Other News

Five new small biodiesel plants in Brazil’s north-eastern region are set to come online this month. The plants are to be opened in Itapipoca, Limoeiro, Russas and Sobral, with a further plant in Aracoiaba to start up in May that will produce 2,000 gallons of castor bean and sunflower-based biodiesel per day to Petrobras.
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Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has signed an agreement on biofuels with his Hungarian counterpart during an official state visit. The agreement saw a pledge between the two countries to cooperate on plant growing and seed farming with regards to biodiesel and bioenergy production. The move is expected to boost production in both eastern European countries. In 2008, Hungary’s biodiesel…
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A landfill in Knox County, Illinois, is on the verge of signing a contract with ethanol company Big River Resources to build a plant onsite. The new bioethonal plant could generate revenue of around €150,000 a year for the Illinois landfill, in a deal to accept 15-20 tonnes of ethanol and related byproducts per month. The Knox County Board is expected to approve the contract when it meets…
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Minnesota is the first state in the US to require that diesel fuel contain a 5% blend. ‘Increasing biodiesel in our diesel fuel allows us to take advantage of a renewable fuel made in Minnesota, which in addition to being environmentally responsible also adds to the state's bottom line,’ Ed Hegland, chairman of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), says. Some early concerns with the…
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One of the world’s largest landfill gas-to-energy projects was formally unveiled in Istanbul, Turkey, on 25 April. The landfill gas project, owned by Ortadogu Enerji Sanayi Ve Ticaret, was developed as part of a national initiative to reduce the environmental impacts of solid waste facilities and use the landfills’ gas to generate electricity. Turkey has been modernising its energy…
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Mississippi-based Encore Energy Systems and Texas Hardin Fuels have confirmed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) calling for joint business development and to assist Hardin Fuels with securing funding for future expansion. The MOU highlights Encore Energy Systems’ continuing business development and growth strategy in the alternative energy marketplace. The company aims to ‘aggressively…
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Researchers from Fermentec, Piracicaba (Brazil), have cut the volume of vinasse in half while producing ethanol at its pilot plant. Vinasse is a by-product of sugar-based ethanol production. The achievement was obtained due to the increase the ethanol concentration in fermentation. Currently the distillery in Brazil working with alcohol content between 8% and 10%, resulting 10 to 12 litres to…
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Malaysian biodiesel producer Mission Biotechnologies has been awarded International Sustainability and Carbon Certification. The biodiesel producer is the first Asian company to receive the certification and will provide it with export entree to the European Union. The ISCC programme closely conforms to the EU’s latest renewable energy directive (RED) biofuel content, which encompasses…
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Germany's biodiesel industry is currently working at below 60% capacity because of higher taxes on green fuels and reduced blending levels with fossil fuels. Germany was likely to consume about 2.5 million tonnes of biodiesel in 2009, down from 2.7 million tonnes in 2008 and 3.3 million tonnes in 2007, said Johannes Daum, political director of German biofuels industry association…
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Greenergy, the UK’s largest biofuel supplier, will refurbish existing tankage at Vopak’s Seal Sands terminal to create an 80 million litre advanced petrol, diesel and biofuel blending terminal, in a scheme worth more than £10 million (€11.2 million). The facility will deliver diesel supplies by June and full petrol and diesel blending and loading facilities from April 2010. Vopak will…
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Energy consulting firm Peregrine Energy announced its plan to develop a new woody biomass-fuelled cogeneration plant at Sonoco's manufacturing complex in Hartsville South Carolina. The company will invest €100 million for the project. The construction of the plant is scheduled to begin once the air permit is issued and the company expects the facility to be commercially operational by…
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Dynamotive USA has secured a supply of 220,000 tonnes per year of sawdust from timber producer Springhill Land and Timber for a proposed bio-oil plant in Arkansas, US. The contract secures an initial 10-year term for the feedstock supply with pricing linked to energy prices in the region. Dynamotive Energy uses fast pyrolysis technology to convert waste cellulosic biomass into bio-oil for…
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South Korea will spend €208 million over the next ten years to create new seaweed forests that can help increase the country's ability to produce biomass energy. The plan calls for 35,000 hectares of seaweed forest to be created in waters in the east and south coasts and near Jeju Island that can produce up to 1.56 billion litres of ethanol per year by 2020. The total is equivalent to…
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British Columbia-based Lignol Energy, a technology company in the cellulosic ethanol and biorefining sector, recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lignol Innovations, was awarded €2.6 million to produce cellulosic ethanol and other biochemical products from under-used forest resources. Lignol will use the funding to support production runs at its industrial-scale biorefinery…
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