Other News

The Japanese trading company Marubeni has signed an alliance with China’s biggest oilseed crushing company Sinograin Oil & Fats. The move will aim to boost soyabean sales to China, the world’s largest importer, by 25% in three years. Marubeni has shipped more than 2.6 million tonnes of soyabeans to China since it began the exports in December, becoming the largest Japanese supplier.…
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Global oilseed production is projected at a record 422.1 million tonnes in 2009, which is up 25.9 million from the previous year due to increasing demand for biofuel production. Demand in China, India, and the EU is considered to be the cause of a projected increase of 3.8% in 2009/10. In the US, the oilseed production for 2009/10 is projected to reach 94.5 million tonnes, up 6% from its…
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The Canadian government is proceeding with regulations requiring a minimum 5% ethanol blend (E5) in the country’s petrol by September 2010. The regulations have been given the go-ahead after Environment Minister Jim Prentice won cabinet approval to proceed with the laws requiring. The department has invited the industry to outline how the government intends to proceed. The government claims…
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An Oregon-based business hopes to become the first company to turn dairy and wood waste into a renewable biofuel called butanol. Diesel Brewing of Salem plans to burn either dairy or wood waste to create liquid butanol through a process called gasification. Butanol is a form of alcohol that could completely replace petrol rather than be blended with it, like ethanol. CEO Jeff Raines and his…
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New York-based Innovation Fuels has begun selling biodiesel to customers through a Port of Milwaukee terminal located on Lake Michigan. The 312,000-barrel capacity terminal is the first in the country dedicated to the sale and distribution of renewable fuels. The port allows the receiving of international shipping via the St. Lawrence Seaway and river barge cargo via the Mississippi River.…
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One of Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol groups Santelisa has confirmed that it has been bought by French commodities group Louis Dreyfus. The Brazilian subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus, Commodities Bioenergia (LDC), expects to incorporate Santelisa within two months pending the Brazilian company restructuring its debt of €970 million. In order to make the deal viable LDC Bioenergia needed to…
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Indonesia's palm-based biodiesel firms await a fair price formula and government subsidies to survive as they feel the squeeze of surging palm oil prices. The fledgling industry is expected to play a key role in absorbing growing palm output in world's top producer, but as feedstock prices become more expensive than fossil oils, it is difficult for the industry to expand without…
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Filipino manufacturer Chemrez Technologies has reported a 37.2% jump in net income to €2 million in Q1 2009 from €1.4 million in the same period last year, owing to strong oleochemical and biodiesel sales, as well as higher margins. The company largely attributed the revenue growth to the surge in domestic demand for coconut-based biodiesel or coco-biodiesel after the government stepped up…
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US President Barack Obama has proven his support for the biomass and biofuel industries by providing nearly $800 million (€588 million) in funding and forming a market development programme. The new funding will be allocated under the directive of the US Department Of Energy biomass programme across four main areas which include $480 million (€353 million) to the solicitation for integrated…
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Omaha, US-based Green Plains Renewable Energy has won a €1.6 million state grant for a pilot project to produce algae from by-products of its Shenandoah, Iowa, ethanol plant. Pending the success of the pilot project, Green Plains intends to develop a commercial plant producing algae for biofuels. The high-protein algae could be added to the dried distillers grains produced by ethanol plants…
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Mississippi, US-based Encore Energy Systems has announced that five new biofuel facilities have been targeted for acquisition. Of the five production facilities, four of them are located in Mississippi with the other facility in Texas. Fuel distribution and feedstock allocations have been located for these projects and will be further announced when shipping commences. In anticipation of…
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Federal and provincial funds have been injected in ethanol facilities and research projects in Canada. British Columbia has pledged more than $32.6 million (€24.5 million) to commercialise approximately $200 million in provincial renewable energy technology projects. The Innovative Clean Energy Fund has awarded more than $22.6 million to 19 projects and another $10 million in provincial…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a draft rule calling for further use of advanced biofuels and to measure carbon dioxide emissions from alternative motor fuels. The regulatory body’s move looks to reduce the impact biofuels have on the climate and food prices. The move confirms the schedule of the 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard which called for the blending of 136 billion…
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In March US biodiesel output fell sharply, fuelling calls for the release of federal regulations to require use of advanced biofuels. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) said production fell from 49 million gallons in March 2008 to only 30 million gallons in March 2009. The NBB claimed that if the trend continues, US output would be only half of the 700 million gallons produced last year. The…
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