U.S. oil refiner Valero Energy Corp will invest up to $50 million in a plant that will produce ethanol from wood, a major mainstream backing for the emerging technology. The investment in venture capital-backed Mascoma Corp includes a deal for Valero to purchase the facility's 40 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol, the companies said on Thursday in a joint statement.
ADB initiated the study on the Cross-Sectoral Implications of Biofuel Production and Use with the objective of generating scientific information on biofuel production and its use to facilitate implementation of the biofuel policy by the Government of India.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a challenge from U.S. oil companies and refiners against the Environmental Protection Agency for retroactively imposing ethanol blending levels and volume requirements for gasoline sales.
Federal law requires the EPA to set by November 30 each year the amount of ethanol that must make up U.S. gasoline sales for the following year.
This study analyzes the long-term impacts of large-scale expansion of biofuels on land-use change, food supply and prices, and the overall economy in various countries or regions using a global computable general equilibrium model, augmented by a land-use module and detailed representation of biofuel sectors.
The tussle between sugar and ethanol lobby over ethanol blending has taken a new turn. The expert committee on ethanol pricing, headed by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri, wants the quantity of ethanol for blending to be restricted to 400 million litres as of now.
FOOD minister Sharad Pawar has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention on the contentious issue of pricing ethanol for the Centre's ambitious 5% blending programme (EBP), even though an expert panel headed by Plan panel member Saumitra Chaudhri recommended capping ethanol supply at around 500 million litres (ml) in its draft report on Friday.
AN EXPERT panel on ethanol pricing is likely to suggest that the chemicals industry should be assured a certain minimum supply of this key raw material, dealing a blow to the much-hyped programme for blending of ethanol with petrol, which would have to be curtailed sharply.
The panel headed by Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri is likely to finalise the recommendations on Friday.
This study implements a new methodology developed by the JRC IES and IE for estimating changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil and above- and below-ground biomass resulting from global land use changes caused by the production of biofuels. The methodology is based on the Tier 1 approach as developed under the IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
Brazil's ethanol fuel production will reach 64 billion litres in the year 2019, more than twice the amount currently produced, the Mines and Energy Minister Marcio Zimmerman said on September 20.
