(Bernama)  Malaysia and Indonesia, the world’s largest producers of palm oil, are on a joint mission to correct and update a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report that could impact future exports of palm …

By Meng Yew Choong  (The Star)  Palm oil milling is far from benign, but the industry is frantically conducting research to realise low-emission technologies. The zero-discharge plant is one such bold concept.
THE extraction of palm …

(JOil)  • Tamil Nadu sites achieve first-year flowering in three months and first harvest in five months
• Field trials now being conducted in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia
JOil (S) Pte. Ltd., a scientific bioenergy …

(FreshFruitPortal.com)  Indonesia and Malaysia have questioned a U.S. decision  that their palm oil fails to meet regulatory greenhouse gas reduction standards, website Antaranews.com reported.
They disagreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ruling that biofuels from Indonesia …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia) Palms are said to be a symbol of peace and prosperity, but you can’t prove it by the past few weeks of heated debate over palm biofuel. Last week, we …

(Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil)  Multi stakeholder initiative, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) reported unprecedented growth for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) in the year 2011 as accounted for in its inaugural qualitative …

(Manila Bulletin)  The government is subjecting to fuel standard testing the jatropha biodiesel of Malaysia-based Bionas which is offering to supply what it claims to possibly become the world’s first jatropha biodiesel.
The Department of Energy …

(US Environmental Protection Agency)  he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to release its lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of palm oil used as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In India, LanzaTech is working with Indian Oil and Jindal Power and Steel Limited on a facility to convert industrial waste gases into ethanol. It also has partnered with Concord …

(Platts)  Japanese Toyo Engineering Co is to build a 10,000 mt/year industrial-grade ethanol plant in Johor Baru, Malaysia by Q2 2013, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
The plant, to be run by a joint …

(The Star)  Most of the used cooking oil collected from kitchens are no longer recycled for biodiesel because of the high cost involved, according to a middleman.
The middleman, who only wanted to be known as …

(Business Times)  Selecting an optimal algae strain to produce jet fuel in Malaysia will be a top research priority in the first year of Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre’s (AMIC) operation.
With RM15 million having been approved …

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 Achten, W. M. J., and L. V. Verchot (Ecology and Society)  Biofuels are receiving growing negative attention. Direct and/or indirect land-use changes that result from their cultivation can cause emissions due to carbon losses in …

by Niluksi Koswanage (Reuters)  Indonesian palm-based biodiesel shipments seeking a foothold in the United States will face stiff competition from feedstocks such as corn oil and waste oils, which will become cheaper as more supplies …

(The Star)  …Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a speech during the launch of BioMalaysia 2011 and the 2011 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial and Bio-Energy on Monday that the country could reap …

(Transport & Environment)  Biofuels produced from palm oil grown in tropical peatlands are a significant source of greenhouse gases. This is the finding of a new study done for the International Council on Clean Transportation …

by Maya Thatcher (Center for International Forestry Research)  Smallholder farmers in developing countries risk being left behind in the push to produce sustainable biofuels, deterred by complex and expensive certification schemes, according to a recent …

by Premalatha Jayaraman (The Sun Daily)  Malayan Banking Bhd has launched a US$500 million (RM1.57 billion) private equity fund to invest in the wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro, biomass, biofuel and energy efficiency sectors in …

by Isaac Leung (PACEToday.com)  Mission NewEnergy will construct a major waste material processing facility in Malaysia which will recover palm oil from waste material in the palm oil refining process.
The Spent Bleaching Earth Extraction Plant …

by Sonya Kolesnikov-Jessop  (New York Times)  Pahang State in central Malaysia is about to becomehome to the world’s largest commercial farm project producing microalgae for biofuel.
The farm will start to take shape in the first quarter …

by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine)  When Syed Alwi speaks about the algae industry, you get the feeling that he really has his finger on what’s going on globally. He gets around, and is a …

(Jakarta Post)   PT INKUD Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday with Malaysian biotechnology firm Lestari Pasifik Berhad to establish a joint venture aiming to set up 616 bio-refinery factories to process …

Institut Kimia Malaysia (IKM) is organizing the above 19th IUPAC International Conference on Chemical Research Applied to World Needs (CHEMRAWN XIX) 2011 with the theme of “Bioenergy and Biomaterials from Renewable Resources” in Kuala Lumpur, …

by Paul Tan (Paul Tan’s Automotive News)  Chevron Malaysia Limited, the operator of retail brand Caltex, is seeking to expand Caltex’s footprint in Malaysia, and the company plans to draw in retailers via its revitalised …

by Liz Lee (The Star)  Lestari, Arter Group to build 616 plants
Lestari Pasifik Bhd, in an unprecedented joint venture with Russian company Arter Group, is expecting to receive project financing from the Chinese government to build …

by Niluksi Koswanage   (Reuters Africa)  Malaysia, the word’s No.2 palm oil producer, will come up with a certification scheme to ensure the tropical oil is grown without clearing forests and destroying wildlife, a newspaper reported …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Marilyn Tenn in the Borneo Post talks about biotechnologists and researchers from Swinburne University of Technology, in Sarawak, Malaysia pooling their expertise to meet the challenge of developing viable alternative fuels. The university …

by Charlie Dunmore  (Reuters)  The EU will protect existing investment in its $13 billion biodiesel sector even as it acts on new evidence that suggests making the fuel from food crops can do more harm …

