The Costa Rican government will relaunch an old energy project to replace fossil fuels with biofuels, according to El País. The initiative is in response to a request made by the country’s Vice President, Stephen Brenner, to the Legislative Assembly to deal with the Fuel Energy Transition Initiative, which was proposed more than a year ago.

According to a press release, the so-called 24,079 Recovery Project will replace the use of diesel fuel in heavy transportation with biomethane, a gas produced by the decomposition of organic agricultural, livestock and industrial waste, in the first phase.

The strategy consists of a phased, sector-by-sector gradual replacement of diesel, financed by the United Nations Joint Fund for Sustainable Development Goals and the Industrial Development Plan.

Biodiesel and chemical producer FutureFuel Corp. issued an update on Feb. 28 on the timing of the planned restart of its biodiesel plant in Batesville, Arkansas. The plant produces 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

In January, FutureFuel had announced that it had been retrofitting the plant since last December. According to the plan, this retrofit was scheduled to be completed in February, making March the earliest the plant was scheduled to restart.

However, FutureFuel said that due to the effects of severe weather in the Batesville area in February, the company was not able to complete the retrofit work as planned and was unable to recover losses and restart the plant’s production process. As a result, the company now says biodiesel production will not resume until the end of March at the earliest.

On March 4, the U.S. government announced new tariffs on a wide range of goods from Canada, Mexico and China, including a 10 percent tariff on biofuels entering the United States. This means that U.S. imports of Canadian biofuels will become more expensive, and this could trigger retaliatory tariffs in Canada, affecting U.S. biofuel exports.

On the same day, the Canadian government also said it would consider tariffs on U.S. imports of biodiesel. While biofuels are not yet on the list of retaliatory tariffs, Canada has added biodiesel and biodiesel blends with less than 70 percent content to the list of goods to be considered. This list will be subject to a 21-day public comment period, after which a decision will be made on whether to implement it.

Canada is the largest trading partner of the U.S. for ethanol and biodiesel. Based on 2024 data, Canada accounted for 88 percent of total U.S. exports of B30 biodiesel and biodiesel blends, or about 585,324.4 tons. Last year, Canada’s biodiesel exports amounted to $743.77 million.

In other words, the tariff war could have a big impact on U.S.-Canada biofuels trade, especially since Canada’s reliance on U.S. biodiesel might allow Canada’s retaliatory tariffs to put more pressure on the U.S. market.

On February 24, senior officials from Bangchak and NYK Line gathered to witness the delivery of the first shipment of B24 marine biofuel from the Bangchak Sriracha Public Co. Ltd. refinery. The momentous occasion took place at the port of Laem Chabang in Sriracha district, Chonburi province, Thailand, where the ship was successfully delivered by Nippon Yusen’s Iris Leader.

The delivery of B24 marine biofuel with a total weight of 470 metric tons marks an important breakthrough for Bangchak Sriracha in the field of biofuel. As a sustainable alternative fuel, B24 marine biofuel not only helps to reduce carbon emissions in the shipping industry, but also meets the increasing environmental requirements of the international market.

It is worth mentioning that this batch of B24 marine biofuel has been awarded the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC EU), which ensures the sustainability of its source and the control of its carbon emissions. This supports Bangchak Sriracha in further expanding its market share and meeting the green energy needs of global shipping companies.

The success of this delivery not only demonstrates Bangchak Sriracha’s technological prowess in renewable energy, but also provides valuable insights into the global shipping industry’s transition to a low-carbon environment. The company has officially begun selling this international standard biofuel to liner customers, further advancing the shipping industry’s goal of green and sustainable development.

In 2024, German biodiesel exports grew for the third consecutive year, exceeding imports by about 1.61 million metric tons.

According to information published by the German Federal Statistical Office, production reached a new record of about 3.2 million metric tons.

Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the most important hub for global trade in biofuels, remains Germany’s main trading partner for biodiesel, with biodiesel shipments up 20 percent year-on-year to just over 1.4 million metric tons.

Exports to Belgium rose by 80 percent to 638,300 tons, making Belgium the second largest recipient of German biodiesel.

In contrast, exports to the United States fell by 40 percent to 271,900 tons.Germany imported 1.6 million tons of biodiesel, a decline of about 3 percent compared to 2023, according to a study by the Agricultural Market Information Association (mbH).The largest exporters were the Netherlands, Belgium, Malaysia and Austria.

Adrian Dix, B.C.’s Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions, recently announced that the provincial government will increase the share of Canadian biofuels in transportation fuels, aiming to support local producers, protect jobs, and reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. Under the provincial government’s plan, starting April 1, 2024, diesel biofuels sold in B.C. will have to meet the prescribed requirements of being produced in Canada. This policy will ensure that all biodiesel sold is locally made and meets the percentage produced in Canada requirement, in accordance with the provincial Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

By January 2026, B.C. will further increase the proportion of biofuels used, with the renewable fuel requirement in diesel increasing to between four and eight percent. In addition, starting January 1, 2026, gasoline must contain at least five per cent renewable fuel and is required to be sourced from Canadian production. The move is intended to protect B.C. from an influx of cheap, U.S.-subsidized biofuels into the market and ensure that Ontarians have access to a stable, reliable supply of homegrown fuels.

The policy also emphasizes that supporting local biofuel producers not only helps to ensure energy security, but also promotes economic growth and job creation in B.C. The provincial government is making important amendments to the Low Carbon Fuels Act to prioritize the use of Canadian-produced biofuels, which will provide greater stability to B.C.’s biofuel market.

Local biofuel companies such as Tidewater in Prince George, Parkland in Burnaby and Consolidated in Delta, for example, have been actively involved in the development and implementation of this policy.The B.C. government is working closely with local companies to ensure that the policy promotes sustainable industry growth while balancing environmental The B.C. government has demonstrated its leadership in advancing a clean energy future by working closely with local businesses to ensure the policy promotes a sustainable industry while balancing environmental and economic goals.

The European Commission has approved a €2.3 billion Finnish program to support investments in strategic sectors and help industrial companies decarbonize their production processes. The program contributes to the achievement of the European Commission’s priorities for 2024-2029, which are based on political guidelines calling for investment in clean energy and technology. The plan was approved under the State Aid Interim Crisis and Transition Framework.

Under the Program, assistance will be provided in the form of tax credits. The program will be open to all sectors except credit institutions and other financial institutions.

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.