Qatar Airways yesterday (11th January) unveilled a biojet fuel development programme that will be backed by Qatar Science & Technology Park, Qatar Petroleum and Airbus. The programme follows the company's successful trail of a Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuel blend, as part of a commercial flight, last October.

A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Ltd today (22nd December) announced it has signed a definitive distributed power generation (DG) contract with Thailand's Biomass Electricity Co., Ltd to develop a 150 MW biomass firing power plant in Prachinburi, Thailand. The contract covers the design of the power station, the procurement and installation of the three main engines and other auxiliary equipment. In addition, A-Power will be the general contractor for the five main power station systems: the civic engineering system, the chemical water treatment system, the output system, the electrical system and the thermal control system.

The UK Nuffield Council on Bioethics has today (22nd December) called for people's views on the potential of new types of biofuels, such as fuel produced by algae, to provide us with a greener source of renewable energy. "We want to hear people's views on how we can best promote, provide incentives for, and regulate new types of biofuels in ways that are both ethical and sustainable, and we will use our findings to advise policy makers," explained Professor Joyce Tait, Chair of the Council's Working Party on biofuels at the launch of the project.

The European Biodiesel Board has called on the Argentinean authorities to step in and take a positive stance in balancing the trade in biodiesel between Argentina and Europe. In a statement issued last week the EBB explained that it had been growing increasingly concerned by the sharp increase in biodiesel exports from Argentina that the EU has been facing since January. It went on to say that it stood ready to take any appropriate step to restore, what it saw, as balanced market conditions.

The UK government's announcement that the duty differential for Used Cooking Oil biodiesel will continue for two years from April 2010, made in last week's Pre Budget Report, has been welcomed by UK Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (UKSBA). In an announcement made today (15th December) the UKSBA said that it had been lobbying against the loss of the 20 pence per litre duty differential that the government had proposed for next year.

Cetrel and Novozymes have announced a research partnership to develop the sugarcane to fuel stream in Brazil. Using Cetrel’s knowledge in waste-stream treatment and Novozymes’ biotech expertise, the partners aim to enable sugar and ethanol production plants in Brazil to turn bagasse into biogas using enzymes.

“Our agreement with Cetrel is perfectly aligned with our vision to develop a bio-based society, where biorefineries convert agricultural residues and waste into energy, chemicals, and other materials, thereby substituting fossil fuels. The project also offers strong technical and commercial synergy with our efforts on advanced biofuels,”, says Thomas Videbæk, Executive Vice President, Novozymes.

A $25 million loan to support an innovative private biofuels project currently being developed in the department of Piura, Peru, has been approved by the Inter-American Development Bank it was announced today (15th December). The deal is the initiative of Maple Energy Plc, an energy company that has focused solely on Peru since 1994 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market and on the Lima Stock Exchange, the project is known as Maple Etanol and requires a total investment of $245.5 million.