A new study by scientists at the American Chemical Society has identified an unlikely new source for raw materials for biodiesel fuels – butter. Researchers report that butter could be used as an eco-friendly feedstock for diesel fuel, a possible new source beyond the current ethanol production. As part of the study, researchers removed the fat from 250kg of butter, and converted it into the fatty acid esters that constitute biodiesel. The result material met all but one of the official test... ...Read more »

Nestlé Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, this week repeated the Company’s call for a moratorium on the destruction of the world’s rainforests and blamed the biofuel industry for the growth in deforestation. Addressing a question from Greenpeace at the Company’s Annual General Meeting in Lausanne on April 15, Mr Brabeck-Letmathe condemned the use of food for fuel and said Nestlé had recognised the danger many years ago when it called for a moratorium on the destruction of rainforest... ...Read more »

UK supermarket Waitrose and recycling experts Cawleys have jointly been awarded by the Association for Organics Recycling for their pioneering waste-to-energy recycling program, where food waste is sent for conversion to energy and fed into the national grid.  To date, Waitrose has generated a total of 400 megawatt hours of electricity using the process, enough to boil almost eight million kettles. The process, known as anaerobic digestion, uses microorganisms to break down biodegradable material. ... ...Read more »