Brazil, US and EU approach global ethanol standard
Brazilian representatives of Unica, the Sao Paulo-based sugarcane industry association, say that Brazil, the US and the EU have agreed on all items in a new international standard for ethanol, except the volume of water in ethanol. The EU wants to limit water content to 0.24%, while Brazil proposed 0.5% and the US is urging for 1.0% water content. When an agreement is reached, it will permit ethanol to be traded globally as a unified commodity. Brazil and the US, which are major ethanol producers, object to the lower water standard proposed by the EU because it would reduce overall production.
Source: http://www.biofuels-news.com/news/global_ethanol_standard.html (February 15, 2008)

Biofuels sector searches for business model that’ll pay
Over 1,000 delegates attended the World Biofuels Markets conference in Brussels this past March. Among the messages that emerged was that financing of biofuel projects is still going on, but that the geography and the terms have changed. Peter Conway, director of consultancy Project Financing Solutions, said that in Europe, “Netherlands and specifically Rotterdam is becoming a central hub for biodiesel”, and for bioethanol projects, “access to a deep water port nearby” is now seen as vital. On finance, Conway said that whereas 65% to 70% debt finance might have been normal before, now 50% to 60% debt would be par for the course. Marc Schmitz, at Rabobank, piped a similar tune, saying that he was involved in arranging the finance for projects at the moment, and that these are likely to involve 40% to 50% equity. Later, the European Commission published a report arguing that all of the EU’s 10% biofuel target by 2020 could be met through first-generation ethanol and biodiesel, based on conventional feedstocks such as wheat and rapeseed. This would involve domestic production plus only a relatively modest contribution from imports, it suggested. The claim will surprise some of those who have written off conventional biofuels in the face of the food-versus-fuel debate and spiralling feedstock prices.
Source: New energy finance, Week in Review, March 11, 2008

New €100m German fund to target long-term green investments
German investment firm Conetwork Erneuerbare Energien Management has this week closed a new €100m cleantech fund and revealed investments in two wood pellet production companies that are already in pipelined. The company said the evergreen fund would focus on renewable energy and cleantech firms across Germany and Europe, typically investing between €2m and €10m a time in innovative startups, although larger investments may be possible in conjunction with a co-investor. It added that it was aiming to build a broad footprint within the sector and was looking to invest in between 15 to 25 companies across a number of different fields, including renewable energy generation and combined heat and power systems. The company said the fund retains the ability to hold companies for significantly longer than classical private equity investments, and could potentially retain an interest in a firm for between 10 and 15 years, making it a particularly attractive backer for firms working on emerging technologies. The company said the first wave of investments have been concluded or are in the pipeline, with two unnamed wood pellet production companies having already attracted interest from the fund. Further investments are being prepared in the area of biogas production and distribution and the production of photovoltaic thin film modules.
Source: www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2214542/100m-german-fund-target-long

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Sale of biogas plant Gut Karow to utility MVV Energiedienstleistungen
EPURON sold the biogas plant Gut Karow to Mannheim based utility MVV Energiedienstleistungen. The plant has a capacity of 0.624 megawatts and will feed 5,000 megawatt hours electricity into the public grid yearly. The electricity will be rewarded by the German Renewable Energy Law. As of summer 2008, MVV Energiedienstleistungen will supply more than 1,200 households with CO2-neutral electrical energy. Around 9,700 tonnes of chopped maize plants and 5,000 tonnes of cow dung will be used per year .The fermented plant matter is used as fertiliser on the farm fields.

Biogas plant in Karow