Other News

Car giant Audi is entering a renewed collaboration agreement with French renewable energy firm Global Bioenergies to promote the development of biofuels. The two companies recently announced the delivery by Global Bioenergies to Audi of a first batch of isobutene-derived isooctane (using biomass products such as wood chips), a premium drop-in fuel for gasoline engines. Global Bioenergies had…
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US-based biofuel and agriculture groups have asked a US court to a review the US Renewable Fuel Standards for 2014, 2015, and 2016, according to a court filing on Friday, kicking off a widely-expected legal battle over the controversial program. A spokesman for Biotechnology Innovation Organisation told media agency Reuters that groups representing biofuels manufacturers and corn and sorghum…
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Second-generation biofuel crops like the perennial grasses Miscanthus and switchgrass can efficiently meet emission reduction targets without significantly displacing cropland used for food production, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Illinois and collaborators published their findings in the inaugural edition of the journal Nature Energy. The researchers call it the…
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The Governors' Biofuels Coalition, a US ethanol lobby group, has appointed Missouri Governor Jay Nixon as its chairman. Nixon replaces Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who led the Coalition from 2014 to 2015. The trade association also announced that Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts will become vice chairman of the group for 2016. "For more than 20 years the Governors' Biofuels Coalition has worked…
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The number of car manufacturers approving the use of E15, a fuel blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, for their vehicles, continues to grow, according to an analysis by the Renewables Fuels Association (RFA). RFA estimates that E15 was unequivocally identified by car manufacturers as an approved fuel for slightly more than 60% of model year (MY) 2015 vehicles sold, equating to some 10.7m…
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CropEnergies, a Germany-based ethanol producer, said its revenue for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2015/16, decreased by 11% to €558m, compared to the same period last year, due to the temporary closure of its bioethanol plant in Wilton, UK. However, in a statement, the firm said that its profitability improved significantly due to favourable proceeds for bioethanol. Earnings…
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New Heaven Chemicals, a US-based subsidiary of the TSS Group, is preparing to open its chemical production facility in Manly, Iowa. After 17 months of construction, New Heaven Chemicals (NHC) plans to begin production of sodium methylate, a biofuel catalyst, by February 2016. The Manly plant is NHC’s first plant in the US, and it will supplement the company’s current plant in Dammam,…
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Scientists from the US Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have discovered that a metabolic pathway previously only suggested to be functional in photosynthetic organisms is actually a major pathway and can enable efficient conversion of carbon dioxide to organic compounds. The discovery shines new light on the complex metabolic network for carbon utilisation in…
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The Port of Seattle, Alaska Airlines, and Boeing are partnering to move toward powering all flights by all airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) with sustainable aviation biofuel. Sea-Tac is the first US airport to lay out a long-term roadmap to incorporate aviation biofuel into its infrastructure in a cost-effective, efficient manner. The three parties signed a…
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Hawaiʻi Island is primed for the creation of biorefineries designed to use waste from cattle and possibly from humans to create biofuel, according to the University of Hawai’i. Shihwu Sung, a professor of applied engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Hilo, moved to Hilo last year to explore emerging alternative energy opportunities. Sung believes biofuels will benefit the…
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University of Massachusetts Amherst computational chemist Scott Auerbach has been awarded a three-year, $330,000 (€300,400) grant from the National Science Foundation to improve basic understanding and optimise the process of producing fuels such as gasoline from plant biomass. For more than 50 years chemists and chemical engineers have refined crude oil using synthetic catalysts inspired by…
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The reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions from global ethanol production and use is increasing annually, says a new report by the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance. The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), in cooperation with energy and environment consulting firm (S&T)2 Consultants released a new report titled Green House Gas (GHG) Emission Reductions from World Biofuel…
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Scania Malaysia and the innovation agency Agensi Inovasi Malaysia are to collaborate in exploring viable commercial opportunities for biofuels from municipal waste in Malaysia. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the two parties in line with Malaysia’s National Biomass Strategy 2020 (NBS2020). The MOU will see Scania and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) conduct a…
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