News

Republican senators from the corn-producing Mid-West and Oil-producing South are split over the value of the mandate. Ultimately, it comes to who pays and who is paid. On 1 December, Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt asking for a year-long waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets the ethanol mandate. The Governor cited costs…
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Researchers have carried out systematic analysis of the latest scientific evidence on indirect land use change (ILUC) greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of biofuels and bioliquids. Experts from the Biomass Department of CENER (National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain) have coordinated the project, which was initiated by the European Commission Directorate-General for…
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The Vietnamese Government announced the move to E5 in June, with the current 92 RON (research octane number) gasoline coming off the market in the new year. E5 is 5% ethanol blended with 95% gasoline. Businesses have complained that they are not prepared for the change to E5, according to a government statetement, and some consumers fear how the blend will perform in their vehicles. In a release…
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In a press release, Catherine McKenna MP gave the framework for the legislation and talked about greater demand for biofuels. The move is a first step in increasing green fuel consumption. The framework will allow legislators and experts to work out the final form of the regulations, which will increase the use of cleaner fuels across the economy. This is Canada’s largest emissions-reducing…
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Biofuel start-up Celtic Renewables has secured planning permission from Falkirk Council in Scotland to build a commercial scale demonstrator plant. Once completed, the new facility will produce over half a million litres of biofuel a year, according to a statement from Celtic Renewables. The two acre-site in Grangemouth will produce biobutanol, an advanced biofuel made using whisky residue. The…
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A (CDN) $76.8 million (€50.7 million) industrial scale advanced biofuel demonstration plant will be constructed at a former pulp mill in Tofte, Norway. The new facility is apparently a step towards the creation of a commercial scale project. Danish-Canadian clean-fuel company Steeper Energy is partnering with Silva Green Fuel, a Norwegian-Swedish joint venture, on the project. Steeper will…
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Canola grown in Australia is eligible to enter the EU market as an environmentally-friendly biodiesel feedstock, opening up a potential $1 billion export market for Australian farmers of the crop. The European Commission has confirmed that the Australian canola meets the EU’s strict new feedstock requirements for biodiesel. Stringent EU greenhouse gas reduction targets could have seen the…
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Sweden increased use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) diesel is helping to boost its biofuels industry, according to new research. HVO diesel is a renewable diesel made from different bio-based raw materials. Sales of HVO diesel increased by 24% during the third quarter of 2017 compared with the corresponding period for 2016, according to preliminary figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB)…
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US advanced biofuels producer Poet has responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to maintain the current point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). CEO Jeff Broin said: “By maintaining the point of obligation for the RFS, the EPA is allowing the system to continue to work as designed. Under the RFS, infrastructure for biofuel-blended fuel is…
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Commodities trader Noble Group has announced it is selling its US-based ethanol producer Noble Americas South Bend Ethanol (NASBE) for $12.5 million (€10.5 million). According to a statement from Noble, the company has entered into an equity purchase agreement with Zeeland Farm Services for the proposed sale of “all of the issued and outstanding capital stock” of NASBE. When…
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An engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has refined the process of engineering pathways of microbes for biofuel production. Fuzhong Zhang, an associate professor at the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has ‘stitched together’ the best bits of several different bacteria to synthesize a new biofuel product that matches current engines better than previously…
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Brazil’s Union of Sugarcane Industry (Unica) has issued a harvest update for the country’s South-Central region from April to 16 November. Brazil’s sugarcane crush for the 2017-18 harvest was down 1.61% from April to 16 November, 2017, compared to the same period a year ago, totalling 552.948 tonnes, according to figures from Unica. Total ethanol production reached 23.661…
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The European Parliament’s energy committee ITRE has adopted changes to the EU’s renewable energy directive (RED) to include a new binding 35% green energy target for 2030 as well as a new set of principles on future financial support to renewable energy sources. Spanish S&D member José Blanco López, who is responsible for steering the plans through Parliament,…
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Argentina’s energy ministry has partially backtracked on a price cut on ethanol introduced earlier this month for refiners who mix the biofuel into gasoline at a 12% ratio, according to Hellenic Shipping News. The price cut has been shaved to 7.5% from 15% for sugarcane-derived ethanol, and to 10.5% from 21.1% for supplies made from corn, the ministry said in a resolution in the Official…
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