Diamond Green RD plant lacks power for restart

Market: Biofuels, Emissions, Oil products
02/09/21

Diamond Green Diesel cannot predict when it will restart the largest US renewable diesel (RD) plant until power cut by Hurricane Ida is restored.

The 19,000 b/d Norco, Louisiana, facility remained under "a thorough assessment" following Hurricane Ida, joint venture partner Darling Ingredients said.

"Power restoration is key to being able to comment further on when the plant could be restarted," the company said today.

Ida devastated electrical infrastructure in the New Orleans region when it roared ashore on 29 August with winds exceeding 150 mph (241 kph). The storm downed all eight of the region's major electrical transmission lines, knocking over 2,000 miles of electric transmission infrastructure. Service began returning to parts of New Orleans early yesterday, but officials warn it could take weeks to fully restore electricity to the region. Inundating rains meanwhile flooded homes, refineries and other sites along the Mississippi river.

Renewable Energy Group has not commented on the status of its roughly 5,000 b/d renewable diesel plant in Geismar, further west of New Orleans.

Diamond Green continues to work with suppliers, logistics services and utilities on assessments. Conditions must also improve for employees, who may still face power, water and sewer outages as well as their own personal property damage, the company added.

Renewable diesel is an increasingly lucrative fuel that moves seamlessly in existing petroleum infrastructure and can be used without limit by current vehicle fuel systems. The fuel generates credits needed to comply with US Renewable Fuel Standard mandates as well as low carbon fuel standards in California and Oregon.

Demand for the fuel has attracted refinery conversions that could drive up renewable diesel supplies over the next four years and drive down costs to comply with those regulatory programs.

By Elliott Blackburn

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31/03/25

EU commission's CO2 tweak for cars imminent: Update

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EU commission expects CO2 tweak for cars soon

31/03/25

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31/03/25

EU commission expects CO2 tweak for cars soon

Brussels, 31 March (Argus) — The European commission expects to "very soon" release a legal proposal for a limited revision of the bloc's 2019 regulation setting CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs). A draft proposal circulating does not change the substance of the 2019 rules but specifies a three-year compliance period (2025-2027) used to calculate potential excess emissions premiums. And the 29-page legal proposal does not alter the bloc's 2030 emissions reduction target to reduce economy-wide CO2 emissions by 55pc, compared to 1990. Nor does it lower the overall CO2 emission standards, the commission said. If agreed by the European Parliament and EU member states, the "one-off" three-year compliance period over 2025-2027, instead of an annual assessment, would provide additional flexibility for vehicles manufacturers, while maintaining investor certainty and predictability, the commission added. The 2019 regulation requires annual EU fleet-wide average CO2 emissions from new cars and new vans to be reduced in five-year intervals. For each year in 2025–2029, a target reduction of 15pc, compared with 2021 values, would normally be applied. Without any legal change approved by parliament and EU states, manufacturers exceeding their specific emissions targets, would have to pay excess emission premiums of €95 per g/km for each new vehicle registered. The commission is also "accelerating" work on a review that will commence "in good time this year", said the commission's energy and climate spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen. But she had "nothing new" on whether compliant fuels could be expanded beyond e-fuels to include other low-carbon and zero-carbon, such as biofuels. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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World Bank loans Peru $500mn for climate adaptation

31/03/25

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31/03/25

World Bank loans Peru $500mn for climate adaptation

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Global energy mix evolves as electricity demand surges

28/03/25

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28/03/25

Global energy mix evolves as electricity demand surges

Climate change is becoming a bigger factor behind electrification, but cleaner energy use is slowing the growth in global emissions, writes Georgia Gratton London, 28 March (Argus) — A substantial increase in electricity demand — boosted by extreme weather — drove an overall rise in global energy demand in 2024, lifting it well above the average pace of increase in recent years, OECD energy watchdog the IEA announced this week. This led to a rise in natural gas consumption, although renewables and nuclear shouldered the majority of the increase in demand, leaving oil's share of total energy demand below 30pc for the first time. Global energy demand rose by 2.2pc in 2024 compared with 2023 — higher than the average demand increase of 1.3pc/yr between 2013 and 2023 — according to the Paris-based agency's Global Energy Review . 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The IEA repeatedly noted the significant effect that extreme weather in 2024 had on energy systems and demand patterns. Last year was the hottest ever recorded, beating the previous record set in 2023, and for CO2 emissions, "weather effects" made up about half of the 2024 increase, the watchdog found. "Weather effects contributed about 15pc of the overall increase in global energy demand," according to the IEA. Global cooling degree days were 6pc higher on the year in 2024, and 20pc higher than the 2000-20 average. But the "continued rapid adoption of clean energy technologies" restricted the rise in energy-related CO2 emissions, which fell to 0.8pc in 2024 from 1.2pc in 2023, the IEA says. Energy-related CO2 emissions — including flaring — still hit a record high of 37.8bn t in 2024, but the rise in emissions was lower than global GDP growth. 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Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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ISCC aware EU mulling certification recognition: Update

28/03/25

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28/03/25

ISCC aware EU mulling certification recognition: Update

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