Posted by Joanna Schroeder/An ethanol plant that stops looking for ways to diversify its business and improve its profits is an ethanol plant that will drown faster in bad weather. A new option for the ethanol industry to diversify is to add a biodiesel plant to the end of its corn oil extraction technology. This idea lends itself one step closer to a true biorefinery.

So what is the value proposition of doing this? Profits, as Mark Fashian, president of Ethanol Analytical Solutions (EAS) and Biodiesel Analytical Solutions (BAS) explained to me during a Skype interview following the Fuel Ethanol Workshop recently held in Indianapolis, Indiana. For example, Fashian said a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant will sell 100 million RINS. By adding a 3 million gallon biodiesel plant you’ll make your plant more valuable because each of these gallons is worth 1.5 RINS, or an additional 4.5 million in total. Leer más »

The biodiesel plant owned by Spanish energy group Natura in Ocana, central Spain, March 26, 2007.Credit: Reuters/Susana Vera.

By Charlie Dunmore/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU will protect existing investment in its $13 billion biodiesel sector even as it acts on new evidence that suggests making the fuel from food crops can do more harm than good in fighting climate change.

The environmental arguments in favor of using biodiesel were thrown into doubt last week by a series of leaked European Union reports, revealed by Reuters.

The reports said using Asian palm oil, South American soybeans and EU rapeseed to make biodiesel has a bigger overall impact than conventional diesel on climate change, partly due to forests or wetlands being destroyed to grow replacement food. Leer más »

CORONA, CALIFORNIA, (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — BookMerge Technology, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary Extreme Biodiesel, is proud to announce that the company`s biodiesel has been approved for the RIN credit.

Carbon Solutions Group has agreed to sponsor Extreme Biodiesel for the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard II (RIN) and California Low Carbon Standard (LCFS) registrations. This agreement also include procedures for creating, tracking, auditing and separating RINS and LCFS credits that are sold in the market for $1.86 per RIN and $0.10 LCFS per gallon of biodiesel produced and sold to end users, creating additional cash flow and potential profitability to Extreme Biodiesel. The parties have also agreed for Extreme to produce 125,000 gallons of biodiesel for CSG at a discounted rate. Leer más »

PATNA: The BJP’s energy cell will try to impress on the Nitish government the need to promote blending of ethanol with petrol and use of biodiesel, so that the country’s petroleum reserve does not get depleted. The cell convener, Annasaheb M K Patil, said here on Friday that he would call on deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi in this regard.

He said the BJP’s Karnataka government had already allowed blending of petrol with ethanol and biodiesel. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh are also set to follow suit. “Bihar can also move along the same line,” said Patil, adding that 20% blending of ethanol with petrol and 25% biodiesel with diesel leaves no harmful effects. He also said that 5% ethanol blending was being carried out in 20 states and all Union Territories (UTs), while 10% blending of ethanol had been mandated in October 2008. Leer más »

By Ucilia Wang at GigaOm/This year has ushered in a wave of biofuel IPOs, from Solazyme, to Gevo to Kior. The latest is biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group, which on Monday filed to raise up to $100 million in an IPO on the Nasdaq under the symbol REGI.

In contrast to the other next-gen biofuel startups that have gone public this year, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group is an older firm formed out of a consolidation of several firms, and bills itself as the largest biodiesel producer in the country. Renewable Energy sold close to 68 million gallons of biodiesel, or 22 percent of the U.S. overall production, in 2010, according to the company’s filing. Five million of the 68 million gallons came from plants operated by other companies. Leer más »

By Stephan Nielsen/BSBios Industria e Comercio de Biodiesel Sul Brasil SA, a Brazilian biodiesel producer, may expand into the U.S. to tap the country’s growing market.

The company’s first U.S. production facility is expected to go into operation in August, President Erasmo Carlos Battistella said by telephone.

Battistella said the “small” facility near Miami will help the company evaluate how to approach the North American market, where demand for the renewable fuel is increasing.

“The U.S. is a big consumer of fuels and it’s incentivizing the production of biofuels,” he said. “We see the market as an opportunity.” Leer más »

By Charlie Dunmore/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s biodiesel industry could be wiped out by EU plans to tackle the unwanted side effects of biofuel production, after studies showed few climate benefits, four papers obtained by Reuters show.

Europe’s world-leading $13 billion biodiesel industry, which has boomed in the wake of a decision by Brussels policymakers in 2003 to promote it, is now on the verge of being legislated out of existence after the studies revealed biodiesel’s indirect impact cancels out most of its benefits. Leer más »

By Zacks Investment Research on July 5, 2011/Brazilian state-run energy firm Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) acquired a 50% stake in a local biodiesel company BSBIOS Industria e Comercio de Biodiesel Sul Brasil S.A. for 200 million Brazilian reals or $128.4 million. Petrobras executed the deal through its subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível S.A.

Located at Passo Fundo, the acquired company owns a biodiesel facility which is integrated with a vegetable oil extraction unit and has an annual production capacity of 42 million gallons of fuel. The unit is well connected by railroad terminals and a distribution base for smooth delivery and marketing of biodiesel. Leer más »

By Vivian Salama/McDonald’s UAE and privately held Neutral Fuels LLC formed a venture to produce biodiesel using recycled vegetable oil from the fast-food retailer’s outlets in the United Arab Emirates, the companies said.

The venture involves the Gulf nation’s first plant licensed to make biodiesel, the partners said today at a news conference in Dubai. The facility will have an annual output capacity of 1 million liters (264,000 gallons), said Karl Feilder, chairman of Neutral Group, the Dubai-based parent of Neutral Fuels. Leer más »

By Erin Voegele/Events planned in Thailand and India aim to provide interested parties with knowledge and information related to each country’s respective biodiesel industry. Bangkok, Thailand is hosting the Clean Power Asia conference June 28-30, while the Center for Jatropha Promotion & Biodiesel (CJP) will hold the 4th Global Jatropha Hi-tech Integrated Nonfood Biodiesel Farming & Technology Training Programme in Jaipur, India Sept. 14-18.

“Thailand is committed to the low-carbon pathway,” said Twarath Sutabutr, deputy director of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency within Thailand’s Ministry of Energy. Sutabutr is leading the list of speakers for this week’s event. Leer más »