Biomass Week - September 12, 2014

Atikokan Generation Station now operating on biomass On Sept. 10, Ontario Power Generation announced that the Aitkokan Generating Station is now operation on biomass. The facility burned its last coal two years ago on Sept. 11, 2012. Conversion of the station began in mid-2012. READ MORE SHARE
NFR BioEnergy to develop bagasse pellet projects in Louisiana Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Frank Randazzo, chief operating officer of NFR BioEnergy, have announced the company will make a $312 million capital investment to install bagasse pellet plants at more than 10 sugar refining hubs in Louisiana. READ MORE SHARE
	Enviva to develop 2 pellet plants in North Carolina North Carolina officials have announced that Enviva plans to develop two new pellet production facilities within the state. The development was made possible, in part, by an award to Enviva from the state Job Development Investment Grant program. READ MORE SHARE
Bioenergy shines in Thunder Bay This week, Thunder Bay celebrates openings of the Ontario Power Generation Bioenergy Learning and Research Centre at Confederation College and OPG's converted Atikokan Generating Station, and also welcomes the Canadian Bioenergy Conference. READ MORE SHARE
Fuels America call stresses the importance of the RFS On Sept. 11, Fuels America hosted a conference call to stress the importance of maintaining a strong renewable fuel standard. The group also plans to publish a new advertisement highlighting achievements made by cellulosic biofuel producers. READ MORE SHARE
Letters highlight importance of RFS to cellulosic investments As the industry continues to wait for the U.S. EPA to hand down the final rule for the 2014 renewable fuel standard (RFS), political figures and members of the biofuel industry continue to advocate for maintaining a strong RFS program. READ MORE SHARE
N.C. power sector asks for delay in swine waste REPS requirement A group of energy suppliers in North Carolina recently filed a joint motion with the N.C. Utilities Commission asking that a provision of the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency portfolio related to energy from swine waste be delayed. READ MORE SHARE
Genera Energy's BIN-SPEC reduces biomass feedstock variability Genera Energy Inc. recently introduced its newest feedstock management system module, BIN-SPEC. A proprietary preprocessing system, BIN-SPEC delivers a consistent biomass product to a customer's specifications with the least amount of variability. READ MORE SHARE
Wisconsin poll finds support for expansion of bioenergy, RPS A new poll published by Clean Wisconsin finds that most voters within the state support the increased use of biomass energy. Results of the poll also show the state's voters want to see Wisconsin's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) expand. READ MORE SHARE
Braskem joins Amyris, Michelin isoprene collaboration Amyris, Braskem and Michelin have announced that Braskem is joining a collaboration already launched in 2011 between Michelin and Amyris. The collaboration was initiated to develop and commercialize renewable isoprene. READ MORE SHARE
Genomatica: Biotechnology platform allows accelerated development Genomatica announced it has leveraged its proprietary, integrated biotechnology platform to create microorganisms that achieved a 'titer' of over 50 grams per liter for one of their programs in less than half the time required by an earlier program. READ MORE SHARE
KiOR board member criticizes management in resignation letter Documents recently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may help shed some light on the events that resulted in KiOR Inc.'s recent operational and financial challenges. READ MORE SHARE
Viaspace Giant King Grass shows high yield at California site Viaspace Inc. has announced that the first harvest of Giant King Grass in the Imperial Valley of California, was completed on Sept. 2. At the University of California site in Holtville, California, two planting methods were compared. READ MORE SHARE
Biomass Power Louisiana signs engagement letter for pellet plant Biomass Power Louisiana LLC, a subsidiary of Biomass Secure Power Inc., moves forward with the financing of its biomass wood pellet plant in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a signature on a non-binding engagement letter. READ MORE SHARE
SGB announces breakthrough with hybrid jatropha, closes financing SGB Inc. has announced success in its program to create hybrid jatropha which has both high yield and rapid time to maturity. In conjunction with these results, the company has closed an $11 million Series C financing to drive commercial rollout. READ MORE SHARE
3-D imaging techniques may improve understanding of feedstock Comparison of 3D TEM imaging techniques reveals never-seen-before details of plant cell walls, according to a study published Sept. 10 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by researchers from University of California, Berkeley. READ MORE SHARE
New NASA probe will study Earth's forests in 3-D A laser-based instrument being developed for the International Space Station will provide a unique 3-D view of Earth's forests, helping to fill in missing information about their role in the carbon cycle. READ MORE SHARE
Biogas CHP system powers Yuengling brewery The oldest brewery in the U.S., operated by Yuengling, has installed a biogas-fired 2G Cenergy 400 kW/h combined-heat-and-power (CHP) power plant, which generates about 20 percent of the brewery's total energy needs. READ MORE SHARE
Virent to scale up biobased paraxylene demonstration activities Virent has announced that The Coca-Cola Co. is making an additional investment in the development of its bio-based paraxylene, BioFormPX, that will enable Virent to scale up separation and purification of BioFormPX at its demonstration plant. READ MORE SHARE
SwRI adds custom-designed circulating fluidized bed system Southwest Research Institute has announced the addition of a custom-designed circulating fluidized bed to convert heavy crude oils or biological feedstock into valuable, refined fuel samples that clients can assess for quality and profitability. READ MORE SHARE