Other News

UK-based Local Generation has announced plans for a food-waste to energy plant in Cambridgeshire, UK. The food recycling company is investing £9-12 million (€10.3-13.7 million) in an anaerobic digestion system, which will produce up to 2.5MW of power to supply 1,500 local homes and businesses. Local Generation intends to submit a planning application for the site in the town of March in Q2.…
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Mission Biofuel India is seeking government approval to construct a biodiesel refinery in the eastern coast state of Orissa, by the Bay of Bengal, India. The first phase of the project is expected to cost Rs 350 crore (€55.8 million). The company is focusing on seeds from the jatropha plant as feedstock. The company is looking at wastelands around the ports at Paradip and Dhamra. Jatropha…
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Bharat Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of India’s state-owned oil company Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), will invest Rs.21.31 billion (€335 million) in a biodiesel project in Uttar Pradesh, India. The project will use jatropha as feedstock. BPCL will work in five districts: Kanpur, Jhansi, Laltpur, Chitrakoot and Sultanpur. The company expects the project to start by Q2 this year. ‘We are…
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Singapore-based Allgreen Energy India plans to spend Rs 500 crore (€79.4 million) to construct 10 biomass projects in India. The company eyes operations of the plants for 2011/2. Each plant will have a production capacity of 6.5 MW. Allgreen plans to start work on biomass projects in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh by March, with production expected to begin within a year.…
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Biorefining technology company Chempolis has commissioned a third-generation biorefinery demonstration plant in Oulu, Finland. With a total investment of €15 million the biorefinery is expected to reach full production during Q2. ‘The demonstration plant represents the third-generation because it can use the entire vegetable matter and produce a number of biomass-based products and…
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US ethanol producer Renew Energy, based in Wisconsin, is one of a few producers in the US to file for bankruptcy so far this year. Renew Energy will be sold amid falling prices for the grain-based fuel and rising costs for corn. The producer listed both assets and debt of more than $100 million (€77 million) in Chapter 11 papers filed on 30 January. The company, which last year had revenue…
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Japanese companies including Nippon Oil and Toyota will establish a research body to develop next-generation cellulose-derived biofuels. The consortium has set the target of producing 250,000 kilolitres (1.6 million barrels) of ethanol by March 2014, at 40 yen (€0.03) per litre (about €54 a barrel) by 2015. The other firms in the project are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toray Industries,…
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US waste to energy project operator Covanta Energy plans to construct a 70MW power plant in Merthyr, Wales, UK, which will use waste as fuel. The project will consume approximately 825,000 tonnes of waste per year and is expected to commence operations in 2014. The estimated cost of the plant is approximately $570 million (€440 million), and the project will be financed, built, owned and…
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Lignol Energy and Suncor Energy have cancelled their $80 million (€61.6 million) cellulosic ethanol plant in Grand Junction, Colorado, US. The Canadian companies have backed out given the instability of energy prices, the uncertainty in the capital markets and overall poor market conditions. Lignol and Suncor announced the partnership in October 2008. The plant had been announced earlier in…
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The US Departments of Energy (DoE) and Agriculture (USDA) have announced up to $25 million (€19 million) in funding for biofuel research and development. The sum will fund technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and bio-based products. ‘These projects will be among many Obama Administration investments that will help strengthen our economy and address the climate…
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The US Air Force (USAF) is planning to test two types of biofuel for use in a 50-50 mix with jet fuel by 2013. USAF will acquire more than 300,000 gallons of biofuels, building on initiatives under way at commercial airlines. The Air Force will select about 160,000 gallons of each type of biofuel. The winning biofuels will be used for lab analysis, engine testing and flight-tests during the…
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Green Gold Ray Energies will open a jatropha biodiesel refinery in Nasipit Port, Agusan del Norte, the Philippines, in Q2 this year. The plant will have a capacity of 180 million gallons of biodiesel a year. The research and development team of Green Gold Ray Energies has designed a biodiesel processing and refining technology to fit jatropha oil market requirements. The plant is designed to…
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Iowa, US-based biodiesel producer and marketer Renewable Energy Group has opened a new biodiesel blending terminal in Alamosa, Colorado, US. At the Alamosa terminal REG has partnered with petroleum company and biodiesel marketer Alta Fuels to facilitate the company’s marketing efforts of its branded REG-9000 biodiesel at the site. Alta Fuels also has an on-site laboratory to ensure quality…
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Portugal state-owned water utility Aguas de Portugal is preparing to invest €620 million in projects to generate electricity from waste and other renewable sources. AdP, which deals in water supply, water and waste treatment, will collaborate with Energias de Portugal and energy company Galp on the projects. Power generation from biogas formed from the breakdown of organic waste as well as…
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