by Noah Fish (Post Bulletin/AgriNews) High-level officials from Middle Eastern and African countries were in Minnesota this week to learn more about the U.S. ethanol production process. The state tour, which kicked off in Eyota at the Kwik Trip fuel blending site on Wednesday, was hosted by the U.S. Grains
Madagascar
by Jieyi Lu (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Today, about three billion people still cook and heat their homes with traditional stoves and solid fuels worldwide. These fuels and stoves are major contributors to household air pollution in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), household air pollution
(Project Gaia) Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals and one of the leading providers globally of cellulosic ethanol production technology, and Project Gaia, a non-profit promoting the use of alcohol fuels (ethanol and methanol) for household energy, announced the donation of approximately 24m3 of cellulosic ethanol from Clariant’s pre-commercial
(Project Gaia) Clean Cooking Madagascar (CCM), an NGO based in Antananarivo, Madagascar, is seeking proposals for an ethanol micro distillery (EMD) for its national Ethanol Stove Program in Madagascar. CCM plans to create a market for 100,000 ethanol cookstoves over five (5) years. It will develop local ethanol supply chains
by Anna Hirtenstein (Bloomberg/The Washington Post) A brew made from sawdust and water hyacinth flowers may help reduce the millions of lives lost across the developing world from the fumes of ramshackle cooking equipment. Those are the ingredients being used by Green Energy Biofuels, a Nigerian renewable energy developer, to produce
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Jatropha agriculture in Fujian Province. Brilliant Australia came first in 2004 in Madagascar where plantations were set up on communal village lands to grow Jatropha. … I have now moved away from mainland China and taken up residence in my hometown Perth in Western Australia. My
(Agence Ecofin) … “It is an ecological project to reduce deforestation by reducing the use of wood as fuel,” noted Roland Jules Etienne, Minister of Industry and private sector development, while unveiling the vision Malagasy government to open more units in other parts of the Big Island. In fact, it was
(AgenceEcofin.com) Farmers, economic and other Malagasy researchers operators are waiting for an implementing decree on fuel ethanol. While the text, waited for more than a year, has not yet been enacted, the various actors in the ethanol industry are willing to take a course: ” hundreds of acres of sugar cane been
by Mackinnon Lawrence (Forbes) … Companies like SG Biofuels, Ceres, and others are squarely focused on biotechnology innovation, involving complex biological modifications at the crop’s cellular and genetic level. The central focus of these efforts is the optimization of dedicated energy crops for growth in a variety of locations where food crops are not
(SG Biofuels/Biodiesel Magazine) …Through the use of new genetic technologies, SGB’s scientists have revealed that the company’s germplasm collection can be divided into a number of distinct heterotic clades, or genetically related groupings of plants. In contrast to previous studies, these findings confirm significant genetic diversity in jatropha while enabling SGB

Tany Meva Foundation will convene a three-day workshop in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on small or micro scale ethanol production for fuel use. The workshop builds on the results of the 2011 World Bank-published study, Ethanol as a household Fuel in Madagascar – Health Benefits, Economic Assessment and Review of African Lessons for
(GEM Biofuels) … Based on the internal review it is clear that, having planted very large areas of land, totalling 55,737 hectares, with Jatropha between 2007 and 2009, a lack of resources has resulted in significantly less success than had been hoped. Low intervention and maintenance following planting has resulted
(Project Gaia) Nigerian Government Agency Launches Microdistillery and Stoves to Provide Sustainable Ethanol Fuel for Household Cooking, Lighting and Small-Scale Power Generation The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), a parastatal under the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, has commissioned the installation of an efficient microdistillery (EMD) with a
by Rick Westhead (The Star) …Indian industrialist Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi has his eye on this lush scenery, too, but he sees something much different: the potential for large-scale commercial farming. Karuturi, from the South Indian city of Bangalore, envisions the fields around Kimambila growing cut roses for Canada, lentils for