News

UK-headquartered oil company Eastern Petroleum is looking to enter the renewable energy market with the acquisition of its first biomass plant. The company is considering investing in a 40MW facility in Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, but will not progress with the plan until the Renewable Energy Board sets the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates, according to the company chairman and CEO Fernando…
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Rentech has acquired additional equity in ClearFuels Technology, and will now own a substantial majority of the equity of ClearFuels, with existing ClearFuels investors retaining a minority interest. ClearFuels, a company developing advanced sustainable biorefineries that convert multiple mixed cellulosic biomass feedstocks into sustainable, high-value energy products, will be the surviving…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded three new research grants to Michigan State University to research the production of bioenergy and bio-based products. It is hoped the grants will help develop sustainable regional systems and create jobs in the sector. Already at the university there is a cellulosic ethanol pre-treatment research lab and an AFEX technology pilot plant. The…
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Opcon Bioenergy, a subsidiary of Opcon, an energy and environmental technology group, is to build a bioenergy plant in the Czech Republic which will produce energy using recycled heat. As part of its contract, Opcon Bioenergy will deliver flue gas condensation equipment, including a treatment system, to a district heating plant used by TTS in Trebic. The plant is scheduled to be operational by…
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Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, US, has been given a grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina worth more than $145,000 (€97,500). The money will be used to expand the university’s testing facilities for biofuels catalysts. The grant is for one year’s worth of research and will be used to produce biodiesel from cheap feedstocks and other sources. The university is…
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UK-based recycling and renewable energy firm Viridor has completed its state-of-the-art energy recovery facility (ERF) in Peterborough. The plant, which is operated by Viridor, is now operational on the city's Fengate industrial estate. Making a significant step towards its zero waste ambitions, Peterborough City Council is now able to divert up to 95% of its non-recyclable waste from landfill,…
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In the US We Energies and paper company Domtar are developing a $225 million (€156 million) biomass plant in Rothschild. The companies can now progress with the next stages of development after the state Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the plans. Despite receiving a unanimous vote from the panel, consisting of three members, We Energies and Domtar are to raise an additional $10…
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New terms to the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) will see funding capped at $112 million (€77.7 million) for the 2011 financial year. James Barber, New York's US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency state executive director, announced the provision. 'Both matching payments and annual payments will be affected by the reduction in programme funding,' Barber says. 'At…
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An opening ceremony for a $50 million (€35 million) biomass plant in Eugene, Oregon, US, owned by Seneca Sawmill, took place on 5 May 2011. The plant has been operational since February 2011. With the ability to handle woodchips, bark and slash material sourced from the logging industry, the plant generates 19MW of renewable energy, benefitting around 13,000 households in Lane County.…
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In Canada, renewable energy producer Rentech is looking to develop a biomass plant in White River, Ontario that will produce jet fuel and create 400 fulltime jobs. 'This will be the largest renewable clean jet fuel programme in the world,' says the CEO of RenTech Hunt Ramsbottom. 'This will be the first of its kind where the province, the federal government, local communities and a private…
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Privately owned company Greenergy is to start reducing the levels of waste sent to landfill and has partnered with waste food recycling company Brocklesby to produce biodiesel from food leftovers. In a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the fuel that the company produces, while also creating a new alternative source of fuel, the joint venture will covert edible oils and unsalable food into…
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The 5 May 2011 saw the US Department of Energy (DoE) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) expose a new $47 million (€32.7 million) grant programme. The new R&D grants, which are part of the Obama Administration's aim to address the rising costs of fuel, will support the generation of energy from biomass. The funding will help finance a total of eight projects dedicated to the…
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The maximum amount of woody biomass utilised in power plants for the generation of green electricity is to be reduced in Nova Scotia, Canada. In a bid to preserve the forests in the province, while at the same time meeting renewable energy goals, the provincial government announced that waste wood levels are to be cut by 30%, reducing the biomass cap from 500,000 tonnes a year to 350,000 tonnes a…
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In Malaysia, Japan-based Mitsui & Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sime Darby and power company Tenaga Nasional. The venture will see the three companies carry out a feasibility study into the use of producing power from biogas at palm oil mills. It is hoped that the MoU, which was signed on 4 April 2011, will increase the use of renewable energy in Malaysia, while…
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