News

Greenearth Energy, an Australia-based geothermal company, has set up a new subsidiary dedicated to biomass projects. Greenearth Biomass Energy will create 'green' energy projects using biomass and waste materials. The company is currently testing its new biomass gasification technology in Indonesia but the technology can be used anywhere. Greenearth says this technology and market assessment is…
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In North Carolina, US, Duke University and electric and gas service provider Duke Energy, have developed a renewable energy project with the help of search engine Google. The project creates electricity from pig excrement. The biogas plant has been set up at the Yadkinville-based Loyd Ray Farms, which is home to 9,000 pigs. Duke Energy and the university have invested $1.2 million (€880,000…
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In the UK, power companies such as Drax and RWE are facing opposition from the wood industry as they press ahead with biomass-fired power projects. The price of wood has doubled since 2009 and the Wood Panel Industries Association is urging the government to remove the subsidies encouraging these biomass plants to come online. However, the subsidy programme for biomass in place at the moment is…
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In Indonesia, PTT is planning to invest between $3 and $4 million (€2.2-2.9 million) in a biomass-fired power plant. The plant will generate 10MW of electricity for nearby areas. Indonesia comprises mainly coal-fired plants and this project enables PTT to expand on its oil and gas business.
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In addition to Europe, the Asian market, and in particular Korea, is predicted to become a highly profitable export market for wood pellet producers around the world. While the renewable energy market is still on hold in Japan following the Fukushima disaster, and China's demand for biomass is supplied domestically, Korea has been identified to become an important and competitive market in the…
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In Berlin, New Hampshire, US, a proposed biomass-fired power plant has been awarded $275 million (€199 million) in funding and construction is now scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. Building work will be completed within two years and the plant is expected to be up and running in 2013. It is hoped this will encourage other companies to build similar plants in the…
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New Zealand's largest biomass-fired boiler has been built at Waiouru Army Base, increasing the country's consumption of wood pellets by 50%. By switching the existing coal-fired plant to one which fires wood pellets, 5,300 tonnes of coal has been displaced, in addition to 10,500 tonnes per year of carbon emissions. The facility began generating 8MW of renewable energy in May earlier this year,…
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Wood pellet producer Pinnacle Renewable Energy and CMC Engineering have proposed to build a wood pellet export facility at Prince Rupert Harbour in British Columbia, Canada. If the $30 million (€21.3 million) project is approved, four 15,000 tonne, 39m tall pellet silos would be built from galvanised steel, as well as a number of conveyors which would transport the pellets from the silos to…
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The growing demand for wood pellets means a growing need for wood. This in turn gives rise to questions about the sustainability of wood pellet production, as well as quality assurance and production safety. On 4-5 October 2011 the 11th Pellets Industry Forum, held in Stuttgart, Germany, will examine these issues, and more. The forum will open on 4 October with a presentation on the process of…
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London, UK-headquartered Africa Renewables (AfriRen) is establishing a woodchip supply chain project in Ghana using old, local rubber trees. As part of the initiative, AfriRen will utilise redundant rubber trees from the Ghana Rubber Estates (GREL) plantation, turning them into woodchips before marketing them to Europe-based utility companies and energy traders. 'The redundant rubber trees are…
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General Electric (GE) is the newest member of a consortium set up to research and develop biomass-based aviation fuel. In addition to GE, the association consists of Virgin Australia, Renewable Oil, the Future Farm Industries CRC and Dynamotive Energy Systems, of Canada. Together the companies are looking to mallee eucalypt trees as a feedstock for producing commercial quantities of bio-jet…
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Biomass imports to the UK are expected to soar, as the nation's supply of domestic biomass is not enough to fulfil the demand of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Currently 74% of the bioenergy industry is supplied with domestic feedstocks, but this is expected to shift to 81% imported biomass as the UK strives to meet the RED. Under the RED, 15% of energy is to come from renewable sources by…
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Three renewable energy companies have formed a partnership to develop and run a biogas plant in Columbia, South Carolina, US. The new anaerobic digester will convert 48,000 tonnes of organic waste matter into 3.2MW of biogas power. German plant engineering company Eisenmann will supply its anaerobic digestion technology to the project, while US companies W2E Organic Power and CIYCOR will oversee…
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Gazprom, Russia's largest natural gas company, is switching to biomass. The company has installed four 6MW biomass boilers at its Severoonezhsk-based 24MW plant. Speaking about the project, David Poveda, director of Spain's Nova Energia Group, says: 'The four global boilers use wood waste with a moisture content of 50% or higher, which in many cases are completely covered in snow. Biomass was…
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