Other News

Ecopetrol reports it has been awarded a patent from the Colombian Superintendence of Industry and Trade for a technology which makes it possible generate biofuels by refining vegetable oils and heavy oil fractions (such as gas oils) in a single process. The development, called Process for hydrotreating vegetable oil mixed with heavy oil fractions is the third patent related to biofuels that the…
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Boeing and GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes are to work together to speed the research, development and approval of new sources of sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil. Their collaboration will support GOL's plans to use this lower-carbon jet fuel on more flights during upcoming major sporting events, including the 2014 football World Cup, and also will benefit long-term development of a new…
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US-based technology provider Monsanto and plant genomics company Evogene are to extend and expand a research and development collaboration involving biofuels feedstocks up to August 2016.  The collaboration, initially signed in 2008, has focused on identifying key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress and fertiliser use in corn, soyabean, canola and also cotton. The new…
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Renewable energy company Darling International has completed the purchase of the rendering and biodiesel division of Maple Leaf Foods. In a statement, Darling says it acquired Rothsay for approximately $645 million (€467.7 million) in cash. Darling CEO Randall Stuewe believes the addition ‘will bring new solutions and opportunities to our many customers across North…
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Austria-based Vogelbusch Biocommodities has announced the opening of a bioethanol plant in Alejandro Roca, Argentina this October. The plant, owned by producing company Promaíz, has a capacity of 420,000 litres per day which makes it the largest of its kind in the country. The facility uses ethanol technology licensed by Vogelbusch designed for both high performance in terms of primary…
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Butamax Advanced Biofuels, a biobutanol technology company, has met with officials of the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2014 RVO targets this October. This comes after recent news reports have claimed industry stakeholders and market participants were concerned over a potential lowering of cellulosic and conventional ethanol…
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The Arkansas county, US community of Dewitt was the location for the launch of the first Farm to Fuel project in October, which aims to bring jobs and energy independence to the Arkansas Delta region. The Advanced Energy Foundation (AAEF), which promotes public understanding of advanced energy in Arkansas, and Alt Consulting, a non-profit community economic development…
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Commodity trading company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has reported financial results for the quarter ending 30 September 2013. It reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46 (€0.33), down from $0.53 in the same period last year. ADM put this adjusted EPS decrease primarily due to lower agricultural services operating profit. Net earnings for the quarter were $476 million, or $0.72…
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According to new research, supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the humble chicken could be the unexpected beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry. The research claims it has long been known the yeasty broth left over after bioethanol production is nutritious, but it has taken a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and AB Agri, the…
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Research at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan has developed a microwave-based process which transforms waste cooking oils into biodiesel in 10 seconds. The team was led by the visiting Aharon Gedanken from the Department of Chemistry at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. ‘I was told Taiwanese people like to cook a lot but waste cooking oils are a problem for the environment. So we come…
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An ethanol biorefinery in Iowa, US is offering retailers grants to install new fuel pumps to dispense a higher blends of ethanol than the current E10 available at many petrol stations. The biorefinery is offering the $15,000 to five willing retailers which agree to install the blender pumps, capping the total project cost at $75,000. 'We wanted to come up with a programme that would entice more…
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It has been reported auto manufacturer MAN Latin America has completed tests on diesel made from sugarcane. The company is believed to have performed over 500 hours of testing on Euro 5 engines within four Volkswagen Constellation trucks and another two Volkswagen model 24280 vehicles. All six ran on 100% sugarcane diesel throughout the month of June in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. In a statement…
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Sequential Pacific Biodiesel (SPB), a commercial biodiesel producer in the US, has added two new suppliers of feedstock to its roster this autumn. Woodland Park Zoo and Husky Stadium, home of the Washington Huskies, have become cooking oil recycling customers and both join a list of others which, last year alone, helped SPB recycle enough oil from Washington to offset more than 10 million pounds…
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