A county in northern Iowa is looking to attract a company that makes an important ingredient in biodiesel production. This article from KIMT TV says the Worth County Board of Supervisors is considering some incentives to attract a company that would produce sodium methylate and, if approved, would be the first place in the U.S. for the un-named company. “Worth …
Benefuel’s New Solid Catalyst Opens Biodiesel Opportunities
Innovative ideas in solid catalysts could open new opportunities in the biodiesel market. This article from The American Oil Chemists’ Society’s Inform magazine says Benefuel’s new proprietary solid catalyst process will convert inedible oils and fats into biodiesel, turn both glycerides and free fatty acids into alkyl esters for industrial use, and do it all cheaper than other esterification or …
Don’t Miss the Biofuels Financial Conference
Don’t miss the annual Biofuels Financial Conference: Climate of Opportunity hosted by Christianson & Associates. This year’s event takes place August 27-28, 2014 in Bloomington, Minnesota. The conference is aimed at plant managers, board members, plant CFO’s and more. This year’s featured session is Expanding Beyond the Baseline. Industry experts will provide critical information about financial opportunities and options available …
REG Could Be Planning Illinois Biodiesel Plant Expansion
Biodiesel behemoth Renewable Energy Group (REG) could be looking to expand one of its Illinois biodiesel plants. This article in the Champaign (IL) News-Gazette says REG is buying up lots around its Danville biodiesel plant, as well as asking city officials to vacate alleys and portions of streets around the facility and change the local zoning from residential to industrial. …
Novozymes Touts Enzyme-Catalyzed Biodiesel
Enzymes could be the key to making biodiesel from low-quality oils. This article from The American Oil Chemists’ Society’s Inform magazine says Novozymes, a biotech company specializing in enzyme technology, is touting biodiesel production at Blue Sun Biodiesel in St. Joseph, Missouri and Vieselfuel LLC in Stuart, Fla., based on using lipase as catalyst. Production at both sites has been …
Methes Completes First U.S. Biodiesel Transaction
A producer of biodiesel in Canada completes its first sale in the United States. Last month, we told you how Methes Energies achieved the important BQ-9000 quality standard and that the company planned to ship more than $6 million worth of biodiesel to the U.S. That transaction has now taken place with the imported of biodiesel coming from its Sombra, …
Biostimulation for Algae Growth Could Help Biodiesel
Growing algae for biodiesel seems like a viable option when you consider how oil-rich (and thus, feedstock-rich) the one-celled organisms can be. But while algae is one of the fastest growing organisms on Earth, getting enough growth out of the microbes to make the proposition commercially viable is the holy grail for algae-biodiesel producers. Researchers from AlgaStar Inc. have found …
Researchers Make Green Plastic from Biodiesel By-Product
Researchers in India have created a green plastic from the biodiesel by-product glycerin. This article from the Business Times says the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) developed the biodegradable plastic from a jatropha-based biodiesel process. “We had initiated a research on using the residue of bio-diesel to be converted to plastic.The idea of green plastic came as …
Biodiesel Put to the Test in Dodge Ram
It’s always good to see the results of biodiesel put into real test situations. This great article from Diesel Power magazine put the green fuel at a B20 (20 percent biodiesel) level to the test in a 2014 Ram 2500 and showed just how good biodiesel can be, providing fewer emissions, lubricating the engine better, and actually being a cheaper …
EU Tariffs on U.S. Biodiesel Could be Renewed
Tariffs by the European Union against American biodiesel could be renewed. This article from Bloomberg says the EU is threatening to renew the tariffs of up to $323 per metric ton based on some probes against Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM), the world’s biggest corn processor, and Cargill Inc. The inquiries will determine whether the expiry of the import taxes would be …