News

US advanced biofuels company Gevo announced that it expects to supply its renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) to the Virgin Australia Group, a well-known Australian airline group.  The Virgin Australia Group will be responsible for coordinating the purchase, supply and blending of the ATJ into the fuel supply system at Brisbane Airport in Queensland, Australia. Gevo’s ATJ is expected…
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The impending trade deal between the EU and Mercosur (South America’s trading block) for an annual quota of ethanol imports from Brazil would be a serious blow to Europe’s farmers and ethanol industry unless measures are taken to ensure a level playing field. “By agreeing to open its markets to Brazilian ethanol, the EU would contradict its own efforts to increase domestic…
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A major breakthrough has been made in the direct conversion of methane and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels and chemicals. Researchers claim that the new process could help industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions while producing vital chemical feedstocks. The researchers from the University of Liverpool have developed a plasma synthesis process for a direct, one-step activation of carbon dioxide…
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A four year, $6 million research project is aiming to determine how the US’ Upper Missouri Basin would be affected if biofuels were produced and carbon capture technologies implemented in the region. Experts from the Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana State Universities will generate economic models to see if changes in commodity and capturing carbon are sustainable, and feasible, in the…
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The future of bioethanol, advanced biofuel developments and an uncertain policy landscape were some of the hot topics discussed at this year’s Biofuels International and Bioenergy Insight conference. The conference took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 4-5th October. Rob Wakely, head of low carbon fuels division, energy technology and international directorate, at the UK’s…
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Researchers in the US have developed a method to convert a biofuel waste product into a ‘usable and valuable commodity’. Published in the journal Bioresources Technology, the research by scientists from Washington State University (WSU) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) could drastically change the economic viability of algae biofuels. The conversion of algae to…
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US advanced biofuels company Gevo has announced that it will be partnering with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) on a project to fine-tune the composition of the catalyst used in Gevo's proprietary ethanol-to-olefins (ETO) process, in order to improve performance and accelerate scale-up…
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Scientists from Michigan State University (MSU) are looking for new algae-based technologies to capture power plant emissions and convert them into a range of products including biofuels and other chemicals. “We’ve been running bioenergy experiments with algae on campus for over a decade,” said Wei Lao, associate professor of biosystems and agriculture engineering at…
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Scientists in the US have discovered that plant leaves retaining sugars ‘get fat’, something which could increase their biofuel and biochemical potential. The team from the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have worked to turn this fat accumulation into higher oil production in the leaves. With leaves more abundant and accessible than seeds, this could…
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Gillian Harrison, CEO at Whitefox Technologies, will be speaking at this year’s Biofuels International Conference. Harrison started her career as a finance lawyer at global law firm Clifford Chance in London, where she focused on corporate finance, infrastructure projects, and cross border mergers and acquisitions. During her ten years working as a lawyer, she spent two of those years in…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled a notice of data availability (NODA) concerning potential reductions in renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2018 and 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). On July 21, 2017, EPA proposed reductions in the statutory volume targets for advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel using the cellulosic waiver authority in Clean Air Act…
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A number of research projects focused on bioenergy and biofuels have been selected for the US Community Science Programme (CSP) of the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. The 30 successful CSP proposals were selected from 76 full submissions based on 94 letters of intent. Among the projects aiming to investigate genomic and analytical capabilities are several focused on the underlying…
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Scania will provide ‘clean’ buses to 20 major cities in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Australia, and has called for more investment in cleaner fuels.   The ‘soot-free’ buses are designed to address the issue of black carbon – fine particulate matter (PM2.5) outdoor air pollution which has been linked to a series of adverse health effects and even death. Recent…
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Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Abengoa Bioenergia Brasil has filed for bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg. This follows on from the country’s economic crisis and slump in commodity prices, according to the news agency. The company, a unit of Spain’s Abengoa SA, requested judicial protection in a court in Santa Cruz das Palmeiras municipality, Sao Paulo state,…
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