Biomass Week - January 16, 2015

EPA: 2014 cellulosic RIN generation tops 33 million The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) generation data for December, reporting that more than 8.53 million cellulosic RINs were generated during the month, bringing the total for 2014 to 33.01 million. READ MORE SHARE
Reports show impact of strong dollar, oil prices on pellet sector Over the past week, FutureMetrics LLC has published two research papers by company President William Strauss that illustrate the impacts of the strengthening dollar and falling crude oil prices on the pellet industry. READ MORE SHARE
	Maryland executive order could encourage expansion of AD systems On Jan. 13, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley issued an executive order that aims to nearly eliminate the disposal of waste within the state. The order could encourage wider deployment of anaerobic digestion systems in Maryland. READ MORE SHARE
Dutch government to discuss biomass sustainability Jan. 15 A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Global Information Network highlights a pending biomass sustainability proposal in the Netherlands. The Dutch government is scheduled to discuss the proposal on Jan. 15. READ MORE SHARE
Comment period open for Utah proposed seasonal wood burn ban The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has opened a 40-day comment period on for a proposed seasonal wood burn ban amendment that would prohibit seven counties from solid-fuel burning in all solid-fuel burning devices from Nov. 1 to March 15. READ MORE SHARE
EPA: Deadline extended for substantiations of confidentiality The U.S. EPA has extended the deadline to respond to its notice requesting substantiations of confidentiality claims from businesses that have submitted reports and transactional information on the renewable fuels standard (RFS) through Jan. 23. READ MORE SHARE
WRAP publishes report on 2013 UK AD sector and output markets Last month WRAP published a survey on the U.K. anaerobic digestion (AD) industry. Key findings revealed a 34 percent increase in the total number of operational AD plants between 2012 and 2013, up from 87 to 117 plants. READ MORE SHARE
ABO: Senators' letter supports carbon utilization technology The Algae Biomass Organization applauded U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., for their recent letter to the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. EPA in support of carbon capture and utilization technologies. READ MORE SHARE
Pellet plant starts production in Siberia A new pellet plant in the Eastern-Siberian part of Russia constructed and started up by Hekotek in November has now successfully reached the designed output capacity of 30,000 tons of wooden pellets annually. READ MORE SHARE
Sorghum Partners announces winners of 2014 producers competition Sorghum Partners, a Chromatin Inc. brand, is pleased to announce that three sorghum growers who planted Sorghum Partners brand products have won at the county, state, and national level in the 2014 National Sorghum Producers competition. READ MORE SHARE
EIA outlook includes bioenergy forecasts for 2015 and 2016 The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the January issue of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which includes updated forecasts for energy production from wood and waste biomass as well as data related to home heating methods. READ MORE SHARE
CPI project converts food waste into graphene, renewable hydrogen The Centre for Process Innovation is leading a European collaborative project that aims to transform food waste into a sustainable source of significant economic added value, namely graphene and renewable hydrogen. READ MORE SHARE
Maine Woods Biomass Exports proposes Prospect wood chip project A phytosanitation heat-treatment operation for processing wood chips is proposed for construction in Prospect, Maine, by Searsport-based Maine Woods Biomass Exports LLC. Construction of the $20 million project is expected to begin this year. READ MORE SHARE
DemoSNG: Flexible methane production from electricity, biomass Interlinkage of the power and gas grids is planned to make electricity supply sustainable and robust in the future. Fluctuating amounts of wind and solar power, for instance, might be stored in the form of the chemical energy carrier methane. READ MORE SHARE
Colorado lawmakers introduce biomass, energy bills Several energy-related bills were introduced in the Colorado Senate in early January, including one that aims to create a five-year incentive program to promote the use of woody biomass in public buildings. READ MORE SHARE
UPM's renewable diesel plant begins commercial operations UPM's wood-based renewable diesel biorefinery has started commercial production in Lappeenranta, Finland. The facility is based on a hydrotreatment process developed by UPM, and produces approximately 120 million liters of biofuel annually. READ MORE SHARE
EPA approves Algenol's RFS fuel pathway petition Algenol announced today the U.S. EPA has approved fuels made from Algenol's process as an advanced biofuel, meeting the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requirements under the renewable fuels standard (RFS). READ MORE SHARE
Boeing, Embraer open aviation biofuel research center in Brazil Boeing and Embraer have opened a joint sustainable aviation biofuel research center in a collaborative effort to further establish the aviation biofuel industry in Brazil. READ MORE SHARE
University of Manchester wins grant for biotechnology Scientists at The University of Manchester have been awarded funding to develop new sustainable ways of manufacturing the chemicals used in thousands of our everyday products. READ MORE SHARE
Amec Foster Wheeler awarded syngas-to-liquids project in the U.S. Amec Foster Wheeler recently announced it has signed an agreement with D'Arcinoff Group to provide engineering and technical services for an integrated 30,000-barrels-per-day syngas-to-liquids facility in Hudspeth County, Texas. READ MORE SHARE
Gevo launches sales of renewable isobutanol to Brenntag Canada Gevo Inc. recently announced it has launched sales of renewable isobutanol to Brenntag Canada Inc. for distribution into the solvents, oil and gas, mining and specialty chemicals markets. The initial market entry is focused on Canada. READ MORE SHARE
BlueRock Energy, ReEnergy enter services agreement BlueRock Energy and ReEnergy Black River LLC have entered into a services agreement to support ReEnergy's delivery of power from its 60 MW ReEnergy Black River bioenergy facility to the Fort Drum U.S. Army installation near Watertown, New York. READ MORE SHARE