Lloyd's Register is to play a major role in a two year program to test the suitability of bio-diesel for use in powering marine engines. The feasibility study will take place on board the Maersk Line container ship, Maersk Kalmar.

GAVE has updated its website to show the latest situation regarding the Netherlands policy and FAQs on clean fuels. Reports published by the programme have also now been added to the website.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School have recently been studying bacteria that are able to take carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into sugars.

Partners from 14 European countries have started a large biorefinery project, known as EUROBIOREF, which is a European multilevel integrated biorefinery designed for sustainable biomass processing.

Researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University are using genetic manipulation to try and find new sources from which to produce biofuels. They feel that they have discovered a promising development, whereby tobacco is used as a raw material for biofuels.

Pakistani researchers at the Nanoscience and Catalysis Division at Quaid-i-Azam University see tea leaves as an ideal raw material for producing biofuels. It is an inexpensive material and does not compete with food production.

Scientists at the NASA space agency are looking for alternative methods and techniques to produce raw materials and biofuels. One of the techniques currently being studied is a photo-bioreactor - this would contain algae that could survive on urban waste. The bioreactor is easy to set up, and consists of large plastic bags made of a permeable osmosis membrane. The bags contain the algae and waste (on which the organisms feed), with purified water passing through the membrane. The bags can easily be used in polluted, and even in heavily contanimated, coastal areas. The algae are then converted into biofuels.

Researchers at the Technical University in Delft have discovered that the bacteria known as Cupriavidus basilensis is well suited to the production of biochemicals and biofuels from woody waste. The team claims that the bacteria can break down harmful by-products that are released when breaking down wood. The researchers also claim that this bacteria could be used on an industrial scale.

The IEA (International Energy Agency) has published a report into the “Sustainable Production of Second-Generation Biofuels. Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries”. The study aimes to identify the opportunities and threats that accompany the future production of 2nd-generation biofuels. It also focuses on how the implementation of a 2nd-generation biofuel industry can best be realised, under various circumstances.

Energy company Mercuria Energy Group plans to construct a biodiesel production facility in Amsterdam. This was announced recently by Amsterdam Harbour Authorities, as construction of the new plant began last week. This will become the largest biodiesel plant in the capital, where around 230 million litres of biofuel will be produced each year.

The company Genencor has introduced a new generation of enzymes that can produce cellulose-ethanol via biomass hydrolysis. The company claims that this new type of enzymes can convert biomass into sugars more easily.

The US military will possibly build a large-scale installation to manufacture algae-based biofuels some time after 2013. The aim is to produce over 200 million litres per year.

The biofuel currently being sold at the filling station is not always better for the environment than conventional petrol or diesel. The use of land for the processing of biofuels has all kinds of side effects that are difficult to define.

Palm oil from South-East Asia, sugarcane from Brazil and sweet sorghum in China are the most sustainable energy crops at present. Maize from the US and wheat in Europe have a much more negative environmental impact. This conclusion was drawn by the Plant Production Systems chair group, after testing nine energy crops against nine sustainability criteria. The findings will be published soon in Biomass and Bioenergy.