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. …
Ethanol Industy Urges Balance at UN Conference
As talks are beginning in Rome about the factors behind and solutions to world food price inflation, Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen called on world leaders attending the summit to consider the issue in its entirety. “Addressing issues of food security is a matter of great importance that cannot be taken lightly. As world leaders meet in Rome this …
USDA Chief to Defend Biofuels at UN Summit
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Shafer is defending biofuels ahead of next week’s United Nations conference that will address the growing world food crisis. This story in the New York Times says Shafer is taking a stand that biodiesel and ethanol are making a minimum contribution to any price hikes in food worldwide while making a major contribution to extending …
Solar Power in Spain
Another 8.7 megawatts of solar energy is now available in Spain. SunPower Corp. has opened two new solar-electric power plants in Llerena and Lebrija. The solar power plant constructed by SunPower in Llerena is 4.8 megawatts; the plant in Lebrija is 3.9 megawatts. In Spain, SunPower has completed or has signed contracts to deliver solar power plants totaling more than …
EU Asking Biodiesel Questions
The European Union wants more information about U.S. subsidies on biodiesel. The inquiry stems from a European Biodiesel Board (EBB) complaint at the end of April that American subsidies were unfair trade practices (see my April 25th post). Now, according to this Reuters story, the EU is formally looking into the EBB charges: “The Commission is in contact with the …
Sustainable Ethanol in Sweden
Many critics of ethanol argue that it takes too much fuel to produce the alternative fuel. In fact, one reader made a comment stating that very idea just yesterday on the “An EPIC Salute at Indy 500” post. Well, SEKAB, a Swedish biofuel producer, says it has now introduced the world’s first fully sustainable ethanol. Swedish SEKAB today announced that …