Biotech Deinove eyes U.S., Brazil ethanol
PARIS, April 5 (Reuters) - French green biotech firm Deinove , which hopes to use a 4 billion year old bacterium to develop the fuel of the future, is eyeing new projects in the United States and Brazil, its chief executive told Reuters.
The company is talks with a large U.S. ethanol maker and with Tereos Internacional , a Brazil-based unit of France's Tereos group, to develop a bioethanol based not only on food but also on a bacterium named deinococcus, discovered in a U.S. corned beef tin in 1956, Deinove CEO Jacques Biton said.
DDGs: Ethanol's overlooked source of food supply:Maguire
--Gavin Maguire is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own. To get his real-time views on the market, please join the Global Ags Forum. --
CHICAGO, April 4 (Reuters) -Ethanol producers often get much of the blame for driving the price of corn to its current multi-year high levels due to that industry's strong usage of corn to make fuel.
But critics overlook the growing production and distribution of Dried Distiller's Grains (DDGs), a by-product of ethanol output used in animal feeds as an alternative to corn. Lax reporting of DDG sales and shipments make it hard to quantify the exact degree of corn displacement by DDGs, but with DDG output projected to be more than 40 million short tons in 2011 - or the equivalent of over 1 billion bushels of corn - their supply contribution to the feed industry is substantial and worth tracking.
GdF eyes biomass plants in Bulgaria
SOFIA, April 4 (Reuters) - France's GDF Suez is considering investing 100 million euros ($142.2 million) in building biomass power plants in four Bulgarian towns, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov said on Monday.
GDF Suez has 695 MW in biomass-fuelled power plant capacity mainly in the United States and Brazil. Last year it said it would build what it called the world's largest biomass plant in Poland.
US biodiesel makers rap EU trade tariff extension
BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. biodiesel makers said on Friday that a European Union decision to extend tariffs on imported biodiesel blends was illegal, fuelling a transatlantic battle for a share in the world's renewable energy market.
On Thursday, EU government representatives backed a plan to extend tariffs on evidence that U.S. exporters have either been smuggling biodiesel to Europe via Canada or mixing it into weaker blends to avoid high tariffs at EU borders, diplomatic, EU and industry sources said.
Dominion unit says 3 power plants to switch to biomass
April 1 (Reuters) - Major power producer Dominion Resources Inc's Virginia unit said it plans to convert three power stations from using coal to biomass.
If the conversion is approved, the plants could begin burning biomass in 2013, it said in a statement.
The company said the total economic impact over the 30-year life of the stations would be more than $350 million, including $30 million in local taxes and $180 million for the creation of more than 300 hundred jobs in the forestry and trucking industries.
EU states back extending U.S. biodiesel duties-sources
BRUSSELS, March 31 (Reuters) - European Union governments on Thursday approved the extension of import duties on U.S.-made biodiesel after hearing evidence that U.S. exporters had been evading EU tariffs by shipping via Canada, sources said.
Representatives of EU countries gave majority backing to extend duties worth up to about 400 euros per tonne to biodiesel arriving from Canada, the sources said.
The vote follows a year of investigations prompted by suspicions that U.S. exporters were smuggling their goods into the EU via third countries to avoid the tariffs.
Cargill acquires Fort Dodge corn wet mill ethanol facility
March 31 (Reuters) - Privately held food producer Cargill said it purchased Tate & Lyle's corn wet mill ethanol plant located in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
The plant has the capacity to grind 150,000 bushels of corn per day and produce 115 million gallons of ethanol per year.
The facility is expected to create over 100 jobs and help provide an alternative market for local producers.
The agribusiness giant said it hopes to replicate the success it has had at other bio-refinery campuses at Fort Dodge.
US 2011 ethanol exports seen at 500 mln gal - CHS
SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol exports in 2011 should surpass last year's record high as the fuel remains relatively cheaper than Brazilian cane-based ethanol in external markets, a director at the largest U.S. farm co-op, CHS, said on Wednesday.
Shipments are expected to total at least 500 million gallons (1.9 billion liters), up from 400 million in 2010, with no less than 200 million gallons going to Europe, said John Litterio, director of renewable fuels sales at CHS .
"U.S. has excess capacity at least in the next few years to dedicate to international markets," he said on the sidelines of a F.O. Licht sugar and ethanol seminar.
Ethanol producers overlook climbing stocks: Maguire
CHICAGO, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol inventories crept to nine-month highs last week despite a reduction in ethanol output and the fact that ethanol prices declined to their lowest level relative to gasoline in close to a year.
But while continuing rises in stockpiles may undermine the fundamental appeal of the ethanol market, industry participants look set to remain committed to maintaining sturdy output levels as production margins edge higher and industry sentiment remains upbeat on expectations for higher demand from fuel blenders over the coming months.
Oregon raising biodiesel requirement
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 30 (Reuters) - Oregon will soon become the second U.S. state to require most diesel fuel to contain at least 5 percent biodiesel, a move expected to generate about 25 million gallons of biodiesel demand annually.
The change, an increase from a 2 percent biodiesel requirement, takes effect April 1.
Oregon's "B5" requirement was triggered when the in-state production capacity reached 15 million gallons.
Brazil top for biofuel investment, but more needed
SAO PAULO, March 29 (Reuters) - Brazil needs to invest more in biofuel production despite ranking as the No. 1 destination for investment in renewables, to meet higher future demand, analysts F.O. Licht and an industry official said on Tuesday.
Brazil drew one quarter of the $5.6 billion invested worldwide in biofuel production plants in 2010, or $1.76 billion. Biofuels projects in the United States and European Union attracted $1.13 billion and $893 million respectively.
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