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Date Published:
27 September 2015

Volume 6, Issue 5


Ta ta, tariffs

Feature
The UK government continues its full scale assault on the country’s renewable energy industry. As reported in the last issue of Bioenergy Insight, Chancellor George Osborne’s summer budget removed the tax exemptions given to renewable energy and Energy Minister Amber Rudd ended subsidies to small-scale biomass and solar energy production. Next on the executioner’s block is the... [read more]

The plot thickens

Feature
The effects of the UK’s Conservative government’s radical changes to their renewable energy policy enacted in July-August are already being felt across the sector. Energy Secretary Amber Rudd announced that the government would be removing subsidies paid to biomass plants. These direct subsidies are to be replaced with a Contracts for Difference (CFD) system, where qualifying projects... [read more]

Capture that gas

Feature
In mid-August, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two proposals to further reduce methane-rich gas emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The new proposals will require new, modified, and existing landfills to begin collecting and controlling landfill gas at emission levels almost a third lower than currently effective requirements. MSW landfills are the third... [read more]

Turn that frown upside down

Feature
Canada’s wood pellet industry has had a good couple of years with prospects for the immediate future appearing to be well set for a further expansion of production, and a sustained increase in exports into a global marketplace which is showing one or two encouraging signs of potential growth. At the same time, however, hesitancy by politicians in relation to future energy policies,... [read more]

Success story

Feature
From 5 October 2015, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is introducing new sustainability criteria for installations using biomass or biogas fuels, and producers of biomethane under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). This is a chance for the industry to shine and definitively demonstrate the sustainable nature of the sector. All RHI participants, existing and new, will need to... [read more]

Demonstrating sustainability

Feature
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a key support mechanism for solid biomass and biogas developments supplying renewable heat and biomethane to the national grid in the UK. In order for generators to be eligible to receive support under the RHI scheme, they will, from 5 October 2015, have to ensure all biomass meets sustainability criteria laid down by the Department of Energy and Climate... [read more]

A strategy for sustainability

Feature
Managing the supply of sustainable biomass to Drax Power Station in the UK starts thousands of miles away on the banks of the Mississippi River. Thanks to a substantial investment — including a strategic hub at the Port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana — Drax is bringing reliable, renewable and affordable energy to millions of British homes. When Drax made the commitment to take a leading... [read more]

The wood pellet of tomorrow

Feature
Torrefaction is the roasting of wood or other biomass material at high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. This process removes and recycles low-quality energy from the material and changes its chemical composition. The resulting torrefied material needs to be densified for optimum logistics so it is then ground and processed through a pellet mill to create durable torrefied pellets.

Leading the way

Feature
Since the Climate Change Act came into force in 2008, the UK has made great progress in efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. There has been a significant increase in sustainable energy sources like wind and solar power that have led to a cleaner, greener Britain. Power generated by the country’s offshore and onshore wind turbines, for example, has resulted in an annual carbon saving of... [read more]

Ensuring wood pellet quality

Feature
Wood pellets have multiple uses to justify their production, from energy production to animal bedding to liquid spill sorbents or cat litter. What all of these have in common is the need for standards and testing, which determine if the pellets are acceptable to a certain standard. The pellets’ end-use dictates what standards they will be held against. Residential wood pellets, for example,... [read more]

Spanish heat

Feature
Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), is a process whereby electricity and useful thermal energy are obtained. Applied to industrial processes, CHP increases their energy efficiency as it uses part of the released thermal energy — that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere — to generate electricity. One example of a CHP project is a 500,000 tonne wood pellet... [read more]

Site design with operation in mind

Feature
According to research from The Green Investment Bank, anaerobic digestion (AD) in the UK is going from strength to strength. In fact, since 2014 alone, the industry has witnessed a 55% uplift in overall operating capacity, 51% growth in the quantity of organic materials processed, and a 36% increase in employment. What’s more, 167 facilities are now operational nationwide, while 13 more are... [read more]

Increasing profits for low-cost biogas producers

Feature
A biomethane plant from UK-based renewable energy company Alfagy is delivering cost-effective solutions for converting biogas into natural gas. The upgraded gas can be injected into the natural gas grid and pumped into homes and restaurants for use in heating systems and cookers. The process of upgrading biogas to high methane gas is normally an expensive undertaking, but Alfagy has developed a... [read more]

Seeing more than wood in the trees

Feature
New industrial ligninbased products are moving towards commercialisation in New Zealand and may tip the economic scales in favour of biorefining. The biggest source of biomass in New Zealand is wood. Around 7% of the country is planted in radiata pine, eucalypts and other species. ‘With an existing infrastructure that supports forestry and pulp and paper manufacture, New Zealand is in an... [read more]