News

UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Andrea Leadsom, has approved plans for Drax Power to install four new natural gas turbines at its plant in North Yorkshire, overturning a decision by the UK’s Planning Inspectorate. Drax operates a biomass and coal-fired power station in Selby and wants to build four combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) to replace its…
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A 170,000 tonnes per year waste wood gasification plant has opened in Cheshire, UK. The plant, now owned by the Bioenergy Infrastructure Group (BIG), was developed by infrastructure firm CoGen. It works by using wood as a feedstock into a gasifier, with the resulting gas then being burned to produce a steam which runs a turbine. The plant is expected to generate 22MW of electricity per…
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Valmet has received an order from India-based Praj Industries for the delivery of one of its biomass pretreatment systems. The biomass system, which will be installed in Praj’s second-generation biorefinery project currently under construction in India, will be delivered in 2020. The order, for which the value has not been disclosed, was included in Valmet’s orders received in the third…
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Gas Networks Ireland and its parent company Ervia say they will reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions by a third with their Vision 2050 plan. Through a combination of technologies, Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) explained how it can reduce Ireland’s total carbon emissions by one third and create a net zero carbon gas network. GNI’s vision is that by 2050, half of the gas on Ireland’s network…
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The state Division of Air Quality in North Carolina, US, has approved a permit that will reduce pollutants from Enviva’s wood pellet mill, as well as allowing it to expand production. The permit is the second of three Enviva is seeking this year for new or expanded pellet mills in the state. The first permit allowed the firm to open a new plant in Hamlet in June and the third would allow its…
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Vermont Technical College is closing its $4.2 million (€3.8 million) anaerobic digester due to a lack of available food scraps. The digester hasn’t been able to operate at full capacity and is due to close down in December. The college’s digester came online in 2014 and was the first in the state to go through the permitting process to accept food waste. The digester had been feeding…
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Government organisation Sustainability Victoria has announced a $750,000 (€460,000) grant to boost bioenergy infrastructure projects in the region. The Bioenergy Infrastructure Fund is open to industry, social enterprises, community groups and government entities working on bioenergy technology to help keep organic waste out of landfill and generate renewable electricity. "Victoria's…
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German electric utility company RWE has taken control of E.ON's renewables assets to become one of the world's largest green power companies. The major energy company plans to invest €1.5 billion per year to expand its presence in renewables, including biomass. In its newly launched plan, RWE aims to be: carbon neutral by 2040, one of the world's leading renewable energy companies and a…
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Atlantic Power has signed a 10-year energy purchase agreement (EPA) with Canadian electric utility firm BC Hydro for its Williams Lake biomass plant. The biomass plant in British Columbia, Canada, had been operating under a short-term EPA since 2 April 2018 which expired on 30 September 2019. The new EPA is effective from 1 October. Under the new agreement, the Williams Lake plant will receive…
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The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $73 million (€66.8 million) in funding for bioenergy research and development (R&D) projects. A total of 35 projects will be funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to ‘help reduce the price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower and enable high-value products from biomass or waste…
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Tank design plays an important role in optimising the biogas output from anaerobic digestion. Sam Hinton, technical support manager at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) identifies some key considerations for owners and operators. AD is a simple, centuries-old technology and hugely complex beast. In principle it is simple; you put organic matter into a reception…
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Plans for the first biogas plant to be built in Dubai are taking shape. Dubai Municipality will build the plant at the city’s Warsan Sewage Treatment Plant in partnership with global waste management firm Veolia, at a cost of around Dh250 million (€62.2 million). Once fully operational, it is hoped the biogas project will help to save Dh325 million (€79.4 million) through reduced…
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The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has pledged its support to the UK Biomass Heat Works! campaign, calling on the UK Government to ‘act now’ on protecting the industry. The campaign group is calling for the protection of around 46,000 bioenergy jobs, extending the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme and raising fossil fuel duties to help meet the country’s carbon emission targets. The…
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The UK Environment Agency (EA) has announced it is launching a review of permitted waste sites in the bio-waste sector, including anaerobic digestion, composting and mechanical biological treatment. In a statement, the EA highlighted the importance of the bio-waste sector for a closed-loop, circular economy. The review will ‘embed’ recent changes to legislation, such as the requirement of…
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