Other News

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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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…
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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…
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Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras and Galp Energia SGPS have signed an investment agreement to create a joint-venture to develop a biofuel production and marketing project. The agreement is the outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding the companies signed last May, which was aimed at studying the feasibility of joint biodiesel production, marketing and distribution projects in the…
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The government of Scotland plans to increase the use of biofuels, including biodiesel, for transport. The goal is to increase the use from less than 1-10% by 2020 to contribute towards reducing emissions by 80% by 2050. The government is seeking feedback on the proposal, dubbed the Renewable Energy Framework, through Dec. 1 and plans to take action on the proposal in February, 2009. The 80-by-50…
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US-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) has announced successful ethanol movements through its Central Florida pipeline system and has begun tests to assess transporting biodiesel through its pipelines on a commercial basis. The company is conducting a test movement of blended B5 biodiesel in a segment of the Plantation Pipe Line system that transports petrol and diesel from Collins,…
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Biodiesel producer Natural Fuel plans to start production at the world's largest plant located on Jurong Island, Singapore, by early-November given the recent fall in palm oil prices. 'We are planning to start-up two of our biodiesel lines by either late-October or early-November,' said a source, adding that the company was 'still working on the third line,' and that the…
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The Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam) will invest $120 million (93 million Euro's) to set up a bioethanol plant in the Dung Quat economic zone in central Ngai province. The Deputy Minister of Sciences and Technology Nguyen Van Lang says Vietnam has an urgent need to develop biofuels to meet its energy demands. The country is placing a high priority on investment and…
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US ethanol producer Southridge has announced plans to acquire an ethanol plant in Brazil that would enable it to produce 50 million gallon/year (190 million litres/year) by May 2009, the Texas-based company said. No financial details were available. The plan will be funded by proceeds from an Asian-based investment transaction nearing completion. Brazil is the world's top exporter of…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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