November 2012 News and Matters of Interest
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Ameresco's Butte County
Landfill Gas to Energy Plant Grand Opening
Massachusetts based Ameresco, Inc has announced a December 5, 2012 ribbon cutting ceremony at the company's new Butte County,
California landfill gas to energy plant. US Congressman-Elect Doug LaMalfa and local leaders will join
Ameresco executives for a ceremony to recognize the completion of construction on the project at Butte
County’s Neal Road Waste and Recycling Facility (NRWRF). The facility is scaled
initially to generate around 2.2 megawatts of electricity (MWe), with plans for expansion to 4.3 MWe.
Ameresco designed, built, owns, operates, and maintains the facility; a portion of the revenues from the
sale of power will be returned to the County for the duration of the 25-year contract. In 2006, the Butte County
Board of Supervisors endorsed pursuing renewable "energy farm" projects. The County selected Ameresco to collect
methane gas produced by decaying organic materials at the NRWRF and combust it to generate electricity. Steve
Lambert, Chair of the Butte County Board of Supervisors: “After years of hard work, I am really pleased with the
completion of this project. This innovative public-private partnership further increases the County’s renewable
energy production while generating revenues for the County. I want to thank all those who made the project
possible including the Board of Supervisors, Ameresco, PG&E, permitting agencies as well as County staff.”
Contact Bill Mannel ( ) at Butte County for more information by email or at
(530) 879-2350. 11/29/2012
UK's DECC Launches Energy Bill, Delivers Annual
Energy Strategy
Edward Davey, Secretary of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the
United Kingdom, delivers the annual Statement on Energy Policy to Parliament today. An announcement from the DECC explained that the annual report is concurrent with the
launch of a new Energy Bill. Secretary Davey: “The Bill will support the construction of a diverse mix
of renewables, new nuclear, gas and CCS, protecting our economy from energy shortfalls and significantly
decarbonising our electricity supply by the 2030s as part of global efforts to tackle climate change." Reacting
to the launch of the Energy Bill, Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) said: "Agreement on funding for
renewables in the Energy Bill could be used to provide much needed clarity to the sector, as it is only through
clear long term policy that the AD industry and other renewables can attract the investment to deliver their
potential for energy security, carbon reduction and economic growth. Proposals in the Bill could go further,
however. Commitment to a 2030 decarbonisation target and recognition of the benefits of green gas over shale and
other fossil fuel gases would help deliver further certainty to investors. The Energy Bill also represents an
opportunity for considering the interaction of energy with other policy areas, and joining up thinking across
energy, waste, farming, land use, transport and economic growth in order to ensure that the UK meets its long
term objectives." 11/29/2012
Due 01/08/2013: Letter of Intent to NSF for STTR
FY-2013 Solicitation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the Fiscal Year 2013 Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR)
solicitation, this year focused on Accelerating Sustainability using Enabling Technologies (ASET). Section A. 10
of the STTR 2013 Solicitation defines the ASET Research Topic, requiring that proposals
"focus on technologies aimed at attaining environmental and economic sustainability" and must address one of six
subtopics, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Chemistry, Education for Sustainability, Predictive Information
Systems, Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing, or Sustainable Biotechnology Applications. In addition,
proposers must clearly identify the intended commercial outcome of the research: product, process or service.
For the Sustainable Energy subtopic: " Proposed projects may include new critical devices,
components, systems and materials for sustainable energy in any of the following areas: energy harvesting and
conversion from renewable resources, (including, for example, biological pathways but excluding solar
technologies); sustainable energy storage solutions; nature-inspired processes for sustainable energy solutions
and carbon storage; reducing carbon and resource intensity of hydrocarbon extraction, energy conversion and use;
and new technologies that support smart infrastructures (such as materials, sensors, devices and control
systems) to ensure efficient and sustainable energy transmission, distribution, monitoring and management." A
Letter of Intent is mandatory and is due January 8, 2013. The full proposal must be submitted between January 6,
2013 and February 6, 2013. See the solicitation's web page for contacts and further information. 11/29/2012
CleanWorld Schedules Inaugural Open House for 2nd
Sacramento Biodigester
California based CleanWorld has announced an open house to celebrate launch of its 2nd organic waste recycling center
in the Sacramento region, established in conjunction with the Sacramento South Area Transfer Station.
