Daily Summary for Friday August 31

Top Story: The US renewable fuels standard, or RFS, debuts on Saturday, September 1. The program will mandate an increasing percentage of renewable fuels in motor vehicle fuels, with credits granted to ease the transition. The program exempts small refineries through 2010, plus the states of Alaska and Hawaii, although Hawaii has imposed a separate E10 mandate. The RFS program mandates blending of 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel into US-sold fuels by 2012.

Producer News: In Iowa, Little Sioux Corn Processors announced the postponement of its IPO after putting its planned 100 MGY ethanol plant in Akron, IA on hold due due to escalating construction costs and declines in ethanol prices. Biofuels Digest previously reported on the Plymouth County’s trapped investment in supporting the planned Akron River facility….Altra Biofuels announced that it has secured financing for a 60 Mgy ethanol plant in Coshocton, Ohio, and a 100 Mgy plant in Cloverdale, Ind. The Coshocton plant is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter and the Cloverdale plant in the second quarter of 2008….In California, a 30 Mgy biodiesel plant is under construction by Crimson Renewable Energy and will be completed in spring 2008. The plant will increase California biodiesel production by 150%.

International News: In Mozambique, Pro-Cana announced that it will construct a $500 million ethanol plant in Gaza province….In India, fuel distributors disputed government officials’ assertions that the country cannot produce enough ethanol to support an E10 mandate. They stated that they have procured 450-460 million litres of ethanol, almost half the 1,130 liter ethanol requirement to support E10 if it is imposed in the country….In Brussels, the EU approved plans by BP and Associated British Foods to construct a 111 Mgy ethanol plant in Hull, England, scheduled to be online in 2009 and will use wheat as a feedstock….In Australia, Australian Renewable Fuels announced a loss of $33.6 million, a 959 per cent increase over last year, as the company ramps up production and after it ended negotiations with a major oil company to supply Western Australia services stations with biodiesel.

Policy & Policymakers: The Biodiesel Association of India has called for India to dedicate 12.8 million hectares of wasteland to jatropha cultivation….China released details of its biofuels plan, calling for production of 3.8 million metric tons of ethanol from sweet sorghum stalks….In Switzerland, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels released a draft of new principles for sustainable biofuels.

Research News: In Brazil, sugar output is expected to decline this year despite record sugar cane harvests, as Brazil diverts more sugar to fuel production. Total harvest is projected at 547.2 million tons of sugar cane, up from 474 million tons last year, but sugar production will decline from 30 million metric tons from 30.2 million last year. Ethanol production is expected to increase to 5.6 billion gallons, up from 4.5 billion last year….In Spain, the director of the Spanish Flour and Semolina Producers Association blamed biofuels for up to 50% price increases in bread prices as soon as next year. The director notes the impact of poor harvests in Eastern Europe and higher transportation costs but said biofuels were the greatest source of price pressure.

Consumer and Fleet news: In Canada, Petro-Canada, signed as the sole customer of 32MGY produced at GreenField Ethanol’s plant in Varennes, Quebec. In Sweden, Volvo Group announced it will produce seven demonstration trucks, equipped with 9 liter engines, suitable for biodiesel fuel….Nielsen released its Nielsen BuzzMetrics Q2 2007 Sustainability Buzz Report, finding that the term “sustainability,” has increased its buzz levels 169% in the past year….In New Jersey, New Jersey Natural Gas will switch 32 trucks and additional construction vehicles to B20 biodiesel, and switch a further 17 trucks following completion of a biodiesel storage tank.

Financial News: The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ (BDI), a basket of 21 major public biofuel stocks, rose 1.89% percent yesterday to 102.23 as an improved outlook for ethanol overshadowed increasing worries about the credit market that dragged down the market as a whole.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Richmond signs agreement with US Biofuels that will utilize city landfill methane

WHIO-TV reports on an agreement signed by the City of Richmond with US Biofuels to build an ethanol plant. The City will sell methane gas from the city landfill to the new venture. The capture and use...

Daily Summary for Friday August 3

Top Story: California released its new Low Carbon Fuel Standard, to reduce CO2 emissions from fuels by 10 percent by 2020. The Standard includes support for E85 ethanol blends, as well as increased av...

Bill Gates to unload 21 percent stake in Pacific Ethanol; shares plummet 22 percent

An investment company owned by Bill Gates, Cascade Investments, will file to convert its preferred shares in Pacific Ethanol to common stock and register a potential sale. Cascade owns 21 percent o...

Biofuels Stock and Financial Outlook for September 11

The US stock market is expected to start higher this morning as the Manpower employment outlook index was unchanged for the upcoming quarter, despite previous drops in the August employment numbers th...

Biofuels Digest Index drops 1.05 percent to 84.91 as ethanol wilts; BDI closing daily values for last year available for download

The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, lost 1.05 percent to close at 84.91 as ethanol stocks were battered.  For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) fell 0.63 perce...

Biofuels Stock and Financial Outlook for September 3

Biofuels stocks will be looking to rise this week based on major reports due in the broader market as the US returns from the Labor Day holiday and summer vacations in general. Due this week are repor...