By Carol McClelland
Overwhelmed with your quest for a green job? Not sure where to start?
You are not alone. Based on the questions I hear on a daily basis, I know it's hard to figure out where to put your energy and attention when you are searching for a green career.
Use these four points to guide your actions as you continue your journey to your green career.
1) Nail down Your Green Niche
The green economy is evolving and shifting at the moment. With emerging technologies and growing industries, opportunities continue to open up.
With all of this change, it's nearly impossible for one person to keep track of the developments taking place in all of the green industries and sectors. In fact, scanning the entire universe of green careers on an ongoing basis is a good recipe for overwhelm and frustration.
Instead, the key to success is to identify your green niche, the career that combines your skills, interests, experience and education. With a specific goal, you gain a clear understanding of your target career, focus your exploration, build momentum with your job search, and land a position that matches your strategy.
2) Immerse Yourself in Your Target Green Industry
Before choosing a specific job title, focus on understanding the components of your target industry. Having a big picture of your target industry will help you answer these questions to refine your sense of the industry.
• What problems is the industry facing?
• What opportunities does the industry have?
• What is missing in the industry that's keeping it from solving these problems and capitalizing on these opportunities?
• What unique terminology is used within the industry?
• Who are the key players in the industry?
Begin with online research to grasp the basic structure of your target industry. Then expand your efforts by talking with your contacts to fill in the gaps in your understanding of the industry.
As you gain a sense of the industry, explore how your skills will benefit companies within the industry.
3) Engage in Your Local Green Community
To locate job openings, your most promising strategy is to connect with others in your community who share your interests, values, and causes.
Leverage the following strategies to strengthen your green connections in your area.
• Remember to keep your passion in mind as you look for opportunities to get involved.
• Volunteer with a local non-profit or team that's helping your community go green.
• Take a class in sustainability to strengthen your knowledge while connecting with others in your area.
• Meet in person by participating in green networking groups such as Green Drinks and EcoTuesday
• Connect with people virtually on Facebook, LinkedIn groups, NetImpact, and JustMeans.
As you meet people who are well connected and/or know something about your target industries, connect with them on LinkedIn, get together for a conversation, and keep in touch by sharing resources that match their needs.
4) State Your Job Search Goals with Clarity, Confidence, and Conviction
The key to impressing potential employers and networking contacts is being able to talk about your career goals as powerfully as possible. Review your recent networking and interviewing experiences and then ask yourself the following questions:
• Am I able to state my employment goals clearly and concisely in one or two sentences?
• Do I state my employment goals with confidence and enthusiasm?
• Does my sense of conviction and passion come through as I talk about my employment goals?
When you answer these questions with a series of emphatic "yes" responses, your readiness to be hired shines out to the world.
If you aren't able to answer yes to these questions, focus your efforts on clarifying your goal, finding ways to feel enthusiastic about your goal, and expressing your passion as you talk about your employment goal. Being connected to your goal in this way ignites your energy. Your contacts, colleagues, and potential employers will feel your excitement and be drawn to find out more about you.
Pulling It All Together
Taking these four points in order will help you build a strong, sustainable foundation for your future green career. The green economy is going to evolve in ways we can't predict at this moment. Think of it as a journey that will have its ups and downs as you strive to reach your goal destination.
If you need a job now, I recommend you focus on an interim position that taps the skills you've used in previous jobs. If possible, choose an interim job that helps you move one step closer to your green career goal. Then when your target green industry opens up, you'll be ready to act on the opportunity.
About the Author:
Green Career Expert, Carol McClelland, PhD, the SelfGrowth.com Official Guide to Green Jobs/Green Careers, is the author of Green Careers For Dummies and founder and executive director of Green Career Central, an online resources center with easy-to-use resources, coaching programs, and training events to help professionals, students, and career counselors make sense of the green economy. Download your free report: Six Strategies to Find Your Green Career at http://www.greencareercentral.com/
NGO: Palm oil industry highly sustainable in developing economies 01/10/2009 (The Star Online), Petaling Jaya - Palm oil, which accounts for 60% of the global vegetable oil trade, has come under fire from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are pressuring processors and consumers to boycott the oil and European Union (EU) governments to block its import based on the contention that palm oil damages the environment.
But, according to a report by World Growth entitled Palm Oil – The Sustainable Oil, palm oil uses less land than crop-based oilseeds.
“Only 0.26ha is required to produce a tonne of palm oil while soybean, sunflower and rapeseed need 2.2ha, 2ha and 1.5ha respectively to produce the same amount of oil,” said the report.
The proposed restriction may also hurt the export trade of developing countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia that collectively produce 87% of the world’s palm oil.
The report said the palm oil industry was a highly sustainable development tool in the economies of many developing countries.
World Growth chairman Alan Oxley said the campaign by environmental groups to prevent conversion of forest land to other more productive purposes would deny developing countries the opportunity to use palm oil as a development tool.
“The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have rated palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia respectively as a very high quality development tool for reducing poverty,” he told StarBiz via email.
In Malaysia, the world’s second largest palm oil producer, the industry currently employed 570,000 people with export earnings of more than RM68bil last year, said the report.
World Growth said the EU import demand for palm oil had also grown as some countries there had resorted to using it as a feedstock for bio-diesel production.
“But the proposed EU Renewable Energy Directive includes a condition that will restrict the availability of palm oil,” it said.
On the industry’s impact on the environment, the report said it had not destroyed forests’ biodiversity in developing countries.
“For example, palm oil is restricted to only 20% of the total land in Malaysia allocated for agricultural purposes.
“And in Indonesia, palm oil is only cultivated in areas set aside for commercial production,” it said.
Oxley added that biodiversity in forests was protected by establishing forest conservation areas which contained representative strands of natural forests, not by imposing a blanket ban on conversion of forest land for other purposes.
“And well-managed oil palm plantations are more effective in absorbing greenhouse gases than natural forests,” he said.
Moreover, said the report, the technical understanding of carbon footprint of oil palm, other plantations and forest industries was still weak.
World Growth is a non-profit NGO established to bring balance to the debate over trade, globalisation and sustainable development.
Japan Airlines Corp on Friday test flew a Boeing 747-300 jet powered with environmentally-friendly bio-fuel from Tokyo, in the first test of its kind among Asian airlines, Dow Jones reports.
One of the jumbo jet's four Pratt & Whitney engines was powered by a blend of conventional kerosene-based jet fuel and a Boeing Co developed bio-fuel, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions in flights.
