Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, has approved the use of up to 20% biodiesel blend (B20) in specific EMD locomotive series operated by the Union Pacific railroad. Previously, the locomotives were approved to operate at 5%. The EMD SD80ACe features the reliable 710 Series engine—20-cylinder, two-stroke, turbocharged—and operates on B20... Read more →

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $26 million to build infrastructure to expand the availability of higher-blend renewable biofuels by 822 million gallons annually in 23 states. USDA is making the awards under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program. The funding will help increase the use of biofuels... Read more →

Eni and BASF have signed a strategic agreement on a joint R&D initiative to reduce the CO2 footprint of the transportation sector. The cooperation aims to develop a new technology to produce advanced bio-propanol from glycerin, a side stream of the production of industrial biodiesel (FAME, fatty acid methyl ester),... Read more →

Europe’s demand for biodiesel for cars and trucks has likely wiped out forests the size of the Netherlands since the introduction of the EU’s green fuels law in 2010, according to a new study by Transport & Environment (T&E). T&E is calling on the EU to end support to palm... Read more →

ADM plans to build North Dakota’s first dedicated soybean crushing plant and refinery to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel. Based in Spiritwood, ND, the approximately $350-million crush and refining complex will feature state-of-the-art automation technology and have the capacity to... Read more →

A new study by Zemo Partnership (formerly LowCVP) shows that with a market average of 30% high blend renewable fuels (HBRF), used in place of fossil fuels (diesel and natural gas) by 2030, the transport sector could save an additional 46m tonnes in GHG emissions over the next decade, with... Read more →

The co-chairs of the US House Biofuels Caucus introduced two new pieces of legislation to increase access to biofuels and to recognize fully their environmental benefits. Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) and Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13) led introduction of the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, which would expand... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that, after careful consideration of the 2020 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA, 948 F.3d 1206 , EPA now supports that court’s interpretation of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) small-refinery... Read more →

US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to create a renewable fuel infrastructure grant program and streamline regulatory requirements to help fuel retailers sell higher blends of ethanol. The Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act of 2021 would authorize $500 million over 5... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration released its annual US Biodiesel Plant Production Capacity report, containing data for all operating US biodiesel plants as of 1 January 2020. The data show a slight decrease in production capacity from 2,563 million gallons per year in 2019 to 2,514 million gallons per year... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is denying petitions for small refinery exemptions for past compliance years, the so-called “gap-filling” petitions for the 2011-18 compliance years. In total, the agency had received 68 retroactive exemption requests from petroleum refiners seeking to skirt obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS); the... Read more →

A total of 1.9 billion gallons of biodiesel was produced in the United States in 2018 with production in 34 states, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Iowa was the lead producer with 365 million gallons (19%), followed by Texas and Missouri with 227 and 216... Read more →

Anelise Lara, the head of Petrobras’ refining, announced that the company is ready to begin production of renewable diesel from soy or other edible oils at commercial scale. Petrobras will expand investments in the segment as soon as it is granted a permit, Lara said. Petrobras recently successfully concluded tests... Read more →

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has entered into an agreement with Hunt & Sons, Inc. to supply REG Ultra Clean at 12 locations in Northern California. REG Ultra Clean blends biodiesel and renewable diesel. The patent-pending combination delivers both biodiesel’s excellent lubricity and renewable diesel’s high Cetane and low Cloud Point... Read more →

Nuseed Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nufarm Limited, has executed a commercial off-take agreement with Saipol, the largest biodiesel producer in Europe, to supply Nuseed Carinata as a feedstock for certified low-carbon oil for renewable fuels and high protein non-GMO meal for livestock feed. The multi-year agreement follows the first... Read more →

Brazilian researchers have demonstrated a new chemical approach for producing biodiesel from domestic cooking oil waste by using lithium hydroxide mixed with either sodium hydroxides or potassium hydroxides as catalysts. Their work, published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, could enable future studies related to the use of... Read more →

Saipol, the main subsidiary of Groupe Avril, Europe’s largest producer of biodiesel, has received the first Nuseed Carinata grain shipment at its processing facility in Rouen, France. Grown as a scalable cover crop in Argentina, it will be processed into a renewable fuel with best-in-class greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. This... Read more →

