Dear readers,
It’s that time again. Packed with innovations, the Biogas Congress will take place in Osnabrück on 22 and 23 May. If you are interested, please register at: https://www.biogas-innovationskongress.de/praesenz.html
We are running out of time to take action on climate change, according to Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations on Climate Change. In a speech titled “Two years to save the world”, Stiell emphasised that governments, development banks and business leaders must take steps within this timeframe to avert far more severe impacts of the climate crisis, reports Reuters. For more on his speech use the link: https://unfccc.int/news/two-years-to-save-the-world-simon-stiell-at-chatham-house
A dozen Chinese organisations met in Beijing to officially launch their participation in the AgriLoop project. Over the next three years, they will work with 22 other partners from across Europe to develop sustainable processes to convert agricultural and food residues into high-value products and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable, circular agriculture. The aim of this international collaboration is to find new uses for agricultural residues, which account for around 50% of the fresh weight of harvested crops and represent an underutilised resource in both Europe and China. The AgriLoop project will develop sustainable integrated processes in a cascading biorefinery concept to convert agricultural food residues into high-value, environmentally friendly products such as plant and microbial proteins, polyesters and other bio-based chemicals for use in food, feed, health and material applications, especially in the agricultural sector. https://www.agriloop-project.eu/
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 13-state coalition to stop Biden’s electric vehicle subsidy and defend ethanol. In Biden’s latest attack in the war on gasoline vehicles, she says Biden is creating a regulation that overstates the efficiency of electric cars by more than six times. Biden’s allegedly illegal promotion of electric vehicles hurts car owners, automakers, liquid fuel producers and the electric grid. The incentive, which was intended to help farmers and ethanol producers, is now being exploited to hurt them by favoring electric vehicles. This provision favoring electric vehicles hurts US car owners, roads and carbon emissions in the US. https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-bird-leads-13-state-lawsuit-to-pull-the-plug-on-biden-electric-vehicle-handout-and
Repsol has started large-scale production of renewable fuels at its industrial complex in Cartagena, Spain. The new plant will process 300,000 tonnes of organic waste per year – including used cooking oil. Meanwhile, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration and Sumitomo have entered into consortium agreements to manage the investment in the Louisiana Green Fuels BECCS project in the Port of Columbia. The project will produce 32 million gallons of SAF per year and is scheduled to come online in 2029. https://www.repsol.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2024/repsol-begins-large-scale-production-of-renewable-fuels-in-cartagena-the-first-plant-of-its-kind-in-the-iberian-peninsula/index.cshtml
Spherical Insight reports that the global ecodiesel market is expected to triple from $29.43 billion in 2023 to $93 billion in 2033. North America dominates the market with the largest market share over the projected timeframe. In the state of California, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCSF) offers environmentally friendly diesel (green diesel) is affordable compared to biodiesel and petrodiesel by offsetting some of the costs. https://www.sphericalinsights.com/press-release/data-lake-market
CropEnergies (Südzucker) has initiated the start of construction of the first production plant of its kind for green ethyl acetate in Europe. With this project, CropEnergies is sending out a strong signal for the use of renewable resources and greater sustainability in the chemical industry. https://www.pressetext.com/news/ground-breaking-ceremony-for-first-production-plant-for-green-ethyl-acetate-in-europe.html
Brightmark RNG Holdings has announced the opening of its renewable natural gas (RNG) center in Eloy, where RNG is produced from dairy residues using anaerobic digestion technology. The project brings this innovative renewable fuel technology to the southwestern United States. https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/brightmark-rng-holdings-begins-production-at-eloy-rng-facility
TEXEL Energy continues to invest in Jord AB and the companies have signed an agreement to adapt TEXEL’s power generation technology to produce electricity from pellets and briquettes made from C4 grass. Jord aims to grow the world’s fastest growing biomass at various locations around the globe to convert it into renewable fuels in the form of pellets and briquettes. https://www.eqmagpro.com/texel-energy-in-partnership-with-jord-ab-to-develop-green-electricity-technology-eq/
