(Research and Markets/PR Newswire)  The “Biodiesel: 2017 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2021” report has been added to Research and Markets’ offering.  The present report is an essential resource for a one looking …

by Liz Gyekye  (Bioenergy Insight)  The “first” pan-African expert network on food and non-food biomass has been launched by African and German researchers.
BiomassNet aims to ensure that food security and environmental sustainability are not compromised …

(Energy Today/Oilprice.com) A new World Bank report released today (July 18, 2017) highlights the potential impacts that the expected continuing boom in low-carbon energy technologies will have on demand for many minerals and metals.
Using wind, solar, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In Africa, the overwhelming use is cookstoves, and for a generation now, companies and organizations have been handing out LPG or ethanol cookstoves trying to move Africa to a new …

(GreenAir Online)  A year after issuing a joint Request for Information (RFI) from parties interested in supporting the development and production of sustainable aviation fuel in the region, Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia say …

(AllAfrica)  The African Climate Technology Center (ACTC) has the mission of supporting Sub-Saharan countries in scaling-up the adoption of clean technologies for adaptation and mitigation, through activities that include knowledge creation and dissemination, support to …

(RightsAndResources.org)  Experts at Dakar event point to a significant cause of investment losses, work stoppages and violence across Africa: the failure of governments and companies to respect the land rights of indigenous and local communities
Sixty-three …

by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Teis Jensen (Reuters)  To cut 198 jobs, invest more in emerging markets; Says could take time to return to past growth rates;  Bayer takeover of Monsanto, US energy policy pose risks;  Q4 earnings beat expectations, …

(Awake Africa)  The Community Heroes Awards is an initiative of African Centre for Peace Building and Awake Africa Magazine which seeks to identify, celebrate and honor individuals and organizations who have committed themselves to promote …

(NexSteppe)  NexSteppe, a company dedicated to pioneering the next generation of sustainable feedstock solutions for biobased industries, announced today that the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has approved four NexSteppe sorghum hybrids …

by Patrick Kent (Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers’ Association/Euractiv)  The key element of this renewable energy plan is that the ceiling for the crop biofuel component of EU transport fuels will be slashed from 7% …

by Nicola Pamplona (Folha de S.Paulo)  …  The idea is concentrate expenditure in operations connected to petroleum production, which have a higher potential to generate revenues.
All other operations, such as gas, energy, biofuel and the petrochemistry …

(BusinessWire/Technavio)  The global biofuels market is expected grow at a CAGR of nearly 6% during the forecast period, according to Technavio’s latest report.
In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the …

(Project Gaia)  Ethanol fuel production represents a significant opportunity for economic and social development in the East African Community (EAC) region. Ethanol can be produced locally using a variety of feedstocks that can be selected based on …

by Lais Thomaz* and Dan Quadros** (Advanced Biofuels USA) With diverse and dynamic programming involving agribusiness, food safety, nutrition, sustainability and bioenergy, the 2016 GAF achieved its mission to gather producers, companies and academia to discuss …

(North American Climate Smart Agricultural Alliance)  Solutions from the Land (SfL) is taking an active role in the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) summit underway this week in Rome, pressing business, government, NGO …

(Transport & Environment)  …  In 2014, 45% of all the palm oil used in Europe ended up in the tanks of cars and trucks, data from EU vegetable oil industry association Fediol and obtained by green …

by Gerald Kutney  (Lee Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  … From the time of the caveman until the early Industrial Revolution, biofuels – namely wood and the advanced biofuel of the day, charcoal – reigned supreme.  Both fossil fuels and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 64 countries have targets or mandates – but how much where, and when, and what?  The bulk of mandates continue to come from the EU-27, where the Renewable Energy Directive specified …

