In Brazil, Platts reports data from the Secretariat of Foreign Trade, SECEX, shows ethanol imports during 2020 fell 21% on the year to 1 billion liters while the main importing region, the North Northeast, saw imports fall 61% on the year to just 384 million liters. Import demand was decimated by the weakness of the […]
In Ohio, scientists at Ohio State University have figured out a cheaper, more efficient way to conduct a chemical reaction at the heart of many biological processes, which may lead to better ways to create biofuels from plants. At the heart of their discovery: A less expensive and simpler method to create the “helper molecules” […]
In Washington, Reuters reports the Supreme Court has agreed to review the 10th Circuit Court’s January 2020 ruling on how the Environmental Protection Agency approves small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The court ruling has sent the industry and RIN markets on their heads with the EPA forced to rework how SREs are […]
In Spain, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) has chosen Iberdrola’s bid to supply hydrogen from renewable sources to power its fleet of city buses from 2021. The project’s goal is to take steps to provide urban transport with zero contaminating emissions. To do this, the company will build and operate a hydrogen plant on a […]
In the Netherlands, the FLITE consortium, led by SkyNRG and with LanzaTech as the technology provider, will build the first-of-its-kind LanzaJetTM Alcohol to Jet (AtJ) facility. The facility will convert waste-based ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a scale of over 30,000 tons/yr. The project received €20 million in grant funding from the EU […]
In Indonesia, Reuters reports the palm oil association plans to ask the government to review its new export levy policy if prices continue along their meteoric rise. With palm oil prices trading around $950.81 per metric ton, near 10-year highs, the feedstock makes biodiesel blending increase unviable in both Indonesia and Malaysia where governments planned […]
In New York state, Platts reports multi-year highs for soybean oil that has pressured biodiesel production margins will continue to see D4 RIN prices support producers’ bottom lines. D4 RIN prices for 2020 hit their highest level on Jan. 6 at $1.1475/RIN while soybean oil futures reached at more than seven year high of 44.39 […]
In Malaysia, the CEO of IOI Corporation suggested the palm oil industry forget about fighting for market access in Europe and instead focus on growing import markets in China and India while the Chairman of Bidco Group suggested investing in additional production in Africa. Half of the world’s population lies in Asia where demand will […]
In Illinois, a study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) found that energy sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) behaves more like miscanthus in the way it efficiently captures light and uses water to produce abundant biomass. It has higher nitrogen emissions like maize, but researchers believe […]
In Malaysia, Bernama reports that much like Indonesia, Malaysia is being forced to postpone increasing its biodiesel mandate due to focus on battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than completing the nationwide 20% mandate in mid-2021, the full roll out has been postponed until early 2022 while Indonesia’s B40 mandate could be delayed to late 2022 […]
