Other News

Brazil says it has had the biggest grain harvest in its history, of nearly 160 million tonnes in 2011, and has forecasted a further rise for 2012. The cereal, pulse and oilseed harvest beat 2010’s harvest by more than 10 million tonnes, probably because the land for harvest has grown nearly 5% in size to 48.7 million hectares. This year it is predicted Brazil will harvest 160.3 million…
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A study carried out by San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) says the algal biofuels industry employed 466 workers in the San Diego region last year, providing more than $41 million (€32 million) in payroll and nearly $81 million in economic activity. Adding to this, the industry is also expected to generate about $12.5 million in payroll and about $33 million in additional economic…
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German chemical company BASF has participated in a $50 million (€38 million) funding round with an investment of $30 million into biofuel producer Renmatix. The process Renmatix uses to produce biofuels includes creating industrial sugar from lignocellulosic biomass such as wood, cane waste or straw. Using supercritical water—a state in which water acts as a…
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World Health Energy Holdings (WHEH), a public holding company that works on forming joint ventures with algae companies for the production of biodiesel and fish food, says it has signed a deal with Indian company Prime to build a biodiesel facility. The production site will sit on 250 acres and cost up to $100 million (€77 million) to build. So far two sites are being considered for the…
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has introduced new state guidelines which allow for biodiesel to be blended at any ratio into any compliant fuel. This means former limitations, such as having to use more additives within the biodiesel and producers having to report blending requirements, are now non-existent. Biodiesel producers have happily accepted the new ruling with…
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Evogene has established Evofuel, a subsidiary of the company, which will focus on developing seeds to be used as a feedstock for the development of biofuel. In particular, castor bean varieties will be developed for biofuel commercialisation in both Brazil and Israel. ‘We have headquarters in Israel and field trials there that simulate different water conditions – this is where our…
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), which represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, has called for long-term tax policies to be introduced in the US in order to push biofuel developments to commercial scale. In order to make sure these developments are successful, incentives should be given to ‘technologies with the greatest potential to create new jobs, economic…
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The Illinois state government has extended the tax credit for biodiesel for an extra five years, until 2018. Originally the credit was due to run out in 2013, but now biodiesel blends of more than 1% and less than 10% will continue to have tax applied to only 80% of the total cost for a further six years. The Senate Bill 397 passed the full Illinois Senate by a vote of 44-9 and any biodiesel…
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MSW to waste biofuel producer Enerkem has received investment from Waste Management and EB Investments to the tune of C$15 million (€11 million), in return for a minority equity interest in Enerkem Alberta. The biofuels company is currently building a full-scale commercial plant in Edmonton, Canada, and has so far raised C$103 million to put towards the development. Other investors include…
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The Nigerian government has signed a deal with Global Biofuels, a local biofuel producer, to build 15 biofuel plants in the country, costing about N414 billion (€2.02 billion) in total. The project will create about 120,000 jobs and will power 15 states with 30MW each. A pilot plant will be built in Ekiti, with construction beginning within the next few months and finishing in a year’s…
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OriginOil, an algae technology developer, has joined forces with Australian company Future Energy Solutions (FES), and its subsidiary Alternate Energy Systems (AES), to carry out feasibility studies on the potential for biorefining centres around the world. The biorefineries would serve US and NATO military requirements for alternative fuels, including biofuels. OriginOil has also recently teamed…
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Florida-based company BioTork has converted papayas into fatty acids which it says can be refined into biofuels. Under a research development programme working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center (PBARC) and Rivertop Solutions, BioTork says this discovery is a positive breakthrough for the local agriculture and military markets. The…
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Biomass to ethanol producer TMO Renewables says it has raised £7.6 million (€9 million) in a financing round from new and current shareholders. This will be combined with the £4.6 million that was raised at the beginning of the year, and will be used to help the company come into commercialisation. The company is working with plant owners and land official from Minas Gerais, a…
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