It is with great satisfaction we welcome you to the 2nd Sugar & Ethanol Summit – Brazil Day, organized jointly by DATAGRO, and the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For the second consecutive year the event brings …

(EurActiv)

Leaders of the EU and their partners in the G8 nations are under mounting pressure to reconsider their support for biofuel targets amid concern that plant oil production competes with food output in poor countries.

Britain, …

(E2B) According to the Department of Transport, between 15 April 2012 and 14 January 2013, 965 million litres of renewable fuel were supplied, of which 66 per cent have so proven to be sustainable. 18 per …

(American Chemical Society)  Scientists today reported a discovery that could speed an emerging effort to replace ethanol in gasoline with a substantially better fuel additive called butanol, which some experts regard as “the gasoline of …

by Jessica Shankleman (BusinessGreen.com)   …Three campaign groups, backed by 12 organisations in the timber, paper and furniture industries, yesterday warned that a surge in demand for wood as a result of renewable electricity subsidies …

by Kim McDonald   (University of California at San Diego)  New discoveries of the way plants transport important substances across their biological membranes to resist toxic metals and pests, increase salt and drought tolerance, control water loss …

(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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The stock has not recovered much — but it’s remarkable the progress the company has made, all the same. Analysts are now expecting the company to bring its first production …

(Asociación de Productores de Energías Renovables Biocarburantes – Spain; Associação Portuguesa de Produtores de Biocombustíveis – Portugal; Krajowa Izba Biopaliw – Poland; Renewable Energy Association – United Kingdom; Verband der Deutschen Biokraftstoffindustrie – Germany)  We support the current target …

(Environmental Research Web)  …It referred to a report by North Energy Associates (NEA) and Forestry Research (FR) produced for DECC, which tried to answer the question: ‘Is it better to leave wood in the forest …

by Chris Hanson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers from U.K.’s University of Bristol reported the development of new catalysts that are able to convert ethanol to butanol at the national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical …

(TMO Renewables/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   TMO Renewables, the leading British developer of second generation biofuels technology,  and Usina Santa Maria Ltda have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to build the first commercial …

by Charles Q. Choi (TechNewsDaily/LiveScience)   A new synthetic type of biofuel created by mixing and matching bits of DNA from different organisms could one day replace diesel and jet fuel, scientists say.

…The researchers devoted a …

by Sally Blakewell (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Biofuels will cost U.K. motorists about 460 million pounds ($707 million) this year as the government increases their use in transport fuel, driving up food prices in poorer countries, Chatham …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The end-goal? High-value oils. Low-cost sugars become shock troops in the war for sustainability.
In New York, we’ve learned that Sweetwater Energy will announce a project today to provide Naturally Scientific …

by Sam Fenwick (E2B Pulse)  In this article, E2B explores the benefits of crop-based biofuels to the UK, the potential impact of a recent EU proposal and the wider issues associated with their adoption.
In October …

by Tom Marshall (Planet Earth Online)  Adding charcoal to land used to grow bioenergy crops can greatly increase their overall benefit in helping cut our greenhouse-gas emissions, scientists have shown.
Applying so-called ‘biochar’ before planting energy …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.K. Department of Energy & Climate Change recently released an updated set of statistics on energy trends and prices. According to the release, ethanol accounted for 55 percent …

by Robin Whitlock (Renewable Energy Magazine)  …There was a reduction in the consumption of liquid biofuels available for transport, down to 2.6 percent of UK motor fuel and this needs to be addressed in the policy …

(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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Today in part II, we look at a new set of technologies coming along that are redefining our ideas about scale and cost.
… A barrier to long term deployment? The …

by Leah Small (Progress-Index)  The future of the Appomattox Bio Energy Plant is ripe with uncertainties and unexpected turns after Future Fuels LLP of Great Britain agreed to buy the facility for an unknown sum …

(Institute for European Environmental Policy)  This report focuses on the potential sustainability of an advanced biofuel industry relying on mainly wastes and residues as the feedstock base. Presented as a series of ‘factsheets’ we consider …

(Home Grown Cereals Authority) An HGCA-led review of regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions figures has reopened market opportunities in the biofuels supply chain potentially worth several million pounds each year. 
Revised GHG figures, supplied by HGCA, …

by Nina Chestney (Reuters)  Britain should reduce its reliance on corn ethanol for renewable fuels and encourage the use of cheaper and more sustainable biofuels such as used cooking oil, a report by a UK think …

by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest)  In the UK, the government has made available open source data regarding the country’s use of biofuels through April 14, 2013 (despite the fact that it’s still a month away), the fifth …

