Other News

LanzaTech has bought a failing ethanol plant in Soperton, middle Georgia, with plans in motion to breathe new life into the 280-acre industrial site. After buying the plant for $5.1 million (€3.85 million) at a foreclosure sale, LanzaTech has subsequently met with suppliers and state officials, pushing forward with plans to resume ethanol production. The company intends to re-hire employees…
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Celanese Corporation has received government approval to set its plans to upgrade its integrated acetyl facility at the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park in to motion. The company is intending to convert the facility so that it can produce ethanol for industrial uses, and expects it to be operational by mid-2013. The company has seen advancements with its TCX ethanol technology, meaning that from…
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The local Department of Corrections has signed a deal with Biodiesel New Zealand so that it can supply the biofuels company with used cooking oil (UCO) from 18 of its prison kitchens across the country. Rather than being thrown into landfill, the New Zealand corrections department will supply about 5,000 litres a month of UCO to the biodiesel company so that it can continue to produce its Biogold…
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Emerald Biofuels is set to build its first plant at a Dow Chemical Company site in Louisiana, US. Emerald believes the refinery will ultimately process natural oils and animal fats into 85 million gallons of renewable diesel fuel per year, going towards helping oil companies meet a US government requirement of purchasing 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels a year by 2022. Emerald and Dow are…
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A request has been made by the Philippines Coconut Authority (PCA) to the National Biofuels Board (NBB) to increase the current 2% blend of coco biodiesel before the end of the year. The proposal wants the blend to be increased to 5% and would mean an additional 21,000 metric tons of coconut oil would be needed to meet the requirement. PCA administrator Euclides Forbes says the proposal was in…
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The US Department of Defence (DoD) has announced a public-private partnership opportunity to support an integrated domestic advanced drop-in biofuel biorefinery. The funding opportunity is designed to share the cost of establishing one or more first-of-a-kind biorefineries and feedstock supply chains to provide the US military with already certified blends of biofuels. The Biotechnology Industry…
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The University of Georgia (UGA) has been awarded $2 million (€1.6 million) in federal money for projects aiming to drive more efficient biofuels production and feedstock improvements. UGA has been awarded $500,000 to use a genetic analysis of biomass to identify the plant architecture that is important for optimised biomass production in a range of environments. A second award of $1.5…
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The successful completion of its sixth test period of ‘no harm’ tests for oxidation stabilisers and additional products has been announced by the Association Quality Management Biodiesel (AGQM). The tests make sure that the chemical and physical properties in biodiesel are not affected by the use of oxidation stabilisers, there are no inadmissible reciprocal effects occurring with…
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US-based biofuels producer Joule has signed a partnership with car manufacturer Audi to aid with its future production. The car brand will test and validate Joule’s future biofuels production with a view to moving towards carbon-neutral driving. The producer has also commissioned a demonstration plant in New Mexico which will use sunlight and CO₂ to create ethanol. ‘Joule and the…
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A strategic alliance between US liquid fuels from non-food biomass producer Ensyn and Brazilian wood pulp provider Fibria Celulose has been signed. This partnership will include the establishment of an equally-owned joint venture for the production of cellulosic liquid fuels and chemicals in Brazil, as well as a US$20 million (€15.4 million) equity investment in Ensyn by Fibria Both…
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The Pakistani government is to implement several new plants with the aim of creating a total of 304MW of electricity from city waste. Many projects are already underway, with an aggregate capacity of 57MW, and the subsequent facilities will create a further 247MW via agricultural, industrial and biogas waste products.  A senior government official stated that agricultural waste projects were…
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Bioinnovation business Novozymes has increased its bioagriculture presence with a new acquisition. It has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based bioagricultural company Natural Industries which has posted revenues of $5 million (€3.8 million). ‘I am excited to have the people and technologies of Natural Industries join our growing BioAg division.It will expand…
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The Olvi Foundation (OF) has decided to join in the funding of Green Fuel Nordic’s (GFN) biorefinery project. The decision will represent one of the most significant capital investors into the biorefinery project according to OF CEO Timo Saarelainen. GFN has spent the last 12 months making different players more aware of bio-oil, its production, applications and benefits. Its board believes…
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Boeing and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have joined forces to examine the potential for aviation biofuels’ feedstock growth in the north of the country. The partnership comes following the release of the Flight Path to Sustainable Aviation roadmap, which recommends research into the area. ‘The roadmap made a compelling case for…
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