Other News

California-headquartered Sirona Fuels has acquired producer Blue Sky Biofuels. Blue Sky Biofuels’ Oakland, California-based biodiesel refinery is permitted for 15 million gallons a year and is currently producing ASTM-spec biodiesel from recycled cooking oil. Sirona has implemented plans for the rapid expansion of its used cooking oil collection business, and by the end of 2009 expects to…
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Sierra Leone has launched a $200 million (€154 million) renewable energy project, which includes the production of ethanol. The project’s sugarcane plantation will take 20,000 hectares of land and the ethanol plant will produce more than 1.2 million litres of ethanol a year. In addition, a 30MW power plant will also be in operation. The project’s funding has been approved and construction…
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The Netherlands-based biodiesel producer Solarix, the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and technology company Yellow Diesel have received a €1 million subsidy for developing new biofuels from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, as part of the EOS KTO programme (short term energy research). The funding forms part of a €1.5 million R&D project for synthesising and commercialising a new…
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The first industrial biodiesel production plant in Latvia opened on 22 January. The plant constructed by BDI – BioDiesel International is located in the port area of Ventspils with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes. The plant will use vegetable raw materials coming from the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It is also capable of processing used cooking oils…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to assist the ailing ethanol industry by improving efficiency. The USDA will research, develop and promote best practices to improve efficiency at corn-based ethanol plants, which have suffered volatile corn prices and low demand for a fuel more expensive than petrol, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says. VeraSun Energy, the second-largest US…
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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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Second generation ethanol company Verenium has announced plans to build its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida. The company has entered into long-term agreements with Florida agri-business Lykes Bros to provide the agricultural biomass for conversion to fuel. Verenium also announced that the Highlands Ethanol project has been awarded a $7 million…
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The decision by the German government to raise taxes on biofuels and to reduce blending rates in fossil fuels will mean more biodiesel plants in the country will face closure, a German biofuels industry association says. Europe’s largest biodiesel industry has been operating at under 60% of its 5 million tonne a year capacity, Johannes Lackmann, CEO of German biofuels industry association VDB,…
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PetroAlgae, a US-based developer of systems to produce biofuel from algae, announced that it has closed on a $10 million (€7.4 million) capital raise through the sale of approximately 3.2 million of newly-issued shares of common stock to two existing investors. The company said that the proceeds from the stock sale will be used to help finance the commercial launch of PetroAlgae’s biodiesel…
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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded cellulosic ethanol producer Range Fuels a conditional commitment for an $80 million (€62 million) loan guarantee for the development and construction of its commercial cellulosic ethanol plant near Soperton, Georgia. Range Fuels was awarded this loan guarantee in part because they are working toward the development of commercially…
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US-headquartered Magellan Midstream Partners has added ethanol blending capabilities at two Texas-based terminals, including a third truck rack lane at its terminal in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth terminal now has 18,000 barrels of ethanol storage. In addition, the facility can receive ethanol via truck through an automated off-loading system that is open 24 hours a day. The West Fort Worth…
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US meat processing company JBS-Swift has announced it will open a biogas generation facility next to its Grand Island, Nebraska, beef packing plant in April. The beef packing plant slaughters 6,000 cattle each day. The operation, which will be owned and managed by Microgy, a subsidiary of Swift partner Environmental Power, is expected to generate 235,000 MMBtu of power a year, the equivalent of…
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The US’ second largest ethanol producer VeraSun Energy has suspended three distilleries, due to descending demand and high production costs. The company has discontinued output at its 100 million gallon a year plants in Bloomingburg, Ohio, Albion, Nebraska, and Linden, Indiana. Corn rose 58% from January to July last year before falling to 13% from year to year levels on 9 January. VeraSun…
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