Other News

President Barrack Obama issued a presidential directive to the US Secretary of Agriculture to form an interagency biofuels group to aggressively accelerate the investment in and production of biofuels. Directive aims to make the biofuels industry cleaner and encourage output of ethanol made from non-food crops. The Biofuels Interagency Working Group, to be headed by the secretaries of the…
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AgStar Financial Services’ lending group has announced that Carbon Green BioEnergy has entered into an agreement to purchase the Woodbury, Michigan, US, ethanol plant. The AgStar lending group recently bought the 40mgy plant following the bankruptcy of its former owners VeraSun Energy. The purchase represents the first direct ownership of ethanol production for Chicago-based Carbon Green…
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Plantation Energy, Australia’s largest manufacturer and exporter of Densified Biomass Fuel (DBF) pellets, has announced the signing of a three year €39 million supply agreement with Belgium-based Electrabel NV. The agreement between Plantation Energy and Electrabel, a subsidiary of Europe’s largest power company GdF-Suez, is the first of its kind in Australia that will see Plantation…
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Süd-Chemie, a leading manufacturer of catalysts and adsorbents, and a leading global company in the sector of gases and engineering, the Linde Group, have launched the production of climate-friendly biofuels based on lignocellulosic biomass in Munich. The process developed by Süd-Chemie and Linde allows biofuels, such as ethanol, to be extracted from plant matter containing cellulose, such as…
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Fourteen southern African nations have been welcomed into the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance. The move to join the alliance is clear indication of the southern African countries’ desire to promote biofuels policies throughout the world. Andrew Makenete, President of the Southern African Biofuels Association (SABA), called on other nations to speak out in favour of policies that would…
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Canadian Pacific Railway and Global Partners are proposing a $14.8 million (€10.8 million) ethanol storage and distribution facility along the Hudson River. The facility would be based at Global's distribution terminal on the Hudson River just north of the Port of Albany, and adjacent to CP's Kenwood intermodal yards. The companies are seeking $8.8 million (€6.47 million) in…
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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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BP has called for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to end US import duties on Brazil's sugarcane-based ethanol. The letter has highlighted BP’s belief that ‘sugarcane-based ethanol will be the lowest-carbon biofuel available in the first years of the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard’. By supporting the end of import taxes on Brazil's ethanol, the letter states, California would…
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Australian biofuels producer Mission NewEnergy has raised €2.7 million from international investors. In conjunction with the recently announced €12.8 million debt financing, Mission has sufficient funds to complete its second biodiesel facility. This capital raise also provides Mission with further operational flexibility. Mission will issue 24,137,931 units raising €2,600,000. Mission…
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In anticipation of the second annual Biofuels International expo & conference on 27-28 May in Amsterdam, a pre-conference webinar is being held to discuss algae production trends, updates on government biofuel targets, demand for algae and commercial opportunities. The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 3pm GMT (UK) 9am EST (New York) and 8am CDT (Houston). For full details…
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France-based oil and gas company Total has invested in US renewable hydrocarbons producer Gevo. Gevo is commercialising technology to produce renewable jet fuel and renewable, fungible hydrocarbons such as petrol blendstocks, and renewable diesel blendstocks. Gevo’s commercialisation approach includes retrofitting existing ethanol facilities to produce hydrocarbon products readily used in…
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