In Arizona, Bioplastics International now has a US Patent Pending for the world’s first and only water-soluble sugar cane Polyvinyl Alcohol, to replace a large portion of the world’s plastics, to instantly stop plastic pollution. Polyvinyl Alcohol, or PVA, is a hydrophilic, synthetic polymer, which dissolves in any kind of water, however, is stronger than […]
In Australia, University of Queensland researchers have found a way to more efficiently convert sugarcane into a building block of aviation fuel and other products. By zeroing in on a specific enzyme, a UQ team working in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has sped up the slowest step in processing sugar into […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that following China’s approval of two of its genetically modified sugarcane varieties that are resistant to stem-boring pests, the Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira believes that approvals will start to pick up the pace. For the current 2022/23 season, area planted to GMO cane in Brazil has doubled to 70,000 hectares, but […]
In Indonesia, Reuters reports the government has set out a three-year roadmap to start blending 5% sugarcane-based ethanol with gasoline, starting first in just a few provinces—in the capital of Jakarta and East Java—and then rolling it out later. The roll out will be followed by scaling up to 10% in the medium term and […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports Datagro data shows sugarcane production is expected to jump next season to 590 million metric tons in 2023/24 that kicks off in April as the crop continues to recover from drought and deep freeze impacts. The figure compares to 542 million tons expected for the current season. Although ethanol production is […]
In India, counter to what the transportation minister has been pushing—that the sugar industry should focus on ethanol rather than sugar production—the Hindu Business Line newspaper reports that the oil minister says sugar producers should look to diversify their ethanol feedstocks due to sugarcane’s water intensity. He said that waste-based feedstocks were preferred to sugarcane […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports ethanol production during the second half of August fell 1.23% to 2.25 billion liters with sugarcane mills diverting just 51.6% of the sugarcane crush towards ethanol production. Mills crushed 44.02 million metric tons during H2 August, nearly 1.8% more than the same period last year. The crush is currently 10% behind […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that with ethanol at near all-time highs and sugar at five-year highs, investors are rushing to scoop up opportunities in the “Saudi Arabia of sugarcane”. As many as 40 mills are for sale and 30% of the country’s sugarcane crushing capacity, primarily smaller mills, is idle due to years of financial […]
In Brazil, a study conducted at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) has discovered that three strains of Pseudomonas bacteria can inhibit growth, and even cause the death, of the fungus responsible for pineapple sett rot, a disease that attacks sugarcane, especially in the planting season. The results are reported in an article published in Environmental […]
In Switzerland, ABB is to automate NatureWorks’ (world’s leading manufacturer of polylactic acid) new bioplastics plant in Thailand which will convert sugar cane to sustainable plastics. The plant – set to produce 75,000 tons of biopolymer per year – will ferment and distill plant-based sugars, converting the sugars first to lactic acid, then lactide and […]