CleanWorld's high-solids anaerobic digestion (AD) plant will convert around 25 tons
per day (10,000 tons per year) of food waste and other organics from area restaurants, food processing
companies, and supermarkets into methane-rich biogas. The company broke ground for the facility this past June. Next year, the company plans to expand
operations to process almost 40,000 tons per year. Onsite operations for upgrading, compressing, and dispensing
the produced biogas are also expected to be completed in 2013 to fuel the local hauling company's fleet along
with agency clean-fuel vehicles. CleanWorld will also use a portion of the biogas to produce electricity to run
the facility. CleanWorld’s systems are based on AD technology developed at the University of California, Davis
that converts food waste, agricultural residue and other organic waste with up to 50 percent solid content into
renewable energy, fertilizer and soil enhancements, without adding water. Financing provided by Synergex, Five
Star Bank, Central Valley Community Bank, California Energy Commission, CalRecycle, and California Office of
State Treasurer. The inauguration ceremony starts at 10am; parties interested in attending should contact
CleanWorld () at (800) 325-3472. 11/28/2012
GreenAngel Energy Seeks $100K Private
Placement
Canadian investment company GreenAngel Energy Corp has announced the launch of a non-brokered private placement to accredited investors to
raise a maximum of $100,000 from the issuance of one million units at a price of $0.10 per unit. Proceeds from
the private placement will be used for general working capital and to consider additional investments in
emerging clean energy technologies. GreenAngel's investments to date include the waste conversion startup
Paradigm Environmental Technologies with their patented "micro-sludge" technology for
turning sewage sludge into biomethane and biochemicals, as well as six other energy-related companies: Delaware
Power Systems, Mazza Innovation, Light-Based Technologies, Habitat Carbon Assets, Rapid Electric Vehicles, and
DPoint Technologies. The firm has also launched GreenAngel Energy Ventures (VVC) Corporation as an angel fund to
invest solely in Clean Energy Technology startup ventures in B.C. Primary investors in GreenAngel Energy include
TMX Group, owners and operators of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, and SEDAR, the
System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval developed to enable the public dissemination of Canadian
securities information collected in the securities filing process and provide electronic communication between
electronic filers, agents and the Canadian securities regulatory agencies. The GreenAngel Energy private
placement is subject to receipt of necessary stock exchange approvals. 11/28/2012 Update: GreenAngel Energy Corporation has announced that it has completed its non-brokered private placement of
1,000,000 units for gross proceeds of $100,000. The private placement was fully subscribed. As part of the
offering, the directors of GreenAngel purchased 690,000 of the available units. Each unit is comprised of one
common share in the capital of GreenAngel and one non-transferable common share purchase warrant. Each warrant
entitles the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.10 during the first two years of the
warrant term. 12/03/2012
FortisBC Begins Operation of Landfill Biogas Upgrade
Plant for Grid Injection
The Canadian utility FortisBC has announced that raw biogas extracted from the Salmon Arm Landfill will be upgraded and
injected into the local natural gas distribution system as the first such project in British Columbia. The
landfill is owned and operated by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD. The collaborative project
received support from the BC Bioenergy Network and the Province of BC's Innovative Clean Energy Fund (ICE) following
approval of an application filed by FortisBC with the British Columbia Utilities Commission in 2011. FortisBC’s
biogas plant will scrub out the impurities in the gas to make it usable by customers. Once upgraded, there is no
difference between renewable natural gas from the landfill and natural gas that is delivered to people’s homes.
The displacement of fossil fuel with renewable natural gas, a carbon neutral source of energy, is expected to
initially save about 1,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere per year, with
potential generation capacity of 25,000 gigajoules (GJs) annually. Michael Weedon, Executive Director: "BC
Bioenergy funds best-in-class, first time demonstration biomass energy projects that can be replicated across
the province – and this project ticks all the boxes. FortisBC and the CSRD have shown how we can both reduce
methane emissions and create a clean renewable gas supply for the province of British Columbia." 11/26/2012
Asian Development Bank Signs $800MM in Loans for
Chinese Waste to Energy
The Asian Development Bank has announced four loans of around $200 million each to support waste to energy (WtE) projects
in the People's Republic of China (PRC) to subsidiaries of China Everbright International Ltd. The PRC intends to install agricultural waste-to-energy
capacity of up to eight gigawatts by 2015, focused on conversion of agricultural wastes. China Everbright is
currently operating municipal WTE plants supported by the ADB, but limited access to finance in the agricultural
WTE sector has prevented it from branching out into the agriculture sector. The ADB’s assistance will allow it
to expand into plants which utilize a wide variety of agricultural waste, including straw, stalks, and tree
bark. It will also target more municipal WTE plants utilizing all forms of combustible household and
non-hazardous commercial waste. The overall project goal is to treat about 7,300 tons of waste a day, generating
around 1,240 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year by 2016. Greenhouse gas emissions are also expected to be
slashed by about 638,000 tons per annum by 2018. The PRC is the world’s biggest producer of agricultural waste,
with around 700 million tons of crop straw produced in 2010 alone. It also generates about 200 million tons of
municipal solid waste every year. Untreated disposal is increasing contamination of soil and groundwater
nationwide. Incineration is recognized as a particularly effective method for waste treatment since it reduces
waste volume by 90% and eliminates methane emissions. “The WTE option is very attractive for the PRC since the
government has set the development of a recycling economy as a national goal,” said Shuji Hashizume, Investment
Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department, during the signing ceremony. 11/26/2012
Mexican Researchers Convert Distillery Waste to Methane
Using UASB Reactor
Collaborating researchers in Mexico have published their research on the use of modified anaerobic digestion for treatment of
hydrous ethanol vinasse, the stillage generated during production of hydrous ethanol from sugar cane
molasses. While the acidic molasses is aerobically fermented for ethanol production, the vinasse can be
anaerobically digested due to the high-solids loading to avoid the need to dispose of the wastes and to convert
it into methane and stabile soil amendments. Hydrous ethanol production residuals from sugar cane molasses are
more complex than those generated as stillage from wine and beer production. The vinasse has been reported to be
used for irrigation and fertilization due to its high nutrient and organic matter content. Nevertheless, the
presence of phytotoxic, antibacterial and recalcitrant compounds such as phenols, polyphenols and heavy metals
has been observed to cause negative effects on microorganisms and plants in discharge areas. The team used a
modified upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor to determine the optimal organics loading rate for
vinasse digestion. The UASB reactor was modified to allow the vinasse slurry to be added undiluted, reducing the
total process water demand and effluent water treatment requirements. Findings indicated that at an optimal
solids loading rate of 17 kilograms of vinasse per cubic meter per day, generating a biogas with a very high
methane content of 84%. The resulting digestate showed a modest 69% chemical oxygen demand reduction while
retaining high percentages of useful nutrients. The peer-reviewed article is available at no charge on-line in
the journal "Biotechnology for Biofuels" 2012, 5:82. 11/25/2012
Suiker Unie, GasTerra, BioMCN Sign Biogas Supply
Agreement
Dutch biogas production and distribution company BioMCN has announced entering into an agreement to purchase biomethane generated by the
firm Suiker Unie from anaerobic digestion (AD). The agreement also covers transport and
delivery of the biogas by GasTerra. The agreement was announced at the grand opening of Suiker Unie's plant at
Vierlaten, the Netherlands. Sudie Unie's AD plant will digest around 100,000 tons of vegetable residues, such as
sugar beet tails and leaves that remain when processing sugar beet into sugar. The production is certified by
DEKRA in accordance with the NTA 8080 sustainability scheme, which verifies the sustainability of the production
chain. GasTerra will deliver the biogas to BioMCN with Vertogas biogas certificates. The certificates provide
clarity and authentication for producers, traders and purchasers regarding the origin of the biogas. BioMCN
processes the biogas into second generation bio-methanol. Bio-methanol is an important renewable raw material
for various applications, such as biofuels, plastics and paints. The new plant increases biogas production
capacity to a total of 25 million m3, making Suiker Unie, part of the Dutch firm Royal Cosun, one of the largest producers of biogas in the Netherlands.
