Bioenergy Research Group in €10.84m Project

Aston University Bioenergy Research Group (BERG) is involved in a €10.84 million (US$14.253 million) project to develop a European wide research infrastructure for producing biofuels. BERG has been awarded €510,000 (US$670,584) of research funds, as part of the €10.84m (US$14.253 million) BRISK research project from the European Commission Seventh Framework Program (FP7).



The four-year initiative aims to develop a European research infrastructure capable of delivering marketable biofuel products. This includes production of biofuels by thermochemical processes, including gasification, combustion, pyrolysis and hydrothermal processing. Read more ...

EU policy ultimatley will cost US farmers $1.1 billion

The study, funded by the United Soybean Board (USB), shows the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive, which currently excludes biodiesel made from US soybean oil in renewable energy quotas, could decrease US soybean prices by as much as 35 cents per bushel. If left unresolved, the regulation would cost US soybean farmers more than US$1.1 billion (€837 million) per year.

Soybean fields

The checkoff contends the policy unfairly singles out biodiesel made from US soy. USB Immediate Past Chair Marc Curtis says the checkoff continues to work with the American Soybean Association (ASA) on efforts to gain inclusion for biodiesel made from US soy.

“The EU is the second-largest market for US soybeans, and that market is at risk due to this regulation,” says Curtis, a soybean farmer from Leland, Miss. “We can use this study to show allied organisations and the US government how much of an impact this regulation would have on US soybean farmers. It will also give the US government facts to demonstrate to the European Commission that the regulation needs to be based on sound science.” Read more ...

Exports from the US and Canada of wood pellets at record high

Wood Pellets

Wood pellets exported from Canada and the US to Europe reached a record high in the forth quarter of 2011 due to the increased demand from the United Kingdom. Exports of wood pellets from North America to Europe reached a record of over two million tons in 2011, according to analysis reported in the North American Wood Fiber Review. Canada has long been the main exporter of pellets but in the second half of 2011, the US caught up and exported an equal volume to Canada. Read more ...

Project to discover the best algae species for producing biofuel

At Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech a team of researchers has assembled the draft genome of a marine algae sequence to aid scientists across the US in a project that aims to discover the best algae species for producing biodiesel fuel. The results have been published in Nature Communications. Other methods have been tried for developing an alternative renewable fuel source, corn for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel, for example.

Nannochloropsis gaditana. Una microalga

But to truly meet the world’s fuel needs, researchers must come up with a way to produce as much biofuel as possible in the smallest amount of space using the least amount of resources. Enter algae. Unlike other crops like corn or soybeans, algae can use various water sources ranging from wastewater to brackish water and be grown in small, intensive plots on denuded land. Read more ...

Article in Nature Communications here

Aberystwyth University unveils new research facilities

 

The BEACON biorefining centre at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), has unveiled new research facilities as part of a UK£20 million (US$31.7 million) initiative. The centre is the first of its kind in Wales and houses large-scale equipment capable of taking laboratory research and scaling up to produce commercial products, services and technologies.

The new facilities are already enabling businesses to develop new ways of converting crops such as rye grass, oats and miscanthus (elephant grass) into products including platform chemicals, fuels and cosmetics. Read more ...

New Zealand economy could get wood biomass boost

According to the New Zealand Bioenergy Association, New Zealand could see a major boost to its economy worth up to NZ$6 billion (€3.739 billion), they claim that this additional boost to the economy could be through wood to produce bioenergy. Now the association has called on the Government to include it within the Government's economic growth agenda.

Rob Mallinson, Chair of the Bioenergy Association of New Zealand (BANZ) said: "There really is no better time to be considering the use of forest harvest and wood processing residues as a fuel for hospitals, institutional and industrial heat applications.

"The forest and wood products sector should be congratulated and supported in their endeavours to get additional value from wood. Currently approximately 10-15 percent of wood is wasted and this is an economic loss to the country as well as lost revenue to forestry and wood processing companies.”

Read more ...

Apple announces a new 5MW biogas fuel cell installation

Apple?s energy- and material-efficient data center located in Maiden, North Carolina

Apple has revealed they plan a 5MW biogas fuel cell installation at their new US$1 billion (€761 million), North Carolina data centre. Finding more environmentally friendly power sources to deliver this energy is of increasing importance to IT companies interested in reducing their carbon footprint and energy costs. Now Apple has filed plans to construct a 24 fuel cell system to help power its new iDataCentre in North Carolina, which was built to support its iCloud online data storage system and SIRI voice-recognition software. Read more ...

Is bio-energy expansion harmful to wildlife?