The bio-fuel is derived mainly from the flowering plant camelina, which is inedible, making it less likely that its jet fuel application would affect the world food market. Flight Global adds that JAL said its blend was 50% bio-fuel and 50% jet kerosene and of the bio-fuel component, camelina made up 84%, jatropha 16% and algae less than 1%.
JAL’s group president and CEO said that when bio-fuels are produced in sufficient amounts to make them commercially viable, ‘we hope to be one of the first airlines in the world to power aircraft using bio-fuels.’ (30 January 2009)
Sarawak will turn sago waste into bioethanol for fuel.A pilot plant, with a daily production capacity of one tonne, is under construction at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Samarahan, near here.
The plant, which is expected to begin commercial production in six months, is the first in South-East Asia, said Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Fadillah Yusof at the project’s earth-breaking ceremony yesterday.
Unimas and AGS Sdn Bhd were given RM11.6mil under the ministry’s Techno-Fund grant to carry out research and development on sago starch and its effluents and solid waste for production of bioethanol.
“The plant is built based on the success of the research,” said Fadillah.
Unimas’ principal researcher Prof Dr Kopli Bujang said the pilot plant would produce bioethanol as an additive for fuel, which did not need for car engines to be modified.
He said such projects had been implemented in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan, although different substrates were being used.
Dr Kopli said bioethanol fetched between US$400 (RM1,400) and US$700 (RM2,450) a tonne in the market, adding that several Japanese firms had enquired about Unimas’ production.
“Apart from bioethanol, the pilot plant can be used to produce lactic acid from sago starch, which is an expensive commodity for pharmaceutical industries,” he said.
Dr Kopli said future plans would include using sago effluents for the culture of petro-algae for the production of biodiesel.
The plant will have facilities for hydrolysis of starch and cellulose into sugar, fermentation process and downstream processing for distillation and dehydration of the ethanol produced.
Water generated from the distillation stage can be recycled for use in starch hydrolysis.
Brazilian bio-diesel output fell 12% month-on-month to 79.65 million litres (21 million US gallons) in February 2009, Latin America News Digest reports.
The production was 6 million litres below the country's bio-diesel demand. The supply director of oil and gas giant Petroleo Brasileiro said the company will be able to raise the bio-diesel blend with fossil fuel to 4% from 3% now, Latin America News Digest reports.
The increase would result in a 5% reduction in oil imports, he said. Last week, Petrobras launched its third bio-diesel plant, in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais state. The unit is operated by Petrobras Biocombustivel, a subsidiary set up in July 2008 to manage the company's bio-fuel production projects. The new plant has the same production capacity as the other two company units in Bahia's Candeias and Ceara's Quixada, of 57 million liters of bio-diesel per year.
Together, the three plants generate jobs and income for thousands of family farmers and are capable of producing 170 million liters of bio-diesel per year. Petrobras and Embrapa have signed three partnership agreements with a total value of $8 million that cover the consolidation and development of technologies that will be used by Petrobras Biofuel in the production of biodiesel and ethanol, Valor Economico reports. One of these will cover the sustainable management of cane straw.
AE Brazil reports that the International Energy Agency forecasts that global production of bio-fuels will slow sharply this year after several years of rapid growth, but it says that the result would be worse were it not for growth in Brazil. IEA said reasons for slowing bio-fuel growth include lower prices of oil, the restriction of credit, increasingly divergent government support and falling forecasts for transport fuel demand. (14 April 2009)
The US DOE’s Energy Information Administration predicts that American consumption of liquid fuel will increase by a mere one million barrels each day through to 2030 and that bio-fuels will provide enough supply to meet the demand, Ethanolproducer.com reports.
Increased use of domestically-produced bio-fuels will also contribute to an almost 10% decline in liquid fuels imports by 2030. According to the EIA’s 2009 Annual Energy Outlook, petroleum prices will continue to drive the rate at which renewable fuels are consumed. Overall oil consumption shows no growth between 2007 and 2030 as a result of increasing corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and increased requirements for renewable fuels.
However one EIA model shows that if oil-producing countries rapidly expand their petroleum output to keep oil per barrel prices low, bio-fuel consumption might only reach 27 billion gallons by 2030. On the other end of the scale, the EIA’s high oil price model predicts that if oil producers maintain tight control over their supply and prices increase to near $200 per barrel in 2030, total bio-fuel consumption could reach 40 billion gallons.
In Oregon, Chemeketa Community College, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies and Wildwood have proposed a $10 million pilot-scale bio-fuels plant and training facility at Mill Creek Junction, near Salem, Biofuels Digest reports. The proposed project is co-located with the state’s largest commercial bio-diesel plant, Sequential-Pacific Biodiesel.
The facility would produce up to 432,000 gallons of bio-fuels and 660 kilowatts of power, and include training and R&D facilities, and would create up to 450 jobs within the state. The facility would work with agri-waste, algae and woody waste as feedstocks.
Snohomish County is going ahead with plans to get into the bio-diesel business, King 5 News reports. The county has plans to produce enough bio-diesel to eventually fuel its entire fleet of vehicles.
Just this weekend Seattle bio-diesel producers and consumers met to discuss the steady decline of the industry. International markets are forcing up the costs of materials to make bio-diesel at a time when oil and gas prices are going down.
Supporters of Snohomish County's plan say they can avoid those problems by keeping it local. A County Councilman told King 5 their plan would use canola grown by local farmers, heated in the County's own seed driers which would be fuelled by methane gas captured from an old landfill near Everett.
Investment experts and bio-fuel industry representatives are criticizing a $176-million, two-year California plan to reduce transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by subsidizing a range of alternative fuels and vehicles, claiming the initiative allocates a large chunk of money for unproven hydrogen and electric drive-train technologies, Carbon Control News reports.
These critics charge the plan undervalues many technologies that could significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions in the near-term, such as increasing the use of renewable and biomass-based fuels. California's plan to advance alternative fuels and vehicles -- including prioritizing which technologies to fund at $800 million over the next six years -- may serve as a model for other states and the federal government, as officials look to cut transportation GHGs, increase energy efficiency and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Iowa energy officials have approved more than $2 million for an effort to grow algae at a southwest Iowa ethanol plant and use the material to make fuel, Fox News reports.
The 18-member Iowa Power Fund Board approved the grant this week to assist in the commercialization of algae production technology. (14 April 2009)
23/03/2009 (Business Times, Malaysia) - MALAYSIA is expected to consume 500,000 tonnes of palm oil, or 3 per cent, of national crude palm oil (CPO) production, when it fully implements blended biodiesel programme by early 2010, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said.
