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Date Published:
01 August 2013

Volume 4, Issue 4


Court rejects EPA rule for biomass industry

Feature
A US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel recently overturned a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule which gave biomass burning facilities an easy ride complying with federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards. The three judges on the panel found that the EPA had failed to justify its decision from 2011 which provided a three-year exemption to its GHG rules... [read more]

New York State furthers green credentials

Feature
The New York State Assembly and Senate recently passed legislation setting a new standard for all heating oil sold in the state by requiring it to contain at least 2% biodiesel (B2) by 2015. The legislation calls for all heating oil sold in the City of New York, Suffolk, Nassau, Rockland and Westchester counties to contain at least 2% biodiesel by 1 October 2014, and then all heating oil sold... [read more]

Independence day

Feature
A milk powder producing company in Uruguay is to extend its biogas production capabilities in the near future   Germany headquartered Weltec Biopower is working with a client, which produces milk powder in Montevideo, Uruguay, to improve a first development stage biogas plant, which currently produces 800kW and will eventually move up to 3MW capacity by 2015. ‘The whole facility was a... [read more]

Biomass first in Brazil

Feature
Petrochemical industry player Dow is looking to become more sustainably efficient as it moves towards operational status   A new partnership is due to begin this year in Brazil which will add to what renewable energy via biomass company Energias Renovaveis do Brasil (ERB) is calling a ‘burgeoning’ sector within the country. With that in mind, the company will work with the... [read more]

Slow and unsteady

Feature
North American pellet exporters have little to worry about when it comes to competition from Brazil. With investor confidence at an all time low, many pellet plans have yet to take off   When it comes to biomass there are few places as blessed as South America. The continent has the land mass, the climate and the agricultural base to be a major supplier of biomass feedstock, be it sugarcane,... [read more]

'World's largest biomass plant' pulls down the shutters

Feature
James Barrett goes behind the curtain and talks to RWE nPower about the closure of its Tilbury power station   Energy company RWE nPower has called time on its 100% biomass-fired power plant in Tilbury, UK. The German-owned company publicly announced on 4 July it will stop work at the 750MW biomass plant while it considers and reviews further options on project feasibility. At the time Roger... [read more]

The latest on Drax's biomass conversion

Feature
Bioenergy Insight speaks to Drax four months into its first step into biomass   The conversion of Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to 50% biomass by 2016 remains on target and well within current requirements for feed source sustainability. That’s the headline message given by Drax to Bioenergy Insight after almost 40 years of coal-fired production. The Selby-based plant,... [read more]

Satisfying the UK's pellet appetite

Feature
As one of the UK’s largest power stations begins biomass conversion, how will the US wood pellet industry take advantage as a supplier to the island nation?   Drax power station, located in Yorkshire, currently produces 3,960MW of power split between six turbines of 660MW capacity. It has a rail loop on-site which will eventually deliver both coal and woody biomass feedstock for its... [read more]

Germany's ups and downs

Feature
Although the wood pellet sector is faring well, the biogas market is fading fast   Germany’s energy policy has been shaped by events that took place two years ago and 9,000km away when, in March 2011, a tsunami devastated eastern Japan and triggered the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The impacts of that shattering event, which killed 15,883 and displaced 340,000 people,... [read more]

Rum with a twist

Feature
A Caribbean rum plantation slashed its energy costs after switching from fuel oil to briquettes   While the rum production method at the St. Nicholas Abbey plantation in Barbados has not veered from tradition, its process has, and is today more eco-friendly. The boilers used in the distillery are no longer run on oil but with palm briquettes. In order to run the machinery, a highenergy input... [read more]

Making densified biomass fuels

Feature
The different technologies used to produce biomass briquettes and pucks   There are three basic methods used to manufacture densified fuels from biomass materials. These are extrusion, hydraulic compression and mechanical compression. All methods rely on the same basic technologies of permanently reducing the air space between the particles of the biomass, transforming loose particles into a... [read more]

This degression will not stand: update

Feature
The last issue of Bioenergy Insight described how the new budget control mechanism under the UK Renewable Heat Incentive works. It also predicted that in the immediate future the mechanism would be unlikely to trigger reductions of tariffs (‘degression’). The article coincided with the government’s announcement that, contrary to expectation, the tariff for medium biomass... [read more]

Wood briquettes with an innovative form

Feature
Briquetting has allowed one wood processing firm to optimise its strategy for increasing value and has led to the creation of a new line of business   Robeta OHG operates a saw mill in Brandenburg, Germany. The company processes around 280,000m3 of pine wood a year, which is sourced exclusively in the forests of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Instead of selling on loose woodchips to... [read more]

Which drying technology is the most suitable for pellet production?

