by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In an exclusive Digest interview, Shell’s VP for Alternative Energy, Matthew Tipper, reveals the company’s thinking about RFS2, their increasing re-focus on North America and the EU.   Plus, Shell’s ambition …

by Yuca Waarts, Kor Zwart (LEI Wageningen UR)  Recycling palm oil mill effluent, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and improving smallholder livelihoods are three important topics in debates on sustainable palm oil production. In Indonesia, Zebra Special Products …

(Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation)  A recently published report provides an in-depth overview of the current state of affairs in Dutch biomass trading. “We’re satisfied to report a significant increase in certified …

(Bio Base NWE)  The project Bio Base NWE is funded under the Interreg IVB NWE framework and has the objective to support the development of the bio-based economy in North West Europe (see www.biobasenwe.org for …

(The Wall Street Journal/Dyadic)  …We are using that technology to produce enzymes for converting biomass into cellulosic sugars to produce second-generation fuels and chemicals, like ethanol, butanol, succinic acid, lactic acid, etc. We are also …

(EurActiv)  Several European ministers are blocking the EU’s proposal to curb the use of conventional biofuels, while some dispute claims the demand for crop-based oils drives deforestation and food insecurity in other parts of the …

(AIN Online)  KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, in partnership with the Schiphol Group, Delta Air Lines and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey christened the first in a series of biofuel-powered flights between Amsterdam …

(RSB Services Foundation)  The RSB Services Foundation, which is responsible for the distribution and implementation of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) global sustainability standard for biofuel production, is pleased to announce that SkyNRG is …

(HeraldOnline/Royal Dutch Shell) Shell today released new scenarios that explore two possible ways the 21st century could unfold, with dramatically different implications for society and the world’s energy system. One scenario sees cleaner-burning natural gas becoming …

(ElectraWinds)   Energo Zelena, Electrawinds’ rendering project in Serbia, is fully operational after a start-up period of a few weeks. This animal-waste product processing project is a new step in Electrawinds’ vertical integration and provides the …

Building on the success of our inaugural event in 2012, Platts will once again bring together leaders of the Biofuels community to discuss how a stable legal framework can be developed to enable biofuels to …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Neste Oil, ranked the world’s fourth most sustainable company on The Global 100 list at the World Economic Forum in Davos, has been investigating the suitability of algae for its renewable fuels …

by Nina Chestney (Reuters/Huffington Post)  Growing palm oil trees to make biofuels could be accelerating the effects of climate change, new research showed on Wednesday, adding further weight to claims the crop is not environmentally sustainable.
In …

(Science Daily)  The mainly EU-funded DISCO project coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed powerful enzymes, which accelerate plant biomass conversion into sugars and further into products such as bioethanol. The project’s …

by Jim Lane (Biobased Digest)  Counting the EU out in biobased development?  Not so quick, pilgrim — BioMCN, Siemens, Linde and Visser & Smit Hanab land a whale, grant-wise.
In the Netherlands, a consortium consisting of …

In the symposium on Biorefinery for Food, Fuel and Materials 2013 (BFF2013) the whole biorefinery value chain is considered, from where biomass cultivation is linked with biomass processing steps to the individual applications and recycling …

(Argus Media)  Peru’s Coazucar is set to become that country’s third producer of fuel-grade ethanol.
Coazucar, a subsidiary of Peru’s multinational Grupo Gloria and the country’s largest sugar producer, has secured the required permits to begin …

(Hveiti)  European policymakers should focus on how to organize the synergies between food and fuel rather than wasting time on theoretical models of land use changes that do nothing to improve matters in the real …

(BioMCN) Suiker Unie, GasTerra and BioMCN sign agreement for production and delivery of biogas
The companies Suiker Unie, GasTerra and BioMCN signed a biogas supply agreement at the official opening of the Suiker Unie biomass fermentor at …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Today, we’ll look at the bigger balance sheets to see who is investing what, and when, with whom, and why.
…We’ve also focused here, for the sake of brevity, on those …

