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Volume 2, Issue 5
Published: November 1, 2008
Food prices: fact versus fiction
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The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) have both published damning reports in recent months in which biofuels are portrayed as the main...
An ethanol project to rival Brazil
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Emerging energy company Stratos Renewables is set to become one of Latin America’s key ethanol producers, and the lowest cost sugarcane-based ethanol producer in the world. The company plans to use...
What to consider when modifying a plant
In the face of the current credit and financial market instability, owners of existing biofuel refineries that may have considered plant expansions are now looking at ways to reduce costs and boost revenues...
The impact of the financial crisis
The financial crisis in the global banking sector, which started last year, has become more intense in the past couple of months with the downfall of established banks like Lehman Brothers and the bailout...
Technology for a changing market
No-one could dispute the fact that operating ethanol and biodiesel companies brings risks as well as rewards. Not only do companies have to manage the risks associated with traditional energy trading,...
Biofuels in full bloom
With its tropical climate, large landmass, abundant fertility and proximity to the energyhungry US, South America has plenty of potential for growth in biofuels. In the case of Brazil, with a solid and...
Barriers and opportunities
Development of fuel ethanol in Argentina began in 1922, supported by the government, but it was not until the late ?70s that large scale production began. In 1979 the Government launched the Alconafta...
Plant construction update - South America
Brazil has long been rooted in the history of ethanol production for transport fuel, but last year the US knocked it off the top spot. However Brazil intends to crawl its way back. In May Renewable Energy...
Breaking away from potassium hydroxide
There are four groups of catalysts in use or under development in the biodiesel industry: base catalysts such as sodium (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), and sodium methylate (2CH3ONa); acid catalysts...
A slow second
European regulations in particular are in the process of changing to provide much more support for second generation biofuels. In September this year Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on the industry...
Enzymes in ethanol production
Every known organism, including humans, makes enzymes. They conduct all the biochemical reactions needed for life by acting as catalysts for a myriad of reactions inside and outside cells. As catalysts...
Turning straw into gold
If ethanol could be fermented from agricultural waste as cheaply as petrol can be refined from crude oil, high-polluting, fossil fuel-guzzling cars could become fossils themselves. UK farmers produce 10...
Biofuel from fishwaste
Several headlinegrabbing reports in the last few months have highlighted that commodities such as corn, rapeseed, palm oil and soya are often being grown and harvested in a way that could have negative...
Price analysis
The recent unprecedented turmoil in the banking and global financial markets has left most people confused and fearful, not least those involved in the renewable energy sector. With bank liquidity paralysed...
Algae investments
Over $300 million (€233 million) has been invested in algae so far in 2008. The initial findings from a new study, Algae 2020 identify three key trends or waves of investments now emerging in the...