(This Is Gloucestershire) Green Fuels of Stonehouse has installed the first ever biodiesel plant on Bali.  The move is helping the Indonesian island to avert a growing environmental and health crisis.
The FuelMatic GSX 3 plant …

by Robin Whitlock  (Renewable Energy Magazine)  …The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has welcomed Energy Secretary Ed Davey’s stance on biofuels at the European Energy Council. Mr Davey said that the idea of a one-size-fits-all approach to the issue …

(EnergyGlobal.com)  Gasrec and B&Q are working together to create a greener fleet with 50 dual fuel lorries powered by Bio-LNG.
The eco-friendly fuel used to power the lorries comprises 60% biomethane, the natural green source of …

by Julia Whitty (The Atlantic/Mother Jones)  …To get to the Nimitz, 100 miles off Honolulu, our turboprop is flying a 50-50 blend of biofuel and standard JP-5 shipboard aviation fuel. The biofuel is made from algae …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recently published experimental statistics on the area of crops grown for bioenergy from 2008 through 2011. According to DEFRA, approximately …

(VayuGrid/PR NewsWire)  EEP-SEA Selects VayuSap™ Among 168 Other Projects for a Grant of Over $1 Million
India-based VayuGrid and Zambia-based BetterWorld Energy have inked an agreement to partner on VayuSap™ biofuel development zones in Zambia. The development zones, based …

by Mona-Maria Brinker & Roger Coombs (Waste Management World)  Rising prices, continued conflict in producing regions and the spectre of peak oil have highlighted uncertainties about the future of fossil transport fuels in Europe. Mona-Maria Brinker …

The two day conference will bring together key industry stakeholders to discuss ways of advancing biotechnologies for cost-competitive biorefineries  in the face of political & economic uncertainty within the sector.

Lignofuels Production Update – What’s Next?
Sustainable …

Advanced Biotechnologies for Cost-Competitive Biorefineries
ACI’s 4th Annual Lignofuels Summit will be taking place in London, UK on 25th & 26th September 2013.  The two day conference will bring together key industry stakeholders to discuss ways …

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 …

by Mark Kinver (BBC News)  Scientists have identified willow trees that yield five times as much sugar as ordinary varieties, “drastically reducing” the impact of biofuels.
UK researchers found that if the trees grew at an angle, …

by Nina Chestney (Reuters)  British scientists seeking to tap more efficient forms of solar power are exploring how to mimic the way plants transform sunlight into energy and produce hydrogen to fuel vehicles.
They will join other …

(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 Constantine Arcoumanis, Choongsik Bae, Roy Crookes, Eiji Kinoshita (Fuel/Science Direct)  This paper reviews the properties and application of di-methyl ether (DME) as a candidate fuel for compression-ignition engines. DME is produced by the conversion of …

(Balkans.com)  … It seems unlikely but motorsport engineers and specialists from around the world have been discussing just that at the 2013 Race Tech World Motorsport Symposium.
McLaren and Caterham Formula One racing teams, plus Audi Sport …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Now – it’s all about organizing sustainable, affordable feedstock and building capacity. And, airlines providing capital for the first commercial projects — to ensure that capacity building reaches levels in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Australia, ENEnergy Australia (ENA) announced approval has been received from the Australian Government for its first project in Northern Australia under the R&D tax incentive scheme. The project approval …

(Nanowerk.com)  Researchers working on the biofuel crop Miscanthus sacchariflorus, commonly known as Asian Elephant Grass, have shown that delaying flowering in the plant can result in a 50% growth increase.The discovery could have important implications for …

by Alister Doyle (Reuters)  Green schemes to fight climate change by producing more bio-fuels could actually worsen a little-known type of air pollution and cause almost 1,400 premature deaths a year in Europe by 2020, a …

by Erin Voegele  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills recently declared the U.K. Green Investment Bank plc open for business. The entity is the world’s first investment bank dedicated solely …

by Paul Spackman  (Farmers Weekly)  Algal Biofuels It works by exploiting the natural ability of algae to fix carbon dioxide using just sunlight and seawater, to produce oil. This oil can then be refined into ethanol for …

by James Rush  (Daily Mail)  Two men who stole 220,000 litres of cooking oil from KFC stores and supermarkets across the UK and sold it on as biodiesel have been jailed for a combined total …

by Whitney McFerron   (Bloomberg)  Most rapeseed, sugar beet and wheat crops in the U.K. meet environmental standards for use in biofuels, the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board said.
Ninety-seven percent of the country’s rapeseed, all …

by Leon Kaye (TriplePundit)  …British Airways (BA) announced that it has found a site for a bio-refinery that will generate up to 50,000 tons of jet fuel annually. In a partnership with the American aviation …

by Denis Scott Chabrol (Demera Waves)  The United Kingdom-based Whitefox Technologies, together with its partner Green, have secured a bioethanol contract with the Guyanese Government.
Whitefox said it is working together with the Brazilian company, Green, …

