(AFP)  Australia’s Qantas Friday launched the nation’s first commercial flight using a mixture of refined cooking oil, saying it would not survive if it relied solely on traditional jet fuel.
The Airbus A330 left Sydney for …

(CNNGo)  First biofuel flight will take off on April 13 from Sydney
…Qantas is the latest airline to launch a flight powered by cooking oil.
Tickets are currently on sale for Australia’s first commercial biofuel flight, which …

by Steve Creedy  (The Australian)  QANTAS hopes to boost government interest and involvement in aviation biofuels when the airline conducts Australia’s first biofuel-powered commercial flight next month, using fuel derived from cooking oil.
The return flight will …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Two reasons why Queensland’s election stands out.     First, the election was also notable for the electoral debut of the rural, populist Katter’s Australian Party, which was formed last year …

by Peter Spinks (Sydney Morning Herald)   …And now, to help ameliorate the ravages of global warming, algae are being used to produce biofuels for vehicles and aviation fuels to power tomorrow’s airliners.
Algae, the world’s …

(Australia Department of Energy, Resources and Tourism)  The Australian Government committed $20 million to a new Australian Biofuels Research Institute to undertake research into next generation advanced biofuels in Australia.
On 10 May 2011, the Minister for Resources and …

(Big Pond News)  Australia will need a vibrant bio-fuel industry more than ever if Caltex decides to close its refineries, independent MP Bob Katter says.
Caltex Australia has flagged shutting its two domestic refineries in Sydney …

(NCS International)  NCS International (“NCSI”) has certified the world’s first organisation against the Principles and Criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (“RSB”). RSB is a new international standard that can be applied across the …

(Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels)  The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) today announced the first completed commercial certification of the Manildra Group of Australia. The certification was conducted by NCS International, an RSB-accredited certification agency.
The Manildra …

(Queensland University of Technology)  Biofuel technology being developed by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers has caught the interest of the US Navy, which is currently in Australia on an alternative fuel fact-finding mission.
The US …

by Jim Lane/Dr. Susan Pond (Biofuels Digest/Dow Sustainability Program at the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre)  In Australia, the inaugural Sustainable Maritime Fuels Forum was held this week as part of the Pacific …

by Sean Nicholls  (Sydney Morning Herald)  THE NSW ethanol mandate will be ”appropriately enforced”, the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, has assured Australia’s biggest ethanol producer, Manildra, after the company reacted to his decision to dump a …

Michael Richardson (Canberra Times)  Don’t laugh! The United States military is dead serious about being able to fly its combat and cargo planes on jet fuel derived from algae and plants, and to power many …

by Logan Hawkes (Southwest Farm Press)

Biodiesel is experiencing a historic surge worldwide.
Pongamiapinnata is becoming a popular oilseed choice for biofuel production and has captured the attention of U.S. growers.
Pongamia is one of the few nitrogen-fixing trees …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …You just can’t turn your back for very long, around the Pyromaniax – the researchers around the world working on pyrolysis. Now, pyro comes in several flavors – fast pyrolysis, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Bloomberg New Energy Finance launched its report “Moving towards a next-generation ethanol economy”. Commissioned by Novozymes, the report estimates the socioeconomic prospects of deploying advanced biofuels in eight of the highest agricultural-producing …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  A legume tree native to tropical and temperate regions around the world is attracting attention as a potential new biodiesel feedstock. Pongamia Pinnata—also known as Millettia Pinnata—produces oil-rich seeds that …

by Riggs Eckelberry (Algae Industry Magazine)  If only there were enough algae to meet the demand. Algae is highly productive, soaks up toxins and CO2, and can be grown without impacting food or fresh water …

by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest)  In China, Australia’s Algae.Tec has signed a binding MOU for a 50/50 equity joint venture (JV) in China with Chinese company the Shandong Kerui Group Holding Ltd.
The first project under the JV …

Scaling up to the next level & developments inprocessing technology from harvesting,separation to extraction
Key Highlights

Assessment of the possible scale of algae cultivation & biocrude potential across Australia
Open Pond systems with high saline algae – Muradel …

by James Robertson and Jessica Wright  (The Sydney Morning Herald)  THE NSW government’s plan to ban regular unleaded fuel has been thrown into doubt by the revelation that the state’s only ethanol producer, Manildra, has failed …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …We cannot relax now; we must work harder.
Because, in growing as fast as it has, the industry has frightened those who only believe in a failed yesterday of “fossil fuels …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The company was founded as Aurora Biofuels – solely to do biofuels. As time went on, and the company came closer to realizing its performance targets, it discovered that its …

by Jonathan Williams (Biofuels Digest)  Who’s in front in the development of algal-based fuels and biomaterials? India, China, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Israel, the EU, or the US. The NAABB’s globe-trotting chief parses it out.
In New …

