Beijing Olympic operations halt biodiesel production

Source: Biofuels International Online Newsletter

 

7th August, 2008 Gushan Environmental Energy, China’s largest producer of biodiesel as measured by annual production capacity, will temporarily suspend operations at its Beijing plant from August 1, 2008 to September 20, 2008.

 

The suspension is due to heightened traffic measures adopted by the Beijing government in preparation for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

 

Such traffic control measures require that vehicles operating in and out of Beijing meet certain emission standards, that vehicles be driven on alternate days, depending on whether their license plates are even-numbered or odd-numbered and regulate or limit the transportation of hazardous chemicals by road, restricting the deliverer of raw materials to the Beijing plant.

 

‘Although Gushan has not received any suspension or shut-down notice from the government, we believe that the government’s recent strict enforcement of measures controlling the movement of vehicles and goods in and out of the Beijing area have rendered biodiesel production at our Beijing plant impractical for the time being,’ Jianqiu Yu, chairman of Gushan, says.

 

As a result of this suspension, based on current circumstances and barring any unforeseen events, Gushan expects that the total 2008 biodiesel production volume produced by its Beijing plant will be reduced by approximately 10,000 tonnes, or approximately 3 million gallons, which it anticipates will reduce its overall production levels for the year.

Malaysia and Indonesia to use palm oil surplus for biodiesel

Source: Biofuels International Online Newsletter

 

7th August, 2008 Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to use the surplus from their palm oil stockpiles to produce biodiesel as part of the mechanism to boost the palm oil price.

 

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui and Indonesia’s Agriculture Minister Dr Anton Apriyantono say both countries would continue to do so until the edible oil commodity achieves a price equilibrium in the world market.

 

The price of crude palm oil (CPO) is around US$871 (€563) per tonne, the lowest in 15 months.

 

‘We have palm oil stocks which are fetching unreasonably low price in the world market. So we want to increase its usage to produce biodiesel for the local market,’ Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui says. ‘This is only logical. If the price is low, then we might as well use the commodity ourselves.’

 

Malaysia has 1.9 million tonnes of surplus, and an equal amount in Indonesia, which would be used for the purpose.

Australian ethanol demand grows

Australian motorists are changing their petrol-buying habits in response to the increasing availability of ethanol-blended petrol, a new report has revealed.

 

APAC Biofuel Consultants released its annual report on the Australian biofuel industry which shows that the sector is currently contributing about 3,000 barrels a day to the Australian transport fuel supply.

 

This is just over 50% of the way to meeting the 350 million litres target by 2010.

 

‘The number of retail outlets selling ethanol blend has increased three-fold over the past two years, concentrating in Queensland and NSW and to a lesser extent in SA and Victoria,’ APAC Biofuels Consultants joint CEO Mike Cochran says.

 

Data released recently from the Federal Government’s Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, shows further evidence of the increasing acceptability of ethanol blended petrol.

 

The data shows there has been a three-fold increase of ethanol-blended petrol sales over the past 12 months, reaching a record 102 million litres in May – predominantly driven from demand in New South Wales and Queensland.

 

‘Currently Australian domestic production can meet the increasing demand for ethanol, however we estimate production is close to capacity at around 130 million litres per year,’ he adds.

 

The Australian Biofuels 2008 report is a joint venture of Energy Quest and Ecco Consulting.

New Zealand awards alternative and biofuel research funding

New Zealand’s Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) has recently approved NZ$45.6 million (€21.1 million) in contracts for alternative and biofuels research as part of a record NZ$785 million in funding with more than 25 research organisations in the foundation’s main 2008 investment round.

 

The funding includes a three-year, NZ$12 million project by LanzaTech to develop a low-carbon biofuel that can be used with petrol in blend ratios of up to 90% in older cars. LanzaTech is the developer of a process using bacterial fermentation to convert carbon monoxide into ethanol.

