The Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) and the European Biomass Association, AEBIOM, have teamed up together to launch a new ‘Bioheat Profitability Assessment tool’. The tool is part of a European Union’s H2020 Bioenergy4Business project. It has been developed for the examination and comparison of investments in biomass-heating and equivalent fossil fuelled... [Read More]

The World Biogas Association (WBA) has agreed to partner with the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) to showcase the global biogas industry at ADBA’s leading AD & Biogas trade show, which last year was attended by participants from over 50 countries. UK AD & Biogas and World Biogas Expo 2017 will take place on the 5-6 July at the NEC... [Read More]

Britain is falling behind on its commitments to meet its 2020 renewable energy targets, while the European Union overall remains on track, according to a report by Reuters this morning. Other nations identified by the Commission as falling behind are Luxembourg and Ireland. Targets are set by the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED), introduced in 2009. The United... [Read More]

GE’s Water & Process Technologies is collaborating with a Canadian university on a research initiative to maximise renewable energy generation and simultaneously produce a pathogen-free biosolids fertiliser. The new pilot is located at the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) wastewater demonstration facility adjacent to the city of Guelph wastewater... [Read More]

DuPont Industrial Biosciences has been awarded a grant from the European Commission to demonstrate high-efficiency enzyme production to increase biogas yields. The grant comes as part of the DEMETER project, funded from the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme. Enzyme technology has been... [Read More]

The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) is set to invest more than £700,000 (€822,400) in Scottish microenterprises specialising in industrial biotechnology (IB). Spread across five research projects, the funding will boost research in areas such as new and environmentally-friendly protein production, new tools for vaccines and therapies, processes... [Read More]

A special elliptical tank made from precast panels by Whites Concrete (part of the Naylor Group) has been installed for a new anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Lincolnshire, UK. One of an increasing number of successful biogas plants operated by a leading multi-disciplinary construction, engineering and operating group, Whites Concrete has also provided a circular Sealwall... [Read More]

ILC Construction AS has placed an order worth NOK 35 million (€3.91m) with Pilum, the energy and environmental technology Group’s subsidiary Hotab Biosystems , for a turnkey subcontracting solution to deliver a heating plant to the Oslofjord Convention Centre in Stokke, Norway to provide district heating for the convention centre.   Oslofjord Convention... [Read More]

UK-based gas-to-liquids (GTL) company Velocys has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI), establishing a strategic alliance. TRI will be Velocys’ preferred supplier of gasification systems for its biomass-to-liquids (BTL) plants. The agreement will see the alliance partners rapidly deploy an integrated... [Read More]

Renewable company New Horizons and gas firm Afrox have opened an energy-from-waste (EfW) plant in Athlone, near Cape Town, South Africa. The new EfW plant will focus on converting organic waste into useable biomethane which will be used to create products such as liquid carbon dioxide, organic fertiliser and compressed biomethane. The gas will be marketed as an alternative... [Read More]

Michael Wild, president of the  IBTC (International Biomass Torrefaction Council), gives his views on the year ahead. Right now, the question on people’s minds is what 2017 might have in store for us. Yet, what we do know is that the turn from 2016 and 2017 seems to be a kind of watershed for the torrefaction industry. For many years the industry put a lot of... [Read More]

A well-known biomass recycling plant located on the Pengarnddu Industrial Estate in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, is to be sold by online auction by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. The council has recently been successful in regaining control over the property through court action. The green energy recycling complex lies within an elevated 6.5 acre site on the busy... [Read More]

Chemicals giant DuPont has reported strong fourth-quarter results. The company swung to a fourth-quarter profit though sales slipped as it attempts to solidify its merger with Dow Chemical. The company earned $265 million ( €246m), or 30 cents per share, compared with a loss last year. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 51 cents per share, which... [Read More]

European biomass associations have come together and signed a new guideline for the development of “bioenergy in Europe towards 2030”. The pledge is called ‘Declaration of Graz’ and was unveiled at the 5th Central European Biomass Conference in Graz, Austria. The declaration has four parameters and five key measures. Key parameters Halving... [Read More]

MEPs have voted in favour of a 70% recycling and reuse target for 2030. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) voted yesterday (24 January) on a raft of amendments tabled by MEP Simona Bonafè, after a two-day discussion on the legislative aspects of the package. This proposal ups the goal proposed by the European Commission (EC) in its Circular... [Read More]

In response to the London smog alert, the Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) is calling on the UK government to abolish all support for diesel engines and wood-burners which are posing a growing threat to the health of urban populations. Unusually high amount of domestic wood burning, some of which are subsidised under the Renewable Heat Incentive, has been partly blamed... [Read More]