In Malaysia, the Prime Minister officially launched the B10 mandate that will come into effect from February 1, up from the current 7%. The move is expected to reduce an additional 1.7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from transport per year. Concerns about air pollution as well as the surplus palm oil situation have […]
Biofuture platform was launched at COP22 by 20 countries and top representatives of FAO, IEA, IRENA, UNIDO, SE4ALL, WBCSD, UNICA, and other leading organizations, whose aim is to kickstart a global, advanced bioeconomy and impact the future of bioenergy. Renato Domith Godinho, Biofuture Platform Interim Facilitator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil gave […]
In the UK, biotechnology company Circa Group has received authorization from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to manufacture or import up to 100 metric tons/year of its bio-based solvent CyreneTM in the European Union, after receiving REACH Annex VIII approval. A chiral dipolar aprotic solvent, CyreneTM was developed in conjunction with the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence […]
In Ireland, the Institute of Technology Tralee will receive EUR940,000 under the EU Agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI), which is co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and the EU, to lead the Biorefinery Glas project, Ireland’s first small-scale bioeconomy initiative. The Biorefinery Glas project aims to address key challenges in Irish agriculture […]
In China, Reuters reports that the country is expected to nearly triple its ethanol production to 6.6 million metric tons annually by 2020 in time for implementation of its E10 blending mandate. Installed capacity in 2017 was 2.7 million tons. To achieve the mandate, ethanol demand will be 15 million tons, indicating that significant imports […]
In North Carolina, Farm Journal reports that a federal judge has approved the landmark $1.51 billion settlement by Syngenta to those impacted back in 2013 by China shutting off imports of GMO corn varieties and DDGS produced from those GMO corn varieties that included a gene not approved in the country. The company’s attorneys said […]
In Nebraska, Reuters reports that Green Plains has started laying off employees in the wake of selling off ethanol production assets rather than due to weak production margins. Sources told Reuters that about 40 people had been laid off as the company seeks to “right size” itself. The company recently sold three ethanol plants to […]
In North Dakota, Agweek reports that design for the $150 million New Energy Blue cellulosic ethanol plant in Spirtwood is chugging right along with permitting and engineering about five months away. The 16 million gallon per year facility will use wheat and corn residues as feedstock and could be online as soon as 2021. Located […]
In the Netherlands, a PhD candidate at TU Delft created a unique chemistry-climate response model called TransClim (Modelling the effect of surface Transportation on Climate) which assesses the impact and the contribution of road traffic emission scenarios on O3 and CH4 concentration as well as their subsequent climate effect. ‘Comparing the results delivered by TransClim […]
In Washington, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and more than 50 member companies and affiliated organizations delivered a letter to House and Senate leaders, urging them to enact a multiyear extension of the biodiesel and renewable diesel tax incentive before Congress adjourns for the year. In February 2018, Congress retroactively extended the tax incentive for […]
