News

KiOR has announced that, as part of its refocus on R&D, it has accepted a bid for substantially all of its assets from certain affiliates of Vinod Khosla that have been providing and will continue to provide it with senior secured financing. KiOR has also filed for relief under Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Under the Bankruptcy Code, the bid is subject to…
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Scandinavian airline Norwegian has operated its initial biofuel-powered flight. On Tuesday 11 November, the aircraft flew from Bergen to Oslo with close to 50% biofuel. The airline hopes to contribute towards making aviation carbon neutral by 2050 through developing new technologies and frameworks. Bjørn Kjos, CEO, Norwegian, says: 'We have a clear goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% per…
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In May, Ergon will restart its ethanol refinery at the Port of Vicksburg. The plant, which can produce almost 60 million gallons a year, opened in 2008 and operated for four years. It then stopped production in December 2012. Ergon bought out its partner Bunge North America this year. The company will upgrade the plant to allow it to make corn oil for the production of ethanol and biodiesel.
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Finland-based biorefining technology Chempolis, has signed a partnership agreement with Numaligarh Refinery (A Government of India Enterprise). The duo will build a bioethanol biorefinery in Northeast India. Using Chempolis' formicobio technology, the plant will also produce furfural and acetic acid from locally available cellulosic biomass including biomass. The project is expected to complete…
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Waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer Enerkem recently has signed an agreement with chemicals producer AkzoNobel to initiate a project partnership that will develop waste-to-chemicals facilities in Europe. Vincent Chornet, president and CEO of Enerkem, says: 'With our lower-cost alternative to incineration and landfilling, we help chemical producers offer more sustainable products derived from…
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IGPC Ethanol's ethanol plant in Ontario, US, has reached over 1 billion litres of ethanol. Since 2008, IGPC Ethanol has contributed considerably to Canada's domestic supply of ethanol. Using corn feedstocks, the facility has produced over 170 million litres of ethanol per year. IGPC Ethanol is Canada's first farmer owned ethanol production facility. The company is looking to continue its…
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State-run agricultural research firm Embrapa states Brazil can increase planted areas for bioenergy sixfold without removing rainforest. Manoel Texeira Souza, general manager, Embrapa, said at BNamericas' 11th Southern Cone Energy Summit that as much as 50 million hectares were available for future growth. 'If we can transfer 20% or 30% of that land into new [plantations] we will exceed our…
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A new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reveals that biofuels now make up 1% of global energy use. The State of the Biofuels Market: Regulatory, Trade and Development Perspectives is a global overview of the progression of biofuels. It provides an update to the agency’s first report released in 2006. The report focuses on industry activity over…
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India's government aims to include aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the list of products within the proposed goods and services tax (GST). Its inclusion will ensure a uniform tax on the aviation fuel across all states, which at present is particularly high, reaching the 30% mark. The country's jet fuel is nearly 60% higher than others and represents 40-50% of an airline's operating costs. 'We want…
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Companhia de Bioenergia de Angola (Biocom) has produced 1,550 tonnes of sugar and 3,600m³ of ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Carlos Martins, director of Biocom says the company is still testing the machines for processing sugarcane into sugar and ethanol to enable productions to start soon, cites Angolan news agency Angop. Continuous rainfall in the South African country has led to a halt in sugar…
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The Fuels Institute, an expert non-profit organisation, has released a study that estimates a large increase in E85 sales over the next nine years. E85 sales will at least double by 2023, the report states. How much these sales will rise depends on specific market circumstances, but the report predicts E85 sales could grow by 20 times over this period. The Fuels Institute reveals that the report,…
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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released the November issue of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which expects ethanol production to average 934,000 barrels per day in 2015. June's ethanol production matched the monthly average production record of 959,000 barrels per day set in December 2011. At present, the EIA anticipates 2014 production to average 927,000 barrels per day…
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Avinor's Oslo Gardermoen, Norway, is the first airport in the world to supply biofuels on a regular basis. Through an agreement with Avinor, Statoil Aviation will deliver 2.5 million gallons of biofuels to tanks at Oslo Airport between March 2015 to March 2016. These 2.5 million gallons will be used to produce a 50% biofuel mix, which will fuel approximately 3,000 flights between Oslo and…
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