News

LAN Airlines and Air BP Copec have joined together to conduct a commercial flight demonstration between the Chilean cities of Santiago and Concepcion, using biofuels. An Airbus from the A320 family with CFM56-5B motors was powered with fuel from refined vegetable oil and illustrates a positive step towards sustainable commercial use of biofuels in South America. Second generation biofuels do…
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Brazilian ethanol producer, Usina de Acucar Santa Terezinha, is to invest 500 million reais (€215.56 million) in sugar-cane plantations and a mill. The first phase of a cane project situated in the state of Mato Grosso is expected to be completed by 2015. The company will also be investing in its 8 existing mills, developing plantations for each. This project, which initially was going…
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Ethanol stocks have reached an all-time weekly high according to the Energy Information Association, which coupled with rising corn costs and decreasing fuel demand, could cause come Midwest biorefineries to cut back on production. Ethanol futures on the Chicago Board of Trade have fallen by a margin of nearly $0.50 (€0.38) over the past five months to $2.21 (1.67) a gallon, whilst its…
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Marine fuel supplier Chemoil has made $67.7 million (€51.3 million) profit before tax, which is a more than $79 million rise on last year’s figures. The company also reported a record volume of 22.5 million tonnes for 2011 and entered into the aviation fuel business by supplying the industry with 65 billion gallons last year, forming the Chemoil Aviation division. Its focus is to…
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Amyris CEO John Melo has admitted that the company, which produces chemicals and fuels from sugar cane, has had trouble maintaining reliable production of its operations in Brazil. ‘We showed conclusively that our technology does work at scale, but also learned that it takes time to translate from peak yield levels in the lab to maintaining those yields over longer operational periods…
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The Brazilian ministry of environment and Brazilian Development Bank have launched a new credit line supporting projects focused on greenhouse gas reduction and climate change solutions. It was established under the National Climate Change Fund, and aims to encourage private, municipal, and state investments to support objectives set by Brazil’s National Policy on Climate Change in 2009.…
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Kansas could become home to one of the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol refineries in the US. The global energy company Abengoa Bioenergy, aims to open what could be the first ethanol plant of this scale, in Hugoton, in 2013. It is expected to create 300 construction jobs, 65 permanent jobs and generate an annual payroll of almost $5 million (€3.8 million).…
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OriginOil, a developer of next-generation algae oil technologies for transportation fuel, chemicals and foods markets, has appointed Melbourne-based Frontline Engineering Australia as its first Certified Support Partner. Frontline will help algae producers and integrators, install, engineer and operate OriginOil systems in Australia and also the Asia-Pacific region. Ken Reynolds, OriginOil…
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Aeternum Capital has successfully recommissioned its biodiesel, bioliquids and biolubricants manufacturing plant at Bromborough, near Liverpool. A £12 million (€14.32 million) investment last year allowed for commercial biodiesel production to begin. Biolubricants are set to go into production when the Automatic Batch Blending (ABB) unit progresses through final performance…
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Chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have discovered a 'mini-cellulose' molecule that behaves in the same way as cellulose when heated to a high temperature. Complex chemical reactions that take place during high-temperature biofuel processes such as pyrolysis or gasification, have remained unknown, as wood molecules are too large, and the reactions are too complicated…
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The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the voluntary use of E15 in all autos and light trucks built since 2001, equalling over 70% of US on-road vehicles. An evaluation of E15's health effects as part of Growth Energy's three-year petition to approve sales of the mid-level ethanol blend has been issued and whilst the EPA must approve individual fuel blends, Tom Buis of Growth…
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LanzaTech has bought a failing ethanol plant in Soperton, middle Georgia, with plans in motion to breathe new life into the 280-acre industrial site. After buying the plant for $5.1 million (€3.85 million) at a foreclosure sale, LanzaTech has subsequently met with suppliers and state officials, pushing forward with plans to resume ethanol production. The company intends to re-hire employees…
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Magellan Midstream Partners LP has announced that it will offer ethanol storage, blending and distribution at its facility in Mount Pleasant, Texas, next month. At a cost of $2 million (€1.51 million), Magellan plans to convert a 17,000-barrel tank and add a new sequential blending system. Jeff Selvidge, senior vice president of transportation and terminals says, "We now offer ethanol…
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