February 2015 News and Matters of Interest

Remember to check our Highlights for new postings on other areas of Teru Talk.

CalRecycle Workshop Scheduled for 2015-16 Organics Project Financing

California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has circulated an early 'Save the Date' email notice for a workshop on March 19, 2015 at 1:30-4:00 to discuss the proposed criteria for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction (GHG) Programs, Fiscal Year 2015–2016. This workshop precedes opening of CalRecycle's next round of GHG grants and loans to provide financial incentives for capital investments in composting/anaerobic digestion infrastructure and recycling manufacturing facilities that will result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions. CalRecycle has not yet posted full details of the agenda for the webinar but indicates additional materials will be circulated soon. For program details, refer to CalRecycle's Climate Change: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant and Loan Programs webpage. Submit questions to <>. 02/28/2015 

Waste2Watergy Lands STTR Grant to Advance Microbial Fuel Cell Technology

Oregon BEST has announced that startup Waste2Watergy has been awarded a $224,999 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation. Waste2Watergy, funded in part by Oregon BEST and working with researchers at Oregon State University, is using the new funding to speed development of its technology that could revolutionize wastewater treatment for a range of industries, including food and beverage producers that generate billions of gallons of wastewater containing high levels of organic compounds. For the past 18 months, Waste2Watergy has been partnering with Portland-based Widmer Brothers Brewing, where it installed an early prototype of its system and has just installed a scaled-up version to treat the brewery's wastewater while generating electricity. Brewing is a water-intensive industry, and the wastewater contains an optimal mix of organic ingredients for the microbes in the fuel cell. The new STTR Phase I funding is for one year and is helping the company demonstrate the scalability of the its proprietary cathode material in the fuel cell, the cell's long-term performance and the feasibility of the overall design to effectively clean beverage wastewater. 02/27/2015

CEC Adopts IEPR Report, Grants $11M for Biomass and Waste to Biofuels

During its February 25, 2015 business meeting, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted its 2014 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) Update, which, among many things, outlines how the state is working to transform the transportation system to meet its climate and clean air goals. The CEC also approved almost $16 million in research grants to help develop the next generation of energy efficient technologies for commercial and residential buildings, $11 million for projects to convert feedstock and waste into biofuels, and about $900,000 for natural gas innovations. Among the grant recipients is UrbanX Renewables Group Inc in Long Beach, receiving  $5 million to construct a biorefinery in Southgate capable of producing at least 7.5 million gallons of renewable diesel fuel annually. The City of Napa was awarded $3 million to modify its materials diversion facility to allow it to convert 25,000 tons of organic waste annually into 328,000 diesel gallons equivalent of renewable natural gas (RNG) and to install an RNG refueling station to supply its fleet of waste and recycling trucks. 02/27/2015

USDA Expands Investments in Next-Generation Bioenergy Development

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the availability of up to $8.7 million in funding for bioenergy research and education efforts, as well as publishing the final rule for a program that provides incentives for farmers and forest landowners interested in growing and harvesting biomass for renewable energy. Both programs are made available through the 2014 Farm Bill. USDA published the final rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) in today's Federal Register. USDA is also taking applications for research and education grants through the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI). BRDI is a joint program through NIFA and the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass, increase the availability of renewable fuels and biobased products to help replace the need for gasoline and diesel in vehicles, and diversify our energy portfolio. A description of the solicitation, eligibility requirements, and application instructions for the BRDI program can be found at http://www.grants.gov/ under Reference Number USDA-NIFA-9008-004957. Concept papers are due by March 27, 2015 and full applications are by July 27, 2015. 02/27/2015

Shanks Accepts First Waste at BDR Facility in Rotherham

Shanks Group plc has accepted the first waste into its waste treatment facility in Rotherham, part of a £750 million contract with Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (‘BDR’) Councils. The facility is part of a majority owned joint venture with SSE, 3SE (Barnsley, Doncaster & Rotherham) Limited. It comprises Mechanical Biological Treatment ('MBT') and Anaerobic Digestion ('AD') technologies which will process up to 265,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year. Once the facility is fully operational, it will divert 98% of waste from landfill and will save 114,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. During processing, the waste will be turned into recycled products, green energy, a nutrient-rich digestate and Refuse Derived Fuel (‘RDF’). Under the contract, SSE will take around half of the RDF produced at BDR to generate low carbon electricity at its new multifuel facility (known as FM1) in Ferrybridge. FM1, which SSE is jointly developing with Wheelabrator Technologies, is scheduled to accept its first fuel next month and is expected to be fully operational later this year. 02/27/2015  

