Other News

In a bid to encourage the use of biogas across China, Austria's GE Energy is to supply its Jenbacher biogas engine technology to power China's largest ethanol production plant, which is currently under construction in the city of Nan Yang, Henan Province. Owned and operated by Henan Tianguan Group, the new ethanol plant will produce 500,000m3 of biogas a day, from organic material such as…
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In Montgomery County, North Carolina, US, plans are in place to build the state's first poultry waste-to-biogas plant. Poultry Power USA will construct, own and operate the 36MW power plant and has already signed a contract with energy company Progress Energy Carolinas, which will acquire the output. 'Turning poultry litter into power is an important milestone in the development of bio-waste…
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Supported by Barclay's Business, the small business arm of the global financial services provider, which has provided additional working capital, The Pelleting Solutions Company CFE is planning for growth. CFE supplies pellet consumables to the compound feed industry. The company has evolved to accommodate the growing pellet market in the biomass and green energy industries. According to Phil…
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In Scotland, UK, biomass energy development company Helius Energy has confirmed the financing for its £60.5 million (€69 million) Helius CoRDe project. Helius previously announced a project finance facility from Lloyds TSB Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland for the CoRDe project. However the company has now confirmed that Rabo Project Equity BV, a 100% subsidiary of Rabobank Group,…
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UK-headquartered oil company Eastern Petroleum is looking to enter the renewable energy market with the acquisition of its first biomass plant. The company is considering investing in a 40MW facility in Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, but will not progress with the plan until the Renewable Energy Board sets the feed-in tariff (FIT) rates, according to the company chairman and CEO Fernando…
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Rentech has acquired additional equity in ClearFuels Technology, and will now own a substantial majority of the equity of ClearFuels, with existing ClearFuels investors retaining a minority interest. ClearFuels, a company developing advanced sustainable biorefineries that convert multiple mixed cellulosic biomass feedstocks into sustainable, high-value energy products, will be the surviving…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded three new research grants to Michigan State University to research the production of bioenergy and bio-based products. It is hoped the grants will help develop sustainable regional systems and create jobs in the sector. Already at the university there is a cellulosic ethanol pre-treatment research lab and an AFEX technology pilot plant. The…
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Opcon Bioenergy, a subsidiary of Opcon, an energy and environmental technology group, is to build a bioenergy plant in the Czech Republic which will produce energy using recycled heat. As part of its contract, Opcon Bioenergy will deliver flue gas condensation equipment, including a treatment system, to a district heating plant used by TTS in Trebic. The plant is scheduled to be operational by…
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Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, US, has been given a grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina worth more than $145,000 (€97,500). The money will be used to expand the university’s testing facilities for biofuels catalysts. The grant is for one year’s worth of research and will be used to produce biodiesel from cheap feedstocks and other sources. The university is…
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French recycling and recovery group Suez has bought a 52% stake in Meta Bio Energies' waste recycling centre in a bid to strengthen its biowaste-to-energy activities. France-based Meta Bio Energies, owned by French firm Chazé Environment Group, specialises in biowaste-to-energy recovery by methanation and the production of organic soil conditioners. Strategically located in Combrée,…
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The maximum amount of woody biomass utilised in power plants for the generation of green electricity is to be reduced in Nova Scotia, Canada. In a bid to preserve the forests in the province, while at the same time meeting renewable energy goals, the provincial government announced that waste wood levels are to be cut by 30%, reducing the biomass cap from 500,000 tonnes a year to 350,000 tonnes a…
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In northern Peru work is ongoing with Maple Energy's ethanol project and the ethanol company expects commercial operations to begin in the second half of 2011. Costing an estimated $254 million (€180.6 million), the greenfield project, which includes main water delivery and drip irrigation systems, comprises an ethanol production plant and a 7,800-hectare sugarcane plantation in the first…
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In Malaysia, Japan-based Mitsui & Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sime Darby and power company Tenaga Nasional. The venture will see the three companies carry out a feasibility study into the use of producing power from biogas at palm oil mills. It is hoped that the MoU, which was signed on 4 April 2011, will increase the use of renewable energy in Malaysia, while…
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US-based waste-to-energy firm Covanta Holding Corp. has acquired Wisconsin environmental services company Chief Industrial Services. Chief Industrial specialises in custom non-hazardous waste management and cleaning services for industrial and commercial customers in the Midwest. Covanta's subsidiary, Covanta Environmental Solutions, purchased the privately held Chief Industrial for an…
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