Microalgae have been of major interest for producing biofuels in the last decade. Recently, development and focus was changed towards the use of microalgae in the food, feed, materials and chemical sector as well. Microalgae …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Jobs, global expansion, proteins vs fuels, new R&D funding – all the big issues are under debate both on and off the floor at the Algae Biomass Summit.
…Jobs   Dr. John …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Algenol hits 7000 gallon per acre mark in field operations. What’s the impact for Algenol, for energy independence, for the cost of transport fuel?
…Algenol CEO Paul Woods revealed that the …

The Bio-based Chemicals Conference and Exhibition will return for a 5th year as part of Europe’s largest bioeconomy event – the 8th Annual World Biofuels Markets. Taking place in Rotterdam at the Beurs-World Trade Center, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In California, Codexis announced that Shell has granted Codexis a royalty-bearing, non-exclusive license to develop, manufacture, use and sell cellulase enzymes developed under the companies’ Amended and Restated Collaborative Research …

by Matthew Aylott (National Non-Food Crops Centre)   NNFCC gives its top ten of Britain’s most progressive biofuel and biochemical companies.
TMO Renewables …
Green Biologics …
British Airways …
Ensus …
BP …
Johnson Matthey …
Croda …
INEOS Bio …
Harvest Energy …
Greenergy … …

by Robert Rapier (Biofuels Digest/Consumer Energy Report)  Distillates are petroleum products that includes diesel, jet fuel, and fuel oil. Renewable distillates may be categorized as substitutes or drop-in replacements. The most common distillate substitute is …

DLG BENELUX, ECN & Wageningen UR are happy to announce the 1st edition of Seagriculture; Sea(weed) Farming Commodities, an international conference that will take place in Zeeland, The Netherlands from 18-19 September this year.
At this international …

BIOM2E 2012: The Bioenergy Event Bringing Together The Entire Value Chain – From Mass To Energy, Heat, And Fuel For Transport
Welcome to BIOM2E 2012, the leading international conference exploring everything from feedstock supply and trading, …

“Honestly, I don’t know what you could do better.” Rockwell Automation
Adjust and Adapt: The biofuels industry is at a tipping point; we must unite and innovate in order to succeed. Join the largest  and most …

(TheBioenergySite)  An agreement has been signed by The Netherlands and Brazil at international sustainable energy conference Rio+20 designed to boost biofuels development between the two countries.
Brazil and the Netherlands will intensify their collaboration on the …

(GreenAirOnline)  As a KLM Boeing 777-200 was readied for yesterday’s longest-ever commercial biofuel flight from Amsterdam to Rio de Janeiro, KLM and aviation biofuel supplier SkyNRG announced a new programme that will involve global corporations …

(Biofuels International)  The 48th edition of the ELE Rally in the Netherlands hosted races that had cars fuelled by Gasoline Ethanol Methanol (GEM) from second generation biofuels producer BioMCN.
…The BioMCN GEM concept has been developed and …

Biofuels 2012 is the place where strategic, commercial, R&D and technical experts from biofuels producers, oil companies, second generation biofuels companies, the transport sector, policy managers and solution providers meet to discuss the latest industry critical developments in:
Supply …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …(M)ore than 30 airlines now trialing, deploying biofuels – but who’s doing what, exactly?
In Brazil, Azul Airlines announced that Amyris’s innovative renewable jet fuel sourced from Brazilian sugarcane has passed all required testing …

by Guy Chazan (Financial Times)  In the world of biofuels, all eyes are on the tiny northern Italian town of Crescentino, site of the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which will start production this …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Emerald Biofuels announced that it will build an 85 million gallonrenewable-diesel refineries at a Dow Chemical site in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The company will use Honeywell’s UOP/Eni EcoFining process technology for the …

If the European biofuels industry is to meet the EU Commissions’ target of 10% of transport volume by 2020 (a significant increase) then it is commonly agreed that the sector is going to need coordinate …

(CFOCEO Magazine)  …Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – April 20, 2012
…C1 is a very unique fungus we found in the Russian soil in an alkaline lake in the early 1990’s. …

