News

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) has released data showing that global food prices have experienced the steepest monthly drop since 2008. According to the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), the decline in food prices has coincided with a period of record ethanol production expansion, reaching a high of 94 billion litres in 2014 from 83.5 billion litres in 2012, a…
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Researchers at Cardiff University have devised a way of increasing the yield of biodiesel by using the waste left over from its production process. Using simple catalysis, the researchers have been able to recycle an undesired by-product of the vegetable-oil-to-biodiesel conversion process, and convert this residue into an ingredient to produce even more biodiesel. It is believed this new process…
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Oakland Biofuels is looking to launch a new cellulosic ethanol production technology in Mid-Wales, UK, using bracken as a feedstock. The facility will be the first of its kind in Europe to use the new technology in conjunction with bracken. Jeremy Oakley, director of Oakland Biofuels, says the company has been looking for alternative uses for bracken already for some years, with the main focus…
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The EU will extend anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imported US biodiesel until 2020, according to Reuters. The duties were extended in an EU attempt to maintain its defence against trade in renewable fuels. The EU argues that should the duties, originally set in 2009 on certain US biodiesel producers, be lifted, the resulting increase in imports could damage European biofuels…
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MBI, a US-based biotech company, has been granted a patent (patent no. 9,102,964) for its Afex biomass pre-treatment technology by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The Afex technology enables energy producers to utilise the nearly 2 billion tonnes of biomass left on the fields annually after the harvest of crops such as corn, wheat, and rice and turn it into feedstock for cellulosic biofuels…
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Renewable Energy Group (REG) has formally opened its latest biomass-based diesel refinery REG Grays Harbor, Washington, US. REG leaders were joined by state and local business, government, and community leaders for a ceremony marking the transition to REG’s ownership of the former Imperium Grays Harbor 100 million gallon nameplate capacity biodiesel production and terminal facility. Daniel…
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Olleco, the UK's largest converter of used cooking oil (UCO) and food waste into renewable energy, has successfully acquired Convert2Green. This acquisition is in line with Olleco's goal to achieve 100% resource recovery for the food industry. The move will increase the number of Olleco's depots to 17 across the UK and will enable it to improve efficiencies and coverage to enhance the UCO…
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Over its 10-year lifespan, the Renewable Fuel Standard's (RFS) requirement to substitute biofuels for fossil fuels has displaced nearly 1.9 billion barrels of foreign oil and reduced US transportation-related carbon emissions by 589.33 million tonnes. These are the findings of an analysis released by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Brent Erickson, executive VP of BIO's industrial…
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Argent Energy, a waste-to-biodiesel producer, has commissioned BDI BioEnergy International with the implementation of phase two of its multi-feedstock plant in the UK. Within seven months of work starting on the BDI High FFA Esterification unit, Argent energy commissioned the second phase.   This technology makes it possible to convert commercial and industrial waste fats with a high free…
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Project Solaris in South Africa has earned the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) certification for the production of the energy rich tobacco crop ‘Solaris’ in the Limpopo region of South Africa. Solaris is a nicotine-free and GMO-free crop variety that yields significant amounts of sustainable oil that can be used as feedstock for bio jet fuel. Project Solaris has involved…
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Agro BioFuels and BioEnergy, a joint venture between the US branch of India-based Agro Pulping Machinery and JatDiesel, is set to invest $11 million (appr. €9.8 million) in a 15 million gpy biodiesel plant near Dayton, Ohio, US. The plant, once finished, will produce fuel from oils and fats derived from plants and animals. The company has addressed concerns about smells and hazards and hopes…
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Deinove, a French biotech company developing processes for producing biofuels and bio-based chemicals by using Deinococcus bacteria, has produced muconic acid in their laboratory using second-generation substrates. This July Deinove announced that it had deployed a new R&D platform dedicated to the production of muconic acid, a versatile chemical intermediate whose derivatives…
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Chicago, US-based Lakeview Energy has purchased the assets of the former Producer’s Choice Soy Energy facility in Moberly, Missouri. Lakeview made the purchase with the aid of a $3.3 million (€2.9 million) loan from the USDA Rural Energy for America programme. With a further $5 million investment, Lakeview plans to upgrade the 10 million gpy capacity biodiesel production facility, now…
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