Clariant has announced that its first quarter operation sales of CHF1.02 billion (€964 million) were lower than the CHF1.16 billion (€1.1 billion) revenues in the same period of 2019. The company was confronted by a lower demand environment in the first quarter of 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a mild winter season. Efforts to minimise the impact of the pandemic... [Read More]

Australia has begun a consultation on the development of an inaugural national road map to inform the next series of investment and policy decisions in the bioenergy sector. Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor announced the plan together with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Bioenergy Australia CEO Shahana McKenzie said: “There... [Read More]

The UK government has announced that 2,351 million litres of liquid biofuels were used in transport last year, which was an increase of 24% on the year before. In 2018, 1,899 million litres were consumed. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTCO) put up the percentage of biofuel production for transport fuel produces from 7.25% in 2018 to 8.5% last year. According... [Read More]

The challenge of compiling an overview of the current state of the European biofuels industry is as close to impossible as it gets at present, let alone delivering any degree of business accuracy to an analysis of the sector’s immediate future. As Covid-19 continues to sweep the world, the everyday reality for business leaders and politicians alike is that each new... [Read More]

South East Asian biodiesel producers have dampened down hopes of a rise in export sales despite having surplus product available. Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have seen consumption slashed as the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown measures have lessened demand for fuel. Malaysia's lockdown is similar to many western countries with shops closed and streets deserted. Malaysia... [Read More]

Copa and Cogeca have expressed their concerns about the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on the vegetable oils, biodiesel, rapeseed and ethanol sectors in a letter to the European Commission. Faced with falling European production and social distancing measures in the EU and worldwide due to the pandemic, protein-rich plant by-product markets risk entering into a phase... [Read More]

BBI International has announced that the 2020 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo, the ethanol industry's largest conference, has been put back due to the global pandemic. Originally scheduled for mid-June in Minneapolis, the event is now rescheduled to take place on 24 August to 26 August in Omaha, Nebraska. Tom Bryan, president at BBI International, said:... [Read More]

Back in 1994, I was at Cargill when John Elkington introduced his triple bottom line (TBL) concept. The TBL, as it came to be known, began to have an impact on my thinking almost immediately. Its ustainability framework encouraged businesses to measure not just economic impact, but also use a yardstick of equal importance on social and environmental scales. Over time,... [Read More]

Malaysia aims to delay the nationwide adoption of plans to step up the use of palm oil in biodiesel, the Malaysian Biodiesel Association said following movement curbs imposed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. The world's second-largest producer of palm oil, Malaysia has one of the highest numbers of infections in the region with more than 5,000 cases, 85 of whom have... [Read More]

Two more bioethanol plants in Iowa and Nebraska are to close as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hit the biofuels industry. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor said the facilities will go offline as ‘ethanol production hits a record-breaking low, even as stockpiles hit a new record-breaking high’. She said: “The evaporation of fuel demand due to COVID-19 has been a... [Read More]

Malaysian palm oil producers have been urged to use technology to improve yield as the industry wrestles with concerns about sustainability, the chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) revealed. Malaysia, the world’s second biggest palm oil producer, has set a cap of 6.5 million hectares on the area under palm oil cultivation. In 2019, the total area planted... [Read More]

Expectations of another sub-standard rapeseed harvest in Germany are the driving force behind oil mills' efforts to procure supplies for the coming season well in advance, according to the German oilseed growers‘ association. The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP), which took a closer look at the 2020 sowing trends, has warned about stagnating... [Read More]

The German Bioethanol Industry Association (BDBe) has released market data for the production and consumption of certified sustainable bioethanol for the last year. It revealed that German bioethanol production fell last year to 542,699 tonnes – which is 12.8% less than in the previous year. Sales of bioethanol were roughly the same with the previous year, with the... [Read More]

Neste has joined an alliance of cross-party political decision-makers, businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders in a call for a ‘green recovery’ after the coronavirus, Covid-19, crisis in Europe. The alliance places the fight against climate change at the core of the economic strategy in contributing to the quick recovery of the economies and the societies in Europe.... [Read More]