Other News

Malaysia has raised its 2008 biodiesel export forecast to 200,000 tonnes, more than double that of last year's 95,013 tonnes. 'Export of biodiesel is picking up in volume and speed,' Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin states. 'The spread between the selling price of palm methyl ester and the feedstock is allowing biodiesel producers to make some…
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Colombia will have six operational palm biodiesel plants by next year with a plan to increase its share of the biofuels market. The South American country is the leading producer of palm oil in the Americas. Four of these six plants have already begun operating, but production will be stepped up next year and the other two plants will also come on stream. The export markets for palm oil will…
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The US department of Energy (DoE) has awarded funds to promote the build-up of cellulosic ethanol production. Poet, the largest producer of ethanol in the world, will receive $76.3 million (59.5 million Euros) to commercialise cellulosic ethanol production technology. In February 2007, Poet was selected by the DOE for a total award of up to $80 million in federal funding for the construction of…
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Argentina has become the world's third largest biodiesel producer for 2008, tripling its capacity from 2007. On 15 October, the Argentine Renewable Energies Chamber released a summary of its first full analysis of the Argentine biodiesel market, which includes a list of producers, analysis of present and future capacity, as well as recommendations. The Outlook for the Argentine Biodiesel…
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The UK inaugurated plans to commercialise the use of biofuels derived from algae on 23 October. The Carbon Trust, a company set up by the UK government, is backing The Algae Biofuels Challenge with an expected commitment of £3-6 million (3.7-7.4 million Euros) to fund the project. Other funding has been pledged by the UK government through the Department of Transport. Phase one of the project…
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Production has begun at the largest ethanol plant in California, Pacific Ethanol's facility at the Port of Stockton, which is projected to produce 60 million gallons per year. Neil Koehler, president and CEO of publicly traded Pacific Ethanol, says starting up the Stockton plant puts the company on track to produce 220 million gallons of ethanol annually, and dramatically increases the…
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Four standards now available from ASTM International provide quality assurance for biodiesel. The new and revised ASTM biodiesel standards include the following: ASTM D975-08a, Specification for diesel fuel oils - used for on and off road diesel applications, has been revised to include requirements for up to 5% biodiesel; D396-08b, Specification for fuel oils - used for home heating and…
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Prices of major grains and oilseeds such as corn, wheat, soyabeans, and palm oil that are used to make biofuels are tumbling, indicating green fuels have played virtually no role in the recent global surge in food prices. Corn and soyabeans have lost more than half of their value, whereas wheat now costs 55% less than at its highpoint in March of this year. Canola fell from a high of $730 (568.7…
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Bulgarian biofuel producers have threatened to file a lawsuit against the Customs Agency after the agency said that it would impose an excise on pure biofuel products starting from October, the National Biofuels Association in Bulgaria has announced. Earlier in October, deputy finance minister Kiril Zhelev commented that biofuel producers will be obligated to pay excise duties until the European…
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Kenya expects $500 million (389.4 million Euro's) worth of foreign investments in biofuel crop production over the next two years, a government official has announced. Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the agriculture ministry, says five multinational firms from the US, Japan, and the UK had applied to be considered in a government land-lease scheme. Crops such as jatropha, croton, sweet…
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California-based Cobalt Biofuels plans to build a pilot plant in the San Francisco Bay Area by next year. In early October the company closed $25 million (19.5 million Euro's) in its third round of funding. It plans to build a pilot plant producing tens of thousands of gallons of biobutanol a year. The commercial project will be located near sources of non-food materials, such as sweet…
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Roxol Bioenergy is investing P1.433 billion (23.2 million Euro's) for the production of bioethanol and potable ethanol to be sold to local oil refining companies and manufacturers in the Philippines. The project, which is 99.99% owned by the publicly-listed Roxas Holdings, led eight project approvals by the Board of Investments (BOI). Based on its registration with the BOI, the company…
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UK-based Isis Innovation, the technology transfer company for the University of Oxford, has announced that researchers in the University's Department of Chemistry have discovered a new way to produce methanol from an industrial waste chemical, glycerol. Presently, 90% of methanol is produced from natural gas, and this new process offers an alternative which does not rely on fossil…
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The transshipment of biofuels in the port of Rotterdam increased in the first half of 2008 from 1 to 2.5 million tonnes. The ratio of ethanol to biodiesel was almost 50/50. The products were manufactured mainly overseas: ethanol in Brazil and biodiesel largely in the US. Part of the incoming trade was used on the continent and some shipped on further by smaller sea-going vessel to England, UK,…
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