Other News

Jan 27, 2009
The sale of petrol with 7% ethanol content is anticipated for March in Costa Rica following a pilot plan conducted in the north-western area Guanacaste. Biofuels in the country will use a number of feedstocks. Ethanol is made from sugarcane and cassava, while biodiesel is extracted from oil-producing plants such as castor bean and jatropha. Roberto Dobles, minister of the environment and…
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Jan 27, 2009
Energy companies Shell and BP have joined the British government in pumping £27 million (€29 million) into research on biofuels that steer away from food crops. It is Britain's largest public investment in bioenergy to date, and includes input from a total of 15 businesses. The sum will fund research at six centres around Britain with the goal of replacing petrol in cars with fuels…
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Jan 26, 2009
Sierra Leone has launched a $200 million (€154 million) renewable energy project, which includes the production of ethanol. The project’s sugarcane plantation will take 20,000 hectares of land and the ethanol plant will produce more than 1.2 million litres of ethanol a year. In addition, a 30MW power plant will also be in operation. The project’s funding has been approved and construction…
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Jan 26, 2009
The Netherlands-based biodiesel producer Solarix, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and technology company Yellow Diesel have received a €1 million subsidy for developing new biofuels from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, as part of the EOS KTO programme (short term energy research). The funding forms part of a €1.5 million R&D project for synthesising and commercialising a new…
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Jan 26, 2009
The first industrial biodiesel production plant in Latvia opened on 22 January. The plant constructed by BDI – BioDiesel International is located in the port area of Ventspils with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes. The plant will use vegetable raw materials coming from the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It is also capable of processing used cooking oils…
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Jan 23, 2009
Biodiesel producer Bionor will invest US$209 million (€163 million) in a project to produce 300 million litres of biodiesel a year in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. The investments are scheduled for the first half of 2009, with land purchase and the installation of the first seedling nursery and a laboratory already defined. The project will use the oleaginous plant gentle-pinion as…
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Jan 23, 2009
Nebraska, US-based ethanol producer Green Plains Renewable Energy has acquired a majority interest in Houston-based biofuel terminal operator Blendstar. Green Plains acquired 51% of Blendstar from Bioverda U.S. Holdings for $9 million (€7 million). Blendstar currently operates terminal facilities in Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Nashville, Knoxville, Louisville and Birmingham. Additionally,…
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Jan 21, 2009
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded cellulosic ethanol producer Range Fuels a conditional commitment for an $80 million (€62 million) loan guarantee for the development and construction of its commercial cellulosic ethanol plant near Soperton, Georgia. Range Fuels was awarded this loan guarantee in part because they are working toward the development of commercially…
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Jan 20, 2009
Second generation ethanol company Verenium has announced plans to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida. The company has entered into long-term agreements with Florida agri-business Lykes Bros to provide the agricultural biomass for conversion to fuel. Verenium also announced that the Highlands Ethanol project has been awarded a $7 million…
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Jan 20, 2009
The decision by the German government to raise taxes on biofuels and to reduce blending rates in fossil fuels will mean more biodiesel plants in the country will face closure, a German biofuels industry association says. Europe’s largest biodiesel industry has been operating at under 60% of its 5 million tonne a year capacity, Johannes Lackmann, CEO of German biofuels industry association VDB,…
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Jan 20, 2009
US meat processing company JBS-Swift has announced it will open a biogas generation facility next to its Grand Island, Nebraska, beef packing plant in April. The beef packing plant slaughters 6,000 cattle each day. The operation, which will be owned and managed by Microgy, a subsidiary of Swift partner Environmental Power, is expected to generate 235,000 MMBtu of power a year, the equivalent of…
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Jan 20, 2009
Mississippi Investment Petroleum has announced plans to build a third-generation biodiesel refinery at the Port of Aberdeen, Mississippi, in the US. The Madison-based company began preparing the site in late 2008, with 90% of the US manufactured refinery equipment being custom fabricated for the site. The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase of the project is expected to…
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Jan 20, 2009
Indian state Gujarat’s Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has given approval to private groups for setting up biomass power plants in 25 districts of the state. The approvals amount to a combined generation of 317MW of energy. ‘The first of its kind power plant in the state that uses 300 tonnes of biomass a day such as fuel cotton stalks, sesame stalks and groundnut shells is proposed to come…
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Jan 20, 2009
Thailand-based palm oil crushing company Vichitbhan Group is investing almost THB2 billion (€44.3 million) to set up biogas and biomass energy businesses. Vichitbhan Group runs separate palm oil crushing mills under its Vichitbhan Palm Oil and Vichitbhan Plantation companies. Krisada Chavananand, MD of Vichitbhan Palm Oil, says the investment is part of a five-year business plan focusing on…
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Jan 19, 2009
The UK’s Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) has released figures showing major fuel suppliers are continuing to fail government targets to supply biofuels that meet environmental standards. Nine companies are performing below their targets, including BP, which managed to report just 4% of its biofuels as meeting standards recognised by the Agency. Esso, Chevron, Murco, Prax and Topaz have failed to…
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