Ethanol-powered buses are gaining ground in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. While it is unusual to see ethanol used in replacement of diesel fuel in diesel engines in the States, it is not so uncommon in other areas. In 1993, a group of companies began working together to discover a solution for mass transport and its relationship to …
Gen. Clark Focuses on Security During COP15
Growth Energy’s Co-Chairman (Ret.) Gen. Wesley Clark, warned today that continuing dependence on petroleum for automotive fuel is not only a carbon risk, but is a security risk as well. Clark delivered this message during a side event hosted by the Danish Climate Consortium and organized by Novozymes during the COP15 conference in Copenhagen. Gen. Clark’s remarks were part of …
Algae Biodiesel Maker Teams with Japanese
California-based algae biodiesel producer OriginOil Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan’s Research Institute of Tsukuba Bio-Tech (RITB) to develop algae-to-jet fuel technologies. This article from Biomass Magazine says the deal comes on the heels of RITB getting money from the Japan Science and Technology Agency to develop algae-to-jet fuel applications: Headed by Tsukuba University professor emeritus and …
Copenhagen Seen as Good for Biodiesel, Ethanol
The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, which started this week in Denmark, could be good for biodiesel and ethanol. Biodiesel Magazine reports that while not everyone agrees exactly on what the political negotiations will bring, an expected deal … if not a full treaty … outlining a carbon pricing or cap-and-trade system that puts a price on carbon will be a …
Waste-to-Biodiesel Producer Chosen as Tech Pioneer
A California-based biodiesel producer that makes the green fuel out of contaminated wastewater fats, oils and greases … better known as wastewater FOG … has been recognized internationally as a Technology Pioneer. This press release from BioFuelBox says the World Economic Forum in Switzerland has selected the company as a 2010 Technology Pioneer: The only waste-to-energy company to win this …
World Biodiesel Demand Predicted to Double by 2015
The demand for biodiesel worldwide is expected to double by the year 2015. Fortunately, the supply is supposed to triple. Those predictions came from Tammy Klein, executive director of global biofuels services for Hart Energy Consulting, as she spoke at the recent Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit earlier this week in Vancouver, British Columbia. Biodiesel Magazine reports that Klein told the …
Europeans Look for More Sanctions on US Biodiesel
European biodiesel makers are poised to file another complaint against their counterparts in the U.S. Last March, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) was able to successfully lobby European Union trade officials to impose tariffs of 26 euros ($39.02) to 41 euros ($61.53) per 100 kg (220 lbs) on American biodiesel, complaining the American biodiesel was unfairly subsidized. The tariffs have …
An Inside View of the Brazilian Ethanol Industry
Oi from Brasil! I have spent the last three days learning about the ethanol industry in Brazil. I have been traveling with a group of 20 international journalists in the State of Sao Paulo, where 60 percent of the country’s sugarcane is grown and consequently where the majority of the ethanol is produced. I’ll be writing a series of posts …
Canadian Biofuelers to Ask for Bigger Mandates
Ethanol and biodiesel producers in Canada will ask their government early next year to increase the amount of the green fuels produced and added to fossil fuels… even as there are doubts the industry can meet current mandates and production incentives. Reuters reports that the industry has not decided what those levels should be: Canada has given annual incentives for …
Biodiesel Gets Boost from Palm Oil Genome Project
A joint American-Malaysian effort has completed an important oil palm genome sequencing project that could unlock even more potential from this oil-rich feedstock for biodiesel. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and St. Louis-based Orion Genomics have led a consortium that has sequenced three oil palm genomes from two oil palm species: Oil palm plantations on average …