News

It has been a long wait but now Europe's largest biorefinery operated by Ensus in Teesside, UK, is due to begin production within weeks. The £250 million (€276.5 million) refinery will produce ethanol from wheat, processing 1.2 million tonnes of animal feed wheat a year. Under a 10-year agreement, Shell will buy all the plant's annual output of 400 million litres of bioethanol to…
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Valero Energy and Mission NewEnergy have signed a five-year deal to supply 200,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year, which is potentially worth around $3.5 billion (€2.4 billion). Mission has confirmed that it will supply Valero with jatropha-based biodiesel and palm oil based biodiesel. Mission NewEnergy said: ‘The increasing demand for biodiesel driven by the Renewable Fuels Standard and…
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An ethanol storage project has been given the go-ahead in Pennsylvania, US. The proposed ethanol storage facility will be situated on property owned by the SEDA-Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority at the Newberry Rail Yard. Nittany Oil has been granted a conditional use permit to build four, double-wall storage tanks adjacent the new Bulkmatic facility at the rail yard, on the condition…
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Feedstock supplier GEM BioFuels has started commercial production of crude jatropha oil (CJO). The company plans to make its first shipment of CJO, bound for Europe and Australia, early next month and expect the value of the initial shipment to be relatively low. Paul Benetti, CEO of GEM BioFuels said: ‘The commencement of commercial jatropha oil production is a landmark for the company and…
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Being green is not necessarily inexpensive. The Norwegian Government has proposed to remove a tax exemption on biodiesel for the safety of people rather than the health of the environment. The Government argues that costs related to road accidents, congestion, noise and road wear and tear are the same whether cars are run on fossil fuels or renewable fuels. Norway has also introduced a sales…
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Over the last year we have heard numerous success stories of part biodiesel-fuelled aeroplane tests, the latest of which featured camelina-based fuel, and carried passengers for the first time. Now aircraft manufacturer Embraer and US-based technology company General Electric will test fly a renewable jet fuel by early 2012 made from sugarcane developed by Californian Amyris…
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A biofuel plant which converts straw into renewable fuel has been opened in Kalundborg, Denmark. The 1.5 million gallon a year second generation plant will be operated by Danish energy company Dong Energy and biofuel producer Inbicon. The facility, one of the world's first and largest second generation ethanol demonstration biorefineries, will use Genencor enzymes to convert the…
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Europe’s biofuels industry plans to lodge a complaint with EU trade authorities against US companies which it believes are evading anti-dumping duties. The European Commission imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of biodiesel from the US but the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) believe that subsidised and dumped US biodiesel still enters the European market via third…
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Pacific Ethanol will resume production at its Magic Valley plant in Burley after closing earlier this year. The company suspended production at the plant in February due to unfavourable market conditions and in May the company’s subsidiariesfiled voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code in an effort to ‘restructure their indebtedness’. A company statement said:…
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UK energy company BP and science solutions company DuPont have formed Kingston Research to focus on the commercialisation of advanced biofuel technology. ‘Biobutanol is a biofuel that can be made from all the same crops as bioethanol and can be blended into petrol at higher levels, which means that we’ll be able to introduce biofuels more quickly,’ Kingston Research general manager Luc Van…
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The president and managing director of Total Philippines Ernst Wanten has called on the Philippines government to encourage the building of more ethanol processing plants. ‘There’s a shortage [of ethanol] in both the local and international markets so it is really difficult to get reliable supply of ethanol at the moment.’ Wanten says the government must invest more in the ethanol…
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The town of Lenox in Massachusetts, US, will decide whether to allow the construction of a $30 million (€19.9 million) project to renovate the Niagara and Centennial mills into a biodiesel production plant. The plant has been proposed by Interstate Biodiesel which plans to start fuel production in late 2010. The new plant would be capable of producing 15 million gallons per year using corn oil…
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British Airways has started trials for using biofuels in its jets in conjunction with Rolls-Royce. BA plans to test a range of fuels made from various plants sometime next year. BA’s head of environment, Jonathan Counsell, said that the airline would use one of its jumbo engines for testing and are in talks with Rolls, the aero-engine maker, about using its facilities. Many airlines are…
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