Other News

A biofuel plant which converts straw into renewable fuel has been opened in Kalundborg, Denmark. The 1.5 million gallon a year second generation plant will be operated by Danish energy company Dong Energy and biofuel producer Inbicon. The facility, one of the world's first and largest second generation ethanol demonstration biorefineries, will use Genencor enzymes to convert the…
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Europe’s biofuels industry plans to lodge a complaint with EU trade authorities against US companies which it believes are evading anti-dumping duties. The European Commission imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of biodiesel from the US but the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) believe that subsidised and dumped US biodiesel still enters the European market via third…
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Pacific Ethanol will resume production at its Magic Valley plant in Burley after closing earlier this year. The company suspended production at the plant in February due to unfavourable market conditions and in May the company’s subsidiariesfiled voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code in an effort to ‘restructure their indebtedness’. A company statement said:…
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UK energy company BP and science solutions company DuPont have formed Kingston Research to focus on the commercialisation of advanced biofuel technology. ‘Biobutanol is a biofuel that can be made from all the same crops as bioethanol and can be blended into petrol at higher levels, which means that we’ll be able to introduce biofuels more quickly,’ Kingston Research general manager Luc Van…
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A pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in Wyoming, US, has won approval to take part in a new programme supporting the development of biofuels. KL Energy is currently working on producing ethanol from wood chips, gathered from Black Hills National Forest on the Wyoming-South Dakota state line, at its test plant in Upton. The new programme by the US Department of Agriculture is called Biomass Crop…
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The president and managing director of Total Philippines Ernst Wanten has called on the Philippines government to encourage the building of more ethanol processing plants. ‘There’s a shortage [of ethanol] in both the local and international markets so it is really difficult to get reliable supply of ethanol at the moment.’ Wanten says the government must invest more in the ethanol…
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Brazil has signed an agreement with Mozambique for a $6 billion (€4 billion) investment in biofuel exploration. The report was confirmed by António de Godoy, chairperson of the Brazilian confederation of biofuel companies Arranjo Produtivo Local do Alcool (APLA). The biofuels, made from sugarcane, will be exported to Brazil in the hope that the new source of fuel will cut the country’s…
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The town of Lenox in Massachusetts, US, will decide whether to allow the construction of a $30 million (€19.9 million) project to renovate the Niagara and Centennial mills into a biodiesel production plant. The plant has been proposed by Interstate Biodiesel which plans to start fuel production in late 2010. The new plant would be capable of producing 15 million gallons per year using corn oil…
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Brazil state-owned energy company Petrobras’ wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível has acquired a 50% stake in BSBIOS Marialva Indústria e Comércio de Biodiesel Sul Brasil. The investment amounts to R$55 million (€21.28 million) and strengthens the company’s green fuel foray. BSBIOS Marialva is located in the municipality of Marialva, in the state of Paraná, and has…
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British Airways has started trials for using biofuels in its jets in conjunction with Rolls-Royce. BA plans to test a range of fuels made from various plants sometime next year. BA’s head of environment, Jonathan Counsell, said that the airline would use one of its jumbo engines for testing and are in talks with Rolls, the aero-engine maker, about using its facilities. Many airlines are…
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The demand for biodiesel in Europe has spurred one Bulgarian port to develop a storage terminal. Infrastructure is being eyed for an imported palm oil storage facility at one of its Black Sea ports. Palm oil will arrive from Indonesia. The nation is conducting market expansion of agricultural products to Europe. Aside from feedstocks that could be used to create biodiesel, Indonesia will…
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Japan’s first cellulosic bioethanol demonstration plant capable of continuous processing is about to launch operation. The facility is located at the Futami Plant of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture. It will produce ethanol, for use in petrol, from rice straw and wheat straw. The companies MHI, Hakutsuru Sake Brewing and Kansai Chemical…
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It has been tested in aeroplanes before, but now biofuels have made new aviation headlines. On Monday 23 November KLM Royal Dutch Airlines transported passengers above the Netherlands for 90 minutes with one engine powered with a 50% mix of biofuel and 50% kerosene, the typical air craft fuel, which fuelled the three other engines. Biofuel used on the flight reduces carbon dioxide emissions by…
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