News

The third quarter of 2015 saw a significant 31% increase in renewables generation from the same period in 2014, overtaking coal as the third largest contributor to the UK's electricity generation, after gas and nuclear power. Figures included in the Q3 GB Electricity Market Summary, from energy data specialist EnAppSys, showed that during the July-September period, renewables provided 14.3TWh of…
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The Weltec Group has acquired two biomethane refineries in Hesse and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. One of the plants is located in Ebsdorfergrund, Hesse, and has been acquired within the framework of an asset deal. Nordmethan Produktion Ebsdorfergrund, an affiliate of Weltec, is now responsible for the operation as the new owner, and for this purpose all employees have been taken over. The new…
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Greenlane Biogas has signed a distribution agreement with Sysadvance, a Portuguese company specialising in advanced gas separation systems that utilise pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology. The agreement will allow Greenlane to distribute Sysadvance products in Canada, the US and Mexico, and will see the two companies work together to integrate their systems to offer leading biogas…
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Second generation ethanol producer Fulcrum BioEnergy has been awarded a $105 million (€85 million) loan guarantee from the US Department of Agriculture. The finalisation of the loan guarantee, which was awarded to the company's Sierra BioFuels Plant to be built in Storey County in Nevada, US, means Fulcrum will secure bank financing. This, combined with Fulcrum's private equity capital, will…
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ENCE has awarded engineering and technology group SENER a turnkey contract for the construction of its biomass power plant in Mérida, Spain. The new facility will consist of a renewable energy generation facility, producing 20MW of power from energy plantation trees, including poplar and eucalyptus crops. The contract includes the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the…
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BMW South Africa's Rosslyn plant in Pretoria — where the car manufacturer’s 3 Series is built — has made a partial switch to renewable energy produced by the South African biogas company Bio2Watt. The two companies signed a power purchasing agreement in 2014, which set the ground for the first project of this kind in South Africa. According to the German automaker, 25-30% of the…
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Greenko Energy Holdings, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, has proposed acquisition of Indian renewable energy company Greenko Group’s majority interest in its Mauritius-based holding firm, Greenko Mauritius, for about £162.8 million (€222.7 million). Greenko is a mainstream participant in the growing Indian renewable energy industry and a market…
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In the US, Rollcast Energy – a developer of clean, renewable bioenergy projects – has received a $250,000 (€202,000) grant as part of the US Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program. The funds have been awarded to the company's LaGrange, Georgia-based Greenway Renewable Power project, construction on which will start next year before start-up in 2015. The money from…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted Parts 79 and 80 registration to Ineos New Planet BioEnergy (INPB), a joint venture between Ineos Bio and New Planet BioEnergy, for the production and sale of bioethanol from non-food waste materials. This notice of registration comes as building of the Indian River BioEnergy Center has finished and is going through the commissioning phase.…
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Bio-based chemicals developer Cobalt Technologies and Rhodia, a specialty chemicals company, will together build and operate a biobutanol demonstration plant in Brazil. The two companies are working together to eventually construct a commercial-scale biorefinery. This facility will be fitted with Cobalt's technology, producing bio n-butanol from Brazilian bagasse and other local, non-food…
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Renewbale energies group Areva has acquired biocoal technology from French torrefaction technology company Thermya. Areva will add the technology to its Bioenergy subsidiary and first use it in new Thermya plants in France and Spain before looking to build other facilities in the future. The biocoal technology helps produce plant fuel from biomass which can replace fossil coal used in the…
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A new biomass gasification energy plant has been officially opened at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After a testing program which included a 30-day endurance trial, third party emissions tests and an readiness review, the system was declared open by the DOE and ready for full commercial operation. The plant features a complete…
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Over 500 residents have signed a petition protesting plans to build a large biomass generation plant in Yatala, Australia. A statement from the Yatala Residents Alliance said locals were fearful for their health if the proposed generation plant, which would burn green waste, goes ahead. ‘We're not against biomass plants but this is too close for comfort and we don't want its 30 metre…
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Increasing energy efficiency through the adoption of readily available wastewater management technologies can slash related emissions by nearly half, according to a new study released today by Xylem, a global water technology company. The analysis further concludes that 95% of the electricity-related emissions abatement can be achieved at negative or neutral cost. Powering the Wastewater…
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