Colin Ley examines the challenges and optimism within the Canadian biomass industry. Bioenergy developers in Canada have pretty much had to make their own opportunities in the past, often working to advance the industry without the focus of funding and regulatory attention often given to other parts of the climate change and renewable energy community. How much... [Read More]

Paques, a world leader in the development and construction of cost-effective purification systems for wastewater and gases, has reduced downtime by deploying APEX, Qdos and Bredel pumps at one of its anaerobic industrial effluent treatment systems in Brazil Paques, which has headquarters in the Netherlands, helps companies to reduce fresh water intake, decrease... [Read More]

Mark Vanderbeke, chairman of Drycake TWISTER and Steve Last, IPPTS principal and organic processing consultant, explain the challenges facing organic waste processing equipment suppliers — and propose a solution. The technology used to prepare feedstock for the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic waste will depend on the type of biowaste (organic waste) being... [Read More]

Ross McKenzie, director of international affairs at Drax, spoke to Bioenergy Insight about the company's expansion into new international markets, and its plans for its UK plant in Yorkshire. Drax recently announced it had agreed the acquisition of Princeton Standard Pellet Corporation. What are the benefits of this? "This acquisition adds another pellet plant to our... [Read More]

We hear how the right training and opportunities provided by their employer have allowed two early-career professionals to reach the shortlist for the Association For Renewable Energy and Clean Technology’s (REA) Young Renewable Energy Professional Award in such a short amount of time. Two site managers from the east of England, Liam Hughes and Tyler Warman,... [Read More]

On its website, tomato producer Guy & Wright (established 1928), described itself as "being complete idiots; building our own AD plant". The company's story, though, is one of growth. Fifteen years ago, when the first 1,800m3 digester was built on the 100-acre site in Hertfordshire, UK, John Jones (great grandson of Mr Guy) could be forgiven for wondering what on... [Read More]

Maarten Gnoth, founder and managing director of Hinterland Management - a bespoke sustainable investment development and management enterprise focussing on biomass supply chains - gave a talk at Bioenergy Insight's International Biomass Congress & Expo in July, expanding upon his presentation at a World Bioenergy Association webinar. Gnoth, who has significant experience... [Read More]

With their company, Biogastechnik Süd, the brothers Clemens and Gregor Maier offer solutions for the treatment and handling of digestates. Initially, it was the improvement of the components of their own biogas plant that prompted them to develop the first product, the paddle agitator Varibull. Over the years, further products were added: from the Easyfeeder feeding technology... [Read More]

Dawn Stephens-Borg reflects on the European Pellet Conference 2022, which took place in Wels, Austria and online in April. Hot on the heels of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which was cautiously optimistic on bioenergy, the European Pellet Conference felt like an opportunity for bioenergy industry actors to defend the sector's potential. As... [Read More]

With new legislation on mandatory kerbside collections of food waste coming in from 2023, production of biomethane gas is set to grow. As a low-carbon gas, so will its contribution to decarbonisation and energy security in the UK. Tina Hawke, competitive market and future energy connections manager at Cadent Gas, highlighted the continued need to create space for biomethane... [Read More]

The UK premium wood pellet market has, like many other countries across Europe, experienced some turbulence over recent months with the crisis in Ukraine having an immediate effect on global EN Plus A1 pellet prices and supply. Despite the year starting on a more positive note with the UK Government announcing its new Boiler Upgrade Scheme, a replacement for the Domestic... [Read More]

Bioenergy Insight speaks to the newly-appointed secretary general of the European Biogas Association What were you doing before joining the European Biogas Association (EBA) as secretary general? "I started my career at the European Biodiesel Board working on sustainability and trade and later worked for other trade associations covering due diligence of raw... [Read More]

Following a 10-year analysis of the scale of methane leakage at almost 1,000 AD plants across the UK and Europe, Tim Elsome, general manager of biogas specialists FM BioEnergy, outlines why now is the ideal time to tackle unidentified biogas leaks — and how to protect your plant, profits and the planet. Anaerobic digestion (AD) plants are designed to convert... [Read More]

What first drew you to the bioenergy industry? "On a philosophical level it was the opportunity to participate in an energy revolution that would address the needs of the planet to combat climate change. From a business perspective it had enormous appeal in terms of growth and potential returns. I started my career as an engineer in the oil industry and then moved into... [Read More]