In the UK, Scotland’s The National newspaper reports that sugarbeet crop trials in Scotland by Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, SAC Consulting, and Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society have shown the crop could be a viable ethanol feedstock for the region. The crop harvested a few months ago was the first beet crop harvested in Scotland in […]
In France, Reuters reports Cristal Union says it was able to offset two-thirds of its fuel ethanol losses from the COVID-19 pandemic by shifting production and sales to sanitizers. Europe’s second-largest sugar producer won’t be able to maneuver its way out of heavy losses next year, however, because the EU ban on neonic pesticides has […]
In Florida, Tropicana and local partners are finishing up an 18-month R&D project funded by an USDA Rural Development grant that is determining the viability of growing sugarbeet in St. Lucie county for aviation biofuel production. The crop’s cycle fits in well with citrus and could be an opportunity for local farmers to diversify and […]
In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting comment on its analysis of the upstream greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the production of Beta vulgaris ssp. Vulgaris (sugar beets) for use as a biofuel feedstock. This notice describes EPA’s greenhouse gas analysis of sugar beets produced for use as a biofuel feedstock, and describes […]
In Ontario, the Bio-Industrial Process Research Centre at Lambton College and Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park – collaboration with the OSGA and its partners – completed a techno-economic modelling feasibility study. The study identified suitable high value-added products and determined business scenarios where a beet-based sugar value chain could be re-established economically within southern Ontario. In […]
In Germany, sugarbeet led the way in 2015 with 9% more used for ethanol production than the previous year, while production from feed grain fell nearly 2%, with overall production rising 1.8% over 2014 at 739,821 metric tons. Nearly 13,000 tons more feedstock was processed last year to account for the production increase. Nearly 2 […]
In the Netherlands, AkzoNobel has joined forces with SuikerUnie, Rabobank, Deloitte, Investment and Development Agency for the Northern Netherlands (NOM), Groningen Seaports, and the Province of Groningen, to investigate the possibility of producing chemicals from beet-derived sugar feedstock. The parties have asked Deloitte to perform a feasibility study to provide an independent critical review and […]
In the UK, A-Gas is selling a CO2 refrigerant produced from CO2 collected during sugarbeet ethanol production for the first time in the British market. The gas is suitable for a wide-range of applications, especially for large-scale users like supermarkets. The company is targeting consumers looking for greener alternatives to their sourcing needs.
In Germany, a study published in Nature on Tuesday, describes the sugar beet reference genome sequence generated by researchers both from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and the University of Bielefeld, in cooperation with other centres and plant breeders. Sugar beet accounts for nearly 30% of the world’s […]
In Canada, S2G BioChem is looking to set up a sugarbeet-based bio-glycol facility in southern Alberta, which the local beet industry is looking at as a major opportunity to further develop the crop that is currently served by only one sugar factory in the province. The facility would demand beet from 20,000 more acres, bringing […]
