News

French waste management company Veolia has announced it has signed three deals worth €864 million with China, including a biomass project deal. The company will provide a suite of solutions based on its expertise in this sector, to improve its clients’ energy performance and to help them comply with the regulations for the new Chinese environmental standards. One part of the deal…
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Waste management specialist Madegan is in the final stages of commissioning a new shredding system that will enable the family-run business to process up to 20,000 tonnes of waste per year. The Spanish organisation is no stranger to the waste and recycling market, having its roots in the late 1970s.But fast forward to 2017 and continued growth and innovation means Madegan is now a well-known name…
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UK-based renewable energy specialists VG Consulting and VG Energy have helped a Merseyside waste management firm to progress with its £2million (€23m) biomass plans. According to VG Consulting, CCC Waste Management, based in Kirkby, is taking positive steps toward onsite energy management and has now gained planning consent for the project. Ayrshire-headquartered VG Consulting, along…
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The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is calling for the value of anaerobic digestion to be recognised by UK political parties. The call comes with a snap election on the horizon and all parties now scrambling to pull together manifestos. ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “The performance of local authorities and politicians on the ground can have an impact…
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The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) has awarded National Grid Gas Distribution, in partnership with DNV GL, a major new innovation contract which will seek to improve the way gas bills are calculated, and enable the use of lower carbon alternative gases to fuel the homes and businesses of the future. Unlike electricity, gas must be measured first in volume terms and then have its…
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Namibian power utility NamPower is building new biomass power plants to boost electricity generation in the country, according to media reports. According to news channel Namibian, NamPower managing director Simson Haulofu said in an interview that tenders will soon go out for a 40MW biomass power plant at Otjiwarongo and another 20MW power plant around the Otavi area. A third 150MW concentrated…
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Toshiba Corp. has started commercial operation of its first ever biomass power plant, a 50MW facility that will supply enough electricity for 80,000 households and reduce CO2 emissions to about 300,000 tonnes a year. The newly retrofitted Mikawa Power Plant, operated by Toshiba subsidiary SIGMA POWER Ariake Corporation (SPAC) in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, has been equipped to burn biomass in a…
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The UK reduced its dependency on coal power generation by around 60% between2015 and 2016, according to government data. Electricity generated from renewable sources also declined, due to weather and outages. Domestic electricity use fell 1% between 2015 and 2016 despite similar weather patterns, indicating an increase in efficiency. Nina Skorupska , Chief Executive of the REA, said: “As…
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The Indian government and Sheffield Hallam University are working together to produce a new waste to energy plant for New Delhi. Once completed, the £68 million plant will process a third of New Delhi’s waste. The capital of India, New Delhi has a population of around 21.75 million people. Sheffield Hallam University carried out the feasibility study for the project, identifying sites…
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A paper mill in Norway has installed a biogas upgrading system to process gas from its sewage treatment plant. Norske Skog’s Saugbrugs plant in Halden, Norway, has a history dating back to 1575. The mill has three supercalendered magazine paper production machines with a combined 500,000 tons annual capacity. The plant’s new biogas upgrade system has been provided and installed by…
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Asian countries are showing a strong interest in consuming more wood pellets in order to replace coal in their power grids and to shift away from nuclear power, according to an industry expert speaking at the Argus Biomass 2017 conference. Giving a presentation entitled ‘A statistical review of the consumption of biomass for heat and power generation’, Rachael Levinson, editor of…
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The city of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, will soon be home to a dog waste biogas facility, according to the Huffington Post. Dog waste from around the city will be collected and turned into energy using anaerobic digestion. It will be one of the first times such a program has been used in a Canadian city. Although already popular in smaller Canadian towns, dog waste anaerobic digestion has yet to…
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The ice plant could play a key role in helping bioenergy feedstocks cope with the salinity and drought of a warming climate, according to a press release from the University of Nevada, Reno. Biochemist and molecular biologist John Cushman from the University of Nevada will analyse the biological mechanisms allowing ice plants to survive seasonally arid climates and those with intermittent water…
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The UK ran coal free for 24 hours on Friday 21 April, the first time the country had done so on a working day since the Industrial Revolution. According to the BBC, about 50% of British energy on 21 April came from natural gas and around 25% from nuclear power. The remaining 25% was provided by biomass, wind and imported energy. Coal-free days are likely to become increasingly common in the…
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