 

The LanzaTech FRST project is to develop a second-generation low-carbon petrol biofuel from industrial flue gas waste targeted at the older Japanese imports that are a large part of the country’s fleet.

 

The second-largest amount of funding NZ$7.05 million went to Verenium Corporation and Scion for the next stage of development by the New Zealand Lignocellulosic Bioethanol Initiative, a trans-Pacific research collaboration.

 

This initiative builds from previous collaborative research among Verenium, New Zealand’s Crown Research Institutes Scion and AgResearch, and New Zealand’s largest pulp and paper producer, Carter Holt Harvey, which recently announced the completion of a study which evaluated the infrastructure, technology and economics of a transportation biofuels facility using New Zealand softwood plantation forests as a potential feedstock.

 

Foster Wheeler Awarded Contract for CFB Gasifier for Biomass to Liquids (BTL) Pilot Plant in Finland

HAMILTON, Bermuda–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 12, 2008–Foster Wheeler Ltd. (Nasdaq: FWLT) announced today that its Finnish subsidiary Foster Wheeler Energia Oy, part of its Global Power Group, has been awarded a contract by NSE Biofuels Oy Ltd. for a circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) biomass gasifier to be located in Varkaus, Finland. NSE Biofuels Oy Ltd. is a joint venture owned 50/50 by Stora Enso Oyj and Neste Oil Corporation.

 

Foster Wheeler’s scope includes an oxygen/steam gasifier and gas treatment equipment. The plant utilizes Foster Wheeler’s fuel-flexible circulating fluidized-bed gasification technology to convert a wide spectrum of biomass into a clean syngas to be used in a gas to liquids (Fischer-Tropsch) process to produce feedstock for renewable diesel from biomass/wood residue-based gas. The gasification and syngas cleaning system is part of NSE’s new-generation renewable diesel demonstration plant at Stora Enso’s Varkaus Mill in Finland.

 

Foster Wheeler has received a full notice to proceed on this contract. The terms of the award were not disclosed, and the contract will be included in the company’s bookings for the second quarter of 2008. The plant is expected to start up in early 2009 and will be integrated into the energy infrastructure of the Stora Enso Varkaus Mill.

 

Foster Wheeler and the JV partners have also agreed in principle for further co-operation, aiming for delivery of a commercial-scale production plant to be located at one of Stora Enso’s mills.

 

“This project is a major step forward in the development of technologies to reduce CO2 emissions,” said Tomas Harju-Jeanty, president and chief executive officer of Foster Wheeler Energia Oy. “With our world-leading biomass gasifying technology, we are excited to be a key player in this project led by Stora Enso and Neste Oil which uses wood-based biomass for production of biofuels, thereby reducing the use of fossil fuels in transportation.”

 

Foster Wheeler Ltd. is a global company offering, through its subsidiaries, a broad range of engineering, procurement, construction, manufacturing, project development and management, research and plant operation services. Foster Wheeler serves the upstream oil and gas, LNG and gas-to-liquids, refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, power, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare industries. The company is based in Hamilton, Bermuda, and its operational headquarters are in Clinton, New Jersey, USA. For more information about Foster Wheeler, please visit our Web site at www.fwc.com.

 

Neste Oil Corporation is a refining and marketing company concentrating on clean, high-quality traffic fuels. The company pursues growth in both oil refining and high-end renewable diesel production. Neste Oil refineries are located in Porvoo and Naantali, and their combined crude oil refining capacity is about 260,000 barrels a day. The company’s net sales in 2007 were EUR 12,103 million and it employs about 5,100 people. Neste Oil’s share is listed on the Nordic Stock Exchange in Helsinki. www.nesteoil.com.

 

Stora Enso is an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company producing newsprint, magazine paper, fine paper, consumer board, industrial packaging and wood products. Stora Enso’s sales totaled EUR 13.4 billion in 2007. The Group has some 38 000 employees in more than 40 countries on five continents. Stora Enso has an annual production capacity of 13.1 million tones of paper and board and 7.5 million cubic meters of sawn wood products. Stora Enso’s shares are listed in Helsinki and Stockholm.

