In Switzerland, Vietnam has removed its objections to a temporary Pakistan-EU free trade deal on ethanol, making way for the policy to be put into place. India still opposes the deal, mostly because of competition on textiles as the deal goes much further than just ethanol. Peru also opposed the deal but it is expected […]
In New Jersey, Stevens Institute of Technology students have designed a biochar electrode replacement for traditional activated carbon electrodes, used in superconductors. The three students, Katie Van Strander, Liana Vaccari and Rachel Kenion, as part of their project, designed, produced and tested their prototype, and successfully demonstrated that their electrode can work in a superconductor. […]
In the UK, the National Farmers Union is criticizing NGOs for downplaying the benefits of biofuels while focusing on supposed negative aspects, forgetting that increased demand for crops from biofuels encourages on-farm investment and R&D that leads to increased net food production. More on the story.
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, plunged 2.44 percent to 90.44 amidst a broad decline of over 2 percent in equities. For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) plummeted 4.01 percent to $31.11, while Solazyme (SZYM) dropped 3.91 percent to $21.65 on its third day of trading. Among other equities, […]
Succinic acid pioneer becomes 8th industrial biotech company to file – first renewable chemicals pure-play. In Massachusetts, Myriant filed for a $125 million IPO, becoming the 8th company in industrial biotechnology to file in the past 18 months. The filing is the first since Solazyme raked in a record $227 million (assuming sale of its […]
In Colorado, ZeaChem announced a binding multi-year joint development agreement with Procter & Gamble. The agreement will accelerate development of ZeaChem’s product platform beyond C2 through the commercialization of “drop-in” bio-based chemicals and other products. The two companies will utilize ZeaChem’s existing infrastructure at its lab in Menlo Park, Calif., pilot facility at Hazen Research […]
In Minnesota, Gevo has begun the retrofit of its ethanol facility in Luverne, Minnesota, to produce biobased isobutanol, bringing the company one step closer to commercial-scale production. The retrofit, which is expected to be complete by next summer, will make this facility the world’s first commercial-scale biobased isobutanol plant. Gevo acquired the Luverne, Minnesota plant, […]
In Virginia, the state’s Tobacco Commission has granted $5 million to the new Sustainable Energy Technology Center at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research which will develop better biofuels, a project that will produce 60 jobs in the short term. The Commission also granted $490,000 for Piedmont BioProducts in Gretna to help improve its […]
In Hungary, the country is planning to boost its biofuel blending to 15% by 2030 —with ethanol use reaching 304,000 tons oil equivalent—with an intermediate target of 10% by 2020—or 202,000 toe—, up from 4% in 2009, a toe of just 34,000. Production figures were not outlined in the country’s new strategy but that the […]
In the Czech Republic, Agrofert Holding has bought a grain-based ethanol plant in Vrdy for an undisclosed price after the original owners Ethanol Energy suffered from high wheat prices, forcing the sale. The facility can process up to 150,000 tons of grain annually but can be expanded to reach up to 200,000 tons. The transaction […]
