News

Japanese trading firm Marubeni Corp. is reportedly set to build a 37MW biomass power station in Fukui prefecture, western Japan. Work is expected to begin on the facility in November 2015 with the scope to have it completed and running in summer 2017. According to a statement from the company earlier this month, the plant will run on wood chips and will have the capacity to generate enough power…
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Delipapier Frouard's new biomass plant is now operational. The overall investment for the plant was approximately €6.5 million. The works are part of the BCIAT 2011 project (Biomasse Chaleur Industrie, Agriculture et Tertiaire) launched by ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie) to encourage the industry to produce thermal energy using biomass. The plant is…
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In the US, Lignetics and Bear Mountain Forest Products have completed a merger to create a company that will produce approximately 450,000 tonnes a year of wood pellets, making it the largest residential wood pellet fuel producer in the country. The company will also be the only pellet manufacturing company that will have wood pellet facilities on both the East and West Coast, in locations…
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Vega Biofuels has placed an order for thousands of tonnes of biocoal for shipment to an international client. Manufactured from timber waste using torrefaction technology, biocoal has a high energy density of up to 13,000 BTUs/lb and is considered a renewable energy fuel that meets the Renewable Portfolio Standards and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) in the US. Vega recently announced that it was…
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A draft law to cap the production of traditional biofuels and accelerate the shift to alternative sources was approved by the Environment Committee on 24 February. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that result from the growing use of agricultural land to produce biofuel crops. Current legislation requires EU member states to ensure that renewable energy accounts for at least 10% of…
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Gasrec, a European supplier of liquefied gas fuel for transport, has welcomed the EU's latest compromise agreement with the European Parliament which will pave the way for an increase in weight for HGVs converting to run on gas, ensuring they maintain their full load carrying capacity. Under the agreement, investment in clean fuels such as liquefied biomethane and LNG for transport will be…
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New England Wood Pellet (NEWP), a subsidiary of Rentech, has acquired the assets of Allegheny Pellet Corp. The acquisition, Rentech says, expands NEWP's market position as the largest producer of wood pellets for the US heating market. Allegheny's wood pellet plant in Youngsville, Pennsylvania has been operating since 1993. The facility processes residuals from local sawmills into wood pellets…
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UK-based anaerobic digestion (AD) plant operator Tamar Energy has secured a landmark £32 million (€43 million) non-recourse project finance facility, the first such financing facility in the AD industry. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is providing the seven-year term facility which will refinance Tamar Energy's existing five AD plants. The new financing facility will be used to build…
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The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has announced that Forest Research and E.ON will deliver the latest project in its bioenergy programme – a study into the characterisation of feedstocks. The project will provide an understanding into the properties of UK-produced second generation biomass, how these vary, and relate this variability to the origins of the samples tested. It will…
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The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the US voluntary standardisation system, has been selected by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) to be the accreditation body for its certification system for sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions related to biomass products. ANSI is accepting applications for this pilot programme through 26 March…
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Seneca Sustainable Energy's biomass plant, located in Oregon, US, has received its final Title V permit from the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA). The granting of this permit, which took a very long time, confirms that the plant has been operating within its stated pollution limits since it went into operation in 2011. Seneca also has received confirmation that its biomass plant is the…
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In the US, Applied LNG has signed an agreement to purchase biomethane from BP Energy Company. Applied LNG will use the biogas, sourced from waste landfill sites which produce methane as a by-product, to produce LNG in its liquefaction facility in Topock, Arizona that will be sold to the transportation fuel market. 'We are committed to providing affordable, cleaner and domestically produced LNG as…
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Wood pellet manufacturer and trader German Pellets has taken over the pellet business of Nord Energie, effective 16 February. Nord Energie supplies wood pellets to consumers in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and northern Lower Saxony and has more than five years' experience in pellet trading and logistics. The acquisition by German Pellets includes its vehicle fleet, pellet storage resources and the…
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The European Commission announced on 19 February that it is assessing whether UK plans to support the conversion of the Lynemouth coal power plant to operate on biomass were in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission will investigate further to ensure that public funds used to support the project are limited to what is necessary and do not result in overcompensation. It will also assess…
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