Brazil’s market share in world ethanol sales declining

Brazilian ethanol producers have lost significant market share internationally over the past few years as US exports have grown, in large part because of abundant US corn harvests, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. As a result, reports state that as many as 60 Brazilian ethanol plants were temporarily closed in 2014.

Years of low prices for ethanol and feedstock sugar have prompted dozens of mills to close and growers to cut back crop investments. Many sugarcane mills are processing below the cost of production, which has led to shuttering production across the country.

Source: UNICA

5th International Conference on Lignocellulosic Ethanol

15-17 September 2015, Brussels

Following the success of the four International Conferences on Lignocellulosic Ethanol, the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission is organizing the 5th Conference in Brussels in close cooperation with the industry. The Conference will be facilitated by DuPont and all participants will be invited to visit its enzyme commercial plant at Bruges.

Draft Programme:

Tuesday, 15 September 2015
• Opening Session
• Keynote Presentations, Setting the scene
• ILUC's hangover, how can the industry move forward?
• Commercial project financing

Wednesday, 16 September 2015
• Flagship plants
• Biorefineries & Co-products
• DuPont's plant visit in Bruges
• Triennale Bruges tour & Conference Dinner

Thursday 17 September 2015
• Supply chain commercial development
• Biomass Availability
• Land abandoning & land availability

If you wish to give a presentation at the conference, please submit a one page abstract indicating the session of your preference to: Kyriakos.Maniatis@ec.europa.eu

Go to registration

UN Sustainable Energy for All announces global bioenergy initiative

The Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Forum is a new multi-stakeholder coalition, co-chaired by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).  As part of the its 2nd annual meeting the forum announced its intention to speed up the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy in order to contribute to meeting the SE4ALL goals of doubling the global use of renewable energy and ensuring universal energy access by 2030.

The partnership will engage in dialogue with national governments, civil society, and the private sector to identify opportunities for the further development of sustainable bioenergy, while taking into consideration appropriate agricultural resources, sound environmental management, economic growth rates, energy and food security needs, financing mechanisms, and policy frameworks. Focus is on emerging markets and rural communities in developing countries.

Source: RSB

Erste Lieferung von erneuerbaren Isooktan an Audi

Global Bioenergies hat Ende Mai 2015 das erste Isooktan, das in Leuna aus biobasiertem Isobuten hergestellt wurde, an Audi übergeben. In der industriellen Pilotanlage von Global Bioenergies in Pomacle-Bazancourt bei Reims (Frankreich) war Anfang Mai 2015 die erste aus erneuerbaren Rohstoffen (Glukose aus Mais) hergestellte Isobuten-Charge an das Chemieunternehmen Arkema ausgeliefert worden. Die Umwandlung der darauf folgenden Isobuten-Chargen in Isooktan wurde vom Fraunhofer Institut in der Bioraffinerie Leuna bei Leipzig durchgeführt, wo Global Bioenergies gegenwärtig eine Demonstrationsanlage errichtet.

Quelle: Bioeconomy

IEA report "Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2015"

The report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) "Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2015" checks up on progress in the development and deployment of key clean energy technologies. Each technology and sector is examined against interim 2025 targets in the IEA 2015 Energy Technology Perspectives 2°C scenario, which lays out pathways to a sustainable energy system in 2050. The term "clean energy", however, includes non-renewable technologies, e.g. nuclear power or carbon capture and storage of fossil carbon emissions.

Source: IEA

Straßengüterverkehr: Transportaufkommen im Inland steigt

2014 wurde von österreichischen Unternehmen im Straßengüterverkehr ein Transportaufkommen von fast 340 Mio. t erbracht. Dies entsprach einer Zunahme von 7,4% im Vergleich zum Vorjahr (2013: 325,4 Mio. t).

