant in Fulton, Mississippi. The contract is with China International Water and Electric, a subsidiary of renewable energy company China Three Gorges (CTG). 'The master EPC structure will utilise... [Read More]

According to Janhein van der Eijnden, Managing Director of Vopak Germany, there are three main factors influencing the bulk liquid storage sector in the country. Firstly, the closure of local refineries in Germany has increased demand for imports of gas oil and diesel. Secondly, the Energie-Wende (the shift in direction from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewable sources... [Read More]

Recyclers Baker Commodities has acquired a controlling interest in San Diego, California-based New Leaf Biofuel. The acquisition of New Leaf enables Baker to expand into other markets that vertically integrate with its rendering operations, and adds value for produced fats and oils. For eight years, New Leaf Biofuel has been converting used cooking oil (UCO) into ultra-low... [Read More]

DuPont's $500 million (€391 million) bet on producing ethanol from corn crop waste will pay off as companies add to demand for renewable chemicals and fuels. The US chemical company is investing in building a biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa, on research and development for enzymes to break down corn waste into ethanol. DuPont will supply cellulosic ethanol to Procter... [Read More]

Ecuador's government is looking to expand local ethanol distribution throughout the country by 2017 to reduce gas emissions and fuel imports. The mix, which contains locally-produced sugarcane ethanol is expected to replace a type of petrol named extra, and will represent 45% of the national fuel market, after diesel and other types of petrol. The government anticipates... [Read More]

The management team at Green Fuel's Chisumbanje ethanol plant plans to introduce E20 fuel blending in April 2015, providing it receives necessary investment. 'There is the need to plan and synchronise production, milling, purification and other processes across the value chain,' said Basil Nyabadza, board chairman, ARDA, adding that by April next year, the plant will... [Read More]

Biochemtex and Beta Renewables signed a contract with Energochemica for the construction of a second generation ethanol plant in the Slovak Republic. The plant, which will be built in Strazske, Slovak Republic, will deliver 55,000 metric tonnes per year of cellulosic ethanol while using non-food biomass as its feedstock. The project begins immediately and the start-up... [Read More]

Four of the top terminal operators in Germany: Vopak, Simon Storage, Oiltanking and Tanquid will all be coming together on the 19-20 November in Hamburg to discuss the country's bulk liquid storage market. Germany has the third largest storage capacity in Europe, but with the storage market in backwardation, refineries closing and strong competition, terminals need to... [Read More]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will give a $91 million (€72 million) loan guarantee to help Cool Planet Energy Systems build a new biofuel plant in Louisiana. The facility will be built at the Port of Alexandria, Louisiana, and will produce renewable fuels and biochar, a bioenergy by-product. Pine chips will be converted into high octane petrol and aromatic... [Read More]

Argentina's cooperatives association (Aca-Bio) has started work on a $130 million ethanol plant outside the city of Villa María. The plant will process 380,000 tonnes per year of corn, which will produce 125,000 cubic metres per year of biofuel. Excess steam will power a turbine that will then be used to power the plant. Operations will start in February. ... [Read More]

Zimbabwe’s energy sector regulator plans to licence new ethanol producers to avoid dependency on single supplier Green Fuel (GF). Under the country’s mandatory blending policy, only GF can license or is accredited to trade the commodity for petrol blending purposes. The current law states that an ethanol producer for mandatory blending has to be in partnership... [Read More]

EU authorities has given the go ahead for Airbus' new long-haul A350 plane to start flying. Deliveries of the next-generation aircraft will be sent to its first client Qatar Airways shortly. The new A350 plane has been manufactured to help the European airline catch up with Boeing's efforts to create long-haul, fuel-efficient planes. Using light composite materials, the... [Read More]

Cellulosic ethanol production could help create up to 9 million cellulosic D3 renewable identification numbers (RINs) in 2014, if active plants reach full capacity, suggests Genscape. Data and market specialist Genscape has released its white paper, Outlook for 2014 cellulosic production and D3 RINs, which looks at the current state of biofuels. In the paper, the company... [Read More]

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to spend up to $25 million (€19.8 million) on improving algae production and development. The Department is working on reducing the costs of algae biofuel down below $5-per-gallon equivalent in petrol by 2019 by improving current technologies. If that doesn't seem very ambitious compare that to the state of play without... [Read More]

Crop company Agrisoma Biosciences has finished the first closing of its Series A financing round, expected to total $8 million through 2014. Cycle Capital Management led the financing round, which included participation of BDC Venture Capital, one of Agrisoma's current equity investors. Certified sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), Carinata... [Read More]