News

EU ethanol production is expected to grow in 2017 and 2018, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s EU Biofuels Annual 2017. This growth will come despite bioethanol consumption being in decline since 2011. “In 2014, the sector benefitted from low feedstock prices and restrictive measures on bioethanol imports, and as a result EU bioethanol production rose to about 5.3…
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Former US Vice President Al Gore has arrived in the UK to address how the perils of climate change can be overcome as he promotes his new documentary An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. The film is a follow-up to his blockbuster 2006 global warming film, An Inconvenient Truth. It was a massive box office hit. His new film hammers home the same message as his first film. He was Vice President…
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The UK Department for Transport has released its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) statistics for the period April 2016 to April 2017. The report shows 1,541 million litres of biofuels were supplied in the period. Under the RTFO, transport fuel suppliers have to ensure that a proportion of the fuel they supply comes from renewable sources, i.e. biofuels. The legislation is part of the…
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California-based biorefining company Aemetis is now producing cellulosic ethanol from orchard waste. The company has announced the news after successfully completing the construction and commencement of an integrated demonstration unit. The company said it produced the material from technologies from itself, LanzaTech and InEnTec. The plant is a continuously operating demonstration facility…
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Air Canada and other Canadian airlines are seeking to procure biofuels from local sources instead of transporting it from abroad to meet demand, according to reports from Canadian Press Enterprises. The country’s top airlines say resource-rich Canada has the potential to become a biofuel superpower by transforming forest residue and agricultural crops into energy that can help the industry…
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The Executive Management Committee of CAMEX, Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade, has announced that a decision on a pending proposal to impose a 20% tariff on US ethanol imports will be delayed for 30-days. The proposal would allow 500 million litres annually of US ethanol imports (132.1 million gallons) before triggering the tariff.  This has prompted the following is a joint statement…
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The UK government’s decision to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040 risks “handcuffing” the country to an “unrealistic policy”, according to renewable energy expert Devin Walker. Significantly, Walker also notes that in some circumstances the manufacture of electric cars themselves can actually produce even more harmful emissions which need to be taken into account…
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The European Commission (EC) has postponed a vote designed to set its response to Argentina's successful World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to EU anti-dumping duties on biodiesel imports, according to media reports. The vote was postponed on Thursday 27th July, 2017. The current anti-dumping duties for Argentina amount to about 25% and in the case of Indonesia around 19%. This was set…
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Los Angeles is to transition to a fully electric, zero-emissions bus fleet by 2030, according to recently announced plans. The Californian city has a reputation for extreme bouts of smog, something city authorities hope the electricity transition will help to alleviate. 2,200 vehicles will be purchased as part of the transition, which is expected to last ten years and cost $1 billion (€854…
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The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was mistaken to use the methodology it did for lowering the 2016 renewable fuel standard. The decision is being hailed as a major victory for the biofuels industry. The ruling was made on Friday (28th July, 2017). This decision was in response to a joint petition filed in January…
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According to trade body Renewable Energy Association (REA), the UK government should consider enforcing E10 to boost the biofuels industry. The UK’s biofuel industry employs more than 10,000, largely in the North-East of England. ‘Warning of closures’ More than £1bn (€800 million) has been invested in existing production facilities, yet the industry is warning of…
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Scientists in Russia have used high-resolution mass spectrometry to determine the composition of a biofuel obtained from the microalgae Spirulina platensis. Two biofuel fractions obtained using a special algal mass treatment method were studied, allowing the researchers to prove algae biofuel has little in common with oil in terms of composition. Published in the Journal of Mass Spectrometry,…
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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 Biofuels International Conference, a world leading biofuels event, will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 4 and 5 October 2017, covering the whole biofuels supply chain. The show will focus on all the new developments and the latest challenges. Topics covered in the seminars include global policy uncertainty, reintroducing E10, REDII, and the future of the bioethanol market. For the first…
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