News

Ceres, an agricultural biotechnology company, and Brazilian energy company Raízen have signed a multi-year collaboration agreement to develop and produce sweet sorghum on an industrial scale. Sweet sorghum can be grown to complement existing feedstock supplies and extend the operating season of Brazilian sugarcane-to-ethanol mills. Under the collaboration, the companies will each…
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Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, has plans to increase the diesel blending rate this year to cut fossil fuel import costs, reports Bloomberg. The blending rate will be raised from 10% to 15% this year and subsequently to 20%, according to Sofyan Djalil, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. Indonesia is promoting biofuel use in an attempt to help utilise increasing supplies…
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Ergon Biofuels, a subsidiary of Ergon, a privately held company that operates under six primary business segments (refining and markets; asphalt and emulsions; transportation and teminaling; oil and gas; real estate; and corporate and other) has entered into a comprehensive services arrangement with logistics company Gavilon to originate and market grain at the company's Mississippi facility in…
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Dragonair, part of the Cathay Pacific Group, will operate will operate its first-ever commercial flight using a certified sustainable biofuel blend later this month. The KA859 service from Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport to Hong Kong on 21 March will take off with the aircraft tanks filled with a 50/50 blend of fossil-based jet fuel and bio-based jet fuel, refined from 100% used cooking oil as…
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Celtic Renewables, the world's first company to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry, has received £500,000 (€702,124) in a new round of investment, taking its valuation to £10 million. The company has announced investment worth £250,000 from the Scottish Investment Bank. The investment arm of Scottish enterprise, with a further…
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A survey of the algae industry conducted by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) shows high expectations for continued growth in the sector as well as increased production of a wide range of algae-derived products. The survey was conducted in February 2015 and includes more than 230 responses from companies and individuals involved in directly producing and buying algae or algae-derived products,…
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Green Plains has announced that its newly-formed subsidiary, Green Plains Partners (the partnership), has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The registration statement is for a proposed underwritten initial public offering (IPO) of common units representing limited partner interests in the newly-formed partnership.…
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The US Energy Information Administration has released its 'Monthly Biodiesel Production Report', which states that 123 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the US in December 2014. Biodiesel production during this period was around 15 million gallons higher than production in November 2014. . Biodiesel production from the Midwest region contributed towards approximately 72% of the US…
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NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has purchased Gevo's renewable alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) for aviation use at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Renewable technology company Gevo's ATJ is manufactured at its demonstration biorefinery located in Silsbee, Texas, using renewable isobutanol produced at its Luverne, Minnesota, isobutanol plant. The biorefinery,…
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Byogy Renewables, a biofuels producer based in San Jose, CA, acting through its AusAgave Agricultural Division Headquartered in Aldgate, Australia, has executed an MoU and Work Plan with EMBRAPA, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, a Brazilian Government institution under the Ministry of Agriculture, to introduce adapted agave plants from Australia into Brazil to evaluate sugar and fibre…
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On 16 March 2015, Brazil will increase its ethanol blend in petrol from 25% to 27%. 'This is an operation in which everyone wins,' said Eduardo Braga, the Minister of Mines and Energy. Tests carried out by energy company Petrobras in 2014 into the impacts of a higher ethanol blend on vehicle engines did not show any technical problems arising from the use of petrol mixed with 27.5% ethanol. The…
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Neste Oil says it is now the world's largest producer of renewable fuels from waste and residues. In 2014, the company produced nearly 1.3 million tonnes (1.6 billion litres) of renewable fuel from waste and residues. In practical terms, this is enough to power for two years all the 650,000 diesel-powered passenger cars in Finland with renewable NEXBTL diesel manufactured from waste and…
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Ghent Bio-Economy Valley (GBEV) and Malaysian Biotechnology (BiotechCorp) have signed a collaboration agreement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in support of companies and research institutes in the bio-economy business in Belgium and Malaysia. The main goal is to facilitate collaboration and the development of commercial applications in both countries. A non-profit and network organisation, GBEV…
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Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced that South African farmers will soon harvest their first crop of energy-rich tobacco plants, an important step towards using the plants to make sustainable aviation biofuel. Boeing and SAA, along with partners SkyNRG and Sunchem, also officially launched Project Solaris, their collaborative effort to develop an aviation biofuel supply chain with a…
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