Other News

Brazil forecasts growth in its cane harvest and sugar output, despite the drought in its main sugar-producing region. In its first estimates, Brazil's Conab crop bureau anticipates the country's cane, ethanol and sugar output in 2014-2015 to reach 672 million tonnes, a 2% increase year on year. Ethanol output will rise by 1.5% to 412 million litres and sugar production will rise by 4.2% to 40…
Read More »

Iowa's Senate unanimously approved a bill to extend tax credits for renewable fuels. After achieving a 48-0 decision yesterday, the bill will now move to the House. If passed, the bill will extend all renewable fuel tax credits in Iowa until 2020, increase the tax credit for E15 and add advanced biofuel biobutanol to the state's renewable fuels. An amendment to the bill also extends tax credits…
Read More »

Addax BioEnergy's plant, which processes ethanol from sugarcane and is the first of its kind in Africa, is due to start production soon. Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma visited the Addax BioEnergy plant on Saturday in the run up to its start date. The plant will produce about 85,000m3 of ethanol and approximately 100,000 MWh of renewable power per annum. The sugarcane estate is…
Read More »

Z Energy has revealed plans to build a $21 million (€15 million) domestic biodiesel plant that will produce fuel from inedible tallow feedstock. Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown welcomes the announcement, as it signals a reduction in the reliance on fossil fuels and will help New Zealand address climate change concerns. The Wellington-based company hopes to produce 20 million litres of…
Read More »

Portuguese researchers are studying different methods of biodiesel purification that do not contain water. During the analysis, the University of Porto researchers carried out heterogeneous transesterification using a very active calcium glyceroxide catalyst, and then attempted to remove soaps through pre-treating the crude biodiesel with sodium carbonate. The fuel was then placed through ion…
Read More »

The company's 2013 sustainability report has announced that it has achieved its 2005 pledge to invest $8 billion (€5.8 billion) in alternative energy by 2015, two years ahead of schedule. The report states that BP has spent $8.3 million (€6 million) in alternative energy over almost a decade.  Despite the company not making a public commitment on future alternative energy spending,…
Read More »

Germany's biodiesel industry proves to be strong competition for its international counterparts. The German biodiesel industry hit a new export record last year, with exports reaching almost 1.6 million tonnes. The Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) gave an appraisal based on data from the Federal Statistical Office, which shows that the number of exports have increased by 20%, or…
Read More »

VIASPACE has signed a contract with Mesquite Lake Water and Power LLC to produce Giant King Grass at an advanced biofuels facility and biomass power plant in Imperial, California, the company announced on Monday. The American-based company first bought the 18MW biomass power plant and will reopen it as Mesquite Lake Energy Park Plant 1. VIASPACE now plan to restart it and fuel it with a…
Read More »

Lawrence Livermore researchers and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have discovered a new form of bacterial resistance to improve efficiency in the production of biofuels. This new type of bacterial resistance will speed up biofuel production by improving the overall efficiency of biomass to biofuel conversion. Research identified the genetic origin of the bacterial resistance to an ionic…
Read More »

Dyadic International Inc. has been awarded a new patent for enzyme composition and the development of plant biomass to fermentable sugar conversion. Mark Emalfarb, president and CEO of Dyadic, discusses how the patent can help biofuel production: 'Plant biomass provide a plentiful source of potential energy in the form of sugars that can be utilised to produce advanced biofuels and bio-based…
Read More »

The Global Annual Ethanol Production Forecast predicts production of ethanol will peak at 90.38 litres in 2014. The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) and F.O. Licht, who published the forecast yesterday, are expecting nearly a 2.7% rise in the output of global ethanol this year. In 2013, global ethanol production reached 88 billion litres, but despite 'forecasts of global economic growth…
Read More »

New York City’s first ever large-scale biodiesel production plant hopes to emerge by the end of 2014.  United Biofuels has asked the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to grant it permission to transform an existing fuel storage facility. The conversion will enable the facility to receive vegetable oil and to then turn it into fuel that can supply diesel…
Read More »

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it is proposing to cut the biofuel production target this year. This comes in response to the EPA arguing that US energy markets are unable to obtain the necessary biofuel levels, required by law, for fuel supply.  At present, the EPA is putting together the final 2014 biofuel use targets, after releasing a proposal in…
Read More »