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The Port of Gothenburg says it has hosted the world’s second-ever bunkering of liquefied biogas (LBG), as the shipping industry considers green alternatives to fossil fuels amid action at EU and UN level to curb carbon and particulate emissions from the sector.

Identifying the biofuels content of gasoline and diesel at the pump, and the ability of new vehicles to use these fuels, will become much easier as EU-wide labelling laws come into force later this year.

Talks on the UN aviation agency ICAO’s greenhouse gas reduction scheme may fail to agree guidelines on the use of biofuels and carbon offsets next week, prolonging uncertainty for fuels suppliers who are looking for clearer investment signals to emerge.

The US Environmental Protection Agency is to propose a biofuels blending mandate of 19.88-billion gallons for 2019 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), an increase of 3% from the 2018 level, Reuters reported on 22 June.

Seven UK companies will receive a share of £2 million to develop proposals for advanced biofuels that would be used in aviation and road freight, the UK's Department for Transport said on June 18. 

Producers of first generation biofuels are weighing the impact of the EU's new Renewable Energy Directive, which is likely to grant them some concessions but also agreed advanced biofuels, electric vehicles and other fuels, such as biomethane and hydrogen, should have a much larger share.

Swedish automotive firm Scania and French transport company RATP are planning to use biogas for a mass transit scheme for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, in what could be one of the biggest transport biomethane projects in Africa.  

Biomethane plants in the UK will now be able to earn revenues from supplying gas to the renewable transport sector, after the Department for Transport authorised the issuance of Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) to suppliers who also earn subsidies for renewable heat.

French farmers began a blockade of oil refineries and fuel depots on 10 June as they protest the use by energy major Total of imported palm oil at its new La Mède biodiesel plant near Marseilles.

Gulfstream, the world's biggest supplier of private jets, says that a lack of infrastructure to supply biofuels is holding the company back from reducing the carbon footprint of its aircraft.

Italian oil and gas company Eni has started collecting used cooking oils from the homes of its employees, which the company says will be converted into advanced biofuels at its Porto Marghera biorefinery.

European countries look set to back a deal later this month on the use of biofuels and offset credits to reduce emissions from aircraft, despite concerns that already compromised environmental criteria will be weakened still further during the final stage of negotiations.

Reforms to the US flagship renewable fuels programme have been stalled indefinitely, as pressure from lawmakers in corn growing states scuppered an EPA plan that they feared would hit demand for ethanol.

Total, set to be one of Europe’s biggest producers of biodiesel, faces the...

Finnish biofuels producer Neste took another step to consolidating its supply chain after it said on May 25 it would buy Demeter, a Netherlands-based trader of animal fats and proteins.

Large-scale use of jet fuels made from used cooking oil and non-edible food crops will be the aim of a major demonstration project involving sustainable aviation fuel supplier SkyNRG, according to the European Commission and national agencies in several EU countries.

Italian gas infrastructure company Snam will team up with US oilfield services provider Baker Hughes to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants that can use biomethane for use in road and maritime transport.

Biofuels will play a major role in decarbonising road transport and help the sector contribute to the emissions reductions required under the Paris Agreement, Sweden-based trucks manufacturer Scania outlined in a white paper on 23 May.

The US corn lobby has once again criticised the Environmental Protection Agency for handing out waivers to large refiners, as Marathon Petroleum was reported to have applied for an exemption despite its proposed $23 billion acquisition of a major rival.

The European Union has taken a major step towards slapping revised duties on Argentine biodiesel after the bloc’s executive placed the commodity under ‘registration’ on 23 May, a date that could be used to retroactively apply countervailing duties.