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) intends to make available up to $100 million in competitive grants for activities designed to expand the availability and sale of renewable fuels. (Earlier post.) The Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) consists of up to $100 million in funding for competitive grants or... Read more →

Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (IA-01) introduced the Clean Fuels Deployment Act of 2020. The bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Roger Marshall (R-KS), would provide funding for installing and converting fuel pump infrastructure to deliver higher blends of ethanol (E15 and E85) and biodiesel (up... Read more →

US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to acquire alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) when replacing conventionally fueled vehicles. USDA owns and operates one of the largest civilian fleets in the Federal Government and this move to a fleet that can use E85 or... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that establishes the required renewable volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for 2020, and the biomass-based diesel volume for 2021. The EPA is committed to ensuring a net of 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuel is blended in 2020.... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board has issued a Product Alert for Fuel Additives under the Alternative Diesel Fuels (ADF) Regulation. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has conducted emissions testing that showed that tested additives failed to effectively mitigate to the regulatory standard. These results raise significant questions both as... Read more →

France’s Constitutional Council, the highest constitutional authority in the country, ruled in favor of excluding palm oil from the list of biofuels that enjoy tax incentives. The decision enters into force on 1 January, 2020. Oil company Total has estimated it is worth between €70 million and €80 million per... Read more →

A team at S. Korea’s KAIST has engineered an oleaginous bacterium, Rhodococcus opacus, to produce fatty acids (FFAs), fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) and long-chain hydrocarbons (LCHCs). A paper on their work is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Culture conditions were optimized to produce 82.9 g l−1 of triacylglycerols from... Read more →

New research released by NTEA – The Association for the Work Truck Industry confirms that fleets across the country are increasingly relying on biodiesel for their existing and new diesel vehicles. For the third time in four years, surveyed fleets named biodiesel as their top alternative fuel choice both for... Read more →

Eni and RenOils, the Italian national vegetable and animal oils and fats Consortium established in 2016 to ensure the correct management of the collection, transport, storage, processing and reuse of vegetable oils and animal fats, are promoting the recovery of used cooking oils (UCO) for biofuel production. Eni currently makes... Read more →

ExxonMobil and Renewable Energy Group (REG) signed a joint research agreement with Clariant to evaluate the potential use of cellulosic sugars from sources such as agricultural waste and residues to produce biofuel. The new partnership expands a previously announced agreement for joint research between ExxonMobil and REG, in which the... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that establishes the required renewable fuel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for 2019, and biomass-based diesel for 2020. The key elements of the action are: “Conventional” renewable fuel volumes, primarily met by corn ethanol, will be maintained at... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final notice determining biodiesel and heating oil produced from distillers sorghum oil via a transesterification process, and renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced from distillers sorghum oil via a hydrotreating process, would meet the lifecycle... Read more →

Renewable Energy Group launched REG Ultra Clean Diesel, at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Long Beach. REG Ultra Clean Diesel, among the lowest emission diesel fuels on the market today, is a patent-pending fuel made of a proprietary blend of renewable diesel and biodiesel. REG Ultra Clean Diesel... Read more →

US imports of biomass-based diesel, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel, totaled 14.1 million barrels in 2017, a 36% decrease from 2016, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Although increasing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets have driven increased biomass-based diesel demand in recent years, imports fell in 2017... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the University of Illinois a $10.6-million, five-year grant to transform two of the most productive crops in the US into sustainable sources of biodiesel and biojet fuel. The new research project Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane (ROGUE) kicked off on 25... Read more →

The European Parliament last week endorsed a series of proposals setting targets for cleaner, more efficient energy use. Among those was a proposal for a binding EU-level target of a 12% share of energy from renewable sources in transport, by 2030. Members of Parliament also endorsed setting a 35% improvement... Read more →

Researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake have synthesized a new class of renewable diesel fuels from a methyl ketone and diols including 2,3-butanediol, 1,2-propanediol, and ethylene glycol. These fuels exhibit comparable net heats of combustion (NHOCs) to conventional biodiesel, while maintaining derived cetane numbers between 82-91. These... Read more →