Also called the B5 programme, use of blended biodiesel has started with government agencies and will be extended to the industrial and mass transport sectors later.
In a recent interview with the World Refining Association, ahead of the Asian Biofuels Roundtable which will take place in Kuala Lumpur from today to Wednesday, Chin said the government is also working with Petronas to enable some retail stations to supply B5 to the agencies.
Malaysia started the B5 programme on February 1 2009 with Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur and the Armed Forces, in the central region.
"Discussions with the biodiesel producers and petroleum companies are ongoing on areas critical to the implementation, namely logistics and financing mechanism," Chin said.
He said challenges facing the biofuel industry this year include exports of subsidised US biodiesel to EU which distort prices and trade, the EU energy directive, and the global economic slowdown.
Last year, Malaysia exported 182,108 tonnes of palm methyl ester (PME), or palm diesel, valued at RM610.7 million. In January this year, it exported 12,731 tonnes of PME valued at RM30.19 million.
On the impact of the global economic crisis, Chin said the sharp drop in CPO prices, coupled with the global financial crisis, could slow the development of the biofuel industry in terms of stalling new investments.
"The Malaysian biodiesel industry has both the production capacity to a tune of 1.67 million tonnes and feedstock available to meet market demand both in the domestic and world market."
To reduce the current oversupply of palm oil and help support palm oil prices, Malaysia has also launched the RM200 million Oil Palm Replanting Incentive Scheme to reduce the nation's high palm oil stock to ensure the stability of palm oil prices.
The scheme is aimed at felling 200,000ha of oil palm trees aged 25 years and above, which will reduce palm oil supply by 700,000 tonnes annually in the short term. It has to date approved 63,000ha under the scheme, which closes at the end of June.
Chin said the quantum of CPO duty free exports has been increased to three million tonnes this year to cater to markets which prefer CPO while encouraging offtakes would also reduce stocks in the short term.
According to industry sources, Philippine coconut oil exports slid 72.6 percent in April from a year earlier, marking its 10th consecutive month of decline, Reuters reports.
Shipments from the Southeast Asian producer, the world's biggest exporter of the commodity, slumped to 31,638 tonnes last month from 115,632 tonnes in April 2008, the United Coconut Associations of the Philippines Inc (UCAP) said in a report.
That brought exports for the first four months of the year to 134,438 tonnes, down 62.9 percent from the same period in 2008.
The Philippines expects exports of coconut oil, to dip to 835,000 tonnes this year from 847,626 tonnes in 2008, on soft global demand as well as its increasing use as feedstock by local bio-diesel producers.
The bio-fuels arm of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has signed deals with three groups to start jatropha plantations in Biliran, Aklan and Iligan, BusinessWorld reports.
PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corp., will fund 200 hectares owned by the San Juan Capenyahan Producers Cooperative in Biliran, 450 hectares of the Malagsum Highlands Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Iligan, and 1,000 hectares of RSL Agro-Trade Company, Inc. (27 May 2009)
Creditors of Brazilian agribusiness group Agrenco Limited gathered in a general assembly approved importing and exporting company Glencore to manage the company's assets in Brazil, on a three-year mandate, Agência Estado reports. Agrenco has been under a judicial recovery plan since March.
Further, Agrenco said creditors approved the sale of its bio-diesel plant in the state of Paraná to bio-diesel producer Bsbios. US second-generation biofuel developer Amyris Biotechnologies has bought out Crystalsev's stake in a joint venture owned by both companies to produce diesel from cane in Brazil and aims to establish its own mill to guarantee its own cane supply, Reuters reports.
Amyris will look for partnerships with other Brazilian groups, and is now in talks with several to install industrial-scale plants next to existing mills. It plans to produce ethanol at its mill initially, converting the mill to cane diesel later in order to start producing diesel from 2011-2012. (27 May 2009)
Two South Korean firms, Eco Solutions and Enviro Plasma, are planning to invest up to USD475 million in renewable energy projects in the Philippines, Dow Jones reports. Eco Solutions is interested in building a jatropha-based bio-diesel plant while Enviro Plasma is keen on an ethanol refinery using sugarcane as a feedstock.
Enviro Plasma is interested in a 500,000-liter refinery, which could cost up to $300 million, in Tarlac province in northern Philippines, said the president of the Philippine Agriculture and Development Corp.
Enviro Plasma will provide 70% of the project cost while its local partner Central Luzon Bioenergy Corp will contribute the remaining 30%. Eco Solutions is considering a bio-diesel processing plant with a daily capacity of 100,000 litres. The project, to be located in General Santos City in southern Philippines, will require an investment of $175 million. (26 May 2009)
During the visit of the Brazilian President to Turkey last week, his Turkish counterpart expressed interest in cooperating on new energy technologies and the production of ethanol and biodiesel, Efe reports.
The Brazilian leader proposed that Turkey and Brazil invest in biodiesel and ethanol production in African countries. AFP reprots that the G8, the EU, Brazil, China and Mexico signed an agreement to exchange information and experience on energy efficiency over the weekend. This may include technologies for low carbon dioxide emission and investment in construction and transport.
Dow Jones reports that the recovery of the international agricultural commodities markets and renewed interest in Brazilian farmland from foreign buyers has supported land prices in the country between March and April, an analyst at AgraFNP said. The average price for a hectare stood at R$4,393 between March and April, when foreign buyers started purchasing land, compared with R$4,373 per ha between January and February. AgraFNP said that the
average price for a hectare has risen 2.5% over the past 12 months to R$4,287.
Launched to coincide with next week’s Ethanol Summit, the Economist has started an online debate over whether the cars of the future will run on bio-fuels or electricity, Udop reports. (At present the voting is favouring the latter). You can join in on: http://www.economist.com/debate/overview/145. (26 May 2009)
SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel is rehiring workers after closing down a month ago, World Link reports. Oregon’s largest bio-diesel plant in Salem was built to produce 5.8 Mmgy. But owners could not run the plant at capacity because of a lack of buyers, and had to store 250,000 gallons in early spring until it could find markets.
The manager said that the plant has begun to run at half capacity. “We need the market to grow before we can get at full production,” he said. Portland’s Water Bureau fleet, for example, moved from a 20% bio-diesel blend to a 99% bio-diesel blend on April 15.
