News

The Scottish government has launched a consultation to cut financial support for large-scale biomass development, putting the funds towards tidal energy instead. The Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS) will be looked at under the consultation and only smaller, ‘more efficient’ biomass plants would receive support, with large-scale biomass electricity plants no longer being eligible…
Read More »

An anaerobic digestion plant has been given approval to be built in Mitcham, UK, after the London government overturned the local council’s previous decision not to go ahead with the development. The plant will use organic food waste from surrounding pubs and restaurants, converting it into electricity for the grid. When Biofuels International contacted Merton Council for comment, it said…
Read More »

A new study says biofuels produced from woody biomass from forest on the west coast of the US can increase carbon emissions by ‘at least 14%’ if operations are not efficient enough. The research, released by the scientists from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University and other institutions in Germany and France, looked at 80 forest types in 19 eco-regions in Oregon,…
Read More »

Renewable energy company Abengoa is to open a bioethanol plant in Paysandú, Uruguay, after signing a contract with Alcoholes de Uruguay. The bioethanol plant will produce about 70 million litres of ethanol a year and 50,000 tonnes of distillers grains. For feedstocks, the plant will use sorghum, maize, barley and wheat; and will process the materials using dry milling and batch…
Read More »

American energy company One World Clean Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with South African company Pulexilite to produce biodiesel, ethanol, electricity and natural gas from a new integrated biorefinery. The biorefinery will produce 10MW of electricity each day and 10 million gallons of ethanol and 10 million gallons of biodiesel every year. The $115 million (€83 million)…
Read More »

The Port of Antwerp and chemical company Solvay have signed an agreement to carry out a feasibility study on the potential to build a biomass power station in the port. Output at the proposed plant would be large, between 200-400MW, or enough to power between 500,000 and 1 million homes. Under the agreement the two companies will draw up the outlines of the project, hoping to gain investment from…
Read More »

Algae.Tec, an algae production company, has received approval for its demonstration facility in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia. The facility was approved under the Shoalhaven City Council Environment Planning and Assessment Act and the plant will be used to capture carbon dioxide waste from power stations and manufacturing facilities, feeding the pollution into the algae growth…
Read More »

Placer County officials say they will consider building a biomass power generation facility near a material recovery facility in Cabin Creek in California. The research will be funded by a Department of Energy (DoE) grant that was given to the region in 2008 and the development will not cost more than $200,000 (€146,200). A proposal for development could be made by the middle of next year if…
Read More »

Biomass gasification company Nexterra has signed a research agreement with the University of British Columbia to develop a conditioning synthetic gas. The new method will be based on Nexterra’s proprietary biomass gasification technology and will research towards developing a lower cost catalytic process for removing tars from the synthetic gas produced by Nexterra’s gasification…
Read More »

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Board of Investments says it has approved a P24 million (€405,000) investment into expanding cassava starch producer Matling Industrial and Commercial Corporation. The company is to expand its operations by building biomass power plants around the country and has also received investment from surrounding regions such as Malaysia and…
Read More »

Canadian company FireBox Energy is to build a demonstration biomass facility in Glenevis, Alberta to generate about 30MW of electricity. The primary feedstock for the plant is to be wood waste from north western Alberta and central British Colombia. ‘In addition we are also sourcing Logepole Pine infected by the Mountain Pine Beetle that has cut a swath through a sizable region in British…
Read More »

A biogas facility in Somerset, south west England, has been given approval to double its current capacity to power 4,000 homes. Currently the Cannington Enterprises plant uses an anaerobic digester to produce power from residue crops such as maize silage, grass, whole crop and big bale silage but it will now be allowed to treat up to 75,000 tonnes of other waste such as rotting food. A number of…
Read More »

Ethanol company ICM has decided to branch off into the waste-to-energy sector, opening a demonstration plant in Harvey County, Kansas in the US. The facility uses a gasifier, which is running at full capacity on various types of feedstock, such as municipal solid waste and producing syngas. The unit has the potential to produce electricity and thermal energy if it receives the investment required…
Read More »

A new multi-million pound anaerobic digestion plant has opened in Edgmond, Shropshire in the UK, which will convert 23,000 tonnes of food waste and cow slurry into biogas, feeding the electricity onto the local grid. The plant, designed and built by BiogenGreenfinch for a local university, will work with retailers, manufacturers and caterers to gather the food waste; and Harper Adams own dairy…
Read More »