NIB invests in biomass development program

The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has provided bioenergy company Vaskiluodon Voima Oy with €18 million (US$13.134 million ), to build a gasification plant in Vaasa, Finland. The facility will produce 140MW and is to be connected to a power plant that is already established, allowing for the coal from the old plant to be substituted by domestic biofuels and peat.



Because of this, coal use will be lowered by between 25-40 percent, with a fuel mix for the gasification system that will be made up of about 25 percent peat and 75 percent forest residues and biomaterials such as reed. Read more ...

VTT working to develop biomass delivery chains in Vietnam

In Vietnam VTT is working to develop Vietnam's solid biomass fuel resources on an industrial level as part of the Energy and Environment Partnership Program run by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, is to create multi-fuel delivery chains for power plants and industrial boilers.

The program will make sure biomass fuels are available all year round through the use of storage systems to make seasonal raw materials available continuously. It is thought that through this program, biomass will be able to be more efficiently and more often delivered, which should allow for biomass fuel to be more readily available at Vietnamese power plants. Read more ...

Investment of £25 million into the UK sustainable infrastructure

The Malaysian giants KNM Group Berhad have announced the signing of an agreement with Poplar Holdings Limited for the exclusive rights to conclude the acquisition of the entire paid-up capital of its subsidiary, Poplar Investments Limited, owners of the land earmarked for the development of EnergyPark Peterborough in the East of England.

The agreement, will see KNM take ownership of the EnergyPark site, which is consented for the UK’s first 80MWe biomass from waste to power station. KNM had earlier signed a deal worth UK£450 million (US$705.982 million) with the developers, Green Energy Parks’ (GEP) subsidiary, Peterborough Renewable Energy Ltd in 2010 for the engineering, procurement and construction of the waste to power station. Read more ...

USDA guarantees $232.5 million loan to ZeaChem Inc

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) has guaranteed a US$232.5 (€177.291) million loan under the  9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program to ZeaChem Inc. “The USDA loan guarantee is a significant validation for ZeaChem’s highly efficient, economical and flexible biorefinery technology,” said Jim Imbler, president and chief executive officer of ZeaChem. “This commitment allows us to move forward with securing financing, beginning construction, creating jobs in the community, and producing economical and sustainable products for the fuel and chemical industries.” Read more ...

Keynote speakers announced for World Biofuels Markets 2012

Philip Lowe, Director-General of Energy DG, European Commission, Tony Juniper, Sustainability Adviser & Environmentalist and Jonathan Wolfson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Solazyme have all been added to the line up of speakers at the conference in March.

By attending Europe's largest biofuels conference visitors can network with leading experts from aviation biofuels, advanced biofuels, biorefinery platforms, finance and investment, biodiesel production, bioethanol production, automotive futures in bioenergy, biogas in transportation and more.

The conference and exhibition is taking place on the March 13 -15, 2012 at Beurs-World Trade Center, Rotterdam.

For more information visit the World Biofuels Markets.

Department of Energy & Climate Change loses solar appeal

The Court of Appeal this week ruled that under the Energy Act 2008 the government does not have the power to change feed-in tariff rates retrospectively. This rejection of a Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), appeal means that higher (pre December) rates for solar projects will most probably continue to apply until a government compromise deal comes into effect.

However, the government has sought a further appeal at the Supreme Court, which could yet impact upon the rates from December to March. It will be known whether they receive this in the next few days. Read more ...

UK Evergreen Gas Ltd a new British AD provider

Evergreen Gas Ltd, will be presenting a new smaller design of anaerobic digestion (AD) technology at the Energy Now Expo on February 15 &16, to be held at The Three Counties Agricultural Society, The Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire. The new design which is a radical departure from the conventional type of AD plants, opens up diversification opportunities for farms and rural communities wishing to benefit from AD.

Anaerobic digestion is a well-established process which has been recently adopted by over 60 farms and rural businesses in the UK. Whilst long-term returns on investment have been favourable for large farms and food producers in the UK, until now there has been no technology focusing solely on the small-scale end of the market. Read more ...

