Other News

In the US, Marathon County Court has overruled a civil lawsuit which was brought against the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Domtar and We Energies are jointly developing a $225 million (€167.5 million) biomass plant in Rothschild, Wisconsin, US, but local group Save Our Air Resources (SOAR) is worried about the environmental impact the plant would have on the local area. SOAR filed…
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British Columbia, Canada-based Viridis Energy, an alternative energy company, has started supplying its wood pellets to sustainable energy solutions provider Abellon Clean Energy in Italy. This is Viridis' second European customer, but the company is about to embark on a third agreement and is scheduled to begin shipping wood pellets to Switzerland within the next month. Viridis signed an…
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Weltec Biopower, a German biogas plant manufacturer, has completed the construction of its fifth plant in the Czech Republic. Located in Příložany, the plant converts pig manure, grass silage, maize silage, crop silage and grain waste into 366kW of renewable energy, which is fed into the grid. Completed by Weltec in four months, the plant comprises a 2,500m3 stainless steel fermenter, a…
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In the US, River Basin Energy is developing a commercial-scale biocoal production plant, which it expects to break ground on later this year. When the facility comes online in 2012 it will produce more than 100,000 tonnes a year of biocoal. River Basin Energy already owns a demo-scale biocoal plant in Laramie, Wyoming. This partially commercial-scale facility has the capacity to manufacture…
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Canadian Biofuel held a grand opening ceremony on 17 September for its new wood pellet and briquette production plant. Located in Springford, Ontario, Canada, the plant has been under development for six years and Canadian Biofuel finally began construction in April. Production is expected to start by the end of the year, when it will manufacture 1,500 tonnes each month of biomass fuel. The…
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The growing demand for wood pellets means a growing need for wood. This in turn gives rise to questions about the sustainability of wood pellet production, as well as quality assurance and production safety. On 4-5 October 2011 the 11th Pellets Industry Forum, held in Stuttgart, Germany, will examine these issues, and more. The forum will open on 4 October with a presentation on the process of…
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In Anglesey, Wales, UK, a biomass-fired power plant has been given the go ahead. Anglesey Aluminium Metal Renewables proposed the 299MW plant and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) approved it in September. The power station will be built at Penrhos Works in Holyhead. When it is operational it will generate enough renewable electricity for around 30,000 households.
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Wood pellet producer Pinnacle Renewable Energy and CMC Engineering have proposed to build a wood pellet export facility at Prince Rupert Harbour in British Columbia, Canada. If the $30 million (€21.3 million) project is approved, four 15,000 tonne, 39m tall pellet silos would be built from galvanised steel, as well as a number of conveyors which would transport the pellets from the silos to…
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New Zealand's largest biomass-fired boiler has been built at Waiouru Army Base, increasing the country's consumption of wood pellets by 50%. By switching the existing coal-fired plant to one which fires wood pellets, 5,300 tonnes of coal has been displaced, in addition to 10,500 tonnes per year of carbon emissions. The facility began generating 8MW of renewable energy in May earlier this year,…
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In Berlin, New Hampshire, US, a proposed biomass-fired power plant has been awarded $275 million (€199 million) in funding and construction is now scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. Building work will be completed within two years and the plant is expected to be up and running in 2013. It is hoped this will encourage other companies to build similar plants in the…
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In addition to Europe, the Asian market, and in particular Korea, is predicted to become a highly profitable export market for wood pellet producers around the world. While the renewable energy market is still on hold in Japan following the Fukushima disaster, and China's demand for biomass is supplied domestically, Korea has been identified to become an important and competitive market in the…
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In Indonesia, PTT is planning to invest between $3 and $4 million (€2.2-2.9 million) in a biomass-fired power plant. The plant will generate 10MW of electricity for nearby areas. Indonesia comprises mainly coal-fired plants and this project enables PTT to expand on its oil and gas business.
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In the UK, power companies such as Drax and RWE are facing opposition from the wood industry as they press ahead with biomass-fired power projects. The price of wood has doubled since 2009 and the Wood Panel Industries Association is urging the government to remove the subsidies encouraging these biomass plants to come online. However, the subsidy programme for biomass in place at the moment is…
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Greenearth Energy, an Australia-based geothermal company, has set up a new subsidiary dedicated to biomass projects. Greenearth Biomass Energy will create 'green' energy projects using biomass and waste materials. The company is currently testing its new biomass gasification technology in Indonesia but the technology can be used anywhere. Greenearth says this technology and market assessment is…
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