News

US-based technology provider Monsanto and plant genomics company Evogene are to extend and expand a research and development collaboration involving biofuels feedstocks up to August 2016.  The collaboration, initially signed in 2008, has focused on identifying key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress and fertiliser use in corn, soyabean, canola and also cotton. The new…
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The first biodiesel pump in the state of Maharashtra, India is set to arrive by the end of the year. It will be operated by My Eco Energy in the city of Pimpri-Chinchwad and the biodiesel is set to be produced via treated waste materials, including vegetable oils and animal fats. Santosh Verma, a director of My Eco Energy, said during a media address: ‘A biodiesel plant will be set up via…
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Gol airlines reports one of its planes covered the Sao Paulo-Brasilia route using biofuel, a first for Brazil's aviation industry. The flight took place on 23 October to mark Day of the Aviator in the South American country. The Boeing plane flew from Sao Paulo's Congonhas Airport to Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek Airport in the country's capital. Bio-kerosene, the fuel used on the flight, can…
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In Thailand, the ministries of Commerce and Energy are reportedly set to cooperate to develop a strategy to promote the production of ethanol from cassava. Energy minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn is believed to have been tasked with overseeing the country’s production of cassava as an energy and food crop, with one objective being to prevent a price drop. Raktapongpaisarn has recently been…
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Pinto Energy, a developer of gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities, is set to build a new plant on its site in Ohio, US. The 2,800 barrel per day (bpd) plant will be built at Pinto’s 80-acre industrial site and will convert low-cost natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shale region into ultra clean transportation fuels and other products like solvents, lubricants and waxes. The…
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Maverick Biofuels, a provider of biofuels production technology, has been awarded three US patents for producing a mixed-alcohol fuel from synthesis gas (syngas) via a methanol intermediate. Maverick develops and commercialises technology for producing renewable clean transportation fuels and bio-based chemicals using combinations of proven technologies to produce high-value products by…
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Plant and crop improvement business Syngenta has signed a contract with Arkalon Ethanol in Kansas for the plant to start using corn which features its Enogen trait technology. Syngenta claims Enogen, a field-to-fuel system, will help deliver alpha amylase enzyme directly in corn grain thus saving the costs of adding liquid enzymes and improving process efficiency. The way Syngenta explains the…
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University of Arizona (UA) researchers have been granted $8 million (€5.8 million) by the US Department of Energy to continue researching how to use algae to make biofuel, animal feed and plastics over the next four years. 'Our goal is to provide algal biofuel at a production cost equal to the cost of petroleum,' says Randy Ryan, assistant director of the Arizona Agricultural Experiment…
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It is believed the Ukraine may not be able to rely on its molasses feedstock to produce enough bioethanol for 2014. Mykola Tychenko, a director at Ukrprodspilka, was quoted as saying the country’s molasses harvest forecast amounts to around 400,000-500,000 tonnes. ‘If all of this was used to produce bioethanol we’d only make 100,000 tonnes,’ he says, which would equate to…
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Research from the Public University of Navarre in Europe has reportedly shown that genetically modified tobacco plants are viable as raw material for producing biofuels. Ruth Sanz-Barrio, an agricultural engineer of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre and a researcher at the Institute of Biotechnology, has demonstrated the viability of using specific tobacco proteins (known as thioredoxins)…
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ICM, a biorefinery technology provider, has announced a contract with Illionois-based Patriot Renewable Fuels upon the purchase of its selective milling technology (SMT). SMT is a value-added ICM platform technology investment which ICM claims increases ethanol yield, reduces viscosity and increases oil recovery for its customers. 'ICM's SMT platform technology is an investment that we…
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The RSB Services Foundation, the implementing entity of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), a global sustainability standard and certification system for biofuels and biomaterials production, has awarded Camelina Company España (CCE) its sustainability certification. CCE, a renewable fuels and chemicals group, pioneered the manufacturing and marketing of fuel and chemicals…
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The European Biodiesel Board has applauded a decision, via a vote by the European Parliament’s environment committee this October, to stall a proposal to limit Europe’s use of food-based fuel crops. French MEP Corinne Lepagewas reportedly due to begin negotiations with EU states for a second-reading procedure of the bill. Below is a statement issued by the EBB: ‘The European…
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UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has announced that Honeywell Green Jet Fuel produced using Honeywell's UOP Renewable Jet Fuel process powered the first commercial flight in Colombia operating with renewable jet fuel. A LAN Airbus A320 aircraft traveled with 174 passengers from Bogotá El Dorado International Airport to Santiago de Cali, Colombia. One of the aircraft's two engines was powered…
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