Biofuels, natural gas, hydrogen… none of the candidates to replace oil in vehicles are entirely convincing at the moment, according to the European Commission.  Car makers, the oil industry and biofuel producers need to co-operate on a long-term action plan. Alternatives to replace oil in transport are urgently needed but a long-term vision on what technology is best suited to replace it is still uncertain, said Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General at the Commission's transport and energy department.

On Friday at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, SunOpta's BioProcess Group discussed developments in the cellulosic ethanol market in China. Today, the Company is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract to sell a cellulosic ethanol pilot demonstration facility, which is based on SunOpta's patented and proprietary biomass conversion technology, to China Resources Alcohol Corporation (CRAC) for research and development of cellulosic ethanol production at their facility in ZhaoDong City, Heilongjiang Province.

Wells Fargo & Company has invested $5 million in the Carlyle/Riverstone Renewable Energy Infrastructure Fund I – its first investment in a private equity renewable energy fund. The investment is part of the Company’s pledge to provide $1 billion in lending, investments and other financial commitments by 2010 to environmentally beneficial business opportunities, including renewable energy.

Biodiesel Producers' new US $21 million Barnawartha, Victoria biodiesel plant is on schedule. Yesterday, Biodiesel Producers managing director Andrew White said the weather had blessed the project. “I’m a rural bloke so I’d like to see a bit of rain but certainly the extended dry has helped us during construction,” he said.

A conference entitled "Renewable Energy Technologies" was held at the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Saturday. Jointly organised by The New Nation newspaper, Grameen Shakti Bank and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the conference began at 9:30am. Advisor for Energy Mahmudur Rahman was the guest of honour at the function, presided over by Mostafa Kamal Majumder, editor, The New Nation. GTZ, a German NGO which works with local people to promote sustainable energy initiatives, sponsored the conference.

A bill proposed by State Representative Jeff Mayes, (Democrat Bangor Township), to establish a Renewable Fuels Commission has been agreed and is to be headed by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. The commission will investigate and recommend strategies to encourage the use of alternative fuels and the education of  residents as to its benefits. Mayes said Granholm is expected to sign the bill into law.

Wahington DC, June 23 - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced that the two agencies will co-host a national renewable energy conference to help create partnerships and strategies necessary to accelerate commercialization of renewable energy industries and distribution systems, the crux of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI).  The conference, Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance, is scheduled for October 10-12, 2006, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Brussels, 23 June - Crisis distillation of wine in the EU has spread to Spain and Greece.  The Wine Management Committee voted today on proposals from the European Commission which will make it mandatory for Spain to distill 300,000 hectolitres of quality wine into fuel ethanol. For Greece the crisis distillation has been mandated for a quantity of 370,000 hectolitres of table wine and 130,000 hectolitres of quality wine.