U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue administered the oath of office to Bill Northey March 7 at the Annual Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner. Northey previously served as Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture, a position he had held for more than 11 years.
On March 6, a group of more than 200 companies and trade associations sent a letter to House and Senate Agricultural Committee leaders urging them to reauthorize and fund energy title programs in the next Farm Bill.
Wood heat is common in New York homes, but there's a need for higher-efficiency, lower-emitting devices, and ongoing support for new residential and commercial installations.
The Farm Bill Energy Title programs represent one-tenth of a percent of the overall bill's cost. Yet, they have such a huge impact on rural economies—diversifying crops, sustaining and creating jobs, new industries and supporting new technologies.
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the second round of finalists for the 2018 Wood Stove Design Challenge have officially been chosen. Finalists will showcase their wood stove technology on the National Mall in November.
A new quality standard for wood chip heating fuel is now available. The American National Standards Institute recently approved AD17225-4 Wood Chip Heating Fuel Quality Standard, which is a revised version of the international standard ISO 17225-4.
Pellet stoves are one of the cheapest ways to reduce a home's carbon footprint. A perfect complement to solar panels, they could be pitched as part of a package for homes.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced U.S. manufacturers of densified biomass fuel reported producing 640,000 million tons of product in November, and selling 670,000 tons.
On Feb. 27, nearly six months after he was first nominated, the U.S. Senate confirmed Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey to serve as Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service at USDA.
On Feb. 27, Lignetics Inc. announced it has acquired New England Wood Pellet LLC, which includes manufacturing plants in Jaffrey, New Hampshire; Schuyler, New York; Deposit, New York; and Youngsville, Pennsylvania.
Enviva Partners LP has released fourth quarter financial results and announced it has entered into a firm 10-year take-or-pay offtake contract with Marubeni Corp. to supply 100,000 metric tons per year of wood pellets to a new power plant in Japan.
Xebec Adsorption Inc. has entered into a letter of intent to establish a three year partnership with SAPIO to help develop Italy's renewable natural gas (RNG) upgrading infrastructure from biogas facilities.
The NASF has created an open-access clearinghouse for national and state regulations that affect the management of U.S. forests and help to demonstrate the sustainable and legal nature in which U.S. timber is harvested.
INRS researchers have developed a process that successfully removed more than 90 percent of the contaminants present in treated wood waste. Once decontaminated, the wood could be used to manufacture particleboard or heating pellets.
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced up to $11.5 million in new funding to deploy energy infrastructure on tribal lands. Bioenergy projects are among those eligible to apply for the funding.
A biomass combined-heat-and-power (CHP) project in southwest England is beginning the final phase of commissioning and is on track to begin commercial operations in August. The facility will generate more than 27 MW of electricity.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has provided New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu with a letter announcing EPA's efforts to work towards a carbon-neutral policy for biomass and clarify federal procurement recommendations for responsibly managed forests.
FutureMetrics has published a brief white paper explaining how weather and the price of heating oil influence demand for wood pellets used for heating. The paper, published Jan. 31, was authored by William Strauss, president of FutureMetrics.
U.S. DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office conducts a biennial peer review that enables external stakeholders to provide feedback on its R&D portfolio and develop recommendations. On Feb. 6, BETO published the results of last year's peer review.
The Pennsylvania Biomass Energy Association has expanded its focus beyond the keystone state to the region and will now be known as the Mid-Atlantic Bioenergy Council. The material focus of the organization remains the same.
Organic Power Ltd. is installing a Global Water Engineering Raptor anaerobic digestion plant at its green energy facility in Bega Baja, Puerto Rico. Once fully operational in mid-2018, the facility is expected to produce 2.055 MW of electricity.
The New Hampshire Wood Energy Council reveals modern wood heating with locally sourced wood pellet fuel is delivering significant heat cost advantages over conventional fossil heating fuels.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the February edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting nonhydropower renewables will provide approximately 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation in 2018 and 2019.
The U.S. EPA has published a final rule adding creosote-borate, copper naphthenate and copper naphthenate-borate treated railroad ties to its list of non-waste fuels under the Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials regulations.
ElectraTherm shipped a Power-plus Generator to Japan to generate fuel-free, emission-free electricity. The Power-plus will utilize the waste heat streams from three reciprocating engines running on biomass.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has extended the grant application deadline for the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program through Feb. 23. The application period was original set to conclude Jan. 26.
Smoldering fires in wood pellets storages can occur for a number of reasons. Oftentimes, smoldering fires in bulk storage silos can't be fought with water.
The Vermont State Archives, home to the constitution, is heated with wood. Last fall the Department of Buildings and General Services replaced the aging boilers in the State Archives in Middlesex with two new automatic Froling wood pellet boilers.
After several consecutive soft winters, signs point to a rebound for most U.S. pellet manufacturers.
The EU pellet industry may have more growing to do, but just how much, only time and policy will tell.
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