Ethanol & Biofuels Industry News

3/13/2013 - Redwood City, Calif.-based fuel retailer Propel Fuels and San Francisco-based algal oil and bioproducts firm Solazyme Inc. jointly announced March 5 the sales and survey results of their 30-day retail pilot program – branded “SoladieselBD” – on Solazyme’s trademarked algae-derived biodiesel.

3/13/2013 - Montreal-based global trading and distribution company Targray Industries announced March 5 that it will be the exclusive supplier of biodiesel through an existing joint venture between Houston-based Gulf Hydrocarbon Partners Ltd. and Akash Energy Inc. out of a Buckeye Terminal in Hartford, Ill.

3/13/2013 - San Francisco-based gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology developer Siluria Technologies announced March 6 that it appointed Edward Dineen as its new CEO and member of its board of directors.

3/13/2013 - Los Angeles-based Rentech Inc. announced February 28 plans to “cease operations at, reduce staffing at, and mothball” its biomass-gasification/Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) research and development (R&D) “product demonstration unit” (PDU) in Commerce City, Colo., and to “eliminate all related R&D activities.”

3/13/2013 - Scientists at several universities in Europe, the U.S. and Argentina found in a joint study that land available for biofuels crops has been overestimated.

3/13/2013 - The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced February 28 that it awarded nearly US$5 million to Mendota Bioenergy LLC to support the design, construction and operation of an advanced biorefinery demonstration plant in the Mendota area (Fresno County) where sugar beets will be used to produce fuel-grade ethanol.

3/13/2013 - The RSB Services Foundation, the implementing entity of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), which developed a global sustainability standard and certification system for biofuel production, announced February 25 that Dynamic Fuels LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Tyson Foods Inc. and Syntroleum Corp., earned RSB sustainability certification.

3/13/2013 - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced March 1 that researchers have launched a series of flights – coined the “Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions” (ACCESS project) – using the agency’s DC-8 flying laboratory to study the effects of bio-jet fuel on engine performance, emissions and aircraft-generated contrails at altitude.

3/13/2013 - Baton Rouge, La.-based specialty chemical manufacturer Albemarle Corp. announced February 28 that it will increase the price of ETHANOX-4716 “on all shipments globally by US25¢ per kilogram effective immediately, or as contracts allow,” according to a company statement.

3/6/2013 - The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on February 27 reported that U.S. biodiesel production in December 2012 ended at 57 million gallons, with 81% coming from the Midwest region (Petroleum Administration for Defense District 2).

3/6/2013 - Although several companies combined to generate about 20,000 gallons of cellulosic-biofuel in late 2012, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported February 26 that it estimates this output could grow to more than 5 million gallons this year as operations ramp up at several commercial-scale facilities.

3/6/2013 - Louisville, Ky.-based energy infrastructure monitoring firm Genscape announced February 26 it became the first service provider pre-registered under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed quality assurance plan (QAP) program for QAP-A and QAP-B Renewable Identification Number (RIN) assurance.

3/6/2013 - Des Moines, Iowa-based independent engineering and software firm EcoEngineers announced February 22 that it is now offering both Quality Assurance Program (QAP) A and B options as required under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed standards.

3/6/2013 - Chicago-based energy-crop developer Chromatin Inc. announced February 25 it teamed with Pixley, Calif.-based ethanol producer Calgren Renewable Fuels LLC, to develop a local supply chain for grain sorghum to be used for the production of fuel ethanol and distiller’s grains.

3/6/2013 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced February 22 that U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. sentenced Rodney R. Hailey, of Perry Hall, Md., to nearly 12 years and six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling US$9 million in Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits, which he falsely claimed were produced by his company, Clean Green Fuel LLC.

3/6/2013 - A recently published study by South Dakota State University researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) found that U.S. farmers converted more than 1.3 million acres of grassland into corn and soybean cropland between 2006 and 2011 in the Western Corn Belt states such as Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

3/6/2013 - Besieged biofuel Renewable Identification Number (RIN) broker OceanConnect LLC on February 8 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of N.Y.

3/6/2013 - The Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), a consortium of stakeholders in the aviation-fuel supply chain, announced February 19 that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will establish an Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment in fiscal-year 2013.

3/6/2013 - Denver, Colo.-based publicly-traded ethanol producer BioFuel Energy Corp. announced February 20 that it reduced staffing at its Fairmont, Minn., ethanol facility, resulting in the elimination of about 40 full-time positions.

3/6/2013 - San Diego, Calif.-based algae crude-oil developer Sapphire Energy Inc. announced February 20 the completion of a collaborative study, which identified the morphology, ultra-structure and life history of A. protococcarum – one of the most difficult-to-manage algae parasites.