Other News

Neste Oil and forestry sustainability company Stora Enso have inaugurated their biomass to liquids demonstration plant at Varkaus, Finland. The joint venture, NSE Biofuels, utilises forestry residues and has been established first to develop technology and to produce commercial-scale biocrude for renewable diesel. The demonstration facility at Stora Enso’s Varkaus Mill includes a 12 MW…
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The Chinese state is expected to encourage a transition towards biodiesel in larger cities according to a senior academic. Min Enze, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering has forecast that vehicles in large cities, such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, will be B5 biodiesel compatible by next year. Next year is expected to see the acceptance of a national…
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Royal Dutch Shell is trialling a 10% cellulosic ethanol blend petrol at a Shell service station in Ottawa, Canada. The cellulosic ethanol, made from wheat straw, was produced at Iogen Energy's demonstration plant in Ottawa using advanced conversion processes. Biotechnology firm Iogen and Shell are partners in the plant, which produces 40,000 litres of fuel per month. The month-long…
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US city Seattle is set to review its policy on using food crop-based biodiesel, such as soyabean, for its vehicles amid concerns of it being more evironmentally harmful than standard diesel. Seattle's Fleets and Facilities Department director, Brenda Bauer, announced that the city has temporarily stopped purchasing soya-based biodiesel fuel and is testing biodiesel made from waste grease…
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Japan Biofuels Supply (JBSL) has entered into an agreement to buy between 50,000-82,000 barrels of bioethanol from two domestic producers in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The producers will provide the bioethanol as a feedstock for tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) which is used in blending with petrol. The Hokkaido based producers, Oenon Holdings and Hokkaido Bioethanol, have signed a contract with the…
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The northern region of Vietnam has begun construction on the region’s first bioethanol plant in the province of Phu Tho. The US$80 million project producing 100,000 m3 of ethanol per year is scheduled to come online in December 2010, converting locally available cassava and sugarcane to fuel. The project investor, Bio-Petroleum and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company (PVB), will sign direct…
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The President of Sudan, Omar al-Beshir, has opened a new 200 million-litre ethanol from sugarcane plant in the White Nile State. State-owned company Kenana, which already makes sugar and molasses, will run the ethanol plant where production levels are forecast to reach 200 million litres in two years. The factory, which lies about 250 kilometres south of Khartoum, was built by Brazilian group…
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The International Renewable Energy Alliance (REN Alliance) has taken a further step to strengthen its stance regarding the worldwide renewable energy sector by welcoming the World Bioenergy Association amongst its ranks. The agreement ensures that all the leading international renewable energy organisations are now part of the REN Alliance. The Alliance already represents agencies concerning the…
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The Californian Water Resources Control Board has approved expanding the state’s limit for underground storage of biodiesel blends from the existing B5 limitation up to B20. This ruling builds on the ASTM specifications adopted late last year allowing the underground storage of the biodiesel B5 blend, from the previous law of no underground storage of any biodiesel blend. The 25-year-old…
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The German parliament’s upper house has vetoed government proposals to cut its biofuels blending target this year and further raise taxes on biofuels. The upper house, which represents the federal arm of the governments, has refused to accept a plan to cut the 2009 blending target to 5.25% biofuel content in fossil fuel from 6.25% originally intended. As members of the EU, the government are…
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Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois has completed the first commercial harvest of a weed called pennycress. The plant once called ‘stinkweed’ is a member of the mustard family with seeds that contain 36%, twice as much as soyabeans. Officials from the company stated that they are interested in building a plant in Mapleton, Illinois, that would be able to produce 60 million gallons of…
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Sweden-based Chemrec’s development plant in Piteå, Sweden, has now reached 10,000 accumulated operating hours producing syngas from biomass to produce second generation green motor fuels. Chemrec's plant is the only gasification plant world-wide producing high-quality synthesis gas based on 100% renewable feedstock. The development plant, DP-1, has a capacity of 20 tonnes of solids a…
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The global potential for the biofuels market will reach up to $247 billion (€178 billion) in sales by 2020, indicates a study released by market researcher Pike Research. The forecast predicts the industry to ride the wave of current setbacks it faces to triple its predicted worth of $76 billion by 2010 in just ten years. Pike highlights that the biofuels industry’s growth is currently…
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The Philippine government is eyeing to secure a P20-billion (€298 million) investment agreement with Brazil for the possible construction of five bioethanol plants. Proposals regarding the construction of five plants in the Philippines have been submitted to the Brazilian federation of sugarcane and ethanol manufacturers, Unica, as the Asian country looks to forge joint-venture agreements with…
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