The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) has released new data showing that global food prices in August experienced the steepest monthly drop since 2008, which casts doubt upon concerns about the impact of ethanol production in food price increases. According the the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), the recent decline in food prices coincided with …
German Biodiesel Quality Group Starts Glycerol Test
A German group that maintains quality standards for biodiesel will carry out round-robin tests for pharmaceutical glycerol. This news release from AGQM (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitaetsmanagement Biodiesel) says this will be the first time for the tests, and registrations will still be accepted until Sept. 20, 2015. Round Robin Tests to check test methods and the proper handling of professional laboratories have …
Iluméxico to Bring Solar to Rural Communities
Iluméxico, the Mexican social enterprise focused on solar power, has made a commitment through the Business Call to Action (BCtA) to offer its Solar Home Systems to 50,000 off-the-grid rural homes. By 2020, more than 300,000 people will have access to solar power and along the way, Iluméxico will help create 180 new jobs, of which 90 will be designed …
U2’s Bono Helps Celebrate Solar in Africa
Bono of U2 fame joined a delegation of U.S. Government representatives to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the first completed solar field under the White House’s Power Africa program. The 8.5 MW project, developed by Gigawatt Global and built by Scatec Solar, is on the grounds of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village near Kigali, Rwanda. Bono’s One.org backs the Electrify Africa Act, which …
Swedish Mill Dumps LPG to Put in Biomass Boiler
A pulp mill in Sweden is ending its use of non-renewable LPG in favor of a biomass boiler. This news release from Waggeryd Cell says it will invest about $7 million to run the flash dryer on biomass, expected to be up and running next March and reducing the mill’s fossil carbon dioxide emissions by 85 percent. Waggeryd Cell produces …
Olleco Acquisition Expands Biodiesel Abilities
UK-based Olleco has acquired another company that also converts used cooking oil and food waste into biodiesel. This company news release says it bought Convert2Green Ltd. Bringing together Convert2Green and Olleco increases our number of depots to 17 across the UK and enables us to improve efficiencies and coverage to enhance the used cooking oil collection service offered to our …
Brazil Sets Record for Ethanol Consumption
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 …
Geothermal May be Africa’s Energy Solution
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 …
Scottish Scientists Identify Algae Best for Biofuels
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 …
Biodiesel Helps Boost Europe’s Biofuels Use
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 – …