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Date Published:
27 January 2017

Volume 11, Issue 1


Current price index

Feature
The new year has seen increasing mandates andhigher greenhouse gas (GHG) requirementsacross many countries withinthe EU. Coupled with are surgent mineral oil sector,the year has started with enthusiasm. Waste grades continue to be the focus for many buyers, as we have seen good volumes trading in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region, Spain, and inland Germany towards the end of December... [read more]

US biodiesel in 2017: A market trumped?

Feature
The surprise election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States has sparked concern that the ten-year old Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) might come under attack by his administration, despite Trump’s repeated comments during his campaign and after his November win that he supports ethanol in US transportation fuel. Ethanol is the primary renewable satisfying the RFS, with... [read more]

The land of possibilities

Feature
Brazil is committed to doubling its domestic usage of ethanol over the next 15 years,a goal which undoubtedly sounds good for investors in the sector. The big question, of course, is can such an expansion be achieved, especially from what has become an extremely volatile national starting point both politically and economically.The country’s ethanol growth plan is part of the Brazilian... [read more]

An end of an era

Feature
Production quotas for sugar and isoglucose will be eliminated in  as of 1 October,2017. Sugar beet growers will no longer benefit from a guaranteed minimum purchase price for their crop and sugar production and exports will no longer be capped. There forms will generate major changes in terms of market conditions within the EU and indeed the equilibrium of the global sugar market.

The Brazilian experience

Feature
As the global ethanol industry works to expand production, tackle climate change challenges, and grow a sustainable economy, it should consider the“Brazilian experience” with biomass and biofuel. Over the past 30 years, renewable fuels from sugarcane have become a cornerstone of Brazil’s economic and environmental policy. By becoming the world’s second-largest biofuels... [read more]

What kind of year will 2017 be for biofuels?

Feature
Emily Skor, CEO At Growth Energy. 2016 was a game-changing year for America’s biofuel industry. From exports to the production of cellulosic biofuels, we set a new pace for success. And for the first time in years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced targets for conventional ethanol consumption that meet the goals set forth by Congress in 2007.

Simulating success

Feature
Maximising profits by operating the most efficient process possible is the primary goal of all biofuel companies. To help create efficient operations,companies use process simulation, which is the application of a range of software tools to analyse complete processes, not just single unit operations.

A taxing issue

Feature
As the 115th US Congress begins in Washington, DC, comprehensive tax reform is set to be one of the top priorities for congressional leadership and for the new Trump administration. There is a high likelihood that comprehensive tax reform legislation will become law during 2018 and that much of the debate and formulation of the legislation will occur throughout this year.

Cracking the kernel

Feature
The 2017 growth edgef or the US ethanol industry will be the implementation of kernel fibre technology and product diversification to include D3 cellulosic ethanol. Kernel fibre technology has inherent advantages since it does not require additional collection, harvesting,transportation, or storage of fibre. Instead, it converts the lowest value component of the corn kernel to a high value... [read more]

Moving Thailand's biorefining forward

Feature
The Asia-Pacific regionis a large growth market for green energy consumption of biofuels. But Thailand, in particular, stands out. Due to existing capacity and its robust domestic ethanol market structure, Thailand is looking more and more like the model of a country that has embraced fuel ethanol.

All life is fermentation

Feature
Microbes can convert everything from agricultural waste to urban refuse into molecules of great value– food, medicines, useful chemicals, and, perhaps most ambitiously, fuels. Not very long ago, a microbe that can use oil to grow helped clear a vast oil spill that was the result of the Deep horizon BP spill.1

Industrial handling of straw bales

Feature
Plants using large quantities of straw as feedstock have existed for a while, and due to the CO2 reduction schemes around the world, more will come. Straw is a natural and non-uniform product, which is a challenge to handle and process. Straw from grain (barley, wheat,maize, rice, etc.) varies from species to species, year to year, field to field, as well as in moisture content.

Nanoparticles under the spotlight

Feature
The world is shifting inexorably – ifat an uncertain speed – away from fossil fuels. One California headquarted company is aiming to help with bringing a low-cost solution to some of the world’s growing problems in the environment and energy sector. Sylvatex has developed a renewable nanochemistry platform that makes nanoparticles out of plant-based inputs and canbe used to... [read more]