News

Sawn timber and pellet provider Vapo Group posted a drop in overall turnover for the first half of 2012. Its turnover for the January – June period dropped from €418 million ($523.4 million) to €391.3 million compared to the same time last year. The company puts this figure down to a warmer spring season and lower electricity prices which aided a drop in energy peat turnover of…
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A council vote on a proposed new biomass facility near Wrexham, Wales has been deferred ahead of a site visit. There have been concerns that the new facility, to be constructed by wood panel product producers Kronospan in the town of Chirk, would have a negative impact on local tourist attractions. Wrexham mayor Ian Roberts convinced fellow committee councillors to both visit the Kronospan site…
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The Daithi O’Mhurchu Marine Research Station in County Cork, Ireland is set to become the country’s first commercial algae production facility for biofuel. The facility has been experimenting with algae growth for three years and is funded by a Marie Curie grant from the EU. The grant is due to expire next year and has pushed the decision to commercial production to the fore. The…
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New improvements to the Westview Terminal have been announced by the Prince Rupert Port Authority in Canada. Part of the developments will include docks and storage facilities to ship up to two million tonnes a year of wood pellets through the port. The project is aided by support from pellet manufacturer Pinnacle Renewable Energy and is part of a growth strategy to boost its export…
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France-based aircraft manufacturer Airbus has worked with a Chinese university to complete a sustainability analysis report on converting feedstocks, including cooking oil, into sustainable aviation fuel. Airbus, with researchers from the Tsinghua University, hope the project will show how to support the development of a value chain to speed up aviation biofuel commercialisation. ‘The…
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UK turkey farmer and supplier Bernard Matthews (BM) is set to install a biogas plant near its processing site in Holton, Suffolk. The plant, called Holton Renewable Power, is a joint venture between BM and Glendale Power with biogas specialists Xergi providing the construction. ‘The biogas plant converts the processing waste into an energy resource. Digesting the waste will also allow the…
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Canada-based renewable energy system providers Nexterra Systems has formed a partnership to market its products to the UK. Nexterra will be working with project management company Stopford Projects to market its energy-from-renewable-waste gasification systems to the UK industrial and district energy markets. ‘The UK is a growing market for clean, renewable energy solutions like…
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UK biomass and wood supply company LC Energy is set to provide a leisure centre with locally grown woodchip for its biomass heating system. Godalming Leisure Centre in Surrey expects the agreement will provide 20% of its annual energy. LC will deliver around 150 tonnes of woodchip over the next five years sourced from an sustainably managed woodland near its plant in Shere. ‘Given the short…
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The first phase of Europe’s first microbial oil pilot plant has been completed according to refining and marketing company Neste Oil. The first phase will enable the growth of oil-producing micro-organisms and subsequent phases will focus on raw material pretreatment and oil recovery. The construction has been on time and on budget. Neste’s goal is to develop the technology so that it…
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Biofuels producer Agri-Source Fuels (ASF) is seeking a buyer for its biodiesel refinery located in Dade City, US. ASF claims the plant is only currently refining glycerine but, although it is producing nearly 2 million gallons per year of 99.7% pure USP, further retrofitting and enhancements are  required to bring over 12 million gallons of bidiesel refining back on line. The refinery is the…
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Algae-based green crude oil producers Sapphire Energy’s first phase of its Green Crude Farm, which it claims is the world’s first commercial demonstration algae-to-energy facility, is now operational. The construction of this first phase began on 1 June last year and was completed on time and on budget. The  facility aims to produce 1.5 million gallons per year of crude oil and…
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The total amount of dry bulk handled in the Port of Rotterdam fell by 8.7% to 39.4 million tonnes in the first half of 2012. Agribulk (grains, seeds, animal feed ingredients) throughput was down by a tenth to 4.1 million tonnes. The port puts these numbers down to an increase in the price of products on the world market and also that a few packages won from Amsterdam last year were lost…
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Developer of second generation biofuels technology TMO Renewables has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the authorities of Heilongjiang, China. The MoU will see TMO provide long-term large volume biomass feedstock supply for future biofuel production facilities from Heilongjiang State Farm, the largest state owned farming corporation in China. The MoU is also the first step towards…
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Energy company Centrica has come out and clarified the potential output of a proposed biomass power station. There was confusion over the plant’s potential capacity as Cumbria County and Barrow Borough Councils believed it to be 90MW, whereas a letter to the Planning Inspectorate had it penned at 80MW. ‘We have made it very clear in our Preliminary Environmental Information that the…
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