(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — Rapid development of advanced biofuels is the key to reducing reliance on oil and global food prices, and ongoing advances in industrial biotechnology are helping achieve that goal, said a biotechnology association. Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s Industrial & Environmental Section, said: “A newly released...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — UK-headquartered Foster Wheeler Energy Limited said it has been awarded an engineering and materials supply contract by South Korea’s Samsung Engineering Co Ltd to build two gas turbine exhaust waste heat recovery units for an ethane separation plant at the Map Ta Phut Industrial Complex in Thailand. The plant is...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — Asia’s leading agribusiness group, Wilmar International, said that biodiesel accounted for less than five percent of its first quarter revenue of US$7.14 billion. The Singapore-listed company derived the bulk of its revenue from producing crude palm oil, laurics, oilseeds, grains, consumer products, and operating its plantations and palm oil mills....

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — Malaysia’s economy is too dependent on the production and export of oil, natural gas, palm oil, rubber and a few other commodities, experts have warned. Oil and gas sales accounted for 46.8% of state revenues in 2007, up from 25% in 2004, experts said during a forum to review of...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — South Korea’s solar power technology sector could be lagging the US and Japan by some 10 years, a new study found. While Japan and the US plan to have commercial-scale solar energy projects in place by 2010 and 2015, respectively, South Korea will not be able to achieve this before...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — NYSE-listed Gushan Environmental Energy Limited, China’s largest producer of biodiesel, said its first quarter net income rose by 54.7% to US$15.854 million compared with the same period last year. Its total revenues increased by 45% to US$47.469 million while gross profit was up by 49.2% to US$19.835 million. Gushan said...

(EnergyAsia,  May 15, Thursday) — Law firm Herbert Smith said it advised Huaneng Power International, the listed unit of China’s largest power producer, on the HK$26 billion acquisition of SinoSing Power from Huaneng Group including cash and debts. (US$1=HK$7.78).   SinoSing Power is the holding company of Tuas Power in Singapore. Tuas Power is the...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — The China WindPower Group Limited said it has signed up two new partners, Shanghai Shenhua Holdings Co Ltd and Shanxi Zhangze Electric Power Co Ltd, with the intention to build wind energy plants in China. With Shanghai Shenhua Holdings Co Ltd, it plans to form Sino-foreign joint ventures to develop...

(EnergyAsia, May 15, Thursday) — Indonesia’s government plans to draw down its oil stockpile by 50%, selling some 14 million barrels to pay for its growing oil subsidy burdens amid soaring oil prices. The sale will be made throughout the year and bring in US$665 million if the crude price stays at around $120 a...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — While the vast majority of logistics jobs involve moving packages and containerised cargo from point A to point B, occasionally a job comes along that is so difficult, so large in scale and complexity that only a specialised team of experts could attempt it. It is the growing number of...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — Google has launched a start-up company to produce scalable solar thermal power plants. Founded last year, eSolar Inc has raised a total of US$130 million from investors to build and deploy pre-fabricated power plants. “The eSolar power plant is based on mass manufactured components, and designed for rapid construction, uniform...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — US and European investments in biofuels, solar and windpower projects may already have peaked, at least temporarily, according to research firm Cleantech Group. Cleantech found that US and European investments in ethanol and wind power peaked in the third quarter of 2006 while investments in thin-film solar peaked in the...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — US-based Spire has won a contract from India’s Alpex Exports to build a 15-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic module assembly line near New Delhi. Financial terms were not disclosed. This will be the first solar energy project for Alpex, an international trading firm focussed on textiles. The project will support Alpex’s expansion...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — Electricity from solar energy is still too expensive in India. Analysts said it will take many years before it can make a meaningful contribution in meeting the country’s soaring energy needs. Even the incentives India’s federal and state governments offer for solar energy projects are not enough to make it...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — US-based Clear Skies Solar Inc said it has signed a $20 million agreement, subject to financing, with Power Cube, a company located in Utter Pradesh, India to develop and construct the first of several solar energy projects in that country. For its first project in the international markets, Clear Skies...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — ExxonMobil Chemical said it will introduce new co-extruded separator grades for hybrid and electric vehicle batteries at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) in Tampa, Florida on May 12-16, 2008. Pat Brant, chief polymer scientist, ExxonMobil Chemical, will present a technical paper titled: “ExxonMobil Co-extrusion Separator Technology Platform for HEV/EV...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — NYSE-listed Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a world leading vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturers, said it has landed with Germany’s IBC Solar AG, a leading specialist in PV systems. Yingli Green Energy is expected to supply a minimum of 35 MW of PV modules to IBC from May...

(EnergyAsia, May 14, Wednesday) — The Kyoto Protocol should be considered just the first lap in a long race to reduce the environmental and economic risks associated with climate change, according to a scientist with Australia’s research agency CSIRO. In a keynote address at a Sydney conference, “Kyoto Policy in Practice”, Roger Jones said the...

(EnergyAsia, May 13, Tuesday) — Keppel FELS Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), said it has secured a contract to build a US$512 million ultra-deepwater semisubmersible (semi) drilling rig from a subsidiary of ENSCO International Incorporated (ENSCO). To be delivered in the second half of 2011, the ENSCO...

(EnergyAsia, May 13, Tuesday) — India’s federal government is targeting to bring solar energy use to 60 cities to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy will select the 60 cities with populations of between 500,000 and 5 million people. Power demand in India’s fast-growing cities is expected to...

(EnergyAsia, May 13, Tuesday) — India’s Praj Industries, a builder of ethanol plants and technology, wants to develop non-edible algae as a feedstock for biofuels. The company has started research on converting algae into biofuels. It sees algae, with its high hydrocarbon content, as a key source for renewable fuels. Praj plans to employ another...

(EnergyAsia, May 13, Tuesday) — Private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners, which is backed by Credit Suisse, is looking to invest an average of US$100 million in individual wind, solar and biofuels projects around the world. Hudson will focus on renewable energy firms that have commercialised their technologies and processes, or are very close...

(EnergyAsia, May 13, Tuesday) — NYSE-listed LDK Solar Co Ltd, a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, said it has signed a five-year contract to supply multicrystalline solar wafers to Germany-based Qimonda AG. LDK Solar will deliver approximately 540 MW of multicrystalline solar wafers to Qimonda, or its new joint venture with Centrosolar, from 2009...