Biomass Week - November 15, 2013

EIA predicts power from wood, waste biomass will increase in 2014 The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the November issue of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting that the use of wood and waste biomass to generate power will increase in 2014. READ MORE SHARE
Biomass, biofuels projects awarded REAP funding through USDA More than $14 million in funding for 424 projects in 22 states, including several biomass- and biofuels-related projects, was recently awarded under the Rural Energy for America Program by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. READ MORE SHARE
	Rentech provides update on Ontario pellet projects Rentech has begun construction of its planned pellet facilities in Atikokan and Wawa in eastern Ontario and is on schedule to meet pellet delivery obligations to Ontario Power Generation and Drax next year. READ MORE SHARE
Neste Oil joins aviation biofuel initiative in the Netherlands On Nov. 12, Neste Oil committed itself to a Dutch initiative aimed at the deployment of sustainable biofuel in the aviation sector. READ MORE SHARE
Metso Power becomes Valmet, scores Croatia deal Metso's pulp, paper and power line is demerging from the company and in 2014 will once again be known as Valmet Corp., a name the business segment was known as prior to 2001. Valmet has announced is supplying a biomass cogeneration plant to Croatia. READ MORE SHARE
15 MW landfill gas plant fires up in Ill. An idled 15-MW landfill gas-to-energy plant north of Pontiac, Ill., is back on line after being purchased and refurbished by new owner Hoosier Energy. The facility is located at the 460-acre Livingston Landfill about 100 miles southwest of Chicago. READ MORE SHARE
U.K.-based Emerald Biogas showcases new energy facility Emerald Biogas opened a new waste-to-energy plant at the Newton Industrial Estate in Northeast England. READ MORE SHARE
Co-location of torrefaction, power, biofuel plants reduces costs Douglas Tiffany, assistant extension professor at the University of Minnesota, discussed the economics of co-locating torrefaction, ethanol and coal power plants at the University of North Dakota on Nov. 6. READ MORE SHARE
Favorable feedstock costs can drop cellulosic sugar prices Lower feedstock prices can drive down prices of fermentable cellulosic sugar to 26 cents per kilogram (kg), down from 32 to 36 cents per kg, competitive with sugars from corn or sugarcane, according to Lux Research. READ MORE SHARE
Burning biomass pellets in China could lower mercury emissions Scientists are now reporting that among dozens of sources of biomass, processed pellets burned under realistic conditions in China emit relatively low levels mercury. The report was published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels. READ MORE SHARE
CE&P receives construction permit California Ethanol & Power LLC recently announced it has received its Authority to Construct permit from California's Imperial County Air Pollution Control District. Construction on the project is expected to begin in early 2014. READ MORE SHARE
We Energies biomass plant begins commercial operation We Energies has announced that the biomass-fueled power plant on the site of Domtar Corp.'s Rothschild, Wis., paper mill was placed into commercial operation Friday, Nov. 8, after testing and commissioning activities were successfully completed. READ MORE SHARE
UNEP Emissions Gap Report finds potential in BioCCS Biomass power is among the technologies addressed in the United Nations Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report 2013. The report considers what actions are necessary in order to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius. READ MORE SHARE
Pellet consumption in Denmark projected to grow The Danish government has filed a report on its domestic market for wood pellets with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's Global Agricultural Information Network, noting Denmark is the largest importer of wood pellets in the world. READ MORE SHARE
GE Aviation signs purchase agreement for biojet GE Aviation recently announced it has signed a 10-year agreement to purchase 500,000 gallons or more of cellulosic synthetic biofuel annually from Washington, D.C.-based D'Arcinoff Group, beginning in 2016. READ MORE SHARE
Capital Dynamics acquires Australian biomass power plants Capital Dynamics, as the private asset manager for a leading U.K. pension fund, has acquired a 68-megawatt (MW) portfolio of two base-load biomass power plants located in northern New South Wales, Australia. READ MORE SHARE