(GreenAirOnline)  The British Airways and Solena GreenSky London project to build a sustainable jet biofuel facility in East London is gaining momentum, say the two partners. They won’t reveal the location but an exclusive option …

by Elinor Zuke (The Grocer)  The amount of used cooking oil being re-purposed as fuel has plummeted since a tax incentive was axed – and industry insiders are warning that the situation could spell the …

by Ed Hamrick (Biofuels Digest/Greenworld Fuels)  … There are more than two billion tons of MSW produced worldwide every year, with more than 250 million tons per year produced in the USA every year. Disposal of …

(NewEnergyWorldNetwork.com)  By the end of 2015, all palm oil used in the UK government’s food and catering services will be from environmentally-friendly sources, the country’s Environment Minister has announced.
…The Renewable Energy Association (REA) commented on …

(All About Feed)  Two huge wheat-for-ethanol plants are coming on stream in Britain supplying and extra one million tonnes of distillers grains to the animal feed industry.
Material from these plants will help fill the cattle …

(GreenAirOnline)   With emissions from aviation and shipping likely to make up a quarter of the total UK output by 2050, it would be impossible to achieve national climate objectives without including the two sectors in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, BP announced it is canceling plans to build a 36 million gallon commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County. The company said that it would refocus its US …

by Henry Fountain (New York Times)  Nearly a decade after the adoption of federal renewable fuel standards led to a sharp increase in production of ethanol, some producers in the Corn Belt are considering making a different …

by Andrew Hough  (The Telegraph)  A small company in the north of England has developed the “air capture” technology to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity.
…The “petrol from air” technology involves taking sodium …

(BBC News)  The Green Investment Bank being set up by the UK government has been given the green light by the European Commission.
It ruled that the plan to lend for low carbon investment projects did …

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 …

by Clare Wenner (The Guardian)  Grossly simplifying the issues and creating bogeymen risks crushing desperately needed solutions
Given all the hysteria over biofuels you’d be forgiven for believing that wiping out the biofuels industry will solve world hunger. …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  That’s the question that Greg Murphy wants you to ask as he pilots the year-old Dublin-based Murphy Prototypes endurance race team to contention in European Le Mans and American …

(The Telegraph)   A young whale washed up on a remote beach is to be rendered down to produce around 2,000 litres of biofuel for cars and lorries.

The 10m fin whale, weighing six tons and …

(Renewable Energy Magazine)  The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has warned that the speed and scale of EU proposals are likely to destroy UK biofuels sector innovations rather than building on them.
The UK biofuels industry stands …

by Claire (Innovatrs)  …This week, the EU revised its target down to 5% in biofuels, and an additional 5% in a new type of fuel that isn’t manufactured in the same way. They now require …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Every biofuels contender has its own route to the top – with unique advantages and technical challenges.  Who is nearing the Summit, what’s their Hillary Step, who’s got Sherpas, who’s …

by Louise Lucas and Chris Tighe   (Financial Times)  One of Europe’s biggest ethanol plants is poised to start production in northern England, part of a surge of biofuel capacity expected to come on line in …

by Will Nichols (Business Green)  Preferred site has been chosen for London facility set to generate two per cent of BA’s fuel from waste
BA is set to begin initial construction on a planned biofuel-from-waste plant …

(Phys.Org)  Scientists from the University of Liverpool are part of an international research project to apply the properties of drought-adapted desert plants, like agave, to poplar trees, a recognised biofuel crop.
Dr James Hartwell, from the …

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 …

(Shoreham Herald)  A SUSSEX MEP is the latest to say “no” to a proposals for a biofuel power station in Shoreham.

