Wednesday Edition

12.02.09

WEDNESDAY EDITION
December 2, 2009
Volume 5 Issue 78


Global

REPORT: GLOBAL CO2 EMISSIONS ARE 40% HIGHER THAN 1990 LEVEL
A new report, The Copenhagen Diagnosis, concludes that Arctic sea ice is melting 40% faster than 2007 estimates, and 2008 global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels were nearly 40% higher than 1990.

OIL TRADES NEAR $78 ON INCREASED US SUPPLY
Crude oil traded near $78 a barrel Wednesday after a report showed US supplies gained to 2.89-million barrels, raising concern that demand may be slow to recover, Bloomberg reports.


North America

POLL REPORTS MOST CANADIANS SUPPORT BIOFUELS
Results of a poll released this week at the Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit shows that “Canadians want to shift from fossil fuels towards alternatives. Eighty-four percent of Canadians support the promotion of low-carbon, homegrown renewable fuels as a major part of that change," Biodiesel Magazine reports.


US EPA DELAYS DECISION ON ETHANOL BLEND INCREASE
US EPA has delayed a decision on raising the ethanol content of gasoline to 15%, stating that more testing is needed, and a decision is unlikely before June 2010.

South America

SOY PLANTING COMPLETED IN MATO GROSSO
Soy farmers in Mato Grosso state, Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state, have finished planting their upcoming 2009-10 crop, expected to result in 64.67-million mt of soybeans compared with 58.16-million for the prior harvest, Celeres said, Dow Jones reports.


LOUIS DREYFUS SIGNS DEAL FOR SEED CRUSHING AND SHIPPING TERMINAL
Louis Dreyfus Commodities has agreed to invest $130-million to develop a grain processing and shipping facility at the Bahia Blanca port south of Buenos Aires. The site will initially store 80k mt of grain, and will expand to include a 3k mt/day soybean and sunflower crushing plant, Dow Jones reports.

Europe

STUDY DEPICTS EU BIOFUELS POLICY AS PROTECTIONIST
A new report released this week argues that EU biofuels policy, once motivated by environmental concerns and the shift away from fossil fuels, has become an industrial policy to protect domestic producers from foreign competition. Economist, Fredrik Erixon concludes that if the Renewable Energy Directive is implemented in its proposed form, the EU is likely to conflict with WTO rules.

Asia / Pacific

PALM OIL COMPOUND DISCOVERED THAT KILLS BREAST CANCER CELLS
Scientists in Singapore have discovered a natural compound in palm oil with a greater potency than the 'Docetaxel' chemotherapy drug that can kill breast cancer cells. This is the first tocotrienol study to identify key upstream regulators that mediate breast cancer. Read more


INDONESIA SEEKS INVESTMENT FOR PALM OIL MANUFACTURING CENTERS
Indonesia plans to develop regional centers for palm oil biodiesel manufacturing to boost profit margins and create jobs, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for the Economy said this week. The nation is seeking investment to produce oleochemicals from palm oil, as it is poised to report record production of 20.5-million tons this year, Bloomberg reports.


Market Views

GLOBAL BIODIESEL DEMAND TO DOUBLE BETWEEN 2009-15
Global biodiesel demand is expected to double between 2009 and 2015, while supply is expected to grow threefold, executive director of global biofuels services for Hart Energy Consulting, Tammy Klein, said this week at the Canadian Renewable Fuels Conference.
Thirty counties are implementing biofuels targets in 2010 alone, she said, with many of these countries in the developing world encouraging biofuels as a means of building energy security and improving their rural economies, Biodiesel Magazine reports.

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