News

An international team of scientists have found a group of enzymes in fungi that can break down a main component of wood, enabling a more efficient refining process. The researchers say that the process could be used to convert wood into a variety of useful chemical products according to a University of York press release. They hope that the discovery can help the viability of wood as a source of…
Read More »

China is set to expand its production and consumption of bioethanol in 2018, according to the country’s State Administration of Grain. The move comes as China seeks more channels to use its grain and corn stockpiles, according to Brinkwire.com. Continued state support for corn farmers has left China with a substantial stockpile of grain and corn. Data from the country’s National…
Read More »

An explosion at a Saipol oilseed factory in France has left two people dead, according to Reuters. Saipol is the oilseed branch of Avril, the largest biodiesel producer in Europe as well as France’s largest table oil producer. The explosion took place on 17 February at 10:00am, at the Saipol factory in Dieppe. Alongside the fatalities, one person was slightly injured and seven others were…
Read More »

The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) based out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) is moving from the development of crop-based ethanol to creating fuels and chemicals that are fungible with their petroleum-based equivalents. The change was announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, Texas by the centre’s…
Read More »

A consortium of companies, including Canadian advanced biofuel producer Enerkem, have signed a project development agreement for an advanced waste-to-chemistry facility in Rotterdam. According to a statement, the new facility will be the first of its kind in Europe. It will provide a sustainable alternative solution for non-recyclable waste, allowing plastics and other mixed wastes to be…
Read More »

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says the EU could double the renewable share in its energy mix, cost effectively, from 17% in 2015 to 34% in 2030. In order to reach long term decarbonisation goals, the report argues that all renewable transport options – both biofuels and electric vehicles, are necessary. The report also argues that biomass will remain a…
Read More »

Contanda has officially withdrawn a permit application to handle and store crude oil at its Grays Harbor terminal in Washington, US. The storage and logistics service provider states that it now intends to pursue permits to expand the facility to handle and store a portfolio of cleaner fuels, including biodiesel, renewable diesel and ultra-low sulphur diesel. In 2013, Contanda sought permits to…
Read More »

In a Thursday 1 February interview with Fox News, US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said that the country’s biofuel policy was in need of an overhaul. The EPA administrator’s comments were in response to the recent bankruptcy of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, the largest oil refiner on the East Coast. When announcing its bankruptcy, the oil refiner pointed…
Read More »

Finnish forest industry company and biofuel producer UPM has started an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a possible biorefinery in Mussalo, Kotka, in the southeast of Finland. The proposed site is in the area of a dismantled power plant formerly run by the Pohjolan Voima energy company. According to UPM, the study for the possible Kotka Biorefinery is in the very early stages, with the…
Read More »

A partnership between Samsung Electronics and Rural Development Solutions is set to deliver 10,000 bioethanol stoves to households in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Situated on the outskirts of Kakuma town, in north-west Kenya’s Turkana County, the Kakuma refugee camp had a population of 185,154 registered refugees and asylum seekers at the start of 2018, states UNHCR (United Nations…
Read More »

The EU Commission has initiated an anti-subsidy investigation into whether Argentinian biodiesel exporters are benefitting from unfair subsidies. The move has been launched following a complaint in December from the European Biodiesel Board (EBB). In 2013, the EU set anti-dumping duties on Argentinian and Indonesian biodiesel of between 22 and 25.7%, claiming both countries were benefitting from…
Read More »

A $115 million bionenergy research centre has opened at the University of Illinois in the US. The new Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation had its opening ceremony on the 1 February 2018. A collaboration between the University’s Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, the facility has been funded with a…
Read More »

Novozymes has unveiled its new yeast platform for starch-based ethanol, designed to help ethanol producers ‘get more’ from their raw materials. The first product in the new yeast platform is Innova Drive, a new yeast strain designed to reduce fermentation time by up to two hours compared to current yeasts, according to Novozymes. Yeast is a vital component of ethanol production. It is…
Read More »