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Date Published:
06 May 2012

Volume 6, Issue 4


Millbrook and CONCAWE open the door to 10% ethanol blends

Feature
L ast year CONCAWE, the oil companies’ European research association, based in Brussels, Belgium, began a one-year passenger car test programme on 10% ethanolpetrol blends in order to test their viability and enable the organisation to offer informed guidance to its members.   CONCAWE includes 41 member companies, representing most oil refiners operating in Europe. Research covers... [read more]

Slowly but surely

Feature
It is still early in the year, but the US biodiesel industry seems headed for little demand growth in 2012 compared with a year prior when domestic production facilities recorded output of 1.1 billion gallons. That is more than enough to satisfy the federal mandate, with the 2012 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) requirement for 1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel to be used in lieu of... [read more]

Explaining high fuel prices

Feature
Consumers across the US are now paying close to $4 (€3) for a gallon of petrol. Prices at the pump are directly tied to world oil prices for the very simple reason that there is a lack of competition in transportation fuel markets as well as in the markets of other petroleum products, such as chemicals.   Analysts tend to blame high petrol prices on temporarily high oil prices and try... [read more]

US cellulosic ethanol mandate under attack

Feature
On 9 March 2012 the API, which represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies, filed a lawsuit in the DC Circuit Court challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 requirements for use of cellulosic biofuels in the US transportation fuel supply.   There was no commercial production of cellulosic ethanol in the US in the year ending July 2011, but a number of companies... [read more]

Plant to showcase technology for worldwide use

Feature
Italy’s biofuels market started slowly. Competition from South America, and confusing EU and Italian legislation delayed growth. The industry has been struggling to meet its EU 2020 mandatory 10% biofuel use in transportation fuel target, with biodiesel production falling by more than 30% in 2011 to 500,000 tonnes, and ethanol production practically non-existent.   Although ethanol... [read more]

Spring is in the air

Feature
Spring is here in the UK, and as the lambs gambol and the birds sing overhead, a distant rumble can be heard through the countryside of northeast England. Grain trucks are beginning their pilgrimage to the giant ethanol plant Vivergo near Hull, which in the coming year will turn 1.1 million tonnes of wheat into 420 million litres of ethanol and 500,000 tonnes of animal feed, making it one of the... [read more]

Wheat for bioethanol â

Feature
When it comes to wheat processing plants, bioethanol certainly hits the mega-league for size. An average flour miller or animal feed compounder might use 50–200,000 tonnes of wheat per annum, with very few EU processors using more than 500,000 tonnes.   Most of the wheat to bioethanol sites are in the 500,000-tonne plus league, with a good proportion such as Ensus and Vivergo in the... [read more]

Wheat supply, demand and pricing trends

Feature
There are some compelling conclusions that can be drawn from the trends of the last 10-15 years. First, wheat production has risen due to an upward trend in average crop yield and increasing acreage in the first half of the 20th century. Second, wheat demand has also consistently risen in the past 10 years. Finally, the average price of wheat has risen as well, although there has been an... [read more]

Biofuels + biochemicals = brighter future

Feature
Biofuels technology company Solazyme, based in San Francisco, stumbled across a discovery in January that its technology could not only create biofuels but chemicals that could be used for skincare.   Although Solazyme had never previously considered delving into the cosmetics market, suddenly it found another profit stream where it could turn algae into a skincare range for both men and... [read more]

It is all about chemistry

Feature
Bio-based plastics, chemicals and fuels are gradually penetrating our daily life. Increasing oil prices, medium- to long-term scarcity and a national urge for oil independency led governments across the globe putting in place a regulatory framework directing and promoting the development and implementation of biofuels and biochemicals.   Large private investments have been and are being... [read more]

Going full circle

Feature
A lubricant is a substance, either fluid, semi-fluid or solid, introduced between two moving surfaces to reduce friction. The primary purpose of any lubricant is to reduce wear and heat between the contacting surfaces in relative motion. While wear and heat cannot be eliminated completely, they can be reduced to negligible or acceptable levels by reducing the coefficient of friction between the... [read more]

Shipping: a missed opportunity?

Feature
Ocean-going ships consume a significant part of global transportation fuels. Although commercial shipping is, by far, the most energy efficient mode of transporting goods around the world, the global shipping industry gobbles up more than 16% of global transport fuel supply, which is more than the aviation sector (280 versus 207 million tonnes respectively in 2000).   Today the sector is... [read more]

The path to becoming a low cost producer

Feature
In an unpredictable market, partly created and limited by government mandates, plagued with operational inefficiencies and limited ability to process less expensive feedstock, low-cost producers have a competitive advantage.   The biggest challenges to implementing new technology retrofits are: the host site being asked to make a change that could affect its entire operation and the new... [read more]

Clean before, not after, storage

Feature
Up until now, almost all filtration systems installed on bulk fuel storage tanks were placed between the tank and the fuel dispenser downstream of the tank. Whilst filtering at this location is important, it fundamentally ignores a critical opportunity to remove most of the contaminants that are present in the fuel being delivered, prior to storage in bulk tanks. Why accept a delivery of a... [read more]

Tried and tested

Feature
Membranes are highly engineered, physical barriers that are used in processes for liquid/liquid and liquid/solid separation. They permit the passage of materials only up to a certain size, shape or character. They are particularly beneficial in areas where water is scarce as they permit water reuse.   In the next few years, dozens of second generation cellulosic ethanol and integrated... [read more]

The project finance market â

Feature
More than 60% of the 87 million barrels of oil consumed every day power the world’s transportation sector, and liquid fossil fuels account for 94% of the energy supply to the sector.1   The total amount of biofuel needed to increase world consumption of biofuels from 4% to 18% is close to 105 billion gallons, at a capex cost of $5 (€3.7) to $10 per gallon. That equates a capital... [read more]

The role of the project consultant

Feature
Those involved with building plants do not see their project from the same viewpoints as their lenders or investors, and neither has the same perspective as other project participants. Lawyers, for example, do not see a project in the same way that accountants, engineers or insurance personnel see it. Grant writers, appraisers, safety and environmental experts all have a perspective from the work... [read more]