Indicator Species the Skylark

The Helmholtz Centre for the Environmental Research in Leipzig has developed a way to study the effects of increased energy crop cultivation on farmland bird populations. “The Skylark is an indicator species for agricultural areas because it occupies many habitats of the wider countryside around the globe, breeds on the ground within fields and feeds mostly on insects” notes lead researcher, Jan Engel. “Improving the habitat suitability for Skylark, accordingly, would improve conservation of natural vegetation, insects, and other ground breeding farmland bird species.” Read more ...

Study by DGFI claims renewable 'are the answer'

A recent study carried out by DWS Global Financial Institute (DGFI), indicates that investors should look to renewables and clean technologies as a growth area, as it estimates that the global oil supply will begin to diminish by 2020. According to Biofuels International even as the oil start to run out the demand for energy is on the increase. The study points out that only 30 countries provide the entire worlds production of oil and that political unrest could restrict oil exports. Read more ...

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Volkswagen teams up with biofuel companies

Car manufacture Volkswagen in the US has teamed up with biofuels companies Solazyme and Amyris to evaluate the amount of emissions produced by cars running on biofuel in order to show the environmental benefits. Volkswagen is to supply the companies with two cars the 2012 Passat TDI and 2012 Jetta TDI so that they can examine the effects the fuels will have on the Volkswagen clean diesel technology and the environment.

"Amyris' renewable diesel's proven superior cold weather performance, high cetane and comparable energy density to petroleum diesel have enabled us to obtain one of the highest blending registrations certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency," says Mario Portela, COO of Amyris. Read more ...

Kior a renewable fuels company makes $1 million loss

First commercial scale facility

A US renewable fuels company Kior said it made a net loss of US$64 million (€48 million) in 2011, which was more than the US$46 million (€34.457 million) loss it made the year prior. The company did not make any revenue throughout last year because it was investing in the construction of its first commercial facility in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as into R&D which it hopes will improve the production yields for its biofuels developments. Even though these figures are not positive, the company is looking to finance an expansion and has already hired more staff and increased its testing activities. Read more ...

New planning laws could see a reduction in rural energy bills

New relaxed laws on planning permission for small scale renewable energy systems, could see a reduction in rural energy bills. From April 2012 small-scale energy installations built on agricultural or forestry land will be exempt from planning permission under amendments to the English Town and Country Planning Order. This means that farmers and landowners will no longer need to seek permission to install small scale renewable energy systems such as solar panels on existing buildings or anaerobic digesters on farming or non domestic land.

Ivan Moss, planning policy adviser at The National Farmers Union (NFU) said: "This is very good news for our members. The permitted development rights will enable farmers to install small-scale renewable energy generation without needing to obtain planning permission. It will reduce their energy costs and make their production greener, making it a win-win for everyone." Read more ..

DDGS imports to Japan at record high

DDGS sales to Japan

The ethanol boom in the US has lead to increasing availability of a high value co-product, Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS). Since 2007 Japans imports of DDGS has increased remarkably in 2007 they surpassed the 100,000 MT and by 2009 they had reached 275,000MT. In 2010 the demand surged higher as corn prices increased. The majority of DDGS is being used in dairy cattle feed. One of the key reasons to this increased growth is aggressive trade education activities led by the US grain council. Read more ...

Anesco launches free biomass boilers for commercial market

Anesco is helping businesses to green up their energy credentials after launching an innovative new scheme to provide fully funded biomass boiler installations. Under the scheme, organisations can receive the free supply and installation of an ETA biomass boiler, including fuel storage, delivery systems, performance monitoring and annual services.

As well as coming at zero cost to an organisation, firms will benefit from substantially reduced heating bills. Savings on these bills will range from 30 to 50 percent, with properties that currently run on oil or LPG based systems reaping the greatest rewards. The scheme is particularly beneficial for medium to large size facilities which have sizeable heating demands each day, such as nursing homes, hotels, large commercial units and leisure centres.

Adrian Pike, CEO of Anesco, explains: “Funding is always difficult for some organisations, so we’ve been able to pull together an innovative fully funded offering, to help businesses install a brand new boiler free of charge.

“As we developed our ESCO model, which looks at every aspect of an organisations operations and how their buildings function, we found there is a distinct need to provide a greener way to heat buildings.

“Biomass energy is a cost effective solution to this and with the UK’s unique Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme launched by the Department of Energy Climate Change, this provides a visionary way of implementing such technology at no cost to the client.”

The cost of each installation is recouped by Anesco for its investors through the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is a Government reward initiative that makes payments for heat generated from renewable sources.

