September 2022

The shortage began in 2020 after the pandemic took hold and people spent weeks sheltering indoors and not traveling. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of ethanol, a key ingredient in gasoline. Because fewer people were using gasoline and, by extension, ethanol, production slowed, and with it, carbon dioxide output. The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine doses also added demand pressure to carbon dioxide production.

Accelerating demand for renewable energy and electric vehicles is sparking a high demand for the batteries that store generated energy and power engines. But the batteries behind these sustainability solutions aren’t always sustainable themselves. Scientists have now create a zinc battery with a biodegradable electrolyte from an unexpected source — crab shells.

A new paper appearing in the journal Environmental Research has explored the production of biodiesel from palm kernel shells, an agricultural waste stream. Scientists from Malaysia, Brunei, and Oman have contributed to the research. Palm oil is a widely used product in the food industry. Its manufacture produces enormous amounts of waste, with palm kernel shells being one of the main sources of this waste.

In plants, natural photosynthesis binds carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic compounds, which can then be converted into glucose or starch. These useful molecules can be sequestered, storing the carbon in a solid form. Artificial photosynthesis mimics this process by reducing the greenhouse gas CO2—the main cause of climate change—which is converted into other useful substances.

Africa and The Middle East will be key long-term suppliers of battery-grade materials to Europe. However, the race to supply the volume of battery minerals to meet soaring demand for decarbonisation technologies is being lost across the globe. “The mining world is adjusting to significant geopolitical challenges impacting the battery materials value chain,” says Greg Pitt, Vice President Batteries – Growth, Worley.

The global movement by governments and automakers to boost electrification of cars does not mean ethanol will be dead as a product, according to an executive of one of the world’s largest producers of the biofuel.

The USDA reduced both its forecast for 2022-’23 soybean oil use in biofuel production and its estimate for 2021-’22 soybean use in biofuel production in its latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, released Sept. 12.

Engineers have designed a battery made from inexpensive, abundant materials, that could provide low-cost backup storage for renewable energy sources. Less expensive than lithium-ion battery technology, the new architecture uses aluminum and sulfur as its two electrode materials with a molten salt electrolyte in between.

Sulzer Chemtech is helping Energy Absolute (EA) to expand its manufacturing plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand. The collaboration is key to drive the competitiveness of EA, as the technology provided will enable the producer to deliver winterized renewable fuels. This will expand its market reach and support the wider adoption of cleaner energy in Europe and North America.

More than half of all tropical deforestation directly attributable to industrial mining takes place in Indonesia, according to new research conducted at Clark University and Vienna University of Economics and Business. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the team behind the study looked at the effects of large-scale mining in the tropical forests of 26 countries and found that Indonesia accounted for 58.

As part of its ongoing drive to modernise construction, Singapore will open its first ‘integrated construction park’ at Jurong Port in December this year. The park will bring several primary supply chain processes together in one place, including cement and steel fabrication, concrete mixing and precasting, aggregate storage and volumetric module manufacturing.

Biodiesel consumption in the Philippines is expected to expand by 31 percent in 2022, according to a report filed with the USDA FASA’s Global Agricultural Information Network. The increase is primarily due to a projected movement from B2 to B5.

Shell has taken a final investment decision to develop the Rosmari-Marjoram gas project offshore Malaysia which is set to reach first gas in 2026.

PT Vale Indonesia and China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt have signed heads of agreement (HoA) to build a smelter with high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) technology in Indonesia. Planned to be built in Sorowako in South Sulawesi Province, the HPAL plant will be equipped to process nickel limonite ore into mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP). The project is estimated to cost $1.8bn, reported Reuters.

by Kim Jae-heun (Korea Times) GS Engineering & Construction (GS E&C) is joining hands with Finnish bioenergy company St1 to develop a next-generation bioethanol using cassava waste in Thailand. Cassava is a tuber root plant that resembles a sweet potato and it grows in tropical regions.

Singapore’s Keppel Energy has reached a final investment decision to develop a 600MW “hydrogen-ready” combined cycle gas turbine power plant, which means it will start operational life burning gas but can switch to hydrogen later. It has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to a consortium of Mitsubishi Power Asia Pacific and Jurong Engineering to build the plant in the Sakra sector of Jurong Island.

In Indonesia, Reuters reports the government has increased its blending estimate to 11.03 billion liters this year from 10.15 billion liters due to higher demand expected in Q4. The export levy waiver has been extended until October 31 to ensure price stability. Indonesia currently has a B30 blending mandate but is doing tests on higher blending levels including B35, B40 and B50.

Malaysia has maintained its October export tax for crude palm oil at 8 per cent and raised its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Thursday (Sep 15).

Fuel oil price continues an upward spiral even after the Central Bank of Myanmar tried to stop the depreciation of the Kyat against safe-haven dollars, the fuel market’s data indicated. In late August, Kyat weakened against the strong dollar at over K4,500. At present, the exchange rate slid to around K3,200.

Pall Corp has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new US$100 million state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Singapore to meet unprecedented global semiconductor demand.