A Minnesota Soybean Processors bio-diesel plant was rocked by a fire and explosions, Bloomberg reports. While the fire was contained, residents nearby were evacuated, and people within a one-mile radius were told to leave their homes, according to the report. The plant in Brewster, Minnesota, processes 50,000 bushels of soybeans a day and makes about 30 Mmgy of fuel.
OriginOil, found its technology the centre of discussion before the Senate Subcommittee on Environment and Public Works in Washington this week, TheBioenergySite News reports. During the session, the President of Sapphire Energy, commented on the many benefits of using algae as the foundation for a new generation of renewable and low carbon transportation fuels.
"Growing algae, and converting it into plastics, fuels, and or secondary feedstock, could significantly help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy price shocks, reclaim wastewater, conserve fresh water (in some scenarios), lower food prices, reduce the transfer of US wealth to other nations, and spur regional economic development." Her testimony also named OriginOil as one of the prominent algae-based fuel companies to develop "fascinating algae-based biological carbon capture and beneficial reuse applications". (26 May 2009)
Hoping to create a global carbon market, the organizers of the World Business Summit on Climate Change said that 2 million new jobs would be created in the US alone if it increased its reliance on cleaner sources of energy, Green Momentum reports.
The Copenhagen Climate Council study said the United States would gain that many jobs if its electricity use grew by just half of 1% a year and a quarter of its electricity came from wind energy and other renewable sources.
The EU Commission President told the CEOs of major international corporations that similar investments could produce a million new jobs in European Union countries. The International Energy Agency's (IEA) chief economist said that oil prices may return to "significantly higher" levels because companies have cut investment in the new production needed to match demand from fast-growing China and India. The IEA chief economist said that oil companies have cancelled at least $170 billion of planned investments - including $100 billion this year - as they seek to save money amid the financial and economic crisis. That's equivalent to 2 million barrels of oil per day, and a further 4.2 million barrels per day of future oil-supply has been delayed by at least 18 months, he said. Oil companies are likely to announce even more cutbacks in oil and gas production investments in coming months, he said. (26 May 2009)
Neste Oil laid the foundation stone for its renewable diesel plant in the Port of Rotterdam, Market Wire reports. Upon completion, the plant will be the largest renewable diesel plant in Europe with an annual production capacity of 800,000 mt.
The investment cost of the plant is estimated to be EUR 670 million, and it will create over 100 jobs. "With this plant in the Netherlands, Neste Oil will become the leading renewable diesel producer supplying Europe from the Netherlands. Our investment also signals Neste Oil's commitment to driving forward latest innovation with our NExBTL technology in Europe", said the President and CEO of Neste Oil.
Oil company Preem is planning to increase its production of bio-fuels significantly, Esmerk reports. The Head of Development expects the production of alternative fuels to total about 400,000-500,000 cu m within four-five years, up from current small volumes Swedish venture capital company Acap Invest is planning to sell bio-fuel technology company TPS, a former subsidiary of Talloil acquired by Acap Invest two years ago following Talloil's bankruptcy, Esmerk reports. Acap Invest has not managed to increase turnover of TPS fourfold to SEK 1billion as intended. TPS rebuilds oil- and gas-fuelled heating plants into bio-fuel based plants. (26 May 2009)
PetroSun, Inc announced the recent meetings held in Shanghai between PetroSun and Shanghai Jun Ya Yan Technology Development Co, Ltd resulted in the completion of an agreement to move the parties into the initial stage of the commercialization of the algae-to-bio-fuel industry in China, Market Wire reports.
Viaspace Inc, a company that commercialises space and defence technologies from NASA and the US Department of Defense, announced it has planted 1.2 million seedlings of its proprietary fast-growing China Giant King Grass near the IPA factory in Guangdong province, Market News Publishing reports. Giant King Grass is a natural hybrid perennial grass which is propagated from seedlings rather than seeds and was developed as an animal feed and as a feedstock for production of cellulosic ethanol, methanol, bio-crude and green gasoline. In tropical and subtropical areas such as Southern China, it can yield four crops per year and up to 156 mt of grass per acre per year. (11 December 2008)
A senior government official said the Philippines expects to generate around PHP80 billion ($1.66 billion) in bio-fuel investments over the next two years, Dow Jones reports. The head of the Sugar Regulatory Administration and vice-chair of the National Biofuels Board said next year, about PHP4 billion worth of investments are expected to be realized as three to four bio-fuel refineries are likely to come on stream.
Indigenous women leaders from Mindanao said the expansion of jatropha plantations in Sarangani and in other provinces in Mindanao has displaced traditional food crops, which forced members of the B'laan tribe to go hungry, Philippine Daily Inquirer reports. (11 December 2008)
The Cathay Pacific's general manager for environmental affairs said the airline industry will not be able to make itself sustainable for up to 20 years, Media reports. He said airlines needed to look at more than just the most efficient and effective bio-fuel, but also aircraft upgrades and technology, navigation and improved infrastructure.
Scientists around the globe have been researching viable alternative energy sources for some time now, NoticiasFinancieras reports. Brazil, which stood out in 1975 with its National Fuel Alcohol Programme and in 2005 for its pioneering National Bio-diesel Programme, is wielding new strategies in its global offensive for fuels based on distilled agricultural products.
Scientific progress is opening space for agro-fuels to become a new commodity to conquer the global market. To achieve this, Brazil is investing in research that could be the answer to concerns about the negative effects of crop-based fuel production on food supplies and prices, and on the conservation of its Amazon forests. (27 November 2008)
22/05/2009 (Reuters) - Funny thing about the biofuels business. Roughly 200 companies are pursuing the perfect biofuel -- as cheap as fossil fuels, adaptable to today’s infrastructure, low-carbon, sustainable and no threat to the food supply or to tropical forests. But even cutting-edge startups that say they have the puzzle just about solved can’t raise the money they need to get into commercial production.
“Everyone wants to be the first to finance the second plant,” says Arnold Klann, the CEO of biofuels firm Blue Fire Ethanol. “No one one wants to be first to finance the first one.”
“Banks are not willing to lend,” Klann said. “They’re risk averse.” The industry needs the support of banks or the public markets because a commercial scale will cost upwards of $100 million, more than the venture capitalists now financing the industry want to put at risk. Publicly-traded Blue Fire makes ethanol from wood wastes, urban trash, rice and wheat straws, and it was awarded a $40 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, but it has been slow to get to commercial production and investors are skeptical. The firm’s market capitalization is only about $25 million.
