News

Oil company PetroVietnam is on schedule to begin operations at its ethanol production facility in October 2011, according to new reports. Currently 75% complete, the finished Dung Quat ethanol plant will have the capacity to produce 100 million litres of ethanol a year from locally grown cassava. Central Oil and Gas Biofuel of Vietnam is financing the build and the plant is predicted to double…
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59% of India's petrol for transport purposes could come from biofuels by 2020, according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance study titled 'Next-generation Ethanol: What's in it for India'. The new study was released on 17 May 2011 and commissioned by enzyme producer Novozymes. India, the world's sixth largest fuel guzzler, is under pressure to dramatically reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, as…
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Two supermarkets in California, US, have selected Extreme Biodiesel, a wholly owned subsidiary of BookMerge Technology, to produce biodiesel for them, at a small charge. Under the preliminary agreement, Extreme Biodiesel will pick up waste vegetable oil from the supermarkets and transport it to its Extreme Corona plant in Corona, California. Extreme will then turn the waste oil into biodiesel…
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In New Zealand the demand for biodiesel is growing, so much so that renewable energy company Biodiesel New Zealand is developing a bulk distribution facility in Nelson to try and meet some of this demand in the northern region of South Island. To be located in Nelson, the project will supply Biodiesel New Zealand's Biogold NZ20 blend of renewable fuel, in addition to its 100% biodiesel, known as…
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In California, US, Cobalt Technologies, dedicated to the commercialisation of biobutanol as a renewable chemical and fuel, has closed a $20 million (€13.7 million) Series D round of funding. The financing will aid Cobalt in constructing its 470,000 gallon-a-year demonstration plant in Alpena, Michigan. The facility will be the world's first cellulosic biorefinery for the production of the…
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At the Chemelot site in Geleen, the Netherlands, technology firm Avantium has completed start-up at its polyester pilot plant, which is the first stage of a pilot facility that will demonstrate the company's YXY technology for the production of green fuels and materials. The plant is on schedule to begin operations in Q2 2011. The company's patented YXY technology is a 'family of green building…
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Dyadic International, a company dedicated to the production of enzymes for the bioenergy industry, among others, has been issued a US patent, number 7,923,236 entitled, 'Fungal Enzymes' by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent includes technology relating to the use of and methods for producing novel enzymes and their combinations to convert lignocellulosic biomass…
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Following a dip in 2009, throughput in Zeeland ports seems to have picked up again. Q1 2011 saw throughput increase by more than 7% compared to the same period in 2010. In particular, general cargo throughput has increased by 23% and dry bulk by 8%. In addition to its Q1 2011 results, Zeeland Seaports has also released its final results for 2010. Throughput for last year reached 33 million…
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Eucalyptus has been found to be a promising option as a biomass feedstock for the production of liquid fuel, as researchers from the US Department of Energy's (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have identified a tree that releases more than twice the usual amount of sugar. The trees being studied by NREL are lignin-modified eucalyptus lines that have been developed for research by…
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In Canada, renewable energy producer Rentech is looking to develop a biomass plant in White River, Ontario that will produce jet fuel and create 400 fulltime jobs. 'This will be the largest renewable clean jet fuel programme in the world,' says the CEO of RenTech Hunt Ramsbottom. 'This will be the first of its kind where the province, the federal government, local communities and a private…
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Papua New Guinea-headquartered New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL), a large-scale integrated industrial producer of sustainable palm oil in Australasia, and agribusiness group Wilmar International have agreed to set up an integrated supply chain and joint marketing agreement to supply Europe with fully traceable and segregated sustainable palm oil from NBPOL's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)…
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Privately owned company Greenergy is to start reducing the levels of waste sent to landfill and has partnered with waste food recycling company Brocklesby to produce biodiesel from food leftovers. In a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the fuel that the company produces, while also creating a new alternative source of fuel, the joint venture will covert edible oils and unsalable food into…
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The 5 May 2011 saw the US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expose a new $47 million (€32.7 million) grant programme. The new R&D grants, which are part of the Obama Administration's aim to address the rising costs of fuel, will support the generation of energy from biomass. The funding will help finance a total of eight projects dedicated to the…
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