Other News

On 15 February 2011 agricultural marketing firm The Scoular Company finalised its acquisition of the assets of Gateway Plant. Included in the deal was a Pratt, Kansas, US-based 55mgy ethanol production plant and a 1.8 million bushel shuttle train facility. The terms of the transaction have not yet been discussed, nor has the company decided if the plant will be renamed. Before operations can…
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In Jamaica, the Petroleum Corp. of Jamaica’s Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy (PCJ) and the Caribbean Research and Development Institute (CARDI) have partnered for a small-scale biodiesel project. Using locally grown jatropha and castor cultivated on CARDI’s six-acre Sam Motta Demo Farm, the $10.3 million (€7.6 million) project will test the viability of biodiesel for…
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Ohio, US-based environmental services provider Environmental Quality Management (EQM) and Beacon Energy Holdings, a producer of biodiesel, located in Cleburne, Texas, have signed a definitive merger agreement. Upon the closure of the agreement, EQM will merge with Beacon and become its wholly owned subsidiary. Beacon will be named EQM Technologies & Energy. Upon completion of EQM's due…
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UK-based alternative energy company Goes on Green has acquired a biodiesel plant in the Netherlands. Located in Sluiskil, the 250,000 tonne-a-year facility was acquired by BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions. Also included in the transaction is the plant's deep water storage loading/unloading berth, 250,000m3 of storage capacity and fully integrated logistics. 24 new jobs will be created at the plant.
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Between March and September 2011 Thailand's government will launch an E95 bus fleet trial to test the viability of replacing the current diesel- and LNG-fuelled buses with a 95% ethanol blend. 1.3 million litres a day of ethanol are consumed by the nation today, but the government is hoping to ramp this up to 9 million litres a day by 2022. The buses used in the trial will come from heavy truck,…
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Italy is one of the key producers of biodiesel in the EU. However the nation's output capacity has been hurt due to a rise in the importation of cheaper biodiesel. The biofuel is most commonly made from palm oil and rapeseed oil in Italy, however it is thought that the imported fuel can cost less than these feedstocks. In the first nine months of 2010, 410,000 tonnes of biodiesel were made in…
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A couple in Wichita, Kansas, in the US, have been arrested after they were caught stealing waste grease from a local eatery. After leaving Joplin, it is thought that the pair visited small towns such as Iola and Cherryvale throughout the night, helping themselves to used cooking oil, before arriving at Burger King in the early hours of the morning. They were spotted at 5.30am on 25 January…
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In the US petroleum refiner and marketer Valero Energy Corporation has signed a letter of intent that could see it invest up to $50 million (€37 million) in innovative biofuels company, Lebanon, New Hampshire-based Mascoma Corporation. Together with Mascoma's operating subsidiary Frontier Renewable Resources, jointly owned with natural resource management company J.M. Longyear, Valero's…
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On 3 February 2011 energy company Jatoil achieved production of 200 tonnes of crude jatropha oil, all of which will be shipped and used as feedstock for biojet aviation fuel for use by commercial airlines. The 200-tonne production milestone comes six months after Jatoil made its inaugural 10-tonne biofuel sale from its Indonesia project to the airline industry. 'Currently, only limited supplies…
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Four projects looking into the development of biodiesel in Colorado have been awarded grants under the Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy (ACRE) programme. The programme has awarded 15 grants totalling $600,000 (€444,670) in a bid to encourage projects that add value to agricultural products. As Tom Lipetzky, CFO at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, explains: ‘ACRE is a…
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80% of the EU's transport fuel needs could be met with biofuels by the year 2050, according to an independent study published by the Öko-Institut. Commissioned on behalf of The Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, the study titled The Vision Scenario for the European Union concludes that the use of biofuels in the EU transport sector will increase to 10% in 2020,…
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Canada-based waste to biofuels producer Enerkem has been given an $80 million (€59 million) loan guarantee by the US Department of Agriculture to go towards building a new waste-to-biofuels project in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The new development will help to transform municipal solid waste from the north-east of the region into ethanol. The loan comes after the US Department of Energy…
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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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