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The Canadian wood pellet industry is enjoying a busy and productive year, punctuated by export-motivated sales and conference visits to Italy, Japan and the UK, all of which are contributing to a home-base expression of confidence by producers and their representatives. “This is one of those rare times when all the stars seem to be lining up,” Gordon Murray, executive director of the... Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC), told Bioenergy Insight. [read more]

As Canada’s RNG capacity builds, a growing number of municipalities are considering upgrading biogas to RNG to manage food and organic waste, produce local energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The production of RNG offers an attractive waste management solution for closing the loop between organic waste and fuel. Converting organic materials to RNG captures energyfrom waste, reduces... odour, and produces renewable fuel for solid waste fleets. Municipalities also have the option to use RNG for onsite energy needs or partner with local natural gas utilities to sell RNG for injection in the natural gas grid. [read more]

CNG Fuels is aiming to develop a Bio-CNG refuelling network capable of servicing the UK’s key trucking routes. A major purchaser of renewable biomethane, it is also developing a broad distribution infrastructure of refuelling stations, trailers and vehicles. The company has a number of high-profile corporate clients, including Argos, Waitrose and John Lewis, and DHL, who use CNG... Fuels’ infrastructure to refuel HGVs (Heavy Goods Vehicles) in their logistics fleets. [read more]

Enzyme application in biogas plants —there is hardly any other topic in the biogas industry being discussed as controversially. Farmers, plant operators and consultants are rightly sceptical of the new miracle cures, advertised almost every single day, as their efficacy in the biogas process cannot usually be confirmed. There are inconsistent reports on the use of enzymes in practice: Some... biogas plant operators see desired effects such as an improvement of the viscosity in the fermenter, while others cannot observe any effects at all. [read more]

In recent years there has been a significant capacity increase of renewable energy around the world; furthermore, according to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), the EU has adopted a target to have a 20% share of renewables by 2020 and 27% by 2030. With the intermittent electricity generation of most renewables and the variable load profiles in the grid, biogas plants can play a key... role in managing a flexible energy generation which is unfortunately yet to reach its full potential. To reach ‘power on demand’ in biogas plants it is necessary to consider during design a feeding system based on online monitoring while taking into account the gas storage capacity. Currently, biogas plant feeding is characterised as constant with equally distributed substrate quantities over time. As a result, biogas production is also constant and not in line with the demand. [read more]

After climbing the steps up on to the platform at Kemble Farms in Gloucestershire, there’s a first-class view of the land and a slurry/maize fed300kW biogas plant that is testament to continuous improvement. The view of the 1450-hectare farm is also enjoyed by a shining separator, which looks every inch the part as it separates fibre solids from the digester liquid. The BioSelect digestate... separator (made by Börger) can be supplied with a Börger high density solids feed pump which is controlled to provide a balanced solids loading to the separator.  A second pump is then controlled in combination to pump away the separated liquid. [read more]

For Netherlands headquartered bioenergy technology specialist HoSt, increasing fuel flexibility of both their combustion and anaerobic digestion plants is the order of the day. Their recently launched new generation fuel-flexible boilers and proven AD plants with advanced mixing technique are examples of future proof waste solutions. The company is currently realising multiple ‘new... generation’ fuel-flexible installations in and outside Europe. [read more]

Hidden away in a remote mountain landscape in Japan lies a mushroom farm that growsand markets Asia’s favourite mushroom, the Shiitake, ona large scale. To produce the necessary energy in a sustainable and carbon neutral way, the farm relies on expertise from Germany.

The Miscanthus market has faced plenty of challenges. Six years ago, it was considered an ‘alternative crop’, with a damaged reputation and an uncertain future. Today, demand is outstripping supply and it’s become an integral part of the renewable energy mix, with 50,000 tonnes burned in power plants annually. We speak to Alex Robinson, operations manager at Terravesta, about... the future scope for the crop. [read more]