On July 10, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released new data on the U.S. densified biomass fuel industry, reporting there was nearly 12.71 million tons of capacity in place in April, with an additional 163,500 tons under development.
Many in the biomass heating movement bemoan warm winters, low fossil fuel prices and the slow pace of conversions to biomass heat. But systems to adopt renewable heating are being put in place, and though we could be, we aren't a part of them.
In Vermont, The Clean Energy Development Fund at the state's Public Service Department is offering grant funding of up to $20,000 to help sugar makers install evaporators fueled with wood pellets or wood chips.
More than 800 attendees and 160-plus producers of biomass power, heat, pellets biogas and advanced biofuels met in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the 10th annual International Biomass Conference & Expo.
The all-of-the-above energy approach of the Farm Bill energy programs enables investment in rural America, supports innovation and new manufacturing industries, and generates economic opportunities and jobs.
IEA Bioenergy Task 40, an initiative established by the International Energy Agency in 2003 to focus on international bioenergy technology, recently published a new report on the global wood pellet industry and trade.
In June, the Vermont Department of Public Service released its 2017 Clean Energy Industry Report, revealing the number of Vermonters engaged in the clean energy industry has grown 29 percent since 2013.
The Pellet Fuels Institute recently announced the qualification of Maine Woods Pellet Co. of Athens, Maine, to the PFI Standards Program as the 25th pellet manufacturer and 38th facility qualified for the program.
The Biomass Thermal Energy Council has been collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service and University of Minnesota to update the Wood Energy Financial Calculator.
Several legislators have again introduced an act that would level the playing field for biomass heating technologies—and potentially, some biomass power facilities.
Cogeneration technologies are poised to play an increasingly important role in the energy mix of the future.
Wood pellet imports to Asia reached an all-time-high in the Q4 2016, when Japan and South Korea together imported 630,000 tons of pellets.
On June 21, the European Commission announced it has found that Danish support for the biomass conversion of a cogeneration plant owned by Dong Energy Thermal Power A/S is in line with state aid rules.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs has announced it is awarding $7.8 million to support 13 tribal energy projects, including one community-scale biomass project in Alaska.
In the U.K., Ofgem has announced it will reduce a specific payment to some small electricity generators receive for producing electricity at peak times. Embedded generators with less than 100 MW capacity are among those impacted.
The Water Environment Federation and the American Biogas Council are partnering to expand the conversion of organic waste into renewable energy and valuable soil products at facilities across the U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently named three individuals who will take on leadership roles as the USDA continues the reorganization announced on May 11.
The U.S. Department of Energy is awarding 263 grants totaling $116 million to 184 small businesses under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. Several of the awards support bioenergy projects.
A committee working on development of a voluntary national wood chip heating fuel technical quality standard for the U.S. has a draft ready for public comment. The effort, funded by a U.S. Forest Service grant, has been underway for several years.
Biogest recently announced a contract for the construction of its fifth gas-to-grid biogas plant in the U.K. The plant has an output of 1,400 standard cubic meters of biogas per hour, which corresponds to a thermal output of approximately 7 MW.
The Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded $1.5 million to New York-based Alfred State College to support its Biorefinery Development and Commercialization Center project, which aims to leverage wood resources to create sustainable business.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recently announced the appointment of Thomas Zacharia as the new Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was unanimously selected by the UT-Battelle board of governors to succeed Thom Mason.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has named Anne Hazlett to lead USDA's Rural Development agencies. Hazlett, who's title will be assistant to the secretary for Rural Development, will report directly to Perdue.
ElectraTherm recently shipped a Power-plus Generator 4400 to Maryland, where it will utilize waste heat to generate emission-free electricity. This is the first application of its kind to cleanly burn chicken manure to generate clean energy.
Through a $9 million annual operations and maintenance contract with North Carolina Renewable Power–Lumberton LLC, Veolia Energy Operating Services LLC will manage a cogeneration plant that plant that converts poultry litter and wood chips to energy.
The U.S. Energy Infrastructure Administration has released the June edition of Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting nonhydropower renewables will provide 9 percent of U.S. electricity generation in 2017, increasing to nearly 10 percent in 2018.
The USDA and U.S. Department of Energy are making up to $9 million in funding available through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative to support the development of bioenergy feedstocks, biofuels and biobased products.
Commercial forests in the Southeast are owned by millions of private individuals and families who are currently struggling to see the value in taking on the cost of certification.
As the industry looks ahead to the 2017 heating season, many producers might ask themselves, should we overbook? Like the airline business, the pellet business runs on thin margins, so no company can face many bad years.
Lawmakers are beginning to realize the public interest in biomass energy policy is about much more than renewable electricity and heat displacing demand for high carbon, nonrenewable fossil fuels.
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