Biomass Week - August 12, 2016

Canfor celebrates recent completion of two Canadian pellet plants This summer Canfor Corp. officially marked the opening of its two new pellet plants collocated at company sawmills in Chetwynd and Fort St. John. Combined, the plants have a capacity of 175,000 metric tons of industrial-grade wood pellets. READ MORE SHARE
Rentech reports improved industrial pellet production during Q2 On Aug. 10, Rentech released second quarter 2016 results, reporting improved pellet production at its Canadian plants, with average weekly production increasing 50 percent and 10 percent at Wawa and Atikokan, respectively, compared to quarter one. READ MORE SHARE
	AFPM petitions EPA to redefine obligated party under the RFS On Aug. 4, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers filed a petition for rulemaking with the U.S. EPA, asking the agency to move the point of obligation under the renewable fuel standard (RFS) to the owner of hydrocarbons at the rack. READ MORE SHARE
Gevo’s Q2 results highlight key, corporate activity like ATJ use Gevo Inc. recently released its quarter two financial results, providing an update on Luverne’s operational status and progress, efforts in the jet fuel and specialty fuels markets, as well as its partnership with Clariant Corp. READ MORE SHARE
BioAmber reports increased biosuccinic acid sales BioAmber Inc. recently released second quarter financial results, reporting the company is continuing to ramp up operations at its Sarnia, Ontario, biosuccinic acid plant. Sales of biosuccinic acid significantly increased during the quarter. READ MORE SHARE
Sacramento County fleet to run on renewable diesel Following the California cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Walnut Creek and Carlsbad, Sacramento County is also making the switch from petro to renewable diesel for its heavy-duty fleet. More than 400 public works and specialty vehicles are involved. READ MORE SHARE
DuPont cellulosic feedstock storage area experiences fire On Aug. 5, a lightning strike caused a fire at a feedstock storage area a few miles from DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa. An estimated 10,000 bales of corn stover were lost, but the facility itself was unaffected. READ MORE SHARE
EIA updates short-term bioenergy forecasts The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the August edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting total renewables used in the electric power sector will increase by 10.5 percent in 2016 and 4.3 percent in 2017. READ MORE SHARE
CEQ guidance addresses biogenic emissions from land management The Council on Environmental Quality has issued final guidance on considering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change in National Environmental Policy Act reviews that addresses certain biogenic emissions. READ MORE SHARE
Andritz highlights pellet, bioenergy orders in financial results Andritz Group has released financial results for the first half of 2016, reporting good project and investment in the biomass pelleting sector and noting several orders related to bioenergy projects. READ MORE SHARE
UPS reaches goal to drive 1 billion cleaner miles a year early UPS has announced it has reached its goal of driving 1 billion cleaner miles using alternative fuels and its advanced technology fleet a full year earlier than planned. The company has also released its 14th annual sustainability report. READ MORE SHARE
AST receives patent for method to improve biomass processing American Science and Technology, an emerging technology company, has been awarded a patent for a system and method for the extraction of chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass that reduces the cost of Organosolv processing. READ MORE SHARE
Technique could reduce contamination in biofermentation plants The cost and environmental impact of producing liquid biofuels and biochemicals as alternatives to petroleum-based products could be significantly reduced, thanks to a new metabolic engineering technique. READ MORE SHARE
PensionDanmark to invest in another biomass-fired CHP plant Copenhagen Infrastructure II, a fund under Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and through it PensionDanmark and 18 other institutional investors, has teamed up with Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor to acquire the Kent bioenergy facility. READ MORE SHARE
Application period opens for biomass support program in Manitoba The Canada and Manitoba governments are supporting a greener, more sustainable economy through the $1-million Biomass Energy Support Program, which awards grants to support the switch from coal to biomass and for applied biomass research. READ MORE SHARE
Program announced for Heating the Midwest 2016 Conference & Expo The Heating the Midwest 2016 Conference & Expo will take place Oct. 11-13 at the Island Resort and Casino in Harris, Michigan. A pre-conference tour will be offered Oct. 11, with the two-day conference officially opening Oct. 12. READ MORE SHARE
Siemens to supply 3 compact steam turbines to bioenergy plants Within a period of just a few weeks, Siemens has received orders from customers in Great Britain and the United States for a total of nine compact steam turbines. Three of those steam turbines will be installed in U.K. biomass plants. READ MORE SHARE
DOE awards $11.3 million to support bioproducts, enable biofuels The U.S. Department of Energy has announced up to $11.3 million for three projects that support the development of biomass-to-hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can produce fuels and/or products based on external factors. READ MORE SHARE
Puregas opens California office, partners with Unison Solutions August 2016 marked the official opening of Puregas Solutions new North American sales office. The company is also working in partnership with Unison Solutions Inc. to bring the CApure upgrading technology to North America. READ MORE SHARE
Navy completes sea trial with ARA’s renewable diesel Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division's Self Defense Test Ship completed final-phase testing of a 100 percent drop-in renewable diesel fuel as part of the Navy's MILSPEC qualification program. READ MORE SHARE
UF/IFAS research could lead to more and healthier sorghum A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher has identified two areas of the sorghum genome that could boost the plant’s resistance to the anthracnose disease. READ MORE SHARE