Other News

Biobased chemical company Codexis has released its results for last year and says it made more than $123 million (€93 million) in 2011, a rise of 16% from the $107 million it generated the year before. For the fourth quarter of last year it also made 12% more than the same time the previous year, reporting a revenue of $33.5 million. For this year, Codexis expects its profits will be similar…
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The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the voluntary use of E15 in all autos and light trucks built since 2001, equalling over 70% of US on-road vehicles. An evaluation of E15's health effects as part of Growth Energy's three-year petition to approve sales of the mid-level ethanol blend has been issued and whilst the EPA must approve individual fuel blends, Tom Buis of Growth…
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A new study has shown that biofuels are expected to cost EU consumers about €126 billion at the pump between now and 2020. The report, which was commissioned by NGOs Friends of the Earth and ActionAid, has been criticised by the ethanol association ePURE as being flawed as the body says it is full of factual errors. According to ePure, analysts F.O. Licht’s looked at the report and…
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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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An ethanol facility that will produce 10,000 tonnes a year is to be built through a joint venture between GlycosBio Asia and Malaysian Bio-Xchell in Johor Bahru, Indonesia. Glycos Biotechnologies, a biochemical company, will work with biotechnology developer Bio-XCell to fund the plant that will produce ethanol from crude glycerine. The project is due to be completed by the second quarter of 2013…
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Magellan Midstream Partners LP has announced that it will offer ethanol storage, blending and distribution at its facility in Mount Pleasant, Texas, next month. At a cost of $2 million (€1.51 million), Magellan plans to convert a 17,000-barrel tank and add a new sequential blending system. Jeff Selvidge, senior vice president of transportation and terminals says, "We now offer ethanol…
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Chroen Industries has been sold to Linde Engineering Dresden after it went into adminstration and Linde will continue to develop Choren’s Carbo-V technology for synthetic gas. This gas can be used to produce biofuels and Linde already works in this sector, planning, delivering and constructing chemical, gas, biotechnology and pharmaceutical plants. The insolvency administrator, Bruno…
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Locally manufactured, fuel grade ethanol from Chisumbanje, is causing Zimbabwean fuel prices to decrease. This price drop sits somewhat out of sink with other countries in the region that have seen increased prices as a result of global market developments. A litre of blended fuel ranges from $1.32 (€0.1) - $1.36 (1.03), and unleaded petrol has dropped from $1.44 (1.09) per litre to…
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Petrobras says its operating cash flow last year was 5% more than it was in 2010, at more than R$62 billion (€27 billion). However, its net income was 5% less than 2010 at R$33 billion in 2011. In Brazil, its reserves hit more than 15 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and its reserve ratio now stands at more than 19 years. For its output, oil and natural gas recorded more than 2.6…
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The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) has announced the first completed commercial certification of the Manildra Group, Australia. Through its subsidiary Shoalhaven Starches Pty Ltd, the Manildra Group produces bioethanol from starchy wastewater generated by their wheat-processing facility. The certification, conducted by NCS International, serves to prove sustainable biofuels may be…
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Construction of the US's first large-scale, wood-to-ethanol plant is set to begin this year in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. The $232-million (€175.05 million) biorefinery is to be built on 40 acres in Kinross Charter Township, with completion expected in late 2013. A company called Mascoma developed the wood-to-ethanol process which combines wood chips with microorganisms, but the project…
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Analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance have published forecasts suggesting that, if production efficiency continues to improve, the cost of some biofuels could be similar to that of conventional jet fuel by 2018. However, the study also showed that airlines might end up using only a modest proportion of biofuels (2% or less) in their fuel mix in the next few years. ‘The problem is…
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Ethanol stocks have reached an all-time weekly high according to the Energy Information Association, which coupled with rising corn costs and decreasing fuel demand, could cause come Midwest biorefineries to cut back on production. Ethanol futures on the Chicago Board of Trade have fallen by a margin of nearly $0.50 (€0.38) over the past five months to $2.21 (1.67) a gallon, whilst its…
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