Other News

Uganda may be producing bioethanol from non-food crops within a year, say scientists. A research programme led by the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) is using a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks such as elephant grass, cassava and wood. The production of ethanol from cellulose is more difficult than from food crops, since it requires the complex carbohydrates in cellulose…
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Mid-America Agri Products, the owner of a 44 million gallon per year bioethanol plant, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing unfavourable conditions in the bioethanol market. The plant had been operating at full capacity for less than a year. The plant closed in January, originally planning to reopen, but it has now laid its workers. City officials are hoping bioethanol production will…
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A parliamentary motion has been tabled urging the British Government to review its proposal to remove the tax incentive on biofuels. At present, biodiesel is taxed at £0.20 (€0.23) per litre less than fossil diesel. The government proposes to remove this incentive in 2010, instead fining oil companies whose fuel contains less than 5% biodiesel, generating revenue for the exchequer on two…
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Two New Zealand-based research companies have joined forces in an effort to improve the economics of algal biofuel production. Many industries, including dairy, meat and paper, produce nutrient-rich wastewater that must be cleaned before it can legally be discharged into the watercourse. As part of this cleaning process, ‘settling ponds’ are used to remove organic sludge from the…
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Biodiesel could be economically produced from processed chicken innards, say scientists in Nevada. ‘Chicken feather meal’ is a gruesome by-product of the poultry industry, consisting of chicken feathers, blood, and innards processed at high temperatures with steam. 11 billion pounds of this is produced every year in the US alone. Because of its high protein and nitrogen content it is often…
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Colorado-based cellulosic ethanol specialist ZeaChem is on track to achieve yields of over 2,000 gallons per acre per year at a demonstration plant under construction in Boardman, Oregon, US. This yield is comparable with algae, but with fewer technical challenges to surmount. By contrast, the highest attained yields of ethanol from corn are about 450 gallons per acre per year. The…
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The US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are together planning to award $6.3 million (€4.4 million) in research grants towards the development of second-generation feedstocks for conversion to bioethanol. The joint programme will award seven grants, initially for a maximum of three years. Energy secretary Steven Chu recently highlighted the benefits of…
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The world market for biofuels is set to rise from $100 billion (€70 billion) to over $280 billion by 2022, according to a report by the Pike Institute. The report predicts that the increasing number of countries introducing biofuel consumption mandates and the higher production capacity from improved second-generation feedstocks will drive a worldwide annual growth rate of 15% between 2009…
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Italian biodiesel producers currently producing from food crops are working together to substitute seaweed for first-generation feedstocks. The eight companies involved in the €10 million scheme currently produce diesel from crops like corn and rapeseed. They hope to be able to produce fuel from seaweed commercially within five years. ‘The initiative aims to substitute or integrate the raw…
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Pakistan’s 27 million acres of saline land provide an ideal medium to cultivate algae for biofuel production, according to Ehsan Ali of Mie University of Japan. Various organisations are already aiming to produce biofuel from jatropha and castor oil cultivated in Pakistan, but the use of algae as a feedstock would have numerous benefits for the country, Ali said in a recent seminar. In…
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Only a few slots remain for the upcoming Biofuels International Asia expo & conference, being held in Singapore on 19-20 November 2009. After the success of Biofuels International expo & conference in Europe in 2008, leading global publication Biofuels International magazine widened its portfolio to include Biofuels International Asia expo & conference. Confirmed speakers for the…
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In the US the Renewable Fuels Association has called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take the immediate interim step of moving to an E12 blend while it waits for the EPA to rule on the E15 waiver request. The EPA is not required to do so until 1 December 2009. Increasing the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s fuel supply is both scientifically justified and…
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Exxon Mobil has finally joined the likes of BP in entering the biofuels industry. The US energy company will make its first major investment in biofuels in a $600 million (€426 million) partnership with biotech company Synthetic Genomics to develop transportation fuels from algae. A late-comer to the green fuels sector, one of the company's requirements was finding a biofuel source that…
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