Tanac S.A. has announced plans to construct a wood pellet manufacturing plant at its Rio Grande port site, in the south of Brazil. Construction of the 400,000-metric-ton-per-year plant commenced in October and is scheduled to complete in early 2016.
On Dec. 2, the USDA announced it is making more than $5.6 million grant payments to 220 producers under the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program. An additional $4 million in grants are being awarded though three programs supporting bioenergy initiatives.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released new economic census statistics on renewable energy, reporting that revenues for electric power generation industries that use renewable energy resources increased 49 percent from 2007 to 2012.
In this installment of Ash Content I preview an article I'm writing on the developing market opportunity for wood pellets in the Netherlands. The opportunity is a good one, but will the Dutch smother it with overwrought sustainability requirements?
Helsingin Energia and Vapo have agreed on wood pellet deliveries to the Salmisaari and Hanasaari combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants. The delivery amounts are significant on the Finnish scale. Pellets are used for replacing imported coal.
Ontario Power Generation's Atikokan and Thunder Bay generating station conversions mark a turning point in Canadian power generation.
In the midst of producing the final issue of Biomass Magazine in 2014, dedicated to biomass integrations, conversions and colocations, the International Panel on Climate Change released a report urging a phase-out of fossil fuel energy this century.
A joint Idaho National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report presents results of an evaluation funded by the Bioenergy Technologies Office that examines the effects of substituting up to 20 percent renewable biomass for coal.
Drax Power Ltd. recently commissioned a study from Frontier Economics that addresses the relative system cost of biomass and offshore wind in the U.K. The study determined the relative cost of offshore wind is significantly higher than biomass.
Appalachian Wood Pellets and Malheur Pellet Mill grew out of existing sawmill operations that learned to leverage a colocation strategy for maximum operational benefits.
With double the events from last year, National Bioenergy Day is evolving into an annual tradition.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials and Elements Software Ltd. are working together to help RSB members track their biofuel feedstocks. Elements is a web based traceability platform that will help with Renewable Energy Directive compliance.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is releasing for public review and comment a draft "State Implementation Plan" that the community and state will take to address air pollution in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
On Nov. 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that aims to prohibit the U.S. EPA from proposing regulations based on science that is not transparent or not reproducible by a vote of 237 to 190.
The California San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District will provide an additional $2 million in funding to its Burn Cleaner Incentive Program to support the installation of natural gas or certified wood or pellet burning units.
The U.S. EPA has released a revised framework for assessing biogenic CO2 emissions from stationary sources, along with a memo that provides regulatory guidance on how the framework will impact the Clean Power Plan and certain permitting requirements.
The U.S. EPA has never before made such a clear and emphatic endorsement of biomass, commented Biomass Power Association President Bob Cleaves on release of the agency's updated biogenic emissions framework.
This installment of Ash Content finds me in Vancouver attending the Wood Pellet Association of Canada 2014 Conference.
The Wood Pellet Association of Canada 2014 conference opened with a tour of North Vancouver's Fibreco pellet terminal.
Viridis Energy Inc. reported another quarter of progressive revenue growth, according to Christopher Robertson, CEO of Viridis. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $7.6 million, an increase of $4.6 million from the same period of last year.
U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey recently delivered his annual energy statement to Parliament. Bioenergy investments were among those discussed in the statement and addressed in a complimentary report.
The pellet producer German Pellets GmbH and ZG Raiffeisen Energie GmbH, a Baden, Germany-based trading and service company organized as a cooperative, have founded a joint venture for the sale of wood pellets.
Rentech Inc. is seeing robust activity in its fiber business, particularly in Canada, CEO Hunt Ramsbottom reported in a Nov. 6 quarterly earnings conference call. The company's Atikokan and Wawa, Ontario, pellet plants are nearly complete.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has announced the distribution of $110,000 in grants to three wood energy projects. Troy Public Schools, Bridger Bowl Ski Area and SmartLam Technologies Group were the recipients.
GIME Energya team made up of Envida Community Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc., and a number of equity partners, has been qualified by the Ontario Power Authority to submit proposals for renewable energy biomass projects.
Drax has released management statements consistent with its interim report from July 1 to Nov. 3, which includes details on the company's continued conversion of its U.K.-based power station and potential expansion of operations in the U.S.
The U.S. Forest Service has published a notice in the Federal Register seeking proposals for projects that substantially expand and accelerate wood energy and wood products markets throughout the U.S. to support forest management needs.
On Nov. 4, Rentech Inc. announced it has closed on the sale of its alternative energy technologies to Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group Co. Ltd. for a total of $15.3 million. The transaction was first announced in March.
I offer a personal remembrance for one of the biomass industry's own, Mary Rosenthal, upon hearing the news of her passing.
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