News

Biotech specialist Novozymes has cut its long-term growth expectations as the prolonged oil price slump is delaying the development of the advanced biofuel industry and hurting sales to other sectors, the firm said. Novozymes, which makes enzymes that speed up or improve chemical processes in a variety of industries, now expects organic sales growth of 6-7 % a year from 2017 through 2020, down…
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Chemical producer DuPont Industrial Biosciences and agricultural specialist Archer Daniels Midland Co. have developed a method of producing furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME) from fructose. The firms said the new breakthrough process had potential to open up a "vast landscape of bio-based materials offerings". The technology has applications in packaging, textiles, engineering plastics and…
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US-based biofuel plant company Ensyn will start producing renewable fuel from its biofuel plant in Georgia from January 2017. Ensyn told local press that its Dooly County facility in Georgia will use 440 tonnes of wood tops and tree limbs to produce electricity and other fuels. It plans to produce 20m gallons of fuel ever year. Terrell Hudson, the Dooly County Commission Chairman, told local news…
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The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), a non-consortium supported by Etihad Airways, Boeing and Honeywell UOP, claims that it will soon launch the world's first bioenergy research facility using desert land, irrigated by seawater, to produce both food and aviation fuels in Abu Dhabi. The facility will be launched in March and is located on a two-hectare site at Masdar City —…
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Brazilian biodiesel producer BSBIOS will invest BRL80 million (€18.3m) to double production at its Marialva unit. The company expects the expansion to be concluded in 2017, boosting the site's biodiesel production capacity from the current 208 million litres per year to 416 million. BSBIOS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Parana's state government. The company will re-enter the…
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US-based petroleum specialist Tesoro Corp. has announced a plan to foster the development of biocrude made from renewable biomass, which can be co-processed in its existing refineries, along with traditional crude oil. Converting renewable biomass into biocrude is expected to enable existing refining assets to produce less carbon-intensive fuels at a significantly lower capital and operating cost…
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French renewable energy firm Global Bioenergies has completed a €6.5m private placement with French and international investors. The proceeds of the placement will be used to further the development of its isobutene process and to launch commercial roll-out. The company placed 274,931 new shares at a par value of €0.05 per share, at a unit price of €23.70, including share premium,…
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Spanish renewable energy business Abengoa is planning to restructure its firm, shrink itself by about a third to avoid bankruptcy and potentially sell off its bioenergy arm, according to media reports. According to media agency Bloomberg, the firm is making the plans to convince creditors it can survive as a smaller company. Quoting a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg stated: "The…
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A bacterium found in the remote Gobi Desert may become a valuable partner for researchers working with biofuels. The bacterium has shown talents for using the sun's light as energy and now researchers have revealed that it can be found in surprisingly many different places, including water treatment plants. To date, species capable of performing photosynthesis have been reported in six bacterial…
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A team from US Grains Council (USGC), a US grains export advocate, and two ethanol industry representatives have completed an overview of ethanol’s possibilities in East Asian markets. The group traveled to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan is December 2015 to review the ethanol markets in these countries and evaluate potential for ongoing US ethanol export promotion programmes in the region. The…
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The UK Government has pledged to do more to increase the proportion of renewable energy used to heat the nation's buildings and fuel its cars, trucks and trains as it aims to meet binding EU targets by 2020. The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) made the pledge in its recently published report entitled Third progress report on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources…
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Dutch GoodFuels Marine, the first marine biofuel company focused on the global commercial fleet, has received the highest standard of certification from the Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). The two-year certification, which assesses the sustainable viability of the biomaterials used by GoodFuels to generate marine bunker fuel, enables the company to actively sell and promote…
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The board of directors of Australian Renewable Fuels (ARFuels), the country’s largest biodiesel producer, has placed the company into voluntary administration. Under Australian law, voluntary administration is a form of insolvency arrangement, which creates an opportunity for flexible approaches to bring about a better outcome for stakeholders than may otherwise occur in liquidation. The…
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