News

Brazilian ethanol and sugar groups ETH Bioenergia and Brenco are deliberating a merger which could create one of Brazil's largest bioethanol producers. The projects combined could yield 3 billion litres of ethanol a year by 2013/14. It would also crush 37 million tonnes of sugarcane annually. ‘Both companies have modern, competitive assets which are headed for a future of clean and…
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Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is gearing up to build one of the US’s largest biomass power plants. The cost of the project, including the acquisition, totals around $500 million (€338.6 million). As part of the project, Southern Power acquired Nacogdoches Power, from American Renewables. The company will have a 20-year purchase-power agreement with Austin Energy, the…
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Wales, UK-based Anglesey Aluminium Metals has submitted an application for approval of a 299-MW biomass power plant to be located near the company’s aluminium smelter and possibly power it. If approved, the plant would consume about 2.4 million tons of woody biomass, such as wood chips, pellets or agricultural residues, a year. Anglesey Aluminium hopes to commence basic construction in early…
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In the UK, Scotland comes a step closer to greener heat and power following the signing of a multi-million-pound deal. A contract established between Tullis Russell Papermakers and RWE NPower means a 50-megawatt biomass power plant will supply energy for Tullis Russell’s mill in Markinch, Fife, Scotland. The plant will replace an existing coal-fired power plant, owned by RWE NPower…
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Asia has long fuelled the biofuels boom with its oil-rich feedstocks. It is now using the feedstock waste for generation of green power. Asiatic Group (Holdings) will take a 30% stake in joint venture to develop a RM150 million (€29.9 million) biomass project in Perak to convert empty oil palm fruit bunches into electric power. The group, through subsidiary, Colben Energy (Singapore) Pte,…
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US-based renewable fuels provider New Generation Biofuels Holdings (NGBF) is branching out to Puerto Rico. The company has signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) with Ace Biofuels of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Under this LOI, Ace Biofuels would license product formulations, manufacturing technology and know-how from NGBF with the intent of constructing a biofuel manufacturing facility and marketing NGBF…
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The waste produced from pigs could be the fuel of the future. German biogas plant manufacturer WELtec BioPower has begun building another 500-kW biogas plant in the UK designed to run in part on pig manure. The plant in Staffordshire, England, will be commissioned in January 2010. The investor and farmer will first operate the plant with pig manure and 2,000 tonnes of maize silage a year.…
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Canadian biofuel production is expected to rise 76% in two years, as government subsidies for production plants and renewable-fuel requirements take effect. Total biofuel production will reach 2.5 billion litres (660 million gallons) annually by 2011, including 2 billion litres of ethanol and 500 million litres of biodiesel, according to Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable…
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Bulgaria is boosting its biofuels mix. All Bulgarian petrol stations will be obliged to add at least 2% biodiesel in the diesel fuel after 1 March 2010. All petrol stations will have a two-month period in which they must apply the new rules. This measure has been included in the amendments of the Law on Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources and Biofuels, which the Council of Ministers…
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Several foreign and national investors are scouring parts of Africa for high-yielding next generation feedstocks, but this has sparked one government to reportedly suspend all biofuels investments. The attention is centered on jatropha, and mounting pressure from farmers and environmental groups have voiced concerns over food shortages leading the government to further halt land allocations for…
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A new power station that will use wood chip to produce enough electricity to power half a million homes has today been given the go ahead by the Environment Agency. The Prenergy plant, in Port Talbot, Wales, will produce electricity with 50 to 80% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gas or coal fired power stations. It will be Britain’s largest biomass power plant. All wood used at the plant…
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Scientists in Singapore and Switzerland claim that converting the rubbish that fills the world’s landfills into biofuel may be the answer to both the growing energy crisis and to tackling carbon emissions. New research reveals how replacing petrol with biofuel from processed waste could cut global carbon emissions by 80%. Biofuels produced from crops have proven controversial because they…
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US-based Ultra Green Energy Services has announced that it is adding two terminals to its expanding New York network. Burt’s Reliable and Westmore Fuel, both located in New York, have joined with Chicago-based Ultra Green to store, blend and sell Ultra Green Biodiesel at their terminals. The additional terminals expand Ultra Green’s biodiesel network from the tip of Long Island to…
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