(BioCube™)  The BioCube Corporation was delighted to have The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada visit the BioCube™ at the GLOBE 2016 Conference in Vancouver last week. Held every two years in Vancouver, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In South Africa,, Chromatin and Zaad Holdings have entered into an alliance to produce and distribute planting seed for grain and forage sorghum throughout the African continent.
In Africa, sorghum is …

by Angela Charlton (Associated Press/Washington Post)  Monaco’s government says it’s investigating how an alleged vast oil corruption scandal involving a Monaco-based company long went unnoticed, even though the principality has opened up its financial sector …

by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian)  Arpa-E project deploys drones and robots to breed fast-growing, drought-resistant and greener biofuel from sorghum which could replace corn ethanol — A US government agency is trying to build a better …

by Fiona Lambe and Marion Davis (Stockholm Environment Institute/Reuters)  … The reality, of course, is that electricity will not reach all households in the immediate future – not to mention, power is so unreliable in much of …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  Several U.S. producers, including Genuine Bio-Fuel, Hero BX and the now-defunct Promethean Biofuels, in addition to Miami-based biodiesel exporter and hopeful technology provider Lagosur, sketch out overviews of international developments.
…
“Taxation, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Q. How have the US elections and the regulatory situation in the US impacted development of biofuels for other countries, particularly Latin America? …  Not much impact from the 2014 …

by Shelagh Whitley and Laurie van der Burg (New Climate Economy)  The research underpinning this New Climate Economy Working Paper was a major input into the 2015 New Climate Economy report and articulates the practical steps …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Who’s building what, where, now. 29 projects in construction or in commissioning in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and the Americas
Despite low oil prices, first-gen biofuels and advanced …

by Jarrett Renshaw and Catherine Ngai (Reuters) … North Dakota’s Bakken production peaked at 1.153 million barrels per day in June, and had fallen to 1.13 million barrels per day by August, according to state data.
The …

(African Development Bank Group)  The African Development Bank (AfDB) is hosting and co-organizing Energy Week, a series of events, including high-level discussions and partnerships focusing on lighting up and powering Africa, and unlocking the continent’s …

(Partnership for Clean Indoor Air)  Over the last ten years, organizations like Project Gaia Inc. and its partners have been promoting clean cookstoves that are powered by ethanol, and have worked to help communities become …

by Dinfin Mulupi (How We Made It in Africa)  Africa is seeing a surge in mobile phone-based solutions promising to revolutionise the agricultural industry. Technology entrepreneurs have developed mobile platforms offering a variety of solutions, …

by By Tom Schenk (Agriculture 2.0)  Over the past ten years, scores of articles have been written about the merits of investing in farmland as well as the challenges of producing enough food to feed a …

by Olatomiwa Bifarin* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Around 770,000 BC, it was fire, at some point – wood, dung and coal, to the now-ominous fossil fuels. This is the evolution of energy, and today the evolution …

by Jose Graziano da Silva (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization/Project Syndicate) … But this is a false dichotomy. The choice cannot be between food and fuel. We can make good use of both. Given the right conditions, biofuels …

by Janna Farley (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Deforestation and pollution have distressed the country’s environment and beauty. The chronic effects of disease, economic instability and social unrest, coupled with the infrastructure devastation from the 2010 earthquake, …

By Tim Searchinger and Lyndon Estes (The Washington Post/Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs)  In recent years, as governments have begun to protect tropical forests because of the carbon they store, …

By Hilary Landfried (Project Gaia)  … We rarely think of it here in the West, hooked up to electric and gas grids as we are, but nearly half of the world’s population still cooks on biomass fuels …

by Chris Woolston (Bioenergy Connection)  With its crown of pink blossoms, the humble seashore mallow may look unassuming, even delicate. But when it comes to brutal environments, this seaside shrub is no pushover.  Seashore Mallow …

by Amanda Peterka  (E&E Publishing / Greenwire) Bioenergy production would boom and spur steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if a global price is slapped on carbon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say in a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Aviation biofuels on the rise, in the skies” tops the trend list; drop-in and cellulosic ethanol projects; M&A and cap raises, and action from strategic investors and customers dominate the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Castor, jatropha, pongamia — the three steps that Bosques Energeticos is taking in piloting its way to success in fuels, chemicals and other markets. Can the early-stage company thrive, based …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  PANGEA is a leader in the promotion of technology transfer and investment into Africa’s growing bioeconomy, … .  PANGEA in 2015 is breaking out beyond its traditional policy-oriented focus, away …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Today, as the first African Sustainable Transport Forum gets under way in Nairobi, Kenya, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) called on forum attendees to adopt biofuels friendly policies and regulations that …

by Caitlin Kennedy (Biotech NOW)  National Geographic’s October issue contains an in-depth article, “The Next Green Revolution” on how plant biotechnology will be one part of a multifaceted solution to feeding a rapidly growing population in the face of …

