News

Cool Planet BioFuels has been granted approval from the California Air Resources Board to test its negative carbon petrol. The technology converts biomass, including grass and woodchips, into biodiesel. Through the process, a byproduct is created, which can be used as a fertiliser. The first part of the testing will involve blending of the negative carbon fuel with E10 petrol to try and hit the…
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Biodiesel production in Europe dropped last year and illegal imports from countries such as Argentina and Malaysia are being blamed. Biodiesel production has fallen for the first time in Europe, even though consumption figures have remained stagnant. Although 2010 showed that the production of biodiesel had risen by 5.5% when compared to the previous year, latest figures show that in 2011…
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Green Biologics Limited (GBL), a UK-based industrial biotechnology company has merged with butylfuel, a US-based renewable chemicals and biofuels company. The new company will operate under the Green Biologics name and continue to be head-quartered in Abingdon, UK with a strong operational presence and commercial focus in the US contributed by butylfuel, which will become Green Biologics. The…
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Novozymes’ shares fell to the lowest they have been in two months following the announcement that the company’s earnings for the fourth quarter of 2011 were lower than predicted. The Denmark-based company, which uses enzymes to produce biofuels, says the results could be blamed on the price of raw materials rising and a drop in sales for bioenergy enzymes. However, net profit did grow…
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Joule Biotechnology has closed a $70 million (€54 million) third round of financing which it says it will use to bring its developments to commercialisation. This means the total amount raised is more than $110 million and a facility will now be built in Hobbs, New Mexico, which will begin its commissioning process in the middle of this year. In the facility, Joule’s technology will be…
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Australian company Algae.Tec has raised AUS$5 million (€4 million) through Patersons Securities and the money will be used to fast-track the business’ commercial plans. Recently Biofuels International reported that Algae.Tec formed a joint venture with Chinese company Shandong Kerui to build a 250-module algae biofuels facility in China. Algae.Tec executive chairman, Roger Stroud, says…
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German chemical company BASF has participated in a $50 million (€38 million) funding round with an investment of $30 million into biofuel producer Renmatix. The process Renmatix uses to produce biofuels includes creating industrial sugar from lignocellulosic biomass such as wood, cane waste or straw. Using supercritical water—a state in which water acts as a…
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World Health Energy Holdings (WHEH), a public holding company that works on forming joint ventures with algae companies for the production of biodiesel and fish food, says it has signed a deal with Indian company Prime to build a biodiesel facility. The production site will sit on 250 acres and cost up to $100 million (€77 million) to build. So far two sites are being considered for the…
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has introduced new state guidelines which allow for biodiesel to be blended at any ratio into any compliant fuel. This means former limitations, such as having to use more additives within the biodiesel and producers having to report blending requirements, are now non-existent. Biodiesel producers have happily accepted the new ruling with…
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Evogene has established Evofuel, a subsidiary of the company, which will focus on developing seeds to be used as a feedstock for the development of biofuel. In particular, castor bean varieties will be developed for biofuel commercialisation in both Brazil and Israel. ‘We have headquarters in Israel and field trials there that simulate different water conditions – this is where our…
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The Illinois state government has extended the tax credit for biodiesel for an extra five years, until 2018. Originally the credit was due to run out in 2013, but now biodiesel blends of more than 1% and less than 10% will continue to have tax applied to only 80% of the total cost for a further six years. The Senate Bill 397 passed the full Illinois Senate by a vote of 44-9 and any biodiesel…
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The Nigerian government has signed a deal with Global Biofuels, a local biofuel producer, to build 15 biofuel plants in the country, costing about N414 billion (€2.02 billion) in total. The project will create about 120,000 jobs and will power 15 states with 30MW each. A pilot plant will be built in Ekiti, with construction beginning within the next few months and finishing in a year’s…
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Florida-based company BioTork has converted papayas into fatty acids which it says can be refined into biofuels. Under a research development programme working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (PBARC) and Rivertop Solutions, BioTork says this discovery is a positive breakthrough for the local agriculture and military markets. The…
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