by Jan Suszkiw 

Following up on a net-energy study published in the January Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) scientists have released figures about the on-farm economic costs of producing switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol.

French engineering company Technip has been awarded a contract to provide assistance in the detailed engineering of the fatty acids methyl ester transesterification unit for a biodiesel production plant to be located at the port of Kuantan, Malaysia. This project will be executed by Mission Biofuel Sdn Bhd (investor), KNM (contractor) and Axens (licensor).

When completed the unit will produce 250,000 tons of biodiesel per year from palm oil. It is scheduled to go into production in the third quarter of 2008.

In a study presented to the European Parliament yesterday (4th March) the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) has questioned proposals to replace current transport fuels by biofuels. The report, "Local and global consequences of the EU renewable directive for biofuels: testing the sustainability criteria" argues that since existing techniques for biofuels are based on food crops such as grain, maize, sugar beet and palm oil, the EU biofuel target of 10% will lead to an increase in food prices.

Ethanol production from cereals in Europe and the United States would be seriously affected by any legislation that prohibits ethanol feedstock production in the Brazilian Cerrado. That is what Marcos Jank, President of industry association UNICA says in his bi-monthly market commentary on Ethanol Statistics.

Petrobras’ Board of Directors has approved the creation of a company, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to undertake all its biofuel activities. Acccording to Petrobras, the group's current biofuel interests are spread throughout the group making overall management and control difficult. Petrobras has forecast an investment in the biofuels sector of $1.5bn through to the end of 2012.

Latin American nations could become important suppliers of ethanol for world markets in coming decades, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory study released recently. The report, 'Biofuel Feedstock Assessment for Selected Countries,' presents findings from research conducted in support of a larger study of 'Worldwide Potential to Produce Biofuels with a focus on U.S. Imports' by the Department of Energy. The ORNL study highlights the importance of Brazil's dynamic sugarcane industry in future world trade in fuel ethanol.

The policy chief of Europe’s most influential renewable energy body has rubbished comments on biofuels made by the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the Fuel Quality Directive. Oliver Schaefer, of the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), this week poured scorn on suggestions made by MEP Dorette Corbey, that the EU’s target of using 10% biofuels in Europe’s transport fuels by 2020 is ‘too high’.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced (4th March) that combined, USDA and DOE will invest up to $18.4 million, over three years, for 21 biomass research and development (R&D), and demonstration projects.  These projects specifically aim to address critical barriers to making production of biomass more efficient and cost-effective, in an effort to advance the Bush Administration’s strategy of bringing online more clean, bio-based products and biofuels to help reduce our dependence on oil from unstable parts of the world and mitigate climate change.  Secretaries Schafer and Bodman made today’s announcement while delivering remarks at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC).