Biomass Week - April 18, 2018

Northern Forest Center, Calgren Dairy Fuels win industry awards BBI International and Biomass Magazine named its annual industry award winners at the 11th International Biomass Conference & Expo underway in Atlanta, Georgia. READ MORE SHARE
Draft 2018 Farm Bill reauthorizes Energy Title programs On April 12, House Agriculture Committee Chairman K Michael Conaway, R-Texas, released a draft of the 2018 Farm Bill. The legislation reauthorizes many bioenergy-related programs, but provides them with only discretionary funding. READ MORE SHARE
	IRENA: Global bioenergy capacity increases in 2017 The International Renewable Energy Agency has released new data that shows global renewable power generation capacity increased by 167 GW in 2017, reaching 2,179 GW. This represents an annual growth of approximately 8.3 percent. READ MORE SHARE
McConnell introduces the Hemp Farming Act of 2018 On April 12, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, legislation that aims to legalize and clearly define hemp as an agricultural commodity and remove it from the list of controlled substances. READ MORE SHARE
Enviva: Chesapeake terminal to resume operations by June 30 Enviva Partners LP has announced its deep-water marine terminal in Chesapeake, Virginia, is expected to resume full operations by June 30 following a previously announced fire that damaged the facility on Feb. 27. READ MORE SHARE
New UK biofuel targets take effect April 15 In the U.K., the new Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation came into force on April 15, requiring fuel companies to nearly triple the amount of renewable fuel they supply by 2032. The new regulations also introduce incentives for waste-based fuels. READ MORE SHARE
Ence selects boiler manufacturer for biomass power project Spain-based Ence Energía y Celulosa S.A. has announced Gestamp Biomass Solutions will construct the boiler for its new 40 MW biomass power plant that is under development in Huelva, a city in southwest Spain. READ MORE SHARE
Perdue discusses RFS waivers during Senate hearing Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue briefly addressed the U.S. EPA’s misuse of Renewable Fuel Standard hardship waivers during an April 11 hearing held by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture. READ MORE SHARE
Senators ask EPA to cease issuing RFS ‘hardship’ waivers Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; led a bipartisan group of 13 senators in writing to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt requesting the agency cease issuing so-called “hardship” waivers exempting obligated parties from the RFS. READ MORE SHARE
Trump pledges support for year-round E15 sales On April 12, President Donald Trump pledged his support for allowing year-round sales of E15. Representatives of the ethanol industry are speaking out in support of his announcement. READ MORE SHARE
Senators issue statement against EPA attacks on RFS In response to a January letter sent by Sens. Grassley, Thune, Blunt, Fischer and Ernst, EPA has again confirmed that oil refiners aren’t negatively impacted by compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard. READ MORE SHARE
NUS engineers pioneer new technique for biofuel production Engineers from the National University of Singapore recently discovered that a naturally occurring bacterium, Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum TG57, is capable of directly converting cellulose to biobutanol. READ MORE SHARE
Duke delays plans for CHP plant, focuses on biogas options Duke University has delayed indefinitely plans to build a freestanding combined-heat-and-power plant and will instead focus its attention on expanding opportunities to use biogas and other environmentally friendly fuels for its growing energy needs. READ MORE SHARE
Enviva releases latest Track & Trace data Enviva, the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, April 12 released its latest Track & Trace sourcing data, which marks two years of publicly available reporting of the company’s sourcing material. READ MORE SHARE
Detroit Zoo plans giveaway for guests who visit its AD display The Detroit Zoological Society is hosting GreenFest at the Detroit Zoo on April 14. The first 1,000 guests to visit the anaerobic digester educational display will receive a token for a 5-gallon bucket to be filled with compost from the digester. READ MORE SHARE
Global Bioenergies: Audi fuels vehicle with 34 percent biofuel Global Bioenergies recently used an EN228-compliant gasoline blend containing over 34 percent of renewable, isobutene-derived, compounds to fuel a car on a circuit. The fuel blend incorporated both ETBE and isooctane. READ MORE SHARE
Turboden provides power unit to biomass project in Turkey Turboden, a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, leader in Organic Rankine Cycle turbogenerators for distributed power generation employing renewable sources and waste heat, signed an order with AGT A.Ş. for a 5.5 MWe power-only unit. READ MORE SHARE