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Date Published:
04 February 2010

Volume 4, Issue 1


Is making ethanol finally cheaper than petrol?

Feature
One of the major challenges to the future of the ethanol industry has always been that it cost more to produce than petrol. Future technological advances and cheaper feedstocks were thought to be the solution to this problem, but for the time being another factor has entered the mix. Low oil demand, high supply levels and a drop in crude oil prices from a high of $147 (€105) per barrel in... [read more]

Advancing the German market

Feature
Within the EU the German market is not only the biggest it is also an open market for imports – local producers and traders have to compete with other European companies. Additional imports from countries such as the US and Argentina add to the pressure on profit margins so German biofuel companies (producer and traders) depend on a reliable and fair political framework. After the substantial... [read more]

An industry in limbo

Feature
Like watching a car wreck in slow motion, the US biodiesel industry saw 2009 conclude without an extension for a tax credit critical to the profitability of biodiesel producers. From 31 December to 1 January, biodiesel prices at wholesale terminals jumped $1 (€0.70) a gallon to account for the lost tax credit, a subsidy designed to lure buyers to mix the renewable fuel into petroleum-based diesel.

Abengoa Bioenergy: 'diversification and exports are keys to success'

Feature
One of the US’ largest ethanol producers Abengoa Bioenergy has just taken its second step into the export market by shipping the equivalent of 40 railcars at the beginning of January 2010. ‘Exports offer a huge potential to US producers,’ says Javier Salgado, the company’s CEO. ‘Most producers are focusing on the domestic market, but exports can offer better returns, especially as markets such as... [read more]

A tale of two walls

Feature
It has not been a quiet year for the biofuels industry in the US. Ethanol plants were plagued by a poisonous mix of high raw material costs, low oil prices, and a monster debt they struggled to shift. And now the inertia of the EPA to raise the legal blend of ethanol in petrol is posing yet another problem. For the biodiesel sector things were not much better. Plants suffered similar shutdowns... [read more]

Bioenergy plant update - US

Feature
Biofuels International provides a list of plants being built across the US

The potential yield of microalgae oil

Feature
In autotrophic microalgae the energy from solar radiation arriving on the microalgal surface is converted into stored biomass by photosynthesis. Unfortunately, not all of the solar energy arriving at the surface of a plant can be used in photosynthesis. Only light within the wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm (photosynthetically active radiation, PAR) can be used by plants, effectively allowing... [read more]

An insight into algae

Feature
The global economic recession is already shaking out many of the would-be players in a crowded algae space, and favouring new players with improved strategies. Why are some algae companies attracting capital, and scaling up their enterprises while others remain stuck between the laboratory and the pilot phase? For any algae producer or advanced biofuels company to receive investment, and grow out... [read more]

Fuel from sewage?

Feature
Since the invention of the flushing toilet and the increased use of baths and showers, sewage now arrives at the treatment part as 95% water. While sewage was just a problem to be disposed hygienically dilution was helpful but water makes a poor fuel. In order to make fuel from sewage the solids must either be separated out for procession, or the fuel needs to be in a form that separates easily... [read more]

Developments in the cellulosic ethanol sector

Feature
Cellulose is the most abundant organic compound on earth. Together with hemicellulose and lignin it forms the structure of all plants. Cellulose can be obtained from agricultural and forestry waste, leaves, stems, kernels, fruit peel, wood chip, or from energy crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus. Unfortunately, unlike the starchy parts of a plant which can be hydrolysed into sugar easily,... [read more]

Working together

Feature
Cellulosic ethanol is expected to be a major contributor to the biofuels solution, and there are many factors driving this opportunity. The widespread availability of lignocellulosic material – from corn cobs to municipal waste – attests to the fact that the nascent cellulosic ethanol industry holds much promise for meeting the demand for an alternative global liquid-transport fuel. The diverse... [read more]

Saving the world’s most valuable commodity

Feature
Piedmont Biofuels used to use 1 gallon of water per gallon of biodiesel produced, until the municipal wastewater treatment plant could no longer accept it because it had reached its biological oxygen demand capacity. Over night the company was forced to instead deposit the water at a commercial compost facility at an impossible cost of nearly $0.40 (€0.30) per gallon of biodiesel. Many producers... [read more]

Crude glycerine treatment using coalescers

Feature
Glycerine is a critical component used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food industries. It is a colourless, non-toxic, viscous fluid and has traditionally been used in skin and hair products, oral care products, as a lubricant, as a sweetener, and even in explosives. Crude glycerine is the major by-product of biodiesel produced by the... [read more]

Added value

Feature
Due to a high protein content, biofuel side streams hold a lot of value, which can even exceed the worth of the biofuel itself. For example, soyabeans have 35% protein content, rapeseed – 21%, wheat – 13% and corn – 10%. These proteins are highly nutritional and, if properly isolated, can be turned into high-value products such as food ingredients. Currently, these protein-rich plant sources are... [read more]

Monitoring glycerine quality

Feature
Glycerine is a highly stable non toxic, nonirritating product with no negative environmental effects. Physically, it is watersoluble, clear, colorless, odorless, viscous and hygroscopic liquid with a high boiling point and flash point (177°C) which also make it a very safe product. Industrially, glycerine is a product of fats and oils that have been saponified, hydrolysed or transesterified,... [read more]

Biotransformation of glycerine gains momentum

Feature
Glycerine is one of the most widely available chemicals in the world, touting a production of over £2 billion (€2.3 billion) and growing.1 As the biodiesel industry well knows, the supply of glycerine will continue to dwarf demand and by 2020 more than 5 billion pounds is expected to be on the market. Prices of glycerine in the US have either been widely fluctuating or painfully low, reflecting a... [read more]