The European Parliament, Commission and Council have reached a preliminary agreement on the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). The deal sets out a path for Europe’s renewable energy sector post 2020. As part of the new legislation, European-wide sustainability criteria have been adopted for solid biomass. Bioenergy will be accounted towards overall renewable... [Read More]

Carbon Clean Solutions (CCS) is now processing 500,000m3 of biogas per day in Germany with its Methpure solvent, the company has announced. A company statement says that this is the daily equivalent of powering 9,817 cars from Berlin to Munich (580km) on biomethane fuel. CCS is a specialist in carbon dioxide separation technology. Its drop-in Methpure technology allows... [Read More]

Dr Mike Mason, chairman of engineering, procurement and construction company Tropical Power, discusses how AD could become more competitive with other renewable energy sources. In 2012, solar modules sold for about $1/Watt; in 2018 they are selling for $0.37/Watt ex-factory in China, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects that this will drop further to $0.24/Watt in... [Read More]

Plans for a woodchip biomass power plant have been accepted in Cardiff, various media are reporting. According to both the BBC and Wales Online, outline plans for the biomass power station have been approved by councillors. Developer Parc Calon Gwyrdd says the plant would produce 9.5 megawatts of green energy if built. The outline plans include a 167ft (51m) high chimney,... [Read More]

The UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced the outcomes of its consultation on amendments to the Contracts for Difference scheme (CfD). These include a number of revisions for Combined Heat and Power plants (CHP). CfDs are used by the UK government to support new, low carbon electricity generation projects. Generators compete... [Read More]

US based company Freedom Motors has developed an engine which can use contaminated biogas to generate electricity. The company manufactures the Rotapower engine, a rotary engine which it claims offers ‘incredible’ improvements over traditional piston engines “without any of the disadvantages historically attributed to rotary engines.” Freedom Motors'... [Read More]

A food and drink manufacturer in the Finnish capital Helsinki has switched from natural gas to biogas in its ketchup production. The move aims to reduce the company’s environmental impact. The Meira factory located in Vallila, a central neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, previously used natural gas – a fuel that does not result in particulate or sulphur dioxide... [Read More]

On 6 June Drax Power Station in Yorkshire, UK, took its fourth coal-fired power generating unit offline as it prepares to convert it to running on sustainable biomass. Drax has already converted half its power station and ‘associated supply chain infrastructure’ to use sustainable biomass instead of coal. Having already invested £700 million into the... [Read More]

Finnish company Apetit is planning to build a bioenergy plant at its Avena Kantvik rapeseed oil milling plant in Kirkkonummi, Finland. According to a statement, the planned bioenergy plant would replace the current energy solution that uses non-renewable fuels, in turn significantly reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire Apetit Group. “In addition to... [Read More]

Effluent from the new Molson Coors Brewery in Fraser Valley, British Columbia, will be handled by a Global Water Engineering high wastewater pretreatment facility built by the City of Chilliwack. Molson Coors new $CAD 200 million brewery will produce beverages from mountain fed water at the foot of the North Cascade Mountains. Wastewater from the new brewery will be pumped... [Read More]

Major research in Malaga, Paris, Skopje and Zagreb claims to have made significant strides in the bid to implement food waste to biomethane initiatives. Funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 scheme, the Bin2Grid project aimed to implement waste-to-biofuel initiatives in the four cities with the goal of developing biomethane as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.... [Read More]

Official statistics from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) show recycling, composting and re-use of waste from ‘all sources’ has moved past 60% for the first time. The new report covers 2016, and shows a trend towards increased recycling and re-use of waste, including through anaerobic digestion. According to the SEPA statistics, 6.69 million... [Read More]

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has endorsed calls for the city’s waste authorities to begin separate food waste collections. In the newly published Environment Strategy, the Mayor lays out plans to ‘tackle the most urgent environmental challenges’ facing the city. According to the Mayor’s office, it’s the city’s first integrated environmental... [Read More]

Scientists from Ghent University in Belgium have found that burning biogas is the least cost-effective way to use the product. Instead, they propose using biogas as the raw material for the production of chemicals. This approach, according to the researchers, has advantages for businesses, governments and the environment. "Combustion has always been the easy solution to... [Read More]

A problem facing biorefinery operations is the flow of biomass into and throughout facilities. Lignocellulosic biomass, often made up of post-harvest agricultural materials such as corn stover and soybean hulls, often accumulates and compacts while moving through augers, forcing shutdowns for maintenance. A team led by Purdue University scientists is to receive a $1.8... [Read More]

Prodeman, a major peanut producer in Argentina, has begun commercial operation of its 10MW bioenergy facility. The plant uses peanut shells to generate energy and is expected to consume 50,000 tons of the waste per year. The facility’s opening comes two months after signing its power purchase agreement with Argentine regulators. Depending on weather conditions,... [Read More]