Biomass Week - October 21, 2016

White House OMB reviews 2017 RFS rule On Oct. 19, the U.S. EPA delivered its proposed rule to set renewable fuel standard (RFS) volume standards for 2017 and biobased diesel standards for 2018 to the White House Office of Management and Budget. READ MORE SHARE
Oregon company opens torrefied briquette demo plant HM3 has successfully completed a demonstration-scale torrefied biomass briquetting plant in Troutdale, Oregon, and is licensing its technology to a Japanese utility that intends to site a commercial-scale facility in the U.S. READ MORE SHARE
	Biomass gasification project to break ground North Fork Community Power, a 2-MW biomass gasification plant in North Fork, California, is set to break ground next month.The Yosemite Sequoia RC&D Council and Phoenix Energy will host a groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 3. READ MORE SHARE
USDA to invest in expanding wood energy markets The USDA has announced it will invest up to $7 million in grants for projects designed to expand wood products and wood energy markets that support sustainable forest management, especially in areas with high wildfire risk. READ MORE SHARE
USDA solicits REAP applications On Oct. 18, the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced it is accepting applications for the Rural Energy for America Program, which can help agricultural producers and rural small businesses install renewable energy systems. READ MORE SHARE
BIO asks Congress to extend biofuel tax incentives On Oct. 18, the Biotechnology Industry Organization sent a letter to several congressional leaders calling for the extension of renewable energy tax credits that are currently set to expire at the end of the year. READ MORE SHARE
UK government compromises on tariff reductions for biomass CHP The U.K. Renewable Energy Association has announced a government official has acknowledged that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will soften changes introduced to tariffs for certain biomass combined-heat-and-power plants. READ MORE SHARE
Enviva to acquire Sampson plant from joint venture affiliates On Oct. 17, Enviva Partners LP announced that Enviva Wilmington Holdings LLC has offered to sell it the entity that owns a pellet plant in Sampson County, North Carolina, along with a 10-year, 420,000 metric-ton-per-year off-take contract. READ MORE SHARE
New Jersey bill aims to generate energy from food waste A bill in New Jersey that would require large food waste generators to separate and recycle food waste and amends the definition of Class I renewable energy took a step forward on Oct. 13 when it was approved by a state senate committee. READ MORE SHARE
Pöyry reports biomass cofiring as one option to coal conundrum Pöyry Management Consulting released a point of view report this month, considering the role of coal in a lower-carbon economy. Pöyry makes the argument that the future role of coal in the global energy mix must include cofiring with biomass. READ MORE SHARE
Yeongdong biomass conversion in Korea to be complete in 2017 In 2015, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction secured a contract from Korea South-East Power to convert the Yeongdong Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 to biomass. That conversion project is currently under way, with completion expected early next year. READ MORE SHARE
FutureMetrics offers wood pellet demand, spot pricing estimates FutureMetrics LLC released a white paper with estimates of industrial wood pellet tonnage demand and spot prices. The tonnage estimates are based on optimistic scenarios for cofiring or full-firing wood pellets in large pulverized coal power. READ MORE SHARE
Lockheed Martin, CoGen to build energy-from-waste plant in Wales Lockheed Martin has signed a teaming agreement with CoGen Ltd. to develop energy-from-waste projects in the U.K., starting with a new plant in Cardiff, Wales. The facility will convert waste into up to 15 MW of energy. READ MORE SHARE
Drax Biomass collaborates to protect Louisiana wetlands Drax Biomass Inc., a pellet manufacturer operating in the Southeast, marked National Bioenergy Day by declaring the cypress and tupelo stands found in forested wetlands, including the Atchafalaya Basin, to be off-limits for its timber purchases. READ MORE SHARE
Murphy reaches milestone on biomass CHP plant Murphy & Sons Ltd. has successfully completed the first phase of work on the UK’s first large-scale reheat biomass combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant. Work on the facility is scheduled to be complete in mid-2017. READ MORE SHARE
Monarca to produce jatropha oil for biojet production in Mexico Monarca is combining low-cost seed oil production with an onsite refinery to produce biojet fuel for Mexico’s ASA aviation department. The project includes a 33,000 hectare Jatropha plantation to supply oil to the company's biorefinery. READ MORE SHARE
ORNL researchers unravel the science behind biomass breakdown Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered the chemical details behind the process to more easily deconstruct biomass in order to more easily produce biobased fuels and chemicals. READ MORE SHARE
Report documents economic benefit of New Hampshire wood heating The NH Wood Energy Council recently released a report documenting the economic and environmental benefits of heating community, commercial and institutional buildings with modern wood chip and pellet technology. READ MORE SHARE
Researchers develop instrumentation to study plant cell walls Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory will be developing new instrumentation aimed at determining the chemical and structural makeup of plant cell walls to better understand how to convert plant material into bioenergy. READ MORE SHARE
American Biogas Council announces 2016 biogas industry awardees Oct. 19, the American Biogas Council announced the winners of its Biogas Industry Awards. The winners included five biogas systems, one innovation and one individual all recognized for their contributions to the growth of the U.S. biogas industry. READ MORE SHARE
Process generates electricity, heat with zero emissions High-level government officials and special invited guests recently attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the construction and commissioning of an oxy-fired pressurized fluidized bed combustion pilot test facility at CanmetENERGY-Ottawa. READ MORE SHARE
Technique could lower cost of making bioplastics and biofuel A Swedish research team involving researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Karolinska Institute has developed an efficient, accurate and non-destructive way to detect the occurrence and purity of cellulose. READ MORE SHARE
BPA marks fourth Annual Bioenergy Day In honor of the Fourth Annual Bioenergy Day, more than 40 organizations across the United States and Canada opened their doors on Oct. 19 to local residents and stakeholders, inviting them to learn more about biobased power, thermal and fuels. READ MORE SHARE
‘Super yeast’ has the power to improve economics of biofuels Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a way to nearly double the efficiency with which a commonly used industrial yeast strain converts plant sugars to biofuel. READ MORE SHARE
American Biomass acquires Okanagan Wood Pellets from Viridis American Biomass Corporation Inc. has completed its purchase of Okanagan Wood Pellets from Viridis Energy, Inc. With this acquisition, Okanagan brand pellets will be available this fall to retailers exclusively from American Biomass. READ MORE SHARE
VTT develops combustion technologies for biomass VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is seeking a carbon capture technology for Finnish power and heat production plants. The first pilots were implemented, using wood pellets, at VTT's Bioruukki and the results are promising. READ MORE SHARE
NCBiotech awarded grant for sorghum initiative The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, aided by a $1.87 million federal grant, has embarked on a three-year project to study the production of sorghum as biomass for fuel and high-value chemicals in the Mid-Atlantic region. READ MORE SHARE