News

Brazilian ethanol and sugar company Copersucar believes resurgence in the country’s biofuels industry will help growing global sugar surplus. CEO Paulo Roberto de Souza claimed his company only sold one-third of its early crop directly to the sugar industry, but a growing need in the ethanol industry will help stabilise prices which fell below $0.17 (€0.13) per pound for the first time…
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As part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)new rules for RIN integrity, quality assurance providers (QAP) were required to submit details of their QAP-A replacement plans by 1 May. Under the new Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the QAP-A RIN provides an obligated party zero liability if the RIN is ever to be found invalid. Real-time power information supplier…
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Renewable energy company Methes Energies has announced its Canadian subsidiary has signed a purchase and cooperation agreement with Biofuel Aruba (BA). BA will initially buy a biodiesel processor from Methies Energies Canada so, as the only biofuels producer in Aruba, it can expand its biodiesel production capacity before the end of 2013. ‘With two pilot projects soon to start with Arubus…
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The European Commission has approved millions of Euros in aid for a biorefinery research programme. The Genesys programme will benefit from €39.8 million ($51.2 million) granted by the French government to the PIVERT IEED, an institute working in the field of low carbon energy. Genesys will aim to use oilseed and lignocellulosic biomass to produce heat and power primarily, but also…
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The UK’s first bio-LNG filling station was launched by the under secretary for the Department of Transport this May. The station, located in Daventry and built by Gasrec, is capable of fuelling up to 250 HGVs a day in the first phase from three bio-LNG dispensers. A second phase will increase that capacity to up to 700 vehicles. The used bio-LNG is Gasrec’s blend of liquefied natural…
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GEM fuel, a blend of petrol, bioethanol and biomethanol is to be used during the FIA Junior World Rally Championship this year. GEM has been made via a partnership between Abengoa, Methanex, BioMCN, Eurol and the Methanol institute and will be managed by sustainable race fuels supplier GUUTS. ‘The FIA has a strategy to develop solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of mobility in…
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Two pilot projects have shown promising signs for biomass production that avoids indirect land use change (ILUC) via the relatively new Low Indirect Impact Biofuels (LIIB) methodology. Initial LIIB studies performed by sustainable energy consultancy Ecofys, which aims to supply eventual certification for biomass production which does not lead to ILUC, have taken place in the Ukraine and…
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A new biofuels plant in Sofia, Bulgaria has awarded the construction contract to Greek company Aktor-Helektor. The project, set to use waste as feedstock, is set to take 19 months to come to fruition and cost around €109.2 million ($142.8 million). This is the second renewable energy project for the capital city as it joins another bioenergy system which is set to reduce Sofia’s…
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Corn-to-fuel business Gevo has been issued a new patent regarding isobutanol production. The latest award, US patent 8,431,374, covers “the foundational methods for low-cost isobutanol production at commercially relevant titer, productivity and yields”. ‘This is a milestone achievement toward our goal of making commercial isobutanol a reality,’ Brett Lund, Gevo's executive…
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California-based Canergy, an advanced biofuels company focused on the production of ultra-low carbon intensity ethanol from sustainable non-food energy crops, is to work with chemical engineering and renewable processes business Chemtex, and cellulosic biofuels producer Beta Renewables, for the development of a 25 million gallon a year cellulosic biofuels facility. Construction of the new…
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The five year duty imposed on US ethanol exported to the European Commission needs to be challenged, according to a group of US senators. After an anti-dumping investigation by the EC which began over a year and a half ago, it imposed a €110 ($83.03) per tonne tariff on US ethanol that kicked in three months ago. Fourteen representatives, a mixture of republicans and democrats across eight…
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A NASA research programme carried out in California has revealed that a fuel blend of camelina-based biofuel and conventional kerosene poses no risk to commercial jets. Scientists at NASA's Langley Research Centre say test flights revealed engine performance remained unchanged when a DC-8 aircraft reached 39,000 feet powered by the fuel mix, AP reports. The study also found a 30% reduction in…
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UK-based biofuels producer Vireol is still hoping to secure more funding for its proposed ethanol plant in Grimsby. It wants to raise £80 million (€95.4 million) to go towards constructing the 200 million litres per year facility which is reported to be using wheat as feedstock. Vireol aims to commence building next year with operations slated to begin in 2016. CEO David Knibbs was…
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