Calls to cut subsidies by conservative MP's

More than 100 Conservative MPs are urging the Prime Minister to cut the subsidies for wind turbines. In a letter sent the MPs said that they had “grown more and more concerned” about state payments offered to the industry. More than 50 percent of the revenue by onshore and offshore wind farms in the UK are from subsidies through renewable obligation certificates, which were worth UK£1 billion (€1.2 billion) in 2009. Some expert are concerned that by 2020 these subsidies could cost as much as UK£5 billion(€6.038 billion) a year. Read more ...

2012 Grapas Conference in Bangkok

 

The count down has started! Victam Asia 2012 is just TWO weeks away. So too is the 2nd one-day GRAPAS Conference, which will be held above the exhibition area (in Meeting Room 222-223 on the second floor) of the BITEC centre in Bangkok.

 

I am inviting you personally to attend a unique event that looks at milling in general and rice milling developments in particular. Where else would you get specialist knowledge, insight and contacts in rice milling technology than at this event? 

 

The GRAPAS Conference (which starts at 09:30 on February 15, 2012 in Bangkok's BITEC Centre) is part of the GRAPAS Exhibition hosted and co-located with Victam Asia 2012.

Conference Theme  

"Guaranteeing food and feed safety through greater use of technology in the control of
product quality at each step of the milling process, from raw material
collection-through processing-to-product dispatch."

 

Places are limited to 200. The Conference will be in English and translated simultaneously into Thai. The Conference fee is US$25 (or Baht 770 or UK£15). You can register and pay using our secure service below.

Review the draft program here 

Go right to Registration now!

Sorry, I can't make it this time

 

Perendale Publishers Limited (PPL) is pleased to be patron of this important event for Asian milling industry representatives. PPL's Grain & Feed Milling Technology magazine (the event's Media Partner) is also proud to announce that it will once again be sponsoring the GRAPA Milling Award 2012 at Victam Asia.

 

Thank you for your attention. We look forward to seeing you at GRAPAS 

Conference on February 15, 2012.

Your sincerely
Roger Gilbert
Perendale Publishers Ltd 

Tel: +44-1242 267700


GRAPAS Conference 2012 Asia 'Speaker Sponsors':

  

                      
                     

 

Pond Biofuels Canada is developing a new algae growth system

Pond Biofuels is developing a new algae growth system that will use CO2 emissions from smoke stacks to grow biomass, which can then be converted into biodiesel, bioplastics or act as a substitute for renewable coal. With support from the Ontario, Canada province, Pond Biofuels aims to get a full scale commercial facility into operation at St Marys Cement by 2014.

 About one tonne of the algae will be able to produce 100 litres of biodiesel and production of the algae should help to reduce Ontario’s pollution costs, which currently amount to about Can$4 billion (€3.066 billion) a year.

Steve Martin, CEO of Pond Biofuels, says: "Solving the problem of industrial emissions requires industry, government, technology and capital all working together. We have that here, with Pond Biofuels providing the technology, St. Marys as our commercialisation partner, angel investors in the Biomaterials Investment Group and support from the Province of Ontario. Going forward, Pond's made-in-Ontario technology can be applied to other essential industries, like steel, power generation and resource extraction." Read more ...

Denmark looks at plant based manure for renewable energy

The use of non organic manure being used on organic farms will soon be a thing of the past, In the near future this will be replaced by green manure – in other words, a plant-based manure. In a new project at Aarhus University scientists will therefore look at how to get the maximum benefit of nitrogen in green manure while optimising the quality of the fertiliser.

"The objective is to optimise the yield of the nitrogen in plant-based fertiliser that is stable and readily available when needed," says senior scientist Jørn Nygaard Sørensen, who is behind the project. Read more ...

UK consider following the German FiT Model

After the defeat of the UK government over the reducing of the solar subsidies without proper consultation. They are now considering copying the German FiT Model of reducing subsidies when installations reach a certain volume. The government is set to introduce phased reductions in subsidies for solar panels that come into force once a certain level of installations is reached.

A consultation on the so-called deployment trigger could be launched as early next week, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said. "We intend to announce the results of the solar consultation by February 9," said the spokeswoman. "At the same time we'll also put forward proposals to introduce a cost control mechanism for solar PV." Read more ...

Farmgen rolls out expansion plan across the UK

An energy farming company is in talks with farmers across the UK as its UK£30 million (US$47.5 million) nationwide expansion program picks up progress. Farmgen has already put plans in place to develop more anaerobic digestion plants in Cumbria on stream later this year. In December Farmgen hosted a consultation day at Moss House Farm in St Michael’s on Wyre, to discuss plans with local residents to create a UK£4million (US$6.33 million) ‘energy farming’ power plant.



The Blackpool-based company already has one flagship plant up and running in Lancashire, with more in the pipeline for the county and across the UK. Farmgen’s inaugural AD operation at Warton was officially switched on in 2011 and is now generating 800kW of electricity the equivalent of powering more than 1,000 homes. Read more ...

Canadian study of ethanol policies impact on the livestock industry

A study carried out by the George Morris Centre has demonstrated how the growth of the ethanol industry in Canada has had a negative economic consequences for the livestock industry. The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) partnered with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Canadian Meat Council to have this work done by the George Morris Centre to provide the beef and pork industries with analytical information on the implications for the livestock sector of Canadian ethanol policies.

"This careful assessment of the evidence confirms for pork producers what we have felt all along the rapid growth of ethanol production in recent years has affected the livestock industry by increasing grain prices," stated CPC Chair Jean-Guy Vincent. "We strongly urge governments federal and provincial to take the results of this study into account in considering any further stimulation of ethanol production in this country." Read more ...

Small scale UK Ad technologies a vital tool

The government of the UK has cited small scale anaerobic digestion systems as part of the vital tools for the UK to achieve lower carbon emissions in the future. The potential of this technology has only been within reach of large, profitable organisations, but a new project aimed at bringing cutting-edge AD technologies to rural and smaller scale businesses is being launched to combat this.

The Small Scale Anaerobic Digestion Technology (SSAD-TECH) platform provides underpinning process technology for the development of a series of commercial products for the local treatment of organic waste to produce energy (either as biogas, heat or electricity) and digestate, which can be considered as a non-fossil fuel derived fertiliser.

A five-strong consortium is led by The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and comprises CNG Services Ltd, Lyvennet Renewable Energy, Wardell Armstrong LLP and Field Science Limited. With grant funding from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board, the project works with a total budget of UK£880,000 (US$1,389,158.565) and will run over two years. Read more ...