(Algae Industry Magazine) Below the Surface’s “Driving Innovation” Team established the first official algae-fueled motorcycle speed records during The Texas Mile land speed event on March 24th, 2012. Team leader Kristian Gustavson reached 94.6 mph …

by Cori Anne Natoli (DelawareOnline)  The DuPont Co. won the 2012 Sustainable Biofuels award for its research project on the transport and storage of corn stover for conversion to biofuel.
The Stover Harvest Project is a collaborative effort …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Sugar prices are booming, good news for producers in Brazil, India and elsewhere, but in Brazil it has created, shall we say, a certain reluctance to maximize ethanol production.
Part of …

(XINHUANET.com)Twenty tonnes of oil refined from leftover cooking oil will be exported from China to the Netherlands to be processed into aviation fuel, a Chinese company said Wednesday.
The oil was produced by Qingdao Fresh Bio-energy …

(Ecofys)  Ecofys started a trial with the combination of seaweed cultivation and offshore wind energy. Thursday, 01 March, the cultivation module left the NIOZ harbour on the Dutch island of Texel for a disused sand …

by Alex Morales (Bloomberg)  Royal DSM NV, the Dutch enzyme maker which last month set up a cellulosic ethanol venture with Poet LLC, is seeking similar tie-ups in Brazil, China and Europe, Chief Executive Officer Feike Sijbesma said.
DSM …

by Lori Ranson (FlightGlobal)  Successful commercial biofuel flights operated by US carriers in late 2011 were underpinned by an understanding that price and supply chain infrastructure remain the big hurdles to creating a viable full-scale …

From June 14 to 16, 2012, the first edition of the Young Algaeneers Symposium will be organized in Wageningen, the Netherlands, to gather young scientists (PhD students and postdocs in their first 4 years), working …

(SkyNRG)  SkyNRG, the Amsterdam-based global market maker in sustainable jet fuel has supplied its first customer via a “fuel-from the factory ” option made possible with U.S. partners EPIC Aviation and Boeing.
Etihad Airways, the national …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Two titans form a monster JV, starting out with a $250M investment.
…In Iowa, Poet has teamed with Dutch-based Royal DSM to create a 50/50 joint venture called Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels that will …

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 …

(European Commission CORDIS)  Europeans believe in a sustainable environment, and a way of ensuring its future is to promote and build energy resources based on residual biomass. Supporting this objective is the BIOBOOST (‘Biomass-based energy …

(BioMCN)  Environmental commodity broker Vertis Environmental Finance have signed an agency agreement with BioMCN for the representation and sales of bio-methanol in Central Europe. BioMCN is the largest 2nd generation biofuels producer in the world, …

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  Global refining and marketing company Neste Oil Corp. held a grand opening ceremony at its 800,000-metric-ton (240 MMgy) renewable diesel—trademarked NExBTL—production facility at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
…Neste Oil currently …

by Rudy Ruitenberg   (Bloomberg)  Royal DSM NV and France’s CIMV SA produced ethanol from wheat straw in a test run of a project led by French agricultural researcher INRA to develop so-called second-generation biofuels.
Levallois-Perret, France-based …

(SkyNRG)  SkyNRG, the Amsterdam based global market leader in sustainable jet fuel will supply Alaska Airlines with sustainable Jet Fuel in the month of November. The airline will operate 75 regularly scheduled flights out of …

(VTG)  The Hamburg-based wagon hire and rail logistics company VTG Aktiengesellschaft  has established a new pool of wagons to provide flexible, ad hoc transports of ethanol from Rotterdam. This provides customers with small or excess …

by Aaron Gray-Block  (Reuters)  Dutch life sciences group DSM said the development of second-generation biofuels is nearing a major breakthrough with commercial production just a couple of years away that could open up a market …

(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 …

by Finnigan Wa Simbeye    (AllAfrica.com)  An ambitious biodiesel project which was allocated over 8,000 hectares of land by Kisarawe district officials in 2008 is in trouble.
Employees and casual workers of Sun Biofuels Plc, told Business …

(Enhanced Online News)  Heliae, an Arizona-based algae technology company, today announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding to produce algae-based jet fuel for SkyNRG, an Amsterdam-based market-maker of renewable aviation fuel.
While both companies acknowledged that a …

