20110113 0850 Biofuels Related News.

FARM GROUP--INSTALL PUMPS, END ETHANOL CREDIT
ATLANTA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Congress should transform the $6 billion a year ethanol tax credit into a program that underwrites the installation of "blender" pumps and pipelines so biofuels are more widely available, the largest U.S. farm group said on Tuesday.
The 45-cent a gallon tax credit, which goes to gasoline blenders, expires at the end of this year. Congress voted for the one-year extension last month amid arguments whether to end the tax credit altogether or to reform biofuels supports.

POLL-FARMERS TO US CONGRESS: DON'T TOUCH ETHANOL CREDIT
ATLANTA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A majority of U.S. farmers want Congress to extend the ethanol tax credit that expires again this year, while a quarter could accept at least some cuts to the controversial subsidy, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday.
A random poll at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting found 50 percent of the 436 farmers who responded said they supported the current ethanol tax rate, which some have said is key to further growth of the fuel additive made from corn.

HIGH RAPESEED PRICE COULD CUT FUEL BLENDS-OIL WORLD
HAMBURG, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Rapeseed prices have now reached such high levels that demand for rapeseed oil-based biodiesel for blending with fossil fuels could be cut in coming months, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast on Tuesday.
Oil companies are compelled to blend biodiesel, largely made from rapeseed oil, with fossil diesel in several European countries as part of environmental protection programmes.

US SENATORS DOUBT WTO WOULD UPHOLD US ETHANOL TARIFF
BRASILIA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. senators John McCain and John Barrasso said on Monday the extension of U.S. ethanol subsidies and a tariff on imports is likely illegal under international trade rules, lending some support to Brazil's opposition to U.S. ethanol policy.
"I believe the WTO would rule against the United States because it's clearly a subsidy that is neither warranted nor in keeping with WTO regulations," Senator McCain of Arizona told reporters after a meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia.

HIGH FOOD PRICES CLOUD UK GRASS-FOR-ENERGY PLANS
LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Record high world food prices threaten to limit the use of land for low-carbon energy crops just as British efforts to pioneer growth of the giant grass miscanthus in Europe are poised to gather pace.
Miscanthus giganteus is a 3-metre high Asian elephant grass whose tawny leaves are now at their tallest before harvesting next month.

COSAN TO BUY ZANIN CANE MILL FOR $224.7 MLN
SAO PAULO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Cosan , Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol group, said on Friday it has signed a binding deal to purchase Zanin cane group, for 378.6 million reais ($224.7 million), including cash and debt.
Zanin's mill in Araraquara, in Sao Paulo state, has a cane crushing capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per year. Cosan has already three mills in the same region.

BRAZIL SEEKS MORE ETHANOL INVESTMENT TO MEET DEMAND
BRASILIA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's ethanol sector will need more investment to raise output and keep up with steadily growing demand from its domestic market with millions more flex cars taking to the road, agriculture officials said Thursday.
The Latin American country is a pioneer in sugar-cane ethanol, which is now the most popular mainstream fuel with its motorists who burn it in pure form in locally-made flex-fuel cars, technology found in almost 90 percent of new cars sold in Brazil.