Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is set to become the US’ biggest producer of bioethanol despite an 83% drop in profits in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company is due to open new 275 Mgy bioethanol plants: one in the fourth (calendar) quarter of 2009 and one in Q3 2010. It anticipates that demand for ethanol will be driven by an expected increase in the... [Read More]

In the US, the Minnesota-based Guardian Energy has agreed to purchase a 100Mgy corn ethanol plant in Janesville, Minnesota from the financial services company AgStar Lending Group. Guardian Energy hopes to close the deal by 15 September. The Janesville plant has passed through a string of owners since planning originally began in 2004. The plant was originally built... [Read More]

Healy Biodiesel is to convert from production of traditional biodiesel to become the first commercial producer of a new type of renewable diesel. The Kansas-based producer signed a letter of intent with New Mexico’s Cetane Energy on 17 July. It is to abandon transesterification to become the first manufacturer to produce renewable diesel using Cetane’s patent-pending... [Read More]

The Arctic Technology Centre (ARTEK) is heading a pilot study to produce biofuel from fishing industry waste in Greenland. The Greenland Shark, one of the world’s largest species of shark, is killed in large numbers by fishermen, either accidentally when they become entangled in nets or deliberately to prevent predation of commercially valuable species such as squid.... [Read More]

One island’s food waste is being put to a greener use. One of the UK’s largest anaerobic digestion facilities and will generate 32,000 MW of energy a year by treating 165,000 tonnes of commercial food waste. The £20 million (€23.2 million) Whites Renewable Energy plant is to be built in Selby, Yorkshire, after North Yorkshire county council granted planning permission... [Read More]

In the US, the Department of Energy (DoE) has seen sense in scouring the ponds for renewable fuel potential. The Department has announced $85 million (€60 million) in funding for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels. The funding comes as part of the funds released from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.... [Read More]

A project in Australia’s Queensland is looking to generate power from bananas. Horticultural organisation Growcom intends to generate power from biogas from the 30% of harvested bananas in Australia which are deemed unsaleable and wasted along with leaves and plant stalks. Growcom’s Banana Waste 2 Energy (BW2E) project aims to capture the energy in banana waste... [Read More]

Uganda may be producing bioethanol from non-food crops within a year, say scientists. A research programme led by the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) is using a wide range of cellulosic feedstocks such as elephant grass, cassava and wood. The production of ethanol from cellulose is more difficult than from food crops, since it requires the complex... [Read More]

Mid-America Agri Products, the owner of a 44 million gallon per year bioethanol plant, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing unfavourable conditions in the bioethanol market. The plant had been operating at full capacity for less than a year. The plant closed in January, originally planning to reopen, but it has now laid its workers. City officials are hoping... [Read More]

A parliamentary motion has been tabled urging the British Government to review its proposal to remove the tax incentive on biofuels. At present, biodiesel is taxed at £0.20 (€0.23) per litre less than fossil diesel. The government proposes to remove this incentive in 2010, instead fining oil companies whose fuel contains less than 5% biodiesel, generating revenue... [Read More]

Two New Zealand-based research companies have joined forces in an effort to improve the economics of algal biofuel production. Many industries, including dairy, meat and paper, produce nutrient-rich wastewater that must be cleaned before it can legally be discharged into the watercourse. As part of this cleaning process, ‘settling ponds’ are used to remove organic... [Read More]

Biodiesel could be economically produced from processed chicken innards, say scientists in Nevada. ‘Chicken feather meal’ is a gruesome by-product of the poultry industry, consisting of chicken feathers, blood, and innards processed at high temperatures with steam. 11 billion pounds of this is produced every year in the US alone. Because of its high protein and... [Read More]

Colorado-based cellulosic ethanol specialist ZeaChem is on track to achieve yields of over 2,000 gallons per acre per year at a demonstration plant under construction in Boardman, Oregon, US. This yield is comparable with algae, but with fewer technical challenges to surmount. By contrast, the highest attained yields of ethanol from corn are about 450 gallons per acre... [Read More]

The US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are together planning to award $6.3 million (€4.4 million) in research grants towards the development of second-generation feedstocks for conversion to bioethanol. The joint programme will award seven grants, initially for a maximum of three years. Energy secretary Steven Chu recently highlighted... [Read More]