News

Global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have seen "almost no growth" for three years in a row, despite economic growth, scientists have said. Emissions did not increase in 2015 and are expected to rise only 0.2% in 2016, according to new data from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Global Carbon Project. The figures, which come after a rise of just 0.7% in emissions in 2014,…
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The UK produced more than 50% of its electricity from low-carbon sources in the third quarter of 2016, according to a new report from Imperial College London and power firm Drax. Between July and September 2016, the contribution of nuclear, biomass, hydro, wind, solar and low-carbon electricity imports from France peaked at 50.2%, up from just 20% in 2010 – demonstrating the scale and…
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A new trade body called the World Biogas Association (WBA) has been launched at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 22 at Marrakesh, Morocco. Following the adoption by the United Nations of a shared vision for transforming lives by 2030 through the Sustainable Development Goals and the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate agreement between the 195 national…
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HRH the Duke of Kent has opened a new energy recovery facility in Leeds, UK, which is operated by resource management company Veolia. Veolia will run the facility, called Leeds Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility, on behalf of Leeds City Council. The plant has been built with the latest recycling and recovery technology to help transform residents’ black bag waste into a resource. The…
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IMS ECUBES, a multinational clean power infrastructure specialist, has launched a fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) system at the European Utility Week conference in Barcelona. Providing electricity at KW scale, the system is the first of a planned range of fuel cell CHP systems, which will ultimately provide electricity at MW scale, alongside useable heat. CTO of IMS ECUBES, Ben Todd,…
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US waste management specialist BioHiTech Global said its third-quarter revenue grew 86% from a year ago. Total revenue for Q3 2016 was $623,578 (€580,000), compared to $33,715 in Q3 2015. Revenue derived from the company’s core organic waste digester business, BioHiTech said in a statement. However, the company's net loss widened from $1.46 million Q3 2015 to $1.64 million in Q3 2016.…
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Six UK-based development and environmental organisations, including Greenpeace and Christian Aid, are calling on the Chancellor of Exchequer to use his Autumn Statement to announce new investment on low-carbon infrastructure. The groups announced this call in a new study they published showing how far the government has to go to reach a low-carbon energy, transport and heating shift. While…
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Jersey-based investment firm 3i infrastructure has agreed to buy UK-based renewable energy supplier Infinis and its subsidiaries for £185 million (€206m). The investment specialist is expected to acquire all of Infinis's landfill gas assets by the end of November, using all of the capital raised in June this year. Infinis is the largest landfill gas (LFG) electricity…
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IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issued a first-of-its-kind bond that gives investors the option of getting repaid in either carbon credits or cash, raising $152 million (€138.2m) to support private sector development and prevent deforestation in developing countries.  Each year, 5.5 million hectares of tropical forest area—an area approximately the size of Costa…
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Coal will not end energy poverty and increasing its share in the energy pool will actually increase poverty in poor countries, a new report says. According to a recent position paper by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a UK think tank on international development, the coal industry is vouching for increased coal use to fight extreme poverty and improving energy access. In the paper ODI…
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US states can achieve better carbon reduction results and improve their use of biomass energy by working together, a new study finds. Under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, states soon could be mandated to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified the most effective ways for various US…
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The shuttered Aspen Power biomass plant in Texas has been sold to an undisclosed buyer at a price of nearly $5 million (€4.5m). Located in Lufkin, the 57MW plant that was marketed as the first wood waste-based biomass facility in Texas was sold during a court-ordered auction, the Lufkin News reports. The plant opened in 2011, but went silent just a year later in 2012 due to challenging…
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The Paris agreement on climate change has come into force today (4 November, 2016). This marks the first time that governments have agreed legally binding limits to global temperature rises. Under the agreement, all governments that have ratified the accord, which includes the US, China, India and the EU, now carry an obligation to hold global warming to no more than 2C above pre-industrial…
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Statkraft, a European-based renewable energy giant, has said it has become the first international wood chip producer and supplier and trader to be certified under the Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) certification scheme. "Statkraft fully subscribes to the SBP vision to provide economically, environmentally and socially sustainable wood fuel that contributes to a low carbon economy," said…
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