Other News

Thomson Airways will become the UK's first airline to fly passengers on a plane powered by biofuels. The flight will take off from Birmingham airport before landing in Palma, Majorca, on 28 July 2011. Weekly flights of the same kind will then follow the same route from September. It is thought Thomson Airways' biofuel-powered flights between Birmingham and Palma will take place during the summer…
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In the US, the state of New Jersey's first biodiesel-powered school bus has hit the sack, after being retired in June at the end of the 2010/2011 school year. The bus, which could be nation's first to run on a blend of 20% biodiesel (B20), had been in operation since 1998, during which time it consumed more than 28,000 gallons of biodiesel. 'Similar to the biodiesel industry, the bus certainly…
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In Japan, Hitachi Zosen has teamed up with the city of Kyoto and Kumamoto University to begin converting municipal waste into ethanol on a trial basis. The initiative will begin in April 2012, using waste products from households and businesses. The biofuel produced will be used to fuel cars and as boiler fuel for factories. The process, which involves combining the waste feedstock with water and…
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In the US, ethanol producer Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings' new ethanol plant was due to come online in October this year but this has been put back and the facility will now open in early 2012. Located in Canton, Illinois, the arrival of winter has ceased construction work, which means the plant will not be ready until next year. Additionally, uncertainty surrounding the its ability to…
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Biofuels International Canada expo & conference is now less than a week away but delegate tickets are still available. Biofuels International Canada will be held on 3-4 October in the Telus Convention Centre, Calgary, Alberta. For your chance to hear from industry experts discussing topics such as policy, sustainability, finance, technology, partnerships, feedstocks and provincial insights,…
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A new study says biofuels produced from woody biomass from forest on the west coast of the US can increase carbon emissions by ‘at least 14%’ if operations are not efficient enough. The research, released by the scientists from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and other institutions in Germany and France, looked at 80 forest types in 19 eco-regions in Oregon,…
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Kappa Ethanol in Nebraska, US is expanding its transportation infrastructure with the addition of more than four miles of rail track. This will result in Kappa being able to transport 96 rail cars of ethanol to destinations such as California and Texas, instead of just one. Construction on the new infrastructure commenced in October and it is slated for completion by 31 December.
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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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It has been out of service since 2009 and now US, Maryland-based biodiesel firm Chesapeake Green Fuels (CGF) has retained Equity Partners to find a buyer for its biodiesel production plant in Clayton. The facility was designed by Desmet and built back in 2006 by Fagen. Located 15 miles north of Dover, Delaware, and 60 miles south of Philadelphia, the plant is ideally situated to distribute and…
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In the US Ineos New Planet BioEnergy, a joint venture between Ineos Bio and New Planet Energy, broke ground on its commercial-scale waste-to-biofuels plant on 9 February.   The $130 million (€95.4 million) Indian River BioEnergy Center in Vero Beach, Florida, will convert yard, vegetative and household wastes into cellulosic ethanol and renewable power for the local community. Ineos…
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Despite a difficult start to the year for Germany-based bioethanol producer CropEnergies, the company remains optimistic for the new financial year, which began on 1 March 2011. The previous business year, which ended on 28 February 2011, saw the company make €374 million in revenues and €12 million operating profit. However CropEnergies expects its revenues for the 2011 business year…
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Tharaldson Ethanol's plant in Casselton, North Dakota, has become the seventh-largest ethanol production facility in the US. The plant began producing ethanol in 2009 and has reached a production capacity of 150 million gallons a year of ethanol to date. When operations commenced it could handle around 36 million bushels of locally grown corn a year. Two years later and the plant can consume 54…
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Eucalyptus has been found to be a promising option as a biomass feedstock for the production of liquid fuel, as researchers from the US Department of Energy's (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have identified a tree that releases more than twice the usual amount of sugar. The trees being studied by NREL are lignin-modified eucalyptus lines that have been developed for research by…
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In the US renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company Gevo has started retrofitting its Luverne, Minnesota ethanol plant to produce biobased isobutanol. 'Through this retrofit, Gevo is providing a high-value products that supports our nation's agriculture industry,' says Gevo's CEO Patrick Gruber. The retrofit is scheduled for completion by mid-2012, making Gevo's facility one of the first…
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