Volume 9, Issue 3
Published: May 18, 2015
Reconsideration requested
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stay its recent decision to streamline Argentinian biodiesel imports to the US under the Renewable Fuel Standard...
The waiting game
Domestic production and imports of biomass-based diesel in the US were down 8.3% in the first quarter of this year compared with first quarter 2014, with the slowdown again a direct response to government...
Current price index
Strong buying appetite from both producers and endusers amid the shortfalls in prompt ethanol supplies in Rotterdam saw the ethanol markets recently jump above €600 per m3 – a level not seen...
Another drop in the ocean
It is now nine months since the oil price, after an unusually protracted run north of $100 (€93) per barrel, started its precipitous descent. Last summer the oil price was north of $110 a barrel and...
The American Dream
Ethanol producers in the US achieved a record output of 14.3 billion gallons of corn-based biofuel in 2014, enjoying a period of high profitability in the process. They also witnessed the launch of three...
Turn it off and on again
In the past year, several North American biofuel plants came back online – a sure indicator that market conditions are improving, and in fact the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) confirmed that...
Tipping point
In September 2014, Poet- DSM – a joint venture between Royal DSM and Poet – opened Project Liberty, the first commercialscale cellulosic ethanol plant in the US. Located in Emmetsburg, Iowa,...
Molecular sieve dryers for ethanol production
Until 2006, fermentation of starch and sugar was the common route to bioethanol. At this time, some second generation biomass processing plants started to deliver bioethanol (mainly on semi-pilot/production...
Operation optimisation
Molecular sieves have played a prominent role in the final purification of ethanol for fuel use. Distillation produces an azeotropic ethanol product with approximately 95% ethanol concentration, 5% water...
Maximising molecular sieves
Molecular sieve dehydration of ethanol uses a specialised molecular sieve to remove the water from the distillation/ rectification of ethanol and water. Distillation can only remove water to approximately...
Membranes: turbocharging ethanol plants
On 6 May it was announced that California-based Pacific Ethanol had signed an agreement with clean fuel membrane specialist Whitefox for the delivery of an industrial-scale membrane system at its Madera...
Load and clear
In Pekin, Illinois, ethanol producer Aventine Renewable Energy operates a 110 million gallon per year wet mill and a 57 million gallon per year dry mill. The wet mill facility, which was originally built...
Made to measure
The biggest myth in control systems is one size fits all. In its work with ethanol producers however, Trident Automation – a specialist in control systems innovation for a range of industries including...
Sweet science
When scaling up sugarcane-driven biorefineries, the utilisation of bagasse as cellulosic feedstock creates significant challenges as far as determining and optimising the quantity of bagasse that can be...
Help is at hand
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration): friend or foe? When someone mentions OSHA, do you think of it as a safety solution, resource, even a partner, or as the gorilla in the closet wielding...
Packing a punch
Global issues such as climate change and energy security have driven rapid growth in renewable energy production, including biofuels, wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, etc. However, logically, each of these...
Trust but verify
Do you trust your lab to give you reliable results? Hopefully, whether it is an in-house lab at your facility or any of the third party labs you may use, the answer is yes – but could they verify...
Certification challenges
Implementation of the RED (EU-RL 2009/29/EC) has prompted the creation of multiple certification schemes, each one intended to prove compliance with the RED’s requirements for the sustainable production...
A tall order
Baltic Tank is specialised in logistic services for various bulk liquids, such as chemicals, oil products, biofuels and food-grade liquids. The company is currently operating seven terminals in Finland...
Top choice
Consumers worldwide are witness to the recent fluctuations in fuel prices, and the Middle East is no exception. But why do fuel prices rise and fall so frequently in a region which has huge oil reserves?...
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