Other News

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

Alternative energy producer Panda Ethanol has restructured the financing of its Hereford ethanol plant, clearing the way for $31.5 million (23 million Euro's) in additional funds to continue construction on the plant, located in the Texas Panhandle. Under the restructuring, senior lenders waived all existing defaults under the original financing agreements. The 115 gallon per year ethanol…
Read More »

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings will delay the opening of its new ethanol plant in Aurora, Nebraska by roughly three months because of cost concerns. The Illinois-based company had planned to open the 113-million-gallon plant next March but is now aiming for June. Aurora Mayor Marlin Seeman says company officials have prioritised another ethanol project in Indiana ahead of the Nebraska…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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…
Read More »

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,…
Read More »

US-based agricultural company Monsanto will purchase Brazil-based Aly Participacoes for $290 million (225.3 million Euro's) to invest in sugarcane to feed global demand for raw sugar and biofuels. Aly Participacoes operates the sugarcane breeding and technology companies, CanaVialis, the world's largest private sugarcane breeding company, and Alellyx, an applied genomics company that…
Read More »

A tree fungus discovered in the Patagonian rainforest in South America has been found to naturally produce a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules similar to diesel. 'This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,' Gary Strobel, a plant scientist from Montana State University, comments. 'We were totally surprised to learn…
Read More »

Houston-headquartered GreenHunter Energy is mulling plans to construct a $70 million (54.8 million Euro's) facility that would store and produce biofuels at the Port of Tampa. The company recently paid $1 million for an option to lease the 22-acre site. The project will give GreenHunter a foothold in a deep-water port that handles over half of the transportation fuel used in the state of…
Read More »

France's government decided on Friday 24 October to reduce a planned tax increase for biofuels from next year. The original tax changes for biofuels, announced in the draft budget at the end of September, were criticised by industry representatives as a reversal of commitments to support the expansion of the fuels as part of national environment targets. In an amendment approved by the…
Read More »

The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, has launched the Australian Government's AUS$15 million (7.6 million Euro's) Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Programme (Gen 2). Businesses and institutions researching second generation biofuels are now able to apply for grants of between $1 million and $5 million. Second generation biofuels use fuel stocks…
Read More »

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing says biofuel-powered aircraft could be carrying millions of passengers around the world within three years. 'The certification will happen much sooner than anybody thought,' Darrin Morgan, an environmental expert at the US jet manufacturer, says, adding the group was expecting official approval of biofuel use in the near future. 'We are thinking that…
Read More »

Several international renewable energy investors are pumping F$174 million (74 million Euro's) into plans to produce biodiesel in Fiji using Pongamia oil. Pongamia is a deciduous tree that grows to about 15-25 metres in height with a large canopy. Bio Fuels International, Evergreen Fuels from Australia and biofuels investors in the US are collaborating with Naitasiri Provincial Council…
Read More »