News

In Poundbury, Dorset, UK, construction work has started on an anaerobic digestion plant at Rainbarrow Farm. Using waste materials and crops, the anaerobic digestion plant will produce electricity, gas and fertiliser. The gas generated from the process will benefit around 4,000 households in the surrounding area. JV Energen, a collaboration between landowners, local farmers and the Duchy of…
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In Wiltshire, UK, Stowell Farms is developing an anaerobic digestion plant to add value to the business. The new plant, which was installed by EnviTec Biogas UK, will generate 4,150,000kWh of electricity from maize and whole-crop silage. Some of what is produced on site will be consumed on the farm, with the remaining sold to the National Grid at £0.13 (€0.15) per kWh. The plant will…
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In France, bioenergy firm Meta-Bio Energies has broken ground on a biomass-to-biogas plant in Bel-Air de Combrée. The new biogas plant will handle around 23,000 tonnes a year of biomass, including food, agricultural and municipal waste, and convert it into 1MW of energy – enough to benefit around 4,000 households. Electricité de France will purchase the electricity, while the…
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The owner of the Kawasaki biomass-fired power plant in Yokohama, Japan, could potentially open another in Fiji. Company officials from the Japanese plant and Fiji's President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau met on 21 June 2011 to discuss the possibility of setting up a biomass plant in the country. Fiji is an ideal country in which to develop a bioenergy industry, due to the high availability of wood…
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Under RENEW LA, a scheme designed to help the US state of Los Angeles send 0% of its waste to landfill, a new waste-to-energy plant is being developed in the region. Los Angeles has now started contract negotiations with Green Conversion Systems (GCS), which will design and construct the plant. Domestic waste designed for the tip stands at around 3,300 tonnes a day in Los Angeles alone.…
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In Scotland, UK, a wood pellet production plant is being developed that, when operational in March 2012, will produce wood pellets. Land Energy is behind the project, which will come to realisation on a site previously occupied by a textile factory. Work at the site is scheduled to get underway in July 2011. Based in Belfast, Ireland, Lagen Construction will be responsible for the civil,…
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Wood pellet manufacturer Biomass Secure Power is developing a torrefied wood pellet plant in British Columbia, Canada. The production facility will have an annual production capacity of 500,000 tonnes of pellets, made from wood harvested by the company itself. A small portion will come local logging businesses. One hundred per cent of the pellets produced at the site will be exported to Europe…
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Construction on a proposed biomass plant in Rothschild, Wisconsin, US, is due to begin shortly, after Domtar, a paper company behind the proposal, agreed to certain conditions. The plant, which is a joint venture between Domtar and energy firm We Energies, was originally announced back in September 2009. According to Craig Timm, manager of public affairs at Domtar, the project is due to break…
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Russia is turning to biogas in a bid to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. According to the Energy Ministry, Russia has the potential to generate 66 billion m3 of biogas a year from agricultural waste. This could produce 110 billion KW/h of electricity, 1 billion GJ of heat or 8.7 billion gallons of petrol or diesel. The Energy and Agriculture Ministries are now urging the Russian government to…
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Production has stopped at the Georgia Biomass wood pellet plant in Waycross, Georgia, US, after an explosion on 20 June 2011. The incident occurred at around 8am. No one was injured. 'It did extensive damage to the processing end,' says Dennis Keen, Ware County fire chief. 'They'll probably be down an extended period of time.' Georgia Biomass is a subsidiary of Germany's RWE Innogy, an…
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In Canada, the Toronto Zoo is planning to build a $5.4 million (€3.76 million) biogas power plant on site that will generate power from zoo animal excrement. The zoo will partner with Toronto-based ZooShare Co-operative to get the project off the ground. ZooShare will then fund the project, as well as design, develop, build and operate the plant, which will be located on land leased from the…
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In the US, energy provider DTE Energy has revealed plans to convert its Stockton, California-based coal-fired power plant – the Port of Stockton District Energy Facility (POSDEF) – to fire on 100% biomass. The plant will generate 45MW of renewable power from wood waste, tree trimmings and agricultural residues. 'The plant conversion to biomass energy advances DTE Energy's commitment…
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Woodpecker Energy UK, a provider of domestic and commercial biomass boilers, welcomes the announcement of the £860 million (€972 million) Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), saying that businesses, farmers and the public sector could effectively benefit from free installation of biomass heating systems and free fuel for 20 years. The first scheme of its kind, the RHI has been designed to…
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Waste specialist Biffa of the UK has launched its anaerobic digestion (AD) food waste-handling plant near Cannock, Staffordshire. The new facility will process up to 120,000 tonnes of food waste sources from households and businesses every year, making it the largest of its kind in the nation. This leftover food will be converted into enough renewable energy to power 6,000 homes. Speaking at the…
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