Biomass Week - May 13, 2016

White House OMB reviewing EPA rule to amend RFS program The U.S. EPA delivered a proposed rule to amend the renewable fuel standard (RFS) to the White House Office of Management and Budget on May 10. The rule is titled “Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support Rule.” READ MORE SHARE
Insolvency administrator sells 3 German Pellets’ plants The law firm of an attorney serving as insolvency administrator to German Pellets GmbH has released a statement noting three of the company’s pellet plants in Germany have been sold, with negotiations ongoing in the sale of a fourth. READ MORE SHARE
	Rentech Q1 2016: domestic pellet sales down big, rebound expected On May 11, Rentech Inc. reported first quarter results significantly below historic levels, attributing a main reason as being the struggles faced by the domestic wood pellet industry in the face of a warm winter and low oil prices. READ MORE SHARE
EPA defers action on petition challenging treatment of biomass The U.S. EPA has published a notice in the Federal Register responding to six petitions for reconsideration of carbon pollution standards for new, modified and reconstructed electric generating units. READ MORE SHARE
Enviva reports production increase, lower fiber costs for Q1 On May 5, Enviva Partners LP released its first quarter results, reporting that solid operating and financial performance during a historically high cost quarter lay a strong foundation for the remainder of the year. READ MORE SHARE
Gevo Q1 results provide update on isobutanol equipment upgrades Gevo Inc. released first quarter financial results, focusing on progress made at Luverne since the restart of isobutanol production in mid-March, and announcing Alaska Airlines’ first commercial flight using Gevo’s ATJ fuel is scheduled in June. READ MORE SHARE
EIA updates short-term bioenergy forecasts The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the May edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting total renewables used in the electric power sector will increase by 11.3 percent in 2016 and 4.4 percent in 2017. READ MORE SHARE
FERC: 33 MW of biomass capacity added in March The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Energy Projects recently released its Energy Infrastructure Update for March 2016, reporting the U.S. added 33 MW of energy capacity during the first quarter of this year. READ MORE SHARE
Amyris reports increased revenues in first quarter results Amyris Inc. recently released first quarter financial results, reporting revenues of $8.8 million, including product sales growth of 50 percent when compared to the same period of 2015. READ MORE SHARE
EIA releases 2016 International Energy Outlook U.S. Energy Information Administration released its International Energy Outlook 2016, which continues to show rising levels of energy demand over the next three decades. Renewables are the fastest-growing energy source over the projection period. READ MORE SHARE
Andritz reports good project investment in biomass pelleting Andritz recently released first quarter financial results, reporting sales of nearly EUR 1.29 billion ($1.46 billion), down 8.5 percent from the same period of 2014. According to the company, all business areas recorded a decline in sales. READ MORE SHARE
USDA, DOE invest $10 million in biofuel, feedstock research The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and U.S. Department of Energy have announced a joint investment of $10 million towards research that aims to drive more efficient biofuels production and agricultural feedstock improvements. READ MORE SHARE
White paper refutes letter to Congress claims on biomass energy Earlier this month, FutureMetrics LLC published a white paper that discusses why an editorial the Washington Post published at the end of April, and the letter to U.S. Congress the article was based on, are wrong about biomass for energy. READ MORE SHARE
Air Canada, CBSCI choose airport for aviation biofuel project Air Canada has announced Canada's Biojet Supply Chain Initiative will be held at Montréal-Trudeau Airport. It is a three-year collaborative project with 14 stakeholder organizations to introduce biojet into a shared fuel system. READ MORE SHARE
Grant helps project realize ‘ultra-productive’ biofuel crops The University of Illinois and the University of Florida have been awarded a third round of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to realize ultra-productive biofuel crops. READ MORE SHARE
Berkeley Lab scientists brew jet fuel in one-pot recipe Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have engineered a strain of bacteria that enables a “one-pot” method for producing advanced biofuels from a slurry of pretreated plant material. READ MORE SHARE
AMP Americas launches biogas division, signs fuel agreements AMP Americas recently announced the launch of ampRENEW, its newly formed biogas division. In addition, Dillon Transport and Ruan Transportation Management Systems have signed fueling agreements with ampRENEW to fuel a portion of their fleets. READ MORE SHARE
Deinove partners with TWB to optimize Deinococcus production Deinove has announced a technology collaboration with Toulouse White Biotechnology. The project aims to map the metabolic fluxes of the Deinococcus chassis. READ MORE SHARE
New biomass-fired CHP plant inaugurated in Sweden Fortum Värme, jointly owned by Fortum and the city of Stockholm, has inaugurated its new, biomass-fired-combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant in Värtan, Stockholm, Sweden. The plant is expected to begin commercial operations this fall. READ MORE SHARE
Massachusetts supermarket chain opens AD facility The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC celebrated the opening of its green energy facility in Freetown, Massachusetts, on April 15. The innovative facility will convert inedible food into energy using an anaerobic digestion process. READ MORE SHARE
AEBIOM weighs in on post-2020 bioenergy policy The European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to define a sustainable European Union bioenergy policy for the period post-2020, and to open up the debate through its public consultation. READ MORE SHARE
California landfill-gas-to-energy project begins operations Potrero Hills Energy Producers, a partnership between DTE Biomass Energy Inc. and Pacolet Milliken Enterprises, recently started generating electricity from landfill gas at the Potrero Hills Landfill in Suisun City, California. READ MORE SHARE
Emerson to automate UK waste-to-energy plant Emerson will provide control systems and project services for a waste-to-energy power plant near Knaresborough Allerton, North Yorkshire, U.K. The plant, which incorporates biogas and recycling facilities, will produce 28 MWh of electricity per hour. READ MORE SHARE
Lygos, Sirrus announce synthesis of biobased methylene malonates Lygos Inc. and Sirrus Inc. have jointly announced that Sirrus has successfully synthesized its Chemilian 1,1 di-substituted alkenes using Lygos' bio-DEM at the laboratory scale. READ MORE SHARE
DOE opens funding opportunity for biofuels, bioproducts, biopower Recognizing the importance of biofuels to energy and climate security, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced up to $90 million in project funding focused on designing, constructing and operating integrated biorefinery facilities. READ MORE SHARE