News

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) has changed its name following a recent meeting of its delegates. The organisation is now known as Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials to reflect its expansion of scope to apply its standards to biomass that is being used for other products in addition to biofuels. ‘There is a large range of biomaterials including bio-plastics, cosmetics, food…
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A UK charity, the Gorning Heath Almshouses, has used a National Lottery grant to purchase a biomass boiler to help heat its buildings. The £50,000 (€58,600) windfall was put towards a £155,000 system that will burn wood pellets on behalf of the charity to heat low-cost housing for 17 pensioners. The almshouses, which are nearly 300 years old and Grade One listed, were…
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The Colorado Economic Development Commission has dangled a multi-million dollar carrot in front of biomass company Cool Planet Energy Systems (CP) to try and entice it to the state. CP, a California-based start-up, claims to have a petrol generating process via biomass and plant waste that does not need to rely on federal subsidies. The CEDC hopes $3 million (€2.3 million) in tax credits…
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Bioenergy plant operator Katrinefors Kraftvärme (KK) is set to build a new CHP plant in Sweden with local municipal energy company VänerEnergi. This will be the second plant involving KK, a 50/50 joint venture owned by Metsä Tissue (MT), and it will be based in Mariestad near a MT mill. Construction is slated to start this April and be operational by the end of 2014. MT will supply…
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The first commercial biogas plant in South Africa is nearing construction in Bronkhorstspruit. Project development company Bio2Watt will build, own and operate the 3MW capacity facility, which it aims to have online by the end of spring 2014 latest. The Bronkhorstspruit location allegedly provides the project with proximity to key fuel supplies, grid access and sufficient water supplied by one of…
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Norwegian finance minister Sigbjørn Johnsen officially inaugurated a biorefinery demonstration plant at Borregaard’s production facility in Sarpsborg this April.The demo plant started preliminary operations last summer, followed by normal operations in the first quarter of 2013. The plant uses proprietary Borregaard technology and aims to produce cost-effective and sustainable lignin…
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Malaysia-based Wah Seong Corporation (WS) is to expland its renewable energy division via plans to build biomass generated power plants in Asean, South America and Africa. The first two plants at the head of the push would be delivered into Congo and Cambodia, tentatively based at 5MW and 10MW of power respectively. ‘Usually, the cost to build a plant is between $1.2 and $1.5 million per…
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German Pellets is set to start constructing a $300 million (€229.9 million) plant in Central Louisiana, US this April. The proposed 1 million tonne capacity a year plant will be located in the town of Urania and is expected to employ 80 people once completed. This is the second renewable project to hit Central Louisiana after Sundrop Fuels announced a new plant of its own…
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A Leicester, UK, farm that invested in an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in 2012 has installed two additional tanks and more than doubled its energy output, with multi million pound funding support from Yorkshire Bank. The Shropshire family are third generation farmers based in Huncote, Leicester, with their business employing 55 people and specialising in livestock and arable farming. Randall…
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Seaweed Energy Solutions (SES) has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Danish company Seaweed Seed Supply (SSS) to reinforce its position in large-scale seaweed cultivation for renewable energy. SSS´ goal of increasing production to 100,000 tons by 2017 from the current 5,000 tons capacity can now become a reality via this purchase. SES technology will be introduced into Denmark and the…
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The Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Authority has received license application to build a biomass power plant from Lurosa Investments. The proposed 2MW facility would generate electricity from timber waste feedstock in the east of the country. Zimbabwe currently uses more electricity than it produces at peak times (2,000MW against 1,200MW). It has been reported that 70,000 tonnes of biomass is…
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Waste heat-to-power equipment supplier Gulf Coast Renewable Energy (GCRE) reveals it is to double capacity at its wood pellet manufacturing plant in Georgia, US. A new facility earmarked for Copiah County has also been mooted and both projects should make a combined total of 80 new jobs. The original facility in Lucedale will double its pellet capacity from 160,000 to 320,000 tonnes and the new…
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The government secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, India has opened a new biogas plant in the city. The plnt took Bio Flame-Biogas and Energy less than a month to install and in was inaugurated by chief minister Oommen Chandy towards the end of March. The facility can turn 100kg of food waste from the secretariat canteen into around 10kg of heat and power which will be redistributed back into the…
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Energy provider Enel Green Power (EGP) and Italy-based SECI Energia have signed an agreement for the acquisition by EGP of 50% of Powercrop, a Maccaferri Group business dedicated to biomass energy conversion. With this acquisition, EGP will aim to develop biomass energy across a short supply chain with SECI by constructing five new facilities with a capacity of 150MW each. If fully implemented,…
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