US-based ethanol producer Marathon Petroleum has signed an agreement to purchase a facility in Ohio from Felda Iffco, a Malaysian company. The plant currently produces several products including biodiesel and glycerin. The capacity of the plant is 4,100 barrels per day. The transaction is expected to close this April but the details are not being disclosed. ‘This... [Read More]

The European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePure) has warned the European Commission (EC) about surging ethanol imports from Peru since entering a free trade agreement in August 2013. ePure claim in a statement it is ‘apparent an inadvertent change in the pattern of trade is occurring as a direct consequence of this trade agreement’ ‘Peru is taking advantage... [Read More]

Plans have been approved for the addition of a biofuel storage tank to the Pilot Travel Centre site in California, US. Barstow Planning Commission passed the proposal to construct the 20,000 gallon, aboveground tank at the large service station. The tank will store 100% biofuel, to be used in a blend with petroleum-based diesel, with state laws allowing a maximum of 20%... [Read More]

Renewable energy company Methes Energies Canada is the latest to join the Ontario Biodiesel Association (OBA), joining Great Lakes Biodiesel and Noroxel Energy. OBA members have agreed to invest over $80 million (€59 million) in plant and equipment to produce biodiesel in the province. Charles Sousa, Ontario minister of finance, committed via the government's... [Read More]

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ‘key Malaysian partners’ to assess local solutions for sustainable biomass production in the country. The aim is to determine the most suitable feedstocks to ensure that any future jet fuel production in the region is based only on sustainable solutions. The first assessment is expected... [Read More]

Portugal-based engineering company IncBio has just secured an agreement to supply Bio Renewable Energy Factory (BREF) with a 40,000 million tonne a year capacity biodiesel plant. The facility will incorporate IncBio’s ultrasonic technology to produce biodiesel from animal fats collected from rendering plants in the Saudi market. The partnership expects the plant... [Read More]

UK-based fuel supplier Greenergy is confident of re-opening its biodiesel plant in Immingham ‘within months’ after it suffered damage due to flooding late last year. The company released a company statement in January which read: ‘We continue to make progress towards resuming manufacturing at our biodiesel. All equipment damage has been assessed and replacement... [Read More]

A partnership between Clariant, Haltermann and car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is to road test biofuels in Germany. Haltermann takes cellulosic ethanol produced from wheat straw by Clariant and mixes it with conventional fuel components to form a new fuel which, over the next 12 months, will be available to test fleet vehicles at a specially-equipped petrol station on the... [Read More]

Owensboro Grain, a fifth-generation family-owned soyabean processor located in Kentucky, US has announced the successful start-up of its Kosher certified glycerin refinery. The facility is located adjacent to the company’s biodiesel and vegetable oil refinery complex and will refine virgin soya-based crude glycerin produced at the biodiesel plant In a statement,... [Read More]

Austrian haulier Nothegger Transport (NT) has ordered 220 trucks capable of running on 100% biodiesel from Scania. There is currently a tax incentive to use biodiesel  in Austria, as well as lower prices at petrol stations, so NT expects this move will cut its operating costs by potentially €4,000 ($5,470) per truck (based on each one driving an average 150,000km... [Read More]

Terminal storage investment platform Epic Midstream and fuel company US Oil have signed a 10-year partnership so the latter can begin the supply and marketing of biodiesel at four of Epic's terminals. Location of the four termainals are split evenly between the states of Alabama and Georgia. Epic will make tank and rack improvements... [Read More]

A fire at a north Mississippi, US, biofuels plant is reported to have been burning since yesterday, after a total of three explosions rocked the facility. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials are quoted as saying that authorities are trying to figure if they should extinguish the fire or let it burn out. No injuries have been reported, though a voluntary evacuation... [Read More]

Renewable Energy Group has acquired renewable chemical technology developer LS9 for a purchase price of up to $61.5 million (€45 million), consisting of up front and earnout payments, in stock and cash. Most of the LS9 team, including the entire research and development group, will join the newly named REG Life Sciences, which will operate out of LS9’s headquarters... [Read More]

A lack of any transport-focused mandate from the European Commission (EC) as it delivered its vision on a long-term energy and climate policy has sparked a reaction from stakeholders in the renewable fuels industry. The EC report, titled A policy framework for climate and energy policy between 2020 to 2030, suggests moves to a mandatory 40% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction,... [Read More]

France-based renewable hydrocarbon provider Global Bioenergies (GB) is to collaborate with German car manufacturer Audi on the development of isobutene-derived isooctane, a high performance biofuel for petrol engines. One of GB’s in-house programmes concerns the production of bio-isobutene, a molecule which can transform into isooctane, a 100% drop-in fuel that can... [Read More]

US biodiesel producer Blue Sun Energy has implemented a new enzymatic processing technology into its 30 million gallon per year St. Joe refinery in Missouri. This new process uses the Callera Trans L enzyme, provided by Blue Sun’s project partner Novozymes, and is being heralded by Blue Sun as ‘the most advanced biodiesel production facility in the world’. 'The... [Read More]