News

Capital Dynamics, the private asset manager for a UK-based pension fund, has acquired a number of biomass power plants in New South Wales, Australia. The total 68MW portfolio includes two fully operational base-load plants that produce power and steam from local sugarcane waste and other biomass fuel sources. The power and steam is sold under long-term contracts to nearby sugar mills and the…
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We Energies, a US electricity services provider, has opened its biomass-fuelled power plant on the site of Domtar's paper mill in Rothschild, Wisconsin. The new plant will generate 50MW of renewable electricity from wood, waste wood and sawdust. 'The addition of the biomass plant enables us to produce renewable energy on demand,' says Gale Klappa, president and CEO of We Energies. 'That benefit…
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Neste Oil, a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission traffic fuels, is to promote the deployment of sustainable aviation biofuels in the Netherlands after committing to a Dutch initiative for the sector. Neste is to explore the production opportunities for aviation biofuel and scaling up production. Its renewable fuel refinery in Rotterdam could…
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Brazil-based construction business Odebrecht is believed to be planning to separate the cogeneration from its sugar and ethanol operations to create a new bioelectricity company.Odebrecht currently produces 816MW of electricity by burning the sugarcane bagasse left over from its production of sugar, but it is believed the 2013/14 harvest will be able to generate about 1700GW of…
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Science and technology company Battelle has developed a mobile device that converts biomass materials, such as woodchips and agricultural waste, into bio-oil using catalytic pyrolysis. This intermediate bio-oil can be upgraded via hydrotreatment into a gas/diesel blend or jet fuel. Testing of the bio-based fuel alternative produced by Battelle suggests it can be blended with existing petrol and…
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Ernst Biomass' pellet plant in New Jersey, US has been damaged after a fire broke out on 9 November. The incident is reported to have caused $50,000 (€37,330) worth of damage to equipment such as the facility's conveyor system. Nobody was injured but production at the facility was temporarily suspended. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined but it is thought to have started…
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Lime Energy has sold its 2.8MW landfill gas-to-energy project in Florida to Green Gas Americas, a developer of waste gas to power projects. The sale came about through the acquisition of GES-Port Charlotte, a subsidiary of Lime Energy, which owns the landfill gas facility. The plant, built on the Charlotte County landfill, generates and sells power to Orlando Utilities Commission through a…
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Augusta Renewable Energy, a division of First Generation Energy and the Augusta Economic Development Authority, is to build a biogas plant in Georgia, US. The anaerobic digestion facility, which will primarily use spent coffee grounds from the new Starbucks Soluble site, is estimated to cost in the region $20 million (€15 million). First Generation Energy has formed partnerships with…
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Scotland-based energy company Kilmac Group has purchased biomass company Eco Biomass for an undisclosed amount. It is hoped the acquisition will boost Kilmac's renewables division which deals with civil engineering and construction. The company's other divisions are construction and energy. All staff at Eco Biomass will transfer over as part of the agreement. Kilmac co-founder and director…
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Statkraft, a power purchase agreement provider, has signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Eco2. The agreement includes the purchase of power from Eco2's Brigg renewable energy plant, a 40MW biomass-fired power station in Lincolnshire, UK. Once operational, the biomass plant will generate 40MW of renewable energy – enough to benefit 70,000 households – from straw feedstock…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded nearly $10 million (€7.3 million) to a consortium, led by Colorado State University (CSU), to study the challenges limiting the use of insect-killed trees as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy and renewable fuels. CSU researchers, together with other scientists from universities, government and private industry in the region, created the…
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A biomass refinery in Malaysia is set to become the second in the world to convert biomass waste into renewable products before 2017. Work is scheduled to begin on the facility in Johor by the end of 2014 and will be developed by MYBiomass, a collaboration between the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), renewable energy business Sime Darby and Felda Global…
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Nippon Paper Industries is reported to have started operations at its new biomass in Port Angeles in Washington, US. The new $85 million (€63 million) co-generation plant at the site of Nippon's existing mill is not yet fully operational; this is slated to begin by the end of 2013 when it will generate electricity and steam from forest wood waste. The majority of this renewable electricity…
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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved the registration of six biogas plants in KwaZulu-Natal. These latest projects will be located in Izimpongo Village, Melmoth and Mgwabi Village at Eshowe and come shortly after a further 21 similar plants were registered this year, planned for Limpopo and one in Pretoria. This brings the total number of biogas operations registered in…
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