Die Transportleistung österreichischer Unternehmen im In- und Ausland betrug im Berichtsjahr 25,3 Milliarden (Mrd.) Tonnenkilometer (tkm) und stieg gegenüber dem Vorjahr um 4,3%. Die Steigerung ergibt sich aus einer Zunahme der Transportleistung im Inland. Innerhalb des Bundesgebietes wurde eine Transportleistung von 16,6 Mrd. tkm (+7,0%) erbracht, außerhalb des Bundesgebietes blieb sie mit 8,7 Mrd. tkm unverändert. Auf die Inlandsstrecke entfiel damit ein Anteil von 65,7% (2013: 64,1%) der gesamten Transportleistung. Den größten prozentuellen Zuwachs (11,4%) auf 1,7 Mio. t verzeichnete der Transitverkehr.

Mit 53 % (185 Mio. t) aller transportierten Güter waren "Steine, Erden und Baustoffe" die bedeutendste Gruppe. Weitere maßgebliche Gruppen waren "Fahrzeuge, Maschinen, sonstige Halb- und Fertigwaren" mit 71,0 Mio. t, "Land- und forstwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse und lebende Tiere" (39,2 Mio. t) sowie "Andere Nahrungs- und Futtermittel"(26,7 Mio. t).

Quelle: Statistik Austria

St1 built an advanced ethanol plant in Gothenburg

The first Etanolix® plant delivered to the market by St1 Biofuels Oy was inaugurated in June 2015 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The plant delivered to North European Bio Tech Oy (NEB) recycles biowaste and process residue from local bakeries and bread from shops that is past its sell-by date into ethanol for transport fuel. The ethanol plant is integrated into the functions and logistics of St1 oil refinery in Gothenburg and has an annual production capacity of 5 000 m3 of bioethanol.

The Gothenburg project has been selected by the Life+ programme of the European Commission, which provides funding for projects on energy, the climate, environmental management, industry and production, waste management and environmental policy. This project is the first in which an ethanol production plant has been integrated at an existing oil refinery to produce waste- and residue-based ethanol on a sustainable basis.

Source: St1biofuels

Neuzulassungen im Mai 2015: Kfz -3,0%

Im Mai 2015 wurden laut aktuellen Daten von Statistik Austria 35.714 Kraftfahrzeuge (Kfz) neu zum Verkehr zugelassen, um 3,0% weniger als im Mai 2014 und um 15,3% weniger als im April 2015. Die Zahl der Neuzulassungen von Personenkraftwagen (Pkw; 26.517 Stück) nahm gegenüber Mai 2014 um 1,7% ab. Der Anteil von Pkw an den gesamten Neuzulassungen betrug 74,2%.

Der Nutzfahrzeugmarkt verzeichnete weniger Neuzulassungen bei land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Zugmaschinen (-15,5%), Sattelzugfahrzeugen (-7,8%), Lastkraftwagen (Lkw) der Kl. N1 (-2,8%) und Lkw der Kl. N3 (-1,9%). Nur bei Lkw der Kl. N2 wurden mehr Fahrzeuge neuzugelassen (+6,3% oder 3 Stück).

Bei Zweirädern wurden mehr Motorräder (+5,4%), aber weniger Motorfahrräder (-18,5%) und Leichtmotorräder (-6,3%) neu zugelassen.

Quelle: Statistik Austria

Air pollutant emissions above legal limits in Europ

Air pollutant emissions in the EU continue to exceed legal limits, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The 'NEC Directive status report 2014' confirms that a number of countries did so. Key findings are:

• Ten Member States exceeded at least one ceiling in 2013. Germany exceeded three of the four emission ceilings (NOx, NMVOCs and NH3), while Austria (NOx and NH3), Denmark (NMVOCs and NH3) and Ireland (NOx and NMVOCs) exceeded two ceilings in 2013

• Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg exceeded their NOx emission ceilings in 2010-2013. Luxembourg (41%) and Austria (32%) exceeded their NOx emission ceilings by the greatest amount in 2013.

• NOx reductions from road transport have been lower than anticipated because (a) transport has grown more than expected, and (b) the number of diesel vehicles increased.

• Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Spain have persistent problems meeting their national emission limits for NH3.

• 95% of NH3 emissions stem from agriculture, mainly from the use of fertilizers and the handling of animal manure.

Source: EEA