Other News

Nova-Institute, a German environmental consultancy, has evaluated the extent of the contribution made by the continent's bioeconomy and claims that the sector employs around 18m people and its turnover is worth €2.1 trillion. The bioeconomy comprises those parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources from land and sea – such as crops, forests, fish, animals and…
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FCC Environment, a UK-based waste management company, has announced that its Buckinghamshire energy-from-waste (EfW) plant has taken its first delivery of residual waste and is generating power. Staff at Greatmoor EfW site, near Calvert, welcomed the first batch of bulked waste recently after passing all the relevant inspections. It means the plant — which will treat up to 300,000 tonnes of…
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The US Supreme Court on Tuesday barred President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) from taking effect until legal challenges against the legislation are solved. In a tight vote of 5-4, the court decided to put the plan on hold after receiving a request from 27 US States, led by Texas and West Virginia, and several businesses to block the CPP. The regulation is intended to lower US power plant…
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The Welsh Assembly has passed a new Environment Bill (Wales) that will cap the amount of waste sent to waste-to-energy plants. Set to come into effect in 2017, the Bill will require businesses to limit the amount of recyclable waste being sent for incineration and a ban on disposable food waste being discarded in sewers. Any businesses that fail to comply with the new regulations will…
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Ireland should launch the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme to help create jobs and accelerate the switch from fossil fuels to bioenergy, according to the Irish BioEnergy Association (IrBEA). A RHI, which has been promised for more than a year and is still under discussion at the Department of Energy, would benefit both farmers and those installing the heating systems, as well as helping to…
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Finnish pulp and paper manufacture Stora Enso said it will invest €16m to start wood pellet production at its Ala sawmill in Sweden and €10m to revamp its biomass-fired boiler in Finland, as it attempts to transform into a renewable materials company. In its 2015 fourth-quarter statement published today (4 February, 2015), the firm said sales decreased by 2.5% to €2.49bn for the…
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US-headquartered wood pellet producer Enviva Partners is due to open a wood pellet manufacturing facility in North Carolina, US, by the end of 2017. The plant will be built in Richmond County, North Carolina. A company representative told the Richmond County Board Commissioners that construction of the facility should begin later this year, according to the Richmond County Daily Journal. Enviva…
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China has become the major destination for eucalyptus chips from Australia with record-high shipments in 2015, according to new research from forest industry consulting firm Wood Resources International. Eucalyptus chip export volumes from Australia were up 15% in 2015 year-over-year to reach a record-high of 5.2m tonnes, valued at almost one billion Australian dollars. Shipments have increased…
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The US House of Representatives has passed the Electrify Africa Act to help develop renewable electricity supply in the sub-Saharan Africa. The bill, which passed on Monday and will now be sent to President Obama to be signed, sets a framework for a public-private partnership between the US and sub-Saharan governments to “develop an appropriate mix of power solutions”, including…
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North Yorkshire-based industrial shredding firm UNTHA UK has appointed a new managing director. Marcus Brew takes the reins at the helm of the company, following a promotion from his previous role of sales director. Chris Oldfield, who has led the shredding business since 1997, will become chairman, concentrating on UNTHA UK's over-arching strategic direction and other wider ambassadorial…
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Waste and resource management company Biffa is creating a network of strategic food waste transfer stations across the UK, as it continues to focus on the anaerobic digestion (AD) market. Biffa is making a £1.5m investment into four new food waste transfer stations across the UK, which will be used to collect and sort food waste before it is sent to be treated at the company's AD plants in…
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The UK government has been advised to not alter its 57% carbon emissions reduction, despite the call for more ambitious action by the Paris climate agreement. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), a government climate watchdog, made its latest recommendations for the UK’s fifth carbon budget in a letter sent to Energy Secretary Amber Rudd. In the letter, the CCC repeated its recommendation…
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Mandatory separate collections for biowaste and recyclables should be put in place by EU member states, according to a new report published by the European Commission (EC). The research, Assessment of separate collection schemes in the 28 capitals of the EU, was led by the Copenhagen Resource Institute and German consultancy BiPRO and assessed the legislation and practice of separate collection…
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Raisio, a Finland-based food group, will build a bioenergy plant in the town it shares its name with in southwest Finland. The 9.5MW plant, worth around €8m, will be powered by locally-produced wood chips. The facility will produce steam and heating for the company's operations and for businesses in the Raisio area. In a statement, Raisio said the construction of own bioenergy plant is part…
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