CalRecycle Plans Workshop on State of Recycling and Disposal in California

03/08/2015 Update: CalRecycle's workshop has been rescheduled for  Tuesday, March 24, 2015. The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will hold a public workshop on the State of Recycling and the State of Disposal in California on March 17, 2015 from 1:30 to 5:00PM. The meeting will be held in the Sierra Hearing Room on the second floor of the CalEPA building in Sacramento. The workshop will present highlights of the State of Disposal and State of Recycling reports, and will then open up for stakeholder comments and discussion. Links to the State of Recycling and State of Disposal reports will be posted closer to the workshop date. The meeting may be attended in person or via webcast. 02/25/2015

SEaB Energy Joins Cognicity’s Smart Cities Accelerator

United Kingdom company SEaB Energy, Ltd has been selected as a finalist for Canary Wharf Group’s Cognicity Challenge, which aims to identify and accelerate the development of smart city technologies. If selected, the company’s patented micro power plants, which use food and bio-waste as their fuel, will work alongside products from five other finalists to develop an interoperable suite of technologies that will transform Canary Wharf into a smarter and more sustainable city. During its 12-week residency, SEaB Energy will have the opportunity to develop their smart city technologies with specialist mentoring and training from experienced Canary Wharf Group executives and industry experts from other major partners, including Intel and InnovateUK. Sandra Sassow, CEO, SEaB Energy: "We’re truly honoured to be selected by Cognicity to join this pilot project. This will now provide us with a high-profile arena to demonstrate how our waste-to-energy generators can be integrated into smart cities to help eliminate the need for waste movement and reduce the carbon footprint of waste whilst at the same time producing renewable energy, right where it is needed." 02/25/2015

Maverick Synfuels Launches Oasis™ BG Gas-to-Liquid Methanol Plant

North Carolina based Maverick Synfuels, Inc has announced the availability of the Maverick Oasis™ BG Gas-to-Liquid methanol plant product line that convert biogas from sources such as anaerobic digesters and landfills into higher value methanol. When paired with anaerobic digesters that produce renewable biogas from organic waste, the Maverick Oasis™ BG product line is the first small-scale, economically viable solution that provides an alternative to generating electricity or venting destructive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Maverick Oasis methanol plant uses proprietary technology to convert biogas into thousands of gallons per day of ultra-clean, AA grade methanol that meets ASTM D1152 specifications. The Oasis plant is modular, so it can be rapidly deployed to an operational location, assembled by Maverick’s engineers, and integrated into the local infrastructure. The Maverick Oasis BG25 methanol plant is the first plant in Maverick’s product line, and has a capacity of 8,300 gallons per day (25 metric tons/day) of methanol. The methanol can be consumed onsite, or easily transported to other markets. With a footprint of 50 feet x 100 feet, the Oasis BG25 plant requires approximately one acre to accommodate storage and tanker truck access. 02/25/2015

OriginOil Enters Commercial Phase For Petro, Algae, and Waste Applications

California based OriginOil, Inc has announced that it has entered the commercial stage for all three of its application areas. The oil & gas water cleanup division is performing in field demonstrations, and sales have begun of both small and large systems. The Algae division is ramping up its Smart Algae Harvester™ product line and is achieving steady sales, and the Waste division is successfully completing initial tests with prospects. Systems are selling steadily while OriginOil's demonstration-scale oil & gas water cleanup system is being shown at its Bakersfield research site. As a technology company, OriginOil is dedicated to licensing and private labeling its EWS technology. It is also manufacturing complete systems to meet demand while its partners tool up. 02/25/2015  

Renergi Is Awarded $5.2M to Develop Biofuel Demonstration Pilot

Australian company Renergi Pty Ltd has been awarded a grant of $5.2 million by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to design and construct an innovative pilot scale biofuel demonstration facility. Renergi is a private company established in 2012 to commercialize renewable energy technologies developed at the Fuels and Energy Technology Institute at Curtin University. The company's technology converts biomass such as mallee crops into biofuels and biochar via biomass conversion (pyrolysis) and biorefinement. This project takes the technology to the next stage by building and operating a pyrolyzer and a biorefinery at larger scales. Lead researcher, John Curtin Distinguished Professor Chun-Zhu-Li from Curtin’s Fuels and Energy Technology Institute said the project aims to develop an advanced biofuel technology for the production of economically competitive low emission drop-in liquid biofuels from non-food biomass. The $12.9 million project is scheduled for completion in October 2017. 02/24/2015

VTT Extracts Tannins from Waste Bark for Adhesives and Insulating Foams

In collaboration with its partners, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (VTT) has developed tannin extraction from softwood bark as part of an ERA-NET project. The process extracts the tannin from bark material generated as a by-product in the paper and wood industry to give added value to the fraction currently used for incineration. At least 130 kg of crude tannin powder can be produced from one tonne of dry wood bark, still leaving 87% of the original bark mass available for incineration. In Finland, tannin could replace, in particular, fossil-based phenols in adhesives used in the wood products industry. The extraction process is quite simple: tannin can be extracted from bark using hot water, after which the extract is dried into a powder. Drying the water extract into powder may not be necessary if the tannin is extracted near the site where glued wood products are manufactured. 02/24/2015 

