March 3, 2008 (The Edge Daily) – Carbon Capital Corp Sdn Bhd will launch RM150 million worth of biogas and biomass projects in Sarawak next month as part of its long-term strategy for growth.
“We will be launching four biogas projects and one 10 megawatt biomass power plant there, utilising empty fruit bunches (from oil palm).
“These are all projects which we will be investing in and developing 100%,” Carbon Capital group managing director William Kho said.
February 28, 2008 (Bangkok Post) – Thailand is developing a master plan to build the country into the world’s second largest green energy producer after Brazil. Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop said she wanted to see the country become a net exporter of green energy to tap strong global demand.
To achieve the goal, authorities plan to develop a 15-year Renewable Energy Development Plan to cover the full range of alternative energy businesses including gasohol, biodiesel, biomass, wind and solar power, she said yesterday. Continue reading
February 14, 2008 (Economic Times)- India’s failure to agree a biodiesel policy has forced firms to shelve expansions plans, putting it way behind energy-hungry rivals like China in the drive to greener fuels, a top industry representative said. The delay has also left edible oil processing companies, which have built capacity to turn 1.2 million tonnes of jatropha into biodiesel, in the lurch and $227 million poorer, said Sandeep Chaturvedi, head of the Biodiesel Association of India. Continue reading
February 12, 2008 (Bernama) – Carbon Capital Corporation Sdn Bhd will join hands with Japan Carbon Mercantile Co. Ltd to develop a multi-feedstock diesel plant in Tanjung Manis in Sarawak, Jatropha and oil palm plantations as well as a biogas renewable projects in the state covering five years involving investments no less than RM1 billion initially.
The multi-feedstock plant would have an annual capacity of about 240,000 tonnes per year and bulking facilities in Tanjung Manis while the Jatropha and oil palm plantations would cover an acreage of 100,000 hectares. Continue reading
February 11, 2008 (Bangkok Post) – To cope with high oil prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Thailand must pursue four options: development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage. However, renewable energy has certain limitations, and options for each country are different depending on availability of natural resources, technologies and manpower. This is why the Thai government has mainly concentrated on renewable energy based on domestic raw materials and wastes.
Financial incentives together with the provision of information to investors and consumers have proved to work wonders, for instance in the promotion of biofuels. The consumption of gasohol (E10) more than doubled in 2007. With the introduction of E20 in 2008, daily demand for ethanol should reach two million litres by 2011 when new cars capable of using E85 should be on sale.
From: Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive
To: All Shell employees
Date: 22 January 2008 Subject: Shell Energy Scenarios
Dear Colleagues
In this letter, I’d like to share reflections about how we see the energy future, and our preferred route to meeting the world’s energy needs. Industry, governments and energy users – that is, all of us – will face the twin challenge of more energy and less CO2.
This letter is based on a text I’ve written for publication in several newspapers in the coming weeks. You can use it in your communications externally. There will be more information about energy scenarios inthe months ahead.
By the year 2100, the world’s energy system will be radically different from today’s. Renewable energy like solar, wind, hydroelectricity and biofuels will make up a large share of the energy mix, and nuclear energy too will have a place.
Mankind will have found ways of dealing with air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. New technologies will have reduced the amount of energy needed to power buildings and vehicles.
January 24, 2008 (The Jakarta Post) – Biodiesel producers announced earlier this week that their total production has dropped by 85 percent since December. The producers blamed the drop on “inconsistent policy making” by the government, particularly the fact that Pertamina’s total spending on biodiesel had not been defined as an expense item eligible for a government subsidy by the Finance Ministry.
“This situation has led Pertamina to reduce the portion of biodiesel in a liter of Biosolar by half,” PT Indo Biofuels Energy operational director Lucia Liemesak told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. Continue reading
January 23, 2008 (Inquirer.net) – The hottest debate in town involves something vital to motorists: fuel. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who ironically enough authored the Biofuels Act of 2007, wants to apply the brakes on its implementation, citing the recent warning of 1998 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Hartmut Michel that our government’s biofuels program could endanger the country’s food security and harm the environment. The Biofuels Act, which was signed into law in January 2007, requires the oil industry to sell diesel with a minimum 1 percent biodiesel blend (B1) within three months after the signing of the law and gasoline with 5 percent bioethanol (E5) in two years. The Biofuels Act aims to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, save hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, cut the carbon-dioxide emissions believed to cause global warming and revive the moribund sugar and coconut industries. Continue reading
January 21, 2008 (Jiji Press) – Toyota Tsusho Corp. said Monday it and two other firms have jointly developed a technology to produce biodiesel fuel at lower cost.The other two companies are Ohta Oil Mill Co. and Toyota Chemical Engineering Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho.
Biodiesel is made by blending methanol into plant-derived oil. The new technology requires smaller amounts of methanol and alkali catalysts than conventional technologies.
In addition, the new technology makes water removal facilities unnecessary.
Conventional technologies require such facilities because they involve the use of large amounts of water to remove glycerin, a major by-product.
As a result, initial investments needed for biodiesel facilities using the new technology will be about half the levels required for conventional facilities.
Toyota Tsusho plans to put the technology into actual use in Asia as early as 2010.
January 20, 2008 (Sun.Star) – The Kilusang magbubukid ng Pilipas (KMP) in Southern Mindanao expressed doubts about the advantages brought by Jathropa planting as well as the Biofuels act that is currently being debated upon.
“Foreign-funded Jathropa plantations are encroaching on agricultural lands and it only adds to the existing laws and policies that cause food deprivation among the poor Filipinos like the 70 percent farmers and farm workers in the country,” Celso Pojas, KMP-SMR spokesperson said in their e-mailed statement.
He said KMP received reports from their members that 300,000 hectares of land in Compostela Valley alone are targeted for Jathropa planting.
Asia Cleantech 