Other News

US waste to energy project operator Covanta Energy plans to construct a 70MW power plant in Merthyr, Wales, UK, which will use waste as fuel. The project will consume approximately 825,000 tonnes of waste per year and is expected to commence operations in 2014. The estimated cost of the plant is approximately $570 million (€440 million), and the project will be financed, built, owned and…
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Lignol Energy and Suncor Energy have cancelled their $80 million (€61.6 million) cellulosic ethanol plant in Grand Junction, Colorado, US. The Canadian companies have backed out given the instability of energy prices, the uncertainty in the capital markets and overall poor market conditions. Lignol and Suncor announced the partnership in October 2008. The plant had been announced earlier in…
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The sale of petrol with 7% ethanol content is anticipated for March in Costa Rica following a pilot plan conducted in the north-western area Guanacaste. Biofuels in the country will use a number of feedstocks. Ethanol is made from sugarcane and cassava, while biodiesel is extracted from oil-producing plants such as castor bean and jatropha. Roberto Dobles, minister of the environment and…
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US ethanol producer Poet may bid on plants owned by VeraSun Energy during an auction to be held in March, CEO Jeff Broin says. Earlier in January VeraSun obtained approval from a judge to auction seven of the eight ethanol plants it had bought from U.S. BioEnergy in 2008 for approximately $700 million (€527 million). Poet first expressed an interest in making investments in ethanol production…
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Brazil exported a record-high 5.16 billion litres of ethanol fuel in 2008, up 45.7% from 2007, the Ministry of Mines and Energy reports. The amount of ethanol fuel exported in 2008 was over two times higher than the exports of petrol made by state-owned oil giant Petrobras in the same period. The fuel sold for $0.47 (€0.35) per litre in 2008, up 16% from 2007. The US led imports of the fuel…
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Energy companies Shell and BP have joined the British government in pumping £27 million (€29 million) into research on biofuels that steer away from food crops. It is Britain's largest public investment in bioenergy to date, and includes input from a total of 15 businesses. The sum will fund research at six centres around Britain with the goal of replacing petrol in cars with fuels…
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The UK Government has set a higher target for the use of biofuels in vehicles for 2009-10. The initial 3% limit deliberated by the Government has been lifted to 3.25%, using feedstock sources such as palm oil and sugar beet. Transport Minister Lord Adonis has set a slightly higher target in response to a legal loophole which meant less renewable fuel was supplied than intended. Ministers had…
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ECB Enviro North America and StormFisher Biogas have formed a partnership to build a 3.2 megawatt biogas plant in Lethbridge, Alberta, one of Canada’s major agricultural centres. Once operational, the plant will create enough energy to power more than 3,000 homes and offset the carbon dioxide equivalent of more than 17,000 tonnes every year. Biogas plants naturally decompose matter into…
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Indonesia's government is planning to pay a subsidy to biofuel producers this year to ensure the stability of the market. Biofuel became more expensive than crude oil-based fuel after oil prices dived more than 70% from their peak in July last year. Under the plan, if prices of biofuel products are higher than crude oil-based fuels, the government will pay a subsidy of 1,000 rupiah…
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The five railroad trains at Disneyland in the US began running on biodiesel made with waste vegetable oil from the resort’s restaurants and hotels on 28 January. Park officials tried a soyabean-based biodiesel starting in 2007 on the trains that circle a one-mile perimeter of the park. The project was abandoned in November 2008 following issues with storage underground. Officials conceived…
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Thailand-based palm oil crushing company Vichitbhan Group is investing almost THB2 billion (€44.3 million) to set up biogas and biomass energy businesses. Vichitbhan Group runs separate palm oil crushing mills under its Vichitbhan Palm Oil and Vichitbhan Plantation companies. Krisada Chavananand, MD of Vichitbhan Palm Oil, says the investment is part of a five-year business plan focusing on…
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Gas made from waste food or sewage could heat half of the UK’s homes, a study by Ernst and Young on behalf of utility firm National Grid finds. Biodegradable waste could be used to make biomethane which would be piped into the gas grid, and would help achieve targets to source 15% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020. Biogas, which is already being produced and injected into gas grids…
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In Europe in mid-January sunflower methyl ester (SME) was trading at a $200/tonne (€155/tonne) premium to Ice gasoil for February dates fob ARA, despite reports of a prompt oversupply, a report by Argus Biofuels finds. Bid/ask spreads for fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) zero was broadly around a $190/t premium to the Ice futures screen. Further forward activity on the second quarter forward…
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Japan Airlines completed a 90-minute flight powered by fuel with a 50% biodiesel blend on 30 January. The flight is the first to use camelina oil, which made up 84% of the biofuel blend. The remainder was less than 16% jatropha oil and the rest algae oil. The camelina blend was used in the No. 3 engine made by Pratt & Whitney. The Boeing 747-300 aircraft took off from Haneda Airport in…
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