Other News

A new program launched by the Australian Pork Cooperative Research Centre is to focus on maximising the value of captured emissions from the pork industry. The capture, production and use of methane from piggery effluent treated in covered anaerobic lagoons will be the main priority for the Pork CRC Bioenergy Support Program. Research will also be conducted into making the gas collection and use…
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Global investment company Goldman Sachs is set to invest $40 billion (€31.8 billion) in renewable energy projects over the next ten years. Despite that figure being lower than the $4.8 billion it put into clean technology companies worldwide in 2011, Goldman Sachs allegedly see the earning potential in growing economies such as China, Brazil, India and Europe. The investments will be…
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US renewable chemicals and next-generation biofuels company Gevo has begun start-up of what it is calling the world’s first commercial biobased isobutanol production plant. Based in Luverne, Minnesota Gevo broke ground on the project a year ago and reached its goal of initiating production of biobased isobutanol  at commercial level within 12 months. ‘The startup of this plant…
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Energy from waste provider Covanta Energy has signed an agreement with trade union GMB Union to work together on future UK facilities. The partnership will see each company mutually support each other through the development and operation of Covanta’s facilities, with commitments to safety, the environment and Covanta’s workforce’s right to GMB representation the cornerstone of…
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Construction has started on a new biological research facility based at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), New Mexico this month. US senator Tom Udall spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony and praised New Mexico’s past and future contributions to the nation’s renewable energy efforts. ‘The LANL has always pioneered discoveries to protect our nation and energy security is…
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Aberdeen City and Shire, Scotland has seen its biomass capacity double over the past two years up to 20MW of heat generation. Nine new projects across the region now means it has 200 operational wood fuel boilers, with local wood fuel production to meet this demand in excess of 130,000 green tonnes equivalent. Of the new projects, the Kemnay Golf Course marked its centenary celebration by…
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The opening of its first sustainable cooking fuel facility in Mozambique, Africa occurred this month. Owned by Cleanstar Mozambique (CM), a company formed by Novozymes and Cleanstar Ventures in 2010, the facility will produce 2 million litres per year of ethanol-based cooking fuel from surplus cassava supplied by local farmers that follow CM’s sustainable farming techniques. Opened by the…
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A new bioenergy alternative for the future is being created by researchers at the University of Birmingham, UK. By creating clean hydrogen from food waste this research hopes to provide answers to the questions concerning whether the mass production of bioethanol using sugarcane is a long-term sustainable solution, particularly in countries like Brazil. ‘Bioethanol is the current biofuel of…
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Investment consortium Real Ventures (RV) has been given more time to streamline its proposed wood-burning biomass power station on the Isle of Wight, UK. Despite winning preferred bidder status from the Isle of Wight Council in 2010, a 12 month extension of that status was granted at a cabinet meeting on 22 May to allow RV more time to prepare a thorough environmental assessment of how it would…
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Metal producing company Harmony Gold Mining is planning renewable energy plants in the north of South Africa. As well as a solar power plant, Harmony has been looking into the feasibility of growing crops for a biofuels plant that may be built in South Africa’s central Free State province. The reason for these projects is because Harmony is assessing ways of generating energy and improving…
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Investment company Future Capital Partners (FCP) has secured both senior debt and government underwriting for a proposed ethanol plant in Grimsby, UK. The Belgian Export Credit Agency, the Office National De Ducroire (ONDD), has underwritten the senior debt for its £210 million (€259.5 million) bioethanol project. In addition FCP has also confirmed that a major senior lender will be…
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UK-based biogas and clean energy provider Ener-G has opened new offices in Romania to expand its presence. The move will bring together the Ener-G Technologii Energetice (ETE) team with power engineering consultancy Enalt, in which Ener-G is a majority shareholder. Following its establishment three years ago Ener-G claims that ETE now has several major landfill gas generation and combined heat…
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Waste gasification provider Cocurrent BioEnergy is aiming to develop a waste-to-energy facility in West Virginia, US. In an interview given with a local newspaper, Cocurrent said the plant would treat batches of unsorted municipal solid waste using its gasification technology to create synthetic gas that would heat water, create steam and generate electricity. Sources from inside Cocurrent…
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A new study by IHS Emerging Energy Research predicts that the European Union (EU) biomass market will grow by 30 GW between 2012 and 2035. The Europe Biopower Markets and Strategies: 2012 – 2035 research says that growth will represent 6% of the additional renewable energy capacity within the EU and, although wind and solar will continue to dominate the European market, biomass will become…
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