Dr David Brown, Chief Executive at the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has spoken out against recent criticism of biofuels and warned they could still be a key source of global energy supplies in the coming years.

Following swiftly on the heels of the Virgin biofuels test Continental Airlines, Boeing and GE Aviation today (13th March) announced plans to conduct a biofuels demonstration flight in the first half of 2009. The biofuel flight will use a Boeing Next-Generation 737 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines. CFM is a 50/50 joint company of General Electric Company and Snecma (SAFRAN Group).

The decisions made in today’s UK Budget in support of biofuels and the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) risk failing to deliver sustainable biofuels or carbon emissions from transport and undermine the UK’s fledgling biofuels industry, the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC) has warned.

Rafaello Garofalo, Secretary General of the European Biodiesel Board made it clear today that the trade dispute with the USA over the dumping of biodiesel will be pursued further. Speaking at the World Biofuels Markets event in Brussels Garofalo said; "The EU biodiesel industry is finalizing a legal complaint to the European Commission, which we hope to present in the next few weeks, if not days.

University of Maryland research has led to a process that may, say the researchers, be able to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products into ethanol. Developed by University of Maryland professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, the Zymetis process, is the foundation of their incubator company Zymetis.

Following MEP Dorette Corbey's attack on the EU's biofuels target last week, the argument has continued to rumble across the EU, ahead of this week's World Biofuels Markets event in Brussels, with both sides attracting supporters. Dutch Socialist Corbey says that the target is unrealistic: “We need to make sure that biofuels do not have a detrimental affect on air quality, for example. The second generation of biofuels are not yet in practice and, currently, there are not enough good ones. There is a feeling among some MEPs that a 10% target is too high.”

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.