News of the Day

12.31.07

NORTH AMERICA

New York State’s Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) will use B5 biodiesel provided by Mirabito Energy Products in its entire fleet of 326 vehicles. The CDTA is hoping to save 125,000 gallons of diesel fuel next year and reduce its CO2 emissions by 1,000 tons.

The US Department of Defense has selected two companies, Diversified Energy and Velocys, to design a mobile biofuel manufacturing plant to process organic waste from military installations.

Synergy Bio-fuels, a start-up biodiesel fuel production company, will invest $1 million to open a facility in Lee County, VA. The company plans a 3 million gallons/year production capacity that will process used vegetable oil. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $487,000 from the Southwest Economic Development Committee to assist the purchase of a building.

EUROPE

Poland's largest oil company PKN Orlen will begin biofuel sales at its Bliska network of 100 filling stations in Poland in 2008. The biodiesel will be produced at PKN Orlen's refinery in Rafineria Trzebinia. The country has set a biofuel mandate of 5.75% by 2010.

In Finland, Petrotec AG will restart production of biodiesel in January, following a temporary halt.

Also in Finland, the Ministry for Industry will grant $10 million to NSE Bio-fuels Oy's demonstration plant, which is set to be operational in 2008 at a cost of $31 million. NSE Biofuels is a joint venture of paper and board maker Stora Enso and refiner Neste Oil.

Korean company Enerteh Ltd. intends to build a 70,000 mt/year biodiesel plant in the Mykolaiv region of South Ukraine. The company will invest $19 million in the project, which will grow its own feedstock, including rapeseed, soy, and sunflower.

SOUTH AMERICA

In Brazil, ethanol production increased 20% in 2007, according to figures released by the the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. Consumption increased, according to a Ministry official, because 90% of all new cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel vehicles. The Ministry projects that 20 new ethanol plants will come online in 2008.

Noble Group of Hong Kong said it will invest $450 million in its Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol processing operations by 2011. Noble will increase capacity at its Votuporanga plant from 2 million to 5 million mt of cane, and will construct a new plant in Sao Paulo to crush an additional 5 million tons. The company said that 80% of its output will be used to supply ethanol to the domestic Brazilian market. The Hong Kong-based company currently accounts for 10% of total Brazilian sugar cane processing.




ASIA / PACIFIC

PetroChina Co Ltd., China’s largest oil and gas producer, plans to invest $109 million to build a 100,000 mt non-grain ethanol plant in Nanchong, in the southwestern province of Sichuan. According to government plans, China's non-grain ethanol output is to reach 10 million tons in 2020, along with non-grain biodiesel production of 2 million tons.

The Japanese government will exempt ethyl tertiary-butyl ether (ETBE) from import tariffs in FY 2008 as part of an effort to help prevent global warming. ETBE is produced by combining ethanol and isobutene. The government is aiming to increase the use of ETBE to comply with targets set by the Kyoto Protocol.

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