News

Fourth graders in Seoul, South Korea, have been learning how to make biodiesel at a bio-energy farm run by the Gangdong-gu office in Eastern Seoul, according to the Korea Times. The workshop on renewable energy saw students from Seoul Hansan Elementary School taking turns to stir canola oil mixed with a catalyst and methyl alcohol in a beaker to make biodiesel. Another part of the trip saw…
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Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has joined biodiesel producers and agricultural leaders to urge President Trump to reject the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). On Tuesday (10/10/17), Grassley spoke about this issue and addressed his concerns to biofuel stakeholders at Renewable Energy Group’s Newton, Iowa…
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DuPont Industrial Biosciences has said it plans to sell its cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa, US. The move comes almost exactly two years after the company celebrated the grand opening of the facility in October 2015. In a statement, DuPont said: “As part of DowDuPont’s intent to create a leading specialty products company, we are making a shift in how we participate in the cellulosic…
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A bio-based process to create crude oil from lignin could soon be ready for commercialisation following extensive development at Chemelot InSciTe (the Chemelot Institute for Science & Technology) in the Netherlands. Researchers in the Lignin RICHES project are working on a thermo-catalytic chemical process invented at the Eindhoven University of Technology. InSciTe is a public-private…
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Major US biofuel trade associations have responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement on final required volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard. EPA has set a total renewable fuel blending obligation of 19.29 gallons, of which 4.29 billion gallons should be advanced biofuels including 288 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, and the remaining…
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A new US post-election survey shows that decisive voters in the 2016 presidential election are staunch supporters of American ethanol, Growth Energy says. The survey of 3,000 Trump voters in the Midwestern battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota found that more than eight in 10 respondents agree with the President-elect's support for ethanol…
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Oman has tremendous potential to be a leading exporter of energy based on renewable sources, an industry expert has said. David Rooney, director of sustainable energy research at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast spoke at an event on renewable energy and biofuels organised by the Independent Learning Centre at SQU, according to…
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Clariant, global specialty chemicals company, together with Mercedes-Benz and Haltermann Carless, a well-established HCS Group brand, tested the use of sustainable cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues in a fleet test with Mercedes-Benz series vehicles over a period of 12 months for the first time in Germany. Sunliquid 20 was used for the test – a fuel produced by Haltermann Carless…
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Alliance BioEnergy Plus has submitted an offer to purchase an over 145 acre ethanol plant previously owned by Ineos New Planet Bioenergy in Florida. If successful, Alliance will begin to retrofit the front end of the facility, located in Vero Beach, immediately with its patented CTS process and will quickly be converting local yard waste into cellulosic ethanol through an option agreement with…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to implement renewable fuel volume requirements for 2017 as decided in November 2016. According to a press statement from Finnish renewable energy specialist Neste, the Regulatory Freeze Pending Review by the new US administration, which was applied to the renewable fuel volume requirements for 2017, has expired. Hence, the EPA continues to…
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The world's first research facility to grow both food and fuel, using desert lands irrigated by seawater, will begin its first harvest in June, according to Etihad Airways.  The biomass will be harvested and the oil extracted from the seeds. The plan is to have this oil refined to jet fuel and used on an Etihad Airways flight, a statement said. The announcement comes as Peter…
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The CEO of Gevo will speak at Biofuels International 2017. Patrick Gruber is the CEO of Gevo and has served as a director of the company since 2007. Previously, he was the president and CEO of Outlast Technologies Inc., a technology and marketing company primarily serving the textile industry. In 1997, Dr. Gruber co-founded NatureWorks, LLC (formerly Cargill Dow, LLC), and served as Vice…
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Scientists from the University of Hong Kong have developed a new strategy to enhance the efficiency of rice straw for biofuel production. Significantly, the authors of the study detailing the breakthrough claim the strategy can also be used to boost efficiency of biofuel production from other cereals like maize, wheat, and barley. As biofuel demand has rocketed in recent years, cellulose from…
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UPM Biofuels has received an RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials) certificate for its UPM BioVerno renewable diesel and naphtha and its production sidestreams turpentine and pitch (resin). RSB verifies the sustainability and reliability of feedstock sourcing and production.  In RSB certification, the sustainability of biofuels is evaluated against 12 principles which…
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