11/25/2012
German Biogas Project Developer agri.capital Expands into UK
Market
The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) reports that one of the largest German anaerobic digestion (AD) project
developers, agri.capital GmbH, has signed a Framework Agreement with London area AD development
and management company BioWatt Ltd. The mutual cooperation agreement provides the German company an immediate
presence with a pipeline of AD and biogas projects in the United Kingdom (UK). BioWatt provides engineering,
development, operations and maintenance, and financing solutions for the composting and anaerobic digestion
industrial sector in the UK. The agri.capital Group develops, plans, and operates biogas plants for combined
heat and power, including the production of biomethane to feed into the natural gas grid. Currently agri.capital
operates biogas plants in 80 locations, for a combined capacity of around 70 megawatts. The companies said that
agri.capital's initial objective is to secure a 50 MW capacity in the UK through majority ownership of biogas
projects and BioWatt will offer long-term facilities management of its own and third party projects where
required. Dr. Anton Daubner, CEO of agri.capital: "We believe biogas and biomethane will be critical to Europe
reaching its renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2020 and beyond. We have built a
substantial business in the EU, principally in Germany, and we are very pleased to be able to partner with
BioWatt as our first step into becoming a significant player in the UK market." 11/25/2012
DOE Webinar Scheduled on Collaboration to Advance
Bioenergy Research
The US Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Biomass Program
has announced a live webcast titled "Global Solutions for Global Challenges: International
Collaboration to Advance Bioenergy Research" on December 5, 2012 from 1:00 to 2:30pm, eastern time. The webinar
is free but space is limited and advance on-line registration is required. The webcast will highlight the progress of ongoing
research collaboration among scientists supported by the Energy Department and researchers from China, Brazil,
Canada, Finland, and other countries. DOE National Laboratory scientists will discuss their collaboration on
feedstock logistics and biomass conversion technologies that will accelerate the commercialization of advanced
biofuels. The webinar will feature the International Organization for Standardization, an initiative to foster
robust international sustainable biofuels markets through better performance metrics. The DOE's Biomass Program is focused on forming cost-share
partnerships with key stakeholders to develop, demonstrate, and deploy technologies for advanced biofuels
production from lignocellulosic and algal biomass. The program works with a broad spectrum of industrial,
academic, agricultural, and nonprofit partners across the United States to develop and deploy commercially
viable, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower from renewable biomass resources in America to
reduce our dependence on imported oil. 11/23/2012
University of Wisconsin GVL Solvent Process Simplifies
Biomass Pretreatment
The University of Wisconsin - Madison has announced that a research team in its Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering has
developed a streamlined process for cellulose and hemicellulose pretreatment prior to production of biofuels and
bio-sourced chemicals. Professors James Dumesic and Michel Boudart, and members of their research group
described the process in a paper published online in the journal "Energy & Environmental Science." Co-processing of
hemicellulose and cellulose, which have significantly different physical and chemical properties, is
accomplished using the organic solvent gamma-valerolactone (GVL). In this strategy, the intermediary biosourced
solvents are separated from the degrading biomass and recycled to further the pre-treatment. Professor James
Dumesic: "You'd make the solvent as part of the process. Water is used now, but it leads to low rates and low
yields of desired products." Following the γ-valerolactone (GVL) production from LA and levulinate esters, GVL
is converted to butene, hence providing the butene required for esterification and butene oligomers. The team
also completed an economic assessment of the process potential, concluding that the minimum selling price of
butene oligomers from a 1365 dry tons per day of loblolly pine processing facility was $4.92 per gallon of
gasoline equivalent, and that the biomass feedstock price is the main cost driver. Dumesic says the process
could scale to a continuous-flow reactor. 11/23/2012
Base Structures Awarded Technology Research Grant from
Innovate UK
United Kingdom (UK) biogas storage company Base Structures has announced receipt of a research grant from the Innovate UK program. The grant will facilitate collaboration with a research institution to
systematically analyze process efficiencies in the firm's tensile-fabric biogas storage modules, including the design and manufacture of a biogas
storage membrane for use as a gas accumulator in the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Methane gas is stored
within the accumulator in a factory sealed fabric ‘bag’. Excess biogas generated from an AD plant is pumped into
one of two bags within the tensile fabric containment; a second bag is filled with air which is released as more
biogas is stored. When the fuel gas is needs, the air bag is inflated to deliver pressurized and closely metered
biogas on demand. By developing new fabrics it will be possible to reduce costs and inefficiencies in the AD
system and therefore improve the financial viability of all AD operations. Earlier this month, Base Structures
announced new triple-membrane biogas containment systems contracts in France for a large
on-farm anaerobic digestion facility, and the United States for multiple smaller 25 and 50 cubic meter modules.