Biofuels are on my mind because I spent the day at BIO International, a sprawling (14,000 attendees) biotech industry convention in Atlanta. I’ve written very little about biofuels, mostly because the science of turning plants into fuel is quite complicated, and so it’s hard to separate companies with a shot at making it big from those with no hope. That’s not just a challenge for me -- the corn ethanol industry has destroyed many millions of dollars of capital from investors who rushed in too quickly.
Still, there are strong forces driving biofuels, most of them emanating from Washington where Congress has adopted biofuels mandates. The historic Waxman-Markey climate change bill just passed by the House energy committee will, if it becomes law, provide another boost to biofuels by raising the price of gasoline and diesel fuels.
At BIO, Laurence Alexander, the managing director of investment bank Jefferies & Co., moderated an excellent panel that taught me a bunch of things. Some highlights:
It takes a lot of feedstock to make biofuels. For ethanol to account for 5 percent of U.S. gasoline use, it would require turning 33 percent of the U.S. corn crop into ethanol. Globally, it would take 100 percent of the soy, rapeseed and palm oil production to produce 10 percent of the global supply of diesel. That’s at current yields, of course, which is why it’s so vital to drive up yields.
Biofuels have an image problem. “Glib critics,” Alexander said, “could shift the policy debate.” The industry needs to prepare to answer tough questions, even if they are only loosely based on reality: How many children did you starve to drive to work today? Can we run out of arable land? Will biofuels drain the acquifers?
Not all feedstocks are created equal. I knew that, of course, but the variations in productivity are dramatic. In terms of gallons of fuel that can be produced per acre, according to Aristides Patrinos, the president of a company called Synthetic Genomics, sugar cane (800) and switchgrass (500) outperform corn (375) and jatropha (202). Still, his company, which was started by Craig Venter, is excited about jatropha because it yields a high quality oil, grows in poor soils and can live in semi-arid regions. “That’s in our view an ideal fuel because it doesn’t really compete for the same land where you can grow food,” Patrinos said. It’s ripe for significant genetic modification to improve yields. “We’ve just recently announced the sequencing of the jatropha genome,” he said. Who knew?
Two well-funded startups delivered impressive presentations. One was Amyris Biotechnologies, which I knew about. A fascinating company, backed by Kleiner Perkins, that first produced a low-cost anti-malaria drug for the Gates Foundation and is now making diesel fuel at a pilot plant in Northern California. (Jack Newman, a co-founder, has twice been a popular speaker at FORTUNE’s Brainstorm Green.) The other was Solazyme, another Bay Area firm that uses algae to convert cellulosic feedstocks into fuel. Harrison Dillon, the president and chief technology officer, who also happens to be a patent lawyer, said the firm is able to make oil-based fuels at a commercial scale but that its cost are still higher than fossil fuels.
Because of capital constraints, it may be that well-established players will have to enter the market to take biofuels to scaleor . DuPont and Genencor, a division of a Danish firm called Danisco, formed a joint venture last year to develop a cellulosic ethanol business using corn stover or switchgrass in Tennessee, which has provided grants to the plant and pays farmers to plant switchgrass. (It takes three years to develop the first group) DuPont -- whose Pioneer division hired me to moderate a panel at BIO -- and Genencor have committed to a three-year investment of $140 million. They obviously have the capacity to invest more if needed.
They’ve also got a track record. DuPont and Genencor got together nearly 15 years ago to research the process that now produces a renewable material known as bio-PDO, which is made from corn starch, that goes into carpets, textiles and shampoos. It’s one of the big successes of the bio-materials biz.
25/05/2009 (Bernama), Kuala Lumpur - There is no plan to reduce the current biodiesel mandate of five percent despite the high feedstock cost, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said today.
He said the government encouraged the use of biodiesel in the country, although it was not as yet mandatory.
"We would like to encourage its use because we are a party to the Kyoto Protocol. If the policy is to move in the direction of biodiesel usage, we need to follow.
"It is not mandatory yet because the price of raw materials is very high at present," he added.
He was speaking at a media conference at the Palm International Nutra-Cosmeceutical Conference (PINC) 2009 here today.
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), an international environmental treaty.
It is a treaty intended to achieve the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
Last October, Malaysia implemented the mandate of a five percent palm-fuel blend with fossil diesel, gradually starting with government vehicles this year before extending it to the industrial and transportation sectors in 2010.
Asked as to the projection of crude palm oil prices this year, Hamzah said:"We hope that this year, the average price could be about RM2,500-RM2,800 per tonne."
Meanwhile in his speech, Hamzah said the palm oil industry is now an important pillar of the country's economy.
He said the sector had contributed significantly towards providing a continuous flow of foreign earnings through the export of palm oil and value-added products to the global market.
"In 2008, palm oil contributed RM65.2 billion or US$18.1 billion in export earnings, which marks another significant year of contribution from the palm oil industry," he said.
He said besides contributing to the nation's economic development, the contribution of Malaysian palm oil to the world's oils and fats market was also very significant.
He noted that the palm oil production of 17.73 million tonnes by Malaysia in 2008, accounted for a 11.1 share of the global production of 160 million tonnes of oils and fats.
According to Hamzah, Malaysian palm oil commanded a 26 percent share of the export trade in oils and fats as well as a 46 percent share of global palm oil trade while being consumed in more than 150 countries worldwide.
"All these were carried out utilising only 4.5 million hectares of land or less than 1.9 percent of the global area under oilseeds covering 233 million hectares," he said.
He added Malaysia is now focusing on increasing productivity through among others, in the upstream sector, which includes increasing oil yields from the current average of four tonnes per hectare annually to eight tonnes per hectare by using genome sequencing.
"By this approach, we hope to continue to be a major supplier of global palm oil needs, without having to open new areas," he said.
While fuel prices are nothing like they were last summer (but
they are climbing), there are still plenty of reasons to want to make your own biodiesel. Homebrew biodieselers are, on the whole, a careful bunch and there are
plenty of classes available to make sure your mixing of vegetable fat, lye and methanol goes smoothly. Not everyone does it right every time, though, and the
Associated Press has found a few incidents of biodiesel makers setting garages and backyards on fire in at least five states (Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Oregon). These fires have not caused any deaths, yet, but at least one home was destroyed - and rebuilding must cost way more, environmentally and financially, than was saved by going bio.
There are few rules against making biodiesel at home, but more might be coming. In Phoenix, Arizona, for example, you need to be on a property that is at least one acre so you're not endangering a lot of neighbors. Just a reminder to be careful out there.
