Other News

Texas-based renewables company EM Biogas is selling its Huckabay Ridge anaerobic digestion plant. The $26 million (€19 million) plant was erected in 2007. Comprising eight digesters with a capacity to handle 7.5 million gallons of digestate, the plant is one of the largest AD facilities in North America. The sale also includes around 72.5 acres of land, property improvements and…
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The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved the registration of six biogas plants in KwaZulu-Natal. These latest projects will be located in Izimpongo Village, Melmoth and Mgwabi Village at Eshowe and come shortly after a further 21 similar plants were registered this year, planned for Limpopo and one in Pretoria. This brings the total number of biogas operations registered in…
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Helsingin Energia has collaborated with the Finnish Environment Institute and Tampere University of Technology to study the changes in the environmental impacts of the Salmisaari power plant when coal is replaced with small amounts of wood pellets. It was concluded in the study that mixed combustion of wood pellets reduces the climate impacts of the power plant. However, the change in the impacts…
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Nippon Paper Industries is reported to have started operations at its new biomass in Port Angeles in Washington, US. The new $85 million (€63 million) co-generation plant at the site of Nippon's existing mill is not yet fully operational; this is slated to begin by the end of 2013 when it will generate electricity and steam from forest wood waste. The majority of this renewable electricity…
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Cool Planet Energy Systems, a developer of small-scale biorefineries, has launched its biochar soil amendment product – Cool Terra – for commercial agricultural trials. The company has assembled a biochar research team to develop and produce high-performance biochar soil amendments designed for specific applications. Cool Planet says it plans to continue expanding application…
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A biomass refinery in Malaysia is set to become the second in the world to convert biomass waste into renewable products before 2017. Work is scheduled to begin on the facility in Johor by the end of 2014 and will be developed by MYBiomass, a collaboration between the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), renewable energy business Sime Darby and Felda Global…
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Renewable energy company Estover Energy's biomass-fired CHP plant has been granted planning consent. The £65 million (€76.5 million) plant, to be built at Discovery Park in Kent, was awarded consent by Dover District Council. It will generate renewable heat and power across the 220 acre site. It will also supply low carbon electricity to the national grid, supporting the UK's national…
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The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded nearly $10 million (€7.3 million) to a consortium, led by Colorado State University (CSU), to study the challenges limiting the use of insect-killed trees as a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy and renewable fuels. CSU researchers, together with other scientists from universities, government and private industry in the region, created the…
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Power and gas company E.ON says it will not continue with the development of a biomass-fired power plant at the Port of Bristol in the UK. The company, however, remains committed to investing in the UK. The facility was to be located at Portbury Dock. In a statement a spokesperson for E.ON said: 'We continue to believe the UK could be a good market for investment in which sustainable biomass has…
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Renewable fuels and chemicals company Amyris and GOL South American airline Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that could pave the way for GOL commercial flights to use Amyris renewable jet fuel in 2014.  Under the MoU, the two companies will establish a framework for bringing Amyris renewable jet fuel, produced from Brazilian sugarcane, to…
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Scientists at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology have acquired 200 hectares of coastal land in the Western Region to set up a demonstration farm with aims to start producing sustainable jet fuel from plants. The Integrated Seawater Energy and Agriculture System Project plans to be 100% sustainable once operational, using aquaculture to eventually produce biofuels. The AED64.2 million…
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VTT Technological Research Centre of Finland is organising a new European project to study the anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic waste. The AD process can be optimised to produce either biogas or volatile fatty acids that are even more valuable products than biogas. The produced volatile fatty acids can be converted further to raw materials with which it is possible to produce oil-replacing…
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Utility company Kentucky Power Co. is to acquire biomass-based power from a renewable production plant near Hazard after the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a 20-year power purchase agreement. Under the recently approved agreement, Kentucky will buy renewable electricity from the 58.8MW ecoPower Generation-Hazard biomass plant, construction on which will take about two…
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The cause of a fire which broke out at the UK's Port of Tyne on 11 October is under investigation. Around 50 fire fighters responded to the incident, which originated inside a wood pellet storage facility at around 3pm. The port's operations were not disrupted and the property sustained minimal damage, according to reports. An external conveyor transfer tower will need to undergo some repair…
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