News

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted that unfairly dumped biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia have unfairly harmed US industry. ITC voted 4 – 0 in favour of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition’s position that the industry has suffered because of the imports. According to NBB, the ITC decision means antidumping orders can be issued later in…
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The three smallest of Andeavor’s ten oil refineries are now exempt from US biofuels legislation. The ‘hardship’ waiver is meant to protect smaller refiners from being disproportionately impacted by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Last year, Andeavor posted $1.5 billion in net profits. The exemption allows Andeavor to disregard legislation requiring it to blend ethanol into…
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Scientists have created a genetically modified yeast that could quicken the path towards synthetic yeasts for a number of industrial applications, including the creation of bioethanol. The Tufts University researchers have created a yeast that can more efficiently consume xylose, in turn enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, according to their study, published in the…
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The US trade association is calling out the EPA following court approval of the agency’s settlement with the bankrupt refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) and its granting of a ‘small refiner’ waiver for refining giant Andeavor. Damage to the environment and to agricultural communities are among Growth Energy’s complaints about these exemptions from the Renewable…
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The project will see the co-generation of fuel and power, and comes as part of a wider push to industrialise Nigeria’s agriculture. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Kogi State Government for the development of a cane-fed bioethanol plant. Kogi is a region about 200km south of Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. This…
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A cap on RIN prices and a waiver of the Environmental Protection Agency’s E15 ban were discussed to try and reach a ‘win-win’ solution to the competing interests of Big Corn and Big Oil in the biofuels debate. The meeting was of a mix of industry representatives and Senators from oil producing and corn producing states. Statements describing the discussion were tentative, with…
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The mandate was increased 1 March after the country’s National Energy Policy Council approved the measure at the end of 2017. Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy anticipates that the new blend will see demand for biodiesel grow by 1 billion litres in 2018.  This introduction of B10 (a 10% blend of biodiesel with conventional fossil fuel) coincides with the soybean harvest to…
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The CO2 has been contracted by Airgas USA. The company will liquefy the gas at a nearby facility that is expected to begin operation by the end of 2018. The US-based biofuel producer Pacific Ethanol has reached an agreement with Airgas USA to sell it CO2 out of its Stockton, California plant. Airgas USA, a supplier of gases, welding equipment and supplies, and safety products, plans to construct…
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The companies ICM and The Andersons are planning to build a combined heat and power plant in Colwich, Kansas and intend the facility to be ‘the most advanced ethanol plant in the world’. The venture, dubbed ELEMENT is meant to see the construction of a plant capable of offsetting over 70% of natural gas requirements and up to 80% of electricity demand. ELEMENT will use ICM’s…
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The Growing Renewable Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Responsible (GREENER) Fuels Act is the most recent proposal to reform the long-contested Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Talks have been going on for some time about the RFS. Now the minority Democratic Party has introduced a bill into the House and Senate to amend the programme. The changes would see madates for first…
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UPM has joined forces with Norwegian packaging company Elopak and chemical producer Dow to convert its renewable naphtha into cartons. Alongside renewable diesel, the Finnish company’s UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery produces naphtha, an excellent raw material for bioplastics. The naphtha can be converted into renewable resins which can be used in the packaging industry. According to a…
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Stakeholders in the US biodiesel industry have called for the biodiesel tax credit to be extended until 2018 “as soon as possible”. The call comes in a letter from the US National Biodiesel Board, addressed to a range of high-ranking US politicians including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Democrat House Leader Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “Tens of thousands…
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The US biofuels industry has slammed the decision to relieve the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery of roughly half of its $350 million (€283 million) in outstanding Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance obligations. On 12 March, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Carlyle Group backed Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) came to the agreement that the troubled refiner would…
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