[Source:
Associated Press]
But if you want to try making your own biodiesel, I suggest you get this course for at least you know the safety precaution and risk involved before you actually start the process. Read here for more information.
Original text:
De-linking NGOs Concerns over Deforestation and Palm OilSource:
http://ceopalmoil.blogspot.com/2008/10/understanding-ngos-concerns-over.htmlAuthor: Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron, CEO, Malaysian Palm Oil promotion Council (MPOPC)
1. A few years ago when oils and fats were cheaper than petroleum, the EU and USA rushed to promote the use of biofuels for various reasons. One not-so-frankly-revealed reason was that oilseed farmers will benefit from the new market outlets and the increase in prices. The governments also benefited from this strategy because agricultural subsidies would be reduced if prices of soybean and rapeseed were high and price support subsidies would not be needed. In addition, it makes good political statements to say that biodiesel will help reduce global warming through reduced green house gas emissions, and also enable the countries to be less dependent on imported petroleum fuels.
2. Diverting a major portion of rapeseed and soy oil supply and stocks for biodiesel did result in increasing prices which benefited the EU and US farmers tremendously between 2004 and the middle of 2008. During this time, it became obvious that palm oil was a potentially good raw material to participate in the biodiesel industries in both the EU and USA as it is generally cheaper than soyabean or rapeseed oil. This resulted in increasing concern amongst the EU biodiesel lobbies who are integrated with the rapeseed industry over the potential competion from palm oil and they tried to prevent it from being imported for biodiesel production and use in the EU. This was also to ensure that biodiesel subsidies are not shared with competing imported oils.
3. Various trade barriers were set up by the goverments. For example, biodiesel standards were developed in the EU to disqualify palm oil biodiesel from being accepted. The cold flow plug point(CFPP) standard was introduced to ensure palm oil did not meet the required test and the anti palm oil lobby was relieved at the new arrangement. However, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) announced that palm oil biodiesel methyl esters can be processed with a new technology that would overcome the CFPP problem. Furthermore, if the blending of biodiesel is only at 5%, the CFPP value of palm oil biodiesel methyl esters becomes irrelevant as the 5 parts of palm biodiesel is totally dissolved by the 95 parts of petroleum diesel giving an acceptable blend. However, unknown to many, tallow produced in the EU and used for biodiesel would also fail the CFPP test and this would not go well with the local tallow lobbies.
4. EU farmers continue to question the reason for an imported commodity such as palm oil biodiesel to be accorded biofuel subsidy which is meant for local oilseed farmers. The outcries became louder as some power plants began to use palm oil as biofuel and enjoyed the subsidies and the cheaper prices. The rapeseed lobbies were worried that by allowing cheaper palm oil for use as biofuel in vehicles and power plants, it will eventually affect the demand for local oils, and create a substantial outflow of subsidies.(This narrow view ignores the fact that Malaysia imports large amount of EU and US goods and needs market access for its exports in order to remain a valued trading partner.)
5. A new import barrier for palm oil was subsequently introduced arising from the view of the former Dutch Environmental Minister who argued that if palm oil is encouraged for use as biofuel it would stimulate an increase in production leading to the opening of forest land. This apparently will affect the environment, animal habitats and biodiversity. He was able to introduce the fear factor of what could happen in the future if palm oil demand undergoes a rapid increase.
6. The environmental NGOs were quick to sieze on the opportunity to harp on the fear of potential deforestation, and started to report on orang utan habitat loss and global warming effects of oil palm cultivation on peat. The change in focus from deforestation due to logging to now oil palm plantation became a refreshing rallying point for NGOs perpetual campaigns. Afterall palm oil has more money to offer than the logging industry which has over the years witnessed a decline.
7. Once the issues of deforestation and palm oil fell into the hands of NGOs like FOE and Green Peace who use unscrupulus methods to attack their target victims, the whole issue of biodiesel development and protection of subsidies was totally forgotten. The farmers in the EU and USA who are worried by palm oil invasion for the new found application of their oils and fats as biodiesel are totally served by the NGOs who gladly run the anti-palm oil campaign while pocketing huge amount of funds. The collusion to get the NGOs to campaign against palm oil was cleverly disguised. It was reported for example, that the Dutch Lottery money of a staggering US$2 million was instrumental in financing Green Peace to carry out a blockade of a ship carrying palm oil from leaving an Indonesian port to sail to Europe in 2007.
8. It is clear that the fear factor used is based on the assumption that if demand for biofuel is increased, more oil palm cultivation will occur thus causing deforestation. Fortunately, Malaysia has consistently proven the assumption as baseless and wrong.
9. Let me debunk the various fallacies that are often cited to paint a bleak picture of the ever popular oil palm.
Fallacy 1 Oil palm plantations are claimed to be the cause of deforestation. Palm oil producing countries such as Malaysia have permanent forest reserves which take up to 55% of the country's total land area. Laws are in place to disallow these permanent forest areas to be converted to other uses including for agriculture or growing of oil palm. The remaining forest areas are meant for conversion into other uses, including agriculture. Some of these conversion forest areas are already alienated to individuals or organisations although the land may still not yet be converted and remain under forest cover. NGOs like Green Peace argue that these unconverted areas should be declared as forest through a moratorium on deforestation which essentially means a stop to a developing country like Malaysia from using its potential agricultural land to improve the life of its farmers. It is equivalent to asking the EU farmers to reforest back some 50 % of their agricultural land to help prevent global warming and preserve biodiversity. In all fairness, Greenpeace should agressively campaign for reforesting 50 % of agricultural land of the UK and EU and if successful, Malaysia should have no problem following the standard set by the EU in terms of land use ratio for agriculture.
There are also calls by NGOs for the Prince Chales Conservation fund to compensate developing countries for conserving more forests. Logically, these funds would be better used to reforest the over extended and over deforested agricultural areas in the UK. Most agricultural land can be easily reforested if so desired. The slogan "Plant Thy Own Forest" and "Stop Envying Thy Poor Neighbours Green Backyard" can be adopted. Otherwise Green Peace is cunningly introducing double standards where the EU can deforest and develop these areas into agricultural land, while the developing countries farmers are comdemmed to perpetual poverty by preventing them from exercising their sovereign rights to develop their agricultural land.