The company gained further recognition with receipt of a 2012 International Achievement Award from the Industrial Fabrics Association International during ceremonies in Boston on November 7th.
11/23/2012
Big Dutchman Partners with MT-Energie for Biogas Plant
Development
German animal husbandry equipment supplier Big Dutchman has announced a new partnership with biogas facility company MT-Energie GmbH for development and sale of anaerobic digestion to biogas projects.
Concurrently, Big Dutchman has detached all biogas business relations from its own subsidiary BD AgroRenewables GmbH & Co KG (BD Agro). The subsidiary company will be taken over by a
previous manager and continue biogas project development in Germany, under a new name. In the collaboration, Big
Dutchman customers will work with MT-Energie for construction of biogas plants. The partners plan to increase
activity in non-EU markets, providing MT-Energie a growth avenue without having to invest in their own sales
infrastructure in each market. Big Dutchman profits from the high technical and commercial expertise of
MT-Energie, and has invested in a 5% shareholding position in the company. Torben Brunckhorst, managing director
of MT-Energie GmbH: "For MT-Energie the cooperation is proof of the success of our business model. Of special
interest to us are the markets Russia, Brazil, North America and Asia. In addition we also expect synergy
effects in EU-markets like France, UK or Italy." 11/23/2012
FuelCell Energy to Deliver Biogas Power to Microsoft
Data Center in Wyoming
Connecticut based fuel cell developer FuelCell Energy, Inc. has announced provision of renewable power to Microsoft Corporation's latest data center research project in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The 200
kilowatt electric (kWe) Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plant will be installed at Cheyenne's Dry Creek Water
Reclamation Facility by spring 2013 in a modular facility housing Microsoft's servers. Power generated above the
electrical demand of the data center will be provided to the water reclamation facility to offset their electric
costs, and will be designed to provide stand-alone power during regional electrical outages. DFCs efficiently
convert renewable biogas from wastewater treatment into continuous baseload power virtually absent of
pollutants. Prior to being used as a fuel source for the Direct FuelCell, the humidity and sulfur must be
removed, but the DFC technology does not require the removal of the CO2. Partners in the project include the
Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities, Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company, Western Research Institute, the
University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council, and Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development organization
for Cheyenne and Laramie County, Wyoming. The City of Cheyenne applied for a $1,500,000 Community Readiness
grant through the Wyoming Business Council's Business Ready Communities program earlier this year to fund the
needed infrastructure to support the Data Plant project. The application has been recommended by the Business
Council board at its November 6, 2012 meeting and is on the December 6, 2012 agenda for the Wyoming State Loan
and Investment Board (SLIB) for a final decision. "Although still in the application phase and the final
decision has yet to be made, this is a great project and an example of our broad efforts in advanced energy
technologies and clean carbon conversion in Wyoming," said Bob Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Wyoming Business
Council. "Our board approved this application and it will be voted on by the State Loan and Investment Board
December 6 for its final decision." 11/21/2012
Cavanaugh & Associates Wins ACEC/NC Award for Pig
Waste to Energy Project
Winston-Salem, North Carolina based Cavanaugh & Associates have announced receipt of the Grand Conceptor Engineering Excellence Award from the American
Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina (ACEC/NC). The ACEC/NC annually recognizes the year’s most outstanding engineering accomplishments by
awarding projects that demonstrate the highest degree of achievement, value, and integrity. The award was given
to recognize the company's work on the Pig Power swine-waste-to-energy project on the Loyd Ray Farms, which is the first pig farm
in North Carolina to generate Renewable Energy Credits (REC’s) from pig waste. Begun in 2010, Cavanaugh &
Associates commissioned Duke University to develop the anaerobic digestion process for conversion of the manure
to biogas to fuel microturbines, generating 500 kilowatts of electricity. Duke University now counts the
greenhouse gas emission reductions (carbon offsets) toward its voluntary carbon neutrality goal. This project is
expected to prevent the release of the equivalent of 5,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The
region's utility company Duke Energy applies the renewable energy generated by the microturbine toward its
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) requirements. Under the North Carolina
Utilities Commission Rule 66, the Loyd Ray Farms project qualifies for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).
Google, Inc.'s Google Green is an investor in the carbon credits generated by the Pig Power project. Cavanaugh’s
CEO, Steve Cavanaugh: “Loyd Ray Farms is a testament to the importance of creating sustainable agriculture and
Cavanaugh’s commitment to Stewardship through Innovation when it comes to finding ways to keep North Carolina
moving forward. Because this is our home too, Cavanaugh welcomes creative partnerships with companies like
Google who support the idea of using animal “waste” as an alternative fuel source. It’s truly a win-win scenario
for us and our environment.” 11/21/2012
Nanoparticle Research Breakthrough Can Aid Biofuel
Production
Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas have just announced the publication of findings that describe use of nanoparticles to generate
vapor from liquids using only sunlight as an energy source. It is also not necessary to heat the entire volume
of the liquid to the boiling point. Details of the solar steam method were published online today in
ACS Nano. The team's publication reports that the new "Solar Steam" technology has an overall energy efficiency of 24 percent compared, for
example, to photovoltaic solar panel efficiency of around 15%. Rice engineering undergraduates have already
created a solar steam-powered autoclave that’s capable of sterilizing medical and dental instruments at clinics
that lack electricity. From the paper's abstract: "Solar illumination of broadly absorbing metal or carbon
nanoparticles dispersed in a liquid produces vapor without the requirement of heating the fluid volume. When
particles are dispersed in water at ambient temperature, energy is directed primarily to vaporization of water
into steam, with a much smaller fraction resulting in heating of the fluid. Sunlight-illuminated particles can
also drive H2O-ethanol distillation, yielding fractions significantly richer in ethanol content than simple
thermal distillation. These phenomena can also enable important compact solar applications such as sterilization
of waste and surgical instruments in resource-poor locations." Corresponding authors at Rice University are
Naomi Halas ( ) and Peter Nordlander ().