ILG Schedules Webinar on CEQA Guidelines for Recycling Projects

Cities and counties across the state are working to meet the state mandated waste diversion goals. To do this, governments across California are looking to build and expand recycling infrastructure projects. The Institute for Local Government (ILG) has scheduled a webinar on March 10, 2015 from 10:00am to 11:00am to address this issues. The webinar will focus on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines these projects will need to comply with and the opportunities to reduce the environmental and GHG impacts of these facilities. Panelists will discuss: an overview of the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research's (OPR) CEQA Guidelines; environmental issues commonly faced by recycling facilities and manufacturing facilities that use recycled materials; and opportunities to reduce GHG impacts in manufacturing projects that use recycled materials. The panelists are Christopher Calfee, Senior Council, OPR; and John Davis, Administrator, Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority. Registration for the webinar is available online. 02/20/2015

Citi Commits $100 Billion Over 10 Years to Finance Sustainable Growth

Citigroup, Inc (Citi) has announced a commitment to lend, invest, and facilitate a total of $100 billion within the next 10 years to finance activities that reduce the impacts of climate change and create environmental solutions that benefit people and communities. Citi’s previous $50 billion goal was announced in 2007 and was met three years early in 2013. Citi will seek to finance and support activities that enable communities to adapt to climate change impacts and directly finance infrastructure improvements that increase access to clean water and manage waste, while also supporting green, affordable housing for clients, including in low- and moderate-income communities. This environmental finance initiative is part of a new five-year sustainability commitment that also focuses on environmental and social risk management and sustainability goals for Citi’s own businesses and operations. 02/20/2015

London Report Calls for Food Waste Separation for All London Boroughs

Every year the City of London throws away over 7 million tonnes of food and drink from its homes, with food waste accounting for around 20 per cent of all domestic waste. The London Assembly Environment Committee's report; Bag it or bin it? Managing London’s domestic food waste, looks at steps that the Mayor, local authorities, and central government can take to improve the management and treatment of food waste within London in order to reduce the amount that goes to landfill. In the report the Committee makes a number of recommendations, including: 1) Every London borough should allocate available resources to include separate food waste collections in their waste management regimes, across all property types; 2) The Mayor should join London Councils in its efforts to secure additional resources from the Government to develop separate food and organic waste collection services; and 3) Alongside government funding the Mayor should make available from his own resources ongoing funding for waste reduction and recycling programmes such as the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) or Recycle for London. 02/20/2015

APL Focuses Waste Biomass Gasification Systems on Global Energy

All Power Labs (APL) has announced that Dr. Dan Kammen has agreed to join APL as the founding member of its Board of Directors. As Founding Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Kammen has been a world leader in research to improve energy access, and has traveled widely to see firsthand the challenges and opportunities of delivering affordable, reliable, clean energy. The Sierra Club also saw the value of APL's waste biomass gasification technology to generate power in undeveloped countries when they visited APL. During that visit, Sierra Club representatives took a tour of APL's factory and produced a video about its work and its potential to impact energy poverty globally. 02/20/2015  

ElectraTherm Commissions Three Waste Heat-to-Power Generators in Alaska

Nevada based ElectraTherm, Inc has commissioned three Green Machines  to produce fuel-free, emission-free electricity from diesel gensets at the Dutch Harbor power plant in the remote Aleutian islands of Alaska. ElectraTherm’s “Green Machine” Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) generators capture the waste heat from the jacket water of two Wartsila W12V32 and one CAT C280-16 at temperatures as low as 165°F to generate approximately 75kWe net for the site. The power generated is sent to the grid. The Green Machine ORCs offset the radiators on the gensets significantly; radiator power consumption is reduced by an estimated 8,000 kWh per month, equating to 6,000 gal of fuel saved per year. The installation in Unalaska is ElectraTherm’s first application on diesel prime power, and ElectraTherm anticipates repeatable opportunities in remote locations where there are diesel reliant rural populations. 02/19/2015

