Biomass News

The decarbonisation potential of biomass is "still overlooked" in the UK, according to the Biomass Heat Works! campaign. The statement follows the announcement that the Rural Services Partnership (RSN) – an organisation which champions rural causes – will work alongside the campaign to further the nation’s decarbonisation agenda. Forming part of the RSN, which provides a ‘national…
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Enough energy was generated from biomass plants in Yorkshire, UK last year to power nearly three million homes, according to new research. A report by the Yorkshire Post cites the data by the JPIMedia Data Unit, which found that plant biomass now accounts for more than a fifth (21%) of the UK’s renewable energy nationwide, second only to wind power. According to the analysis, the number of…
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Specialist bioenergy funding provider Privilege Finance has launched a ‘manifesto’ for renewable energy from waste. The manifesto outlines the company’s vision for shaping a future whereby the UK is energy self-sufficient and sends zero food waste to landfill. “In the current election campaign, the green agenda has been at the front of peoples’ minds like never before,” said Chris…
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Wood pellet producer Enviva has received a permit to build a new facility in Alabama, US. The firm released a statement thanking the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for its approval, which will pave the way for 85 full-time jobs alongside a further 180 jobs in logging, transportation and local services, and 300-400 jobs during the construction of the plant. The new $175 million…
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Singapore-based waste management company 800 Super has opened a new integrated energy and resource recovery facility in Tuas South, an industrial area within the city-state. According to a report by The Straits Times, the new $130 million (€86.2 million) facility is the size of three football pitches and houses a biomass plant, a sludge treatment facility and an industrial laundry. The…
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Enviva, the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, has received approval to install air quality equipment to further reduce emissions from its production facility in Southampton County, Virginia, US. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Virginia DEQ) approved the move, which will also allow Enviva to boost production and utilisation of softwood (pine). Virginia DEQ held an…
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E.ON has unveiled plans to invest around €110 million to install a biomass power plant at a paper mill facility in Germany. The plant will have an electrical output of 20MW and a thermal firing capacity of 87MW, as well as supplying heat to UPM’s Hürth paper mill and helping to reduce its carbon footprint. The facility will also feed renewable energy into the grid. Winfried Schaur,…
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Danish firm Dall Energy has developed a new ‘disruptive’ biomass furnace that reduces dust and particle emissions by more than 90%. According to the company, the biomass burner has numerous benefits, from lower investment costs (due to a simple design), lower maintenance costs and a very wide load window, with fast and easy variation between 10 and 100% load without issues. Dall Energy…
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Denmark-based energy firm Ørsted has announced its Asnæs Power Station was connected to the Zealand grid and generated green power for the first time on 20 November. This follows its recent conversion from coal to wood chips. “It’s fantastic that we’ve come this far with the project,” said Henrik Boye Jørgensen, senior project manager at Ørsted and responsible for the construction…
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Finnish-Swiss biotech firm Ductor has opened its first commercial-scale organic fertiliser and biogas-production facility in Mexico. The facility, located in the state of Jalisco, opened in October and is the world’s first fully-integrated production system using 100% poultry waste to produce two separate products. Since patenting its system in 2015, Ductor has developed and commercialised…
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Future BMW electric cars will be powered by cow manure, following a partnership with a US creamery. Straus Family Creamery, a leader in organic farming and sustainable dairy innovation in California, has collaborated with BMW Group to create low-carbon charging for BMW’s electric vehicle (EV) customers in the state. The collaboration uses a new pathway that uses biogas to create electricity…
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State and local leaders in Mississippi, US gathered at a groundbreaking ceremony on 7 November for Enviva's new wood pellet export terminal. Upon completion, the terminal in the Port of Pascagoula's Bayou Casotte Harbour will export wood pellets produced in George County, Mississippi to Asia and Europe and employ around 30 full-time workers. Approximately 150 direct and indirect jobs will be…
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Two peat-burning plants in Ireland are to close by the end of 2020, resulting in hundreds of job losses. According to a report by Independent.ie, the Electricity Supply Board’s (ESB) decision to close the plants at West Offaly and Lough Ree will also accelerate job losses at Bord Na Móna, an Irish peat firm, which had been supplying peat to the facilities. The ESB submitted an application…
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Biomass heat industry leaders, including the Wood Heat Association (WHA) and UK Pellet Council (UKPC), are urging UK political parties to recognise the importance of having strong heat decarbonisation policies in their election manifestoes. The organisations, which coordinate the Biomass Heat Works! campaign, outlined a series of manifesto pledges for the UK political parties ahead of the…
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