Other News

An Indian company has entered into a sweet sugar and ethanol deal in Brazil. Shree Renuka Sugars, one of the largest producers in the country, has acquired Brazil’s Vale Do Ivaí SA Açúcar e Álcool (VDI) for $240 million (€161.3 million). The acquisition of VDI includes two sugar and ethanol production facilities in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, with a combined cane crushing…
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Korean motorists may be using more eco-friendly fuels in their cars in just a few years’ time. The introduction of a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) system, which would mandate the use of a mixture of biofuels and petrol in vehicles, is currently under consideration. The government will review its plans and if everything works out the RFS system could be implemented as early as 2013. The RFS…
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While ethanol plants in the US are idling, Nebraska-headquartered Green Plains Renewable Energy facilities are running at full capacity. ‘We achieved a milestone by producing at 100% of operating capacity in September, hitting our 480 million gallon annualised run rate shortly after we acquired and began operations at the two plants in Nebraska,’ Todd Becker, president and CEO at Green…
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Poet Energy, the US’ largest corn-based ethanol producer, sees the race between cellulosic ethanol and petrol prices head-to-head by 2011. Poet’s one-year-old pilot plant in South Dakota has minimised the cost of making ethanol from corn cobs from $4.13 (€2.77) a gallon to $2.35 a gallon by slimming down capital costs and using an improved cocktail of enzymes. ‘Two years ago I would…
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Tenaska BioFuels (TBF) has signed a two-year tolling arrangement with Tri-State Financial. The arrangement will allow ethanol production to resume at Tri-State's North Country Ethanol facility in Rosholt, South Dakota, US. Under the agreement, TBF will purchase corn and natural gas, which Tri-State will use to produce ethanol and distillers grains. TBF will own all materials processed at…
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Elsewhere in the US, cellulosic ethanol developer ZeaChem has begun construction on its 250,000 gallon a year semi-commercial scale production facility in Oregon. The company has enlisted Hazen Research to fabricate the front-end fermentation modules and will install the units at ZeaChem’s. The facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2010. The facility in Boardman will be…
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Tank Storage/Biofuels Asia expo & conference at the Suntec Centre, Singapore, is now just days away! As an added incentive visitors to the combined exhibition on 19-20th November will now receive access to the complementary networking cocktail reception on 19th November at 17.00 This gives you an opportunity to network with both the speakers and the conference delegates. Companies already…
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Nine biomass plants could be built in Scotland, UK, if a funding programme is fruitful. UK-based investment company Invicta Capital has launched a fund aiming to raise £300 million (€336.5 million) to invest in the plants, which will produce up to 90 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. The plants will produce enough power to supply 140,000 homes using biomass technology whereby organic…
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It must be the luck of the Irish – the UK Government has implemented a new environmental regulation under which fuel companies must sell 4% of sales in biofuels in Ireland by July 2010. The Government approved the biofuels obligation a year later than originally envisaged. There will be a requirement that the biofuels used by oil companies must produce 35% less greenhouse gases than fossil…
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Funds for a Chilean biomass power plant have been approved. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) gave the go-ahead on a loan of $6.5 million (€4.3 million) to build a 15.6-megawatt biomass power plant in the South American country. The plant will use agricultural, forestry and industrial waste as fuel, emitting zero carbon dioxide, meeting the strict international environmental…
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The Netherlands’ energy major Shell has sold its stake in second generation biofuels producer Choren. Choren is building Germany's first cellulosic ethanol plant using non-food raw materials as feedstock with a commercial operational target of 2010. Shell sold its minority shareholding to other shareholders, which comprise German vehicles groups Volkswagen and Daimler plus a consortium…
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State-owned China National Petroleum Corp(CNPC) will work with Honeywell’s subsidiary UOP to develop biofuels for road transport and aviation. Under an agreement the two companies will collaborate to produce biodiesel and green jet fuel using feedstocks available in China. CNPC will also look at establishing a demonstration-scale facility for producing biodiesel using UOP technology, in…
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The inaugural Biofuels International Canada expo & conference attracted over 300 attendees from as far as Mexico, Peru, UAE and Peru – all wanting to learn more about the sector in Canada. This year’s Biofuels International Canada expo & conference was perfectly timed to bring together regulators, producers, suppliers, traders and other experts just before new targets are brought in…
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