News

A new committee focusing on the future of biofuels in Canada has been formed by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA). CFRA revealed the committee and its members will represent those involved in advanced biofuels, particularly focusing on technology and new projects. ‘Canada is building on the success of its established biofuels industry to create a new wave of biofuels…
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It has been reported that an ethanol company located in south Minnesota, US may have to sell its plant. Denver-based Biofuel Energy was a victim of the long drought that affected US corn availability and prices last summer and it shut down the plant, which can produce up to 115 millions gallons a year, in September as it became ‘unprofitable’. ‘When those corn prices rise that…
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SCS Global Services has announced the expansion of its biofuel certification services in south east Asia. The third-party environmental certification body will now conduct audits under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) programme, which will allow biofuel producers in south east Asia to meet the requirements for export into the European Union under its Renewable…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) believes its country’s farmers will grow the most corn since 1936 as growers look to take advantage of high prices driven by last year’s drought. A forecast of 97.3 million acres of corn is set to be sown in 2013 to help boost dwindling supplies, while soyabean plantings have been placed at 77.1 million acres. Wheat crops will rise 1% to 56.4…
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UK-based bioethanol producer Ensus has ‘temporarily’ taken its 450 million gallon capacity facility offline for the second time since it started operations in 2010. In a statement the company says a ‘poor wheat harvest in the UK last year has had an adverse impact on the quality and price of the crop as a feedstock’ that is used within the plant. ‘Alongside that,…
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Spain-based sustainable technologies provider Abengoa has seen operations at a demo plant that uses its waste-to-biofuels technology begin. The facility, located in Salamanca, has capacity to treat 25,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste to produce around 1.5 million litres of bioethanol. The infrastructure of the plant has gone through more than 6,000 continuous hours of tests to validate the…
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Botlek Tank Terminal (BTT) has loaded the first train at its new loading/unloading station. The new station entered service on 2 April and loaded around 1,000 tonnes of biodiesel for export to a Bavaria-based refinery in Germany. The fuel was transferred from one of the storage tanks. In addition to Germany, the station will also be used to load and unload biodiesel going to and coming from…
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Full details of the sentence received by Jeffrey Gunselman, the man behind over $40 million (€31.2 million) worth of RIN fraud, have been revealed. The West Texas native has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison and ordered to pay out $55 million in restitution by a federal judge. In a story followed by Biofuels International, Gunselman started a bogus biodiesel company named…
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A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reveals that Brazil, if recent trends continue, will be unable to meet its domestic light vehicle demand for fuel as soon as 2017. The report states that demand could outstrip supply by as much as 9 to 12 billion litres per year by 2021, equivalent to 20% of Brazil’s demand, and that the country must either make substantial new…
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A study in Spain has pinpointed dinoflagellate microalgae as an ‘easy and profitable way’ of creating biodiesel. The research was led by scientists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council, and claims that the oft ignored type of marine algae is suitable for cultivation with biodiesel in mind. Over the course…
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New government figures have revealed 2012 was a strong year for renewable energy generation in the UK. A report released at the end of March put the UK’s generated electricity from renewables last year at 11.3% overall, and 12.5% in the fourth quarter. It is believed much of this growth is due to new generating projects coming online across all renewable sectors, with biomass input…
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The throughput of biofuels product has increased by 24% at the Port of Rotterdam last year. The level rose to 5.9 million tonnes compared to 2011 and is mainly attributed to an increase in biodiesel handling. Both its import and export volumes increased by a total of 1.5 million tonnes. In contrast, the throughput of ethanol dropped by 17% to 1.4 million tonnes and that of ETBE dropped by 8% to…
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US-based renewable energy company Global Clean Energy (GCE) has acquired Sustainable Oils, a biofuels producer in Montana, from biotechnology company Targeted Growth. The deal saw GCE exchange a $1.3 million (€996,000) promissory note and 40 million common shares to take ownership of the business that works primarily with camelina seeds. ‘This transaction is in line with our plan to be…
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