Other News

The German parliament approved an amended Renewable Energy Act (EEG) on27 June. According to the new EEG, biogas production in Germany will be capped from 1 August to 100MW a year and Feed-in Tariffs will be gradually withdrawn from all new plants above 100kW. The European Biogas Association (EBA) has criticised this decision, which it calls a 'U-turn in German biogas policies', claiming it 'will…
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In the Philippines, Greenergy Holdings has sold its 60% share in Biomass Holdings. Biomass Holdings, the venture of Greenergy and investment holding firm Cleantech Projektgesellschaft, last year started building an 18MW sugarcane bagasse-fired renewable energy plant. This project, which is being constructed adjacent to the existing San Carlos ethanol plant, is slated for completion by the end of…
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Shipments of wood pellets from North America to Europe have doubled in two years, according to research compiled by the North American Wood Fiber Review, which reports that shipments reached 4.7 million tonnes last year. In 2013, pellets with a value exceeding $650 million (€478 million) were sent to Europe, an increase of more than 250% in just two years. Two-thirds of this amount (around 3…
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Viaspace, a producer of renewable Giant King Grass as a low carbon fuel for clean electricity generation, has signed a supply contract with bioenergy project developer ReSource Bioenergy to supply its energy grass for bioenergy projects in Jamaica. ReSource, which is incorporated in New York and has operations in California and Jamaica, is working to develop a commercially viable business model…
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ReFood, is expanding its anaerobic digestion (AD) plant located in South Yorkshire, UK. The new extension will see the size of the plant in Doncaster doubled, making it the largest food waste AD plant in the UK to date. Last December ReFood secured planning consent to accept 160,000 tonnes of food waste at Doncaster that would otherwise go to landfill. The plant will generate electricity through…
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Per Aarsleff, a Denmark-based contracting company, has signed an agreement to develop what it is calling 'Northern Europe's largest biogas plant' on a 12 hectare plot in the Danish town of Tønder. The contract value of the biogas plant in Tønder is approximately DKK300 million (€40 million). There is also an option to build a similar plant in Aabenraa town, bringing to total…
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EU energy ministers have agreed to limit the production of biofuels made from food crops to 7%. The ministers' compromise is welcomed following last year's deadlock when European Union governments failed to agree on a proposed 5% cap on the use of biofuels based from crops used in transport fuel. The 7% compromise includes a 0.5% target aimed at second generation biofuels, but this is non-binding…
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E.ON UK has produced renewable energy for the first time at its Blackburn Meadows biomass plant in Sheffield. The £120 million (€150 million) Blackburn Meadows plant is now the third biomass facility in E.ON UK's generation portfolio and can provide enough energy to power around 40,000 homes. The 30MW renewable energy plant will convert locally sourced recycled waste wood into…
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Ceres, an agricultural biotechnology and seed company, says it will evaluate a number of its biotech traits in sugarcane in South America. Plantings were recently completed and preliminary performance observations will be available by the end of the year. Ceres expects to receive sugar yield results in the second half of 2015 when the first growing cycle is completed. Sugarcane provides an…
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A new 17.3MW renewable power plant has opened in Plessis-Gassot, France. Known as Electr'od, the cogeneration facility is powered by landfill gas. Featuring 10 GE Jenbacher engines to generate renewable electricity and heat for residents and businesses, the facility is the most powerful landfill gas-fuelled power plant in France. French waste management and services company Véolia…
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Rentech, an owner and operator of wood pellet production and wood fibre processing businesses, has announced a new long-term processing agreement between its subsidiaries, Fulghum Fibres Chile, Forestal Pacifico and Forestal Los Andes, and Astillas Exportaciones (Astex), the Chilean subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi. The new processing agreement would expand the volume of eucalyptus wood to be…
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Construction of a biogas plant in the UK stopped last week following a fatal incident. A 30-year-old male worker was killed in a 'crushing incident' on 11 June at Penare Farm in Higher Fraddon, Cornwall. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the man was crushed when 'a temporary structure collapsed'. HSE inspectors are said to be working with Devon and Cornwall police to investigate…
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Switzerland-based Alter Energy Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire an operating wood pellet production plant in North Carolina, US. According to Edward Klaeger, AEG CEO: 'Our plan is to export the initial 110,000 tonnes a year of wood pellets to EU markets for the upcoming heating season.' The company will then increase capacity to 280,000 tonnes a year during 2015. Alter Energy says…
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Greenleaf Power, an owner and operator of biomass power plants in North America, has announced the closing of $100 million (€73.7 million), which it will use to acquire more biomass plants. Babson Capital Management is the agent for the financing institutions under the financing. To date the company has purchased five biomass-fired facilities with a total output capacity of 145MW. 'This…
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