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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Thursday, December 07, 2006

University of North Dakota receives $5 million to develop military bio-jetfuel

We have been tracking the development of biofuels for aircraft for a while now. Some interesting research programs are underway in different countries: Argentina's military recently demonstrated the use of bio-jet fuel in a large military aircraft (earlier post), whereas NASA and Boeing are collaborating with Brazilian biofuel company Tecbio on developing biokerosene (earlier post). Finally, Richard Branson announced that he wants his entire Virgin fleet of aircraft to fly on a green fuel in the near future (earlier post). The development of biofuels in this sector is the last frontier, with several major challenges ahead.

Today, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota announced that it has been awarded approximately US$5 million (€3.75 million) from the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Defense-Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development and demonstration of a new domestic bio-jet fuel for the US military. The 18-month project will produce enough fuel to allow DARPA to demonstrate the fuel’s usability in real-world combat scenarios.

The fuel produced by the EERC will be an identical replacement for the traditional JP-8 petroleum-based fuel, which represents the majority of all fuel used in the U.S. military. The EERC fuel will meet the military specification for JP-8, which is used to power vehicles such as the Boeing B-52 bomber, the Abrams A1 Battle Tank, the Apache Helicopter, and many others.
One of the greatest challenges in our nation is energy security for the U.S. military. This award is a significant opportunity to match the skills of the EERC with the military’s needs. This will also expand the EERC’s capabilities in tactical fuels and allow us to demonstrate the effects of recently developed technology to convert fuels made from indigenous resources that can replace imported oil. -- EERC Director Gerald Groenewold.
“Our whole approach with this project is to develop an affordable new fuel that can be dropped in to replace the current JP-8 fuel,” adds Ted Aulich, Senior Research Manager. “This replacement will allow an easy transition from a petroleum-based fuel to a 100% domestic renewable fuel.”

A major challenge for any type of fuel is its use in cold-weather conditions. The EERC fuel is usable in extremely cold temperatures (at or below -50°F), which makes it ideal for use in jets. North Dakota is an exceptional real-world setting for cold-weather testing:
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In addition to demonstration of the fuel, the EERC will also be focused on improving the methods for producing the fuel from a variety of vegetable oils and other renewable feedstocks. Several provisional patent applications have already been filed for a new chemical process specifically for producing renewable JP-8, which simplifies the traditional process for converting vegetable oil to fuel with low freeze point requirements—a major breakthrough developed exclusively at the EERC.

“The state-of-the-art technology being developed by the EERC, through partnerships with the DoD, particularly the U.S. Air Force and a variety of private sector entities, holds significant opportunities for deployment at one of North Dakota’s Air Force bases,” Groenewold said.

posted by Biopact team at 6:26 PM  

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