News

In India, Algae.Tec has delivered its first algae photobioreactor to Jamnagar province. The photobioreactor is part of Algae.Tec's contract with energy company Reliance Industries to build an 84 gallon per day pilot plant at the world's largest oil refinery. The initial container holds the algae photobioreactor assembly, which will be located adjacent to the refinery. The photobioreactor will…
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Pacific Ethanol, a producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the western United States, has begun commercial production of corn oil at its Madera, California plant. The corn oil production process utilises Valicor's proprietary VFRAC corn oil recovery system. Neil Koehler, the company's president and CEO, says: 'We are pleased to be producing corn oil at our Madera plant, which…
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Associated British Foods (ABF) has completed a contract with BP to acquire its 47% stake in Vivergo Fuels. ABF is now the majority shareholder with 94%. Mark Chesworth, MD of Vivergo, says: 'With our shareholder's support, we've steadily ramped up production and are now operating at full capacity, producing enough bioethanol to meet around half of the UK's current demand as well as a protein rich…
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According to UNEP's ninth 'Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015', prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance — the past year brought a rebound of green energy investments worldwide with a surge of a solid…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it will finalise the volume requirements for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), in addition to the 2017 volume requirement for biomass-based diesel, by 30 November. The following schedule has been established following a proposed consent decree in litigation brought against EPA by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the…
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Renewable company Cascades has invested in a new technology at its Norampac-Cabano facility. This new process extracts hemicellulose from woodchips. The project is worth a total $26 million (€24.5 million). It is backed by a $10 million investment from Natural Resources Canada's Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) programme and an additional $4.4 million from the…
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Pearson Fuels and G&M Oil Company are celebrating their latest partnership with the grand opening of California's newest E85 station. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on 15 April and E85 will be available all day for just $0.85 (€0.80) per gallon. This event is part of a larger announcement of Pearson Fuels and G&M Oil Company, who have announced 13 new E85 stations slated…
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On April 14, the European Parliament's environment committee (ENVI) moved a step closer to an agreement on plans to cap the production of traditional biofuels and accelerate the shift to alternative sources, such as certain types of waste and residues and new sources such as seaweed, with the environment committee's vote backing a deal struck by legislators. The plan aims to cut greenhouse gas…
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A recent impact study by University of Nebraska-Lincoln economists reveals Nebraska's ethanol production capacity growth between 1995 and 2014 is tenfold. The results of the 'Economic Impacts of the Ethanol Industry in Nebraska' study were released during a press conference on 14 April. The authors - Dr. Kathleen Brooks, UNL agricultural economics professor; Dr. Dennis Conley, UNL agricultural…
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NexSteppe, a producer of sustainable feedstock solutions for the bio-based industries, sold more than 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of its Palo Alto biomass sorghums in Brazil this past growing season, compared to just over 1,000 hectares in the previous year. Just as many of the leaders of the bio-based economy have begun proving their conversion technologies at commercial scale, NexSteppe says…
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Taiwan's largest integrated steel maker, China Steel Corporation (CSC), has announced formal Board approval of a 1.4 billion TWD (€42.8 million) capital investment in a LanzaTech commercial ethanol facility. This follows the successful demonstration of the revolutionary carbon recycling platform at the White Biotech (WBT) Demonstration Plant in Kaohsiung using steel mill off gases for…
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Total has announced an investment of €200 million to transform the La Mède refinery and create France's first biorefinery, which will be one of the biggest in Europe, to meet growing demand for biofuels. In order to sustainably restore the competitiveness of its La Mède site, Total will transform some existing units for activities with strong future prospects. The group will…
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Aventine Renewable Energy, a producer, marketer and supplier of ethanol, has announced its first BNSF unit-train shipment of ethanol produced at its two ethanol facilities in Aurora, Nebraska. On 19 April Aventine's first unit train pulled out of Aurora heading to Birmingham, Alabama. The ethanol will be blended in petrol to enhance octane, and will also help reduce America's dependence on…
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