Wednesday Edition

10.21.09

WEDNESDAY EDITION
October 21, 2009
Volume 5 Issue 65

North America

OBAMA TO SPEAK ON CLEAN ENERGY AT MA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
President Obama will try to push the Senate climate bill forward Friday with a speech on "American leadership in clean energy" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the same day that US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson plans to release the agency's economic and environmental analysis of the climate bill from Sens. John Kerry and Barbara Boxer.

CLEANTECH VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS SPIKE
The US cleantech sector, including alternative fuels, recorded $897.5-million in venture capital investment in the third quarter 2009, outperforming all other sectors but biotechnology, according to The MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the US National Venture Capital Association.


BIODIESEL RETURNS FOUR TIMES MORE ENERGY THAN CONSUMED
According to new research performed by the University of Idaho and USDA, biodiesel returns more than four times the energy that it takes to produce the fuel. The report shows that for every unit of fossil energy needed to produce biodiesel, the return is 4.5 units of energy, NBB Reports.

US SOY HARVESTING LAGGING
USDA reported this week that only 30% of the US soybean crop was harvested compared to the normal seasonal pace of 72%.

VERENIUM CONTRACTS TO TEST CELLULOSIC ETHANOL TECHNOLOGY
Verenium announced Wednesday an agreement with Value Prior to Pulping (VPP) to test the effectiveness of Verenium's C5 cellulosic ethanol technology by producing biofuels from feedstocks sourced from the pulping process, OPIS reports. VPP is funded by DOE, the state of Wisconsin and several large forest companies.

US BIOMASS MARKET STAYING LOCAL
Regulatory and permitting pressures are keeping US biomass markets largely local and regional even as biomass fuels become increasingly popular with generators. Generators also continue to rely on local supply, and are designing their plants for the available form of local biomass fuel rather than consistently turning to the industrial wood pellet market, Argus reports.

South America

BRAZIL MAY REDUCE ETHANOL BLEND IN GASOLINE
In Brazil, the government is considering reducing the anhydrous ethanol blend in national gasoline supplies from the current 25%to 20% due to the rise in fuel prices over the past weeks and fears that supplies could run short after harvesting slows down in December.

Europe

NEW BIODIESEL PLANT PLANNED FOR PARAGUAY
Spanish company, Copebiosa, will invest $16.4 million in a 2-million gal/yr biodiesel plant in central Paraguay that will process Coco Mbokaya Palm. According to the Paraguayan Industry and Trade Ministry, there are nine companies that produce or plan to produce biodiesel in Paraguay.

UK BIODIESEL ALLIANCE CAMPAIGNS ON FUEL TAX
The UK Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance is campaigning to stop the British government from removing the 20 pence per litre tax differential for biofuels from April 2010, as removing the tax differential for biofuels would undermine the UK’s growing low-carbon economy by making biodiesel more expensive than fossil fuels and therefore commercially unviable, the group’s chair stated at a recent biofuels conference.

DIESEL SALES RISE IN GERMANY
In Germany, diesel sales rose 5% in September to 2.79-million tons from 2008 largely due to increased diesel car sales and extra demand because of falling prices at the pump rather than revived industrial demand, Argus reports.


GERMAN ETHANOL CONSUMPTION UP 61%
Ethanol consumption in Germany increased 61% to 126-million gal in the first half of this year in tandem with a 50% spike in production to 73-million gal, according to the German Office of Economics and Export Control.

Asia / Pacific

PALM OIL EXPORT NUMBERS RELEASED
Cargo surveyors ITS and SGS reported Malaysian palm oil export estimates for the Oct.1-20 period this week at 812,095 mt and 825,626 mt, respectively.

CPO FUTURES DROP TUESDAY
Malaysian CPO futures dropped almost 1% Tuesday on rising stockpiles and weak export estimates in the first 20 days of the month. Benchmark January contract fell MYR17 to settle at $645/mt, TA FUTURES SDN. BHD reports.

INDONESIAN PALM OIL EXPORTS RISE 27% IN SEPT
According to the Indonesia Palm Oil Producer Association, Indonesian palm oil exports are estimated to have risen 27% in Sept. to 1.36-million mt from the same month last year.

Market Views

WASTE BIOFUEL COULD CUT 80% OF GLOBAL EMISSIONS
Scientists in Singapore and Switzerland have published new research on bioenergy in the Global Change Biology journal, which states that converting waste from the world's landfills into biofuel, and using it in place of gasoline, could cut global carbon emissions by 80%.

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