Other News

A fire broke out in a fuel storage area at RWE npower's wood-pellet-fired Tilbury Power Station on Monday morning. The plant, which only started generating power last month, is Britain's largest dedicated biomass plant. 'The fire involves some 4,000 tonnes of fuel in storage cells. At least two are very well alight,' says the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. Due to the fire being high up in…
Read More »

Renewable Energy Group (REG) has announced its financial results for the 2011 fourth quarter and full-year. The company achieved record 2011 Adjusted EBITDA (for the year) of $107 million and record revenues (for the year) of $824 million, compared to $8 million and $216 million, respectively, in 2010. Furthermore, the 2011 fourth quarter saw an increase of 126% to the number of gallons…
Read More »

Biomass heat and power company Imperative Energy, has received an investment from North West Fund (NWF4EE), which will now take a minority stake in the company to continue to help with future development. Imperative Energy has plans to deploy more than £200 million (€239 million) into building biomass heat and CHP plants and has also recently received funds from the Environmental…
Read More »

A government investment incentivising bioenergy developments in Albertans has been announced. Over the next 3 years, Albertans will receive a total of $444 million (€334.52 million), for use in renewable energy development, starting this year with the amount of $66 million (49.74 million) 'It is to encourage bioenergy production in the province, as a renewable source of energy,' says Alberta…
Read More »

Mustus Energy is to work with Lockheed Martin, building a new 41.5mW biomass-fuelled power generation plant in La Crete, Canada. Once completed, the facility will provide enough energy to power over 30,000 Canadian homes. Commercial operations are expected to begin in autumn 2013, with the previously discarded tops of aspen trees being used as feedstock. Lockheed Martin will offer support …
Read More »

Chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst have discovered a 'mini-cellulose' molecule that behaves in the same way as cellulose when heated to a high temperature. Complex chemical reactions that take place during high-temperature biofuel processes such as pyrolysis or gasification, have remained unknown, as wood molecules are too large, and the reactions are too complicated…
Read More »

Toronto-based renewable energy company, Protocol Biomass, has proposed building a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Prescott, Canada. In reaction to a growing European market, the facility would create a possible 50 new jobs, with expectations of doubling the workforce within five years. ‘European and UK markets are well defined [and] the Prescott area is ideally suited for a pellet…
Read More »

OriginOil, a developer of next-generation algae oil technologies for transportation fuel, chemicals and foods markets, has appointed Melbourne-based Frontline Engineering Australia as its first Certified Support Partner. Frontline will help algae producers and integrators, install, engineer and operate OriginOil systems in Australia and also the Asia-Pacific region. Ken Reynolds, OriginOil…
Read More »

The Brazilian ministry of environment and Brazilian Development Bank have launched a new credit line supporting projects focused on greenhouse gas reduction and climate change solutions. It was established under the National Climate Change Fund, and aims to encourage private, municipal, and state investments to support objectives set by Brazil’s National Policy on Climate Change in 2009.…
Read More »

Kansas could become home to one of the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol refineries in the US. The global energy company Abengoa Bioenergy, aims to open what could be the first ethanol plant of this scale, in Hugoton, in 2013. It is expected to create 300 construction jobs, 65 permanent jobs and generate an annual payroll of almost $5 million (€3.8 million).…
Read More »

Biomass heating company HWEnergy has predicted 40% growth for 2012. As the first business in Scotland to sign up for the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), HWEnergy has subsequently doubled its workforce in preparation for expected trade expansion. The RHI scheme encourages non-domestic properties to use renewable technologies, extending payments of up to £0.085 (€0.1) for each…
Read More »

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) has announced the first completed commercial certification of the Manildra Group, Australia. Through its subsidiary Shoalhaven Starches Pty Ltd, the Manildra Group produces bioethanol from starchy wastewater generated by their wheat-processing facility. The certification, conducted by NCS International, serves to prove sustainable biofuels may be…
Read More »

Construction of the US's first large-scale, wood-to-ethanol plant is set to begin this year in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. The $232-million (€175.05 million) biorefinery is to be built on 40 acres in Kinross Charter Township, with completion expected in late 2013. A company called Mascoma developed the wood-to-ethanol process which combines wood chips with microorganisms, but the project…
Read More »

Chroen Industries has been sold to Linde Engineering Dresden after it went into adminstration and Linde will continue to develop Choren’s Carbo-V technology for synthetic gas. This gas can be used to produce biofuels and Linde already works in this sector, planning, delivering and constructing chemical, gas, biotechnology and pharmaceutical plants. The insolvency administrator, Bruno…
Read More »