US utility company Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) has issued a request for 750,000MWh of energy located in its territory, including biomass and landfill gas installations. Results from the request for proposals (RFP) will help DEC meet North Carolina's 2007 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS), which mandates the company generate 12.5% of... [Read More]

The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Nigeria, has entered into an agreement with Hungarian Agrar-Biothanol to produce fertiliser and ethanol in addition to electricity. The facility will produce 1,333 tonnes of liquid organic fertiliser and 2.66 million litres of ethanol annually, as well as 1.2MW of electricity. The plant will process farm residues and both animal... [Read More]

A new renewable energy centre in Jamaica has begun offering training courses in renewable energy technologies, including bioenergy, solar, and wind power. Located in Rose Hill, Manchester Parish, the Wigton Renewable Energy Laboratory was opened on 3 November and will deliver practical and theoretical training in a wide variety of renewable power generation, according... [Read More]

The UK anaerobic digestion (AD) industry now has 540 operational plants, over 100 more when compared to the situation a year ago. In October 2015, the UK Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) data showed that the UK had 421 active AD plants, which translates to a 28% increase in the total number. The plant sites produce biogas from food waste, agricultural... [Read More]

UK-based trade body Renewable Energy Association (REA) has hosted a delegation of six Indian MPs at an event in central London. The trip, organised by the NGO Climate Parliament, was designed to strengthen commercial and political ties between India and the UK and to accelerate the deployment of decentralised renewable energy technologies. India boasts ambitious renewable... [Read More]

Despite the Paris Climate Agreement coming into force today, the world might still be doomed to suffer from rising seas and temperatures, a UN report says. In its annual Emission Gap report, UN Environment says governments must urgently and dramatically increase their ambitions to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions if they want... [Read More]

Statkraft, a European-based renewable energy giant, has said it has become the first international wood chip producer and supplier and trader to be certified under the Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) certification scheme. "Statkraft fully subscribes to the SBP vision to provide economically, environmentally and socially sustainable wood fuel that contributes to a... [Read More]

The Paris agreement on climate change has come into force today (4 November, 2016). This marks the first time that governments have agreed legally binding limits to global temperature rises. Under the agreement, all governments that have ratified the accord, which includes the US, China, India and the EU, now carry an obligation to hold global warming to no more than 2C... [Read More]

The shuttered Aspen Power biomass plant in Texas has been sold to an undisclosed buyer at a price of nearly $5 million (€4.5m). Located in Lufkin, the 57MW plant that was marketed as the first wood waste-based biomass facility in Texas was sold during a court-ordered auction, the Lufkin News reports. The plant opened in 2011, but went silent just a year later in 2012... [Read More]

US states can achieve better carbon reduction results and improve their use of biomass energy by working together, a new study finds. Under the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, states soon could be mandated to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified the most effective... [Read More]

Coal will not end energy poverty and increasing its share in the energy pool will actually increase poverty in poor countries, a new report says. According to a recent position paper by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a UK think tank on international development, the coal industry is vouching for increased coal use to fight extreme poverty and improving energy... [Read More]

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issued a first-of-its-kind bond that gives investors the option of getting repaid in either carbon credits or cash, raising $152 million (€138.2m) to support private sector development and prevent deforestation in developing countries.  Each year, 5.5 million hectares of tropical forest area—an area approximately the... [Read More]

Jersey-based investment firm 3i infrastructure has agreed to buy UK-based renewable energy supplier Infinis and its subsidiaries for £185 million (€206m). The investment specialist is expected to acquire all of Infinis's landfill gas assets by the end of November, using all of the capital raised in June this year. Infinis is the largest landfill gas... [Read More]

Environmental organisations have used social media to try and influence European Commission members involved in the drafting of the post-2020 Renewable Energy Directive (RED). According to environmental group Dogwood Alliance, the messages originated from at least 29 counties across five continents. The messages reached nearly 1.5 million people worldwide. The social media... [Read More]

Japan has turned to a German renewable energy firm Entrade Energiesysteme to generate power from timber irradiated by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns. According to media reports in Bloomberg, Entrade will sell electricity from 400 of its container-size biomass-to-power machines set up in Fukushima Prefecture, said Julien Uhlig. The devices will generate 20MW of power... [Read More]

US-based PHG Energy (PHGE) has opened its Tennessee gasification facility, according to a report by News Channel 5 Network. The gasification plant will save 16 million pounds of waste every year. The company signed a contract with the city in 2015 to build the plant, which will use scrap wood, tires and sewer sludge from Wilson County, Tennessee, and within... [Read More]