11/20/2012
Leaf Energy's Patent Application for Glycerol Bio-refinery Process
Progressing
The Australian company Leaf Energy has announced that patent applications for a novel cellulosic biomass pre-treatment
technique are due for Patent Cooperation Treaty publication on December 6, 2012. Publication typically takes
place 18 months following the original application filing, and third parties may file observations regarding the
"invention" over the next 28 months. The patent application titled “Methods for Converting Lignocellulosic
Material to Useful Products” (“Glycerol Bio-refinery process”) describes the process developed by and licensed
from researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Biofuels production from waste agricultural
biomass requires fiber pretreatment, conversion of the pretreated fiber into sugars and production of ethanol
and co-products. The new process uses lower temperatures for enzymatic pre-treatment, requiring less energy and
reducing thermal degradation. Data published in the patent specification for the “Glycerol Bio-refinery Process”
shows that after 24 hours this process has liberated over 90% of the digestible cellulose; the results have been
successfully repeated at pilot scale, at the Mackay Renewable Bio-commodities Pilot Plant operated by QUT.
Trials have been conducted using bagasse conversion to sugars; the patents include a broader array of
lignocellulosic feedstock. Leaf Energy is working towards the first major Cellulosic Ethanol production project
in Australia. It will be a significant opportunity to profile the groundbreaking “Glycerol Bio-refinery Process”
in a pilot scale demonstration of cellulosic ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse. 11/20/2012
Scottish Biofuel Programme Launched to Support Biofuels
from Waste
The economic development organization Scottish Enterprise has announced the official launch of the Scottish Biofuels Programme with the goal of producing
biofuel from wastes and residues. Led by the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, the Scottish Biofuel Programme is a
partnership between five Scottish Universities and research institutions. The University of Abertay Dundee,
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), University of Edinburgh, and Scottish Agricultural College (SAC)
will work alongside Edinburgh Napier to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) develop low carbon
technologies, products, and services. SMEs can apply to the program’s Business Innovation Fund, which has a
total volume of £70k per year available through competitive grants. The new program will receive £582k of
co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) over three years, to help meet the European
Union's (EU) Renewable Energy Directive which states that 10% of fuel sold in the EU must be biofuel by
2020. Partner institutions will showcase a number of existing projects, including Edinburg Napier's
waste-to-biobutanol research, and Abertay University's work with Scottish SMEs on the conversion of organic
residues from agriculture and the brewery and distillery industries. Professor Martin Tangney, Director of
Edinburgh Napier’s Biofuel Research Centre: “We are mandated by the EU to have 10% biofuel by 2020 and the
current debate on biofuel legislation is putting increased pressure on the industry to produce biofuel from
wastes and residues. This Government backed partnership is aimed at helping Scottish SMEs to achieve exactly
that goal and we will provide a business and R&D support base to grow the biofuel sector in Scotland.”
11/19/2012
Harvest Power Honored by New England Clean Energy
Council
Massachusetts based Harvest Power has announced that it has been recognized as "Breakout Company of the Year" by the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC). The award, announced at NECEC’s fifth-annual Green
Tie Gala, emphasized Harvest’s dramatic progress this year, including breaking $100 million in revenue, securing
a $125 million Series C funding round, crossing the 400 employee threshold and nearing completion on two of
the largest anaerobic digestion facilities in North America. Founded in 2008, Harvest converts organic wastes
into energy and nutrient-rich soils, mulches and natural fertilizers from organic materials. Harvest Power was
2010 winner of NECEC’s “Emerging Company of the Year” award, and has since grown to manage more than 2 million
tons of organic material through 28 operating sites in North America. Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest: “We’re
honored by NECEC’s recognition, and we believe this year’s success is a sign of even better things to come.
Harvest will continue to revolutionize the way people look at organic materials, not just in New England, but
across North America." 11/19/2012
Velocys and Ventech Partner to Develop North American Waste Gas to Liquids
Velocys Inc., a subsidiary of the United Kingdom's Oxford Catalyst Group, has announced a partnership with Ventech Engineering International LLC to develop distributed gas-to-liquid (GTL) plants
throughout North America. The systems will be based on Velocys' microchannel Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalytic reactors and provide a modular design minimizing on-site engineering. Applications
will focus on conversion of "waste natural gas": stranded gas supplied in remote locations and other small
sources at a production scale of 1,000 to 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) that could not be economically
distributed through the natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Velocys will become Ventech’s preferred supplier of
FT technology for modular GTL plants in North America, and Ventech will design, sell and deliver the GTL plants.
