Other News

Rio+20, the United Nations conference on sustainable development, will host a renewable jet fuel flight demonstration this month in Brazil. The fuel, which has been sourced and provided from Brazilian sugarcane by renewable products company Amyris, has passed all testing and will be used in an Azul Airlines craft. The demonstration is also being backed by commercial jet manufacturer Embraer and…
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US-based Greenleaf Biofuels is due to fully open what it is claiming to be the ‘biggest biodiesel facility in New England. Construction begun eight months ago and the plant is expected to produce around 10 million gallons of biodiesel a year. Greenleaf is hopeful it will be online by September and its Waterfront Street location has links to both rail lines and a nearby port. ‘Eight…
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A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by three companies to establish a partnership to enable production of butadiene from renewable feedstocks. The joint venture is between elastomer producer Versalis, renewable chemical technology provider Genomatica and third generation integrated biorefineries pioneer Novamont. Versalis will hold a majority interest in the joint venture holding…
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A joint-venture project called Ineos New Planet BioEnergy (INPB) has been granted parts 79 and 80 registration from the US Environmental Protection Agency for the production and sale of advanced bioethanol from non-food waste materials.  Headed by waste to biofuel company Ineos Bio, the notice of registration came after successful completion of the construction of the Indian River Bioenergy…
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A number of sites across the mid-west of Western Australia and Pilbara areas have been identified as capable of producing large quantities of commercial biofuel from microalgae. University of Western Australia’s assistant professor Bryan Boruff studied over 2,000km of coastline and 170km inland areas on behalf of the university’s School of Earth and Environment. ‘Algal biofuels…
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Germany-based bioethanol manufacturer CropEnergies has posted a new record level for its first half of this financial year. The final figure announced by the company was €319.9 million ($412 million), which was an increase of 16% during March and August compared to 2011. Its operating profit improved by 28% to €37.2 million and its net financial debt has been reduced by €37.3…
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Several projects in Japan on the go since 2008 are perfecting the use a technology that could utilise sago to produce ethanol. President of Bio-Energy Corporation Hideo Noda claims this research on producing bioethanol production from cellulosic materials has been carried out successfully. ‘In our project, a hydro-thermal pre-treatment without adding sulfuric acid had been introduced and…
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Brazil-based energy business Petrobras is planning to bring ethanol production online in Mozambique in less than two years. At a conference in Maputo entitled “Brazil and Africa: Opting for Sustainable Development” the chairman of Pterobras Combustiveis, Miguel Macedo, stated it would construct a distillery by the end of 2013. ‘According to the approved timetable, if that…
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Researchers at Clemson University and commercial forestry business ArborGen are to jointly study the potential use of poplar trees for bioenergy and biofuels feedstock in the US. The South Carolina-based project will see the pair plant thousands of poplar trees on-site at the university’s Pee Dee Centre. ArborGen's southeastern field research manager David Brown says that positive results…
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BP Technology Ventures has invested in Cool Planet Biofuels as part of the company’s C financing round, following the likes of General Electric, Google Ventures, ConocoPhillips, NRG and North Bridge Venture Partners, other investor companies. The money will be used to further develop Cool Planet’s technology which involves producing reduced carbon petrol from grass and woodchips which…
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A new technology has been developed at the University of Sheffield in the UK which uses microbubbles to harvest and remove water from algae for biofuel production. Algae produces oils which can be used to create biodiesel but water needs to be removed from the algae first in order to do so. Using the microbubble system is an inexpensive way to do this. The process works by floating algae…
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Renewable fuels and chemicals company, US-based Amyris, has completed a $58.7 million (€44 million) private placement of its common stock. The company has also entered into a definitive agreement to privately place $25 million in aggregate principal amount of 3% senior unsecured note due 2017. The placement of notes is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to be completed by…
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Kior, a renewable fuels company, says it made net loss of $64 million (€48 million) in 2011, which was more than the $46 million loss it made the year prior. The company did not make any revenue throughout last year because it was investing in the construction of its first commercial facility in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as into R&D which it hopes will improve the production yields…
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San Carlos Bioenergy (SCBI) is putting delayed plans to expand their ethanol facility in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental into action. The expansion will see the company's ethanol production reach over 40 million litres per year, an increase of 10 million litres from its current annual production figures. Original plans were delayed after SCBI's initial expansion proposal in 2009 due to various…
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