News

Valero Energy Corp, the largest independent US refiner, reported a higher quarterly profit as lower corn and stronger ethanol prices boosted the company's ethanol unit results. Net income attributable to shareholders rose to $367 million (€339m), or 81 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $298 million, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier. Operating revenue rose to…
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Pacific Ethanol, a US renewable fuels producer, and Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, have announced that they have entered into a technology licensing and purchase agreement to enable the production of cellulosic ethanol at Pacific Ethanol’s Madera, California plant using Edeniq’s Pathway and Cellunator technologies. The Madera plant has a total annual…
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Growing sustainable energy crops without increasing greenhouse gas emissions, may be possible on seasonally wet, environmentally-sensitive landscapes, according to US-based researchers who conducted a study on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land. Debasish Saha, postdoctoral in plant sciences, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and colleagues, measured the amount of nitrous oxide, a…
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A key economic advisor to Australia’s federal government has claimed motorists in Queensland are paying more for petrol because of the state government’s biofuel mandate. The Productivity Commission has urged Queensland, New South Wales and the Commonwealth governments to stop supporting the biofuels industry by the end of next year. It’s also dismissed claims from…
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Lux Research’s Senior Analyst Yuan-Sheng Yu will speak at the tenth Biofuels International Conference, which will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland. Yuan-Sheng Yu is a Senior Analyst based in Lux Research's Singapore office. He leads Lux's Asia-Pacific research initiative, providing strategic advice and on-going intelligence for emerging technologies in energy, health and life sciences,…
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US advanced biofuels Renewable Energy Group (REG) reported a first-quarter 2017 net loss of $15.9 million (€14.49m), widened from the $6.9 million loss for the first quarter of 2016. The results for the first quarter ended 31 March, 2017 were published yesterday (4 May, 2017). Revenues for the quarter were $418.9 million on 122.1 million gallons of fuel sold. Compared to the first quarter of…
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Biorefineries can deliver a major boost to the economies of rural areas, attracting capital investment and creating industry led employment, according to a new research report. Through 2016, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences conducted a pioneering research project to explore the socio-economic impact of a fully operation biorefinery on a rural community within the EU. The study, conducted at the…
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Second-generation biofuels made from managed trees and perennial grasses may provide a sustainable fuel resource, according to newly published research. A team from the universities of Oklahoma and Pittsburgh investigated the full life cycle of second generation biofuel produced from short-rotation oak, in order to check if it really offered greenhouse gas emission reductions relative to…
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MEP Bas Eickhout has proposed sweeping reforms to EU legislation regarding bioenergy and biofuels. They come amid the Dutch politician’s proposals for increasing the EU’s renewable energy share target for 2030 from 27% to 45%. "The entire energy sector must be sustainable by 2040 one hundred percent." Eickhout said, according to Groen Links. Just as significantly, he stressed the…
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Members of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) and Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) have gone to Capitol Hill in Washington to urge Iowa’s Congressional delegation to keep fighting for a reformed biodiesel tax incentive. The two biodiesel bodies claim that the changes to the incentive would save US taxpayers money and also encourage domestic job creation and energy security. Recently,…
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MEP Sean Kelly, the lead negotiator for the largest group in the European Parliament on the Renewable Energy Directive, has heavily criticised the European Commission’s proposal to phase out conventional biofuels made from food or feed crops. Proposed changes to the Renewable Energy Directive, dubbed ‘RED II’, would see a gradual phase out of crop-based biofuels such as ethanol…
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Nine EU Member States have asked the European Commission (EC) for permission to pollute above national limits set in EU law, according to the European Environmental Bureau (EBB). Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland and Luxembourg have all asked for the limits that should have been met in 2015 to be raised so that they no longer appear to have breached them. The…
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The UK government has proclaimed that high environmental standards will be maintained post Brexit. The Brexit paper entitled ‘Future customs arrangements: A future partnership paper’ details the UK government’s aspirations for the UK’s future customs arrangements. As the UK leaves the European Union and therefore the EU Customs Union, the government is seeking a new…
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A quirk in US federal gasoline volatility regulations means E15 sales to non-flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) are usually halted from 1 June to 15 September. However, Hurricane Harvey means E15 sales have returned earlier than usual. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) reports that in response to gasoline supply shortfalls and price hikes resulting from the devastation caused by Hurricane…
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