Other News

The volume of anhydrous ethanol exported from Brazil to the US has fallen from 376.2 million litres in Q2 2008 to 22.3 million litres in Q2 2009. Several factors explain this dramatic reduction. Rains during much of June reduced the number of days available for sugarcane crushing, lowering the volume of cane harvested as well as the sucrose content of the cane. This is despite the entry of 10…
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Chinese research scientists believe that chitin, the compound secreted by aquatic animals to make shells, could provide an environmentally friendly catalyst for the conversion of organic oils into biodiesel, and they have already convinced one commercial producer to invest. The team, from Hua Zhong Agriculture University in the Wuhan province of China, found that carbonised chitin achieved a…
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A dispute delaying construction work on the UK’s largest bioethanol plant has been resolved. On Tuesday 4 August workers on the plant at Teesside were sent home on paid leave over a commercial dispute involving project managers Simon Carves and its sub-contractors. Simon Carves reportedly cut strings with the project leaving Ensus to manage the build. But an Ensus spokesman has now confirmed…
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In the US state of Oregon, cellulosic ethanol specialist Trillium FiberFuels has received a grant of $750,000 (€531,000) from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to commercialise its cellulosic ethanol technology. The trillium process works by using an existing industrial enzyme to convert xylose, which is not digestible by yeast, to another sugar called xylulose, which is. According to…
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In Pakistan, the Ministry of Environment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) to implement a commercially viable Rs2.8 million (€24,000) biogas programme. In the programme’s first phase, set to run until 2012, 30,000 digesters will be installed in selected rural areas. The programme aims to use the market and non-market benefits of…
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The presence of trace amounts of biodiesel in marine diesel is becoming increasingly hazardous to shipping, according to marine fuel specialists. Marine fuel is often transported in pipelines also used to transport biodiesel. Trace contamination of marine fuel is therefore almost inevitable. ‘Since there is today no accepted test method available to quantify biodiesel in marine fuels,…
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A new HUF 14 billion (€52 million) bioelectricity plant in Szakoly, eastern Hungary, is set to be operating commercially by September 2009. The Hungarian Energy minister announced that plant workers are currently conducting a trial run, which, assuming there are no unforeseen difficulties, should be completed by the end of August. The plant will burn 170,000–180,000 locally produced biomass…
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MGT Power is planning a second 300MW bioelectricity plant in the British Port of Tyne to accompany the current project under construction in nearby Teesport. MGT details plans for the Tyne Renewable Energy Plant (TREP) to be located on industrial land 10 kms east of Newcastle city centre on the north bank of the River Tyne. The proposed plant would burn about 2.4 million tonnes of wood a year…
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In the US, Virginia-based green energy specialist Osage BioEnergy has joined forces with agriculture expert Perdue Agribusiness to supply barley for conversion to ethanol at a plant under construction in Hopewell, Virginia. Perdue will work with local farmers to supply 28 million bushels of barley to the 65Mgy bioethanol plant. The ethanol will be sold in local markets in E10 and E85 fuel…
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US-based National Wind Solutions (NWND) has bought an undisclosed biodiesel plant in Texas for $3 million (€2.1 million) and has announced its intention to convert it to produce biodiesel from second-generation feedstock. After successfully producing soyabean biodiesel for commercial transportation uses, the plant was mothballed by its original producers because of the high cost of…
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UK entrepreneur Richard Branson has raised £150 million (€174 million) through private equity to invest in renewable energy. A significant proportion of this money will be invested in biofuels, notably isobutanol, which Branson intends to use as aircraft fuel. The Virgin Green Fund is one of the few private equity ventures to raise its target amount this year. Branson has invested £70…
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Nigeria will start producing biodiesel commercially at some point next year, say scientists. Nigeria has been experimenting with biodiesel for several years. The Sweden-based telecoms operator Ericsson funded the first pilot biodiesel production in Nigeria under its corporate responsibility programme: several operators have been powering their mobile base stations in areas not connected to…
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Dan Bulzan from the NASA Glenn Research Centre is the latest speaker to confirm his attendance at the upcoming Biofuels International Canada expo & conference, organised by leading publication Biofuels International magazine. Bulzan will be talking about 'Green Aeronautics': the work NASA is doing to make aircraft more environmentally friendly through R&D on the modifications…
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