By Sorrel Moseley-Williams/Herald staff.Although renewable energy sources haven’t hit the mainstream just yet in Argentina, “the biofuels industry is finally coming together,” according to Carlos St. James, president and founder of the Argentine Renewable Energies Chamber (ATEC).

Although biofuels currently supply just one percent of all energy to the domestic market, according to St. James, legislation will require them to provide eight percent by 2016. In addition, the government recently upped the blend of biodiesel with regular diesel from five percent to seven, an important move in a world increasingly reluctant to be fossil fuel-dependent. Leer más »

Molinos, Vicentin and Oleaginosa Moreno Hermanos will invest $350 million to build a soy-processing plant in Argentina, the companies said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The grain-processing plant will be located just north of Rosario, the main agro-industrial hub in Argentina, which is the world’s largest supplier of soymeal and soyoil. Leer más »

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will make energy companies double the amount of soy-based biodiesel they blend with regular diesel fuel by the end of this year, the government announced on Thursday.

The fuel-mix requirement will be raised from 5 percent now to 7 percent initially and to 10 percent by year’s end, Planning Minister Julio De Vido said. Leer más »

MAN Latin America has supplied three customers with the first dual-fuel trucks that can operate on 100% biodiesel (B100).

 The vehicles, from the heavy Constellation range, can run on B100 or conventional diesel. The trucks are equipped with two separate tanks, which means that these systems can be used in areas where minimum requirements for biodiesel according to DIN norm EN 14214 may not be available. Leer más »

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government is negotiating a plan to reduce diesel imports by making energy companies blend more of the fuel with soy-based biodiesel within the next year, industry sources said on Wednesday.

A new law requiring all diesel to be mixed with 5 percent of the plant-based fuel came into force earlier this year in the South American country, the fourth-biggest global biodiesel producer and top supplier of soybean oil. Leer más »

Santo Domingo. – The company Globasol signed an agreement on Monday with TSK-Ingemas, of the Spanish group Globalia, to build Dominican Republic’s first biodiesel  plant, at a cost of 40 million dollars.

The agreement includes the construction of a plant within 14 months in the province Azua (south) to use oil from native varieties of brush such as jatrofa and higuereta, which haven’t any use so far since the oil they produce is toxic. Leer más »

Yields of biodiesel from oilseed crops such as safflower could be increased by up to 24 percent using a new process developed by chemists at UC Davis.

The method converts both plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, and should also improve the performance characteristics of biodiesel, especially in cold weather. Leer más »

Global Biodiesel Market Expected to Produce 45,291 million liters by 2020.

Production increased from 959 million liters in 2001 to 15,760 million liters in 2009, at a CAGR of 41.9%. Supported by governments to increase energy independence and meet the rising energy demand the biodiesel market is expected to produce 45,291 million liters of biodiesel in 2020, representing a CAGR of 10.1% during 2009 to 2020. Europe is the leading biodiesel market with a production share of 49.8% followed by the Americas with a production share of 32.8% and Asia Pacific with a share of 4.4% in 2009. Leer más »

ACCORDING to new market research report, Global Biodiesel Market (2009 – 2014), published by MarketsandMarkets, the total global biodiesel market is expected to be worth US$12.6 billion by 2014, out of which the European and Americas market will account for nearly 55.6 per cent and 28.6pc of the total revenues respectively.

The global market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.8% from 2009 to 2014. Leer más »

A research project will make jet fuel without wasting fresh water or farmland.

A project in the Middle East aims to make jet fuel from saltwater-tolerant crops grown in the desert. Researchers at the Masdar Institute in the United Arab Emirates are starting a two-square-kilometer demonstration farm that will combine fish and shrimp farming with the cultivation of mangrove trees and salicornia, a plant with oil-rich seeds that can be converted into fuel. Leer más »