(Australian Aviation)  Boeing and CSIRO have launched a year-long study on the potential for growing new feedstocks in northern Queensland that could be turned into sustainable aviation biofuels.
The first phase of the study will focus …

by Nalin Viboonchart   (The Nation)  Mitr Phol Group targets revenue of Bt100 billion within three years, driven by sugar-related businesses such as ethanol and the biomass power plants it is investing in here and in …

(ABC News)  A new biodiesel plant in Tasmania’s northern midlands is producing alternative fuel from poppy seeds.
Mike Henry’s family has been working on plans for a biodiesel factory for five years, using waste from poppy …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  In Australia, it’s Back to Petroleum for the ethanol producers, blenders and users of New South Wales if BP gets its way.
…Rather than go back to selling the ethanol …

(OriginOil)  JV receives preliminary funding commitment of $4.5 million to carry out bankable feasibility studies
OriginOil, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to extract oil from algae and an emerging leader in the global algae oil …

(Algae.Tec)  Algae.Tec Ltd and the major European airline Lufthansa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly evaluate the potential for algae oil from Algae.Tec’s bio-reactors to be developed into a sustainable source of aviation …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Australia, Licella had a big day, announcing the opening of its demonstration plant, a JV with Norsk Sko called Licella Fibre Fuels to commercialize the technology, and MOUs with …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  The biorefining sector reached an important new milestone this year with at least five companies undergoing successful initial public offerings (IPOs). As we move into the new year, members of …

by Bryan Littlely  (Adelaide Now)  TREES and forestry waste from the Green Triangle in the South-East could soon be fuelling heavy transport.
A German consortium is understood to be interested in investing in a $200 million …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  This week, while the world’s biofuel producers were busy ramping up production towards the 54.1 billion gallon global capacity predicted by 2015, the people who regulate biofuels and make …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Good biofuel feedstocks are highly productive, have low input requirements and are widely adaptable. Unfortunately, those same traits are also common with invasive species.
Language addressing invasive species is included …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  A new algae project is underway in Australia. Algarythm Pty. Ltd., the operating company of Darke Peak Algae Biofuel Commercialization project, and Fishace Pty Ltd., trading as Fishace Ecological Engineering, …

(Environmental Expert)  Algarythm Pty Ltd is the operating company of the Darke Peak Algae Biofuel Commercialisation project. South Australian based Fishace Pty Ltd; trading as Fishace Ecological Engineering, has developed an innovative method to produce …

by Fiona Wylie (Australian Life Scientist)   A group of specially adapted green algae may hold the answer to sustainable and renewable energy for the future, helped by the Sun and more than a pinch of …

by Angela Kean  (Proactive Investors Australia)  Leaf Energy (ASX: LER) has signed worldwide exclusive licence agreement with Texas A & M University to develop the marine yeast Debaryomyces hansenii as a production platform for high …

by David Bransby (Auburn University/Biofuels Digest)  …In contrast, infrastructure for collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) is already in place and paid for, and those who collect and dispose of it get paid for their …

by  Samantha Townsend (The Daily Telegraph)  With the price of fuel skyrocketing, residents in the tiny town of Gunning have come up with an environmentally friendly and cost-effective answer to running their school bus. They …

by Luke Geiver (Biorefining Magazine)  Australia’s Sunshine Coast could be home to an energy park that combines solar energy and a biomass-to-energy process developed by Aquaflow Bionomic Corp. The future energy facility will hinge on …

by Tony Moore (Sidney Morning Herald)  Qantas will run Australia’s first commercial flight powered by sustainable fuel, CEO Alan Joyce has told an aviation conference in Brisbane today.
…”This is by no means the first bio-fuel …

(Mission NewEnergy)  Mission NewEnergy Limited, a global provider of environmentally sustainable biofuels, is pleased to announce that it has materially completed its 2011 Jatropha tree planting season, adding 40,264 new acres and 14,331 new Jatropha …

by  Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Interesting article turned up this week from Australia, showing just what could happen with no RFS or mandate. The Courier-Mail reported  “Queensland motorists dudded as fuel retailers pull ethanol …

by Nina Chestney   (The Peninsula)  Several new companies are betting on the little-known pongamia pinnata tree as a biodiesel feedstock that does not hurt food production, but a decade or more of research and development is …

(Biofuels International)  Algae.Tec, an algae production company, has received approval for its demonstration facility in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia.
The facility was approved under the Shoalhaven City Council Environment Planning and Assessment Act and the …

(Proactive Investors Australia)  Biofuels company Mission NewEnergy  has become the first commercial scale provider of Jatropha in the world to receive International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) for its Jatropha contract farming model.
…To qualify for ISCC …

(Science Daily)  A new insight into global photosynthesis, the chemical process governing how ocean and land plants absorb and release carbon dioxide, has been revealed in research that will assist scientists to more accurately assess …

(ABC News)  Pilbara biofuel producer ASHOIL says it is looking to double its production by next year.
The subsidiary of the Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation turns waste cooking oil from Rio Tinto’s mining camps into biodiesel for …