Other News

The European Commission has opened an in-depth probe to assess whether the proposed merger of Dow and DuPont is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission will investigate further whether the deal may reduce competition in areas such as crop protection, seeds and certain petrochemicals. The companies initially began to obtain merger approval from the EC by submitting the in files…
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US cellulose technology provider Alliance BioEnergy Plus has entered into a Letter of Intent agreement with DcR Engineering Services (DCR) to introduce Alliance’s cellulose-to-sugar (CTS) technology to DCR’s client base. DCR is a US-based heavy industrial engineering, fabrication and construction company serving the chemicals, fertilisers, food, water and power industries. Under…
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US lawmakers should recognise the potential of mid-level ethanol blends to contribute to the fight against greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from traffic, a US ethanol trade association says. Growth Energy is urging authorities to support high-octane mid-level ethanol blends in the wake of a recent report by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge, Argonne, and National Renewable Energy…
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Amyris, a US industrial bioscience company, has announced that it has won a three-year multi-million dollar contract from the US Department of Energy (‘DOE') to further the manufacturing of cellulose-derived farnesene for biofuels. Amyris, in cooperation with Renmatix and Total New Energies USA, will work to develop a manufacturing-ready process utilising wood as the cellulosic…
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Finnish forest firm UPM has made new appointments to its biofuels’ unit. Sari Mannonen has been appointed vice president, responsible for UPM Biofuels Strategic Business Unit as of 9 August 2016. Mannonen previously worked as director, sales and marketing within UPM Biofuels and was in that role since 2014, responsible for commercial strategy and product launches in Biofuels business.…
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The California Congressional delegation has added its voice to the crowd urging the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase its proposed biofuel obligations for 2017. In an open letter addresses to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, six Californian Members of Congress expressed their concern that the suggested renewable volume obligations (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)…
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Denmark-based biotechnology company Novozymes has reported half year pre-tax tax profit up 6% to DKK 1,906 million (€256m), compared to DKK 1,792 a year earlier, helped by strong sales growth. The firm’s net profit was DKK 1,496 million, an increase of 8% from DKK 1,389 million in the first half of 2015, primarily driven by the gain from net finance. In the first half of 2016, sales…
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Gevo has reported a 10% decrease in revenue to $8.1 million (€ 7.2m) for the second quarter of 2016, compared to $8.9 million the year before. The company’s net loss for the quarter was $21.5 million, compared with $14.4 million during the same period in 2015. The company released its results on 9 August, 2016. Although the company did not expand on the reasons why its net loss…
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India has set out plans to boost its biofuels market over the next few years in an effort to beef up its energy security. Blending 5% of biodiesel with regular diesel and 10% ethanol with gasoline could boost the market to 500 billion rupees (€6.7 billion) by 2022, from about 65 billion rupees now, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at an Indian conference on biofuels. India…
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A new renewable energy research centre, called VILLUM Center for the Science of Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals, has opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. The new centre at Technical University of Denmark (DTU) will be headed by Professor Ib Chorkendorff who will bring together a team of researchers from Stanford University, the University of Copenhagen, and the University of Southern Denmark, among…
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US researchers from Washington University have developed a new way to harness the chemical production properties of E.coli bacteria, making the production of certain biofuels from the bacteria more efficient. The new method, described in a paper published in the journal Metabolic Engineering, involves the development of two different protein pathways capable of chemically affecting the production…
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Land O’Lakes, a US agribusiness, has acquired California-based biotechnology firm Ceres. Ceres will become part of Land O'Lakes' forage business unit currently comprised of Forage Genetics International (FGI). Ceres develops and produces seeds of genetically modified crops used for biofuels production. The transaction brings new advanced plant breeding and biotechnology to FGI's research…
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UPS, a package delivery giant, has announced that it will invest more than $750 million (€670m) for its alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles by the end of 2016. It also announced that it has successfully completed one billion miles in its ‘rolling laboratory' fleet of electric, hybrid, natural gas, and biofuel-powered delivery vehicles. The company announced these measures…
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