Sainsbury’s Powers Fridges Using Sugar Beet Waste from Suppliers

United Kingdom (UK) based Sainsbury’s has pioneered new technology to power its fridges in its Portishead store with a new natural product that’s produced entirely from waste. eCO2 is a new natural refrigerant from A-Gas that is made from waste sugar beet by the manufacturers that supply Sainsbury’s supermarkets with sugar. eCO2 is the first high specification carbon dioxide (CO2) refrigerant to be produced sustainably in the UK. Typically, more than 40 per cent of a supermarket’s energy consumption is directly linked to its refrigeration systems, and this product can make a significant difference in cutting a store’s carbon footprint. Following successful trials with Sainsbury’s, A-Gas has now extended this service to the rest of the industry. A-Gas Operations Manager Rob Parker: "Most CO2 refrigerants are recovered from dirty industrial processes which are far from green in their methods. eCO2 is a by-product of bioethanol production from waste sugar beet, using crops not destined for sugar production." 02/19/2015 

Tropical Power Commissions Pioneering Biogas Plant in Africa

Tropical Power Energy Group (Tropical Power) has built and is commissioning the first grid-connect Anaerobic Digester (AD) plant in Africa, in Naivasha Kenya. The 2.2 MW Gorge Farm AD Plant will be selling electricity into the local grid and to Gorge Farm. This facility utilizes local organic crop waste as feedstock for an innovative two-stage AD plant that is consistently up to 30% more efficient than conventional single-stage plants. This waste is digested by micro-organisms feeding in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas. The biogas is then combusted in gas engines to produce electricity and heat. The Gorge Farm AD Plant is designed to process 50,000 tonnes of organic crop waste each year. It will also produce at least 35,000 tonnes of nitrogen-rich matter as a by-product from the biogas process. Gorge Farm will use this as rich natural fertilizer to improve soil conditioning and crop yields. displacing an estimated 20% of synthetic fertilizer now being used. The Gorge Farm AD Plant was constructed in less than 12 months and cost US $6.5 million to build. 02/18/2015 

Trillium Inks Deal to Install CNG Station at Monterey Environmental Park

Chicago based Trillium CNG™, a business unit of Integrys Energy Group, Inc, has signed a letter of agreement with the Monterey Regional Waste Management District in California to build, own, and operate a new compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station to power the District's CNG refuse trucks. The station will be built at the Monterey Regional Environmental Park in Marina, California. The new CNG station will feature time-fill posts to handle the District's 50 CNG refuse trucks today as well as a fast-fill dispenser that can be made available to other local City and County fleets. It will be expandable to accommodate up to 100 CNG vehicles as the District's fleet is fully converted. By mid-2016, the District will extrude the methane gas produced at the Monterey Peninsula Landfill, a nearby sanitary facility, and convert the recovered natural gas into CNG to power their fleet. Trucks will begin and end the day at the site. Groundbreaking is scheduled in April with completion targeted for the end of July. 02/17/2015

£60M Will Be Invested in UK Community-Scale Renewable Energy Projects

The United Kingdom (UK) Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced a new investment of £60m by the UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) in UK community-scale renewable energy projects.  The funding will be invested through Albion Community Power plc (ACP), a power generation company that builds, controls and operates community-scale renewable energy projects across the UK. GIB has committed to provide up to £50m with SPF investing a further £10m. ACP is working to attract a further £40m from additional co-investors to take the total sum of investable capital to £100m. The finance will be used to provide equity funding of between £1m and £10m for a broad range of community-scale renewable construction projects including run-of-river hydro-power, onshore wind on brownfield sites such as industrial estates, and biogas projects including anaerobic digestion and landfill gas. 02/17/2015

Valicor Acquires Patent for Co-Product Recovery from Ethanol Production

Valicor Inc has announced that it acquired a patent that covers the extraction of protein from corn ethanol stillage and is designed to help ethanol producers maximize their co-product recovery and value. The patent for invention number 7,829,680 is for a system and method that isolates gluten (protein) as a coproduct of the ethanol production. The protein product can be dried to produce a high value, high protein meal. With this patent and its patented VFRAC Stillage Optimization Platform, Valicor moves into an early adopter role in the development of backend, post distillation co-product recovery technologies. These technologies are the first of their kind and are designed to optimize the overall plant efficiency, productivity and profitability through high value co-product diversification. 02/17/2015 

Metsä Signs Letters of Intent for Bioproduct Mill's Main Equipment Deliveries

Finland based Metsä Fibre signed letters of intent today with Valmet Corporation and Andritz Oy to provide the main equipment deliveries for the proposed Äänekoski bioproduct mill. If the prerequisites for the investment are met, the decision on the construction of Metsä Fibre's planned bioproduct mill in Äänekoski will be made this spring. Final delivery contracts will be signed if Metsä Fibre decides to go ahead with construction of the mill. The letter of intent with Valmet covers the bioproduct mill's recovery boiler, pulp drying line, lime kiln and bark gasification plant, as well as the mill's automation system. According to the letter of intent with Andritz, the company will deliver the bioproduct mill's fibre line, wood processing plant, evaporation plant, and recausticizing plant. Ilkka Hämälä, CEO of Metsä Fibre: "The design of the bioproduct mill has progressed according to plan and we have now chosen the main equipment suppliers, which is one of the criteria for making the investment." 02/13/2015

