Biomass Week - September 20, 2017

Franken drafts Farm Bill Energy Title featuring funding increases On Sept. 7, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., introduced a package of legislation he hopes will serve as the basis for a new energy section of the next Farm Bill. The legislation increases investments in popular energy programs. READ MORE SHARE
Fremont Regional Digester reopens in Michigan Fremont’s biodigester has reopened under new ownership and management, converting 165,000 tons of organic waste every year into renewable electricity that can power more than 2,500 Michigan homes. READ MORE SHARE
	UK proposes reduced support for biomass under RO, seeks comments The U.K. government is seeking public comments on two proposed options aimed at controlling costs of non-grandfathered biomass conversion and co-firing units under the Renewables Obligation. READ MORE SHARE
EIA: Densified biomass production reaches 570,000 tons in June The U.S. Energy Information Administration has announced respondents providing data for its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report produced 570,000 tons of densified biomass fuel in June, and sold 430,000 tons. READ MORE SHARE
CEC approves grants for forest biomass, biogas projects A forest biomass-to-power project and two biogas projects were recently approved for grants by the California Energy Commission, via its Electric Program Investment Charge program. READ MORE SHARE
Censky, McKinney nomination hearing addresses biofuels, RFS The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a hearing on the nomination of Stephen Censky at deputy secretary of agriculture and Ted McKinney as under secretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. READ MORE SHARE
Velocys, British Airways partner on proposed biojet project Velocys plc recently announced it has entered into a partnership with British Airways, Suez and Norma to prepare the business case for a commercial-scale waste-to-renewable-jet-fuel plant in the U.K. READ MORE SHARE
CARB to hold workshop on proposed LCFS amendments Sept. 22 The California Air Resources Board has announced plans to hold a public workshop to discuss proposed amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard on Sept. 22. Members of the public can participate in the event via webcast or teleconference. READ MORE SHARE
DOE funding helps commercialize promising energy technologies The U.S. Department of Energy announced $19.7 million in funding to help businesses move promising energy technologies from the DOE’s national laboratories to the marketplace. Several bioenergy projects were among those that received funding. READ MORE SHARE
Switchgrass could help China’s air quality Researchers from the have proposed an idea that could improve China’s air quality, but they’re not atmospheric scientists. They’re agronomists who say switchgrass could help stop erosion loss while displacing coal use at power plants. READ MORE SHARE
Wisconsin dairy manure AD project wins funding The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved a conditional $15 million Focus on Energy grant to BC Organics LLC for a bioenergy system in Brown County. The system will produce renewable natural gas from dairy farm manure and other waste. READ MORE SHARE
DOE announces integrated biorefinery optimization projects U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recently announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected eight projects to negotiate for up to $15 million in total DOE funding to optimize integrated biorefineries. READ MORE SHARE
ARPA-E helps make U.S. a leader in marine biomass production The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $22 million in funding through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy for 18 innovative projects as part of the Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources program. READ MORE SHARE
Hawaii Gas earns PUC approval to make RNG from Honouliuli biogas Hawaii Gas, the state’s only regulated gas utility, received approval from the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission to install equipment to capture and process biogas from the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant. READ MORE SHARE
Neste, Geneva Airport collaborate to offer renewable jet fuel Neste and Geneva Airport are working together to make flying more sustainable by targeting renewable jet fuel to account for at least 1 percent of the annual jet fuel consumption at Geneva Airport by late 2018. READ MORE SHARE
Researchers evaluate use of electron transport in furfural biogas Furfural is a promising candidate in the quest for alternative biofuels. The combustion industries are very interested in what could become a potential new type of fuel derived from atmospheric-plasma treatment of biomass. READ MORE SHARE
Modular fuel technology to boost bio-share of oil refineries EU-funded project COMSYN aims to develop a production concept for competitive biobased fuels by means of a compact gasification and synthesis process. The project aims to achieve production costs of up to 35 percent less than alternative routes. READ MORE SHARE
RNG industry bands together in response to proposed 2018 RFS As the predominate supplier of cellulosic biofuel to the Renewable Fuel Standard, renewable natural gas (RNG) is experiencing a growth rate unprecedented in the sector. READ MORE SHARE