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Volume 6, Issue 6
Slashing subsidies
Feature
European support systems for bioenergy appear to be undergoing largescale restructuring efforts. Earlier this year Bioenergy Insight reported on the UK government’s elimination of subsidies to the entire renewable energy sector. While the subsidy system was to be replaced with government energy contract auctions, no such auctions have been held despite original government plans to hand out...
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The government that knew the truth
Feature
The recent developments in the UK renewable energy policy hardly need recapping, as they have been the hot topic of European energy politics since Chancellor George Osborne’s summer budget announcement in July. UK’s removal of subsidies to renewable energy and the Energy Secretary Amber Rudd’s cuts to the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) scheme have caused upset in the energy industry, with...
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Huge potential for biomass in Asia
Feature
Biomass in Asia is recognised by experienced market analysts and advisers as a sector with huge potential, driven by strong feedstock resources and generally good government support. The sector is also gaining from its status as a relatively small contributor to the region’s renewable energy production, certainly in comparison to solar and wind developments. That is a bonus position,...
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Cooking up a cleaner briquette
Feature
From an environmental perspective, cooking on charcoal is very damaging. About 10 tonnes of wood have to be burned to make just one tonne of charcoal. The way in which the wood is burned does not just waste energy, it produces climate-warming gases and local pollution. This damage would probably not be too serious if charcoal was just used for summer barbeques. However, for around 200 million...
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Burning the bunch
Feature
Empty fruit bunches (EFB) are the solid by-product that remains after the stripping of the palm fruit prior to oil extraction. It is approximately 20 wt% of the fresh fruit bunch. EFB’s low density and high moisture make it uneconomical to transport, so it is more suitable to be used as combustion fuel for power and steam cogeneration at palm oil mills or other nearby facilities. EFB is...
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Keep it clean
Feature
A good photographer will confirm that sometimes a look through another lens can make all the difference in the world. Adopting that strategy and going to a wide-angle view can lead to success for biomass energy projects, too. What happened this year in Lebanon, in the US state of Tennessee, is a great example. The first round of financial projections for a waste-to-energy gasification project to...
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Time for change
Feature
Our planet needs decisive solutions to the problems of waste management and sustainable energy generation. In May, the United Nations announced that the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has finally exceeded 400 ppm. The accumulation of greenhouse gases has led to the warmest decade on record in Europe between 2002 and 2011. River flow droughts have been frequent and severe...
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The road to 2020
Feature
In May of 2015 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) for residential wood heaters, setting stricter limits on emissions for the first time since 1988. The NSPS includes regulations that set new emissions limits for 2015, and more stringent limits that will go into effect in 2020. While this new NSPS sets forth regulations for all units...
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AD industry to act now
Feature
Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) were introduced by the UK government in 2010 to help increase the production levels of renewable energy as it works towards the legally binding EU target of 15% of total energy from renewables by 2020. The subsidy outlined that renewable generation systems, up to a capacity of 5MW, were eligible for financial support for producing green energy, helping to drive long-term...
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Minimising losses
Feature
Much of the focus and research into anaerobic digestion (AD) has been on maximising gas yield within the process, but there is an often overlooked area that deserves more attention — the feedstock store. For every kilogramme of feedstock there is a theoretical maximum gas yield. Technology providers today are well versed in the systems and controls needed to extract as much gas as possible,...
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A one-way street
Feature
‘Expensive today, cheap tomorrow’ is an old adage in the construction industry. With the stakes being so high on product performance within the anaerobic digestion (AD) market, it is time for end users to seriously consider their project liability portfolios, particularly when there is more than one supplier on a single project. The operating parameters for mechanical and other...
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How to handle future changes in waste streams
Feature
The UK waste recycling industry holds a great potential of increasing national production of green energy and fertilisers. Increased independency in food and energy production is desirable for the UK, in view of today’s geopolitical situation. But the waste recycling industry is also facing a great number of challenges that must be dealt with. The food industry changes continuously based on...
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Biocoal is the goal
Feature
Unlike wind and solar, biomass can be used to produce renewable energy all year round. Different materials, from residues (straw, hedgerows) to dedicated biomass crops (grass, maize, king grass), can be burned to produce heat and/or power. Biomass from agricultural land gives higher yield per year per acre compared to forest waste (between two and five times), and can also be used as part of the...
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