The Brazilian government has renewed and increased the size of its tariff-free quota for ethanol imports from 600 million litres to 750 million litres, but the new allotment will last only one year instead of the two years allocated to the former quota that expired on 31st August, according to the country’s official gazette, reported Reuters.
India – Ethanol blending rate expected to rise to 5.8% as output increases [Full subscriber]
India’s average blending rate for ethanol in gasoline is expected to reach a record 5.8%, up from a previous record 4.1% last year and considerably higher than historical levels according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service recent report.
Molecular simulations reveal the effectiveness of THF in disentangling lignin from lignocellulosic feedstocks [Registered]
In the production of cellulosic biofuels breaking down lignocellulosic feedstocks into C5 and C6 sugars is a major challenge. In a leap forward that could be a game-changer for understanding how plant biomass can be more efficiently broken down, researchers from the University of California (UC), Riverside, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Central Florida have created a chemical roadmap to disentangle the complex polymer lignin from cellulose and hemicellulose.
El Salvador – Millers invite the government to incentivise ethanol production [Full subscriber]
As a structural sugar exporter, El Salvadoran sugar millers have been hit low sugar prices and are now planning to diversify by expanding into cane-based biofuels production, said yesterday the president of the Sugar Association of El Salvador (AAES), Mario Salaverría, according to local press reports.
La Réunion and Guadeloupe cane sectors granted €38 million by France [Full subscriber]
The French government has renewed for one year the state aid to La Réunion and Guadeloupe’s sugarcane-sugar sector to the sum of €38 million to compensate for the end of sugar production quotas in Oct 2017, according to the recent announcement by the Ministries of Agriculture and Overseas.
Brazil – Investment of US$26.4 billion needed to realize RenovaBio’s target of 50 billion litres ethanol by 2030 [Full subscriber]
The cane industry which welcomed the new biofuels policy RenovaBio in December 2017 will probably struggle to expand output from the current 33 billion litres of ethanol to the target of 50 billion litres by 2030, according to local press reports.
Brazil – Toyota to launch a hybrid car running on petrol, electricity and ethanol [Registered]
For 22 years, Toyota Motor Corp. has made hybrid cars that don’t require drivers to choose between running on gas or electricity. In October it will add a third option: ethanol.
Zambia – Chinese firm invests in building a new US$9 million ethanol plant [Full subscriber]
The Chinese Zhongkai International is investing US$9 million to build a new ethanol processing plant in central Zambia, according to local press reports.
Brazil – Sao Martinho planning to build US$91 million corn-ethanol plant in Goiás state [Full subscriber]
Sao Martinho SA, one of Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol producers, plans to build a corn-ethanol plant in the state of Goiás, the company said in a securities filing, reports Reuters.
Role of aldehydede-formylating oxygenases in biodiesel production elicited [Registered]
Researchers at The University of Tokyo have identified enzymes that are responsible for the production of hydrocarbons in blue-green algae — a hydrocarbon producing cyanobacteria, reports Chemonline.
Monthly Snapshot
Market overview While the sugar market continues to hobble from glut and low prices, the industry is also distracted by major sugar exporters Brazil, Australia and Guatemala launching formal complaint […]
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