African Biofuels - Latest News

• Global Solutions arrives in Brazil
  A mere 16 months after a team of Bosch Projects managers first visited Brazil to assess business opportunities in that country, Bosch Projects do Brasil Ltda (BPB) was formally opened for business on 30th January 2008. The company launch at its premises in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo State was attended by Mike Gibbon (Managing Director) and Ivan Voigt (Director – Sugar Equipment) of Bosch Projects together with Marcello Freire, the manager of BPB. Also in attendance were a number of executive directors and senior managers of Dedini Industrias de Base, the largest supplier of sugar and ethanol equipment to the Brazilian industry, with whom BPB have concluded an exclusive licensing agreement for Bosch Projects technology.
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• Alternative Energy Africa Magazine to Launch in January 2008
  African governments and private sector companies are increasingly looking to bring a secure energy supply to their countries, especially in light of rising fuel prices worldwide that are straining their economies. As a result, a vast increase in the number of alternative and renewable energy projects has swept across the African continent, making it difficult to keep abreast of all the developments.
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• Bob Geldof gets behind African green energy drive
  Singer, songwriter and activist Bob Geldof has joined the campaign to promote green energy in Africa. Geldof has joined biomass company Helius, which is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), as a special adviser. The company is currently in discussion with Eskom to supply the South African power utility with renewable energy, generated mainly from biomass.
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• Agriculture department still considering suitability of oil-bearing
  The South African government’s moratorium on the planting of the vegetable-oil-producing Jatropha curcas tree is still in place.
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• Sir Bob Geldof gives the green light to renewable electricity
  Helius Energy Africa (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of AIM listed Helius Energy Plc, welcomes intrepid singer/songwriter and activist Sir Bob Geldof as special adviser to the company, a move which will see him lending his weight to the company's projects on the African continent.
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• Generating biomass fuel from disaster debris
  By Rhodes Yepsen
  Courtesy of Biocycle - Advancing Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy
  Originally published Jul. 2008

  Natural disasters create massive amounts of vegetative debris, the majority of which is landfilled or open burned. These environmentally harmful practices are the norm partly out of necessity and convenience, with a focus on clearing material as quickly as possible after a disaster - versus finding outlets for the material including mulch, compost and biomass fuel. The biomass fuel market in particular is developing rapidly, driven by cap-and-trade policies in Europe and other efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage and emissions.

  Better preparation for handling debris properly will both expedite general recovery and increase chances for utilization. In March the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released “Planning for Natural Disaster Debris,” an update of the 1995 document with the same title. Designed for communities interested in creating a disaster debris management plan, it offers components of a successful plan, management options for various debris streams, case studies and resources. According to the National Science and Technology Council (cited in the EPA document), natural disasters cost the U.S. an estimated $52 billion every year, in lives lost and property destroyed.
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• Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years, say INEOS
  Source: INEOS
  Published Jul. 23, 2008

  INEOS, the world's third largest chemical company, announced this week that it is aiming to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste within around two years. INEOS' new technology will produce bioethanol in large quantities from municipal solid waste, organic commercial waste and agricultural residues amongst other things. According to Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO, "In North America and Europe we will see around 10% or more of petrol (gasoline) being replaced with bioethanol. Our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases ...
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• South Africa’s need to go beyond agri paradigm when assessing biofuels
  By: Guy Copans
  Published: 21 Mar 08 - 0:00

  The need to look beyond an agricultural paradigm and embrace a more holistic view of biofuels was one of the points highlighted by Southern African Biofuels Association (Saba) president Andrew Makenete at the third annual biofuels conference in Midrand, last week.

  Makenete commented that the biofuels debate had been too narrow, and that the solutions had focused mainly on the role of farmers, without taking into account all the potential producers. He said he believed that this mindset and framework needed to be challenged.
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• D1-BP Fuel Crops - It's what we bring together that sets our fuel apart
  For many developing countries, industrialisation does not provide a ready route out of poverty; the lack of natural resources, raw materials, infrastructure and open markets make it difficult to achieve economic growth. However, biodiesel production provides an excellent opportunity for poorer countries to literally grow their way out of poverty by cultivating feedstocks that are the raw materials for this fuel of the future.
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• More about b2brenenergy

• Pictures of Zimbabwe national biodiesel feedstock production programme
  

  	For more information contact Abisai Mushaka Biofuels Programme Manager National Oil Company of Zimbabwe Telephone +2634 748512/23

• China completes new Biofuel power plant project

• News From WorldBioplants

  1. The new biodiesel plant in Free State is "an education project" making European Quality Bio Diesel from cooking oil visit www.master-plant.com for more information
  2. The foundation in SOWETO is building a small biodiesel plant. www.buildaplant.org
  3. World Bio Plants, 1000 bio fuels plants around the world www.worldbioplants.com

  
  

• Biofuels not all good news
• Biofuels - the road to the future
• Official Conference Newsletter
• Draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy of the Republic of South Africa
• The benefits of biofuels
• Ford to produce flex-fuel engines in SA for export to South America