Australia-based research company Actinogen, which works with a group of environmental bacteria known as actinomycetes, is to collaborate with Leaf Energy on its glycerol pre-treatment process. Leaf will spend up to AU$100,000 (€65,800) to further fund studies on bioethanol with Actinogen, as certain strains of actinomycetes produce enzymes which can break down cellulose... [Read More]

The Public Utility Commission (PUC) in Hawaii has turned down a second attempt by a local biodiesel producer to supply product to a power plant. Honolulu-based Aina Koa Pono reportedly wants approval to sell around 16 million gallons of biofuel a year to Hawaii Electric Light on a 20 year contract via a proposed new $450 million (€330 million) facility. But the PUC... [Read More]

US-based Heliae, a developer of advanced algae production technologies, commenced operations at its first commercial facility in Arizona late last year. Using its Volaris-brand platform, the commercial facility will initially operate at 33% of its capacity to produce high-value algae products for nutraceutical and personal care products but biofuels represents another... [Read More]

The board of directors of Sinav, which owns GTL Resources (GTL) and Illinois River Energy (IRE), is to sell off the ethanol business. IRE is an ethanol production facility, located in Rochelle, which owns and operates a 125 million gallon per year ethanol plant that commenced operations in 2006. Additionally GTL, the company’s business development arm, is advancing... [Read More]

Researchers at York University, UK believe they have made ‘a significant step’ towards development of effective second generation biofuels. The scientists claim to have discovered a family of enzymes which can degrade hard-to-digest biomass, like wood chips, cardboard and plant stems, into constituent sugars. ‘There’s no doubt this discovery will... [Read More]

China has started levying a consumption tax on imported biodiesel and some types of kerosene, according to the country's customs office. The move comes with the intention of curbing imports of the fuels that have taken market share from state refiners. The government imposed a consumption tax of 0.8 yuan (€0.09) per litre on biodiesel, lamp kerosene and other kerosene... [Read More]

California-based biodiesel company Community Fuels was awarded a $4.9 million (€3.5 million) grant from the California Energy Commission for the expansion of its biorefinery at the Port of Stockton. The grant was funded through California's Alternative and Renewable Fuel Vehicle Technology Programme, designed to provide funding for the development of commercial-scale,... [Read More]

North American energy producer and supplier Just Energy announced the sale of affiliate company Terra Grain Fuels' ethanol plant was completed earlier in December. The plant, located in Belle Plaine, Canada, was bought from Just Energy by a consortium of financial firms, all of which had a stake in the original agreement to finance the construction of the plant, which... [Read More]

Argentina has hit back over the imposed ‘anti-dumping’ duties by the European Union by filing a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The country’s foreign ministry is claiming the duties on biofuels imports, currently set around an additional 25%, are ‘purely protectionist’ and will harm its biodiesel industry. The WTO has 60 days... [Read More]

It has been reported the amount of ethanol produced from cassava in Thailand will nearly double to 3 million tonnes in 2014. The Ministry of Commerce will allocate 10 billion baht (€224.5 million) to manage a cassava income plan for next season. ‘If the new government chooses not to implement the income guarantee plan next year, ethanol producers could still... [Read More]

Two US-based companies are to collaborate and supply customised industrial sugars for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic sugar producer Sweetwater Energy  and Pacific Ethanol, a marketer and producer of low carbon renewable fuels, will construct a cellulosic biorefinery at the Pacific Ethanol Stockton facility capable of producing up to 3.6 million gallons,... [Read More]

CropEnergies, a bioethanol producer based in Germany, has posted increased revenues to €572.8 million for the first nine months of 2013. That figure is €63.1 million up on the same time period in 2012, while a decline of operating profits from €70.2 million to a current €37.2 million ‘corresponds with expectations’. The company puts the... [Read More]

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire all assets of biodiesel producer Syntroleum. Syntroleum is based in Oklahoma, has produced Fischer-Tropsch gas-to-liquids and renewable diesel fuel technologies and has 101 patents issued or pending. It also owns a 50% interest in Dynamic Fuels, a 75 million gallon renewable diesel production... [Read More]

It has been reported China New Energy is to enter a reverse takeover of BAPP Ethanol Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sino Distillery Group. The restructure will mean BAPP will have an indirect 75% interest in Harbin China Distillery, which owns and operates a 60,000 tonne a year biorefinery in north-east China. The deal is subject to further due diligence and negotiation... [Read More]

UK-based Gazasia is to develop an anaerobic digestion plant in the Philippines with local business Aseagas to provide clean, renewable transport fuel. The project will create the first biomethane plant in the country, which will produce biogas from organic waste. This, in turn, will be processed to generate liquid biomethane to be used as fuel. The initial $47 million... [Read More]

Joil, a scientific bioenergy crop developer focused on a new generation of jatropha, has achieved an average seed yield of 3.53 tonnes per hectare in the third year of its large-scale field trials in India.The company claims the yield will be 4.42 tonnes per hectare unpruned. These results place Joil’s jatropha varieties on track to deliver a projected  yield... [Read More]