News

Scientists have demonstrated how to design and genetically engineer enzyme surfaces to bind less with corn stalks and other cellulosic biomass, reducing enzyme costs in the production of biofuels such as ethanol. A study detailing the research by scientists from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Michigan State University, has been published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and…
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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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New research claims that air pollution policy reduces the extent to which population growth in urban areas results in increased pollution emissions, without disrupting the economic growth resulting from this urbanisation. More than half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, and the United Nations predicts another 2.5 billion people will move to cities by 2050. However,…
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Following successful pilot testing of its corn fibre-to-ethanol process, D3MAX is ready to move to the next stage of commercial development: the design of a full-scale plant at Ace Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin. Ace Ethanol set specific performance goals for the D3MAX pilot testing. “The D3MAX pilot process was able to meet or exceed our performance goals,” says Neal Kemmet, president…
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Two technologies that could allow cars and trucks to run on seaweed biofuel are currently being developed by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The projects have received a combined $2.5 million (€2 million) in funding from the DOE. Macroalgae, to give seaweed its technical name, is most commonly grown for human consumption. However,…
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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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Speciality chemicals producer Clariant has announced approval from its board of directors to invest in a new full-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Romania. When complete, the new facility will produce cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues using sunliquid technology. With an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes, the facility will be a flagship site to demonstrate the…
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Britain’s power supply is now the seventh cleanest in the world after climbing 13 places in a global league table, according to a new Electric Insights report. The report was  produced by researchers at Imperial College London, who in collaboration with power giant Drax, compared the carbon content of electricity supplies across various large countries between 2012 and 2016. They said…
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100 members of the US National Biodiesel Board (NBB) headed to Washington DC on 28 November to participate in the biannual ‘fly-in' to the country’s capital. According to a statement, NBB members plan to ‘storm the hill’ to encourage the reinstatement of the biodiesel tax credit that expired in December 2016. The NBB is the US trade association representing the biodiesel…
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US President Barack Obama has urged the US to take bolder action in tackling climate change in his last presidential speech. In his farewell address, delivered on 10 January in Chicago, Obama  said: “We’ve  led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet.  But without bolder action, our children won’t have time to debate the existence of…
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A Hawaii renewable energy company is planning to export biofuels to a South Korean company that supplies electricity to the island nation. According to West Hawaii Today, Hawaii-based Lamplighter Energy in Hawaii will announce the agreement with Hanbo Energy Korea at the state Capitol next week Tuesday (31 January, 2017). Lamplighter CEO Andre De Rosa said the company will export biofuel in…
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The Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said that biofuels would soon become the West African country’s foreign exchange earner, if “we can apply both our mind and might into it”. According to local newspaper Leadership, Kachikwu made the statement at a sensitisation workshop on biofuels development in Nigeria with the theme, ‘Biofuels:…
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Spanish ethanol producer Abengoa has announced a €7.6 billion loss for 2016, six times more than the previous year, as the multinational attempts to restructure. Abengoa shareholders last year approved a €1.17 billion rescue package from banks and investment funds, following years of frenzied, unsustainable expansion worldwide. The company has recently published its 2016 financial…
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Indonesia plans to file a World Trade Organisation (WTO) complaint this month against European Union anti-dumping duties on biodiesel exports from the Southeast Asian country, according to a report from Reuters. Indonesian trade officials said in a statement the EU duties on biodiesel were inconsistent with the WTO's Anti-Dumping Agreement and disputed the calculations that they were…
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