News

Kedco, a UK-focused renewable energy developer and operator, is building a 12MW biomass CHP plant in Enfield, north London and has appointed Foresight Group as the preferred funding partner for the project. Kedco has signed a non-binding heads of terms with Foresight, an independent private equity, infrastructure and environmental investor, for the provision of debt and equity facilities which…
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Specialty chemicals company Clariant will expand the raw materials used at its demonstration plant in Germany after new findings show that corn stover and sugarcane bagasse can also be used. The company's demo plant is converting agricultural residues into bioethanol using its Sunliquid technology. Following the opening of the facility in July 2012, Clariant now has new findings which show that…
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A new multi-million dollar biogas facility is planned for the region of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, otherwise known as the Twin Cities. Rendering business Sanimax has been reported as wanting to build a $30 million (€23.1 million) plant which would convert food waste into natural gas and compost, in conjunction with Wisconsin-based Green Energy Partners. The city’s planning commission is…
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Ranger Valley (RV), a large cattle station in Australia, is set to incorporate biogas technology on its feedlot to capture and reuse methane. RV’s parent company Marubeni has signed a MoU reportedly worth ‘a few million dollars’ with European technology supplier MT Energie, which will provide a series of digesters that will be fed with manure from feedlot pens and corn…
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US-based Fulcrum Energy (FE), which works in the waste to biofuels sector, will use a new grant from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to develop renewable drop-in biofuels for aircraft. The DoD awarded FE $4.7 million (€3.6 million) toward the research, which it will also potentially double from its own capital to help complete the development of its first municipal solid waste…
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FuturaGene, which works in the enhancement of yield and sustainability in woody crops for biopower and biofuel markets, will work with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre (DDPSC) to test its technology on staple crops grown by farmers in Asia, Africa and Brazil. Yield enhancement technology will be tested on model plants and, if successful, transferred to specific food crops.…
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The Co-operative Group (Co-Op) in the UK is to start diverting waste away from landfill and into renewable energy scenarios. The initiative, rolling out over 2,800 food stores, is expected to move 34,000 tonnes of food from landfill a year, plus general waste too. All waste will be separated at store level before Co-Op’s logistics deliver it to be handled by Biffa waste management…
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Dutch energy institute ECN has signed a license agreement with fellow Dutch company Royal Dahlman to further the reach of its renewable energy technology. ECN claims its Milena gasification method can turn various kinds of waste and biomass into high energy gas. Both wood and agricultural waste from soya or rice was used during the testing phase to be converted into electricity through CHP…
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Xergi has signed contracts to supply two anaerobic digestion plants to UK-based company Tamar Energy (TE). These plants will be among the first projects in TE’s overall plan for a network of more than 40 biogas plants across the UK, with a total capacity of 100MW, by 2018. TE was set up in February 2012 with a capital base of almost £100 million (€116.8 million) via investment…
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Renewable energy company Estover Energy is to build a £65 million (€75.8 million) biomass-fired CHP plant in Kent, UK. The proposed facility will generate 11MW of electricity and 8MW of heat from low-grade wood fuel. This biomass will be sourced solely from local forestry and woodland materials from within an 80-mile radius. The plant will be built at Discovery Park, a science and…
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Two pilot projects have shown promising signs for biomass production that avoids indirect land use change (ILUC) via the relatively new Low Indirect Impact Biofuels (LIIB) methodology. Initial LIIB studies performed by sustainable energy consultancy Ecofys, which aims to supply eventual certification for biomass production which does not lead to ILUC, have taken place in the Ukraine and…
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Reported growth in Scotland’s community renewable schemes does not reflect the whole picture, according to a project manager at Savills Energy. Gregory Dix says figures released earlier this year by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), which put Scotland on track to achieve its community renewable targets, are too reliant on farms and estates, which account for 33% of the current total. A further…
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A new US wood pellet production facility owned by Enviva Pellets has been officially opened in North Carolina. The facility has a capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year and is set to support 79 full time employees and an additional 130 jobs in forestry and logistic sectors. The pellets will be exported through Enviva’s Port of Chesapeake export terminal in Virginia to European energy utility…
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The UK’s first bio-LNG filling station was launched by the under secretary for the Department of Transport this May. The station, located in Daventry and built by Gasrec, is capable of fuelling up to 250 HGVs a day in the first phase from three bio-LNG dispensers. A second phase will increase that capacity to up to 700 vehicles. The used bio-LNG is Gasrec’s blend of liquefied natural…
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