Organisations signing up to the scheme will receive an ETA biomass boiler from leading manufacturer Innasol, who is Anesco’s chosen supplier for the initiative.

Adrian added: “The free biomass boiler installations will provide a green energy solution, while bringing saving on energy bills and helping organisations achieve their carbon commitment targets.”

For more details visit www.anesco.co.uk 
or call 0845 894 4444.

Viaton Industries to cut costs with on-site wind power

Powder technology firm Viaton Industries Limited is to build a wind turbine on its Brassington site after Derbyshire Dales District Council last week granted planning permission for a single turbine, predicted to provide around 6570 MW/h per annum based on an application prepared by environmental and town planning specialist Atmos Consulting.

Like any heavy industrial firm, Viaton’s energy consumption costs have risen astronomically and generating its own renewable energy is an increasingly attractive option to significantly reduce manufacturing costs. 70 percent of the energy produced from the wind turbine will be used on site at Viaton, with any surplus being fed into the grid at times the plant is not operating.

Atmos Consulting carried out a full environmental impact assessment for the proposal. The quality of the whole proposal was praised by both nature advisory body Natural England and Derbyshire Dales District Council.

Philip Lewis, regional director at Atmos Consulting, who led the project commented: “Viaton is an important local employer that has worked hard to secure its future by establishing a lean business model. Adding on-site power generation now gives it more control over its energy costs, and we are delighted to have helped the firm to achieve planning permission with no objections from local residents or expensive appeal process.”

Atmos Consulting provides a fully-comprehensive range of consultancy skills from feasibility studies through to detailed environmental impact assessments and mitigation planning, for a wide range of development, including renewable energy projects.

For more information,
please visit www.atmosconsulting.com 
or
 follow them on Twitter @atmosconsulting

Feedstock Innovation award won by DuPont

The 2012 Sustainable biofuel award in the sustainable feedstock innovation category for its stover harvest collection project was won by DuPont. This was a scale up project that has significantly advances the cellulosic ethanol industry toward commercialisation and advances DuPont’s efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Sustainable Feedstock Innovation
Winner: DuPont

"It is an honor to receive the 2012 Sustainable Biofuels Award for our Stover Harvest Collection Project," said James C. Collins, president of DuPont Industrial Biosciences. "We recognise that a reliable, sustainable source of biomass is critical to the success of advanced biofuels. Our collaborative approach involving growers, researchers, environmental organisations and government ensures we'll be able to meet the needs of the evolving market sustainably while creating new opportunities for rural America." Read more ...

The UK governments loses Supreme Court appeal over Feed in Tariffs

The British governments appeal against a previous high court and court of appeal ruling that it had acted unlawfully when it reduced the Solar PV Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs) was rejected by the Supreme Court. The ruling end months of speculation that the rates that installations fitted between December 12, 2011 and March 3, 2012 would receive.

The ruling confirms that the original payment of 43p/kWh rather than 21p/kWh will apply to systems installed within this period. Mark Newton, Head of Renewable Energy at Fisher German said “This is an excellent outcome for those who have installed before March 3 and I am glad to see that a decision has been made that will end months of speculation. I hope that know we can put this behind us and that people throughout the country can once again have confidence installing renewable energy projects". Read more ...

Recent budget gets response from renewable industry specialists

After the Chancellor delivered his budget, the Chief Executive of the UK’s National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials (NNFCC), said it is a 'missed opportunity. Andrew Holmes, Managing Director of the Climate Energy Group, says: “We welcome the news that renewable energy is a priority for the Government. As gas and oil prices continue to rise, making energy bills unaffordable for many elderly and vulnerable people as well as families, we need to be looking at making renewable energy a realistic option for households across the UK.

“The Government must work with the industry to ensure that the future of renewable energy isn’t just a pipe dream but is achievable for both businesses and homeowners across the UK. “More clarity around the future of FiT, RHI and Green Deal will go a long way to helping to achieve this and will encourage further investment in renewables in the UK," concluded Mr Holmes. Read more ...

Oil palm biomass center opened in Malaysia

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday launched a new oil palm business center (OPBC) in Parliament. OPBC is a Malaysian public-private partnership aiming to accelerate technology development, testing and demonstration for utilisation of oil palm biomass. The 18 CEO’s, Vice Chancellors and other senior representatives of OPBC’s industrial and academic partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Together they aim to bring available facilities, required capabilities and other resources efficiently in one organisation, sharing the risks and costs of developing and testing the required technologies.

