Other News

On 1 September Mascoma Corp, an innovative biofuels company, acquired biomass conversion technology producer SunOpta BioProcess (SBI). The acquisition combines SBI’s fibre preparation and pre-treatment technologies with Mascoma’s bioprocessing technologies to create a company with capabilities for producing ethanol from non-food cellulose, such as wood chips, energy crops and organic solid…
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The US’ fourth largest ethanol producer Green Plains Renewable Energy has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Global Ethanol. Manufacturing a total of around 157 million gallons a year, Global Ethanol currently owns two ethanol production facilities; one in Lakota, Iowa, and a second in Riga, Michigan. These two plants will boost Green Plains’ output capacity by 31% to 657…
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Originally planned to be operational this week, it is now expected that the production of biodiesel at the Bahamas Waste plant will commence by the end of the month. When operations do begin it is hoped that some of the 500,000 gallons of imported cooking oil will be replaced. Earl Deveaux, environment minister, said: ‘We import a significant amount of cooking oil and when we process the…
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Biofuels company AE Advanced Fuels Keyes’ wholly owned subsidiary AE Biofuels has secured over $4 million (€2.87 million) in funding from Third Eye Capital to retrofit and restart operations at its Keyes-based ethanol plant in California, US. The retrofit is expected to be completed and the plant fully operational by Q1 2011. The facility was originally opened back in November 2008 but was…
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Mexico’s first biodiesel plant has begun operations. The nation’s president Felipe Calderon opened the production facility on 26 November 2010 in the south eastern state of Chiapas. The plant will convert jatropha, palm oil and recycled oil into 20,000 litres per day of biodiesel for use as transport fuel in local vehicles.
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In the US the state of Kentucky is looking to set up a new programme to study biofuel viability. As part of the initiative Kentucky is to establish around 700 acres of switchgrass fields and is to provide incentives to local farmers who are interested in participating. In addition to assistance, Natural Resources Conservation would also provide funding for those farmers willing to plant the…
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In order to advance the development of the sustainable biofuel jatropha, Californian-based companies SG Biofuels and Life Technologies Corporation have become united. With the ability to grow on adverse lands, this non-edible shrub is found in Central America and posses seeds high in oil that can be used for a variety of bio-based materials. With the largest library of jatropha genetic…
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All delegates at the upcoming Biofuels International expo & conference in Prague on 5-6 May will benefit from a tour of a nearby biodiesel facility on 4th May. Preol is a leading producer in the Czech Republic, which has just completed constructing a state-of-the-art biodiesel plant in the industrial region of Lovosice. The plant, designed by Desmet Ballestra, has the capacity to produce…
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The Philippines-based National Power (Napocor) is joining with French company Enertine to provide biomass-derived power in the archipelago’s non-grid areas. Agricultural by-products such as rice and sugarcane husks, crop stalks, logging residues and dead wood will be used to fuel more remote areas. The project will be carried out under Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG), which is…
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Electricity-generating company Drax has threatened to relocate its biomass projects oversees if the government refuses to undo its decision to limit subsidies. Drax, operator of the coal-burning facility in Selby, West Yorkshire, UK, is the biggest polluter in Western Europe. Now, plans to build three biomass power plants are in place to help the company reduce its carbon emissions. The…
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The Zimbabwean government has launched plans for the construction of a sugarcane-to-ethanol refinery. The plant, which will provide Zimbabwe with 80% of its ethanol needs, will be built on land currently owned by the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority in Chisumbanje and cost $600 million (€439.2 million) to construct. In the first stages of production 40,000 hectares of land will…
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In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Grupo Bertin is to purchase 71% of sugar and ethanol manufacturing company Infinity Bio-Energy for an undisclosed sum. After having sold its meat department to JBS SA, Bertin transferred into the renewable energies sector. The agreement between the two companies is part of Infinity’s judicial recovery proceedings and Bertin will be issued shares as part of the…
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You can listen to presentations from H.E. Mr. Jan Dusík, Minister of the Environment for the Czech Republic, Ivan Soucek, CEO, Ceska Rafinerska, Marc Gillmann, Bioenergy expert, Total, Miroslav Bažata, Head of biofuel sales, Agropodnik, Robert Gmyrek, Director, Biofuels Department, PKN Orlen, Dag Roger Rinde, CEO, Statoil and many more for just €575 a day. As an added bonus the price…
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At the end of March it was reported that Italian customs authorities seized 10,000 tonnes of illegal biodiesel that is thought to have originated from the US where it benefitted from US subsidies illegal in Europe. Italian judge Giudice per le Indagini Preliminari has now prolonged this temporary confiscation of the biodiesel load, a decision that is backed fully by the EBB. The official customs…
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