Other News

At the Chemelot site in Geleen, the Netherlands, technology firm Avantium has completed start-up at its polyester pilot plant, which is the first stage of a pilot facility that will demonstrate the company's YXY technology for the production of green fuels and materials. The plant is on schedule to begin operations in Q2 2011. The company's patented YXY technology is a 'family of green building…
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Dyadic International, a company dedicated to the production of enzymes for the bioenergy industry, among others, has been issued a US patent, number 7,923,236 entitled, 'Fungal Enzymes' by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent includes technology relating to the use of and methods for producing novel enzymes and their combinations to convert lignocellulosic biomass…
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Following a dip in 2009, throughput in Zeeland ports seems to have picked up again. Q1 2011 saw throughput increase by more than 7% compared to the same period in 2010. In particular, general cargo throughput has increased by 23% and dry bulk by 8%. In addition to its Q1 2011 results, Zeeland Seaports has also released its final results for 2010. Throughput for last year reached 33 million…
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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 Canada, renewable energy producer Rentech is looking to develop a biomass plant in White River, Ontario that will produce jet fuel and create 400 fulltime jobs. 'This will be the largest renewable clean jet fuel programme in the world,' says the CEO of RenTech Hunt Ramsbottom. 'This will be the first of its kind where the province, the federal government, local communities and a private…
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At around 11am on 20 April 2011, a tanker transporting ethanol in Cheatham County, Tennessee in the US was involved in a crash, which left the vehicle overturned and leaking the fuel onto the Interstate 24. Both the eastbound and westbound lanes were closed as teams threw sand over the spill to contain it. The spill was later contained but the cleanup continued. It was reported that a car and a…
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Papua New Guinea-headquartered New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL), a large-scale integrated industrial producer of sustainable palm oil in Australasia, and agribusiness group Wilmar International have agreed to set up an integrated supply chain and joint marketing agreement to supply Europe with fully traceable and segregated sustainable palm oil from NBPOL's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)…
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In California, US, the California Energy Commission has given a $1.88 million (€1.3 million) grant to AE Advanced Fuels Keyes, the wholly owned subsidiary of AE Biofuels. According to AE Biofuels, the funding will be used to develop the commercialisation of its enzyme-based technology for the production of cellulosic ethanol. The company's new facility will be developed close by to its…
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Privately owned company Greenergy is to start reducing the levels of waste sent to landfill and has partnered with waste food recycling company Brocklesby to produce biodiesel from food leftovers. In a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the fuel that the company produces, while also creating a new alternative source of fuel, the joint venture will covert edible oils and unsalable food into…
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has developed technology for ethanol fuel production which complies with the standards set by the Japanese Automotive Standards Organisation (JASO), from lignocellulose (soft cellulose) such as rice straw and barley straw. The Japanese government, academia and the agricultural and industrial sectors in Hyogo Prefecture, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture,…
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The 5 May 2011 saw the US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expose a new $47 million (€32.7 million) grant programme. The new R&D grants, which are part of the Obama Administration's aim to address the rising costs of fuel, will support the generation of energy from biomass. The funding will help finance a total of eight projects dedicated to the…
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Gevo, a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, has signed an engineering and consulting agreement with Mustang Engineering to convert Gevo’s renewable isobutanol into bio-jet fuel. The agreement will focus on the downstream processing of isobutanol to paraffinic kerosene (jet fuel) for jet engine testing, airline suitability flights and advancing commercial…
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Canada-based Core BioFuel, a biofuels firm dedicated to the commercialisation of a biomass-to-fuel production process, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an un-named energy project developer. The MoU will see the development of four Core-licensed biorefineries in the Western Hemisphere, which will utilise Core's patent-pending wood-to-fuel technology for a preliminary four-year…
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