The PM also says “1MBAS will report their progress and activities related to Palm Oil Biomass to the Steering Committee of the Palm Oil and Rubber NKEA, which is chaired by the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and Pemandu”. NKEA are National Key Economic Area’s which have the potential to significantly drive the economic growth of Malaysia, comparable to the Dutch Top sector Policy. Read more ...

Pension funds see renewable energy as alternative to government bonds

In 2011 the global investment in renewable power generation hit a record high of US$260 billion (€197.514 billion) and by 2020 the annual investment is expected to double, as the prices for fossil fuels increase. In the United Kingdom renewable energy capacity grew by 15 percent between 2009-2010. Biomass also grew substantially by 17 percent along with the biofuel sector also 17 percent.

Graham Weale, Chief Economist at utility company RWE, said: "With interest rates in government bonds at a rather low level, there is quite a lot of money in pension funds chasing relatively reliable returns, which offer more than sovereign debt." "Both grid and renewable investments are regulated and relatively low risk, which makes them suitable for fixed-income funds and means they offer higher returns than are available elsewhere," he added. Read more ...

China to increase spending on Renewable energy

China is one of the worlds biggest polluters, but in an effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels China is to spend UK£4 billion (US$6.32 billion). The Gansu region of China is often extremely windy and is now being used to provide energy via wind turbines, roughly up to 36 wind turbines are being installed each day across the country.

Wind farm in the Gansu region of China

This move to wind energy has given the Jiuquan region an area of the Gansu province 6GW of wind energy, which in comparison is the same as the whole of the UK. China hope to increase capacity by tripling this figure by 2015, and by 2020 the Country hope to supply 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources. Read more ...

Senate energy vote disappoints the National Biodiesel Board

The National Biodiesel Board of the United States has expressed great disappointment over the Senate voting on two amendments that would have extended the tax incentive through the end of the year on biodiesel.

"This is another missed opportunity for Congress to do something to boost the economy. We're talking about thousands of jobs across the country that are affected by this, and the very real possibility that biodiesel plants will go out of business," said Anne Steckel, NBB's vice president of federal affairs. Read more ...

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German company Verbio opens a world first

Worlds first industrial straw processing plant

German company Verbio has recently opened the worlds first industrial straw processing plant for the production of biomethane in Zörbig, Saxony-Anhalt. “I’m very proud that we’ve managed to start up the first plant of this type anywhere in the world and that we’re a technological pioneer setting new standards in the biofuels industry,” declared Claus Sauter, CEO of VERBIO. “It means we already have a biofuel production process in place which meets the demands for future fuel production expressed by both politicians and the public: no raw foodstuffs, no displacement of farmland and high CO2 efficiency without charging consumers more.” Read more ...

Biogas could reduce Coca Cola fleet emissions by 50 percent

A new report commissioned by Coca Cola, that a fleet of new vehicles powered by biogas could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent compared to diesel and could save fuel costs. Coca Cola saw the potential of biogas as a possible new breed of low carbon source, as its used in the production of heat and electricity and is growing in importance across the UK.

The report which has now been published and reveal that the biogas fueled vehicle reduce well-to-wheel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated 50.3 percent, compared to the diesel Stralis vehicle. However, this was achieved using a temporary filling station a more efficient permanent station being installed at the Coca-Cola depot could raise the GHG savings to above 60 percent.

Additionally, operating the gas vehicle on biomethane reduced the fuel costs by 12.8 percent. Lucy Hopwood, Head of Biomass and Biogas at NNFCC, said: "These are exciting results and offer a glimpse of the potential for the wider deployment of the technology, but the next step is to establish a network of filling points at fleet bases." Read more ...

Building wind farms not as environmentally friendly as thought

One of the general reasons that we build wind farms today is to create clean energy that does not harm the environment, or cause more environmental damage than fossil fuel systems. But a recent study in Norway shows that act of building and operating a wind power plant produces non-renewable emissions.

A land based wind farm

A study in Environmental Research Letters (ERL) has taken a life-cycle approach to evaluate the environmental cost and benefits of creating a wind farm at the fundamental level. The research looked at life cycle inventories for both on shore and off shore wind farms to estimate the total emissions. Using a set of life cycle inventories for fossil fuel power stations they were compared and evaluated the emission saving of the wind-power. Read more ...

The 4th annual Sustainable Biofuels Awards

In the Netherlands, the forth annual sustainable biofuels awards which recognise innovation and achievement in the development of truly sustainable and renewable fuels, were presented to winners at a ceremony during the seventh annual World Biofuels Markets last week. “We had thousands of nominations from around the world and across the entire biofuels value chain,” said Claire Poole, Event Director, Green Power Conferences, organiser of the awards and conference. “The winning companies demonstrated a layer of achievement and promise above their peers that bodes well for themselves as well as the industry as a whole.”

