Other News

Biodiesel provider Gulf Hydrocarbon Partners has partnered with Akash Energy to resume operations at the Houston, Texas-based Lone Star Terminal, which now offers renewable and biodiesel. The Lone Star Terminal has a total capacity of 6.7 million gallons, of which Gulf Hydrocarbon has leased 420,000 gallons of storage for biodiesel. It is hoped this new offering of biodiesel will provide retail…
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State-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) is set to widen its product portfolio by expanding into biofuel production during 2013. It has been reported that its sugar and tobacco lines cannot be fully relied on to support the Indonesia-based company, which is seeing increased manufacturing costs, so biofuels and electricity production are set to be introduced. ‘Sugar…
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The financial and industrial arm of the French protein and plant oil industry Sofiprotéol is adjusting the scope of its European activities in biodiesel. Its biodiesel activities are handled by DII, a company split 60% by Sofiprotéol subsidiary Diester Industrie and 40% by Bunge Group subsidiary KBBV. Belgian company Oleon Biodiesel, which was owned by DII, will now be owned…
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After finding a potential feedstock in Yellowstone National Park a new biofuels start-up is gathering pace in Montana, US. New company Sustainable Bioproducts, funded by a Small Business Innovation and Research grant from the National Science Foundation, will partner with Montana State University to turn a fungus discovered at Yellowstone into sustainable energy. The fungus, named MK7, thrives in…
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A research team at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland is hoping to turn seawater into biofuels within the next four years. Named the AccliPhot project, it is backed by €4 million ($5.4 million) of EU funding and involves 12 partners from across the continent. Its aim is to try and understand more fully how plants and microalgae respond to changes in light and other conditions and use that…
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A fire that broke out in a fuel tank farm in North Carolina, US on 16 February is thought to have started following a lightning strike. The blaze set fire to Eco Energy's 40,000 gallon ethanol storage tank located near Paw Creek. The incident occurred around 4pm and required more than 70 fire fighters to bring it under control using water and foam. Nobody was injured. The National Weather Service…
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The CEOs of seven European biofuel producers and airlines launched a new industry-led initiative to speed up the deployment of advanced sustainable biofuels throughout the continent. The initiative, called Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels, is made up of Chemtex, British Airways, BTG, Chemrec, Clariant, Dong Energy and UPM as they seek to ensure market uptake of advanced sustainable biofuels by all…
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Brazil’s energy minister Edison Lobao has said the government could cut taxes on sugarcane derived ethanol to alleviate pressures on the sector. The pressure comes from rising costs that has left biofuels struggling to compete with petrol. Any potential tax relief would bolster, and not replace, the restored mandatory ethanol content in gasoline back up from 20 to 25% coming this May. Lobao…
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An ethanol plant in Thailand has been ordered to temporarily close after it was discovered to be dumping untreated wastewater on land in a neighbouring district. The plant, operated by AA Ethanol, is situated in Prachin Buri and governor Chitra Promchutima received notice for closure as it failed to repair the wastewater treatment system as required, following a visit by the Department of…
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Germany-based biofuels and bioliquid certification body Tüv Süd has obtained further accreditation for the testing of waste and residual materials. The news comes as the 36th Ordinance on the Implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act now requires EU companies operating in the collection of waste and residual materials to furnish proof of certification in accordance with…
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W2 Energy has signed a binding memorandum agreement to purchase 51% of Malayasia-based AM Biofuels. The acquisition, totaled at $5.5 million (€4.1 million), will expand W2 Energy's fuel business in South East Asia as it continues to move forward a business plan focusing on production, blending and distribution of bio- and synthetic fuels. AM Biodiesel's plant, licensed under the Malaysian…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency as approved a new blender pump configuration in regard to the sale of E10 and E15 blended fuel. The configuration was submitted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and means that petrol stations wishing to dispense E-type fuel from a blender pump with a common nozzle and hose can do so. ‘When two different gasoline-ethanol blended fuels are…
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India-based process engineering and solutions company Praj Industries has won a contract to provide an ethanol plant in Columbia. The order comes from food and sugar processing business Riopaila Castilla (RC) and is worth a total of $20 million (€14.7 million), which includes the plant which will produce 400,000 litres of ethanol a day at RC’s sugar plant in La Pailia. The ethanol…
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