Biomass News

The Pallet Network (TPN), based in Sutton Coldfield, UK, has launched an innovative recycling scheme saving “substantial amounts” of waste from going to landfill, reducing its members’ costs and taking a major step in lowering the firm’s carbon footprint. TPN’s new end-of-life pallet scheme will enable members to return pallets and other waste wood to the hub, where they will be…
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The US Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA) has expressed disappointment that a recent European court ruling regarding the inclusion of biomass in the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) is being appealed. A group of six individuals and NGOs first filed a lawsuit in 2019, claiming that the use of forest biomass increases greenhouse gas emissions. The European Court of Justice dismissed…
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The Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio) has teamed up with Lithuanian online biomass trading platform Baltpool. Baltpool is a biomass exchange operating in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland and, via partners in Denmark and Finland, has 452 members. It is based on an auction principle where buyers and sellers anonymously meet to trade biomass. Svebio and Baltpool are currently…
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Hawaiian firm Honua Ola Bioenergy has condemned a decision by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reject its proposal to provide electricity to Hawaiian Electric Co. The company says the move will lead to the loss of more than 200 jobs on the Hu Honua project, which uses wood chips to generate energy. In a statement, Honua Ola said the decision will result in the “imminent layoffs”…
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Czech vehicle manufacturer ŠKODA AUTO (Škoda) is using biomass and other renewables to support its low-carbon goals. The group’s Vrchlabi component plant is set to become the first carbon-neutral Škoda site in the world. The plant has so far saved carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by converting the high-tech factory to use renewable energy, helping to reduce emissions from 45,000 tonnes to…
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International resource management company Geminor has announced plans to import 50,000 tonnes of waste wood into the UK for recycling. The first shipment of treated waste wood arrived in the UK from Norway, representing the start of a steady stream of waste wood into the UK market. The loads of waste wood managed by Geminor will be used in the domestic biomass market and panel board…
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Moldova is using UK green technology to upgrade 19 heat-only boiler plants that will run on home-grown Miscanthus biomass fuel. The plants will generate 55,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year, providing thermal heat energy to 5,500 flats, 110 houses, 40 businesses, 12 kindergartens, 25 education facilities, and eight medical institutions. The project, hailed as one of Moldova’s most…
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Danone has announced the ‘landmark’ carbon-neutral certification of its baby formula production facility in Wexford, Ireland. The certification by the Carbon Trust, an independent global climate change and sustainability consultancy, marks an industry-leading milestone and is a step towards Danone’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The facility sources 100% renewable…
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Statkraft has extended a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Greencoat Capital’s Sleaford biomass plant in Lincolnshire, UK. Greencoat Capital is one of the UK’s largest investors in the renewable energy market, owning and operating projects in a range of sectors including bioenergy, onshore wind and solar PV. Statkraft previously entered into a long-term PPA for the 34 MW Sleaford…
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Avista Utilities, a Washington, US-based energy utility firm, is seeking proposals from renewable energy project developers who are capable of constructing, owning, and operating up to 120 average megawatts (aMW), whether through one or multiple proposals with a minimum net annual output of 20 aMW. Through a request for proposal (RFP), Avista intends to secure the output from renewable…
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DB Cargo UK has announced a new five-year ‘hook and haul’ contract to transport biomass supplies to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. DB Cargo, one of the UK’s largest rail freight operators, will run an average of 60 trains per week from the ports of Immingham and Hull to the power station near Selby. Each train will carry around 1,650 tonnes of biomass to the plant, which provides…
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Valmet Oyj will supply a complete district heating plant to Göteborg Energi AB in Gothenburg, Sweden. The new hot water plant, which is typically worth above €40 million, will reduce fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by around 25,000 tons per year. It will replace two old boilers originally designed for oil and coal but converted to run on wood pellets in 2003. Demolition of the…
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The UK could see a “vast reduction” in renewable heat projects over the next 12 months and a potential return to fossil fuels if current government proposals are approved, according to the UK Pellet Council and Biomass Heat Works!. Representatives from the two organisations are urging those supplying to, operating within, or using biomass for domestic or commercial heating, to respond to…
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Companies that applied to the UK Government’s non-domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme before 29 June will now have an additional 14 months to get their low-carbon heat generators up and running. The RHI was the first scheme of its kind in the world, according to the government, and the non-domestic RHI offers businesses a set tariff for 20 years for generate large-scale renewable…
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