UK based Green Biologics To Set Up A Biobutanol Plant In India: UK-based Green Biologics and Mumbai-based Laxmi Organic Industries have signed an agreement to build a commercial-scale biobutanol plant in India.The demonstrator plant is expected to produce 1,000 metric tons of butanol a year starting in 2010.Green Biologics said it's now looking to raise £3.5 million ($6.33 million) to roll out its renewable chemicals technology, which uses fermentation to produce biochemicals from waste and by-product feedstocks.
Oxfordshire, England-based Green Biologics said the biobutanol plant will run on molasses produced by the Indian sugarcane industry, which has been ramping production to meet demand for renewable energy.
India Approves National Biofuel Policy: India has approved a national biofuel policy that aims to raise the proportion of biofuels from five to 20 per cent in petrol and diesel fuels over the coming decade, using non-edible plant sources.The Indian government approved the policy last week (11 September). The policy states that by 2017, transport fuels in India need to contain 20 per cent biofuel. Two main types of biofuels are envisaged: alcohol from plant wastes, chiefly sugarcane molasses, and biodiesel - oil produced from non-edible oilseed crops such as jatropha curcas, which can be blended with diesel. The government estimates 13.4 million hectares of barren land are available for jatropha cultivation, which could potentially yield 15 million tonnes of oil each year.
Bharat Renewable Energy To Set Up A $480 M Biodiesel Plant: Mumbai-based Bharat Renewable Energy plans to spend Rs 2,200 crore ($480 million) to grow more than a million acres of jatropha on Indian wasteland in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Bharat Renewable Energy is a joint venture of state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum, jatropha cultivator Nandan Biomatrix and construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji. Bharat Renewable Energy was created in June to make biofuels from crops, such as jatropha and pongamia pinnata, an Indian birch.
The venture has a goal of producing a million metric tons of biodiesel from the jatropha plantation by 2015. A government plan—the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme—is expected to pay for the saplings and planting, as reports the Hindu Business Line.
KPMG Expects Greentech Investments To Increase Next Year: Most venture capitalists and entrepreneurs expect greentech investments to increase next year, according to a survey released by KPMG on Tuesday. About half of the survey respondents said they expect greentech investments to jump by 20 percent or more in 2009, while 34 percent of respondents see an increase between 10 percent and 19 percent from 2008 to 2009, the survey showed.