General Motors has announced a five-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to study using jatropha plants for biodiesel. UPI reports that the test sites in India will look at whether jatropha can produce enough oil for the green fuel: Farms with more than 200 acres of the drought-resistant, non-edible plant will host life-cycle studies near GM plants in …
Record Global Ethanol Production Forecast
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) has released its 2010 production forecast for ethanol which indicates a positive trend for growth in the industry. Total ethanol production for 2009 was 73.9 billion litres (19.5 billion gallons) according to data assembled by F.O. Licht. The GRFA predicts global production will reach 85.9 billion litres (22.7 billion gallons) in 2010, up more …
Brazilian Ethanol Powers IndyCar Series Again
The IZOD IndyCar Series makes its debut this weekend in South America with the Sao Paulo Indy 300 powered by Brazilian ethanol. The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) has renewed its fuel supply agreement with the Indy Racing League for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, which opens on Sunday, March 14, with a race in Brazil’s largest city, São …
R4R – Research for Renewables Event Launched
Everyone needs an excuse to go to Italy and now you have one – Solarexpo. Solarexpo in an international conference and expo on renewable energy and distributed generation. The event will be held on May 5-7, 2010 in Italy and as part of the event, is launching the R4R – Research for Renewables event. R4R is a “research consortium” of …
Shipping Giant Maersk to Test Biodiesel
Dutch shipping giant Maersk Line is joining with Lloyd’s Register to test biodiesel in its marine engines for the next two years. This story from the Journal of Commerce says the feasibility study on the container ship Maersk Kalmar will be funded in part by the Dutch government: Using fatty acid methyl esters – a biodiesel product known as FAME …
Industry Calls OPEC Report “Self Serving”
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) has come out today calling a recent OPEC report “self serving.” The report, co-written by the former Secretary General of the OPEC oil cartel, criticized biofuels while according to GRFA, ignoring the overwhelming evidence on the devastating impact of crude oil on the environment and on our economies. The report will be released during …
Report: Global Biodiesel Market Worth $12.6 Bil by 2014
A new market research report says that the biodiesel market will be worth $12.6 billion by the year 2014. This press release says the MarketsandMakets report, entitled ‘Global Biodiesel Market (2009 – 2014)’, says the markets in Europe and the Americas will make up nearly 85 percent of that total, with 55.6 percent and 28.6 percent respectively: Increasing environmental concerns …
Evogene Researching Castor Bean for Biofuels
There is no shortage of potential feedstocks for biofuels and yesterday, Evogene Ltd based in Rehovot, Israel announced that it will be conducting field trials in Texas and Brazil of its proprietary castor bean lines. The trials will be conducted in conjunction with Texas AgriLife Research in Texas, which is part of the Texas A&M System, and South Cone Agriculture …
Shell to Partner with Cosan to Produce Ethanol
Another major oil company has entered the Brazilian ethanol market – Shell. According to Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico, Shell and Cosan S.A., Brazil’s largest producer of ethanol, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Moving forward, the two companies hope to create several new joint ventures to the tune of $12 billion that will produce sugar-based ethanol as well as electricity and …
“Green Coal” to Debut at UK Biomass Conference
An energy source made from biomass that’s touted as “magic coal from the steam cooker” will make its debut at the Energy from Biomass and Waste conference January 26-27, 2010 at the Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre in London, England. This press release says “Green Coal,” invented the German company the G+R Technology Group, will be produced at the …