Northumberland, UK-based biodiesel producer V-Fuels has entered administration owing to a combination of events borne from poor market conditions.It doesn’t mean that as a site and as a business we are a dead duck. We are hoping that the business will be able to move forward, whether as V-Fuels or as another entity,’ V-Fuels site director John Moller comments.
The plant, which is running at two-thirds of the 150,000 tonnes per year capacity, is a multi-feedstock site set up in 2006 to process mainly used cooking oil along with smaller amounts of rapeseed and soya oil.
A month-long shut down forced by a blocked effluent discharge system in late 2008 tipped the firm into administration, Moller says.

UK-based Bentley Motors, one of the latest vehicle manufacturers to announce it is developing bioethanol-powered versions of its cars, is to give the keynote presentation at this year’s Biofuels International expo & conference.The two day conference and exhibition will be held on the 27-28 May at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam.The event aims to bring together medium-to-large producers, investors, policy makers and equipment suppliers to discuss topical issues such as recent policy changes, future feedstocks, storage and handling concerns and sustainability targets to help the industry through a challenging year.
Other key speakers include Argent Energy, European Biodiesel Board, EOP Biodiesel, Ineos Bio, Renewable Fuels agency, Dong Energy, Port of Amsterdam, Tereos, European Biomass Association, 3B Biofuels, TNO, Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Co, Decal terminal, Honeywell Enraf and many more.
With over 500 visitors attending the meeting in 2008, 2009 promises to be even bigger and better, covering both the biodiesel and bioethanol sectors.

Energy company BP and cellulosic ethanol developer Verenium have announced the formation of a 50-50 joint venture to develop and commercialise cellulosic ethanol from non-food feedstocks.
The companies have agreed to commit $45 million (€35.7 million) in funding and assets to the joint venture company.The joint venture company will initially focus on developing and securing financing for a first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida, and expects to break ground on that site in 2010The estimated construction cost for this 36 million gallon a year facility is between $250 and $300 million. Production from this plant is expected to begin in 2012.

Texas-based Earth Biofuels has finalised funds for upgrades to its 10 MMgy Oklahoma biodiesel production facility.The transaction includes the acquisition of more than 350 storage tanks, with capacities ranging from 8,000 to 39,000 gallons.
Approximately 30 of the tanks will be installed at the company’s Durant facility with a total storage capacity of more than 1 million gallons.
The remaining tanks will be sold to help provide funding for additional upgrades to the facility.
The upgrades include the installation of a pre-treatment process that will allow the facility to recover methanol used in the production process.
In addition to soyabean oil, the upgraded facility will be able to use beef tallow, yellow grease, and poultry fat as feedstocks.

Bharat Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of India’s state-owned oil company Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), will invest Rs.21.31 billion (€335 million) in a biodiesel project in Uttar Pradesh, India.
The project will use jatropha as feedstock.
BPCL will work in five districts: Kanpur, Jhansi, Laltpur, Chitrakoot and Sultanpur.
The company expects the project to start by Q2 this year.
‘We are shortly going to undertake large-scale plantation of jatropha across these five districts. Since the plant grows rapidly, we would be able to start extracting oil three years from now,’ Ashutosh Srivastava, CEO of Bharat Renewable Energy, remarks.