Biomass heat industry leaders, including the Wood Heat Association (WHA) and UK Pellet Council (UKPC), are urging UK political parties to recognise the importance of having strong heat decarbonisation policies in their election manifestoes. The organisations, which coordinate the Biomass Heat Works! campaign, outlined a series of manifesto pledges for the UK political... [Read More]

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is urging the UK Government to consider biogas as a viable alternative to shale gas following the ‘indefinite suspension’ of fracking across England, Scotland and Wales. Fracking - the process of injecting liquid at high pressure into the ground to open fissures and extract shale gas - was suspended by... [Read More]

Swedish shipping company Terntank has ordered two liquefied biogas (LBG)/liquefied natural gas- (LNG) powered tankers from AVIC Dingheng Shipbuilding in China. The newly-built tankers were designed by Kongsberg (ex-Rolls-Royce) and will be in operation in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea in 2021. The AVIC SERIES 2.0 vessels will help Terntank continue its journey as... [Read More]

Forest fires in California have delayed planned financing for a biomass project in the US state. Waste gasification technology firm EQTEC had agreed to acquire a 20% stake in the North Fork Community Power (NFCP) facility – one of the first forest-sourced biomass gasification plants in California. However, major forest fires have disrupted the process. In July, NFCP... [Read More]

Plans to build the UK’s first commercial-scale Bio-Substitute Natural Gas (BioSNG) plant have been approved by the council. Cheshire West & Chester Council’s planning committee gave the green light to the £150 million (€174.2 million) project at Peel Environmental's Protos site in Ellesmere Port, which will generate renewable gas from up to 175,000 tonnes... [Read More]

CNG Fuels has announced plans to become the UK’s first supplier of carbon-neutral fuel for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), using manure to help fleet operators achieve net zero emissions. According to the firm, HGVs account for 4.2% of UK carbon emissions. The company, headquartered in the West Midlands, is the UK’s leading supplier of bio-CNG (compressed natural gas)... [Read More]

Helsinki International Horse Show in Finland powered its event entirely on horse manure. It is the fifth year in a row that all electricity used at the event, which hosted the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping qualifier, was generated from 100% horse manure. Over 150 megawatt-hours of energy was created from the 100 tonnes of manure collected from competing horses during... [Read More]

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions (Toshiba ESS) announced its consolidated subsidiary held a ground-breaking ceremony on 25 October for a new biomass plant in Fukuoka Prefecture. Sigma Power’s new plant in Omuta City will be built as the Omuta No.1/No.2 power plant beside the Mikawa power plant, which is already in operation. According to Toshiba, all preparation... [Read More]

Eight biogas projects received awards from the American Biogas Council (ABC) for their ‘outstanding performance and contribution’ to the industry. The winners were announced at the Biogas Industry Awards and Dinner during the BioCycle REFOR19 event in Wisconsin, US on 29 October. Five projects received a 2019 Project of the Year award in the following categories:... [Read More]

US firm Maryland Environmental Service (MES) will provide extensive operational expertise to Bioenergy DevCo (BDC) on two new anaerobic digestion projects in Maryland. MES, a not-for-profit, will help the anaerobic digestion (AD) construction firm as it designs, sites, builds, permits and operates two new facilities in Baltimore, US. "This agreement is an important... [Read More]

A UK biomethane plant is now live after only a six-month construction period. Weltec Biopower's anaerobic digestion plant delivered the first biomethane to the UK gas distribution network on 14 October. It is estimated the facility will deliver c7.3 million m3/year biomethane, enough to supply around 9,600 households with sustainable energy, 24/7. The plant utilises... [Read More]

An estimated 18,000 tonnes of "perfectly edible" pumpkins are discarded in the UK every year. Over Halloween, ReFood, the UK's largest food waste recycler, is urging consumers to think before discarding food, as it could be recycled and used to create biogas. Around 15 million pumpkins are grown in the UK every year, but less than a third are consumed. Over Halloween,... [Read More]

The UK Labour party has outlined its plan to deliver a net zero energy sector by 2030. The party launched its future energy plan detailing how a net benefit of £800bn could be achieved in the UK by fast-tracking the nation’s energy sector to net zero emissions by 2030. However, its plan does not appear to incorporate bioenergy. Labour’s 187-page 30 by 2030 report... [Read More]

A recent report by the World Biogas Association (WBA) estimates the industry could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 12%. The association’s latest members, SHV Energy, Engie and Suez have applauded its mission to bring the industry together to realise the full potential of biogas. WBA is bringing companies together to look at how fast its members could build... [Read More]

Finance company Prestige Funds has loaned more than £100 million (€115.4 million) to biogas and anaerobic digestion (AD) projects in the UK over the last nine months. The financing is managed by Privilege Finance, which is part of the same group and a specialist in lending to UK agricultural businesses. Privilege also offers technical consulting services to the management... [Read More]

One of the largest pellet producers in Europe, Graanul Invest, has acquired Texas Pellets Inc and German Pellets Texas, collectively Texas Pellets. The wood biomass pellet manufacturer was purchased for $63 million (€56.6 million) in a deal which closed on 18 June 2019. Texas Pellets operated a 500,000 metric tonne nameplate manufacturing facility in Woodville Texas,... [Read More]