Adur District Council is currently considering an application, to build the facility at the town’s port. …

by Anh N. Phan, Tan M. Phan (Fuel)  Alkali-catalyzed transesterification of waste cooking oils, collected within Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with methanol was carried out in a laboratory scale reactor. The effects of methanol/waste cooking …

(Phys.Org)  Putting the water-use-efficient and turbo-charged photosynthesis from plants such as agave into woody biomass plants such as poplar can hedge against predicted long-term increases in temperatures and reduced precipitation. It can also provide dedicated …

(Science Daily)  A by-product of biofuel manufacture can power microbial fuel cells to generate electricity cheaply and efficiently, according to scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Autumn Conference. The work could …

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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …While the economic growth in China has been drawing virtually all the headlines in recent years, the “Tiger” economies of Southeast and South Asia have been fast-growing for a long …

(University of York) Scientists at the University of York are leading a major new EU-backed network that is exploring ways of using waste as an alternative carbon source, employing green and sustainable chemical technologies.
York’s Green …

(HazMatMag.com)  With the departure this morning of Air Canada’s flight AC864 Montreal-London, the airline will operate its second biofuel-powered flight which is expected to generate up to 10 per cent fewer emissions by using jet …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As the 2012 Summer Games approach, BP Biofuels launches its showcase for cellulosic ethanol, renewable diesel, and biobutanol.   Amidst the blizzard of demo drives and informational marketing, why are these …

by Rasha Dewedar  (SciDev.net)   A method for generating biofuel by breaking down plastics using a low-cost catalyst will be developed further in the United Kingdom next month (16 July).
The process was developed by a sixteen-year-old Egyptian student, Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad, …

(PhysOrg) Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered a mechanism that controls the way that organisms breathe or photosynthesise, potentially paving the way for improved biofuel production.  READ MORE   and MORE (EarthSky.org)  Abstract

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Can the harnessing of the powers of magnetism overcome cost challenges in algal biofuels?  Researchers across the globe pursue the answers.
…For the fossil molecule, its time within a living system …

(Platts)  The EU needs to overcome regulatory uncertainty and provide more clarity on its biofuels policies before new investments are poured into greenfield projects across the 27-nation bloc, BP’s Biofuels CEO Phil New said at …

by Meghan Schiller (Medill News Service/Wall Street Journal)  The head of BP’s alternative-energy business on Tuesday said biofuel and wind are the stars of the field as the firm ramps up its presence.
Katrina Landis, CEO …

(Biofuels International)  US-based biomass company Incitor will use new funding to demonstrate its low-temperature biofuel production technology.
The funding amounts to $1.5 million (€1.1 million) and comes from an investment group, led by Cottonwood Technology Fund, …

by John Vidal (The Guardian)  Indigenous smallholder farmers are being violently evicted as companies move in to satisfy Europe’s hunger for biofuels
…Over the next four days, 10 more villages were cleared. By the end of …

(Waste Management World)  A new scheme to collect and process used cooking oil to produce carbon neutral electricity has been introduced at recycling centres across Devon, UK.
According to the council, local residents are encouraged to deposit their used cooking …

(National Non-Food Crops Center)  Europe’s first waste to jet fuel production plant came a step closer to construction this week as UK-based Oxford Catalysts were selected as the sole technology suppliers to the joint British Airways and …

by Barrie Barber (Stars and Stripes/Dayton Daily News)  A top British envoy says the U.S. and the U.K. could collaborate more on the development and use of biofuels in the military to boost both nations’ …

(New Energy Farms) New Energy Farms (NEF) has developed a revolutionary new method of propagating energy grasses; this will reduce farmer establishment costs by 50% or more. Cost effective scaling of perennial energy grasses such …

(PhysOrg)  For algae to power our cars and planes, production needs to be low carbon and cost effective, which means working with natural processes, not against them, say scientists.
Algae could become an important source of …

(Agri Energy/Biodiesel Magazine)  The U.K.’s largest used cooking oil biodiesel plant launched in Liverpool today. The opening comes on the back of a multimillion pound investment into biodiesel production by Agri.
The advanced processing plant in …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  What might be a good use of food waste? Hydrogen. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK are creating bioenergy in the form of hydrogen for use an an alternative to …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  new “Strategy Research Agenda” report from the UK-based Algal Bioenergy Special Interest Group (AB-SIG) highlights the benefits of cultivating and using both macro and microalgae in a wide range of products. It …

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) Most of the stories we write at the Digest on the subject of biofuels feedstocks fall into the well-established realms of normal. But every once in  a while, a feedstock …

(University of Birmingham)  Researchers from the University of Birmingham are creating clean hydrogen from food waste paving the way for a bioenergy alternative for the future.
Currently, Brazil is the world’s most intensive user of bioethanol as …