March 3, 2008 (Datamonitor) – Sustainable Power has announced that Borneo Energy Sendirian Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Borneo Oil and Gas, has entered into a share subscription agreement to purchase 50 million restricted shares of Sustainable Power.
The initial deposit required per the agreement has been received by Sustainable Power (SSTP). Sustainable Power also entered into a technical collaboration term sheet with Borneo Energy Sendirian Berhad (BOE). Continue reading
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 20, 2008 (The Star Online) – As the world’s second largest crude palm oil producer, Malaysia has great potential to reap revenue from certified emission reduction (CER), or carbon credits. According to Aseambankers, palm oil milling, which produces organic waste, create opportunities to generate CERs. It named plantation player TSH Resources Bhd as one of the beneficiaries of CERs in Malaysia.
“Thanks to its biogas power generation, the group qualifies to sell carbon credits, potentially generating an estimated 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in carbon credit points per annum,” Aseambankers said in a recent report.
The research unit added that TSH had already secured annual sales of 150,000 CERs to a European buyer. 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.
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 15, 2008 (Mongabay) – Biofuels will make up 10 percent of Indonesia’s fuel transport consumption by 2010 under a plan announced Monday by a senior government official, according to Reuters. The initiative could ease the economic impact of fuel subsidies – currently some of the highest in the world – in Indonesia, while boosting demand for locally produced bioenergy crops including palm oil, jatropha, sugar cane and cassava.”We can’t increase prices of subsidized fuel as it will hurt consumers. But we may be able to cut consumption and replace it with biofuel,” Reuters quoted Evita Legowo, secretary at the National Biofuel Development Team, as saying at the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuel Summit.
Presently Indonesia spends billions of dollars subsidizing and importing oil. Continue reading
January 16, 2008 (Emerging Energy News) – Malaysia, one of the world’s largest palm oil exporters, looks set to follow the lead of neighbouring countries in mandating the use of biodiesel blend in fossil fuel transport. “We are looking at 2008 in terms of slowly implementing a 2-per cent blend at least,” Sabri Ahmad, chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, told the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuel Summit from Kuala Lumpur. “We must implement because neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia have made it mandatory.”
Thailand plans to launch a B2 mandate, requiring a two per cent biodiesel content in the nation’s diesel consumption from Feb. 2.
January 16, 2008 (Thomson Financial) – Finnish oil refiner Neste Oil said Tuesday that its biodiesel plant in Singapore, its largest, will be operational 2010 and initially cater to Europe’s growing biofuel requirement.The company’s investment of 550 million euros to build the plant, which will have an annual capacity of 800,000 tons, is in line with its strategy to become the world’s leading producer of diesel from renewable feedstock.
It is anticipating that demand will grow rapidly in developed economies.
Demand for biodiesel in Europe is currently around 6-8 million tons annually and is expected to grow to 13-15 million tons by 2010.
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