Biofuels

Ecometrica, the sustainability, mapping and reporting software company, and Scotland’s Rural College have created the Biomass Market Assessment Service to model farm behaviour and energy crop production under different scenarios.

US wood pellet exports have increased by nearly 40% between 2013 and 2014.

This week’s IPO filing by wood pellets producer Enviva Partners is a great example of private equity’s ability to spot promising trends and capitalise on emerging markets.

Emma Cowan, independent agribusiness consultant, describes the changing landscape for commodities amid a shift in biofuel and BRIC countries’ growth potential.

The joint venture between Spruce Capital Partners and Xeraya Capital has closed MLS Capital Fund II on $150m.

The company’s biofuels business has been seeking equity financing since April this year.

Silicon Valley Bank and USDA have lent $91 million to biofuels producer Cool Planet to commercialise its technology.

Agrisoma, a biofuels input company, has closed a Series A round led by Cycle Capital Management.

Thomas McNerney & Partners and Finistere Ventures participated in an $11m Series C funding for SGB, a California based biofuels company which uses harvested hybrid jatropha beans, shown in featured image .

German airline Lufthansa has been working on establishing a biofuel investment fund to help secure an alternative fuel supply for its jets. Here Joachim Buse, vice president, aviation at the German airline, describes the process so far.