Other News

US, Ohio-based Dayton Power and Light (DP&L) has issued a request for proposals to use biofuels at its generating stations. The company is stepping towards incorporating renewable energy resources into its services. DP&L has indicated its plans to purchase a maximum of 15,000 tonnes of biomass fuels by the end of 2009 and a maximum of 100,000 tonnes in the following five years, in…
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Cavendish Farms, a North American potato product producer, has finalised the construction of an anaerobic digestion facility that will generate biogas from potato waste. The project is a first for the potato industry. The new plant in Price Edward Island, Canada, will accompany the existing wastewater treatment facility, and will handle production rates of 120,000 tonnes per year. The plant…
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US-based biofuels developer BioEnergy International has formed Myriant Technologies (Myriant) to incorporate all of its biobased chemicals business and intellectual property. BioEnergy is building a 110 million gallon a year ethanol plant in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, with operations expected in January. ‘The new alignment will facilitate a clearer understanding and market valuation of each…
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The US Department of Agriculture could offer US farmers greater financial incentives for developing cellulosic ethanol projects. The USDA announced it would guarantee $80 million (€57 million) in loans for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Increased biofuel production will be necessary as the industry works to comply with current national energy policy, which is drawn to wean consumers…
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US ethanol powerhouse Poet is creating a new division to handle cob collection and supply chain management. Poet Biomass will also look after logistics for waste wood and engineered fuels as alternative power sources and seek out additional feedstocks for future cellulosic ethanol production. Scott Weishaar, Poet’s VP of commercial development, says: ‘Poet’s cellulosic ethanol goals…
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Michigan, US-based Dow Chemical has backed Algenol Biofuels’ pioneering pilot-scale project to convert algae and carbon dioxide into ethanol fuel. The project will use Algenol's technology that calls for carbon dioxide and saltwater supplied to algae in photobioreactors to produce the biofuel. The project aims to create a breakthrough in ethanol production that does not use food…
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Another biofuels player has fallen victim to the economic downfall. UK-based energy crop developer D1 Oils’ joint venture with BP to plant biofuel crop jatropha around the world has failed to attract a third investor. Last year D1 announced the closure of its refineries on Teesside and Merseyside. Since then it has been concentrating on the research and planting of jatropha to produce…
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Sweden-based Chemrec has been granted SEK 500 million (€45 million) in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency’s Energy R&D Board to build an industrial scale renewable fuel plant. The plant will use biomass through gasification of black liquor. The planned location for the plant is the Domsjö biorefinery complex in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Production in the Chemrec plant is targeted…
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The first bioenergy research centre has been opened in the Chinese city of Nanning, in southern Guangxi Zhuang’s Autonomous Region. The research centre will be primarily studying the feedstocks of cassava, sugar cane and sweet sorghum to be used as the principle sources for new energy development. Huang Ribo, director of the research centre announced that further study into bioenergy will…
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General Biodiesel Seattle has completed its acquisition of Imperium Renewables’ Seattle Biodiesel facility in Washington, US. General Biodiesel is converting the Seattle-based commercial biodiesel refinery to produce biodiesel from waste oils such as recycled cooking oil and animal fat, which the company collects from restaurants and food stores around the region. The acquisition of the plant…
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The Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia has received backing from BMW Indonesia regarding its current research concerning alternative energy. The research is focusing on the potential of making biodiesel from raw, green materials such as vegetable oil rich that is in iodine. The results of which are expected before the end of 2009.
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Farmers situated in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam are receiving training in producing biogas and fertiliser from water hyacinths and agricultural waste. The project, conducted by Can Tho University, has received €1 million in funding from the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation collaboration. So far 2,340 farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang who possess less than 2.3…
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Independent oil firm Eastern Petroleum plans to set up a $30 million (€21.5 million) ethanol plant in Isabela, the Philippines, next year. The ethanol producing facility has a projected capacity of 100,000 litres a day, or 30 million litres a year, and is expected to come online in 2012. To fund the project the firm’s subsidiary Eastern Renewables and Fuels has begun enquiring about…
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Virent Energy Systems expects to raise $25 million (€18 million) to $40 million by the end of the year in its third round of financing, as it looks to enter into the biofuels sector. The Wisconsin-based company’s previous rounds of funding already raised approximately $70 million, which is currently financing the building a 10,000 gallon per year plant set to come online this year.…
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