Pellet Mill Press - June 2, 2015

USDA announces restart of BCAP On June 1, the USDA announced that incentives will resume this summer for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners interested in growing and harvesting biomass for renewable energy. The support comes through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. READ MORE SHARE
DOE previews 2016 Billion-Ton Update in webinar A recent U.S. Department of Energy webinar included preview of the 2016 U.S. Billion-Ton Study update, which is currently scheduled for release in June 2016. The event was presented by DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office. READ MORE SHARE
	Viridis Energy reports continued revenue growth in Q1 results On May 27, Viridis Energy Inc. released its first quarter 2015 results, reporting a revenue increase of 55 percent to $8.8 million from 2014 quarter one. The increase represents the fifth quarter of sequential growth, up 5 percent from last quarter. READ MORE SHARE
Bills aim to raise, alter, remove state RPS programs While Hawaii has made recently headlines in the renewable policy world with plans to raise its renewable portfolio standard higher than any state has to date, several states have seen recent attempts to freeze, dismantle or alter their programs. READ MORE SHARE
Senate hearing addresses RES legislation, biomass thermal On May 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on 26 pieces of legislation related to energy supply, including recently introduced legislation to establish a national renewable energy standard. READ MORE SHARE
EIA publishes updated wood, biomass waste SEDS data On May 29, the U.S. Energy Information Administration updated the wood and biomass waste data associated with its State Energy Data System, which is the source of the EIA's comprehensive state energy statistics. READ MORE SHARE
Report highlights Mexico’s renewable growth potential Mexico has the potential to quadruple its use of renewable energy over the next 15 years, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency. Biomass shows potential for use in the electricity, heat and transportation sectors. READ MORE SHARE
Two free ISCC events coming up in Miami The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification group is holding two free events in the United States in late June, including a Global Risk Assessment Services workshop and a regional stakeholder meeting. READ MORE SHARE
IRENA publishes renewable energy jobs report The International Renewable Energy Agency has announced 7.7 million people worldwide were employed by the renewable energy industry in 2014, including, 822,000 jobs in biomass, 381,000 jobs in biogas, and 1.788 million in liquid biofuels. READ MORE SHARE
Renewables share of U.S. energy consumption highest since 1930s Renewable energy accounted for 9.8 percent of total domestic energy consumption in 2014. This marks the highest renewable energy share since the 1930s, when wood was a much larger contributor to domestic energy supply. READ MORE SHARE
DOE hosts webinar on biofuel affordability The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced it will host a webinar on biofuel affordability on May 27. The event, titled "A Changing Market for Biofuels and Bioproducts," will address research related to biomass supply. READ MORE SHARE
EDF contributes funding to U.K. biomass district heating project EDF Energy has announced that it is contributing £1 million ($1.52 million) to fund energy efficient heating measures in three Manchester tower blocks, which were recently launched collectively as "Tribe." READ MORE SHARE
Coalition announces Biomass101 campaign A leading coalition of forest owners, wood suppliers and manufacturers of pulp and paper goods have announced the creation of Biomass101.org, a clearinghouse for scientifically sound information on carbon-neutral bioenergy. READ MORE SHARE
UN SE4ALL announces global bioenergy initiative UN FAO, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Carbon War Room, KLM, Novozymes and the UN Foundation partner to scale up the sustainable bioenergy solutions to meet the global need for sustainable energy. READ MORE SHARE
Drax’s Haven Power signs deal with Thames Water Haven Power, the specialist electricity supplier to U.K. businesses and part of Drax Group plc, has signed a deal with Thames Water to supply their electricity requirements in a deal worth more than GBP 500 million ($769.31 million) over five years. READ MORE SHARE
ACT biomass boilers receive critical certification Advanced Climate Technologies, a New York-based manufacturer of fully automatic wood chip and wood pellet boilers used for heating commercial buildings, announced it has received the Intertek/ETL listing. READ MORE SHARE
Scotland receives first Windhager DuoWIN in the U.K. The first U.K. installation of Windhager's new hybrid technology DuoWIN boiler has been completed in Scotland. The wood pellet and log fired combined boiler has been installed at the headquarters of McInnes Plumbing & Heating and McInnes Renewables. READ MORE SHARE
ASABE announces new ISO standard for solid biofuels The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers announces that the international community has approved a new International Organization for Standardization standard for determining the composition of solid biofuels. READ MORE SHARE