Other News

In France, bioenergy firm Meta-Bio Energies has broken ground on a biomass-to-biogas plant in Bel-Air de Combrée. The new biogas plant will handle around 23,000 tonnes a year of biomass, including food, agricultural and municipal waste, and convert it into 1MW of energy – enough to benefit around 4,000 households. Electricité de France will purchase the electricity, while the…
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A new research centre is being developed in Grangetown, Middlesbrough in the UK and orders in excess of £2.5 million (€2.8 million) have been placed for the hi-tech industrial equipment. The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Tata Steel have begun work to establish the national research facility after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2010. The facility will advance…
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Waste management specialist China Everbright International has signed a supplementary agreement for phase three of a household waste to energy project with Jiangyin Public Utility Management Bureau, Jiangsu Province, as well as a contract to build and operate the Jiangsu Suqian Food Waste Treatment Project. The company explained that the Jiangyin Project phase three will be constructed on a BOT…
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Waste specialist Biffa of the UK has launched its anaerobic digestion (AD) food waste-handling plant near Cannock, Staffordshire. The new facility will process up to 120,000 tonnes of food waste sources from households and businesses every year, making it the largest of its kind in the nation. This leftover food will be converted into enough renewable energy to power 6,000 homes. Speaking at the…
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Woodpecker Energy UK, a provider of domestic and commercial biomass boilers, welcomes the announcement of the £860 million (€972 million) Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), saying that businesses, farmers and the public sector could effectively benefit from free installation of biomass heating systems and free fuel for 20 years. The first scheme of its kind, the RHI has been designed to…
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In the US, energy provider DTE Energy has revealed plans to convert its Stockton, California-based coal-fired power plant – the Port of Stockton District Energy Facility (POSDEF) – to fire on 100% biomass. The plant will generate 45MW of renewable power from wood waste, tree trimmings and agricultural residues. 'The plant conversion to biomass energy advances DTE Energy's commitment…
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Production has stopped at the Georgia Biomass wood pellet plant in Waycross, Georgia, US, after an explosion on 20 June 2011. The incident occurred at around 8am. No one was injured. 'It did extensive damage to the processing end,' says Dennis Keen, Ware County fire chief. 'They'll probably be down an extended period of time.' Georgia Biomass is a subsidiary of Germany's RWE Innogy, an…
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In Canada, the Toronto Zoo is planning to build a $5.4 million (€3.76 million) biogas power plant on site that will generate power from zoo animal excrement. The zoo will partner with Toronto-based ZooShare Co-operative to get the project off the ground. ZooShare will then fund the project, as well as design, develop, build and operate the plant, which will be located on land leased from the…
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Russia is turning to biogas in a bid to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. According to the Energy Ministry, Russia has the potential to generate 66 billion m3 of biogas a year from agricultural waste. This could produce 110 billion KW/h of electricity, 1 billion GJ of heat or 8.7 billion gallons of petrol or diesel. The Energy and Agriculture Ministries are now urging the Russian government to…
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In Attapeu, Laos, Thai Biogas Energy (TBEC) is planning to build a biogas plant and has signed a contract with Doungphasasuk Cassava Factory Co. for the new project. The $4 million (€2.8 million) facility will use wastewater from Doungphasasuk's factory, which handles around 1,500 tonnes of cassava a day. This is TBEC's second biogas plant in Laos. With an expected daily capacity of…
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BioHiTech America, a US-based technology company which develops data driven solutions for food waste disposal, has partnered with New Jersey-headquartered water management specialist Natural Systems Utilities to convert commercial food waste to energy. The firms will also be working with New Jersey-based utility specialist Ridgewood Green RME and the village of Ridgewood. They will be testing a…
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In Rutland, Massachusetts, US, the state's first biogas-fired power plant is due to come online. Located at the Jordan Dairy Farm, the plant, which will officially open on 31 May 2011, will convert manure and leftover food into energy. The plant broke ground in October 2010 and when operations commence it will generate 2,280MW/h of heat and electricity. The power will then be utilised at the…
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Metso, an energy company, says it will build the world’s biggest biomass gasification plant for Vaskiluodon Voima in Finland. The plant will provide 140MW to the grid, replacing some coal use with domestic wood-based renewable fuels and helping to cut down on CO₂ emissions. The plant will be located in Vaasa and will be connected to a 565MW coal-fired power plant which uses mostly forest…
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The joint venture subsidiary of PGI Energy – PGI Green E&P – is tapping into the wood pellet and bio coal briquette markets after identifying them to be a highly popular renewable energy source. In a bid to enter this growing market, PGI Energy has entered into a wood pellet market development and supply partnership with Ex-Factory. The collaboration of these two companies will…
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