Ethanol & Biofuels Industry News

6/12/2013 - United Airlines announced June 4 that they executed a definitive purchase agreement with AltAir Fuels for 15 million gallons of cost-competitive, commercial-scale, sustainable aviation biofuels to be used on flights departing Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 2014.

6/12/2013 - The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced June 6 that it’s partnering with Cobalt Technologies, the U.S. Navy and Show Me Energy Cooperative to demonstrate that jet fuel can be made economically and in large quantities from a renewable biomass feedstock such as switchgrass.

6/12/2013 - Advanced fuels and renewable chemicals company Aemetis, Inc. announced June 3 that it started production ethanol derived from grain sorghum feedstock and a combined heat and power (CHP) system in an integrated process with traditional feedstock at its 60 million-gallon-per-year facility in Keyes, Calif.

6/12/2013 - Finnish renewable-diesel and refining giant Neste Oil announced June 6 that it has signed a contingent commercial off-take agreement with U.S. algae-biomass developer Cellana.

6/12/2013 - Omaha, Neb.-based vertically integrated ethanol producer Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. (GPRE) announced June 3 that it signed a purchase agreement to acquire the membership interests of Choice Ethanol Holdings LLC, the entity that owns the former NEDAK Ethanol LLC ethanol plant in Atkinson, Neb., and an ethanol storage and loading facility about 15 miles east of the plant.

6/12/2013 - Alpharetta, Ga.-based corn oil extraction technology vendor GreenShift Corp. announced June 4 that its wholly-owned subsidiary GS CleanTech Corp. filed a lawsuit against Sacramento, Calif.-based ethanol producer and marketer Pacific Ethanol Inc. (PE) in the Eastern District of California for infringement of GreenShift’s patented corn oil extraction processes.

6/12/2013 - Minneapolis, Minn.-based based bio-based chemical developer BioAmber Inc. announced June 4 that it partnered with Germany-based chemical distributor Brenntag in the Americas for distribution of its bio-based succinic acid – trademarked “Bio-SA” – and its derivatives, including bio-based 1,4-butanediol.

6/12/2013 - Cambridge, Mass.-based Gen9 Inc. announced May 29 the commercial availability of its trademarked “GeneBytes” DNA constructs, or gene fragments, manufactured at lengths ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 base pairs long.

6/5/2013 - Pleasanton, Calif.-based advanced-biofuel developer Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc. announced May 28 that it successfully demonstrated the conversion of municipal solid waste (MSW) – household garbage – into jet and diesel fuels.

6/5/2013 - A new analysis by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) released May 21 shows that U.S. land and water resources could support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons per year (g/y) of algal biofuel – one-twelfth of the country’s yearly needs.

6/5/2013 - The U.S. biodiesel industry produced 110 million gallons of biodiesel in April – 1 million gallons more than March – according to monthly Renewable Identification Number (RIN) data released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 23.

6/5/2013 - San Diego, Calif.-based biotech outfit Verenium Corp. announced May 28 that it will introduce a protease – trademarked “Deltazyme APS” – for use in corn-ethanol operations during the upcoming 2013 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop from June 10 to 13 in St. Louis, Mo.

6/5/2013 - The University of Illinois-Urbana announced May 22 that it intends to leverage over US$20 million from the state’s Capital Development Board to build a new “Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory” (IBRL) on campus.

6/5/2013 - CME Group announced May 19 that it expanded its centrally cleared, over-the-counter (OTC) agricultural swap offering through the introduction of a new U.S. dollar (USD)-denominated palm oil swap.

6/5/2013 - Sacramento, Calif.-based ethanol producer and marketer Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced May 29 that it began commercial production of corn oil using Colwich, Kan.-based ICM’s trademarked “Advanced Oil Separation System” at its 60 million-gallon-per-year “Magic Valley” ethanol plant in Burley, Idaho.

6/5/2013 - Maui, Hawaii-based Big Island Biodiesel (BIB), in partnership with Hawaii Renewable Energy Development Venture, announced May 28 that it installed a high-vacuum distillation (HVD) unit at its new biodiesel facility in Kea’au, Hawaii in 2012 and, in May, completed testing of fuel produced at the facility.

6/5/2013 - San Diego, Calif.-based algal-biofuel developer Sapphire Energy Inc. announced May 22 that it appointed Matthew Croughan as its new chief technology officer (CTO).

6/5/2013 - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced May 24 that Pennsylvania State University (PSU) was named the year-two winner of the “EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future” 2013 competition held in San Diego, Calif.

5/29/2013 - U.S. fuel ethanol production capacity was 13.9 billion gallons per year (g/y) (903,000 barrels per day, b/d) as of January 1, according to a May 20 report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).