Ethanol & Biofuels International News

5/22/2013 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based waste-to-biofuel technology developer Enerkem Inc. announced May 14 the launch of new research and development (R&D) – in collaboration with the Government of Canada – to develop new catalytic processes for the conversion of waste into drop-in biofuels.

5/22/2013 - Argentina filed a new complaint on May 15 with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU’s rules for biodiesel importation and marketing.

5/22/2013 - Global biofuel output for 2013 is expected to grow by 90,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 1.95 million b/d, reflecting a downward revision of 80,000 b/d compared to 2012, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported in its annual Medium-Term Oil Market Report (MTOMR) released May 14.

5/22/2013 - The European Commission (EC) is conducting “inspections” at energy firms and at least one price-index publisher in three EU member states as part of an investigation into alleged price-fixing, the commission confirmed May 14.

5/22/2013 - The European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE) based in Brussels, Belgium issued a statement May 14 urging the European Commission (EC) to investigate if EU customs legislation is properly being applied in Finland.

5/22/2013 - Las Vegas-based biodiesel technology vendor Methes Energies International Inc. announced May 13 that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Methes Energies Canada Inc., signed a purchase and cooperation agreement with BioFuel Aruba of Oranjestad, Aruba, to initially purchase one “Denami 600” biodiesel processor.

5/22/2013 - BioFuelNet Canada, a nonprofit organization hosted by McGill University in Montreal, Canada announced May 14 that it signed an agreement with Air Canada and Airbus to help them develop aviation biofuels.

5/22/2013 - The Government of Canada announced May 10 that the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (Canadian Natural) and Pond Biofuels have partnered in a three-year joint project that will use algae to recycle industrial carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from an oil-sands facility into commercial products like biofuels.

5/15/2013 - Brazilian development bank BNDES approved a R$300.3-million (US$149.6-million) loan to a division of GranBio Investimentos SA to build the country’s first commercial-scale cellulosic-ethanol production plant, according to a May 7 Bloomberg report.

5/15/2013 - Sweden’s Royal Academy of Sciences (KVA) last month published its “Norrland Project” report urging that policy-makers focus upon non-food-based biofuel development, principally forest-waste gasification followed by methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis.

5/8/2013 - The Netherlands-based biojet fuel developer SkyNRG announced April 30 that it partnered with Virgin Australia and Brisbane Airport Corp. to conduct a feasibility study into the creation of Australia’s first “bioport” at Brisbane Airport in Australia.

5/8/2013 - Air Liquide announced April 19 that it signed a partnership deal with the French government’s atomic energy commission (CEA) on a scheme involving biomass gasification.

5/8/2013 - The Industry Union Cane Sugar Association (UNICA), in conjunction with the Center for Sugar Cane Technology (CTC), announced April 29 that it projects a grinding of 589.6 million metric tons of sugar cane for the 2013/2014 crop year in Brazil’s Mid-South region – up 10.67% compared to 532.76 million metric tons processed in the previous harvest.

5/8/2013 - “Green” umbrella group European Federation for Transport & Environment (T&E) on April 30 slammed government biofuels subsidies in the EU as costing consumers and taxpayers about €10 billion (US$13 billion) every year.

5/8/2013 - Finland-based pulp/paper producer UPM announced April 26 that it launched fleet tests with VTT Technical Research Center to test wood-based renewable diesel in vehicle fleet testing using Volkswagen (VV-Auto Group) cars.

5/1/2013 - In early April, Argentina’s energy regulatory body Secretaria de Energia instructed all fuel-producing and -distributing companies in the country to increase the use of domestic biodiesel until June 1.

5/1/2013 - In order to leverage industry investments and production of ethanol, Brazil’s Ministry of Finance announced on April 23 that it will implement measures that will cut taxes and extend lines of credit to boost a fledgling sector that has lost market share to gasoline due to rising production costs.

5/1/2013 - China-based Sinopec Group has successfully conducted the first test flight of a commercial airplane using independently-produced aviation biofuel made from palm oil and recycled cooking oil, according to an April 24 report from Xinhua news service.

5/1/2013 - New analysis released by Brazil’s Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA) on April 16 showed that the average price of anhydrous ethanol sold in the 2012/2013 season by Brazilian sugar mills in the state of Sao Paulo stood at R$1.2915 (US64¢) per liter (without inclusion of taxes), which is 16.31% lower than the average of the 2011/2012 crop when it was at R$1.5432 (76¢) per liter.