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Following a public consultation period, the UK government has implemented new feed in tariff (FIT) levels for large-scale and stand-alone farm-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) plants from the beginning of August.  Under the plans, money will be given to householders, small businesses and communities, as well as a range of... technology companies. New entrants will receive amended tariffs of £0.14 (€0.16) per kWh for projects up to 250kW, or £0.13 per kWh if they produce between 250kW and 500kW. The UK Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA), which has more than 230 members, says the FIT is disappointing. Chairman Lord Redesdale says: 'FITs have so far failed to help more than a couple of projects, and this increase is too small to make any significant change to that.' [read more]

As of May this year, France has increased its Feed in Tariff (FIT) for biogas by an average of 20% for small-and mediumsized installations. The government seems concerned about the agricultural biogas production in the country at the moment, as there are only 20-30 farm installations in France, which compares badly to... other countries, such as Germany where there are 5,000.  However, these figures might not stay this way for long, as currently the farm installations are developing at a rate of 15-20%. At the same time as increasing the tariff, France is now also acknowledging biogas production as a farming activity, allowing for it to be transported through the natural gas pipeline network. For the treatment of manure, an incentive is also to be introduced which is expected to receive an increased interest from breeders. [read more]

The International Energy Agency has released a report showing that it makes sense to couple co-generation and renewables because these can supply both low-carbon electricity and low-carbon heat simultaneously. Co-generation plants are fuelled by renewable energy whereas in plants fuelled by other types of fuel, excessive heat is... produced which gives out CO2 emissions. However, if this heat is instead put towards generating an existing heat demand, CO2 emissions can be reduced. Renewable heat sources include geothermal heat, solar thermal heat and bioenergy. Underestimating heat energy  Much attention has been focussed on the damage electricity and vehicles can have on the environment but a report from the IEA actually shows that in 2008, the consumption of heat energy was much higher than that of transport, electricity and other non-energy use. [read more]

Although not the biggest biomass producer in Europe, France's biomass sector is the leading source of renewable energy in the country. With the EU demanding that all member states provide 20% of final energy consumption from renewable energy production by 2020, bioenergy around the world is receiving increasing... investment. France's target has been set at an even higher figure of 23% by 2020. In France, wood is seen as a viable source for biomass because each year, twice as much wood is grown as is used; and throughout Europe as whole, only 60% of annual growth is extracted for usage. Developing wood energy helps to sustain forests in ways such as generating yield from abandoned areas. The sector also creates employment and by 2020, the Grenelle Environment Forum estimates 19,000 people will collect wood from forests and about 60,000 will work in the biomass industry throughout France. Dalkia operates one of western Europe's biggest biomass CHP plants in south-west France using technology provided by Metso. [read more]