Two French organisations, the French Public Transport Central Purchasing Office (CATP) and Ile-de-France Mobilités, have ordered 409 biogas buses for the city of Paris. The Urbanway Natural Power buses were ordered from IVECO Bus and will operate in the inner and outer suburbs of the Paris metropolitan area. According to a report by Transport Engineer, the deal was... [Read More]

Faroese salmon farming company Bakkafrost has been recognised in the Faroese Business Initiative Awards for its biogas plant, which will convert salmon waste into energy using anaerobic digestion. The 12,000-square metre plant, named ‘FÖRKA’, will be able to convert up to 50,000 metric tonnes of waste, half of which will come from cow manure and the rest coming from... [Read More]

UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Andrea Leadsom, has approved plans for Drax Power to install four new natural gas turbines at its plant in North Yorkshire, overturning a decision by the UK’s Planning Inspectorate. Drax operates a biomass and coal-fired power station in Selby and wants to build four combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs)... [Read More]

A 170,000 tonnes per year waste wood gasification plant has opened in Cheshire, UK. The plant, now owned by the Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG), was developed by infrastructure firm CoGen. It works by using wood as a feedstock into a gasifier, with the resulting gas then being burned to produce a steam which runs a turbine. The plant is expected to generate 22MW of... [Read More]

Valmet has received an order from India-based Praj Industries for the delivery of one of its biomass pretreatment systems. The biomass system, which will be installed in Praj’s second-generation biorefinery project currently under construction in India, will be delivered in 2020. The order, for which the value has not been disclosed, was included in Valmet’s orders... [Read More]

Gas Networks Ireland and its parent company Ervia say they will reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions by a third with their Vision 2050 plan. Through a combination of technologies, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) explained how it can reduce Ireland’s total carbon emissions by one third and create a net zero carbon gas network. GNI’s vision is that by 2050, half of the... [Read More]

The state Division of Air Quality in North Carolina, US, has approved a permit that will reduce pollutants from Enviva’s wood pellet mill, as well as allowing it to expand production. The permit is the second of three Enviva is seeking this year for new or expanded pellet mills in the state. The first permit allowed the firm to open a new plant in Hamlet in June and... [Read More]

Vermont Technical College is closing its $4.2 million (€3.8 million) anaerobic digester due to a lack of available food scraps. The digester hasn’t been able to operate at full capacity and is due to close down in December. The college’s digester came online in 2014 and was the first in the state to go through the permitting process to accept food waste. The digester... [Read More]

Government organisation Sustainability Victoria has announced a $750,000 (€460,000) grant to boost bioenergy infrastructure projects in the region. The Bioenergy Infrastructure Fund is open to industry, social enterprises, community groups and government entities working on bioenergy technology to help keep organic waste out of landfill and generate renewable electricity. "Victoria's... [Read More]

German electric utility company RWE has taken control of E.ON's renewables assets to become one of the world's largest green power companies. The major energy company plans to invest €1.5 billion per year to expand its presence in renewables, including biomass. In its newly launched plan, RWE aims to be: carbon neutral by 2040, one of the world's leading renewable... [Read More]

Atlantic Power has signed a 10-year energy purchase agreement (EPA) with Canadian electric utility firm BC Hydro for its Williams Lake biomass plant. The biomass plant in British Columbia, Canada, had been operating under a short-term EPA since 2 April 2018 which expired on 30 September 2019. The new EPA is effective from 1 October. Under the new agreement, the Williams... [Read More]

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $73 million (€66.8 million) in funding for bioenergy research and development (R&D) projects. A total of 35 projects will be funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to ‘help reduce the price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower and enable high-value products from biomass... [Read More]

Tank design plays an important role in optimising the biogas output from anaerobic digestion. Sam Hinton, technical support manager at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) identifies some key considerations for owners and operators. AD is a simple, centuries-old technology and hugely complex beast. In principle it is simple; you put organic matter... [Read More]

Plans for the first biogas plant to be built in Dubai are taking shape. Dubai Municipality will build the plant at the city’s Warsan Sewage Treatment Plant in partnership with global waste management firm Veolia, at a cost of around Dh250 million (€62.2 million). Once fully operational, it is hoped the biogas project will help to save Dh325 million (€325 million)... [Read More]

The UK Environment Agency (EA) has announced it is launching a review of permitted waste sites in the bio-waste sector, including anaerobic digestion, composting and mechanical biological treatment. In a statement, the EA highlighted the importance of the bio-waste sector for a closed-loop, circular economy. The review will ‘embed’ recent changes to legislation,... [Read More]