Other News

US president Barack Obama signed new tax legislation on 17 December extending incentives for ethanol and biodiesel. The president signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 in the afternoon, following a late night approval from the US House on 16 December. The Senate approved the legislation on 15 December. For ethanol, the legislation includes:…
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In the US, agricultural powerhouse Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has received a grant to construct a facility to turn biomass into fuel. The US Department of Energy (DoE) has awarded ADM a $24.8 million (17.2 million) grant to develop and construct the facility. The ADM Advanced Biorefinery project will produce fuel ethanol and ethyl acrylate, a compound used to make plastics, adhesives,…
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The Philippines could soon be home to the largest bioethanol facility in Asia. A South Korea-based energy company signed a joint venture deal with the Central Luzon Bioenergy Corp to build the $300 million (€212.6 million) bioethanol plant in Clark, Philippines, by 2012. Speaking about the plant, Mariz Agbon, president of the Philippine Agribusiness Development and Commercial Corp (PADCC)…
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With 40-60% oil contained inside each castor oil seed (or bean), Evogene’s establishment of castor bean fields may prove to be groundbreaking within the biofuels sector. With a combined total of 3.8 billion litres of biodiesel being produced annually between the US and Brazil, Texas and northeastern Brazil are currently the two target locations for future commercial growth. Evogene has been…
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The conference programme for the upcoming Bioenergy International expo & conference 2010 on 5-6 May in Prague is now available to view online at: http://www.biofuelsinternationalexpo.com/conf_prog.html Key speakers at the event include: Marc Gillmann, Head of biofuels, Total H.E. Mr. Jan Dusík, Minister of the Environment for the Czech Republic, Ivan Soucek, CEO, Ceska Rafinerska Robert…
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A $22.3 million (€16.3 million) dual-purpose biorefinery will be constructed in Ipao Ekiti, Nigeria. There are also other biofuels projects located in Ilemeso and Iyemero in Oye and Ikole local government areas respectively. At Iyemero, 5,000 hectares of land for cassava have been cultivated in preparation for the launch of the project. Brazil-based consulting engineering firm Engevix is…
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According to Bio Base Europe the first crop of genetically modified poplar plants will be converted into ethanol in a Flemish-Dutch pilot installation. The poplars were planted in May 2009 in an outside field in Ghent, Belgium. The crop has now been harvested and is ready to be converted into ethanol at the Bio Base Europe pilot plant. Located in Ghent, the plant converts agricultural…
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In Angola, Africa, the production of biofuels will now be regulated with a new law approved by the national parliament that requires foreign biofuels producers to sell a share of their fuel to state oil company Sonangol to meet local needs. It is hoped that the law will contribute towards helping Angola become less reliant on fossil fuels as ethanol produced by the project can be used as…
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US-based derivatives marketplace CME Group has launched trading and clearing services for four new European biofuel swap futures contracts. Trading will be available on the New York trading floor and clearing services through CME ClearPort, a set of flexible clearing services open to over-the-counter (OTC) market participants to substantially mitigate counterparty risk and provide neutral…
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Located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, oil company Petrobras’ Paulinia refinery will commence its production of ethanol on 7 May. The refinery temporarily closed for maintenance and expansion, which saw the plant’s 18,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity increase to 390,000 bpd. Brazil’s ethanol supply dried up this year following issues with the sugar cane harvest, which resulted in the nation…
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An inked deal between China and the US-based aerospace firm Boeing will see China launch its first biofuel-powered flight later this year. The agreement was signed following the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meting at a ceremony that will see a venture between Boeing, Air China and oil company PetroChina. The project will use jatropha for the production of biofuels and this will be…
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A project proposed by Kenya Jatropha Energy has received resistance from environmental groups as the implementation of more jatropha plantations for use as fuel threatens the existence of rare birds. The jatropha plantation requires the destruction of the Dakatcha woodland forest in Malindi town, Kenya, an area used by native birds for breeding. 50,000 hectares of Trust Land will be set aside…
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Located in Ames, Iowa, US, biodiesel producer and marketer Renewable Energy Group (REG) is acquiring California-based biodiesel firm Tellurian Biodiesel and American BDF (ABDF). ABDF is a joint venture owned by Golden State Service Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden State Foods of Irvine, California, Eagan, Minnesota-based Restaurant Technologies (RTI) and Tellurian Biodiesel.…
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In Wisconsin, US, biodiesel firm BEST BioDiesel has shut down its Cashton-based biofuel facility after filing for Chapter 128 receivership in Monroe County Circuit Court in April earlier this year. The plant opened in December 2007 and it is hoped that the biodiesel facility will open again after being sold at auction. Eight people were working at the plant, which converted corn into…
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