Other News
UK energy giant BP and Maryland, US-headquartered Martek Biosciences are teaming up to create biodiesel from sugar-based feedstocks.
The sugar to biodiesel pathway uses advanced biological science to convert sugars derived from biomass into lipids using unique fermentation micro-organisms; the lipids are then converted into fuel molecules through chemical or thermocatalytic…
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The conference programme for the upcoming Biofuels International Asia expo & conference in Singapore on 19-20th November is now available online and can be viewed at:
http://www.biofuelsinternationalexpo.com/asia/conf_prog.html
Speakers include:
•Henri Bardon, Biofuels trading manager, Trafigura
•Allan Lim, CEO, Alpha Biofuels
•Long Tian Ching, Managing Director, Vance…
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In the US, endeavours to cut back on burning coal for power generation have moved a step in the green direction.
A subsidiary of FirstEnergy, Ohio Edison, has agreed to switch two coal-powered generators to biomass fuel, creating electricity by burning a mixture of wood, crop residues and other waste.
The plan is the result of a Justice Department order that mandated the company either shut…
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UK entrepreneur Richard Branson has raised £150 million (€174 million) through private equity to invest in renewable energy.
A significant proportion of this money will be invested in biofuels, notably isobutanol, which Branson intends to use as aircraft fuel.
The Virgin Green Fund is one of the few private equity ventures to raise its target amount this year. Branson has invested £70…
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Nigeria will start producing biodiesel commercially at some point next year, say scientists.
Nigeria has been experimenting with biodiesel for several years. The Sweden-based telecoms operator Ericsson funded the first pilot biodiesel production in Nigeria under its corporate responsibility programme: several operators have been powering their mobile base stations in areas not connected to…
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US Biofuels manufacturers are lobbying Congress for a share of the free carbon permits needed to emit carbon dioxide under the Obama administration’s proposed carbon-trading scheme.
The bill passed by the House of Representatives last month would give away 85% of the permits to pollute to industries regarded as essential in the first years of a cap. The remaining 15% would be auctioned. The…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to restrict the official designation of ‘renewable fuel’ to biofuel from producers which can provide documentary evidence that their feedstock is sustainably produced.
This has drawn complaints from biofuels producers which argue they will face a bureaucratic nightmare.
The proposal is contained in the consultation document for the…
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Sweden-headquartered Chemrec’s pulp mill-integrated BioDME (dimethyl ether) biorefinery demonstration plant project will break ground in September in Piteå, Sweden.
Production is expected by mid-2010. The project will demonstrate the production of an advanced diesel fuel, DME, from forest biomass over the black liquor route and will also demonstrate the use of this fuel in heavy vehicles in…
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A dispute delaying construction work on the UK’s largest bioethanol plant has been resolved.
On Tuesday 4 August workers on the plant at Teesside were sent home on paid leave over a commercial dispute involving project managers Simon Carves and its sub-contractors.
Simon Carves reportedly cut strings with the project leaving Ensus to manage the build.
But an Ensus spokesman has now confirmed…
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In Pakistan, the Ministry of Environment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) to implement a commercially viable Rs2.8 million (€24,000) biogas programme.
In the programme’s first phase, set to run until 2012, 30,000 digesters will be installed in selected rural areas. The programme aims to use the market and non-market benefits of…
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A new HUF 14 billion (€52 million) bioelectricity plant in Szakoly, eastern Hungary, is set to be operating commercially by September 2009.
The Hungarian Energy minister announced that plant workers are currently conducting a trial run, which, assuming there are no unforeseen difficulties, should be completed by the end of August.
The plant will burn 170,000–180,000 locally produced biomass…
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MGT Power is planning a second 300MW bioelectricity plant in the British Port of Tyne to accompany the current project under construction in nearby Teesport.
MGT details plans for the Tyne Renewable Energy Plant (TREP) to be located on industrial land 10 kms east of Newcastle city centre on the north bank of the River Tyne. The proposed plant would burn about 2.4 million tonnes of wood a year…
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In the US, Virginia-based green energy specialist Osage BioEnergy has joined forces with agriculture expert Perdue Agribusiness to supply barley for conversion to ethanol at a plant under construction in Hopewell, Virginia.
Perdue will work with local farmers to supply 28 million bushels of barley to the 65Mgy bioethanol plant. The ethanol will be sold in local markets in E10 and E85 fuel…
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US-based National Wind Solutions (NWND) has bought an undisclosed biodiesel plant in Texas for $3 million (€2.1 million) and has announced its intention to convert it to produce biodiesel from second-generation feedstock.
After successfully producing soyabean biodiesel for commercial transportation uses, the plant was mothballed by its original producers because of the high cost of…
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In the US, the Minnesota-based Guardian Energy has agreed to purchase a 100Mgy corn ethanol plant in Janesville, Minnesota from the financial services company AgStar Lending Group. Guardian Energy hopes to close the deal by 15 September.
The Janesville plant has passed through a string of owners since planning originally began in 2004. The plant was originally built by US BioEnergy, which…
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