NIB Finances Biomass Combined Heat and Power Plant in Nokia, Finland

Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) has signed a 15-year maturity loan of EUR 22 million with Nokianvirran Energia Oy to finance a new biomass fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Nokia, Finland. The new 62 MW CHP plant is owned and will be operated by Nokianvirran Energia Oy. The commissioning of the new plant is scheduled to take place in 2016. The CHP  plant will produce 120 GWh of district heating annually for the town of Nokia, sold by Leppäkosken Sähkö. The plant will also produce 207 GWh of process steam for a local Nokian Renkaat factory and SCA tissue plant. The CHP will primarily be fuelled by wood chips and peat. Nokianvirran Energia is a special-purpose Mankala company owned by Finnish utility Leppäkosken Sähkö (40.3%), Finnish tyre maker Nokian Renkaat Oyj (32.3%) and Swedish hygiene products maker Svenska Cellulosa AB (27.4%). The Mankala model is a joint venture model that sells the produced energy to its shareholders at cost price. 02/13/2015

Calgren's Tulare County Ethanol Plant Changes Cow Waste Into Clean Energy

Regenis, an Andgar company, has announced the launch of the Calgren Ethanol Biodigester plant, which utilizes waste from dairy farms to power the production of tens of millions of gallons of ethanol, all consumed in California's Central Valley. The Two-Stage Mixed Plug Flow Digester™ designed by DVO, Inc of Wisconsin and built by Regenis. It is the first California digester to use agricultural waste to create renewable natural gas to power another renewable energy facility, creating a step forward in a zero waste lifecycle. Local dairy, Four J Farms, sends their cow waste to the Calgren digester, which captures methane and burns it as clean biogas. While Calgren will be utilizing the renewable gas to power its facility, the digester will also greatly reduce bacteria and pathogens so dairy farmers can reuse the liquids safely on their crops, saving millions of gallons of water. Currently, California imports over 90 percent of its natural gas, costing the state thousands of jobs and billions of dollars. The state constructed nearly half of all the new natural gas-fired power plants built in the US in 2013. Renewable natural gas could significantly change that equation by utilizing organic waste to power farms, factories and communities. 02/13/2015

GDF SUEZ Signs PPA For Energy From Allerton Waste Recovery Park

United Kingdom (UK) company AmeyCespa has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with GDF SUEZ Energy UK for the output from its new energy-from-waste facility in North Yorkshire. Under the agreement, GDF SUEZ Energy UK will buy all of the electricity generated by Allerton Waste Recovery Park, which will process around 320,000 tonnes of household and some commercial waste each year. The waste will be burned to generate enough renewable electricity to power around 40,000 homes per year. The plant is expected to be operational by early 2018, with GDF SUEZ Energy UK contracted to buy up to 208GWh of electricity annually. Once completed, the Allerton Waste Recovery Park will divert around 95% of York and North Yorkshire’s household waste from landfill. As well as the environmental benefits this will bring, the anticipated long-term savings on the cost of waste treatment are expected to be around £250 million over the life of the contract. 02/12/2015  

Shanks Doubles Capacity of Scottish Anaerobic Digestion Facility

Shanks Group plc and its joint venture partner, Paragon Efficiencies, are in the final stages of expanding their Energen Biogas anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in Cumbernauld by 100%. When the works are completed in April 2015, the plant will become Scotland’s largest AD facility. The facility treats organic waste from local authorities, retail, and food waste producers by maximizing the amount of recyclable material recovered from food waste. Once the £5 million expansion is complete, the facility will be able to process more than 100,000 tonnes of food waste each year, generating up to 4.8 MW of renewable electricity every hour. Approximately 1800m3 of biogas per hour will be utilized to produce the electricity, which is exported to the National Grid. This green energy will be used to support approximately 50,000 local people by supplying electricity to around 12,000 homes each year. Once the facility, which has been operating since 2011 is complete, it will be well placed to process the anticipated increase in food waste that will be produced when Zero Waste Scotland comes into effect on 1 January 2016. 02/12/2015

NREL and EPRI Launch Incubator Network to Help Clean Energy Start-ups

The US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have launched the Clean Energy Incubator Network. The program, funded by the DOE, aims to improve the performance of clean energy business incubators, connect critical industry and energy sector partners, and advance clean energy technologies emerging from universities and federal laboratories. Through its newly launched website, networking opportunities, and identifying industry best practices, the network provides nationwide coordination that addresses the unique challenges facing energy start-ups. Matt Ringer, NREL's project manager: "This website of resources and tools for incubators and entrepreneurs will serve as a focal point of the network. With our past experience building databases for a variety of related energy resources, NREL is well positioned to develop this type of resource for the clean tech industry." 02/11/2015 