Brown Seaweed's potential as a vest resource of biofuels

Research scientist in Chile, France and the United States say they have developed the first microbe capable of fermenting all the major sugars found in a common species of brown seaweed (Saccharinna japonica).

"This development makes brown seaweed a viable biomass for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals," said Yasuo Yoshikuni, co-author of the study and chief science officer at Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) Inc, a US company that has built four seaweed farms off the coast of Chile. Read more ...

Map published of UK bioenergy facilities by NNFCC

The UK's installed bioenergy capacity currently stands at 2,000 MWe and can now produce more than 700,000 tonnes of biofuel each year. Increasingly demanding renewable energy and fuel targets are also likely to mean this will only increase in the future.

Biorenewables are a rapidly growing part of the UK's low carbon economy and offer significant opportunities for investment. "We are beginning to see real progress across the biorenewables sector in the UK and biomass is playing an increasingly important role in heat, power and materials markets," said Dr Adrian Higson, Head of Biorefining at the NNFCC. Read more ...

Poultry littler can ease energy problems

In Bangladesh, if the government had used poultry waste for generating electricity, instead of costly diesel then it could have saved foreign currency. It could also have avoided a free fall of the local currency that is causing the inflation. "Poultry waste can generate 2,000 megawatts of power annually at a much lower cost than what the country is incurring now," said Dr Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank.

Bangladesh had to import oil worth over US$6 billion (€4.628 billion), this fiscal year, mainly to feed the rental power plants. Moreover, a good amount of money is being spent on fertiliser imports. The consequence is that demand for the dollar is now record high and the local currency was devalued over 15 percent against the dollar in 2011. Read more ...

Miscanthus x giganteus has great potential as an alternative energy source

Recent findings from a study carried out by the University of Illinois has shown that Miscanthus x giganteus is a strong contender in the race to find the next source of ethanol. M. x giganteus is a bioenergy crop that can be grown to produce ethanol. The study investigated the establishment success, plant growth and dry biomass yield of the grass. Tom Voigt, lead scientist and associate professor in the U of I Department of Crop Sciences, said the overall goal is to promote biomass yield per acre for ethanol production using the fewest inputs with no environmental damage. Read more ...

Biomass System outperforms expectations in Vermont US

A biomass system in Vermont is outperforming all expectations, in one of the coldest States in the US National Life Group in late 2010 installed a biomass twin boiler wood chip system to provide primary heat for its 500,000 square foot headquarters.

“Because it was something new and they’d never operated it before, most of the guys said, ‘This is going to be bad," Ansel Quintin, HVAC team leader recalls. “It seemed like a lot of work. But you know what? That thing is awesome. We can’t say enough about it, the way it operates. Very smooth.” Read more ...

PDM Group to further develop anaerobic digestion (AD) plants

The PDM group has announced plans to invest a further UK£40 million (US$62.314 million), in its network of ReFood anaerobic digestion (AD), plants this year. This investment will result in two new plants located in Widnes and East London.

The announcement follows the completion of the company’s first AD plant at its headquarters in Doncaster. The two new plants will each double the recycling capacity of Doncaster, each handling around 90,000 tonnes of food waste each year and producing 4MWhs of renewable energy. Read more ...

Researchers show new technology in biomass conversion

University of Illinois researchers are to develop an educational and research facility that will be used to demonstrate the process of converting swine manure and algae into crude oil. Lance Schideman, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) at Illinois and Yuanhui Zhang, also a professor in ABE, have both spend a considerable length of time researching integrated algae systems for water purification and biomass production.

"With this system, we will first convert swine manure into crude oil in a hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor," Professor Schideman said. "The resultant waste water contains nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which can be used to grow algae. These fast-growing algae will remove the excess nutrients and capture carbon dioxide. Finally, the algae will be fed back into the HTL reactor to be converted into additional biocrude oil." Read more ...

WWF director calls global approach on renewable energy

At the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) held in Abu Dhabi last week, the director general of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Jim Leape called for global collaboration in the transitioning towards a sustainable energy future.

