Other News

In British Columbia, Canada, a commercial-scale biodiesel plant has been officially opened, following a grand opening ceremony on 27 July 2011. Based in the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, the new plant will enable the Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-operative to supply biodiesel from locally sourced feedstocks. Previously, the co-op was providing its customers with cooking oil-derived biodiesel that…
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Chevrolet is looking to launch a biodiesel-powered model of the Chevrolet Cruze in the US. These vehicles are already available in Europe, and US drivers will be able to purchase the eco-friendly Chevrolet Cruze from Q1 2013. The modified car will give motorists the option to fill up on diesel blended with biodiesel. Chevrolet chose to modify its Cruze because it has 'proven to be extremely…
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In the US, ethanol company Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings is looking to commence operations at its defunct ethanol plant in Aurora East, Nebraska. The plant has been idle since April 2011 but could be up and running again soon, as the company has completed improvements to the fermentation process. 'Our operational focus is to implement identified changes to bring the Mount Vernon plant closer…
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In Tocantins, Brazil, Pedro Afonso Açúcar e Bioenergia, a joint venture between ITOCHU and Bunge, began manufacturing ethanol on 22 July. ITOCHU holds 20% of the shares in the joint venture, through its wholly owned subsidiary JB BioEnergy. Bunge owns the remaining 80%. ITOCHU and Bunge have also formed a partnership for the production and sales of ethanol in Minas Gerais, at the…
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Bonsucro's certification scheme, used to certify the sustainable production of sugarcane, has been formally recognised by the EU. Ethanol certified by Bonsucro conforms to the requirements of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the EU Fuels Quality Directive (FQD). 'Bonsucro EU certification will not only show compliance with the Union's sustainability rules, but also guarantees…
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Hunt Ramsbottom, CEO of Rentech is to provide the keynote address on 3 October at the Biofuels International expo & conference in Calgary, Canada. Rentech's proposed Olympiad Renewable Energy Centre (Olympiad Project), located in White River, Ontario, Canada will be designed as a state-of-the-art energy facility that would employ the Rentech-ClearFuels biomass gasification system and the…
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The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels' (RSB) standard and certification system has been recognised by the EU as a way to demonstrate and document compliance with the EU biofuels mandate. In order to qualify under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), biofuels consumed within the EU must demonstrate environmental benefits compared to its fossil-based alternatives. In order to count toward the…
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Brazil's energy giant Petrobras is looking to produce 5.6 billion litres of ethanol by 2015, according to Miguel Rossetto, CEO of the company's biofuel division Petrobras Combustíveis. The ramp up would see Petrobras obtain 12% of the domestic market. The company had a 3.3% share in the market last year, after it manufactured 1 billion litres of ethanol. Between now and 2015, Petrobras has…
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The European Commission has formally approved Greenergy's gold standard sustainability criteria for Brazilian bioethanol, under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). The approval enables major fuel supplier Greenergy to supply all 27-member states with sustainably sourced bioethanol. Although biofuels being sold in the EU must comply with the RED mandates, countries are interpreting the…
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In Colombia, EcoPetrol's Bioenergy S.A.is planning a 480m3 per day sugar-to-ethanol plant in Los Llanos. Biofuels technology and process engineering company Praj Industries has been awarded a $22 million (€15.4 million) contract to supply the main process plant for the project. Speaking about the order, Pramod Chaudhari, executive chairman of Praj Industries, said: 'This is our biggest order…
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In the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, biodiesel producer Unitec Bio is to break ground on its biodiesel plant, located in Puerto General San Martin city. Operations at the €49.3 million biodiesel production facility are planned to start in the second half of 2012. It will produce 240,000 tonnes a year of biodiesel. The plant is being erected close by to Unitec's existing 240,000 tonne…
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Agave, a plant normally used to produce tequila, has been found to offer significant advantages as a biofuel feedstock. The crop can be grown on marginal agricultural land, while thriving in dry environments and yielding high sugar content, according to a report from the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, entitled 'Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas analysis for agave-derived…
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BioJet International, a US-headquartered company dedicated to renewable jet fuel and related products in the aviation and transportation sectors, and the University of the West Indies Cave Hill (UWI-Cave Hill) Campus in Barbados have joined forces for a biosciences research and commercial project. The agreement will see BioJet financially support research at UWI-Cave Hill, which will test and…
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