GoBiGas, the world's first demonstration plant for large-scale production of biogas through the gasification of forest residues, is now operational. The plant has been supplying biogas to the Swedish natural gas grid since 15 December. 'After intensive work with the commissioning of the plant over the past year, we have now reached an important milestone,' says project... [Read More]

Hungarian energy firm Ormánsági Zöldenergia is reported to be investing HUF950 million (€3 million) into a new biogas plant in Vajszló in the southwest of the country. Using waste products sourced from nearby farms, the plant will have a capacity to generate 4.5GWh of electricity when it comes online in Q2 2015. In addition to Ormánsági... [Read More]

Portucel S.A, a Portuguese pulp and paper company, will build a wood pellet production plant in South Carolina, US, according to reports. With an annual production capacity of around 460,000 tonnes and costing in the region of $110 million (€88 million) to build, construction on the facility is due to begin next year. It is slated to be up and running towards the... [Read More]

Via its subsidiary Sita, Suez Environment has been awarded a €150 million operating contract for the Amétyst anaerobic digestion plant in Montpellier, France, for a period of 10 years. Sita has operated the Amétyst plant since 2008, which will benefit from a €10 million investment programme funded by Sita. This investment will increase its electricity... [Read More]

Shepherd Construction, a nationally operating contractor, has achieved handover at the UK's largest power station, Drax, following completion of new biomass facilities. Now independently operating and burning up to 14,000 tonnes of biomass daily, new facilities designed, built and engineered by Shepherd are enabling Drax to generate up to 1,260MW of renewable electricity... [Read More]

Roxas Holdings, a large integrated sugar business in the Philippines, and Global Business Power (GBPC), a power producer in the Visayas and power generation component company of GT Capital Holdings, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to undertake a front-end engineering design (FEED) study and other pre-development activities for a 40MW cogeneration facility... [Read More]

In the US, biomass supply company Genera Energy has received a strategic financing commitment from WindSail Capital Group, an investment firm that provides growth financing to companies advancing energy innovation and sustainability. The investment will provide Genera with the resources to continue expanding by helping scale its energy crop production and supply chain... [Read More]

CHE Group has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Full Advantage to build a number of biomass-fired power plants across the Philippines. Under the $480 million (€386 million) contract, the companies will develop 16 biomass plants totalling 191MW constructed in strategic locations in the Philippines. The facilities will be built over the next five... [Read More]

Enviva Holdings and John Hancock Life Insurance Company have partnered to develop industrial wood pellet production plants and marine export terminals in the southeastern US. Through their affiliates, Enviva Development Holdings, (Enviva) and Hancock Natural Resource Group (HNRG), the companies have committed to invest up to an aggregate of $320 million (€258 million)... [Read More]

RusForest, a Swedish forestry company with operations in Russia, has announced the sale of its Arkhangelsk assets in northwest Russia for approximately $31 million (€25 million), including related debt. In a statement, RusForest says it expects to receive a total of approximately $12 million in net cash from the transaction. The company has executed a definitive sale... [Read More]

Biomass supplier Stobart Energy has entered into a strategic partnership with Imperative Energy, a provider of biomass energy solutions. Imperative Energy has completed 80 biomass installations totalling over 45MW in energy capacity, with a further 10 projects currently under construction. 'This partnership can offer an appropriate solution for all end users needing a... [Read More]

Lauritzen Bulkers, a dry cargo shipping company, has signed its longest contract ever with US-based wood pellet producer Green Circle Bio Energy involving the transportation of 600,000 tonnes of pellets from the US to the UK and Europe over the next eight years. In 2012, Lauritzen Bulkers signed a similar contract with Green Circle for the transportation of wood pellets... [Read More]

Boeing has completed the world's first flight using 'green diesel', a sustainable biofuel that is widely available and used in ground transportation.The airline powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane in December with a blend of 15% green diesel and 85% petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.'Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable... [Read More]

Wood-based biofuels developer UPM and WWF Finland, a conservation organisation, have teamed-up to discuss and promote the status of wood-based liquid biofuels in Finland. The duo will create a list of joint measures to promote sustainability and will perform a scientific forest carbon impact study that looks specifically at wood-based biofuels. As a result, both will contribute... [Read More]

A new terminal at Hull Port has opened that will import wood pellets to supply Drax Power Station. The Associated British Ports facility will handle millions of tonnes of wood pellets a year that have been imported from North America. Once transferred from ships to a silo, the pellets will be loaded onto specially-designed freight train wagons, and delivered to Drax Power... [Read More]

Last year, around 51,000 hectares of UK agricultural land were utilised for bioenergy crops – around 0.8% of all arable land in the nation. This is according to a new report, Areas of Crops Grown for Bioenergy in England and the UK: 2008-2013, released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Of this 51,000 hectares of land used for bioenergy,... [Read More]