ITALY 2011 BIODIESEL OUTPUT SEEN DOWN 18 PCT-INDUSTRY
MILAN, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Biodiesel output in Italy, a major producer in the European Union, is expected to fall some 18 percent to about 600,000 tonnes this year hit by surging inflows of cheaper imports, a senior industry official said on Friday.
Italian biodiesel makers, who use mostly imported raw materials including palm oil and rapeseed, have been hit hard in the past couple of years by cheap imports which sometimes cost less than the raw materials, industry experts have said.
BIODIESEL INDUSTRY REJECTS EU LAND USE IMPACT STUDY
BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Europe's biodiesel industry rejected the findings of a draft EU study showing that the cultivation of rapeseed to make road transport fuels is worse for the climate than using conventional diesel.
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) said on Friday the study's central finding -- that the effects of indirect land use to produce most types of biodiesel cancel out any theoretical emissions savings -- was "highly debatable and unscientific".
THAILAND AIMS TO BE REGIONAL ENERGY HUB, TO UP OIL RESERVES
BANGKOK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Thailand aims to revive a long-stalled plan to become an oil trading and biofuel hub in Southeast Asia, challenging Singapore's dominance, its new energy minister said on Thursday.
The net oil importer plans to boost its crude reserves, excluding refined oil products, to 29 days from 18 days now to improve energy security, said Pichai Naripthaphan, as consumers face volatile crude prices which continue to hold above $100 a barrel. .
US BILL WOULD EASE ETHANOL RULE WHEN CORN STOCKS LOW
WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Two dozen U.S. lawmakers are seeking to dilute a requirement to blend increasing amounts of ethanol into motor fuel, in a move that would alleviate upward pressure on food and feed prices when corn supplies are short.
Under a bill unveiled on Wednesday, Congress would reduce the mandate for ethanol whenever stocks of corn, used to make the biofuel, are tight.
US ETHANOL OUTPUT CLIMBS 2.6 PCT BUT STILL SLUGGISH
Oct 5 (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol production rebounded 2.6 percent last week though output remained sluggish, and stocks fell due to strong demand, the government said on Wednesday.
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. ethanol production totaled 863,000 barrels per day in the seven days to Sept. 30, up 22,000 barrels per day from the previous week but still the second-lowest level since early May.
INDUSTRY SPLIT EMERGES OVER BIOFUELS' INDIRECT IMPACT
BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - European bioethanol producers have broken ranks and urged EU policymakers to introduce rules on the indirect climate impacts of biofuels that distinguish between "good and bad biofuel pathways", Reuters has learned.
The call is the first sign of a split within the EU biofuel industry on the controversial issue of indirect land use change (ILUC), which threatens to undermine the green credentials of some biofuels due to their role in diverting food into fuel tanks.
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