News

Enviva Partners, a US-headquartered wood pellet producer, announced the execution of a new take-or-pay off-take contract to supply wood pellets to Lynemouth Power, a subsidiary of Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH). Lynemouth Power plans to convert its 420 megawatt coal facility in the UK to wood pellet fuel by the end of 2017. Deliveries under this contract are expected…
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Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a New York-based university, and Synergy Biogas, an anaerobic digestion specialist, are exploring the environmental benefits of microalgae to clean agricultural wastewater and make biofuels. Jeff Lodge, associate professor in RIT’s Thomas Gosnell School of Life Sciences, is running a three-month pilot program at Synergy Biogas, a high-tech anaerobic…
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Pinnacle Renewable Energy, a Canadian wood pellet producer, said it will curtail operations at its British Colombia pellet plant with immediate effect. According to media reports, there are a number of factors that have gone into the decision to stop production at its Quesnel mill. Key among them are that the plant, first opened in 1988, was designed to process a diet of dry residuals from the…
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More countries around the world are investing in renewable energy and last year spent more than green sources than on new coal and gas-fired power plants, according to a new report. The report is entitled Renewables 2016 Global Status and was published by REN 21, an international body backed by the UN. An estimated 147 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable power generation was added globally in…
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Veolia, the global leader in optimised resource management, has now become the first operator in the UK to achieve the high efficiency, R1, standard for all of its Energy Recovery Facilities (ERF). By generating energy from municipal waste the plants have demonstrated a high level of energy efficiency according to EU regulations, and have increased the UK’s landfill diversion rates. Veolia…
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US gas and electricity provider Duke Energy said it has finalised a second deal in 2016 to buy captured methane gas derived from swine waste. The planned project will use the anaerobic digestion process and be located at farms in Kenansville, North Carolina. The system will use captured methane gas to generate carbon-neutral renewable electricity at two power stations. Optima KV, a…
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Construction work will soon commence on a new green energy facility in Wrexham Industrial Estate, north Wales, after developers secured a commitment of £25m ($36m) from UK Green Investment Bank plc (GIB) and Equitix. The 5.4MW biomass plant, the second to be developed by Liverpool-based Green Plan Energy, will generate around 34GWh of green electricity per annum – enough to power…
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Enviva Holdings, a US wood pellet producer, has announced the recipients of its 2016 forest conversation grants. The firm runs the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund - a $5 million, 10-year program designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia. “We are very pleased to be working with our friends at The Nature…
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The UK Government has proposed severe cuts to incentives for new anaerobic digestion (AD) plants from January 2017. The Renewable Energy Association, a UK-based trade body, said this measure is likely to end many new AD projects planned in the UK. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) plans to cut the feed-in tariffs (FiT) for large plants over 500kW by 100% and reduce those…
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Researchers from the Agro-Energy Group at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) have used geographic information systems to assess the potential use of the residual biomass of bananas produced in the province of El Oro, based in the south east of Ecuador, for bioenergy applications. According to the academics, results show that the use of this waste could satisfy the…
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Over the past few months, tense debates on the sustainability of biomass used for energy production have arisen. Most stakeholders seem to agree on one point: an EU policy to ensure the sustainability of biomass is required. It is needed to secure investments, to set a level playing field among Member States and to provide answers to questions and concerns from society on future bioenergy…
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Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) has announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), Canada has become the third ‘SBP-approved’ certification body. The SBP is a certification scheme designed for woody biomass, mostly in the form of wood pellets and wood chips, used in industrial, large-scale energy production. PwC has provided evidence that it meets the SBP requirements…
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The University of Montana received $1.4 million (€1.24m) from the US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Energy’s Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Researchers will use the grant to identify and overcome the barriers to using biomass from fuels-reduction and forest-restoration treatments. University of Montana forestry Professor Beth Dodson and her team will…
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Mahachai Green Power Co., a Thai-German joint venture, and DPCleanTech Group, a biomass energy provider, have announced the completion of the first high temperature high-pressure biomass power plant, which converts coconut waste into energy. The plant is specifically designed for the simultaneous combustion of all forms of coconut waste (husk, shell, bunch, fronds, leaves, trunk) as…
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