Biofuel demand in road transport to fall as electrification gathers pace

The decarbonisation of EU road transportation will increasingly impact the demand for fossil and biofuel in the decades to come, according to a new study by Rabobank. The long-term outlook for biofuels, beyond 2045, does not look promising, as the expected decline in demand is likely to encourage biofuel companies to look for alternative uses

How whisky waste can replace fossil fuels on road to net-zero

As Glasgow welcomes leaders from around the world to the United Nations climate summit, COP26, the founder of a Scottish biotech company is calling for action, not targets. Professor Martin Tangney’s company, Celtic Renewables, turns left-over waste from whisky-making into the kind of everyday chemicals that are normally made in oil refineries, without drilling for

Sugar Prices Soar as Energy Crisis Boosts Ethanol Output

The global energy crunch is putting pressure on the sugar market as the world’s top exporters convert more cane into ethanol. Sugar hit a four-year high in October as energy supply shortages roiled commodity markets from magnesium to tomatoes. Facing rampant fuel inflation, Brazil and India are set to produce more ethanol from sugar cane,

Biofuels Would Receive $1 Bn Investment in Latest Biden Administration Proposal

The biofuels industry would receive a chunk of federal dollars as part of the latest draft of the Biden administration’s “Build Back Better Act” working its way through Congress The updated draft of the bill includes $1 billion in funding for the USDA to provide grants during the next 10 years to expand biofuel pump

Biofuel from pine needles a reality

Pine needles will no longer be a source of forest fires causing losses worth crores every year as scientists at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni have devised a method to convert these into enthanol, a green biofuel. The scientists of the Department of Basic Sciences had been on the mission

Brazil sugarcane harvest failure hampers biofuels growth, raises refinery runs

The Center-South Brazil 2021-22 sugarcane harvest is proving to be one of the most challenging seasons on record. On top of a prolonged drought — the worst in almost a century — the sugarcane crop has been recently impacted by three waves of frost. S&P Global Platts Analytics reduced the cane supply forecast to the

Biden’s clean cars plan doesn’t mention biofuels

President Joe Biden outlined a new national target for the adoption of electric vehicles in an announcement Thursday, calling for them to represent half of all new vehicle sales by 2030. However, biofuels groups continued to remind the administration the role that low carbon fuels such as ethanol can play in the remaining transportation fleet.

Airlines eye shift to greener fuels with carbon neutrality in sight

Going electric may be one solution for automakers to ride a global decarbonization trend, but for airlines, it is greener fuels that are grabbing their attention. Japan has joined a group of nations in pledging to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 but still lags behind Europe and the United States where more companies put biofuels

Heating oil, marine industry seek higher biodiesel blends

During the National Biodiesel Conference held virtually early this year, Dr Thomas Butcher, technical director of the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), highlighted several of the barriers to moving to very high biodiesel blends, including cold flow and cold ignition, as well as seal material issues. Other important considerations include moving between high and low

Engineered yeast could expand biofuels’ reach

Boosting production of biofuels such as ethanol could be an important step toward reducing global consumption of fossil fuels. However, ethanol production is limited in large part by its reliance on corn, which isn’t grown in large enough quantities to make up a significant portion of U.S. fuel needs. To try to expand biofuels’ potential