It is always interesting to hear the perspectives of different countries during the National Ethanol Conference global panel and to see the similarities as well as differences in viewpoint. The panel was moderated by Bliss Baker, Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, and included Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen, as well as (from left to right): Joel Velasco, Senior Advisor to …
UK Researchers Study Algae-to-Biodiesel and More
Researchers in the United Kingdom are looking at turning a particular strain of algae into biodiesel … and more. This University of Greenwich news release says the school is leading a nearly $14 million international project to get products from the bright pink-orange microalgae Dunaliella found in salt lakes and coastal waters. The project will build a biorefinery called the …
Canadian Biodiesel Maker Gets BQ-9000 Designation
Canada’s largest biodiesel producer has gained an important quality status. This news release from Great Lakes Biodiesel Inc. says the company received BQ-9000 Producer status, the highest level of industry recognized quality assurance, from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC). “Achieving BQ-9000 Producer status is just one of many goals we achieved in an effort to continuously provide our customers …
Caribbean Islands Swapping Diesel for Renewables
The British Virgin Islands, Columbia, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Turks and Caicos have joined the Carbon War Room and Rocky Mountain Institute’s ‘Ten Island Renewable Challenge‘. The campaign is designed to help get the islands off fossil fuels as well as move forward with projects for schools and hospitals. The commitments were complemented by news that …
Biodiesel Maker BIOX Posts Strong 1st Quarter
The owner of Canada’s largest biodiesel refinery had an encouraging first quarter of the fiscal year. The Wall Street Journal reports that BIOX nearly doubled sales of the green fuel from October to December of 2013 compared with the same period a year earlier, thanks to improving fundamentals in the biodiesel market north of the border and a Canadian province’s …
London Coffee Shops to be Next Biodiesel Source
Not too long ago, we told you how researchers at the University of Cincinnati had figured out how to get oil from coffee grounds to make into biodiesel. It looks like that good idea has caught on overseas, as this article from the UK’s Guardian tells how a London entrepreneur is going great guns with the same idea in a …
Albion Community Power Invests in Wind
Albion Community Power (ACP) has invested £1.5m in partnership with Welsh developer Infinite Renewables to fund the development of a 500kw single wind turbine in Blaencilgoed, in South Wales. The wind turbine, which is the first investment made by ACP, will supply electricity to a local quarry. It is expected to begin producing power in September 2014 and is estimated …
Advancing Solar Energy in Saudi Arabia
An agreement to jointly fund a feasibility study for the establishment of a vertically integrated solar PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing complex at Wa’ad Al Shammal in Saudi Arabia has been signed. SunEdison, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian Investment Company hope to move forward with a project to produce polysilicon through modules. …
BDI Retrofits Greek Biodiesel Plant to Take Grease
A Greek biodiesel plant gets retrofitted to take a wider range of lower quality feedstocks, including grease. BDI-BioEnergy International AG announced the retrofit of the Elin Biofuels S.A refinery in Volos, Greece. The aim of the RetroFit optimisation project was to increase both raw material flexibility and the quality of the final biodiesel product via the remodelling, expansion and process …
Aemetis Upgrades Biodiesel Plant in India
A California advanced fuels and renewable chemicals company is now producing high-quality biodiesel in India. Aemetis, Inc. says its 50 million gallon per year capacity biodiesel and refined glycerin production facility in Kakinada, India will use advanced technology to produce the green fuel and glycerin by-product. “The new distillation production unit is fully commissioned and the India facility now produces …