Feature
An objective evaluation considering CO2 emissions and energy input when using wood as fuel   The way of sawdust drying and the respective energy input play a decisive role in the pellet production process. Economical and ecological aspects are to be taken into account to determine the most appropriate drying technology. This means that the primary energy consumption and the produced CO2... [read more]

Maine attraction

Feature
James Barrett finds out about a Danish biomass technology that is going down a storm in the US   A small invasion has taken place in the US as Danish biomass boiler technology provider Lin-Ka Energy has supplied two installations — one into Canada and one at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, US. Dave Schmucker, president of Biomass Briquette Systems (BBS), which acts as the North... [read more]

Waste tomato leaves get new lease of life

Feature
Tomato leaves definitely would not be the feedstock of choice for trying to generate headline figures of biogas. But, when you have some 16 pallets (400kg per pallet) of tomato leaves to dispose of every day, then utilising the heat and electricity from them makes perfect sense — compared to what used to be a disposal cost of around £100,000 (€116,000) annually, not to mention... [read more]

Driving pumping technology to new heights

Feature
As bioenergy and waste recycling technologies continue to advance they place new demands on the equipment involved   The influence of new environmental technologies on modern pumping equipment can be seen in many different industries, none more so than in the field of biogas production. The thermal hydrolysis processes used here typically involves heating and processing sludge collected from... [read more]

Pump size dilemma

Feature
Pump manufacturer Borger explains the different equipment needed depending on the feedstock being processed   Whether trying to harness 1 tonne of waste potatoes for a biogas plant or 20 tonnes, it is the size not the quantity that will dictate the type of equipment that is required. ‘At Borger we have a product portfolio that can suit every AD feedstock from 2 tonnes to 20 tonnes per... [read more]

Grappling with wood gathering

Feature
James Barrett discovers a different way of harvesting woody biomass which differs from a standard grapple and cutter   Three years ago a new technology for biomass harvesting was introduced to the market by Netherlands-based Gierkink Machine Techniek (GMT), borne from a simple desire. GMT’s idea was that every machine which uses a normal log grapple and rotator to pick up wood from the... [read more]

Finding the perfect partner

Feature
The Dan Store Terminal in Latvia handles and stores bulk materials such as wood pellets, feed and grain products. After an expansion, storage capacity today is 90,000 tonnes and it can handle over 1 million tonnes of product   For bulk material terminals with high loading and unloading capacity, high equipment reliability is a critical precondition for efficient handling and high turnover... [read more]

Unique pumps maximise AD

Feature
The formation of foam and scum in an anaerobic digester can severely inhibit its biogas yield   AD operators inevitably want to achieve higher gas yields, reduce foaming and also eliminate the potential for maintenance problems. Furthermore, in today’s economic climate, it is important for operators to fully maximise the sustainability benefits of their process plant which means each... [read more]

Hopping to it

Feature
Read about what Schmack Biogas is calling the ‘first AD plant in the world’ to use waste from hop harvesting for biogas production   The world’s first biogas plant to run primarily on waste from hop growing has come online in the Bavarian village of Oberlauterbach, Germany. The plant, constructed by Schmack Biogas, generates 11.5MW of biogas power in the form of biomethane... [read more]

Keen on biogas in Kenya

Feature
Find out how a farm in Kenya, despite being in a remote area, will become an important provider of local heat and power once a new project takes root   Anaerobic digestion is the biological process which closely resembles that which occurs during the formation of landfill gas, but the anaerobic microorganisms are harnessed and optimised in an engineered system to maximise gas production.... [read more]

Biogas boom in Normandy

Feature
A biogas plant manufacturer had its work cut out to meet the specific requirements of one customer — a dairy and poultry farmer located in Normandy   There is no disputing the French biogas market is in motion. By passing the action schedule Energie Méthanisation Autonomie Azote (EMAA) the government has set ambitious goals until 2020 to change the biogas sector in a sustainable... [read more]