“We only have one earth, and humanity’s ecological footprint is much too heavy for one planet to sustain. We are fast running out of the natural resources on which our lives depend, but a future powered by renewable energies is entirely possible. With political commitment, and investment in the development of solar, wind, wave, and other alternatives as well as energy conservation a future with clean, efficient and secure energy for all is within our grasp”, said Jim Leape. Read more ...

Renewables rising wind power passes the six gigawatt threshold

RenewableUK, the trade association representing the renewable energy industries, has announced that the country’s wind sector has reached a landmark six gigawatts of installed capacity enough to supply electricity to 3,354,893 homes.

The 6GW threshold was reached by the Ormonde offshore wind farm, off the coast of Cumbria, which now has 120 megawatts (MW) operational enough to power more than 67,000 homes. RenewableUK’s Chief Executive, Maria McCaffery said:

“This is a landmark achievement. There’s a great feeling of pride throughout the industry that we’ve reached a record high of 6 gigawatts, and there’s a further 19.5GW of capacity under construction, consented, or in planning.  Read more ...

The demise of Ethanol Tax Credits and its impact?

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), ceased operations on December 31, 2011. Originally set up to support the ethanol production it has now been relegated to the history books. Historically, the credit played an important role in ensuring the profitability of ethanol production, and it therefore indirectly affected corn prices as well. However, because high gasoline prices have made ethanol competitive on its own and since ethanol consumption mandates guarantee minimum production volumes, elimination of the credit is expected to have minimal impact on the production of ethanol and the demand for corn as a biofuel feedstock. Read more ...

US$17 million raised by SG Biofuels for development

The United States Bioenergy crop company SG Biofuels closed another round of fundraising which raised US$17 million (€13.194 million) towards further development of its hybrid jatropha seeds which can be used for biodiesel production. "The funding comes at a time when we’re experiencing significant commercial adoption of our hybrid Jatropha and will be instrumental as we continue to expand our global footprint," says Kirk Haney, CEO at SG Biofuels. Read more ...

Companies aim to develop Worlds Largest wave farm

Alstom and Scottish marine developers SSE Renewables have signed a new venture agreement to develop Costa Head Wave Project, a wave energy site up to 200 Megawatts (MW) located north of mainland Orkney, Scotland. The companies said they will now work together to obtain the necessary permits for the Costa Head site as part of the Crown Estate's program to deploy marine energy projects in the designated Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic Area. Read more ...

Plant nourishing gene discovered

Scientist at the University of Warwick have discovered a 'nourishing gene' that controls the transfer of nutrients from plant to seed. This discovery is a significant step in understanding the development of seeds from the mother plant. There is also the possibility of better understanding which could help increase global food production.

Dr Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, Associate Professor in the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences, said: “These findings have significant implications for global agriculture and food security, as scientists now have the molecular know-how to manipulate this gene by traditional plant breeding or through other methods to improve seed traits, such as increased seed biomass yield. “This understanding of how maize seeds and other cereal grains develop, for example in rice and wheat is vital as the global population relies on these staple products for sustenance." Read more ...

Sky prepares to use biomass power

Broadcasters Sky are preparing to switch over to biomass power and moving a step closer to its target of cutting its carbon emissions by a quarter. Sky is commissioning a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant that could potentially supply up to 40 percent  of energy to Sky's main studio complex. The generator will also help Sky achieve targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, as well as improve energy efficiency by 20 percent. Read more ...

The British Government attempts appeal of lost case

Following the loss of the case brought against the British government over the solar tariff issue, the government is now in the court of appeal today attempting to overturn the decision by the High Court that its handling of the solar subsidies had been illegal. The original case was won by Friends of the Earth along with a number of companies involved in solar power installation.

If the Government wins its appeal, the prospects for households and community projects installing solar panels could see repayments change at any stage, making projects potentially unworkable. "This appeal prolongs uncertainty and further erodes industry and consumer confidence," said John Swinney, Director of Business Development, Carillion. The Government's appeal could potentially cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds. Read more ...

