February 2007

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Bioenergy > Bioenergy timeline > 2007 > February 2007

This page includes information on News and Events in February 2007.

Events

• 1 February 2007, Washington, D.C.: Transportation Biofuels Conference. Organized by the US Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.
• 4-7 February 2007, San Antonio, Texas: National Biodiesel Conference & Expo.
• 6-8 February 2007, Pasadena, California, United States:Presummit and Summit: Designing Sustainable Mobility.
• 12 February 2007, Washington, D.C., USA: US Congressional Briefing - Cellulosic Ethanol: Not Just a Liquid Fuel. House Briefing: 11:00am - 12:30 pm, 1302 Longworth House Office Building. Senate Briefing: 2:00pm-3:30pm, 253 Russell Senate Office Building. These briefings are open to the public and no reservations are required.
• 12-16 February 2007, London, UK: Bio-Fuels and Sustainability
• 19-21 February 2007, Tucson, Arizona, United States: National Ethanol Conference: Policy & Marketing. Organized by the Renewable Fuels Association.
• 20 February 2007, 2:00-5:00 p.m., Washington, D.C., USA: Ethanol, Biodiesel, and the Biofuels Revolution, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
• 20-21 February 2007, San Francisco, USA: Clean Energy Finance; Email: info@greenpowerconferences.com to request details once available.
• 26 February - 2 March 2007, New York, NY, USA: Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the fifteenth session of the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development.
• 27-28 February 2007, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada: Plant Bio-Industrial Oils Workshop.
• 28 February-2 March 2007, Wels, Austria: World Sustainable Energy Days 2007

News

• Brazil increases biodiesel target to 5% by 2010 on rising production potential 27 February 2007 from Biopact.com. Brazil is now producing 640 mil. liters of biodiesel/yr, but after 13 factories come online in the first half of 2007, total production is expected to reach 1.3 bil. l/year. That will be double the 2% blending target for 2008 and as a result Brazil is moving up their 5% target from 2013 to 2010. As Brazil only imports 5% of its diesel, this will mean the end of diesel imports.
• A Versatile Solution? - Growing Miscanthus for Bioenergy January/February 2007 from Renewable Energy World Magazine. "The perennial grass crop Miscanthus is particularly promising for bioenergy, as it is hardy, fast growing and efficient in its use of water." The article reviews the commercial and technological progress and compares energy yields of miscanthus and other cellulosic energy crops.
• Greece ramping up biofuels production: converting sugar plants to ethanol production 24 February 2007 from Greencarcongress.com. Greece plans to produce 160 ML of biodiesel and 400 ML of ethanol by 2010 according to a report from the USDA.
• Grain pain harms the biofuel industry 24 February 2007 from The Australian. "High grain prices are threatening the nascent biofuels industry, raising input costs and making the fuel less economic compared with oil."
• Bush Makes a Pitch for Amber Waves of Homegrown Fuel, 23 February 2007 by the New York Times, noted that "to promote his goals for making alternative fuels from switch grass, woodchips and other plant waste", President Bush visited a Novozymes North America laboratory in North Carolina that is "developing enzymes to make cellulosic ethanol". Read more..
• Bush's Energy Obstacle: Ethanol 21 February 2007 from Forbes. The oil industry may oppose any increases in the renewable fuel standard, and says that the Presidents "20 in 10" plan is too reliant on cellulosic ethanol.
• Jatropha's biofuel potential sparks African land grab 21 February 2007 from the Washington Times. Interest in using jatropha for biodiesel production has attracted both foreign and domestic investment in Africa for growing jatropha trees. Although the tree has potential as an income source for farmers, the lack of a developed market to sell the seeds is detering some farmers from growing the plant.
• Biofuels: a Swedish exception 20 February 2007 from energy-business-review.com. "Svenska Statoil, the Swedish division of Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil has announced that its sales of biofuel are growing at a rapid rate. However, the case of Statoil and Sweden is the exception rather than the rule, and widespread conversion to biofuels in Europe will only come from increased government pressure and consumer demand."
• Shift to biofuels buoys Africa farms 20 February 2007 from Checkbiotech.org. "The chief of the U.S. foreign agriculture service said that African and American farmers both stood to profit from the growing demand for grains that can be converted to ethanol or biodiesel, two clean burning substitutes for gasoline and normal diesel fuel."
• Ethanol production requires careful management 19 February 2007 from Biofuel Review. While biofuels like ethanol can have environmental benefits, they can also produce more greenhouse gases like NO_x. Most of the nitrous oxide is released at the farm level and can be reduced by changing the way corn is grown, by using winter cover crops, which also boost the amount of organic matter in the soil.
• New Zealand Targets 3.4% biofuel obligation by 2012 13 February 2007 from Green Car Congress. New Zealand announced a Biofuels Sales Obligation, which requires that 3.4% of the energy content of gasoline and diesel sales come from biofuels by 2012.
• Range Fuels to build first wood cellulosic ethanol plant in Georgia 7 February 2007 Press Release. Range Fuels, Inc., a cellulosic ethanol company has announced plans to build an ethanol plant that uses a two-step biomass-to-liquids technology that can produce ethanol from a range of wood, grass and waste feedstocks.
• Biofuel craze is water madness 9 February 2007 from the Hong Kong Standard. With as many as 400 Chinese cities facing water shortages and one sixth of India's food output being supported by pumping rapidly depleting groundwater resources, water-intensive ethanol and biofuel production may not be a sustainable course.
• China plans to plant an area the size of England with biofuel trees 8 February 2007 from China Daily. China will plant 13 million hectares, an area the size of England, with jatropha trees to produce oil amounting to nearly 6 million tons of biodiesel every year. The jatropha trees can also provide wood fuel for a power plant with an installed capacity of 12 million kilowatts, and will account for 30% of the country's renewable energy by 2010.
• Biofuels innovation programme launched by US National Wildlife Federation 8 February 2007 from Biofuel Review. The US National Wildlife Federation unveiled a proposal for providing financial and technical assistance to landowners to produce native perennial energy crops and crop mixes in a manner that protects soil, air, water and wildlife. It would also help support the development or expansion of facilities that use the material for biofuels, electricity, heat, or bio-based products. The program could be enacted under the energy title of the Farm Bill of 2007.
• UNEP meeting warns of dangers of biofuel production 6 February 2006 from Scidev.net. Environmentalists meeting in Nairobi say the trade in biofuels should be governed by environmental standards, and warn that planting crops solely for biofuels may cause severe damage to the planet. An increased focus on biofuel production across Asia and Latin America has created intense competition for land to grow food and fuel crops. The resultant forest clearance has led to a loss of biodiversity, as well as contributing to global warming, as forest clearance releases carbon dioxide.
• U.S., Brazil to launch ethanol effort 4 February 2007 from AZCentral.com. In the coming months, The United States will roll out a partnership with Brazil to expand ethanol and other biofuels use in the hemisphere.
• Government claims its hands are tied over harmful biofuels 04 February 2007 from the Independent. As the UK biofuels mandate is being considered, a Government spokesman has stated that requiring biofuels to be purchased from government sources would violate WTO rules.

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