New ABG plant lifts biodiesel industry (14/7/06)
Australia's biodiesel industry is starting to take shape with the country's largest plant completing its first production run. The Australian Biodiesel Group's plant at Narangba on Brisbane's northern outskirts was commissioned last month and became fully operational this week. The plant has the capacity to produce 160 million tonnes of biodiesel annually, and augments ABG's existing plant on the NSW Central Coast which has the capacity to produce 40 million tonnes annually.
Australian Renewable Fuels is also building plants in South Australia and Western Australia, while Babcock and Brown is developing one in Darwin. (The Australian)

Sugar surges on speculation of ethanol demand  (10/7/06)
Sugar prices climbed to match their all-time high on Thursday as record crude oil prices raised expectations for increased demand for alternative fuels.
Crude rose to an intraday record of $75.40 a barrel Wednesday after North Korea fired a volley of missile tests.
White sugar has climbed 77 percent in the past year, partly on speculation that higher oil prices will spur Brazil, the world's biggest sugar producer and exporter, to divert more of its harvest to making ethanol.
White, or refined, sugar for October delivery climbed as much as $8.40, or 1.7 percent, to $497 a metric ton in London, matching the record it set May 12, according to Liffe exchange data going back to 1989. It later edged back to $489.  (International Herald Tribune)

Cargill starts biodiesel production (11/7/06)
One of the largest U.S. biodiesel refineries, owned by multinational agribusiness leader Cargill, is on line in Iowa Falls, Iowa. The newly built plant compliments Cargill’s pre-existing soybean crush facility, and provides the biodiesel plant with its feedstock.
Cargill announced May 30 that it was building a new soybean processing facility in Kansas City. The new facility will boost the company’s existing processing capacity of 95,000 bushels per day to 165,000 bushels per day. 
The company is also preparing to build a new rapeseed crush plant at one of their French plants, which will send oil via pipeline to Cargill’s strategic partner Diester Industries for biodiesel production. (Biodiesel Magazine)

Fuel tax changes 'threaten biodiesel industry' (10/7/06)
Biodiesel producers have expressed concern over changes to the fuel tax system, saying they could threaten the viability of the industry.The changes mean that farmers and miners can no longer receive rebates on biodiesel.
The president of the Biodiesel Association, Adrian Lake, says some biodiesel projects are being reviewed because of the changes. "Under these laws a lot of the certainty is certainly gone and that has a big impact on whether people will commit the resources that are required to develop the crops and the infrastructure around it to supply to biodiesel," he said.
Mr Lake is calling on the Federal Government to consider the effects. (ABC)

WA biodiesel pilot plant opens (3/7/06)
Agriculture and Food Minister Kim Chance this week officially opened WA's latest biodiesel pilot plant. Biodiesel firm, BlueDiesel, opened the small, portable biodiesel plant in Welshpool, and aims to use the fuel in rural communities. The plant will extract biodiesel from canola oil.  (news.com.au)

Gunnedah ethanol plant on the way (28/6/06)
THE construction of an ethanol plant in Gunnedah will take another step towards its completion with a community consultation process expected to start in mid-July.
The plant is being built by Primary Energy. CEO Matthew Kelley said he expected to lodge a development application with Planning NSW at the end of July.
Mr Kelley and BP Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in late March to construct a twin to the $100 million Gunnedah proposal in the Perth suburb of Kwinana, which is expected to come on line in 2008. (Northern Daily Leader)

Ethanol stocks build, so does demand (28/6/06)
Ethanol demand continues to increase in the United States but ethanol production continues to keep pace. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says stocks of ethanol reached a record 9.087 million barrels or 381 million gallons in April. That is the fourth month in a row that ethanol stocks have increased. But, demand is gaining ground, citing Energy Information Administration data, RFA says there were 363.5 million gallons of ethanol produced in the U.S. in April, we imported another 32.6 million gallons and used 396.2 million gallons in the month. (Brownfield Ag News)

DuPont and BP announce partnership to develop biofuels (27/6/06)
Science company DuPont and global energy group BP have announced a partnership to develop, produce and market biofuels to help meet increasing global demand for renewabl fuels.
DuPont and BP have been working together since 2003 to develop advanced biofuels with properties that can help overcome the limitations of existing biofuels. The first product to market will be biobutanol, which has low vapor pressure and tolerance to water contamination in petrol blends, facilitating its use in existing petrol supply and distribution channels. (farmcomm)

Time to increase flow of cheap fuel imports: VFF  (19/6/06)
The Victorian Farmers Federation has welcomed recent debate about the development of an Australian biofuels sector and is urging all political parties to reconsider their opposition to imported ethanol.
VFF President, Simon Ramsay, said the VFF strongly supports the development of a sustainable biofuels sector in Australia and urges the removal of the tariff on imported ethanol to help build biofuel demand.
“Victorian farmers are extremely concerned about the high price of fuel and its negative impact upon farm business viability and international competitiveness,” said Mr Ramsay.
“Since 2004, fuel prices in rural and regional Victoria have risen by up to 70 per cent, with fertiliser (which is petroleum based) rising by up to 36 per cent over the same period."