 

Sustainability criteria mooted for NZ biofuel bill

Filed from Singapore 6/23/2008 12:56:12 PM GMT

 

NEW ZEALAND:  A parliamentary select committee had proposed to include three sustainability principles for biofuel sold in New Zealand as part of their review of the country’s Biofuel Bill, according to media reports.

 

The three sustainability principles require biofuels to have a lower life-cycle carbon footprint than fossil fuels and also seek to block biofuels that compete with food production or under biodiversity.

 

Sugar cane and oilseed-based biofuels are exempted from the food competition clause, which could be perceived as encouraging biofuel imports from Brazil.

 

Local producers said the report strongly supports imported ethanol but does nothing to promote the use of the country’s own natural resources to produce biofuel.

 

New Zealand Biofuel Manufacturers Association’s spokesperson Dick Posnett said the report failed to remove a subsidy that favours ethanol use over biodiesel.

 

The Biofuel Bill first presented last year seeks to introduce the mandatory use of biofuels by introducing the biofuels sales obligation (BSO) policy and by regulating engine fuel, including biofuels and blends.  The BSO is a sales obligation requiring oil companies to sell a required percentage of biofuel content in their combined petrol and diesel sales.  The bill proposed to start from a 0.53 per cent BSO in 2008 and to gradually increase the BSO to 3.4 per cent by 2012.

St1 opens bioethanol dehydration plant in Finland

Finnish energy company St1 has opened a dehydration plant at the port of Hamina to supplement its Ethanolix concept of dispersed production of ethanol.

 

The plant’s capacity is 44 million litres of 99.8% bioethanol a year, which will be blended with petrol. Preparations have already been made to double the capacity.

St1 produces bioethanol from waste with a new innovative concept of dispersed production, where the production and dehydration of bioethanol are separated. St1 brings small Etanolix production units close to the waste raw material supplier and the product is concentrated centrally.

The company already operates units in Lappeenranta and Närpiö. St1 has plans to build 20 units in Finland in the next two years.

China Biodiesel on track for market expectations

China Biodiesel International Holding is on track to meet market estimates for 2008, as trial production is expected to begin at its new plant at Xiamen, which will double the company’s design capacity to 100,000 tonnes a year.

This figure is nearly four times last year’s output.

The biodiesel producer said though global inflation in vegetable and animal oil prices has continued to exert competitive pressures, it has moved to higher margin output through increased production of B1 and B2 biodiesel.

The two types of biodiesel are used as a substitute for petrochemical products in the manufacturing industries, and are free of the pricing pressures caused by government price controls on diesel fuels.

State-owned consortium to set up Indonesia biodiesel plant

indonesiaState-owned plantation firms have jointly set up a consortium for the construction of a biodiesel plant in Indonesia, aimed at supporting the government programme to develop alternative energy resources.

The state firms involved include PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III, PTPN IV, PTPN V and PTPN VII. PTPN III will act as the head party in the consortium.

‘The plant will be built in Medan, North Sumatra, near the source of raw material and we expect the construction to finish in 2009,’ PTPN VII’s director Andi Punoko says.

The consortium will function as investors as well as providers of raw materials. The use of biodiesel is expected to account for 10% of the firm’s total production costs, which reached Rp 30-40 billion (€2.2-3 million) a year.

The four state firms engage in the cultivation of palm oil and rubber, as well as producing crude palm oil, palm kernels, latex, crumb rubber and rubber smoked sheet. State oil and gas company PT Pertamina will help distribute the biodiesel fuel.

PTPN VII’s production capacity for palm oil reaches around 200,000 tonnes a year, or 10% of the total output from all state plantation firms. PTPN III contributes the largest portion reaching 2 million tonnes a year.