(Business Standard)  Growth in 2013-18 period likely to be moderate compared to 2008-13 period as demand from the US stagnates, says the Freedonia Group report.
Asia-Pacific region, Central and South America, and the Africa/Mideast region are …

(Biotechnology Industry Organization)  An international confederation of biotechnology trade associations announced today the ratification of bylaws creating the International Council of Biotechnology Associations (ICBA), with the expressed purpose of advocating for public policies that support …

by Milsa Vijayadharan (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Bioenergy is considered to be an important source of energy for the next decades for several reasons. Most important reasons are: bioenergy can contribute to the reduction of CO2, …

(China New Energy)  The Board of CNE (AIM:CNEL), the AIM quoted engineering and technology solutions provider to the bioenergy sector, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an contract with Jilin Province New …

Excerpts from a November 10, 2013, letter from 74 African organizations to US President Barack Obama.
Dear President Obama,
We are African organizations working for the realization of a healthy and just environment for the people of …

by  Whitney McFerron (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Argentina, the world’s biggest biodiesel exporter, is increasing shipments of the fuel on stronger U.S. demand, Oil World said.
Argentine exports of biodiesel made from soybean oil will climb to 450,000 metric …

by Mary C. Scholes, Robert J. Scholes (Science Magazine)    In the past, great civilizations have fallen because they failed to prevent the degradation of the soils on which they were founded (1). The modern world could suffer …

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 …

by Rob Vierhout  (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  … The “accountancy-model” IISD used was one-sided, looking only at government expenditure but leaving out of the picture the revenues the industry is generating for government and society. A well-respected …

(Netzwerk Biotriebstoffe)  The ERA-ARD project “Bioenergy in Africa: Opportunities and Risks of Jatropha and Related Crops” was officially closed at the end of March 2013. Within this project the coordinator published 5 Policy Briefs with …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Miscanthus, sorghum, switchgrass, jatropha, camelina, carinata, and arundo. Who’s doing what to bring these crops to scale — and who are the potential big winners?
… Just when you start feeling great …

(EurekAlert/World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF))   The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have launched the IFAD-ICRAF Programme for the Development of Alternative Biofuel Crops, an initiative focused on providing clean …

by Makhtar Diop (AllAfrica)  Few development challenges in Africa are as pressing and controversial as land ownership and its persistent gap between rich and poor communities.
With a profound demographic shift in Africa from rural areas …

by Joel Winston (AllAfrica)  Significant uncertainties about the development of algae biofuels and a lack of research and development capabilities make this potential energy source an unsuitable option for developing countries, according to researchers from …

by Richard Herbert (Biofuels Digest)  Portfolios may be littered with the bones of first generation biofuels startups, but for strategic investors, the biofuels industry as a whole is far from cold in the grave. In fact, …

by Carlo Hamelinck  (Euractiv.com/Ecofys)  …By effectively decreasing the ambition on biofuels, as it is currently debated in the European Parliament and the Council, we walk away from concerns without solving them.
There are a few key …

(EurekAlert!)  World’s cassava experts to wage war against cassava viruses; introduction into Nigeria, the largest cassava producer in the world, could result in drastic food shortages in this part of Africa
Cassava experts are reporting new …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Belgium, PANGEA (Partners for Euro-African Green Energy) launched an update to its report “Who’s Fooling Whom? The Real Drivers Behind the 2010/11 Food Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
The report demonstrates …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Italy, Versalis and Genomatica announced the establishment of a technology joint venture for bio-based butadiene from non-food biomass. The resulting process will be licensed across Europe, Asia and Africa by …

by  Louise Downing (Bloomberg)  SG Biofuels Inc., the green fuel biotech company working with Airbus SAS, is seeking a partner in Southeast Asia or Africa and expects to complete a cooperation deal within 180 days to expand its …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  There is enough land available to produce more food, more feed and more biofuels, which are not the cause of global malnutrition problems, according to the World Bioenergy Association.
WBA makes …