Labor joins ethanol mandate push (16/6/06)
The push to mandate ethanol levels in petrol has a new ally - the ALP, with key Labor figures in New South Wales and Queensland said to be pushing for a 10 per cent biofuel component in fuels.
A motion to that effect was unanimously passed at the NSW Labor conference last weekend..
The Labor move comes as the federal National Party leadership heads in the opposite direction, ruling out any compulsory standards being adopted despite a good deal of backbench and National Party support for biofuels. (ABC)

Ethanol mandate "not on the table", says Ag Minister (15/6/06)
Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran says a mandate on the use of ethanol in petrol is not being considered by the government, believing it would have a "distortionary effect on the market".
There is growing pressure from the National party, led by Senators Nash and Joyce, to force oil companies to blend petrol with ethanol .
Mr McGauran added the government was "very conscious of the need to develop to a greater extent alternate fuels."

China eyes ethanol development
China is considering a change in its energy policy to encourage the wider use of ethanol as a means of improving air quality, the Financial Times reported.
Beijing could set a target by the end of this year to include ethanol in the nation's energy mix, according to Fabrizio Zichichi, head of ethanol at Noble Group.
Zichichi told the newspaper that government policymakers had informed him of this possibility on a recent trip to China.
Such a move would indicate crucial political support for investment in the production, import and distribution of the biofuel in China and could have an impact on world ethanol prices, which analysts said will soon peak on current consumption patterns. (Forbes)

Nationals push for ethanol excise until 2018 (6/6/06)
Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce wants Australian-produced ethanol's current protection from foreign competition to run till 2018. In 2002, with the prospect of a shipment of ethanol being imported from Brazil, the Government announced a subsidy for locally produced ethanol, which effectively wiped out the fuel excise, thereby removing any financial incentive to import the biofuel.
Due to end in 2008, the Nationals convinced the Government to extend the deadline to 2011, and they are now pushing for the subsidy to be extended to 2018. (ABC)

Australians to build ethanol plant in Iowa (31/5/06)
An Australian company, which bought the controlling stake in an Iowa ethanol company in April, has announced plans to build a $160 million ethanol plant in Belmond, about 90 miles north of Des Moines.
Brisbane-based Global Ethanol Holdings said it has signed an agreement with local farmers to build the plant that will produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.
The company owns a majority stake in Midwest Grain Processors, whose shareholders approved a $100 million offer from Global Ethanol to buy 60 percent of the company. (AP)

Ethanol stocks up on energy prices (24/5/06)
Shares of ethanol producing companies soared Tuesday after a jump in oil prices prompted investors to buy up shares of alternative energy stocks.
Oil prices reached nearly $72 a barrel, after forecasts for an active hurricane season spurred concerns about potential damage and destruction of Gulf Coast refineries. A barrel of light crude added $1.80 to reach $71.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (Associated Press)

CBOT to add ethanol to trading on May 31 (24/5/06)
The Chicago Board of Trade will list ethanol futures on its electronic trading system during daytime hours on May 31, the exchange said Tuesday. The move is part of the exchange's previously announced plan to offer its agricultural futures products electronically as well as via open auction, the exchange said in a press release. (Dow Jones)

US Congress continues ethanol support (19/5/06)
Two more bills to promote ethanol were introduced in the US Senate this week, with the backing of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
One bill, the Energy Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) bill, allows the increase of renewable content in motor fuel to 25% by 2025. It also calls for 25% of vehicles sold in the US to run on ethanol, biodiesel or alternative fuels by 2010. The bill also requires 10% of electricity in the US to come from renewable sources by 2020.

North QLD biodiesel plant a success (17/5/06)
Far north Queensland's first commercial biodiesel plant, , is proving to be a runaway success.
The plant, at Mossman, north of Cairns, was a pilot on land owned by the Mossman Sugar Mill, turning used cooking oil into biodiesel.
Biodiesel from the plant is selling for $1.10 per litre. Sales were slow to start with but demand is now outstripping supply, according to plant owner Rod Miller. (ABC)

World Bank "flooded" with ethanol fund requests (12/5/06)
The World Bank's private sector arm is being deluged with funding requests for ethanol projects around the globe as crude oil prices trade near record highs.
Recent requests have been received from Latin America, Africa and East Asia. In the past three years, the IFC (International Finance Corp) has invested $65 million in one ethanol plant in India and another one in Brazil.
Since November, sugar cane project funding requests -- largely in the feasibility stage -- have come in from Mali, Guatemala, Honduras, the Philippines, Colombia, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Mozambique, Tanzania, Egypt and Turkey. (Reuters)

Rural group to lobby for ethanol support (9/5/06)
A rural lobby group hopes the Australian Ethanol Conference in Brisbane will bolster support for alternative fuels. The conference is expected to attract about 400 industry leaders to Queensland, and explore issues such as ethanol production, plant operations, and the mandating of ethanol content in petrol.
AgForce grains president Lyndon Pfeffer said the Conference will provide the public with accurate information about ethanol and alternative fuels. "On a worldwide perspective, if we don't do something now we'll be left behind and miss out on some golden opportunities," he said. (The Age)