Other News

Researchers from the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of Illinois (UI), US are evaluating the biomass potential of woody crops and their work is making them take a close look at the Robinia pseudoacacia tree – otherwise known as the black locust. According to UI associate professor of crop sciences Gary Kling, it has been displaying a higher yield and a faster harvest…
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Enzyme producer Novozymes is to work with global healthcare company Novo Nordisk to begin large-scale biogas production. Wastewater taken from NN factories in Kalundborg, Denmark will go through a new 36m high biogas reactor to produce 47MWh of electricity a year, equal to power from seven wind turbines. ‘This enables us to reduce our CO2 emission with 21,000 tonnes annually, equivalent to…
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The US National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is to open up its membership to include qualified renewable diesel producers, in a move that it hopes will unite the advanced biofuels industry in the diesel sector. The decision, made unanimously by NBB's governing board, consolidates the larger biodiesel industry with the younger and smaller renewable diesel industry together to create a stronger voice for…
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The Biofuels Centre of North Carolina (BCNC) has completed its state-wide woody biomass assessment as a foundation for large biofuels production. BCNC coordinated with forestry consultants Gelbert, Fullbright and Randolph, plus the seven state economic development regions, in 2011 to undertake the completed three-part analysis of North Carolina’s wood resources.The report states North…
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Albion Ventures, a UK venture capitalist company, will launch a community-scale renewable energy company by raising up to £100 million (€117.4 million) in due course to power 35,000 UK homes. The company, named Albion Community Power (ACP), is looking to raise £25 million this year from retail investors and family offices, exclusively through intermediaries, to invest in a range…
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Global technology provider Clarke Energy has assisted waste management business Agrivert to produce renewable energy in Oxfordshire, UK. Agrivert’s anaerobic digestion facility in Wallingford, Oxfordshire processes food waste collected from Oxfordshire County Council and other local sources to produce biogas used in a CHP plant, achieving fuel efficiency in excess of 84%. The anaerobic…
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A report in New Zealand regarding its forestry sector believes downstream industries like biochemicals and biofuels are ‘unlikely to flourish’ if established industries, like sawmilling, do not sell on their waste. The Woodscape study came about after collaboration between the forest and wood products industry, the NZ Ministry for Primary Industries and NZ Trade and Enterprise. It…
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The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has published its first market report on anaerobic digestion (AD). The report, the first of its kind, gives an overview of the issues facing the market and identifies the opportunities and barriers regarding investment. The key findings are detailed below: The sector is a growing opportunity: There was 106MWe of capacity installed or in construction by 2012,…
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Ranger Valley (RV), a large cattle station in Australia, is set to incorporate biogas technology on its feedlot to capture and reuse methane. RV’s parent company Marubeni has signed a MoU reportedly worth ‘a few million dollars’ with European technology supplier MT Energie, which will provide a series of digesters that will be fed with manure from feedlot pens and corn…
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A new multi-million dollar biogas facility is planned for the region of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, otherwise known as the Twin Cities. Rendering business Sanimax has been reported as wanting to build a $30 million (€23.1 million) plant which would convert food waste into natural gas and compost, in conjunction with Wisconsin-based Green Energy Partners. The city’s planning commission is…
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Specialty chemicals company Clariant will expand the raw materials used at its demonstration plant in Germany after new findings show that corn stover and sugarcane bagasse can also be used. The company's demo plant is converting agricultural residues into bioethanol using its Sunliquid technology. Following the opening of the facility in July 2012, Clariant now has new findings which show that…
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Kedco, a UK-focused renewable energy developer and operator, is building a 12MW biomass CHP plant in Enfield, north London and has appointed Foresight Group as the preferred funding partner for the project. Kedco has signed a non-binding heads of terms with Foresight, an independent private equity, infrastructure and environmental investor, for the provision of debt and equity facilities which…
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An investigation by Enagri suggests that Canada-based panel board manufacturer Norbord's lobbying against biomass energy was motivated by expediency and profits. Bioenergy Insight has learnt that Norbord recently paid an advertising agency to lobby MPs and place adverts in the National Press criticising the use of sustainable UK timber sources for energy generation. On its website, Enagri says,…
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SaniGreen Bioenergy, a joint venture between Canada-based Sanimax and Wisconsin's Green Energy Partners, is developing a $30 million (€22.9 million) biogas plant in South Saint Paul, Minnesota. The company is expected to break ground on the plant later this year, with completion scheduled for March 2015. The anaerobic digester will be able to process 150,000 tonnes of solid and liquid waste…
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