In California, new research from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) shows how one such beneficial insect common to the Eastern U.S., the long-horned passalid beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus), has a hardy digestive tract with microbes to thank for turning its woody diet into energy, food for its young, and nutrients for […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that corn-based ethanol produced in Mato Grosso could begin competing directly with US corn-based ethanol imports in the north-northeast region as production in the new ethanol-producing region grows 50% in 2019 over the prior year. A road connecting Mato Grosso to a river port in Miritituba, Para state needs to be […]
In India, the Business Standard newspaper reports that oil marketing companies have floated a tender to purchase 910 million liters of ethanol for the current marketing year as they aim to reach 10% blending. Key sugarcane-growing states have reached higher levels of blending, such as 8.5% in Maharashtra and 9% in Uttar Pradesh while nationwide […]
In Indonesia, Reuters reports that state-owned oil company Pertamina has made a deal with five state-owned miners to supply 25 million liters of biodiesel and marine fuel oil per month to the miners at a fixed price with volumes growing to 40 million liters monthly during the life of the five-year contract period. The deal’s […]
In Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports that PTT will buy 100,000 metric tons of palm oil for biodiesel feedstock in an effort to help eat into the country’s 400,000-ton surplus. Normally the country has stocks of around 250,000 tons while this year’s production could be half a million tons higher than normal. Last year’s production […]
In Sweden, SCA will commence an environmental impact assessment of a possible biorefinery in connection with the Östrand pulp mill in Timrå. SCA has invested $5.37 million in a pilot plant for production of biofuels from black liquor at the Obbola paper mill outside of Umeå. This plant is now operational and will test technology […]
In Germany, Evonik is merging its specialty methacrylate monomers – the Applications Monomers Product Line – with its current oil additives business to become the new Oil Additives business line within the Resource Efficiency segment. Application Monomers were formerly part of the Methacrylate business of Evonik, which is currently in the process of being sold to US-based […]
In California, a new company has launched called Culture Biosciences and today we’d like to take you inside it. It’s a story about making the bioeconomy radically more efficient at the point of developing and deploying product, by offering Biomanufacturing-as-a-Service. This month, Culture Bio, based in the industrial biotech hub of South San Francisco, nabbed […]
In Washington, nearly 3.3 million Americans now work in clean energy, according to a new analysis of energy jobs data by the national nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs). Across the country, nearly every state saw an increase in clean energy jobs in 2018, combining to add about 110,000 net new jobs for a growth […]
In Belgium, Bloomberg reports that the European Union is heading straight into a trade war over palm oil after the European Commission definitively deemed palm oil “unsustainable” although exemptions were made for oil produced by small farmers growing on 2ha or less. Those farmers are thought to not be responsible for deforestation like large-scale plantations […]
