News of the Day

11.29.07

NORTH AMERICA

The US House looks poised to take action next week on energy legislation, with debate on the floor taking place as soon as December 5th, according to the House Speaker. The reconciled legislation is likely to include measures to increase use of renewable fuels to 9.5 billion gallons in 2008, 11.6 billion gallons in 2009, and 20.5 billion gallons by 2015 with 5.5 billion from non-food sources. Once passed by the House, the bill would move to the Senate. The original Senate bill requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022.

The Florida Biofuels Association has been formed and will hold its first annual Waste-to-Fuels conference in Orlando next April.

SOUTH AMERICA

Uruguay's government has signed legislation to promote and regulate production, sale, and use of biofuels. Under the new law, state oil company, Ancap, must use 2% biodiesel in fossil diesel by December 31st, 2008, and 5% ethanol in petrol by December 31st, 2014. The legislation includes tax breaks for producers.

EUROPE

The European Parliament's Environment Committee has voted to amend the new EU fuel quality directive to include criteria to ensure that biofuel used to meet greenhouse gas targets must meet production sustainability and biodiversity criteria. The panel also amended a directive that would require oil companies to cut oil life cycle emissions by 10% from 2010-2020, to allow emission reductions of 2% every two years from 2012.

Germany’s Green Party voted in favor of reducing biofuel use at a party conference last weekend.

Czech financial group PPF Investments, which controls chemicals and biofuel producer Setuza, has decided to pull out of Setuza, the largest Czech rapeseed biodiesel producer. Setuza--which also produces edible fats, detergents, and soaps--had a $45 million loss last year.

Biofuel company, Ineco Poland, says it will build a trans-shipment terminal, a biodiesel plant, and a nutritive fodder production plant in Padew Narodowa, southern Poland for $12 million. The nutritive fodder production plant will use oil plant waste from biodiesel production.

ASIA / PACIFIC

The Philippines and Spain are set to sign an agreement to strengthen agricultural ties and biofuel cooperation. The Philippine Department of Agriculture will also formalize a contract with Bionor Transformacion, a Spanish global, multi-feedstock, biodiesel company, to promote biofuels investments and identify lands for feedstock development in the Philippines.

Singaporean firm D1-BP Fuels Crops Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. has approval from the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission to form a corporation related to jatropha and other non-edible feedstock, including growing, cultivation, manufacturing, processing, trading, and marketing. D1-BP Fuels Crops Asia Pacific will own 99.99% of D1-BP Fuel Crops Philippines.

Philippine alternative fuel manufacturer Chemrez Technologies Inc will spend $2 million to expand its coco-biodiesel plant. With the expansion, Chemrez expects its 60,000 tons production per year to increase to 90,000 tons in 2008. Chemrez says it currently holds 55% of the biofuel market in the Philippines, and is an exporter to China, India, Malaysia, Japan, and Russia.

Global Biodiesel, a unit of South Korea-based environmental engineering group Eco Solutions, has delayed commercial production at its 200,000 mt per year biodiesel plant in the Malaysian state of Sabah due to high feedstock prices. The plant is currently undergoing "pilot tests." Many biodiesel plants being built in the region have been put on hold, according to industry sources.

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