USDA Funding Available for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that rural agricultural producers and small business owners can now apply for funding to purchase and install renewable energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements. The USDA is making more than $280 million available to eligible applicants through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and which is funded by the 2014 Farm Bill. Application deadlines vary by project type and the type of assistance requested. Details on how to apply are on page 78029 of the December 29, 2014 Federal Register or are available by contacting state Rural Development offices. The USDA is offering grants for up to 25 percent of total project costs and loan guarantees for up to 75 percent of total project costs for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. The REAP application window has been expanded. USDA will now accept and review loan and grant applications year-round. Eligible renewable energy projects must incorporate commercially available technology. This includes renewable energy from wind, solar, ocean, small hydropower, hydrogen, geothermal and renewable biomass (including anaerobic digesters). The maximum grant amount is $500,000, and the maximum loan amount is $25 million per applicant. 02/10/2015

Blue Sphere Forms Joint Venture for 5.2 MW Biogas Facility in Charlotte, NC

Blue Sphere Corporation (Blue Sphere) has announced formation and closing of a joint venture to develop, construct, and operate a 5.2 MW biogas generation facility (Project) in Charlotte, North Carolina with affiliates of York Capital Management. Under the terms of the joint venture, Blue Sphere owns 25% of the Project and received an initial payment of $1,250,000 in cash at the closing with a second payment of $1,175,000 to be paid in two equal installments of $587,500 later in 2015 upon the Project's achievement of each of mechanical completion and commercial operation. Blue Sphere received the air emissions permit from Mecklenburg County for the Project last summer. Blue Sphere CEO Shlomi Palas: "We closed on a joint venture to develop a significant food waste to energy facility in the United States, which, under the current construction timeline for the Project, is anticipated to commence production and sale of electricity during the fourth quarter of 2015. We booked our first revenue in the history of the Company from the cash payment received at the Closing, and, upon successful completion of the Project, expect to earn regular revenue from the sale of electricity and compost and feedstock tipping fees." 02/10/2015

GENeco Wastewater Gas to Grid and Bio-Bus Projects Win Rushlight Awards

Bristol-based GENeco has announced winning two category awards in this year's 8th Annual Rushlight Awards. The company took top honors in the Waste to Energy category with its wastewater biomethane gas to grid injection project. The Gas to Grid project is based in Bristol at the Wessex Wastewater Treatment Plant, converting food waste and sewage for production of up to 1,900 cubic meters of biomethane per hour. GENeco also won the Organic Resource category with its waste gas fueled 40-seater Bio-Bus, which hit the UK roads last November. GENeco is a subsidiary of Wessex Water. 02/10/2015  

County Councils in West Wales Sign Refuse Derived Fuel Agreement

Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire County Councils in West Wales have signed a new contract with Potters Waste Management under which the waste from the two counties that cannot be recycled will be processed and exported to Sweden. There it will be used in a high efficiency power station to produce both electricity and heat for local Swedish households. The innovative approach will save each council over £350,000 a year, and create 11 jobs at Pembroke Dock. The new contract starts on March 1, 2015 with the first shipment expected to take place at the beginning of June. Waste collected by the two counties will first be processed at sites at Pembroke Port and in Lampeter to remove certain recyclable materials. It will then be shredded, baled and wrapped at Pembroke Port to create a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which can be shipped overseas. Using the excess capacity in Swedish incinerators allows the waste to be disposed of at reduced cost, while the use of combined heat and power technology enables far more energy to be extracted from the waste compared with most United Kingdom incinerators, making it both a green and economical solution. 02/09/2015

Due 03/02/2015: Nominations for Israeli Prize for Alternative Fuel Innovation

The Government of the State of Israel has announced that it is accepting nominations for the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation. The government of Israel, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, initiated the National Program to Reduce the Global Dependence on Oil in 2011 with an aim of encouraging global innovation and scientific and technical breakthroughs in the field of alternative transportation fuels. In order to promote the goals of this initiative, the Prime Minister’s Office, together with the Ministry of Science, Technology & Space and Keren Hayesod-UIA, will grant an annual award of one million US dollars: "The Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation". The prize will be awarded for global innovation or a scientific or technological breakthrough in the field of alternative fuels for transportation. Nominees for the prize should be actively engaged in innovative, paradigm-shifting research in this field that is worthy of significant and widespread attention and recognition. The recipient(s) can be citizens of any country and there will be no discrimination based on nationality, religion or gender. Questions about the nomination process for the prize may be directed to Avi Anati at <> or by telephone: 972-2-5411168. 02/09/2015  

