HAMBURG (Reuters) – A number of European biodiesel refiners are likely to go under, and the EU will be under pressure to erect barriers to imports in the coming year as low demand in Europe for the green fuel combines with stiff competition from abroad.

“Many biodiesel companies are already in a critical situation, and there is a risk that this will be transformed into companies closing in the next months,” said Raffaello Garofalo, secretary general of the European biodiesel industry association EBB. Leer más »

Neste Oil has started production at its biodiesel plant in Singapore, the world’s largest with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons. The plant will produce the NExBTL diesel which, according to the company reduces the carbon emissions by 40 to 80 percent depending on the percentage blending with the conventional diesel.

The biodiesel from the plant can be either blended with the conventional diesel or used directly. The company claims that the biodiesel is compatible with the all the diesel engines currently in use. Neste Oil is building a similar plant in Rotterdam, The Netherlands which should be ready by Q2 2011. Leer más »

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) on Tuesday plans to build in Brazil a second biodiesel plant, which is expected to produce 164,000 metric tons a year.

The new plant will be built in Joacaba, Santa Catarina, next to existing ADM soybean-crushing and -refining facilities, ADM said in a statement.

ADM spokesman Roman Blahoski said the company wouldn’t disclose how much the new plant will cost to build. Leer más »

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has recently released a new report that champions jatropha as a promising biodiesel crop especially for global rural farmers. The report, “Jatropha: A Smallholder Bioenergy Crop, the Potential for Pro-Poor Development,” set out to examine the potential for jatropha as a sustainable biodiesel crop and has been in development since 2008. Leer más »

Skies may be filled with algae.Bilal Bomani and salicornia in the Green Lab at NASA Glenn Research Center  In The Region: Scientists at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland may have tied the future of space exploration to sub-aquatic life. 

When it comes to energy, there’s always something new under the sun.  Except for solar power, which has always been under the sun.  NASA Glenn Researcher Bilal Bomani has been working on a process to use biofuel as an alternative energy source for commercial aviation. 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 »

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 »

The project plans to include to 6.000 producers. New machinery will be added to elaborate oil. The total of the production will be overturned to biofuels. The british-swiss company Global Agricultural Resources will contribute with funds. Leer más »