(The Star) …“Biofuels are the only low-carbon transport fuel that can be scaled up fast enough to tackle carbon emissions from transport in the next 20 years,” Royal Dutch Shell Plc CEO Peter Voser said at …

(Borneo Post)  Mitsubishi Corp Energy Business Group (Mitsubishi Energy), which is involved in the oil and gas industry in Bintulu, will collaborate with the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) to explore the algal biodiversity in Sarawak …

(The Star)  Biodiesel is now available in the market. Beginning this month until October, the supply of the new fuel will be available in stages starting at Putrajaya followed by Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur …

(The Guardian/Eco-Business)  Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for about 90% of the world’s palm oil production, have launched a joint PR offensive to defend the industry’s environmental record.
…(M)inisters from the two countries agreed to finalise plans for …

(ABC Rural)   The European Union wants more of its transport fuel to be made from renewable biomass like canola oil.
…EU member states can’t supply enough canola or soy oil to meet the demand, so …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  An interview with James Garton, president of Mission Biofuels USA subsidiary. We look at the jatropha 1.0 catastrophe, actual biodiesel capacity in the US, palm biodiesel, the RFS, and more.
…The …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  This was one of the best weeks yet in the Asian biofuels industry. China decided to promote 2G biofuels production and reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 45 …

(The Star Malaysia)  Experts predict the majority of the world’s oil fields will reach maximum petroleum extraction capacity in 2020, a state otherwise known as “peak oil”. After this point, a reduction in pressure causes …

by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia)  …Malaysian scientist Jagjit Kaurah works at the Universiti Putra Malaysia research station in Port Dickson, and he was walking on the beach one day when it occurred to him …

by Rupa Damodaran   (Business Times)    The European Union is not using environmental non-government organisations as a “fifth column” to help it achieve its Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which places palm oil for biofuel at a …

by Stephen Then (The Star Sarawak)  A leading biofuel company with global links wants to turn Sarawak into a producer of green jet fuel, diesel and petrol and is willing to invest RM555mil in the …

(Daily Markets/PRNewswire)  Multi-Media Enterprises is reporting that Mission NewEnergy Limited has announced the establishment of Asia’s first fully integrated Sustainability & Carbon Certified palm biodiesel supply chain. The announcement was made in Australia in the …

(Neste Oil)   Neste Oil with Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Mr. Teo Chee Hean, Finnish Minister for Ownership Steering Mr. Jyri Häkämies, and some 200 guests celebrate the grand opening of …

(Bernama) Mitsubishi Corporation’s Chief Executive in Malaysia Junichi Iseda and Rector of UTP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Hj Kasim launch a new Centre of Biofuel and Biochemical Research at UTP.  READ MORE

(Wetlands International)  An increasing part of Malaysia’s palm oil is produced at the account of huge areas of tropical peatswamp forests. Especially in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, expansion of oil palm plantations may lead …

(Japan Today)  Malaysia’s Sime Darby Plantation is collaborating with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co to construct and operate a bioethanol demonstration plant in Malaysia’s Selangor State. The plant will convert oil empty palm fruit branches, …

by Tom Tanton (Hawaiian Star Advertiser)  Hawaiian Electric Co. has announced plans to build a facility to convert palm oil into biodiesel. The biodiesel will contribute badly needed and affordable fuel for the utility to provide …

by Alex Morales (Bloomberg Businessweek)  Malaysia’s limited room for expanding palm oil cultivation means that industry growth will have to come from improving productivity, its plantation minister said.
About 4.6 million hectares (11.4 million acres) of the …

by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest Asia)  …On the one hand, the EU position to allow import of uncertified Malaysian palm biodiesel, but withhold EU subsidies, is not clear or comprehensive enough. On the Asian side, …

(The Star)  The European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) and its sustainability criteria will not affect Malaysia’s palm oil exports to the EU market for consumer products like food, cosmetics and detergents, according to ambassador …

(Jakarta Globe/Agence France-Presse)  Malaysia will consider cutting a diesel subsidy next year in a bid to make its biofuel industry more attractive after production of the alternative fuel virtually ground to a halt.
…Plantations and Commodities …