Other News

The national legislature of Cyprus is considering amending a law banning the promotion or use of biofuels produced from genetically modified crops. The European Commission (EC) has approached the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a ruling on whether the Cypriot law breaches European Law banning unauthorised trade sanctions. If, as widely expected, the ECJ rules against Cyprus, Cyprus could…
Read More »

The conference programme for the upcoming Biofuels International Canada expo & conference in Montreal on 28-29th October is now available online and can be viewed at: http://www.biofuelsinternationalexpo.com/canada/conf_prog.html Biofuels International Canada expo & conference is organised by market leading publication Biofuels International magazine and is designed to coincide with new…
Read More »

Biodiesel producer Biopetrol has announced a drop in turnover in the first half of 2009 of 50% since the equivalent period in 2008. The company blames increases taxed on biodiesel in Germany and a large volume of indirectly subsidised biodiesel from Argentina. Biopetrol, which underwent major financial restructuring in April, announced that its turnover in the first half of 2009 had been…
Read More »

A council in Scotland has come up with a smelly way of generating clean electricity. Scottish Borders Council will use methane from the Easter Langlee Waste Disposal site near Galashiels to create enough green electricity to power more than 1,000 homes, while cutting annual carbon emissions by the equivalent of around 30,000 tonnes. The project takes away the local authority’s burden of…
Read More »

Excess pressure is said to be the cause of the eruption which occurred on 26 August at the plant at Edathala. At least three other persons were rescued from the site, with six workers believed to be trapped in the waste at one stage. According to the officials, the biogas plant, which was being erected by a private firm, was nearing commission. The plant was being set up to convert the…
Read More »

From land to engine, biofuels continue to stoke up debate about environmental and social sustainability. Large subsidies and quotas for biofuels are wreaking social and environmental havoc and in many cases exacerbating climate change, a new Christian Aid report concludes. ‘Vast sums of European and American taxpayers’ money are being used to prop up industries which are fuelling hunger,…
Read More »

The fuels team of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the organisation responsible for certifying fuels suitable for use in US Navy ships and aircraft, is planning to test a biodiesel blend in the engine of an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft by Q2 2010. At the same time, the team is seeking a biodiesel blend suitable for use as marine diesel. The tests are part of the US Navy’s drive to…
Read More »

The state of Massachusetts has shocked producers of second- and third-generation biodiesel produced from non-food feedstocks by banning their product from being counted as biodiesel when the state introduces its biodiesel mandate in 2011. Massachusetts is to become one of the first US states to introduce a biodiesel mandate. From 1 July 2011, producers of petroleum diesel will be legally…
Read More »

California just got greener. Ethanol handling and distribution terminals company U.S. Development Group (USDG) will begin construction on a new terminal in the state. The West Colton Rail Terminal will be located in the Inland Empire area of southern California. Construction on the first phase, located in Rialto, California, will consist of a manifold transfer system that will begin receiving…
Read More »

American Energy Enterprises, a new company based in the US state of Connecticut, believes that a proposed new plant will allow it to produce cellulosic ethanol from wood waste at $0.80-0.85 (€0.56-60) a US gallon. The company has reached an agreement with Perdue University to use a special strain of yeast engineered to digest cellulose: the company believes this will raise yields from their…
Read More »

Petrobras, Brazil’s largest oil company, is in talks about the possible purchase of a controlling stake in Brenco, a Brazilian ethanol producer backed by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and America Online (AOL) founder Steve Case. Brenco was reported to be considering the offer alongside two others, including one proposing a merger with ETH Bioenergia, an ethanol producer controlled by…
Read More »

In Scotland, a consortium of existing managers and Souter investments has bought out Argent Energy, which was the UK’s only commercial-scale biodiesel refinery when it opened in Motherwell in 2005. The consortium purchased the shares of a group of investors led by Cinven, which has backed the project since its inception in 2001. ‘Since we started production we have delivered over 170…
Read More »

Husky Energy has been awarded a grant of CA$72.8 million (€46.5 million) from the Canadian Government towards the cost of its ethanol plant in Minnedosa, Manitoba. The plant, which produces ethanol from corn, has a capacity of 130 million litres a year. The award will be funded under the CA$1.5 billion ecoENERGY scheme, which provides new plants with investment for infrastructure development…
Read More »

Forget corn and soyabeans, a new source of biofuels may leave producers salivating. Sub-standard watermelon is being eyed as a potential feedstock owing to its high sugar content and the fact it can be readily distilled into alcohol to power cars and farm machinery. The news that retailers reject 360,000 tons of sub-standard fruit annually in the US alone provides the future of biofuels with a…
Read More »