Aemetis, Inc., a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company based in CUPERTINO, California, announced that its Indian subsidiary, Universal Biofuels, has restarted production of biodiesel and refined glycerin. The resumption of operations was approved by the local Pollution Control Board after a review of maintenance and air quality standards.

Universal Biofuels, with an 80 million gallon per annum capacity plant in Kakinda, Andhra Pradesh, has been deeply involved in the Indian biodiesel industry for over 17 years. The subsidiary has revenues of US$112 million for the year ending September 2024 from its biodiesel and refined glycerine operations.

Eric McAfee, Chairman and CEO of Aemetis, confirmed that the temporary shutdown has not impacted the company’s ability to meet its delivery commitments as sufficient inventory was produced prior to the shutdown. He also emphasized that the plant’s capacity has been expanded to 80 million gallons per year, which is in line with the growing demand for biodiesel in India, where the 25 billion gallon per year petroleum diesel market is contributing to air pollution and health problems.

The Indian government’s National Biofuels Policy includes a 5% biodiesel blending target, although only about 1% blending is currently being realized, and Aemetis has been awarded a $58 million delivery quota for 2025 by the government’s oil marketing companies (OMCs), which is expected to meet the government’s demand for additional biodiesel capacity.

The Universal Biofuels subsidiary’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) program is underway, with a new CEO appointed and a CFO candidate with IPO experience to be announced soon. The IPO funds are expected to help expand biodiesel production capacity to over 200 million gallons per year to meet annual demand of 1.2 billion gallons.

In order to further combat fraud in the biofuels sector, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has published an ambitious proposal to revise the rules for the validation of sustainable biofuels. The proposal aims to strengthen the validation system in the EU market and ensure fair competition with economies outside the EU.

Since 2022, a surge in biofuel imports from Southeast Asia has led to a severe impact on the EU market, with widespread industry skepticism about whether certain imports meet Renewable Energy Directive (RED) standards. This issue persists due to the exceptional growth in biodiesel production and supply of waste feedstock. In response to this challenge, EU member states at the May 2024 Energy Council meeting called for strong measures to prevent fraudulent biofuels from entering the European market.

In its newly released 30-page proposal, EBB is proposing a series of rule revisions emphasizing that biofuel validation for the EU market should be equally rigorously enforced, especially for production facilities from outside the EU. The proposal suggests that producers should be subject to on-site audits and recommends that member states authorize the number of units produced, capacity and feedstock used by each producer. In addition, EBB proposes to build on the existing biofuels database to include additional information for more effective validation.

The proposal also emphasizes tougher sanctions for non-compliance and suggests that the revocation of certificates of non-compliance have a retroactive effect, ensuring that only biofuels that truly meet the sustainability criteria can contribute to the RED goals.EBB Secretary General, Xavier Noyon, pointed out that, while these reforms will require a concerted effort by all parties in the industry, they are necessary to ensure a healthy market.

According to a report on a UK shipping-related website, environmental organizations such as Transport & Environment Europe (T&E), in conjunction with international shipping companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, are calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to exclude biofuels from the list of green alternatives to fossil fuels.T&E argues that the potential negative impacts of biofuels outweigh the benefits, particularly as the supply of waste biofuels ( such as those made from waste cooking oil and animal fats) are in limited supply and are expected to meet only 2.5% to 3% of the shipping industry’s biofuel needs by 2030, and could lead to environmental damage.

The environmental group’s warning is based on a study that predicts that nearly one-third of the world’s shipping will be using biofuels by 2030, compared to less than 1 percent today. However, the main feedstocks for biofuels, such as palm and soybean oils, account for 60 percent of biofuel demand, a dependence that could push up vegetable oil prices and trigger environmental problems such as deforestation and land grabbing, T&E noted.T&E pointed out that these problems are further exacerbated by the dramatic increase in the use of palm oil-based biofuels following the European Union’s decree promoting biofuels for automobiles.

In addition, T&E noted that biofuel production could take up a large amount of farmland, and it is estimated that the biofuel industry could require 34 million hectares of land by 2030, which is equivalent to the size of Germany and could put pressure on food production. As the production of feedstocks such as palm oil and soybeans is accompanied by deforestation, the carbon emissions generated are much higher than those of traditional shipping fuels.

The Global Forest Coalition (GFC) and other environmental organizations have joined forces with 69 agencies to speak out and ask the International Maritime Organization to reject biofuels and instead prioritize genuinely cleaner energy solutions, such as hydrogen fuels, in order to avoid an even greater negative impact on the climate.

On February 18th, US investment firm KKR announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire an additional 5% stake in Enilive (Eni Group’s biofuels business) from Eni (Italy’s Eni Group) for a consideration of €587.5 million, bringing its total shareholding in Enilive to 30%.

Enilive is Eni Group’s mobility transformation company, focused on biorefineries, biomethane production, smart mobility solutions and the provision of services to support people on the move.

This additional investment follows KKR’s initial acquisition of a 25% stake in Enilive, announced in October 2024, and demonstrates KKR’s commitment to the business and its growth potential as a leader in the energy transition, delivering progressively decarbonized services and products in support of sustainably driven mobility.

According to the news, Brazil’s National Energy Commission (CNE) has decided that the mandatory blending of biodiesel in diesel fuel will remain at 14% from March next year, instead of the previously expected 15%.

On February 13, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Brooke Rawlings to be Secretary of Agriculture by a vote of 72 to 28. The decision was widely supported by representatives of the biofuels and bioenergy industries.

Rollins served in the White House Office of American Innovation during the Trump administration and has extensive policy experience. She has also served as policy director in the office of Texas Governor Rick Perry, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and president and CEO of the Priorities USA Policy Institute. During her confirmation hearing for her appointment, Rollins made clear her support for biofuels and responded to questions about her ties to the oil industry.