Maine MRC Selects Fiberight to Develop Hampden Waste Handling Facility

At its February 4, 2015 meeting, the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) Board of Directors approved a development agreement with Fiberight, LLC after receiving a report on a peer review of its technology performed by the University of Maine Engineering Department. This facility, planned for development in Hampden, Maine, would process municipal solid waste for MRC's 187 member communities using state-of-the-art technology to turn waste into usable fuels. If the necessary approvals and financing come through, Fiberight will construct a 90,000-square-foot plant in Hampden that would replace the Penobscot Energy Recovery Company, a waste-to-energy plant in Orrington where member communities’ trash is sent to be burned and made into electricity. The proposal must receive a solid waste processing permit from the state and approval from the Hampden Planning Board before proceeding, with a target date of operation in 2018 when the existing agreement with PERC comes to an end. Fiberight’s technology reuses organic materials in trash to make biofuels after the glass, metals, papers, and plastics are removed to be sold on the commodities market. Research also is underway on the use of fibrous material left over from the distilling process to make other products, such as fuel pellets that can be used for heating. 02/06/2015

AnaeCo Secures $4.6M Bridge Funding to Complete WMRC Project

Australian company AnaeCo Limited has announced that it has secured a $4.6 million loan to fund completion of the Western Metropolitan Regional Council (WMRC) Project at the JFR McGeough Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) in Shenton Park, Western Australia. The WMRC Project consists of the design, construction, and commissioning of a 60,000 tpa AnaeCo™ Plant at the RRF that is contracted to receive 55,000tpa of MSW. The additional funding is needed to complete the plant because of about six months of delays due to a series of mechanical equipment and process water storage tank defects. While the defects have been almost entirely rectified at suppliers' cost, AnaeCo incurred substantial additional costs because of the extended schedule. Throughout the delay period, ramp-up has progressed but at a slower pace than planned because at any one time key parts of the plant (process water storage tanks and DiCOM™ bioconversion vessels) have been taken offline for removal or re-installation of equipment. With the rectification work now virtually complete, the plant is being prepared to begin continuous batch processing in the next few weeks. This will allow an acceleration of biological and operational ramp-up. 02/06/2015  

EPA Issues Final Clean Air Standards for New Residential Wood Heaters

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that as of February 3, 2015, its final New Source Performance Standards for residential wood heaters are in effect to make new heaters significantly cleaner and improve air quality in communities where people burn wood for heat. The updates to the regulations strengthen the emissions standards for new woodstoves, while establishing the first ever federal air standards for several types of previously unregulated new wood heaters  This includes outdoor and indoor wood-fired boilers (also known as hydronic heaters), and indoor wood-burning forced air furnaces. The rule will not affect existing woodstoves and other wood-burning heaters currently in use in people’s homes. The standards were first published for public comment a year ago. 02/05/2015

GLOBAL BIOENERGIES Reaches First Milestone in BioMA+ Project

France based GLOBAL BIOENERGIES announced that it has reached the first milestone of the BioMA+ project. The company announced in 2013 that the French State had granted a €5.2m "Investissements d'Avenir" financing to a consortium composed of Arkema, the CNRS and GLOBAL BIOENERGIES for the project. The objective was to put together and demonstrate at pilot scale a complete process that would first convert renewable resources (sugar, cereals and agricultural and forestry waste) into isobutene, which would in turn be converted into methacrylic acid, a key constituent of acrylic paints. GLOBAL BIOENERGIES was granted €4m for this project and had announced in 2014 having received an initial payment of €600K. Tony Genovesi, GLOBAL BIOENERGIES' manager of the BioMA+ program: "The process adapts well to its new industrial environment, despite it being radically different to the laboratory environment in which it has previously been developed. We have produced more isobutene in the last three months than we had over the past five years!" 02/05/2015

CH2M HILL Designs Innovative Bioenergy Pilot Project in Abu Dhabi

Colorado headquartered CH2M HILL is providing technical support on a new research project at Masdar City-the world's first bioenergy pilot-scale facility to use seawater irrigated desert land to produce both bioenergy and food in the water. The Integrated Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (ISEAS) involves a complete seawater agricultural system that will serve as a research and development facility for the Masdar Institute (MI) of Science and Technology and the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC). SBRC members include Etihad Airways, Boeing, Honeywell UOP, Safran and GE. CH2M HILL was commissioned last year to provide technical support and to design a sophisticated pilot-scale facility of the ISEAS on designated land in Masdar City. A significant aspect of the new pilot-scale facility is the use of seawater to produce water stock to grow seafood, mainly fish and shrimp, (aquaculture) for human consumption and Salicornia plants for fuel and byproduct production. The plants thrive in arid, desert conditions and do not require fresh water or arable land to grow. The effluent is diverted into cultivated mangroves that are used for water treatment and biomass production, removing nutrients and providing valuable carbon storage. During a recent press conference, MI and SBRC announced the contract award to construct the pilot facility. The project is expected to be operational by late summer. 02/05/2015 