ExxonMobil and Renewable Energy Group (REG) announced that by utilizing REG’s patented fermentation technology, the companies’ joint research program has demonstrated the ability to convert sugars from a variety of non-edible biomass sources into biodiesel. (Earlier post.) During their initial research, the companies successfully validated the feasibility of the REG... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to provide public notice and an opportunity to comment on potential reductions in the 2018 biomass-based diesel (BBD), advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel volumes, and/or the 2019 biomass-based diesel volume under the Renewable Fuel Standard... Read more →

Using a novel, reusable carbon material derived from old rubber tires, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)-led research team has developed a simple method to convert used cooking oil into biofuel. The team’s approach combines modified, recovered carbon with sulfuric acids, which is then mixed with free fatty acids in... Read more →

In a study published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, a team from the University of Vermont reports that particulate matter from the combustion of biodiesel blends may be 50–80% less toxic per unit PM mass emitted than PM from petroleum diesel, depending on feedstock. There is growing consensus... Read more →

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule setting the minimum amount of renewable fuels that must be supplied to the market in calendar year 2018 under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program. EPA will issue the final rule in the fall. Relative to the levels finalized in... Read more →

Researchers at Feng Chia University in Taiwan have engineered the bacterium Escherichia coli to produce n-butanol from crude glycerol—a byproduct of the production of biodiesel. In an open-access paper in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, they report that under microaerobic conditions, the engineered strain produced 6.9 g/L n-butanol from 20... Read more →

Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its subsidiary Shell International Exploration and Production B.V, and SBI Bioenergy Inc. have reached an agreement granting Shell exclusive development and licensing rights for SBI’s biofuel technology. Canada-based SBI has a patented process that can convert a wide range of waste oils, greases and sustainable... Read more →

Researchers from the universities of Kaiserslautern, Bochum, and Rostock have developed a method for producing a petroleum diesel-like fuel from conventional biodiesel (rapeseed oil methyl ester, RME). Catalyzed by a Pd/Ru system, RME undergoes isomerizing metathesis in a stream of ethylene gas, leading to a defined olefin, monoester, and diester... Read more →

A multi-institutional team led by the University of Illinois has genetically engineered sugarcane to produce lipids in its leaves and stems for biodiesel production (lipid-cane). Surprisingly, the modified sugarcane plants also produced more sugar, which could be used for ethanol production. The dual-purpose bioenergy crops are predicted to be more... Read more →

BIOX Corporation, a renewable energy company that owns and operates biodiesel production facilities, is working with Forge Hydrocarbons (earlier post) to explore the co-location of a renewable diesel production facility using Forge technology on the existing BIOX site in Sombra, Ontario. BIOX acquired a 50-million-liter (13.2-million-gallon) nameplate capacity biodiesel production... Read more →

New biofuel technology is finally starting to push aside traditional biofuels such as first-generation biodiesel, according to a new report by Lux Research. New facilities based on non-food feedstocks and producing novel fuels account for over half of new capacity deployment for the first time in the biofuel industry’s history,... Read more →

MIT engineers have genetically engineered strains of the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to boost the production of lipids by about 25% compared to previously engineered yeast strains. Their approach could enable commercialization of microbial carbohydrate-based lipid production, supporting the renewable production of high-energy fuels such as diesel. A paper on... Read more →

General Motors is expanding its portfolio of B20-capable vehicles to include cars and crossovers, and will field the industry’s most expansive lineup of diesel-powered vehicles in 2017, John Schwegman, director of commercial product and medium duty for GM Fleet, announced at the National Biodiesel Conference. Chevrolet offers the industry’s broadest... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized increases in renewable fuel volume requirements across all categories of biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. In a required annual rulemaking, the action finalizes the volume requirements and associated percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for... Read more →

Chevrolet and GMC are partnering with Power Solutions International, Inc. (PSI) to introduce heavy-duty pickups and full-size vans powered by 6.0-liter V-8 compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-capable engines starting in the first quarter of 2017. Chevrolet also will offer CNG and LPG versions of its new... Read more →

EPA is proposing updates to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) regulations and related fuels regulations to better align the standards with the current state of the renewable fuels market and to promote the use of ethanol and non-ethanol biofuels. Several of the proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program... Read more →