News

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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:…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

Japan’s first cellulosic bioethanol demonstration plant capable of continuous processing is about to launch operation. The facility is located at the Futami Plant of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture. It will produce ethanol, for use in petrol, from rice straw and wheat straw. The companies MHI, Hakutsuru Sake Brewing and Kansai Chemical…
Read More »

In the US, Epec Biofuels Holdings and DPG Investments have established a joint venture to provide funds for biofuels projects. The two entities have formed Epec Finance, which will provide project financing to Epec Biofuels and select financing initiatives in the biofuels and renewable energy sectors. Epec Finance will fund up to $376 million (€253.5 million) of project financing for Epec…
Read More »

Australia will soon have its first fully self-sustainable biodiesel plant operating in the next few weeks. The plant, situated in Moree, New South Wales, will use algae ponds to create biodiesel, stock feeds and water for the local community. Talks about the new plant began 12 months ago between CubicQED and the Moree Plains Shire Council. The plant has garnered significant interest from…
Read More »

Korean motorists may be using more eco-friendly fuels in their cars in just a few years’ time. The introduction of a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) system, which would mandate the use of a mixture of biofuels and petrol in vehicles, is currently under consideration. The government will review its plans and if everything works out the RFS system could be implemented as early as 2013. The RFS…
Read More »

Poet Energy, the US’ largest corn-based ethanol producer, sees the race between cellulosic ethanol and petrol prices head-to-head by 2011. Poet’s one-year-old pilot plant in South Dakota has minimised the cost of making ethanol from corn cobs from $4.13 (€2.77) a gallon to $2.35 a gallon by slimming down capital costs and using an improved cocktail of enzymes. ‘Two years ago I would…
Read More »

Elsewhere in the US, cellulosic ethanol developer ZeaChem has begun construction on its 250,000 gallon a year semi-commercial scale production facility in Oregon. The company has enlisted Hazen Research to fabricate the front-end fermentation modules and will install the units at ZeaChem’s. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2010. The facility in Boardman will be…
Read More »