News

Hong Kong-based ASB Biodiesel, which is building a 100,000 tonne per year plant to produce biodiesel through processing city waste materials, claims it will aim to roll out the business to the mainland if the model proves successful. The new factory, based at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, is aiming to be completed by the end of 2012 and start commercial production in the second quarter of…
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Algae company Algae.Tec officially opened its algae-to-biofuels facility Shoalhaven One on 2 August, in New South Wales, Australia. The facility showcases the company's algae growth and harvesting system, which can then be used to produce jet fuel or diesel. Algae.Tec has recently recruited biofuels and aviation fuels specialist engineer Colin McGregor as GM of project operations. Algae.Tec…
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Algae cultivation technology provider Solix BioSystems has finalised a £20 million (€25 million) round of funding and can now begin building its inaugural commercial plant. The new large-scale plant, the location for which has not yet been decided, will grow algae biomass that can then be used for the production of biofuels and animal feed. Solix already operates a demonstration-scale…
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Chemical and biofuels company Gevo has signed a joint development agreement with Beta Renewables to develop an integrated process for the production of bio-based isobutanol from cellulosic biomass. The agreement anticipates production plants will be located where cellulosic feedstocks like switchgrass, miscanthus, agriculture residues and others will be readily available. Depending on the success…
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US-based advanced fuels and renewable chemicals company Aemetis has acquired ethanol plant owners Cilion, which includes a 55 million gallon per year production plant. The acquisition is set to advance Aemetis’ plans to use the existing ethanol plant’s infrastructure to create a next-generation biorefinery producing advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals, in addition to ethanol and…
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US-based Protabit, an off-shoot from the California Institute of Technology, has been awarded a Small Business Innovative Research grant (phase one) for engineering cellulose enzymes. The computational protein software platform designers will use the award from the National Science Foundation to engineer cellulose enzymes,  which are used in the production of biofuels from non-edible corn…
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The executive VP of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation’s (BIO) Industrial and Environmental Section, Brent Erickson, has issued a statement in response to what he called ‘false claims’ made by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) president Charles Drevna in regard to cellulosic biofuels. Erickson’s statement was sent to the House Energy and…
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After successful demonstration of its catalytic process for making jet fuel, diesel and high octane gasoline from renewable energy sources AliphaJet is taking the project to the next level. AliphaJet used plant oil and animal fat to produce its biofuels and is now launching a programme to build a demonstration scale facility with an annual capacity of 500,000 gallons a year, due for completion…
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Vivergo Fuels has confirmed that the start-up its proposed new biorefinery in eastern England will be delayed until towards the end of 2012. The biorefinery, claimed to be one of the biggest in Europe upon its completion and based near Hull, is set to use over one million tonnes of feed wheat to produce 420 million litres of bioethanol a year. An approximate by product of 500,000 tonnes of…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has closed public comment on the approval of grain sorghum as an advanced biofuel under the renewable Fuels Standard. The period for comments has been open for over a month and been championed by sorghum producers country-wide, with National Farmer’s Union president Roger Johnson supportive from the beginning. Johnson was quoted as saying:…
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Production developer of biofuels and bio-based chemicals Codexis has signed an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with Shell. Shell has agreed to negotiate exclusively with Codexis and would grant the company certain rights and licenses in the biofuels field to develop and sell cellulase enzymes to third parties on a worldwide basis, except Brazil. Codexis has exclusive rights to commercialise its…
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The Wisconsin Institute for Sustainability Technology (WIST) has been issued a patent to create biofuels from plant fibre. It is WIST’s first patent will allow for a process that can create biofuels and other products from cellulosic plant material including agricultural residues like corn stover or plants grown specifically for fuel production, such as hardwood and softwood…
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A biofuels scheme has gained European approval so that UK feedstocks can now have Red Tractor status. The proposal, named The Red Tractor Crops and Sugar Beet Scheme, will ensure traceability on feedstocks back to individual UK farms and has been backed by the European Commission, ensuring recognition across all 27 member states. It has taken two years of lobbying by Red Tractor alongside the UK…
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