(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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  At World Biofuels Markets, BP CEO Phil New delivered a keynote speech which attempted to turn the industry’s attention towards “the hard yards” of operational excellence, saying that “it is arguable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the Netherlands, PANGEA (Partners for Euro African Green Energy) is launching today a booklet outlining Myths and Facts about Bioenergy in Africa. The brochure is intended to demystify the …

(RSB Services)  The RSB Services Foundation, the implementing entity of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) which has developed a global sustainability standard and certification system for biofuel production, is pleased to announce that Addax …

(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 …

(ActionAid)  At a seminar on biofuels in Dublin yesterday, David Barissa, a leading expert on food security and land rights from ActionAid Kenya spoke of the litany of broken promises, rights violations and destruction which …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the new USDA long-term forecasts, rising global meat consumption stands out as a driver of rising food prices, exports.
…But you might ask yourself — in a world where you …

by Mackinnon Lawrence  (Biofuels Digest/Pike Research)  There are few topics that get the clean technology sector excited less than trash. Meanwhile, the news is littered with stories discussing municipal areas from Zimbabwe to Los Angeles and …

by John Vidal (The Guardian)  Israeli biotech firm says its modified eucalyptus trees can displace the fossil fuel industry
It’s a timber company’s dream but a horrific industrial vision for others: massive plantations of densely planted GM eucalyptus …

(Newstime Africa)  The World Bank has rejected a call to suspend its involvement in large scale agricultural land acquisition following the release of a major report by the international aid agency Oxfam on the negative …

by Brian Winter (Reuters/Chicago Tribune)  After years at each other’s throats, Brazil and the United States are working together to promote the use of ethanol in a collaboration that could revolutionize global markets and the makeup of …

(Pangea)  Partners for Euro-African Green Energy (PANGEA) published a new report, Africa’s Water-Bioenergy Nexus. Ensuring Sustainable Water Management in Africa’s Biofuel Sector. The report describes ways to ensure a low water footprint in the African …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Leaders of the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) came together at the St. George Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa, July 24-27, for a workshop on emerging technologies for sustainable biofuels and …

by David Cronin (New Europe Online)  …The production of biofuels is a central factor behind the grabbing of land in Africa. Yet rather than using food crops, many of the players in this murky game …

(Environmental Expert)  The winner of the World Bioenergy Award 2012 was announced on 29 May in Jönköping Sweden: Mr. Harry Stokes, USA.
Mr. Harry Stokes has developed, funded and managed Project Gaia to improve the health, economic status …

by David Muwanga  (AllAfrica.com)  As the East African Community (EAC) was planning to release a total of Ksh1b for the removal of the water hyacinth from Lake Victoria, a United States based technology company has …

(Global Renewable Fuels Association/Cardno ENTRIX)  …As is the case with virtually all other emerging and developing countries, biofuels offer the prospects of a new cash crop for farmers, increased employment in rural areas, expanded manufacturing output, reduced …

(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 …

(CheckBioTech/JOil)  JOil (S) Pte Ltd, a scientific bioenergy crop developer of New Generation Jatropha, discussed cutting edge science and biotechnology processes that could increase the present productivity of Jatropha from the less than 1 ton …

by Damian Carrington (Government Online)  For the first time in a decade, the vast biofuel industry has stalled. But with crude prices still high, charting a course towards biofuels that do more good than harm is …

(Reuters/VIASPACE)  VIASPACE Executive Highlights Giant King Grass Advancement & Commercial Opportunities in Africa to Generate Electricity, Manufacture Energy Pellets and Produce Bio-Fuels:  Presents at the Biomass West & Central Africa Congress in Ghana
VIASPACE, Inc., a clean …

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 …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  The African CleanTech Association launched Oct. 24 and, according to ACTA spokeswoman Suza Adam, the primary goal of the group is to assist in the development of African enterprises and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The secret that “food vs fuel” proponents don’t want you to think about? Not all food is created equal. Dirty food, made using dirty process, makes a dirty world. And …