A growing number of bio-based chemicals are already in commercial production with several additional products expected to reach commercialisation in the next few years. With advances in conversion methodologies and developments in achieving economies of …

(Neste Oil)  Neste Oil has successfully started up Europe’s largest renewable diesel plant in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Production of NExBTL renewable diesel at the new plant will be ramped up on a phased basis. …

(KLM)  Effective today (September 6, 2011), approximately 40 ground transport vehicles in the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and KLM fleet are powered by 100% BioDiesel. Both parties are investing efforts in introducing more sustainable transport vehicles …

by Dr Matthew Aylott   (National Non-Food Crops Centre)  A major new €14 million (£12.3 million) initiative – bringing together experts from across North West Europe to develop the potential of algae as a source of …

by Cahal Milmo (IOL Scitech)  When it comes to weaning the world’s motorists off their addiction to fossil fuel, few would have bet on finding part of the solution in the pungent depths of elephant …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  Fast-tracking bioenergy development in Holland
Due in part to its strong chemical industry and logistical advantages, Holland is uniquely suited to become a central biorefining hub in Europe. According to Renee …

by Erin Voegele  (Biorefining Magazine)  The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands recently published a thesis on  pyrolysis research written by ERC researcher Paul de Wild. According to de Wild, while many renewable resources, such …

by William Lyons and Sten Stovall (Wall Street Journal)  …”We don’t realize it, but we are living in the fossil age,”  he (Royal DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma) argues. “Population will increase, urbanization will increase, temperature will …

(Neste Oil)  Neste Oil’s research into the potential for using algae oil as a feedstock for producing renewable diesel is continuing to progress. The company will be taking part in two research projects starting this …

by Kerry Reals (FlightGlobal)  Finnair has become the latest airline to announce plans to operate flights partially-powered by biofuel.
The carrier plans to operate a biofuel flight between Amsterdam Schiphol and Helsinki in the week beginning …

by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine)  Evodos BV, an algae technology developer based in Netherlands, believes the company’s spiral plate centrifuge created for the harvesting of algae will give algae harvesting a positive energy balance.
…The core …

(DSM)  Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire C5 Yeast Company B.V. (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands) from Royal Cosun. The acquisition will …

(AlphaGalileo)  On 17 June, with the opening of AlgaePARC and the launch of the BioSolar Cells research project, a new research facility at Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) starts exploring on a semi-industrial scale …

(Business Wire)  Addax Bioenergy S.A. (“Addax Bioenergy”), a subsidiary of the Swiss-based energy group, The Addax and Oryx Group Limited (AOG), announced today the signing of a loan agreement with seven European and African development …

(KLM)  KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has taken another important step in aviation sustainability. In September KLM will launch more than 200 flights being operated on biokerosene between Amsterdam and Paris. “KLM has once again shown …

by Mark Halper (SmartPlanet)  Jet biofuels should get a boost this Friday, when Honeywell has scheduled a trans-Atlantic flight heading to Paris from Morristown, N.J., powered by Honeywell-branded Green Jet Fuel.
The corporate jet, a Gulfstream …

Stefan Kuhnel; Henk A Schols; Harry Gruppen (Biotechnology for Biofuels/Highbeam Business)  Sugar-beet pulp (SBP) consists of up to 75% w/w of carbohydrates (dry matter). Arabinose, glucose and galacturonic acid (GA) are the main sugar moieties …

by Erin Voegele  (Biodiesel Magazine) A pilot-scale project in Olgergen, Holland, is investigating the use of algae cultivation as a method to remove nutrients from wastewater. The project, under development by Ingrepro Renewables, is housed …

(PR NewsWire)  The technology group, The Linde Group, and Sapphire Energy, Inc., one of the world’s leaders in algae-based crude oil, today announced that they have entered into a multi-year agreement to co-develop a low-cost …

