Pakistan energy crisis demand versus capacity

Pakistan has a problem, it is the increasing gap in energy demand versus capacity, this widening gap has put a lot of pressure on Pakistan. Energy is the key and a lifeline to a nation. The country as a whole spends about 20 percent on of its foreign exchange on fossil fuel imports. Annually US$7 (€5.254) billion is being eaten away in import of conventional energy resources that is equivalent to 40 per cent of total imports by the country. Read more ...

Investors to relaunch Procana bio fuel project

A group of investors linked to a South African company Tsb Sugar that produces brown sugar and refined for the International and South African markets are planning to re launch the failed Procana project for bio fuel production in Mozambique. The company officials were received by the governor of the province Raimundo Diomba, to whom they stated their interest in immediately re-launching the US$740 (€555.41) million project. It will be known as the Massingir Project for Biofuel Development. Read more ...

Spanish company Nufri invests in biomass plant

A Spanish horticultural company Nufri based in Mallerussa (Lleida) Spain is to invest €25million (US$33.414 million) in the construction of a biomass plant in El Palau d'Anglesola. The company's industrial director Xavier Argilés said "We will help farmers in the area, since we offer the chance to cultivate energetic biomass at assured prices", he said in a press conference, while explaining that the company will offer to producers the chance to diversify traditional cultivations in the area, widening them with "energetic cultivations". Read more ...

Oil palm biomass center established in Malaysia

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the launch of the National Biomass Strategy at the BIO Malaysia Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. One of the outcome of this announcement is the setting up of an international oil palm biomass center (OPBC), Malaysia aims to create economic value and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Read more ...

Australia's government invest AU$2 million in biochar research

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, has announced AU$2 million (€1.489 million) in competitive grants for biochar research, under the Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative. Biochar is a stable type of char made by burning organic materials, such as wood or crop waste in a low oxygen environment. It can be added to soil to sequester carbon and improve soil health. “Biochar has the potential to help mitigate Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting agricultural production,” Minister Ludwig said. Read more ...

UK renewable heat incentives open for applications

The worlds first Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is open for applications from businesses and communities across the UK. The incentive will provide payments for heat generated from renewable technologies including biomass boilers, solar thermal equipment, heat pumps that have been installed since July 15, 2009. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: “The RHI will usher in a new era in clean green heat technology. It’s a world first and has the potential to put the UK at the forefront of a vibrant new green technology sector". Read more ...

Eneco builds largest bioenergy plant

Eneco a Dutch energy company officially launched the construction of its 49.9 MegaWatt bioenergy plant in the Dutch municipality of Delfzijl. The plant will annually convert 300,000 tons of wood chip from recycled waste wood into green electricity. It is equal to 120,000 households electricity consumption. The wood that is converted to electricity in the plant will arrive by ship, train and truck from the Netherlands and surrounding countries. Approximately 300 thousand tons are required each year, which equals about 150 ship loads. The plant is scheduled to be operational during 2013. Read more ...

New report on biomass from UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).

A new report from UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), on how a fifth of global energy could be provided by biomass (plants), without damaging food production. The report reviews more than 90 global studies. “If we make the best use of agricultural residues, energy crops and waste materials then getting one fifth of current global energy supply from biomass is a reasonable ambition,” said Dr Raphael Slade, the report’s lead author and a Research Fellow at Imperial College London.

The report finds that the main reason scientists disagree is that they make different assumptions about population, diet, and land use. A particularly important bone of contention is the speed with which productivity improvements in food and energy crop production can be rolled out. Read more ...