News

The UK’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) had its tariff for large-scale biomass heating dropped from £0.027 (€0.031) per KWh to £0.010 after the European Commission (EC) ruled it was too high. Initially the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) had planned to put in place the RHI at the end of September but was forced to postpone after the EC said it was unhappy…
Read More »

Biofuels company BioAmber and chemicals business Mitsui have joined forces to build a manufacturing facility in Ontario, Canada. The first phase of the development will produce 17,000 tonnes of biosuccinic acid and is due to open in 2013. The companies plan to expand the facility, adding a further 35,000 tonnes of succinic acid and then increase the size of the facility to include facilities for…
Read More »

Two new boilers have been installed at an extraction facility in Merry Hill, North Carolina, which can consume 10 tonnes of biomass an hour, producing 30,000lbs of steam. The installation at Pharmachem’s Avoca, a food and beverage company, is the first of its kind on the east coast of the US. The company needs steam to process a range of its ingredients and previously used three…
Read More »

The first US commercial flight to be powered by biofuels derived from algae has flown from Houston’s IAH airport to Chicago’s O’Hare airport. The microbially-derived biofuel, called Solajet, was manufactured by Solazyme and is a 60% petroleum-derived jet fuel. Solazyme has signed a letter of intent with United Airlines to produce 500,000 tonnes of renewable fuel by 2015, and to…
Read More »

Viaspace Green Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Seema Energy in Thailand to grow ‘giant king grass’ to power Seema’s proposed 90MW biomass plant. Giant king grass is similar to sugarcane but it is not a food crop and develops cellulosic characteristics rather than sugar strands. Viaspace believes the grass has the highest energy yield per hectare of potential…
Read More »

Kyriakos Maniatis, Principal Administrator from DG Energy, part of the European Commission, will open the conference on the 16th of November by discussing the most recent developments in biofuels in Europe. Talking about advancements being made in aviation biofuel in particular, Maniatis’ presentation promises to be an insightful analysis of the European market as a whole. Also on day one,…
Read More »

Bioenergy company Clenergen is to begin building a 1MW biomass plant in Romblon in the Philippines which will help to supply power to houses that are in the off-grid zone of the region. The development is part of an agreement Clenergen signed with the country’s National Power Corporation recently, in which the company is to build an array of facilities. Another power plant will be built in…
Read More »

The USDA said today that it will grant a total of $44.6 million (€32.6 million) in payments to more than 150 biofuels producers in the US to help support them in producing and expanding their developments. Some companies, such as Texas-based White Energy, are being awarded more than $3 million towards ethanol production. Whereas others, such as QB Corporation, based in Idaho, is being given…
Read More »

A farm in Northern Ireland is to use cow waste from 600 animals, processing the poo to produce methane gas. The gas is then sent into two engines which power generators, producing water which dries the waste, which is called ‘digestate’. The water is also used for pasteurising milk. The plant produces 430kW an hour, which can power about 430 homes and has an energy efficiency of…
Read More »

The British government has given approval for a power plant to be built in Yorkshire, generating power from biomass and waste. SSE Generation has invested £250 million (€287 million) into the development and about 350 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase. The project will be built within the existing Ferrybridge coal power station site with SSE working with the…
Read More »

Biodiesel producer Viridis Fuels has received approval from the East Bay Municipal Utility District Board of Directors to build a 20 million gallon a year biodiesel processing facility in West Oakland, California. The plant will be built next to a water treatment facility and will include the construction of rail and truck loading facilities, a power plant and a tank storage farm. It will not…
Read More »

UK-based supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has signed an anaerobic digestion (AD) deal with waste management company Biffa to dispose of all left-over organic waste from the retailer to AD plants around the country. The food waste will be converted into power which will be put on the grid for home and business use. London alone is going to produce about 25.8 million tonnes of waste a year by…
Read More »

Renewable biomass company Trebio has received ENPlus certification for its new wood pellet mill, which opened this year. It is the first company outside of the Europe to receive the certification, which is listed as number CAN001, and says it is an ‘accolade from the European Pellet Council’. The certification will give the company third party verification on the quality and…
Read More »

Bioenergy company Iberdrola Renewables has ceased operations at its biomass power plant at Collins Pine Fremont sawmill in Lakeview, Oregon because it could not find a company to buy the power generated on the site. The 26.8MW facility was previously owned by two other companies and has been under development for the past few years. When Bioenergy Insight contacted Iberdrola for comment,…
Read More »