£10m anaerobic digestion fund launched

Wiltshire-based company Malaby Biogas has become the first recipient of a loan from a UK£10 million (US$15.331 million), anaerobic digestion fund launched in July last year by Defra and administered by WRAP. The one-off UK£800,000 (US$1,226,440.838), loan will be added to other funding secured by Malaby Biogas, including equity investment and support from Clydesdale Bank, to construct and commission a new anaerobic digestion plant on the site of a redundant 12-acre smallholding. Read more ...

Lufthansa biosynthetic fuel trail has been successful

Lufthansa has completed its six month trail with biosynthetic fuel, during the course of this trail more than 1000 biofuels flights were successfully flown between Hamburg and Frankfurt. The trail has ended due to not being able to find a suitable reliable supplier for its aviation biofuels.

"As a next step, we will focus on the suitability, availability, sustainability and certification of raw materials. But first we must tap into this market. However, Lufthansa will only continue the practical trial if we are able to secure the volume of sustainable, certified raw materials required in order to maintain routine operations," project manager of the airline, Joachim Buse, says. Read more ...

First Philippines conference on BioEnergy

The Philippine International BioEnergy Conference (PIBEC) taking place today and tomorrow is underway, with experts on bioenergy. The line up of international speakers includes Dr Kaoru Yamaguchi, a specialist at the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan. Dr William D. Dar, the former director of Philippine Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), who is now working for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), will give a talk entitled "Sweet Sorghum: A Complementary Feedstock for Bioethanol." Topics on renewable energy will also be discussed by ADB’s Chavet Hussain Mir, Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras of the Department of Energy, and a representative from World Wide Fund. Read more ...

Brazil's research station to use biofuel to power Antarctica

Brazil's research stations on the continent of Antarctica are to be the first to use an ethanol fueled generator to supply its electric needs. Starting this week the generator will provide electrical power for the Brazilian navy station in Antarctica. The operation is part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Commander Ferraz Antarctic Station. Defense minister Celso Amorim should start the operation of the generator at the event. Read more ...

Biodiesel being produced from microalgae oil

With the diminishing stocks of fossils and their combustion causing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to increase, the demand and need for alternatives is on the rise. In Germany they are producing biodiesel from microalgae oils. A research team from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now introduced a new catalytic process that allows the effective conversion of bio-petroleum from microalgae into diesel fuels.

Plant oils from sources such as soybean and rapeseed are promising starting materials for the production of biofuels. Microalgae are an interesting alternative to these conventional oil-containing crops. Microalgae are individual cells or short chains of cells from algae freely moving through water. Read more ...

Denmark produces the worlds largest wind blades

Denmark has set a world record for manufacturing the world longest wind turbine blades at Siemans Wind Power in Aalborg, each blade will be 75 meters long, weighing in at 20 tons. Once completed the diameter of the circle that the blades will make is 154 meters once placed on the turbine. The blades once completed will be connected to a newly launched Siemens 6-megawatt turbine, and will be able to generate enough power to to supply 5000 households with electricity. Read more ...

Worlds largest biomass-fueled power plant

Tilbury Power Station

 Towards the End of January the worlds largest wood pellet-based biomass power plant will be fully commissioned and producing electricity at Tilbury in England. The power plant will be capable of generating an estimated 750 megawatts (MW) of base loan renewable power. “Although facing significant headwinds, the biopower industry is continuing to add capacity worldwide as governments look to develop low-cost, base load renewable energy sources,” says senior analyst Mackinnon Lawrence.

Wood pellets

“Currently, power generation from biomass is hamstrung by policy uncertainty and the high costs of feedstock relative to fossil fuels, but the combination of a burgeoning international trade in biomass pellets, implementation of emission regulations, and increased utilisation of co-firing strategies is expected to accelerate global scale-up efforts over the next decade.” Read more ...

Reduce waste to meet food demand OFC told

Globally over the next 25 to 50 years food production will have to double, to keep up with the growing populations and the growing consumption. However the Chief scientific advisor, Professor Sir Bob Watson told the Oxford Farming Conference He said "there is huge wastage in present food production and there are growing concerns over the excessive use of nitrogen and fertilisers to produce food". "We are not feeding the world sustainably and at the same time one billion people go to bed each day hungry, and that is not acceptable". Read more ...