Ventech has also contracted for FT reactors for use in the first commercial modular GTL plant, expected to be
1,400 bpd. Ventech's Project Investments division has $200 million in available capital to make equity
investments in energy projects, and expects to co-invest in initial GTL plants. 11/19/2012
Due 12/07/2012: Proposals to CEC's Energy Innovation
Small Grants Program
The California Energy Commission's (CEC) Public Interest Energy Research, Energy Innovations
Small Grants program (PEIR / EISG) released the most recent suite of 2012 Program Solicitation Notices. The
EISG program Grants Application Manual contains all current guidelines for the solicitations; proposals must
advance science or technology not adequately addressed by competitive and regulated markets, involve an original
innovative solution to a significant energy problem, be in the proof-of-concept phase, address a California
market need, provide a clear potential benefit to California ratepayers and target one of seven specified PIER
Research and development (R&D) areas. Solicitation 12-01 addresses non-transportation electricity grants, while Solicitation 12-01G is specific to non-transportation natural gas grants. Grants
directed toward the transportation sector are identified as 12-01T-Electricity and 12-01T-Natural Gas. The EISG Program funds projects that determine the feasibility of
energy research and development concepts relating to the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. The
EISG program supports the early development of promising new energy technology concepts, a niche not covered by
PIER general solicitations that focus primarily on development of established concepts. The CEC is offering EISG
funding through its program administrator, the San Diego State University Foundation. All submissions and any
questions should be directed to the EISG Program Administrator ( ), San Diego
State University Research Foundation, 5250 Campanile Drive, MC 1858, San Diego, CA 92182-1858 at (619) 594-1049.
Proposals are due December 7, 2012 no later than 5:00 PM. 11/18/2012
DoD Selects Sierra Energy for Fort Hunter Waste
Conversion Installation
California based Sierra Energy has announced that the US Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded the company a $3 million
grant to develop a community scale advanced waste gasification installation on the Army's Garrison Fort Hunter
Liggett in Monterey County, California. The DoD has set strategic and achievable energy initiatives to reduce
waste and increase renewable energy. The Army has selected the first six pilot installations to be net-zero
energy, and the first six to be net-zero waste, by 2020. A net-zero waste installation reduces, reuses, and
recovers waste streams by converting them to resource values with zero landfill over the course of a year.
Net-zero energy calls for an installation to create as much energy as it uses. Fort Hunter Liggett was selected
as both a net-zero energy and net-zero waste pilot site. Sierra Energy's modular and compact FastOx Pathfinder waste gasification system offers opportunities for renewable,
distributed generation from clean and efficient conversion of many types of waste. The company conducts much of
its research and development at the Army's Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) operated by Technikon at McClellan Park, Sacramento. Mike Hart, CEO of Sierra
Energy: “We are honored to help the Department of Defense achieve their renewable energy goals. And the
prominence of the project will show communities across the United States and beyond the benefits of deploying
the FastOx Pathfinder community-scale system.” 11/16/2012
Enviva Secures $120MM for Construction of Two New
Pellet Mills
Maryland's sustainable biomass company Enviva has closed on a Senior Secured Credit Facility valued at $120 million, the company's first
corporate loan. Barclays Bank PLC, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Royal Bank of Canada, and Citigroup Global Markets,
Inc. served as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Runners. The proceeds of the debt offering will be used to
complete the construction of two new 500,000 metric ton per year pellet mills, one each in Virginia and North
Carolina, and to increase the storage capacity of Enviva’s deep-water port terminal in Chesapeake, Virginia to
approximately 100,000 metric tons. This construction and expansion will complement Enviva’s existing
manufacturing base and large operating footprint in the mid-Atlantic, Mississippi and Alabama. When complete in
2013, Enviva’s 1.72 million tons of combined annual capacity will help fulfill existing long-term supply
agreements for the company’s solid renewable fuels to major European utility customers, including a contracted
240,000 metric ton per year pellet supply agreement with E.ON signed this past February. John Keppler, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Enviva: “As demand for sustainable biomass fuels continues to increase worldwide, the
midstream supply sector must continue to grow alongside, aggregating and processing fragmented wood resources
into high-quality renewable fuels and storing, terminaling and delivering them reliably to our customers."
11/16/2012
VinylLoop Releases White Paper on LCA
of PVC Recycling and Reprocessing
Based in Belgium, the recycled plastics specialist VinylLoop has announced release of a White Paper on vinyl recycling and reconstituting based on Life Cycle
Assessment (LCA) methodology. The company's process separates the Poly-Vinyl Chloride (PVC) compound from
other materials (other plastics, rubber, metal, textile and others) by selective dissolution and filtration. The
VinyLoop® R-PVC compounds produced can be processed in extrusion, calendering and injection moulding in various
applications, such as hoses, foils, geo-membranes or shoes soles and are the functional equivalent of a ‘virgin’
material in terms of quality and property consistency. The White Paper describes how VinyLoop’s recycled
PVC processing compared to producing virgin PVC results in a primary energy demand reduction of 46%, greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions reduction of 39% and water consumption by 72%. VinyLoop® Ferrara is a partnership
between 2 companies, SolVin Italia, part of the SolVin joint venture (75% Solvay, 25% BASF), one of the largest
PVC producers in Europe with the most extensive range of products and Ferrari Textiles, a manufacturer of
tarpaulins. “We as a material producer take our responsibility to inform the whole value chain about the
environmental footprint,” said Paolo Groppi, General Manager of VinyLoop. “This White Paper aims to create more
demand pull for recycling.” 11/16/2012
Merrick to Engineer Sweetwater's 1st Commercial
Cellulosic Sugar Facility
Colorado based Merrick & Company has announced that it has been awarded a contract to engineer Sweetwater Energy's first
commercial scale cellulosic sugar production facility. Sweetwater uses patent-pending modular technology to produce sugars from several types of biomass including low-value
agricultural residues and harvested wood. The purified C5 and C6 sugars are ready for use in advanced biofuel
and biochemical production, while leftover lignin is converted to heat and power for the production facilities.
