Other News

Fiberight LLC is closer to constructing a $15 million (€11 million) facility at its existing ethanol plant, which is currently under renovation in Blairstown. The facility, which will extract the organic material from waste and convert it into ethanol, has received an economic-development incentive worth up to $850,000 (€617,000) from Marion City Council. On Thursday, the City Council…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Petrixo Oil & Gas is on the cusp of spending $800 million (€600 million) on the creation of a biofuel refinery in Fujairah, UAE. Preparation studies and engineering designs have all been completed, along with the selection of appropriate technologies for the resource, which will be located in the Emirates. According to designs, the facility is capable of producing one million tonnes per…
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Estimates calculated for biofuel feedstock crop yields may have been overstated by up to 100%, research by the International Council on Clean Transportation shows. A prime consideration when developing a viable biofuels policy is whether the biomass calculated is realistically in proportion to the size of land where the cellulosic biofuel will be grown. The research paper found that existing…
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Boeing is developing its initiative with South African Airways (SAA) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) to create further opportunities to help smallhold farmers in southern Africa grow crops that generate sustainable fuels. The programme's purpose is to aid farmers who own small plots of land, by enabling them to enter into the sustainable biofuels and biomaterials…
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