20110902 1104 Biofuels Related News.

BRAZIL HOPES FOR BIGGER CANE CROP IN 2012
BRASILIA, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's weather-ravaged sugar cane crop could rebound next year, helping the country begin to revive lagging ethanol production, an agriculture official said on Tuesday, but raising output to a comfortable level will take time and effort.
The world's top sugar producer has been unable keep output of cane ethanol biofuel in step with fast growing demand after adverse weather slashed yields and after mills recovering from the 2008 financial crisis slackened investments.

GERMAN GOVT, OIL LOBBY CLASH ON BIOFUEL USE TARGET
HAMBURG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - HAMBURG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Germany's government and its oil industry association on Tuesday disagreed about whether the country can reach its 2011 biofuel use quotas as sales of a new gasoline blend with a higher biofuel content remain sluggish.
The German government this year raised the maximum permitted level of bioethanol blended in gasoline to 10 percent from 5 percent previously as part of Germany's programme to protect the environment by cutting CO2 emissions.

RISING BIOMASS DEMAND COULD DRIVE LAND GRABS-REPORT
LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Rising global demand for cleaner energy from biomass could drive more land acquisition in poorer nations where food security and land rights are weak, an International Institute for Environment and Development report said on Tuesday.
"If left unchecked, the growing pressure on land access  could undermine livelihoods and food security in some of the world's poorest countries," the London-based non-profit research group said, calling for more public scrutiny into global biomass expansion plans.

DENMARK'S DONG ENERGY EXPLORING LARGE BIOFUEL PLANT
COPENHAGEN, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Denmark's DONG Energy [DONG.UL] and local partners will explore the possibility of building a bioenergy complex, including a large-scale bioethanol plant to turn straw into fuel.
State-owned DONG has joined two local energy providers and a waste firm to form a consortium called Maabjerg Energy Concept, which will determine the feasibility of the project in western Jutland over the coming 15 months.

BRAZIL TO CUT ETHANOL BLEND IN GASOLINE FROM OCT.1
BRASILIA, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Brazil will cut the amount of ethanol biofuel it puts in its gasoline from October 1, the energy minister said on Monday, after a disappointing sugar cane crop too small to keep pace with growing demand.
Anhydrous ethanol content in gasoline will fall to 20 percent, down from the years-old 25 percent requirement, as a means to stretch projected supplies of ethanol.

LAND LAW CLIPS BRAZIL ETHANOL, SUGAR GROWTH EFFORT
BRASILIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The inability of Brazil's cane sector to keep up with growing demand for sugar and ethanol may worsen in the future if a government practice limiting land purchases by foreigners is maintained.
Foreign-controlled companies are now limited in the amount of land they can buy in Brazil after the Attorney General's office last year reinterpreted a law on the control of farm land by foreign capital. The decision was prompted by government concerns that alarming amounts of local land might be coming under control of foreign elements.

US ETHANOL EXPORTS TO SURPASS BRAZIL THIS YEAR-EIA
WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Lax trade restrictions and high sugar prices should allow the United States to overtake Brazil in ethanol exports during the second half of 2011, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
During the first five months of 2011 U.S. ethanol exports more than doubled from the same period last year, the EIA said.

US ETHANOL OUTPUT CLIMBS EVEN AS CORN PRICES RISE
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug 24 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production bounced back in the last week with good demand helping offset high prices for key ingredient corn.
The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. ethanol production totaled 904,000 barrels per day, up 5,000 barrels per day from the previous week.