Merrick will provide comprehensive facility design services. Sweetwater is scaling up processes proven in its
pilot facility which successfully converted lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars from late 2012 through
2011, selling the products to two companies working with the Department of Defense to make bio-based jet fuel.
The commercial scale facility should be completed in 2013. “We needed an engineering design firm that
understands the unique nature of how we’re trying to replace petroleum with renewable sugars,” says Ron Boillat,
chief deployment officer at Sweetwater. “Merrick’s track record spoke volumes. Something as simple as a pump can
pose difficulty when you’re dealing with biomass, so we needed a company that knew bioprocessing inside and
out.” 11/16/2012
Oregon DEQ Releases Final Draft Conversion Technology
Rules
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has released a number of proposed Final Draft rules developed within the agency's Conversion
Technology Rulemaking. If adopted, the proposed rules would establish regulatory clarity through
performance standards and solid waste permit requirements for conversion technology facilities. This would
assure environmental protection, establish an appropriate fee schedule for this new permit category, and provide
regulatory certainty for emerging technology providers and DEQ staff. Key changes to the CT Rules include
revisions of Division 93: Definitions and Applications, providing clarification in the “feedstock”
definitions, establishing a new definition for “treatment facilities” and expanding and clarifying types of
sites that may not need a permit. In Division 96: Anaerobic Digestion and Composting, changes include addition
to the composting facility performance standards of a requirement to demonstrate ability to store liquid
digestate, identification of operational standards to demonstrate pathogen reduction for liquid digestate, and
identification of testing standards for liquid digestate. For Division 96: Conversion Technology New Rules,
exemption standards have been amended, as have criteria for low-risk facilities and performance standard
criteria for conversion technology facilities. Division 97: Fee Rules have also been amended and clarified.
Contact Bob Burrows (barrows.bob@deq.state) by email or at (541) 687-7354 for more information.
11/16/2012
Due 12/21/2012: Renewable Energy Proposals to SCE
for RAM 3 RFO
Southern California Edison (SCE) has launched its Third Renewable Auction Mechanism Request for Offers (RAM 3 RFO) for Product from
eligible renewable resources. The RAM 3 RFO is open to renewable electric energy generating facilities not less
than 3 megawatts (MW) and not greater than 20 MW that are located within the service territories of SCE,
PG&E, and SDG&E. Additional Offer qualification criteria can be found in the RAM 3 RFO Participant
Instructions (RFO Instructions), available in the Documents section of the RAM 3 RFO website. Interested parties
must register on the RAM 3 RFO website as an Offeror and complete prequalification in the Offer Management tab.
Only those participants who have met the prequalification criteria may submit an. SCE will host an RFO
Conference via Webex to discuss the RAM 3 RFO process on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 9:00 am PPT. Conference
details will be available on the RAM 3 RFO website. For an Offer to be considered in SCEs RAM 3 RFO, Offerors
must submit complete Offer(s) via the RAM 3 RFO website no later than 12:00 pm (noon) Pacific Prevailing Time
(PPT) on Friday, December 21, 2012. 11/16/2012
Energos Receives UK Environmental Permit for Waste
Conversion CHP Facility
United Kingdom (UK) based Energos has received a full environmental permit to operate a small-scale municipal waste residuals
gasification facility at the Knowsley Industrial Park in Merseyside, Knowsley, outside of Liverpool on England's
western coast. The Energos Knowsley Energy Recovery Facility will process 96,000 tonnes of residual waste per
year to generate 9 megawatts of electricity (MWe). UK's Environmental Agency opened public consultation on the project in February of this year, and
has now set low limits for NOx emissions in recognition of Energos' capabilities of achieving NOx emissions of
less than 25% of the EU limit without any form of NOx abatement system. The competed plant will complement local
recycling by conversion of non-recyclable waste residuals into combined heat and power (CHP) for use by
neighboring businesses. The initial construction stage has been completed; permits will allow start of
construction of the final stage early in 2013. Energos' advanced conversion technology has also been selected for the treatment of residual waste at
the proposed Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park and at Viridor's Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre. 11/15/2012
Edeniq Partners with Usina Vale for Brazilian Bagasse
to Sugar Demo Plant
California based biofuels company Edeniq, Inc has announced a partnership with the Brazilian ethanol company Usina Vale for development of a
demonstration scale plant to convert sugarcane bagasse into fermentable sugars. Cellulosic sugars will be
converted into ethanol at the site, showcasing how sugarcane mills can increase ethanol production economically
with Edeniq’s patented bolt-on technologies, which break down biomass to liberate cellulosic
sugars that can be converted into ethanol and other products. The Brazil plant will also include the company’s
proprietary reactor design for continuous enzymatic conversion of biomass to sugar. The plant will handle up to
20 tons per day of bagasse and will be co-located at Usina Vale’s ethanol and sugar production site in São Paulo
State, Brazil. Edeniq owns and operates a fully integrated two ton per day pilot plant in Visalia, California,
in partnership with Logos Technologies, which is currently in operation converting cellulosic feedstock into
low-cost cellulosic sugars and cellulosic ethanol. Key to the process is Edeniq’s proprietary Cellunator™, which
mechanically pre-treats biomass so that it can be more easily converted to sugars, increasing sugar yield and
thus driving an increase in ethanol yield. Edeniq integrates patented mechanical and biological processes to
break down plant material into sugars. The companies have agreed to jointly fund the demo facility. Earlier this
month, Edeniq partnered with Aemetis to increase the California based biofuel company's range of
acceptable feedstock and production efficiency. 11/15/2012
National Gypsum Waste Heat to CHP
Plant Begins Operations in New Jersey