(Alternative Energy Africa)  Foreign firms are increasing their interest in the biofuel sector resulting in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) being urged to implement policy and legal mechanisms to foster responsible investments.
The World Wild …

by John C.K. Daly (OilPrice.com/Clean Techies)   …According to PetroChina’s Petrochemical Research Institute deputy chief engineer Fu Xingguo, China is looking at generating 933,000 tons annually of fuel ethanol and 165,000 tons of biodiesel.
According to …

by Graham von Maltitz, William Stafford    (Center for International Forestry Research)    Sustainable biofuel production should provide opportunities for sub-Saharan African countries and their inhabitants, especially in impoverished rural areas. Biofuel feedstock production has the …

(Nature:  International Weekly Journal of Science)  Biofuels have big boots to fill. After more than 150 years of using petroleum and its products we have become dependent on it. First generation biofuels are showing us …

(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 …

Biofuels in Africa: When it comes to clean energy production, Africa is at a crossroads. The production of industrial biofuels has the potential to be a boon for producers and could potentially sow the seeds …

by Damian Carrington and Stefano Valentino (The Guardian)  British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) …

by William McLennan (The Ecologist)  Campaigners are outraged over airline Lufthansa and German government funding for jatropha biofuels trial
The German government is financing a leading European airline’s biofuel trials despite claims from environmental groups it …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …NGOs in Africa have been touting for some time the use of ethanol cook stoves, to replace three-stone, wood based stoves that can trigger local deforestation and expose women and …

(AllAfrica.com)  The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Monday, 6 December 2010 in Tunis, a €30-million senior private sector loan and a €35 million loan from the public sector window to …

by Beatrice Philamon (IPP Media)  Tanzanian and Brazilian experts are expected to carry out a countrywide survey to identify and propose strategic areas that would be allocated for biofuel farming.
“Our intention is to have special areas …

Africa provides fertile ground for biofuels, biopower and biogas. Untap her potential!
Bio-Energy World Africa 2011 co-located with Africa’s biggest energy show Power & Electricity World Africa provides the ideal platform for innovation, best practices and …

(EurekAlert)  Policies needed to address potential conflicts, but report views bioenergy as crucial to ‘unlocking Africa’s latent potential’.
Crops can be produced for bioenergy on a significant scale in west, eastern and southern Africa without doing …

(Biofuels International)   LL Biofuels Namibia is set to produce its own biodiesel after signing an agreement that will see the cultivation of jatropha on 300,000 hectares of land located in the north-eastern Caprivi Region, Namibia.
The …

by Chrispin Inambao (New Era)  LL Biofuels Namibia, a highly ambitious foreign-initiated and multi-billion-dollar venture, has secured 300 000 hectares of land from chiefs in Caprivi to plant jatropha, whose seeds will be press-crushed to produce …

by Mokagedi Gaotlhobogwe (MmegiOnline) Coal-rich Botswana has announced its ambitious plans to reduce carbon emissions by setting up a 50 million-litre per year bio-diesel processing plant to be fed from jatropha (oil seed) plantations by 2012. …

by Mutale Kapekele (The Post Online)  The government should set up a biofuels fund, Biofuels Association of Zambia (BAZ) chairperson Professor Thomson Sinkala has advised. …“Biofuels is a turnkey industry for Zambia. We must go …

by John Vidal (The Guardian; The Observer) …The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology …

(Pangea Quarterly Newsletter)  … In 2009, PANGEA staff spent a great deal of time looking at the food vs. fuel controversy and working to find ways to re-frame the discussion into one of food and …

by Nikolaj Nielsen (All Africa.com; Pambazuka News)   … Biofuels were then and continue to be in many respects hyped as an environmentally friendly alternative to oil-based transport fuels. The United States, the EU and other …

by Robert Ndong, Mireille Montrejaud-Vignoles, Oliver Saint Girons, Benoit Gabrielle, Roland Pirot, marjorie Domergue and Caroline Sablayrolles (Global Change Biology Bioenergy)   In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to …