Voltalia has commenced construction work on a new biomass power plant in the city of Cacao, French Guiana. The plant will have a 25 year contract with secured tariff, generating between 10 and 15 million euros of annual energy sales revenues, according to a statement from Voltalia. The power production generated into the public grid will be sold at a much lower price than... [Read More]

BioPower Sustainable Energy Corporation (BioPower) has announced the acquisition of the assets of the former Rentech pellet plant in Atikokan, Ontario. According to a statement, the agreement was made in December 2017, with BioPower’s acquisition of Rentech’s assets completed in January 2018. Rentech Atikokan manufactures commercial grade wood pellets for the... [Read More]

An innovative power plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, is taking renewable biogas from hog farms in the state and using it to generate electricity. According to a statement, it is the first time the technology has been applied from in-state farms. The Optima KV project, in Duplin County, is capturing methane gas from the hog waste of five local farms, and transporting... [Read More]

The international waste-to-product company is selling the loss-making anaerobic digestion (AD) plant as part of a strategy to improve margins and returns. The price of the plant, now Olleco’s third, was not disclosed. This is Renewi’s second sale this year and follows the company’s assessment of its UK Municipal Division. The company said in early March... [Read More]

The Sino-Thai company will build the 20.6MW, rubber wood-fed facility in South Thailand. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Having received permission to proceed earlier in March 2018, the plant is expected to begin commercial operation in March 2020, when it will sell its generating capacity to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand under the country’s... [Read More]

On 22 March, the India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that it is going to promote the use of tens of thousands of household biogas plants in an effort to replace the burning of biomass for cooking and light. The National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) is aiming to see the adoption of 65,180 family-sized biogas plants over the next year... [Read More]

Bright Biomethane has been chosen to supply the biogas upgrading system for the Energy Conversion Facility in the Belgian municipality of Beerse. As well as marking Bright Biomethane’s first project in Belgium, it is also the ‘first’ biomethane installation in the country. The biogas upgrade is being carried out for IOK Afvalbeheer, an organisation responsible... [Read More]

A report from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies adds to the growing criticism of biomass' ability to curb carbon dioxide emissions. It also highlights the negative effects that artificial forests have on biodiversity. While providing more analysis of the balance between carbon sequestration in forest growth and carbon emissions in burning, the study looks at the... [Read More]

A new study from the Energy Technologies Institute has looked at how second generation crops will help the UK meet its energy needs by 2050. The research has found that water washing is the most effective technology to prepare crops for energy use. Titled ‘Understanding variability in biomass feedstocks and the opportunities for pre-preprocessing’, the report... [Read More]

The London Assembly’s Environment Committee has published a new report looking at waste and recycling in the British capital. Among its recommendations, the report calls on the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to ‘facilitate the use, and if necessary the construction of anaerobic digestion facilities’. It also finds that burning waste to recover energy is not preferable... [Read More]

Biomass wood pellet supplier Y Pellets has appointed a new general manager. Chris Wilson joins the company in the wake of the recent announcement that Y Pellets is to invest £10 million in constructing a new wood refinery in Goole, East Yorkshire. Announcing the new facility back in February, Y Pellets claimed it was the first of its kind and only the second globally... [Read More]

A new anaerobic digestion plant has started operation in Roscommon, Ireland. Designed to produce heat and electricity from sewage sludge and ‘other waste materials’, the new plant is the result of a collaboration between German plant construction company BioConstruct, and Irish company BioCore Environmental. “We are happy that after a long period of project... [Read More]

A comprehensive new study is aiming to offer unprecedented detail on the potential for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology in the US. BECCS involves taking the CO2 produced from burning biomass for electricity, and permanently storing it underground. With the feedstock plants grown to produce the biomass absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere in their... [Read More]

The mayor of the Canadian city of Surrey, British Columbia, has welcomed a new organic waste to biomethane facility in the Port Kells industrial area. Waste-to-product specialist Renewi has officially opened what it claims to be the first closed-loop organics waste management system in Canada. The facility converts organic waste into renewable biomethane gas. The new Organics... [Read More]

Construction of a biomethane production and injection plant has begun in Marseille, France. The facility will produce the renewable gas from the wastewater treatment process. On 8 March Suez, through its subsidiary SERAMM (Service d’Assainissement Marseille Metropole), officially commenced construction on the new facility. Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area,... [Read More]

Audi Brussels has been awarded a CO2 neutral certificate by the Belgian testing company Vinçotte. According to a statement, the award means Audi Brussels is operating the world’s first certified CO2 neutral high volume production plant in the premium segment. The German car maker’s Belgian facility covers all production processes and all other emissions... [Read More]