Brazil Sets Record for Ethanol Consumption

John Davis

Brazil hit a record high in ethanol consumption in July. The country’s ethanol industry group, the Union of Sugar Cane Industry Association (UNICA), says Brazilians used 1.55 billion liters, or about 400 million gallons, breaking a previous record of 1.51 billion liters in December 2009. The national demand for light fuels increased 3.4% compared with July 2014 and 2.75% as …

Brazil, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International

Geothermal May be Africa’s Energy Solution

Joanna Schroeder

Representatives from 12 African countries gathered in Nairobi recently to discuss the feasibility of establishing the Africa Geothermal Centre of Excellence (AGCE). The center would work to improve the continent’s institutional and infrastructural capacities including bringing and training geothermal scientists an engineers. Around 600 million people in Africa lack access to grid electricity, with the number expected to rise to …

Clean Energy, Geothermal, International

Scottish Scientists Identify Algae Best for Biofuels

John Davis

Scientists in Scotland have identified which algae are the best for biofuels. This article from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) says the researchers used a new technique to figure out which ocean-based strains had the highest oil content. The screening revealed two marine strains, Nannochloropis oceanica and Chlorella vulgaris, which had a dry-weight oil content of more than …

algae, Biodiesel, biofuels, International, Research

Biodiesel Helps Boost Europe’s Biofuels Use

John Davis

Transportation biofuels use in Europe is up again, thanks in large part to biodiesel. This article from the Brussels Times says biofuels for transport increased by 6.1 percent in 2014 in Europe, following a decrease in the previous year. It still remains lower than in 2012. Consumption of sustainable biofuels reached its highest level with 12.5 million tep (Mtep – …

Biodiesel, International

Lagosur to Export Biodiesel to Latin America

John Davis

Florida-based Lagosur says it will export biodiesel to Latin America. The company says it has aligned with customers in Peru, Bolivia and Chile to receive shipments of biodiesel and is working to launch various initiatives to bring state-of-the-art biodiesel generation technology to Latin America countries. “We are proud to extend Lagosur’s business and thought leadership by exporting badly needed biodiesel …

Biodiesel, International

DuPont Signs Cellulosic Ethanol Deal with Chinese Co.

John Davis

DuPont and Chinese company New Tianlong Industry Co. (NTL) have signed an historic deal that will bring cellulosic ethanol to China. This DuPont news release says the agreement allows NTL to license DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol technology and use DuPont Accellerase enzymes to produce renewable biofuel from the leftover biomass on Jilin Province’s highly productive corn farms. Combining NTL’s ethanol production …

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International

Canadians Support Renewable Fuels

Joanna Schroeder

Canadians believe in renewable fuels. A recent survey finds 88 percent of Canadians believe more renewable fuels should be produced in Canada and that government should do more to promote the industry. The poll was was commissioned by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) and shows that 85 percent of respondents feel pride in Canada’s biofuels industry. “This poll reinforces …

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, Ethanol, International

UNICA: Ethanol Cut 300 Mil Tons of CO2

John Davis

Ethanol has cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million over the last 12 years. Brazil’s sugarcane ethanol industry group UNICA says to get the same results from growing trees, it would be necessary to plant and maintain over 20 years more than 2.1 billion native plants. Hosted on the site ‘ Verde Ethanol ‘, the Carbonômetro indicates the …

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, UNICA

LanzaTech Teams with Others to Build Ethanol Plant

John Davis

LanzaTech is partnering with two companies in the metals businesses to build a nearly $97 million ethanol plant. This company news release says LanzaTech, ArcelorMittal a steel and mining company, and Primetals Technologies, in the iron and steel industry, will construct Europe’s first-ever commercial scale production facility to create bioethanol from waste gases produced during the steelmaking process. The resulting …

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International