In France, CIMV and Dutch Royal DSM have successfully produced cellulosic ethanol from wheat straw in lab tests with their partner French agricultural researcher INRA. DSM supplied the enzymes that fermented the glucose while CIMV broke down the straw into raw materials such as cellulose. The results fall under the European Union’s Biocore project to […]
In Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will put in $340,512 for the Atlantec BioEnergy Corp. proposed sugarbeet-to-ethanol facility in Prince Edward Island while the Innovation PEI agency will provide loans, grants and labor rebates worth $1.8 million. The demonstration-scale facility will be finished in late January.
In Massachusetts, U.S. Aragonite Enterprises reported that USDA lab research confirmed Argaonite’s Oshenite brand as a renewable resource. The company said that it is playing a leading role in an important USDA grant project out of Iowa State to build 100% biorenewable content for bioplastic crop containers for the horticulture industry. Robert Graves, professor of […]
In Indonesia, new research from Center for International Forestry Research says the reduced emissions from burning palm oil biodiesel are far outweighed by the clearing of peatland forests to grow the crop. Looking at oil palms, soybeans and jatropha in 12 sites around the world, the research found that for palm oil in particular, the […]
In Washington, UNICA says it is disappointed about the introduction of H.R. 3552, legislation sponsored by four members of the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the import tax on foreign ethanol. “These trade barriers prevent U.S. consumers from abundant and potentially more economical choices from friendly nations like Brazil…The elimination of the import tariff […]
In Washington, UNICA says it is disappointed about the introduction of H.R. 3552, legislation sponsored by four members of the U.S. House of Representatives to extend the import tax on foreign ethanol. “These trade barriers prevent U.S. consumers from abundant and potentially more economical choices from friendly nations like Brazil…The elimination of the import tariff […]
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, slipped 0.11 percent to 73.24 as refining stocks dipped. For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) fell 1.20 to $29.60, while Solazyme (SZYM) recovered 0.39 percent to $12.99. Among other equities, Rentech (RTK) gained 3.90 percent to $1.60. Overall, declines led advances 7 to […]
The US Navy taps Solazyme, Dynamic Fuels for big aviation biofuels contracts. But just a drop in the bucket, in the bigger picture? And, is cost coming down fast enough? In Washington, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) signed a contract […]
In Washington, the USDA says that palm oil biofuels will have a tough time competing in the American market because corn oil and waste oil biodiesel are cheaper. Though corn oil currently costs $1,300 a ton with palm oil at more than $900 a ton, it won’t take long for US corn ethanol producers to […]
In Washington, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says the U.S. has reached the ceiling of 14.2 billion gallons of annual ethanol production capacity, and the ethanol boom is essentially finished. There are more than 200 operational ethanol plants in the U.S. producing 14.2 billion to 14.7 billion gallons per year. Currently, the only major ethanol […]