Dragons den style renewable energy event 2012

On January 18, a dragon den renewable event will look at new energy generating ideas, such as Algae photo-bioreactors, a new generation of sea and wind turbines, bio char and bio coal, along with several waste to energy ideas and two new sea powered energy generation concepts. None of these new concepts have been publicly aired.

The panel will consist of six experts with broad experience and skills. They will also be able to advise on different topic like funding, legal, incentives and sector specific advice. The audience will also be allowed to ask questions of the panel. The event will be held in London on Wednesday January 18, 6 pm at BDO LLP, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU. Read more ...

Renewables are a boost to UK economy

The latest research from DECC has shown that so far in this financial year, companies have announced plans for almost UK£2.5billion (US$3.886 billion) worth of investment in renewable energy projects in the UK, with the potential to create almost 12,000 jobs across the country. Scotland is to get two new wind farms that will power over 90,000 homes that have been approved by the Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. The UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said that this kind of investment shows the economic benefits of renewable energy, and he reaffirmed the coalitions commitment to meeting the EU renewable energy targets. Read more ...

Ethanol deal worth €2 billion signed by Nigerian Government

The Nigerian government has signed a deal with Global Biofuels to build 15 biofuel plants in Nigeria, costing about N414 billion (€2.02 billion). The planned project will create about 120,000 jobs and will supply 15 states with 30MW from each biofuel plant. Construction is due to begin within the next few months and should be complete in about a year, Global Biofuels is a local biofuel producer. The Nigerian minister of trade and investment, Olusegun Aganga, "says the project has been researched over a number of years and feasibility and market studies had already been carried out on the proposed developments". Read more ...

Anaerobic Digestion study looks at reliability

A recent study report from the Soil Association on Anaerobic Digestion (AD) has said that the value of the energy generated from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is the most important revenue stream for the viability of the technology. The comparative data regarding energy output makes it clear that the energy value of manure-only systems, and therefore the commercial value, is very limited. Manure tends to have a biogas potential which is only 1/10th of an energy crop. Read more ...

Solar issue to be challenged by UK government

The recent decision by the High courts that the government cuts to solar power feed in tariffs are illegal, are to be challenged by the government in an appeal confirmed by the Energy Minister Greg Barker. The Friends of the Earth believe that an appeal would be a waste of the tax-payers money and is urging the ministers to focus on helping the solar industry to get back on a stable footing.

The High Court also said that the government had no realistic prospect of winning an appeal. Friends of the Earth's Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton said: "Trying to appeal the High Court's ruling is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money. The government must expand the scheme with all the tax revenue the scheme generates, this can be done at no extra cost to bill payers". Read more ...

ATI awarded advanced technological education grant

The Agricultural Technical Institute was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for a program entitled "Bioenergy: A Model Workforce Education Program." The grant of US$762,416 (€584,495), will be used to develop a new associate of science degree and certificate program in bioenergy as well as offering professional development programs for 120 high school and college educators.

The new bioenergy program will be offered beginning in autumn 2012 to coincide with the conversion to semesters. The program will prepare students for employment in operations management or maintenance of bioenergy facilities and related businesses. Read more ...

2012 renewable fuel standards finalised by US EPA

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalised the 2012 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the EPA's renewable standard program (RFS2). They continue to support greater use of renewable fuels within the transportation sector. That encourages innovation, but at the same time strengthens America's energy security well attempting to decrease greenhouse gas pollution. Read more ...

Government needs to act in solar case

The UK solar industry could face months of "paralysis" because the of the inadequate actions of the government in dealing with the industry. The government needs to act quickly according to a leading renewable energy company.

The double whammy of the High Court ruling that the reduction in Feed-in-Tariffs was “legally flawed” together with a Parliamentary report which labelled the process “clumsy” has further rocked one of the brightest sectors in the UK economy. The Government now faces having to go back to the drawing board in order to put in place a new consultation process to find a feed-in-tariff rate for domestic solar PV schemes more acceptable to the industry. Read more ...