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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Friday, February 02, 2007

Karnataka bus fleet to use ethanol-diesel blend

The Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) of the State of Karnataka in India has recently announced that it is switching the first 2,500 buses of its 5,162 bus fleet to O2Diesel, an ethanol blended diesel fuel comprised of 7.7% of renewable ethanol and 0.5% of a proprietary fuel additive technology developed by O2Diesel. The cleaner burning fuel is marketed in India by the company's exclusive distributor for the region, Energenics, as 'Enerdiesel powered by O2Diesel'.

It is planned that the remaining 2,662 buses of the fleet will be added by the fourth quarter of 2007 bringing the total to 5,162. This will represent the largest ethanol diesel fleet in the world, using approximately 120,000,000 liters of O2Diesel per annum.
"Energenics has already committed substantial resources and has worked with all parties involved, including O2Diesel, to develop the ideal implementation model that will support this level of expansion for O2Diesel in the region. The market is just developing, but I am confident that Energenics' recent orders for 83,000 liters of our proprietary additive is only the beginning of a successful partnership in this region." - Alan Rae, CEO of O2Diesel Corporation.
All three components of the fuel, the ethanol, O2Diesel additive and local diesel fuel, are blended at the dispensing pump directly into the bus. This procedure was first used by O2Diesel in Brazil in 2004 but has been completely re-engineered by Energenics and its partners into a cost effective, fully automated, state-of-the-art computerized injection blending unit that ensures an extremely high level of quality control and real time remote monitoring. The blending unit enables the existing pump to deliver both Enerdiesel and regular diesel, if required. Delivering the solution in this manner ensures protection from contaminants in the diesel storage tank and also enables complete independence from fuel blenders and oil companies:
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Alan Rae commented further, "This method of delivery removes a huge obstacle that has faced the introduction of all new bio fuels; How do you achieve independence from the high cost of using existing fuel delivery infrastructure? We are already working with Energenics to adapt the blending unit for use in all our markets."

Ronen Hazarika, Managing Director of Energenics, added "I'm elated that we're now in the process of converting successful trials into fully commercial fleet customers. It has been possible to do this quickly due to the excellent performance of the fuel in the field and the substantial technical and commercial verification that exists. Also, the professionalism of the management & technical staff of KSRTC has been world class. We are working hard to use the success of this experience to establish similar fleet customers in India and other Asia Pacific territories."

According to Hazarika, the company is in discussion with the other state fleets in Karnataka and aims to convert as much of the state used 400,000,000 litres of diesel to 'Enerdiesel powered by O2Diesel' as soon as practically possible during 2007. It hopes to have converted some of the depots belonging to the other 3 state transport corporations in Karnataka by the 2nd quarter of 2007. In addition, the company says it is already in advanced negotiations with several other States in India who have shown substantial interest in a similar conversion based on the success of the program in Bangalore.


posted by Biopact team at 2:23 PM  

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