Other News

Another biofuels player has fallen victim to the economic downfall. UK-based energy crop developer D1 Oils’ joint venture with BP to plant biofuel crop jatropha around the world has failed to attract a third investor. Last year D1 announced the closure of its refineries on Teesside and Merseyside. Since then it has been concentrating on the research and planting of jatropha to produce…
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Sweden-based Chemrec has been granted SEK 500 million (€45 million) in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency’s Energy R&D Board to build an industrial scale renewable fuel plant. The plant will use biomass through gasification of black liquor. The planned location for the plant is the Domsjö biorefinery complex in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Production in the Chemrec plant is targeted…
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The first bioenergy research centre has been opened in the Chinese city of Nanning, in southern Guangxi Zhuang’s Autonomous Region. The research centre will be primarily studying the feedstocks of cassava, sugar cane and sweet sorghum to be used as the principle sources for new energy development. Huang Ribo, director of the research centre announced that further study into bioenergy will…
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General Biodiesel Seattle has completed its acquisition of Imperium Renewables’ Seattle Biodiesel facility in Washington, US. General Biodiesel is converting the Seattle-based commercial biodiesel refinery to produce biodiesel from waste oils such as recycled cooking oil and animal fat, which the company collects from restaurants and food stores around the region. The acquisition of the plant…
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The Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia has received backing from BMW Indonesia regarding its current research concerning alternative energy. The research is focusing on the potential of making biodiesel from raw, green materials such as vegetable oil rich that is in iodine. The results of which are expected before the end of 2009.
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Farmers situated in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam are receiving training in producing biogas and fertiliser from water hyacinths and agricultural waste. The project, conducted by Can Tho University, has received €1 million in funding from the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation collaboration. So far 2,340 farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang who possess less than 2.3…
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Independent oil firm Eastern Petroleum plans to set up a $30 million (€21.5 million) ethanol plant in Isabela, the Philippines, next year. The ethanol producing facility has a projected capacity of 100,000 litres a day, or 30 million litres a year, and is expected to come online in 2012. To fund the project the firm’s subsidiary Eastern Renewables and Fuels has begun enquiring about…
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Virent Energy Systems expects to raise $25 million (€18 million) to $40 million by the end of the year in its third round of financing, as it looks to enter into the biofuels sector. The Wisconsin-based company’s previous rounds of funding already raised approximately $70 million, which is currently financing the building a 10,000 gallon per year plant set to come online this year.…
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Brazilian company Vale plans to develop a $305 million (€218 million) palm oil biodiesel project, with the capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of palm oil and 48 Mgy of biodiesel. The plant, which is to be completed by 2014, will utilise feedstock produced by a consortium formed between Vale and Biopalma da Amazônia. The biodiesel will be used in a B20 concentration to supply locomotives in…
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Philippine biofuel producer Eco Global Bio-Oils is pursuing further areas in which to grow jatropha to use as biodiesel. The company had initial targets of planting 100,000 hectares of jatropha, locally called tuba-tuba, but it has furthered its plans to expand to 200,000 hectares in the next two years. Eco Global is attempting to convince members of local tribes to plant the feedstock in their…
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Following the success of the second Biofuels International expo & conference in Amsterdam this year (www.biofuelsinternationalexpo.com) leading global publication Biofuels International magazine is expanding its portfolio with Biofuels International Asia expo & conference. The two-day conference and exhibition will be held in the petrochemical hub of Asia, Singapore, on 19-20 November…
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Belgian holding company Ackermans & van Haaren has signalled its intentions to move into the Brazilian bioethanol market after agreeing to take a minority stake in Alcofina in a preliminary deal. The move comes after a deal between Ackermans and Sibco Holding, which will see Sibco selling its 30% of Alcofina which in turn holds 45.3% of Swiss trading firm Alcotra, active in the bioethanol…
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The largest biodiesel refinery in the US was put up for sale after the owner shut down the $70 million (€50 million) facility due to declining demand. GreenHunter Energy has plans to sell the Houston, Texas-based 105 Mgy plant by the end of the year in order to meet its $50 million financing obligations with a key lender. The plant, which only opened in June 2008, has been sitting idle since…
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