All Power Labs Is Selected for $2M CEC Grant to Commercialize Powertainer

California based All Power Labs (APL) has been selected to receive a grant award of $2 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC) under funding opportunity PON-14-303 to complete commercialization and deployment of the Powertainer. This next phase is a continuation of the work began several years ago with the University of Minnesota and Cummins Power Engineering to build a 100kW gasifier, engine, and hopper feed system fully enclosed within a 20 ft shipping container. The CEC grant is focused on forestry management and grid balancing via dispatchable generators. Along with project partners UC Berkeley, Sierra Pacific Industries, and the Placer County Air Pollution Control District, APL will be working to develop the Powertainer system to convert forest fire remediation waste into on demand clean energy. Work is expected to begin in the next few months with plans for the Powertainer to be commercially available in 2016. APL has also just received its second US patent for the Power Cube/ Powertainer designs. The first US patent covers the GEK TOTTI gasifier architecture and heat exchange relationships. This new patent covers how the basic gasifier is integrated into a full power generation package. The patent captures the concepts and methods for arranging system components so as to create the compact and integrated “biomass-power-in-a-box” solutions as realized with the Power Cube and Powertainer platforms. 02/03/2015

Research Documents Low Cost Tubular Digester Works in Cold Climate

Elsevier Publications' ScienceDirect web service has released a recent publication by South American researchers focused on cold climate co-digestion of varied manure types. The research was led by Ecuador's International Institute of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (INER) and the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE). A low cost tubular digester design has been adapted to cold climate work in psychrophilic conditions. By enclosing a tubular digester in a solar collector 'cold frame' or linear greenhouse, the team successfully demonstrated the feasibility of biogas production by cow, llama, and co-digestion of each with sheep manure.  After one hundred days, biogas production was stable, as was the methane content and the pH of the effluent. Co-digestion of sheep and cow manure significantly increases the biogas production in comparison to the mono-digestion of cow manure. Llama manure digestion gives better field results than the corresponding data from the laboratory, while co-digestion of llama and sheep needs further research. The research indicates that retention of solids is high and that a bottom sludge outlet is strongly recommended. Detailed images and details are also posted to the lead researcher Dr. Herrero's Taller Biogas blog (Spanish only). 02/03/2015

UK Green Investment Bank Launches Small-Scale Advanced Waste Fund

The United Kingdom (UK) Green Investment Bank (GIB) has announced a £50 million investment into a new fund targeting smaller-scale recycling and waste projects across the UK. The new fund, Recycling and Waste LP (RAW), will be managed by Foresight Group LLP (Foresight), which will raise at least an additional £50 million from private sector co-investors to match GIB’s investment. The fund already has an extensive pipeline in place. The new funding was announced during a visit to the Birmingham Bio-Power project, currently under construction in Tyseley by developer Carbonarius. The construction of the £47 million project is well advanced and the facility will, when operational, divert up to 67,000 tonnes of recovered wood from landfill every year, using it to produce enough electricity to power more than 17,000 homes. The recovered wood will be supplied by local small business, JM Envirofuels Ltd. The Tyseley project was supported by GIB through a previous investment in a Foresight managed fund. 02/03/2015 

UK Adds £25M to Auctions to Support Low Carbon Energy Projects

The United Kingdom (UK) government is making an extra £25 million of funding available through auctions for low carbon support, following high levels of demand for contracts. The auctions that began on January 29, 2015 are designed to see the most competitive projects receive contracts, reducing the cost of renewable support from the government. Projects are competing for £325 million in support from new Contracts for Difference (CFD), an increase of £25 million from the budget published in October. This year’s CFD budget is split between technology categories, enabling both established and less established technologies to access support. The extra funding will increase the amount available for less established technologies, such as offshore wind and some biomass technologies, to £260 million. Pot 1 (established technologies, such as onshore wind and solar) will compete for £50m for projects commissioning from 2015/16, and an additional £15m (i.e. £65m in total) for projects commissioning from 2016/17 onwards. Pot 2 (less established technologies, such as offshore wind and biomass CHP) will compete for £155m for projects commissioning from 2016/17 onwards, and an additional £105m (i.e. £260m in total) for projects commissioning from 2017/18 onwards. Pot 3 has been established for biomass conversion projects, but no funding has been allocated for this round. Projects that win the auction will receive 15 year contracts so that the total spend per year for contracts allocated in the first allocation round will be up to £325m. 02/02/2015

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