Although South Korea is not currently one of the countries required to cutback emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, that may change in 2013. According to reports, 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases are released into the country’s atmosphere annually with 19.3% attributed to the transportation sector.

As a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through lower fuel consumption, Canada’s Transport Ministry has awarded the Canadian company Groupe Robert to study the driving habits of freight operators.

The Chinese company seeking to buy the Hummer brand from General Motors is discussing the price of the sale with the U.S. automaker.

Lingering concerns about an economic recovery have contributed to the price of crude on the NYMEX falling 12% since June 29.

As the ethanol futures contract rolled from July to August, the contract’s value fell 8.5%.

The ethanol markets were in a state of backwardation all week last week and spot, rack and futures prices all ended the period on the down side by 3% to 6%.

Low distillate margins and compressed light-heavy crude differentials contributed to a lower second quarter 2009 realized refining margin for the company.

Anti-dumping provisions and countervailing duties on U.S. biodiesel were approved by the European Union’s Council of Ministers on July 7.

The Senate began hearing yesterday on the “cap and trade” legislation passed by the House last month. Heavy horse trading is expected in order to round up the necessary 60 votes for its passage, Capitol Hill sources indicated.

The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association released on July 6 a compilation of 18 excerpted letters-to-the-editor from across the U.S., in which readers were skeptical of the cap-and-trade bill in Congress.

Major world nations must act to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 50% 2050 in order to step climate change, a top U.N. official said recently.