News

The National Biodiesel Board’s (NBB) governing board members have sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to protect renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes. In the letter, the NBB’s governing board members thank the president for his leadership and support of the RFS programme, explain the industry’s capacity to produce biodiesel and highlight some of the contradictions…
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US ethanol producer United Ethanol will use a modular membrane system at its plant in Milton, Wisconsin, to boost production. According to a statement, the bolt-on system from Whitefox Technologies will increase the annual production capacity of the facility to over 60 million gallons by freeing up capacity in the distillation-dehydration section. As well as increasing production rates, the…
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A new ethanol mandate enacted by the Queensland Government has helped a bioethanol plant to expand its operations, according to a media report by ABC. The Dalby biorefinery, which was once under the threat of closure and is based on the state's Western Darling Downs, has been running at capacity since the Queensland Government's ethanol mandate came into effect this month. Under the new…
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 The number of cars made in the UK reached a 17-year high last year, according to the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) About 1.7 million cars rolled off production lines in 2016, a rise of 8.5% on the year before. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) added that exports rose 10.3% to 1.35 million vehicles, a record for the second consecutive…
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In a letter to President Donald Trump this week, the US Grains Council (USGC), Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy are asking for help “in urgently addressing China’s recent implementation of protectionist trade barriers that are shutting out US exports of ethanol and distillers dried grains (DDGS).”  Specifically, the three groups are asking the…
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US biofuels technology company ICM will build a biorefinery showcasing its technology. The company said its plant will be called ICM Element. In a statement, ICM said: “We see every individual as an integral element to the success of the planned 70 MMGY revolutionary plant estimated at a cost of $175 million (€166m) to build. ICM plans to be the majority owner and is in current…
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Greenbelt Resources Corp., an innovator of sustainable energy production systems, announced that it has commissioned the first waste-to-ethanol system for Standard Ethanol, an Australian company that intends to deliver end-to-end, commercial-scale advanced biofuel systems to the Australian market. This important milestone demonstrates the ability of Greenbelt's commercial-scale technology and…
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A new paper by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) describes a process that captures methane from natural gas and biogas and that uses photosynthesis to convert it into biomass feedstock. The new paper is called ‘A flexible microbial co-culture platform for simultaneous utilization of methane and carbon dioxide from gas feedstocks’, the…
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The price of Malaysian palm oil has hit its lowest value in eight months, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The falling price has been triggered by an expectation of rising palm oil production. Good weather conditions in major palm oil exporting countries mean there is a good chance the trend will continue. Malaysian palm oil futures dropped to around 2,490 ringgit ($566, EUR 520) a ton on 20…
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US ethanol trade body Growth Energy has filed comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to the agency’s request for comment following President Trump’s Executive Order, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.” Growth Energy’s comments outlined multiple concerns with regulations that hinder the growth of American biofuel. Chiefly, Growth…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency has published its Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) generation data for April 2017. Created in 2005 under that year’s Energy Policy Act, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a national policy requiring a certain volume of renewable fuel to replace or reduce the quantity of petroleum-based transportation fuel, heating oil of jet fuel. Four…
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Biofuels have the potential to improve the carbon footprint of the aviation industry and make the sector more environmentally friendly, according to a new study from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Lufthansa Technik. The DLR and Lufthansa investigated the chemical and physical properties of “promising” biofuels. The European Union-funded High Biofuel Blends in Aviation (HBBA)…
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The renewable ethanol association ePURE has responded to Hans-Olaf Henkel and Marijana Petir, two MEPs in the European Parliament who recently stressed the importance of biofuels in the decarbonisation of the EU’s transport sector. In a recent article  in The Parliamentarian, Petir and Henkel discussed the future of the EU’s energy sector and the promotion of renewable…
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Modern diesel cars emit less pollution in general than cars that run on gasoline, according to a new international study published in the journal Scientific Reports. According to Patrick Hayes, a scientist at University of Montreal who worked on the research, the results of the study suggest that environmental regulators should increasingly shift their focus to gasoline powered cars and other…
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