News

A joint project between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA is aiming to determine whether aircraft pollutant emissions are reduced by using biofuels. In addition, the pioneering new study aims to determine the effects alternative aviation fuels have on the formation of contrails. With additional participation from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Institute for Atmospheric…
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Biofuels are crucial to improving the US energy outlook, according to an expert from ethanol trade association Growth Energy. Chris Bliley, Growth Energy’s vice-president of regulatory affairs, says that the forecasts in the recently released US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2018 demonstrate a clear need for US biofuels. “Blending more…
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An international team of scientists have found a group of enzymes in fungi that can break down a main component of wood, enabling a more efficient refining process. The researchers say that the process could be used to convert wood into a variety of useful chemical products according to a University of York press release. They hope that the discovery can help the viability of wood as a source of…
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China is set to expand its production and consumption of bioethanol in 2018, according to the country’s State Administration of Grain. The move comes as China seeks more channels to use its grain and corn stockpiles, according to Brinkwire.com. Continued state support for corn farmers has left China with a substantial stockpile of grain and corn. Data from the country’s National…
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An explosion at a Saipol oilseed factory in France has left two people dead, according to Reuters. Saipol is the oilseed branch of Avril, the largest biodiesel producer in Europe as well as France’s largest table oil producer. The explosion took place on 17 February at 10:00am, at the Saipol factory in Dieppe. Alongside the fatalities, one person was slightly injured and seven others were…
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The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) based out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) is moving from the development of crop-based ethanol to creating fuels and chemicals that are fungible with their petroleum-based equivalents. The change was announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, Texas by the centre’s…
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A consortium of companies, including Canadian advanced biofuel producer Enerkem, have signed a project development agreement for an advanced waste-to-chemistry facility in Rotterdam. According to a statement, the new facility will be the first of its kind in Europe. It will provide a sustainable alternative solution for non-recyclable waste, allowing plastics and other mixed wastes to be…
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A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says the EU could double the renewable share in its energy mix, cost effectively, from 17% in 2015 to 34% in 2030. In order to reach long term decarbonisation goals, the report argues that all renewable transport options – both biofuels and electric vehicles, are necessary. The report also argues that biomass will remain a…
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The European Parliament’s decision to back a ban on the use of palm oil in biofuels has been labelled as “a crop apartheid” by Malaysia’s plantation minister, who has also described the move as a protectionist trade barrier, Reuters reports. On 17 January, the European Parliament announced its position on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). A crucial part of…
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US researchers have developed a ‘super strain’ of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine – one of the most common tree species in the US. The scientists from the University of Georgia (UGA) claim that their research could help biofuels replace gasoline as a transportation fuel. Joy Doran-Peterson professor of microbiology at UGA, and doctoral student G.…
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Novozymes has unveiled its new yeast platform for starch-based ethanol, designed to help ethanol producers ‘get more’ from their raw materials. The first product in the new yeast platform is Innova Drive, a new yeast strain designed to reduce fermentation time by up to two hours compared to current yeasts, according to Novozymes. Yeast is a vital component of ethanol production. It is…
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Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels (LSB), a coalition of 12 advanced biofuels producers and technology developers, is calling on EU institutions to set its new advanced biofuels mandate to begin in 2021. According to the coalition, chaired by UPM’s Public Affairs director Marko Janhunen, this move would ensure investor confidence in the sector. Annex IX part A of the Renewable Energy Directive…
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Newly published research explains for the first time how plants switch from photoprojection to photosynthesis when transitioning from darkness to daylight. The authors of the study, from the University of Sheffield, claim that the new insight could have a host of benefits, including for the biofuels industry. During photosynthesis, plant chloroplasts convert light into chemical energy that they…
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In a Thursday 1 February interview with Fox News, US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said that the country’s biofuel policy was in need of an overhaul. The EPA administrator’s comments were in response to the recent bankruptcy of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the largest oil refiner on the East Coast. When announcing its bankruptcy, the oil refiner pointed…
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