Biofuels groups from the US, Canada, Brazil and Europe put aside their differences this past week to present a united front to world leaders meeting in Japan. This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features an interview with Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen about the input the groups provided to the Group of Eight meeting of world leaders, …
G8 Leaders Support Non-Edible Biofuels Development
G8 leaders meeting in Japan this week pledged to promote clean energy and carbon trading to curb greenhouse gas emissions and recognized the importance of sustainable biofuel production. The heads of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. said they will work to develop science-based benchmarks and indicators for biofuel production and use. The leaders also …
World Ethanol Leaders Address G8
Officials from Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, the European Bioethanol Fuel Association, Brazil’s Sugar Cane Industry Association (UNICA), and the US Renewable Fuels Association have written a letter to the leaders of the G8 nations underscoring the critical importance biofuels play in reducing the growing demand for oil and the corresponding escalation in prices around the world. The letter reads in …
Orbital ‘Orbit’ reaches Alternative Fuels Down Under
The Australian market for alternative fuel has a new player. Orbital Corporation Limited has announced the acquisition of Boral Alternative Fuel Systems, entering what it believes to be Australia and New Zealand’s rapidly growing alternative fuel system markets. International clean energy technology group Orbital Corporation Limited, is pleased to announce the addition to its existing portfolio the Australian LPG fuel …
Biofuels from Algae in Isreal
Algae is becoming a growing source for biofuel development in Israel. Inventure Chemical is the latest company to invest in algae biofuel technology. Inventure Chemical has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Seambiotic Ltd. (based in Tel Aviv, Israel) to construct a pilot commercial biofuel plant in Israel, using algae created from CO2 emissions as feedstock. …
Consumers Choose Ethanol in Brazil
Gasoline is now the “alternative fuel” in Brazil. “In the beginning of February of this year, ethanol consumption surpassed that of gasoline,” Joel Velasco of the Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association said during an update on Brazil’s ethanol industry at the 2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Nashville Tuesday. “My friends, that is a big victory. The oil company now is …
2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Underway
With a ribbon cutting by ethanol industry representatives from the United States and Russia, the 2008 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop officially opened Monday evening in Nashville. Mike Bryan, CEO of BBI International, kicked off the event by introducing Ron Fagen of Fagen, Inc. and Alexander Machikhin of JSC Tambovskiy Plant in Russia. Machikhin, who is also president of the Russian …
US-EU Biodiesel War About to Heat Up
The fight between American and European biodiesel makers is heating up. European biodiesel producers are urging the European Union to hit U.S. biodiesel with punitive fines as the EU is set to open anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports of the green fuel from the United States. This story from AFP says this comes after the European Commission started looking …
FAO Agrees to Biofuels Study
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization High Level Conference on Food Security focused on solutions to fight global hunger and increase agricultural development this week, rather than place restrictions on biofuels production. The final declaration adopted by 180 countries calls for further study on the issue, an approach which world biofuels producers called “thoughtful.” In a statement, leaders from …
US Ag Secretary Defends Ethanol
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is defending the production of ethanol in Rome this week at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization High-Level Conference on World Food Security. During a press conference with international media at the opening of the conference, Schafer answered a number of questions related to biofuels and stressed the minimal impact of production on food prices. …