Other News

A biomass plant in Minnesota has vowed to stop using treated wood as part of its feedstock following a fine from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Fibrominn, a company that burns turkey and wood waste to produce electricity, will have to shell out $14,000 (€11,000) for violating the conditions of its air permit. Although accounting for less than 1% of its total fuel burned between…
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Chinese imports of logs and lumber dramatically fell this year according to a report by the Wood Resources International. Total value of imports from January to August came to $4.3 billion (€3.3 billion) but represents a 19% drop on the same time last year. Russia and Canada provide the bulk of imports into China (84%) with the US Chile and New Zealand making up the rest. The average import…
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Germany-based biotechnology company Direvo is set to commercialise its new conversion process of non-food feedstocks into fuels and chemicals. Its BluCon platform is the result of an intensive research programme to identify microorganisms viable to cheaply produce chemicals and fuels from carbohydrates created from non-food biomass, so-called second generation biomass conversion. ‘After two…
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The Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) has confirmed new international bioenergy standards will come into operation by 2014 across East Africa. Following a three day workshop at the start of November TBS acting director Dominic Mwakangale believes the bureau is in at the final stages of compiling the proposed standards. The workshop attracted participants from places including Uganda, Burundi,…
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A Scottish association has secured a loan to help build a renewable heating system near Oban. The West Highland Housing Association (WHHA) will use the £400,000 ($638,350) given by a government initiative called the Warm Homes Fund, to construct a biomass district heating network at Dunbeg. The electricity created would be enough to generate power for 50 homes and construction is due to…
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US-based transportation fuels producer Kior has begun production at its first commercial facility in Mississippi. It is believed the plant, once running at full capacity within the next 12 months, will be able to produce almost 50 million litres of petrol and diesel per year. Kior will be using a mixture of biomass, like non-food crops and woodwaste, as part of the manufacturing process. Despite…
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Renewable energy company Anaergia is set to participate in the creation of ‘the world’s largest college campus-based anaerobic disgestion system in the US. The Canada-based biogas producer will be involved in the project found at the Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Centre at Michigan State University (MSU). The project’s aim is demonstrate how anaerobic digestion can address…
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A new report by consultancy firm Deloitte believes biomass could contribute even more than the fifth of UK electricity it is expected to by the end of the 2020s. Biomass was believed to provide around 21% share of electricity generation by 2030 by Deloitte’s report argues that burning pellets or woodchips could play an even more significant role in meeting climate targets. ‘As the…
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The Pakistani government is to implement several new plants with the aim of creating a total of 304MW of electricity from city waste. Many projects are already underway, with an aggregate capacity of 57MW, and the subsequent facilities will create a further 247MW via agricultural, industrial and biogas waste products.  A senior government official stated that agricultural waste projects were…
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UK-based Tamar Energy has secured the management and development rights of four of the Countrystyle Group’s anaerobic digestion sites. The deal sees Tamar Energy acquire the development rights to three of Countrystyle’s sites, with full planning permission for digestive facilities in the south of England, plus the development of a fourth facility subject to planning. As part of the…
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Ineos Bio has hailed the first renewable power production at its joint renewable energy project in Florida, US. The Indian River Bioenergy Centre is currently turning local yard, vegetative and agricultural wastes into advanced biofuels and renewable power. The facility was a joint venture with development company New Plant Energy. The facility is expected to generate 6MW of renewable power…
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UK power station Drax will plan to raise £180 million ($290 million) through a new share placing to support a change to becoming a predominately biomass-fuelled power generator. Three of the six Drax units will be converted to biomass meaning the site will be one of the largest renewable energy plants in Europe. The company is now looking to secure capital funding for the conversion, which…
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Next generation bio-based chemicals producer Cobalt Technologies is set to work closely with a subsidiary of agribusiness and food company Bunge. Bunge Global Innovation ‘s investment into Cobalt, along with chemicals business Rhodia Poliamida e Especialidades, means it will operate a pilot plant demonstrating the production of n-butanol using sugarcane bagasse as feedstock in…
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Germany-based biogas company BD Agro Renewables has begun operations at one of the first biogas plants in Russia. The facility, located in Belgorod, will generate 2.4MW of electricity via a feedstock supply of 80 tonnes of maize silage, 45 tonnes of slaughterhouse waste and 80 cubic metres of slurry a day to supply around 10,000 households. Belgorod oblast governor Vevgeny Savchenko said at the…
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