Other News

The body representing biofuels in the US is calling for the cellulosic biofuel tax credits to be extended so that companies can raise the funds they need to build biorefineries. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) says the industry is at a turning point where it is rapidly growing because biotechnology companies have had private investment to help commercialise the…
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Xergi has signed a deal with the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA)to build a new biogas plant in the US which will feature gas-fired CHP engines that will output 8MW of electrical power. Hometown BioEnergy, the name of the plant, will be built in Le Sueur, Minnesota and will produce biogas from waste such as agriculture and food, including sweet corn, potato waste and chicken…
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Energy systems company Danish Stirling DK has commissioned a four-engine biomass plant at the spa resort of Tabbs in Tabarz, Thuringia, Germany. The plant, the first of its kind in the world according to the company, is powered by wood chips given from the local area, generating 4,000MWh of heat and 1,000MWh of electricity each year, which is the highest the amount for Stirling DK so far. The…
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Swedfund has invested €10 million into Addax Bioenergy, a company based in Sierra Leone. Swedfund’s investment, which Addax & Oryx is also a part of, will be the biggest private sector agriculture investment into the country and will be added to a total investment of €267 million. The greenfield projects will include the construction of an ethanol refinery and a biomass power…
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Archer Daniels (ADM) has bought Elstar Oils in its entirety after acquiring the final 2.26% of shares. Elstar Oils, a biodiesel company located in northern Poland, operates a rapeseed crushing, refining, solid-fat packaging and oil bottling facility in Czernin and a fully-automated biodiesel facility in Malbork. ADM first began acquiring Elstar’s shares back in August 2011 and says as part…
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Neste Oil has commissioned its Rotterdam facility to produce hydrated vegetable oil (HVO), opening it on 19 December 2011. This follows the opening of productiion in Singapore and Finland, adding a further 800,000 tonnes to its capacity and bringing the total output to two million tonnes of HVO. The Rotterdam refinery produces NExBTL renewable diesel, Neste Oil’s own type of diesel, and is…
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The German Federal Finance Ministry says it will qualify biodiesel produced from used cooking oil for double counting, even if it includes animal fats. The Netherlands and France already includes waste-based biodiesel within its double counting legislation and it is possible to double count in countries that have not yet implemented their schemes officially, such as in the UK. Previously, Germany…
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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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Technology manufacturer Honeywell and AliphaJet, a collaborative venture between Synget and Unitel Technologies, will work to bring renewable aviation fuel to market under a new partnership. Honeywell will bring its engineering services and equipment to the venture, while AliphaJet has pioneered a catalytic method for bio-jet production using renewable materials such as plant and animal…
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Members of Illinois parliament in the US have approved the state’s biodiesel blending programme today with a vote in the senate of 44 to nine. The sunset date for the biodiesel state sales tax initiatives has been extended for the biodiesel state sales tax to the end of 2019 and with this any biodiesel blend of more than 10% is now eligible for fuel tax exemption. President of the Renewable…
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Algae.Tec, a company dedicated to the production of renewable oils from algae, has been awarded a contract to build its algae biofuels production facility in Sri Lanka. The plant is being constructed for cement and building company Holcim Lanka and is Algae.Tec's first plant to be built in Asia. Holcim is investing in the plant to reduce its carbon footprint by channelling waste carbon dioxide…
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Biodiesel company Evogene has extended its agreement with Brazilian agriculture company SLC Agricola in order to further develop castor bean seeds as a feedstock for biofuels. This follows the development of seed varieties in trials in northeast Brazil through this year which the companies say has been successful. The partnership between the two companies began in 2010 and involves developing…
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In Mexico, Chiapas state government will propose to build a biojet fuel production plant in January 2012. Should the plans be granted approval, the plant would help Mexican airlines achieve their blending targets for aviation fuel; in 2015 the government wants 1% of renewable jet fuel to be blended with traditional aviation fuel. This will increase to 15% by 2020. The plant is estimated to cost…
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