Other News

The UK’s largest union, Unite, is preparing to hold a ballot for industrial action against Drax Group over proposed redundancies following the planned closure of its coal-fired units. The directors of Drax power station in North Yorkshire, which largely runs on biomass, have been accused by Unite of “bad faith” over 20 proposed redundancies, with the union claiming that a 2019 pay deal…
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The COP26 United Nations climate conference will now take place from 1-12 November 2021. The event, initially scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2020, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the event organisers said the agreement followed a consultation with UNFCCC members, delivery partners and the international climate community. In the…
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Ireland’s bioenergy opportunity is “immense”, according to the new president of the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA), Paddy Phelan. This week, IrBEA’s new president and vice-president were elected by the organisation’s management executive committee. Paddy Phelan, CEO of 3 County Energy Agency, was elected the new president, taking over from Des O’Toole, and Maurice Ryan,…
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Stobart Energy, a leading supplier of biomass fuel in the UK, has appointed a new CEO and made a series of board changes. Richard Jenkins, who has extensive experience in the waste-to-energy sector, will head up the business on 1 June. Jenkins spent the last three years managing the Greater Manchester Waste contract, initially for Viridor and most recently for Suez. This is one of the largest…
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The UK Government has launched a new £40 million (€44.4 million) Clean Growth Fund to boost green start-ups, including biofuel and bioenergy projects. The Clean Growth Fund will contribute towards the UK’s plans to reach net zero by 2050 and will be accessible to UK companies driving green technology across the waste, transport, power and building energy efficiency sectors. Examples of…
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €75 million loan to ArcelorMittal for the construction of two projects in Ghent, Belgium, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by converting waste and by-products into valuable new products. One of the projects, Torero, is a €50 million large-scale demonstration plant to convert waste wood into biocoal, partially replacing the coal that is…
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Dr Christian Rakos, managing director of the Austrian Pellet Association, has been appointed president of the World Bioenergy Association. Rakos, a physicist who spent his entire career in the renewable energy sector, will take over from Remigijus Lapinskas, who will step down as president of the World Bioenergy Association after four years. Rakos was the founding president of the European…
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Vattenfall Heat UK has secured a contract to capture heat from Cory Riverside Energy’s energy-from-waste facility in Belvedere, London. The Riverside Energy Park will be located next to Cory’s existing energy recovery facility on the banks of the River Thames. Vattenfall will work with Cory on an application for funding from the UK Government’s Heat Networks Investment Project.…
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SSE Thermal has agreed to sell a 50% stake in its Slough Multifuel project to Copenhagen Infrastructure III K/S, a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). The 50 MW energy-from-waste facility, which will utilise various sources of municipal solid waste, commercial and industrial waste and waste wood, will now be developed as a joint venture between the two companies. SSE…
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The International Biogas and Biomass Congress and Expos, which were due to take place in Brussels in October 2020 alongside the Biofuels International Conference and Expo, have been postponed until 2021. The decision was taken to host the event on 23-24 March 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that, by this time, life will have returned to some sense of normality, although there…
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Renewable energy can support a resilient and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA's first Global Renewables Outlook shows that the decarbonisation of the energy system can support short-term recovery while creating 'resilient and inclusive' economies and societies. The outlook examines the building blocks of an…
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Employees at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire have shown their support for NHS workers by turning one of the plant's cooling towers blue. Every Thursday evening, people in the UK clap for NHS staff and other key workers, in a display of appreciation for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Engineers at Drax Power Station have installed blue lighting on one of the twelve…
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The Virginia Clean Economy Act, which requires nearly all coal-fired plants in the state to close by 2024, has been signed into law. On 12 April, Governor Ralph Northam signed the act an amended the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, that requires Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The Virginia Clean Economy Act focuses on several key areas, such as…
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Business appears to be returning to normal in China as pump specialist Landia has received a new order. Landia has sold a new batch of chopper pumps to China with the reopening of its Shanghai office, after the COVID-19 outbreak. The 18.5 kW pumps will be used for a liquid manure application at a dairy farm in northern China. The company that purchased the pumps, which is based in Zhengzhou,…
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