Fallacy 2 -It is often claimed that the expansion of oil palm cultivation will affect the habitats of the orang utans in Sabah and Sarawak. A recent study revealed that orang utan population is Sabah has not declined because the permanent forest area ( the favourite habitat of the orang utans that was surveyed five years ago) has not changed over the last five years. The study further revealed that the orang utan population in the non-permanent forest areas is increasing based on the survey of nesting sites. More surprisingly, orang utans living near oil palm plantations were observed to regularly visit the plantations to feed on loose oil palm fruitlets and benefit from an all year round availability of a healthy food source which is naturally rich in vitamin A and E, giving the orang utans a healthy shining coat. This suggests that development of the oil palm as a crop and conservation can successfully operate side by side.
Fallacy 3 The third fallacy is linking oil palm to deforestation and attributing this to global warming. The oil palm planted area of 4.3 million hectares in Malaysia represents a mere 0.09% of the world agriculture land. Assuming these areas were originally forests, Malaysia's share of deforestation for world food production is 0.09 %. I wait to see the NGO global warming scientists' prediction on the rise in global temperature caused by oil palm cultivation in Malaysia that resulted in 0.09 % of total deforestion via agricultural development. Even doubling the oil palm area may not add substantially to the world deforestation total. However, expanding oil palm may save deforestation by curtailing the rapid expansion of other inefficient land-use oil seed crops which need to be grown otherwise to overcome world shortages.
Fallacy 4Potraying palm oil as inferior to soyabean or rapeseed oil in global warming debate. Oil palm in Malaysia and Indonesia is an agricultural crop which is grown mainly for the export market. We are the only two major net exporter countries (Argentina is a distant third) for vegetable oils and fats. The rest of the world are mostly net importers. It implies that if palm oil supply is reduced in the future, ten times more forest areas will need to be converted to agriculture to meet the shortages by growing soyabean or other annual oilseed crops compared to the area needed to grow oil palm to produce the targeted quantity of oil.
Recently, it was revealed that new varieties of oil palm are capable of increasing the yield by 3 times more and if further research to stabilise this yield potential is undertaken through international collaboration, palm oil can be a sound candidate to help solve not only future food shortages but also the biofuel need of the world. In simple terms, it has been calculated that a hectare of oil palm will potentially produce oil sufficient to fuel a VW Polo car 400,000 km of travel per year including the use of the methane fuel generated by the oil palm mill effluent, while a hectare of soya bean can fuel only 8,000 km of travel by the same car as a comparison. The irony is that the EU and USA are gladly promoting the most inefficient bio fuel derived from soyabean and rapeseed sources ,which can only mean massive deforestation possibly in Agentina, Brazil or where ever soyabean and rapeseed can be grown. The opportunity for oil palm to serve as an efficient fuel source and to save more forests from being converted into soyabean and rapeseed farms is sadly overlooked and we can only blame this on the manupulative science which is used by NGOs to raise emotions and blur the truth from reaching the attention of decision and policy makers in the EU and USA.
Nikkei Report writes that Mitsubishi Corporation will ramp up its renewable energy business worldwide and expects each of the new energy business to grow significantly over the medium- and long-term.
Its new energy division is largely classified into electricity generation using solar and wind energies; bio-fuel and other alternative energy sources; and environmental treatment of water and sewage.
On April 1st, Mitsubishi reorganized the new-energy and environment-related division as a ‘corporate development section,’ under the direct executive control of the firm’s president. (May 21, 2009)
Petrobras has confirmed that despite a lack of castor oil, it still plans to expand Biodiesel Quixada in Ceara state by 40%, the Dairio de Nordeste reports. The plant is currently using soy and cotton oil.
This week, the president of Petrobras Biofuels signed contracts with six cooperatives in Ceara and Piaui states to offer technical guidance on castor growing to 31,450 small farmers in the region.
Petrobras expects Brazil’s bio-diesel output to rise from 1.2 billion litres to 1.6 billion before the B4 mandate comes into effect. Gazeta Mercantil adds that the company will also help the farmers with storage and transportation, and will ensure the purchase for a five-year period of their crops for prices previously set with the cooperatives. (May 21, 2009)
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association has welcomed the Canadian government’s announcement of a new $1 Billion Clean Energy Fund and the $200 million set aside for demonstration projects of renewable and alternative energy technologies, Market Wire reports.
CRFA said that the $200 million set aside for smaller-scale demonstration projects of renewable and alternative energy technologies would help Canada take part in developing even better and more advanced renewable fuels. (May 21, 2009)
The EU bio-diesel industry is currently in ‘political no man's land’ while it waits for a European biofuel sustainability and greenhouse gas certification scheme expected from the Commission later this year, according to the head of the European Biodiesel Board, Platts reports.
Meanwhile the head of the ILUC team at the European Commission for transport and energy said that the team is trying to understand the underlying drivers of land use change, using different models, but has no answers yet.
An official at the Commission’s environment directorate said the EU is in a dialogue with California about its sustainability standards and is considering the ILUC models used there.
Separately, France has mandated a B7 biodiesel blend with 7% FAME (fatty-acid methyl ester), but the mix has already caused serious problems with some motorists by clogging up fuel filters during the winter months, according to French car maker Renault. Renault’s fuels affairs manager said that a lack of EU conformity and sufficient specifications to control cold flow properties and oxidization of the new bio-fuel blends have led to the recent problems.
According to oil refiner Total, different national bio-fuel mandates across the EU are complicating the production, blending, distribution and marketing of bio-fuels across borders.
Calling investment and operations planning ‘a real nightmare,’ Total's marketing head of strategy and regulations said there has been an ‘incredible impact’ of bio-fuels on blending in the logistic system, including higher volumes in pipes, increased difficulty of processing, the need for better cleaning of rail cars and separate storage for exports.
Swiss bio-diesel maker Biopetrol Industries posted sales of 296.0 million euros in 2008, up 35.7% from 218.1 million the previous year despite sales of bio-diesel grinding to a halt in Germany and the economic recession, Ad-hoc News reports. Of its sales, 51.1% were made to Germany and 48.9% mainly to other European countries. Biopetrol said it was able to exploit the logistical advantages of its seaport locations at Rostock and Rotterdam to strengthen its international trade in biodiesel and biodiesel components. However it reported a negative Ebitda of 11.8 million euros, compared with a positive 8.3 million euro the year before.
The company is building a plant in Rottterdam with an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes of biodiesel and 60,000 tonnes of bioglycerine. This will more than double its capacity to a total of 750,000 tonnes. World Energy adds that Biopetrol may idle its 400,000 mt/year biodiesel plant in Rotterdam for up to 18 months as it waits for conditions to improve. The company will also sublease its Rotterdam tanks while rates are high.