(Bloomberg)  Maple Energy Plc, a Lima-based oil and natural-gas producer, expects costs at an ethanol project under construction in northwest Peru to be higher than an earlier forecast.
…Most of the initial shipments will be to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As seven projects aim for important milestones, investors face big decisions on whether advanced biofuels companies, even after the run-up in share prices, are still undervalued.
…(I)s it time to get …

(GreenAirOnline)  Sustainability and economics dominated debate at last week’s World Biofuels Market (WBM) event in Rotterdam as airlines gathered to make the case for aviation biofuels commercialisation to a wider biofuels industry audience. In a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The hottest companies in bioenergy all know it – the name of the game is low-cost sugars, or affordable syngas that competes with natural gas. For those who don’t make …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …At World Biofuels Markets 2011 in Rotterdam, the overwhelmingly remarkable impression is the ramp-up in the quality and quantity of strategic investment and off-take partners. Closely followed by the rise …

by Sybille de La Hamaide (Reuters)  Overcapacity, squeezed margins and massive imports should continue to hurt Europe’s biodiesel industry this year and lead to further consolidation, the chief executive of EU giant Diester Industrie said …

(Delft University of Technology)   TU Delft and the Kluyver Centre have developed an innovative technology for efficient production of bioethanol from agricultural waste and licensed it to the Life Sciences and Material Sciences company …

(Google/AFP) Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell and Brazilian sugar-production group Cosan said Monday they were forming one of the biggest joint ethanol fuel ventures in the world, with an estimated market value of $12 billion.
The new entity, …

(Royal Dutch Shell)  Shell, February 14, 2011, published Signals and Signposts – a report into future energy scenarios which offers a deeper understanding of global developments and the world’s energy supply, use and needs. They help us …

by Eduard Gismatullin  (Bloomberg)   Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, and Codexis Inc. will roll out technology this year to make biofuels from wheat straw and sugar-cane bagasse, the cellulose-rich waste from cane processing.
Shell and Codexis …

(Argus Media)  The Netherlands has launched the first system for the certification of all types of sustainable biomass.
The system was launched last week by standardisation institute NEN and the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI). The system …

by Barry Cohen (National Algae Association)  … Some of the accomplishments include:  
-               Construction of commercial-scale demo PBR at Lone Star College 
-               Delivery by NAA Engineering Consortium of plans and design for the 100-acre challenge 
-               Delivery by NAA …

Now in its 4th year, European Biodiesel has established itself as Europe’s premier event dedicated entirely to the biodiesel industry and European Biodiesel 2011 will be taking place on 15-16 June in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, …

(Europa)  The European Commission has authorised, under EU state aid rules, a €5 million investment aid for a pipeline infrastructure to transport waste CO2 from a bioethanol plant in Rotterdam to greenhouses in the “Zuidplaspolder”. The …

The continued development of the biorefinery industry is of critical importance to the move to a bio-based economy, and the subsequent need to significantly upscale this industry presents a huge opportunity for organisations across the …

by Scott Malone (Reuters)   Royal Dutch Shell, which is investigating about 10 second-generation biofuel technologies that would use nonfood raw materials, expects to narrow its research to about five options next year, its top scientist …

(Avantium)  Avantium announced October 14, 2010, that it has started with the construction of a pilot plant at the Chemelot site (Geleen, the Netherlands). The pilot plant will produce YXY building blocks for making green materials and fuels. Avantium …

by Richard Karlstetter (Shell Global Solutions-Germany)  At the Future of Transportation Technology seminar at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia on September 30, 2010, in connection with the ALMS Petit Le Mans endurance race, Richard Karlstetter, Shell’s …

(TAPPI)  Researchers at the University of Technology in Twente, the Netherlands, have reportedly developed a new technique that enables large-scale production of biofuels without adverse effects on food supplies. According to a report this past …

(IBTimes/Green Energy UK)   More and more of the millions of flowers grown in Dutch greenhouses each year are receiving carbon dioxide from carbon capture and storage systems. As the leading European bioethanol producer, Abengoa Bioenergía …

(BIOeCON)  Petrobras and BIOeCON announced their partnership in the joint development of a novel process for enhanced conversion of biomass, as found in agricultural wastes such as sugarcane bagasse, into chemicals that can be used to …