News

Next year will see a worldwide ethanol surplus of over half a billion litres. A modest global ethanol surplus of around 700 million litres is set to come in during 2010, according to F.O. Licht analysis. Total consumption in the US, Europe, Asia could increase to 76.4 billion litres, while supply is estimated at around 77.1 billion. Referring to the modest global ethanol surplus expected in…
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In Florida, US, Port Everglades wants to upgrade idled tanks to develop as an ethanol hub but finding a company to do the job has caused set-backs. A Broward County selection committee in April had picked one contender, an affiliate of a Brazilian company. But after repeated objections, it switched in October to the protesting runner-up, an Oklahoma firm. In early November the committee decided…
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Norway’s Borregaard has received €4 million in research grants from the EU, which will be used for demonstration plants within development projects connected to Borregaard's biorefinery concept. The EU's seventh framework programme for R&D is offering altogether €57 million through the Joint Biorefinery Call during the period 2010-2014. More than 50 projects applied at the…
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One biodiesel feedstock-rich nation is taking the unusual step and reducing its mandate targets. Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok says the country is likely to reduce its local biodiesel blend to B3 from the current B5 mandate, due to the slow usage and costly government subsidy. Under the current mandate, the government has set a January 2010…
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California’s status as the new green state has drawn the interests of two biodiesel producers. Canada-based Sunx Energy will open a 21,500 square foot biodiesel plant, and San Diego-based Dynasty Energy will open a 20,164 square foot biodiesel plant, in the state. ‘It's always good to have green industries coming to town because it encourages other green industries to come,’ Adelanto…
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The Government of Canada will invest up to C$77.75 million (€49.5 million) over seven years to help support ethanol production in Saskatchewan. The sum will be injected into Terra Grain Fuels' ethanol facility in the province under the federal government's ecoENERGY for biofuels programme. Terra Grain Fuels ethanol plant in Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan, currently has the capacity to…
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Energy leading US state California is perhaps not every ethanol producer’s choice. BlueFire Ethanol planned to build its second cellulosic ethanol facility in the state, but development and licensing concerns, coupled with the challenging business climate in California caused company officials to petition the Department of Energy for a site change to Mississippi. The producer has received…
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The year is 2013, and the place: Brazil. UK energy major BP will be instrumental in the deployment of large-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities. Its first port of call, however, will be north of the border. BP’s first second generation ethanol plant will be constructed in the US next year, with the technology being transferred to its plants in Brazil after operations commence at the US…
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Spain-based ethanol company Abengoa Bioenergy intends to bring three new ethanol plants online by Q1 next year. The addition will boost its global production capacity to about 2.6 billion litres. The company is building ethanol plants in Illinois and Indiana, US, each with a capacity of 380 million litres a year, and one in Rotterdam with a capacity of 480 million. Abengoa sees ethanol sales…
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Figures for the first half of 2009 show an improvement in Germany’s bioethanol market. The industry suffered a stagnant production spell in 2008, but now Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) figures for the first half of 2009 show that the German bioethanol industry is building up with demand rising almost four-fold compared to 2008. New legislation regulating biofuels in…
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The relationship between the US and EU biodiesel industries is a sinking ship. EU producers, voiced by the European Biodiesel Board, have raised questions over the activity of US biodiesel producers, suspecting them of exporting a new blend to Europe to avoid EU tariffs. The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) says US exporters of the fuel may have begun shipping a blend not covered by duties. The…
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Rwanda’s government is teaming-up with the US and UK on a biodiesel project. The $35 million (€23.5 million) project between the Rwandan Government and US firm Eco-Fuel Global and the UK’s Eco-Fuel Positive will use the non-edible shrub jatropha as feedstock. The two firms will lease 10,000 hectares of land near Akagera National Park in the Eastern Province to produce 16 million litres of…
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Peterborough Renewable Energy (PREL) has received approval from the Department of Energy to build the first Energy Park in the UK, which will eventually generate enough green electricity to power 60,000 homes. The Energy Park will be built in Peterborough and achieve 4,000 MW of biomass power needed to meet the renewable requirement for 2020 for the UK. The UK needs to generate 15% of its…
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