Dutch producers of biodiesel say they are unable to compete with imports of US product, Radio Netherlands reports. They say the US has managed to circumvent the extra EU duty by exporting to Europe through Canada. (May 21, 2009)
Labels:
bio-diesel,
black liquor,
cap and trade system,
ILUC,
indirect land use changes,
New Generation Biofuels Holdings,
NGB bio-fuel,
Oil Co Inc,
polystyrene-bio-diesel blend,
styrofoam,
Tri Gas
A bill that would have banned the EPA from taking into account the impact of indirect land use changes in bio-fuel emissions was defeated by 36-20 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, Dow Jones reports.
A Republican Representative for Nebraska had tried adding the measure to a climate change bill that appears likely to be passed by the Committee. “There's no way you can reasonably say that bio-fuels production and the effect on a forest in South America or Indonesia or anywhere else is related,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said adding an ILUC ban to the climate change bill is unlikely to work as it would probably be taken out before the final legislation is passed, Congress Daily reports. He expects the climate change bill to be sent to his panel in June but reiterated that he has a long list of issues that must be addressed before he would consider backing climate change legislation, and top of his list is passage of a renewable fuel standard measure he introduced last week to repeal the provision on ILUC impact on bio-fuel emissions.
Inside EPA Weekly Report adds that the industry is pushing amendments to the House climate bill to boost the use of bio-fuels and wants to add the ILUC ban. The industry also intends to push the bill (HR 2409) sponsored by the House Agriculture Committee Chairman (mentioned above).
There is a suggestion that bio-fuel producers could use a cap and trade system, enabling them to qualify for allowances or offsets if they use biotechnology that reduces their carbon emissions.
Ambassadors from the EU, Canada, Brazil and Chile called on US Congress to close immediately a US tax loophole used by paper makers that distorts world pulp markets and violates trade rules, Reuters reports. A tax credit designed to boost bio-fuel use has been an unintended windfall for US paper manufacturers, who stand to receive up to US$8 billion in 2009, the ambassadors said. “From a legal perspective, it is clear that this tax credit amounts to an actionable subsidy and that any adverse effects ... could be subject to remedies in the (World Trade Organization) or through domestic countervailing duty investigations,” they warned. At issue is a by-product called "black liquor," produced when wood is processed into pulp to make paper: last year, paper makers started to add small amounts of diesel to it and to claim the bio-diesel tax credit.
A new study has found that Styrofoam can be used to increase bio-diesel power output, New Zealand Transport Intelligence Briefing reports. Iowa State University researchers found that by dissolving polystyrene packing peanuts in bio-diesel, scientists were able to increase the power output of the fuel, while finding a solution to disposing of the material at the same time. They dissolved Styrofoam into bio-diesel at a concentration of 2 to 20%, and discovered that while plastic does not break down easily in petroleum-based diesel, it breaks down almost instantly in bio-diesel. When they tested the polystyrene-bio-diesel blend in a tractor engine, they found power output increased as polystyrene concentrations increased up to 5% but tailed off after that.
New Generation Biofuels Holdings, Inc has signed a bio-fuel sales contract with the Tri Gas and Oil Co Inc of Federalsburg, Maryland, to market and distribute NGB bio-fuel, PR Newswire reports. Under terms of the contract, Tri Gas and Oil will endeavour to sell up to 1 million gallons in the first year of a three-year contract.(May 21, 2009)
Petrobras aims to be a global player in bio-fuels, in which it plans to invest $3.3 billion between 2009 and 2013, said the Petrobras Biocombustíveis director, AE Brazil- Financial and Corporate News reports. Of that total, 80% will be invested in ethanol.
According to him, Petrobras is getting ready for "a world without oil" and the company aims to be among the top-five global bio-fuel leaders by the end of 2020.
He also said Petrobras has been in talks for a bio-diesel production project in Africa and noted the company has ethanol projects under development in some Latin American countries. "Petrobras' strategy is to be a global player, with a relevant role in the world markets for bio-diesel and ethanol," said the executive. (19 May 2009)
The go ahead has been given for a $243 million soybean processing and bio-diesel production facility at Port Kembla, ABC News reports.
New South Wales’ Minister for Lands, said: "This is the first integrated soybean processing and bio-diesel production facility in Australia and is a major boost to the Illawarra. The project is expected to generate $977 million in revenue and in addition to the 235 new permanent full-time jobs, will provide approximately 725 jobs in related industries and a further 500 jobs during construction of the facility. The plant will produce 288 million litres of bio-diesel a year; along with 850,000 tonnes of soy bean meal for poultry and livestock feed”."
In July 2007 the NSW Government implemented legislation to mandate the blending of all diesel fuel blended with 2% bio-diesel, the mandate will increase from two per cent to five per cent in 2011," he added. (19 May 2009)
A European official said that the European Commission is proposing to place multi-year duties on bio-diesel shipped from the US to offset a subsidy the US government gives to bio-diesel producers, Dow Jones reports. The proposal will extend temporary duties the European Union imposed in March on US bio-diesel. Final duties imposed by the EU typically last for five years.
The Commission is proposing changes to the bio-diesel duties: US agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) will face a duty of EUR359 per mt of bio-diesel, up from the temporary duty announced in March of EUR261/mt, the European official said.
ADM's rival Cargill will have to pay EUR213.80/mt, down from the duty announced in March of EUR275/mt. Imperium Renewables will have to pay EUR293/mt. Green Earth Fuels will pay EUR284/mt, and World Energy Alternatives EUR294/mt, according to the proposal. Fifty-three companies that cooperated with the EU's investigation will have to pay EUR335/mt, including Louis Dreyfus Agricultural Industries, Vitol Inc, and US Biofuels Inc. Peter Cremer North America LP and all other companies will have to pay EUR409/mt, down slightly from the temporary duty of EUR419/mt. The duties must be approved by EU governments at the European Council.
Biofuels Journal highlights the EU’s Biocoup programme which aims to develop a chain of process steps that would effectively allow biomass feedstock to be co-fed to a conventional oil refinery with energy and oxygenated chemicals as co-products and is currently working on a laboratory scale.
Supported by the European Commission through the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Development with a grant up to 7.6 million euros, Biocoup began in 2006 and will run until 2011. The EU says Biocoup and other projects are necessary because the EU and member states have agreed on the need to increase the amount of bio-fuels for transportation to both reduce CO2 emissions, and to develop a European bio-fuel industry to reduce dependency on imported fuels. (20 May 2009)
