Wednesday Edition

10.15.08

GLOBAL

Oil prices dipped below $75 a barrel Wednesday, a new 13-month low, as OPEC reduced its 2009 petroleum demand forecast amid signs that the global economy is headed for a severe downturn, Reuters reports.

NORTH AMERICA

According to the October USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, US oilseed ending stocks for 2008-09 are projected significantly higher, up 2.6 million mt from last month to 7.4 million mt.

ASTM has finalized three new biodiesel quality specifications, including a cold-soak filtration test. The specifications include ASTM D975-08a (revised), ASTM D7467-08 (new) and ASTM D396-08b (revised).

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is holding a hearing Thursday to discuss its draft regulation for implementing the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for the reduction of transportation fuel by 20% and the increased use of low-carbon fuels.

Today, the Medford Township School District in New Jersey is celebrating ten years of successfully running its school busses on B20. According to school officials, the district's school buses have traveled more than 4 million miles, consumed more than 615,000 gallons of B20, displaced more than 123,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and eliminated 127,000 pounds of hazardous emissions and 428 pounds of particulate matter while reducing the overall cost of fleet operations by $80,000 a year.

AZ BioDiesel, which picks up used cooking oil from restaurants across Arizona and converts it into biodiesel, has opened a processing plant in Gilbert, AZ and plans to move its headquarters from Chandler starting early next year.

Renew Energy Resources, Inc. announced that it has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Legacy Oil, Florida, to pursue opportunities for a vertically integrated waste vegetable oil facility in Central Florida.

A desert shrimp farm in Arizona is producing biodiesel from algae, using some of the same algae that feed its shrimp. The owner expects the first gallons of biofuel to be ready in three to four months.

Georgia-based Alterra Bioenergy, which currently operates a 15 million gallon per year biodiesel plant and has a 30 million gallon per year facility under construction, has introduced its new bio-additive product line, Alterra DieselMaxx.

Sunrise Ridge Algae Inc. of Houston has been awarded $250,000 from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund for research and development to commercialize its wastewater algae production technology to produce feedstock for biodiesel.

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation and DuPont Danisco are partnering to construct a 250,000 gallon per year cellulosic ethanol pilot plant in Vonore, TN. The plant will process corn stover and switchgrass and is scheduled to begin production by December 2009.

POET will open its newest 68 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Ohio on Oct. 24th. It will be the company’s 26th ethanol plant in operation.

Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) and ethanol producer Virgin Bioverda (VBV) announced the completion of their merger. GPRE currently operates two 50 million gallon per year ethanol plants, while VBV holds a majority interest in two 110 million gallon per year ethanol plants.

SOUTH AMERICA

Petrobras says it hopes to form a biodiesel venture with Portugal's Galp Energia to produce a combined 600,000 mt per year of vegetable oil for 500,000 mt per year of biodiesel.

Petrobras and Colombia's Ecopetrol have signed a MoU to evaluate joint business opportunities involving oil fields, refining operations, transport, distribution, petro-chemicals and biodiesel in both countries.

Peru’s marine science institute Imarpe has begun to research algal biofuel under a governmental program.

EUROPE

Liffe, the derivatives unit of NYSE Euronext, suspended its rapeseed oil futures and options contracts due to a lack of trading volume, Reuters reports. The Paris-based Euronext Liffe rapeseed oil futures contract was launched in January 2007, but only 1,000 mt had been traded on the market since October last year.

Spanish real estate, energy and agriculture developer Bogaris is carrying out preliminary studies on renewable energy in Chile and says it is interested in developing hydroelectric and biofuel projects in the country.

ASIA / PACIFIC

The Philippine government is optimistic that it could attain 60% energy self-sufficiency within the next two years with fresh oil from the Galoc oil field in the northwest offshore of Palawan and with greater use of geothermal, biofuels and renewable energy.

The Malaysian Commodities Minister said in order to help shore up the market, Malaysia may raise the annual export quota for CPO to 3 million from 2 million mt, revive a long-stalled 5% biodiesel mandate, and encourage plantations to renew older crops rather than expand into new lands, Reuters reports.

Despite the global financial crisis, exports of commodities from Malaysia are expected to match last year's total of $27.6 billion, the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said. He added that a biofuel mandate would help boost the CPO market and an announcement will be made soon on the measure.

NEW ZEALAND

Solid Energy and its subsidiary Biodiesel NZ aim to produce 18.5 million gallons of biodiesel by 2012. New Zealand-grown rapeseed will become the primary feedstock in the future.

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