Toshiba Corp. has started commercial operation of its first ever biomass power plant, a 50MW facility that will supply enough electricity for 80,000 households and reduce CO2 emissions to about 300,000 tonnes a year. The newly retrofitted Mikawa Power Plant, operated by Toshiba subsidiary SIGMA POWER Ariake Corporation (SPAC) in Omuta, Fukuoka prefecture, has been equipped... [Read More]

The UK reduced its dependency on coal power generation by around 60% between2015 and 2016, according to government data. Electricity generated from renewable sources also declined, due to weather and outages. Domestic electricity use fell 1% between 2015 and 2016 despite similar weather patterns, indicating an increase in efficiency. Nina Skorupska , Chief Executive of... [Read More]

The Indian government and Sheffield Hallam University are working together to produce a new waste to energy plant for New Delhi. Once completed, the £68 million plant will process a third of New Delhi’s waste. The capital of India, New Delhi has a population of around 21.75 million people. Sheffield Hallam University carried out the feasibility study for the... [Read More]

A paper mill in Norway has installed a biogas upgrading system to process gas from its sewage treatment plant. Norske Skog’s Saugbrugs plant in Halden, Norway, has a history dating back to 1575. The mill has three supercalendered magazine paper production machines with a combined 500,000 tons annual capacity. The plant’s new biogas upgrade system has been provided... [Read More]

Asian countries are showing a strong interest in consuming more wood pellets in order to replace coal in their power grids and to shift away from nuclear power, according to an industry expert speaking at the Argus Biomass 2017 conference. Giving a presentation entitled ‘A statistical review of the consumption of biomass for heat and power generation’, Rachael... [Read More]

The city of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, will soon be home to a dog waste biogas facility, according to the Huffington Post. Dog waste from around the city will be collected and turned into energy using anaerobic digestion. It will be one of the first times such a program has been used in a Canadian city. Although already popular in smaller Canadian towns, dog waste anaerobic... [Read More]

The ice plant could play a key role in helping bioenergy feedstocks cope with the salinity and drought of a warming climate, according to a press release from the University of Nevada, Reno. Biochemist and molecular biologist John Cushman from the University of Nevada will analyse the biological mechanisms allowing ice plants to survive seasonally arid climates and those... [Read More]

The UK ran coal free for 24 hours on Friday 21 April, the first time the country had done so on a working day since the Industrial Revolution. According to the BBC, about 50% of British energy on 21 April came from natural gas and around 25% from nuclear power. The remaining 25% was provided by biomass, wind and imported energy. Coal-free days are likely to become increasingly... [Read More]

Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association (REA), the UK’s largest renewable energy trade association for renewable energy and clean technologies, has agreed to speak at this year’s Bioenergy Insight 2017 Conference and Expo. With approximately 700 members this not-for-profit organisation represents British renewable energy producers... [Read More]

Plans to build the UK’s biggest anaerobic digestion plant have been put on hold following a series of protests and campaigns against it. FD Bird & Sons wants to build an anaerobic digestion plant near Beverley in East Yorkshire. The plant would create biogas through the anaerobic digestion of organic materials, turning up to 50,000 tons of food waste destined... [Read More]

A wetland centre in Horsell, UK, is combining woodland preservation with a new biomass heating system. The Heather Farm Wetland Centre in Horsell is designated as a ‘Site of Special Interest’ due to the unusual flora and fauna in the surrounding habitat. However, the fragile ecosystem is under threat as secondary woodland starts to take over. HCPS recently... [Read More]

A new state aid scheme to support investments in ‘less exploited’ renewable resources, such as biogas, biomass and geothermal energy, has been approved in Romania. The new support scheme from the Romanian government applies until 2020, and has a total budget of over EUR 100,000 ($107,000). 85% of the budget comes from the European fund for regional development,... [Read More]

A Japanese research team has revealed the oil synthesis mechanism in microalgae cells, a discovery which could aid in the development of biofuels. The amount of biomass on earth is approximately ten times the amount of energy currently consumed on the planet, and half of that biomass grows in aquatic environments, according to a University of Kobe press release. Ocean... [Read More]

Macquarie Bank has bought the UK’s Green Investment Bank for £2.3 billion (€2.74bn). The Green Investment Bank was set up by the UK government five years. The Treasury secures £1.7 billion through the process, with a further £600m of liabilities taken on by the Australia-based business lender. The bank was set up to fund renewable and low-carbon... [Read More]

The Pilbara region of Western Australia has long term potential for bioenergy developments and carbon farming, according to a new scientific review published by the Western Australia Department for Agriculture and Food. Covering an area of 502,000 square kilometres, the Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region characterised by distinctive red earth and huge mineral... [Read More]

The territorial government of Yukon, Canada, has given $150,000 (EUR 140,000) in support of a First Nation community’s biomass project, according to a news release. Yukon’s Teslin Tlingit Council is currently converting ten community buildings from propane and electrical heating to biomass heating. The money from the territorial government will be used to contribute... [Read More]