World Fuel Services will supply the UK Ministry of Defence with a further 5,150,000 litres of aviation fuel. Around 40% of the fuel supplied will be blended with Neste’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), with the renewable portion of the feedstock being produced from Used Cooking Oil (UCO) or Category 1, 2 or 3 Animal Fat (AF) on a mass balance basis. https://bbga.aero/world-fuel-services-provides-sustainable-aviation-fuel-to-the-united-kingdom-ministry-of-defence/
The world’s largest manufacturer of spandex fibres, plans to spend $1 billion on a site in Vietnam that will use Genomatica’s fermentation technology to convert sugar into 1,4-butanediol (BDO), a precursor for spandex that is usually made from coal or natural gas. According to the report, Hyosung plans to reach just over 50,000 tonnes of bio-based BDO per year by 2026 and 200,000 tonnes per year by 2035. https://vir.com.vn/south-koreas-hyosung-tnc-to-invest-1-billion-in-vietnam-109990.html
Neste and the South Korean chemical company Lotte Chemical are entering into a strategic collaboration to make chemicals and plastics more sustainable. The production of chemicals and plastics will replace fossil resources with renewable raw materials. This will enable products and applications that have a lower carbon footprint than those made from fossil raw materials. https://en.kunststoffe.de/a/news/collaboration-between-neste-and-lotte-ch-5669056
An international team of researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Chemistry, the University of Birmingham, the University of Queensland and the University of Ulm has developed a material consisting of copper anchored to nanocrystalline carbon nitride. The copper atoms are embedded in the nanocrystalline structure, allowing electrons to travel from the carbon nitride to the CO2, an essential step in the production of methanol from CO2 under the influence of solar radiation. This discovery paves the way for the production of new green fuels. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/research-lights-up-process-for-turning-co2-into-sustainable-fuel
In Washington, Growth Energy launched a new ad campaign calling on the Biden administration to protect summer access to E15, an affordable, cleaner-burning fuel option. The digital advertising campaign will run across multiple platforms, including key news sites and YouTube. https://growthenergy.org/2024/04/09/growth-energy-summer-access-to-e15/
Titan Clean Fuels and STX Group have successfully concluded a ship-to-ship bunkering of 2,200 metric tons of LBM to a Hapag-Lloyd container vessel in the port of Rotterdam. This transaction marks Hapag-Lloyd’s entry into using LBM as sustainable shipping fuel, representing the largest ship-to-ship bunkering operation known till date. https://stxgroup.com/article/hapag-lloydtakes-largest-ship-to-ship-lbm-delivery-to-date-made-possible-by-a-joint-effort-of-stx-group-and-titan-clean-fuels/?utm_medium=DSMN8&utm_source=LinkedIn
The European Biogas Association (EBA) on Wednesday welcomed the adoption of the European Parliament’s report on the EU’s ‘CountEmissions’ proposal, which is based on a “well-to-wheel” approach. However, it regrets the decision not to include a mechanism to account for renewable fuels in the scope of the regulation on CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, as the text follows a “tailpipe” approach that limits the full responsibility of biomethane in the decarbonization of transport. https://www.europeanbiogas.eu/the-biogas-and-biomethane-value-chain-welcomes-the-european-parliament-recognition-of-biomethanes-significant-contribution-to-reduce-co2-emissions/
In Norway, Wallenius Wilhelmsen recently signed another significant multi-year contract. The new agreement, with a leading global player in the premium car segment, is valued at more than $1 billion over three years, covering both shipping and logistics services, as well as the use of biofuel. https://www.walleniuswilhelmsen.com/news/wallenius-wilhelmsen-secures-another-substantial-multi-year-contract
Repsol enters the biomethane market with a 40% stake in Genia Bioenergy. This alliance enables Repsol to add significant human and technical capacity to position itself early in this growing sector. The agreement between Repsol and Genia Bioenergy includes 19 of its biomethane plants under development. In addition, there are further projects at an early stage of development. Repsol will purchase all the gas produced by these projects, which also provide a unique platform for the creation of agro-industrial ecosystems that boost local economies and offer solutions for the utilisation of their waste. https://renewablesnow.com/news/repsol-inks-deal-to-acquire-40-stake-in-spanish-biomethane-biz-854318/
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a $380 million German scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen through the European Hydrogen Bank’s “Auctions-as-a-Service” tool. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_657
The US Renewable Fuels Association, the Grains Council and Growth Energy have jointly submitted comments to the Brazilian Chamber of Foreign Trade regarding Brazil’s tariffs on imported US ethanol. In October 2023, the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers formally requested the elimination of ethanol tariffs, as data showed that the duty increased fuel costs for domestic consumers. https://grains.org/ethanol-industry-submits-joint-comments-seeking-permanent-removal-of-brazilian-tariff-on-imported-u-s-ethanol/