News

US ethanol producer Poet Biorefining is undergoing an expansion to more than double its capacity from nearly 70 million gallons per year to 150 million gallons per year at its Marion, Ohio-based facility. According to the company, this plan will improve the grain market for local farmers and adding new jobs to the community. With the expansion, high-protein animal feed production will also grow…
Read More »

Zimbabwe will need more biofuels to blend into its fuel supply as it pushes ahead with ethanol production, according to the Zimbabwe Mail. Zimbabwe will now increase its mandatory petrol blending from 5% to 10%. This comes after government in March reduced to 5% from 15% the mandatory amount of local ethanol to be blended with petrol as President Robert Mugabe’s cash-squeezed government…
Read More »

US ethanol trade body Growth Energy has released a new survey showing that US small engine owners are pleased with the performance of their fuel and find it easy to pick the best option, including regular unleaded blends of 10% ethanol (E10). Conducted by Quadrant Strategies, the random poll of 500 owners of lawnmowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, weed whackers, and other small engines…
Read More »

Cellulosic biofuels could provide an environmentally sustainable way of meeting energy needs, providing certain principles are met, according to an article appearing on Science Daily. “The climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels is actually much greater than was originally thought,” Phil Robertson, professor of Ecosystem Science at Michigan State University, told Science Daily.…
Read More »

US advanced biofuels producer Renewable Energy Group (REG) marked the completion of upgrades at its Ermden, Germany biorefinery with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with government and community members. "This investment is another milestone in REG's European strategy to be a leader in delivering high quality biofuels," said Jean Scemama, VP at REG Energy Europe.   Scemama added: "Within this…
Read More »

A team of chemists have discovered a new way to produce carbon-based liquid fuels from CO2. The new additive, identified by a team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), selectively converts CO2 ­fuels containing multiple carbon atoms, a step towards producing renewable liquid fuels which are not derived from coal or oil. "The results were quite shocking," says…
Read More »

A consortium led by Macquarie has completed the acquisition of the UK’s Green Investment Bank. Macquarie Group (Macquarie), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (MEIF5) and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) have paid the UK government £2.3 billion to purchase the institution, which was set up in 2012 to fund renewable and low-carbon projects. According to a statement from…
Read More »

A new computational method to rapidly screen the effects of point mutations in bacteria has the potential to make biofuel production more efficient. The conversion of fibrous plant waste such as corn stalks and wood shavings into fermentable simple sugars is a basic requirement of biofuel production, but the process is far from simple. Bacteria must break down tough leaves, stems and other…
Read More »

Renewable diesel Neste and US-headquartered Jacobs Engineering Group have agreed that Neste acquires the 40% shareholding of Jacobs in Neste Jacobs Oy. After this transaction, Neste holds all shares in Neste Jacobs. "Neste Jacobs is the leading company specialising in process industry technology, engineering and project management services in the Nordic countries,” said Jyrki…
Read More »

The US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a five-year grant worth up to $15 million to the University of Arizona (UA) to lead a new centre focusing on the mass production of biofuels and bioproducts in the Southwestern US. According to a statement from UA, the goals of the new Sustainable Bioeconomy for Arid Regions Centre will be to address…
Read More »

Policymakers in the European Parliament’s Transport Committee (TRAN) have rejected the opinion put forward by Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout on the revised Renewable Energy Directive, dubbed RED II. Due to a lack of agreement on the outcome of the Environment Committee’s (ENVI) proposal on the phase-out of crop-based biofuels, TRAN had opted to vote on the “Original text based on…
Read More »

China’s Hainan Airlines has completed the country’s ‘first’ cross-ocean biofuels powered flight. Flight 497 took off from the Beijing on 21 November. It landed at Chicago’s O’Hare airport at 12:05pm local time. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner completed the more than 11,000km journey with biological aviation fuel produced from waste cooking oil, according…
Read More »

Researchers have gained insights that could be used to improve enzyme performance in breaking down biomass and converting waste plant matter into renewable fuels and products. The scientists from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), have studied how glycosylation – the natural attachment of sugars to proteins – affects a key cellulose…
Read More »

US researchers have maintained that miscanthus, long speculated to be the top biofuel producer, yields more than twice as much as switchgrass in the US using an open-source bioenergy crop database gaining traction in plant science, climate change, and ecology research. "To understand yield trends and variation across the country for our major food crops, extensive databases are available —…
Read More »