This years winners are:

Green Shoots Award - Bio Architecture Lab
Biofuels Leadership Award - Novozymes North America
Sustainable Biofuels Technology Award - LS9
Biofuels Adoption Award - City of Stockholm
Sustainable Bioethanol Award - Abengoa Bioenergy
Sustainable Biodiesel Award - Vale
Sustainable Feedstock Innovation - DuPont Stover Harvest Collection Project
Innovation in Aviation - Boeing
Sustainable Biopower Generation Facility - Envergent Technologies
Leader in Bio-based Chemical Industry - Kiverdi

Read more ...

Wales to get new green energy plant constructed by BiogenGreenfinch

Gwynedd council Wales has chosen BiogenGreenfinch as the preferred bidder for the construction of a new green energy plant which will take council collected food waste and turn it into renewable energy. Richard Barker, Chief Executive of BiogenGreenfinch, said: "We are proud and delighted to have been selected to build what will be the first anaerobic digestion facility in Wales specifically designed to take Local Authority collected food waste."

The food waste will come from local homes and business through the collection scheme run by the council the project is expected to be in operation by spring 2012. "Residents throughout Gwynedd have shown their commitment to recycling, re-using and composting more of their waste. This exciting project will ensure that Gwynedd’s food waste which will be collected on a weekly basis in communities across Gwynedd can be treated in a more efficient way within the county." Read more ...

Edinburgh to be location of Worlds first green investment bank

Edinburgh is to be the location of the worlds first green investment bank headquarters, the UK business secretary has announced. The banks main transaction team will be based in London. Other cities, like Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham bid for the honour but lost out to the Edinburgh-London combination. The GIB will be the world’s first investment bank solely dedicated to greening the economy and will spend UK£3 billion (US$4.737 billion) between now and 2015.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Edinburgh has a thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management. London, as the world’s leading financial centre, will ensure that the GIB’s transaction team can hit the ground running. This decision will allow the UK GIB to operate effectively and achieve its mission of mobilising the additional investment needed to accelerate the UK’s transition to a green economy." Read more ...

Billion pound wind farm announced by Scottish company Burcote

Scottish company Burcote Consultancy has announced plans to invest more than a billion pounds to develop 10 wind farms in the UK. At present the company has not secured any planning permission and will not seek finance for the projects until it does.

The Scottish government said the renewable energy sector secured £750 million of investment last year. If given consent, the farms could produce an annual electricity output capable of meeting the energy needs of 554,000 homes. Read more ...

France puts premium onto FiTs for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation

The French Government has announced that a ten percent premium is to be added to rates paid through its Feed in Tariff (FiT's) for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. The President's office noted that Photowatt is the sole domestic manufacturer of PV cells, and cited the company's research in PV cell technology as an important asset.

"France is committed very strongly in favour of solar energy and strengthening the industrial sector associated with it," stated President Nicolas Sarkozy. "In this context, the resumption of Photowatt was more than a duty, it was a necessity." Read more ...

Asian countries spending more on renewable resources than the developed countries

At the annual conference Clean Power Asia 2012, Daria La Valle the conference manager said that the Asian countries are overtaking developed ones in terms of spending on renewable and cleaner fossil power projects. The annual conference and exhibition will gather some 600 leading Asian renewable and cleaner fossil power experts, utilities, energy ministries, regulators, investors and technology. As well as service providers to discuss the latest renewable and cleaner fossil power developments in the region as well as the main challenges that utilities face to adopt greener power sources.

 “The future of renewable and clean energy is now in the developing world” says Daria La Valle, “new government policies have made it more palatable for foreign investors to finance clean power projects here in Asia through various financial instruments and clearer regulatory frameworks.” Read more ...

Company developed new tool for measuring wind turbine performance

Aeolus Power (Wind-Energy) Limited a Wind turbine supplier and installer has developed a new tool called TOPAZ, which will allow users to check the performance data on their machines which is updated every hour. It includes average wind speed over the last hour, the peak wind speed over the last 24 hours, the power being generated and cumulative power generation since installation.

Director of Aeolus Power, Christine Griffiths, said: “We have been testing TOPAZ over the past months and it provides a much sought after our service to our customers. Once a wind turbine has been installed what the owner really wants to know is ‘How is it performing’? Our customers now have access to that information 24 hours a day.” TOPAZ will be launched at the Renewable Energy event in Exeter this week. Read more ...