News

Low-carbon fuel specialist LanzaTech has produced jet fuel from waste gases for Virgin Atlantic. LanzaTech said that it had produced 1,500 of its jet fuel called ‘Lanzanol’. Sincce 2011, LanzaTech has been working with Virgin to commit to producing the world’s first jet fuel derived from waste industrial gases from steel mills via a fermentation process. The Lanzanol was…
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Business magnate and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has joined French oil giant Total in investing $14 million (€12.4m) in US biofuel specialist Renmatix. The company has developed a process that converts plant waste and biomass into sugars that can be converted into biofuels and bio versions of chemicals. The company hopes that this investment will help it to reach…
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A porous metal-organic framework sorbent could boost the efficiency of ethanol production from cellulosic biomass by trapping compounds that inhibit fermentation, according to a study from the University of California. Woody plants and grasses hold enormous supplies of cellulose, from which ethanol can be produced via fermentation of sugars extracted from the plant materials, Chemical and…
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A US Navy Boeing EA-18G electronic attack aircraft completed a 100% biofuel powered flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland earlier this month (September). Dubbed the "Green Growler" the aircraft flew using a bio JP-5 fuel produced from alternative sources, replacing the petroleum based JP-5, powering its two GE 414 turbofan engines. “From takeoff to landing, you…
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US ethanol trade association Growth Energy is calling for higher ethanol blends to be introduced in the aftermath a petrol pipeline leak that has left the pumps dry on many stations. A 9 September leak in the Colonial pipeline, which supplies petrol to many states in the southeast and east coast of the US has resulted not only in petrol shortages, but also price spikes at the pump. The states of…
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Diane Black, member of the US House of Representatives (R-Tenn.), has an act that would extend the biodiesel blenders' tax credit for two years through 2018. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2016 unless Congress decides to extend it through Black’s Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Incentive Extension Act of 2016 (H.R. 5994). Since 2005, the $1.00 per gallon biodiesel…
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Norwegian biorefinery operator Borregaard has decided to invest NOK 63 million (€6.8m) in a project including an upgrade of a bioethanol plant and a facility to capture and store biogas.  The project has been awarded a grant of NOK 18.9 million from Enova, a Norwegian government agency which promotes environmentally friendly restructuring of energy end-use, renewable energy production,…
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Petrobras, Brazil’s state-led oil company, intends to exit the biofuels business as part of the company’s plan to cut spending and reduce its debts. Part of Petrobras’ 2017-2021 strategic plan, dropping biofuels – along with other cuts in LPG, fertiliser, and petrochemical sectors – will see the company’s spending fall from $98.5 billion (€88.3bn) in…
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Roxol Bioenergy Corp., the bioethanol subsidiary of Roxas Holdings, has been allowed to reopen its bioethanol plant in Negros Occidental, Philippines, following its implementation of measures to mitigate emission of foul odour. The plant, located at Barangay Nagasi, La Carlota City, was shut down on 9 September, when a cease and desist order (CDO) was filed against Roxol. Roxas Holdings told the…
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Petroleum products refiner Tesoro Corp. has agreed to acquire renewable fuels and chemicals company Virent to support Virent's success in bringing biofuels technology to commercial scale. Virent's BioForming technology can convert sugars and other biomass derived feedstocks into renewable petrol blendstocks and aromatics, which are fully compatible with existing fuel infrastructure and current…
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Member of the US House of Representatives for Minnesota Tom Emmer has voiced his support for the state’s ethanol industry after a meeting with local biofuel producers. Emmer recently met up with the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MBFA) to learn more about Minnesota's ethanol industry and show his support for clean homegrown renewable biofuels. "Minnesota and America's heartland are prime…
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LiqTech International, a Denmark-based clean technology company, has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) to supply a $1.8 million (€1.6m) filtration system for a 100,000tpy Chinese bioethanol plant. The bioethanol plant, to be located in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, is scheduled to be in operation in 2017 and when completed it will be the largest bioethanol production…
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