Illinois based Recycled Energy Development LLC (RED) has announced the onset of operations for the waste heat to combined heat
and power (CHP) installation at the National Gypsum Company (NGC) wallboard plant in Burlington, New
Jersey. RED develops, owns, and operates power projects that harness waste energy to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and power costs. The cogeneration system captures the excess heat that is a natural byproduct of the
gas turbine’s combustion and utilizes it within the manufacturer’s board dryer in order to dry wallboard. The
project produces approximately 3.4 megawatts of clean electricity and delivers more than 30 million British
thermal units (MMBtu) of useful thermal energy each hour of operation, resulting in an overall efficiency of
greater than 90 percent. The project benefitted from a $1.3-million competitive grant administered by New
Jersey’s Economic Development Authority and Board of Public Utilities. Earlier this year, RED secured waste heat
to CHP agreements with Dean Foods where integrated utilization of waste heat
recovered from on-site power generation will similarly increase efficiencies and reduce the company's overall
greenhouse gas footprint. The Dean Foods and the NGC facility installations will all save money and cut
pollution, demonstrating that waste heat recovery can reduce greenhouse gas emissions profitably. John Corsi,
Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Engineering of NGC: “CHP is benefitting our company’s bottom
line. This facility allows the NGC to further strengthen our competitiveness, increase our reliability, as well
as improve our environmental stewardship.” 11/15/2012
Due 01/16/2013: Proposals to Maui
County for Waste Conversion and Energy
The Department of Environmental Management, County of Maui, Hawaii, has released a Request for Proposals (RFP #12--13/P32) seeking a developer to
finance, plan, design, permit, construct, and own a waste-to-energy project at the Central Maui Landfill in
Puunene, the largest of four county-run landfills. The plan would include diverting nearly 500 tons of waste
from the county landfill and turning it into energy to power more than 10,000 homes. Proposals are due January
16, 2013 by 4:00 pm. This RFP follows the County's landfill gas utilization project solicitation a year ago, and a
Request for Qualifications for the Waste Conversion project released
in May of this year to develop the County's understanding of what might be possible and commercially available.
For this RFP, a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting and site visit will be conducted November 27, 2012; contact Kyle
Ginoza, Director of Environmental Management at (808) 270-8230 for meeting details. Interested parties need to
contact and register with the County of Maui Purchasing Division; copies of the RFP and all subsequent updates
are only distributed after no-fee registration. For technical questions please contact For technical questions
please contact Kyle Ginoza at (808) 270-8230. For procedural questions, please contact Greg King at (808)
249-2403 x30. Address requests for a CD of the RFP to Bid Receiver, County of Maui Purchasing Division, 2145
Wells Street Suite 104, Wailuku, HI 96793. Proposals are due no later than January 16, 2012.
11/15/2012
Due 12/19/2012: Proposals to SCAQMD for Landfill or
Digester AQ Systems
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP #P2013-13) to solicit proposals for the deployment of selective
non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) emission control technologies for internal combustion engines operating on
landfill and/or digester gas (biogas) to meet SCAQMD’s January 1, 2016 Rule 1110.2 emission limits. The SCAQMD is a regional agency with
jurisdiction over air quality in California’s South Coast Air Basin with a boundary that includes over 10,000
square miles and a population of approximately 17 million. Due to the nature of the potential projects, the
actual award amount cannot be determined at this time. The successful bidding entities should have proven
expertise in working directly with SNCR technologies and biogas renewable distributed electrical power
generation. Proposals that include a host site demonstration partner, located in the South Coast Air Basin with
landfill or digester gas application will be awarded additional points during the evaluation process. A
non-mandatory bidder’s conference will be held in reference to this RFP on Friday, November 16, 2012 at 1:00
p.m. at SCAQMD Headquarters. Proposals must contain completed certification forms, and must be submitted to the
SCAQMD on or before 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. Questions should be addressed to Alfonso Baez
() or (909) 396-2516. 11/15/2012
ACORE Releases 2012 State-by-State Resource for
Renewable Energy
The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) has announced release of its 2012 "Renewable Energy in the 50 States", providing a
two-page high level assessment of the key developments shaping the renewable energy marketplace in each state.
The interactive on-line report comes with an executive summary, a map interface, a User's
Guide, and a Glossary and includes information on installed and planned capacity, markets, economic development,
resource potential and policy. The report shows that in 2011, the total installed base of renewable electricity
exceeded 145 GW in the United States with more than 67 GW from non-hydropower sources. Every region in the
country experienced growth in the 2011-2012 period from new wind farms in the Midwest, advanced biofuel
facilities in the Southeast, solar farms in the West, to hydropower facility improvements in the Northeast.
Washington, California, and Texas led in cumulative renewable power capacity, while Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois
led in renewable fuels capacity. Each state summary includes sections with a Capacity Chart and Resource Maps,
and an assessment of Market, Economic Development, and Policies. ACORE, a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership
organization, is dedicated to building a secure and prosperous America with clean, renewable energy. ACORE seeks
to advance renewable energy through finance, policy, technology, and market development and is concentrating its
member focus in 2012 on National Defense & Security, Power Generation & Infrastructure, and
Transportation. 11/12/2012
KiOR Starts Operations in Columbus
BioEnergy
Facility
Texas based advanced biofuels company KiOR has announced start of operations and initial production of bio-oil at its Columbus, Mississippi production facility. News of production status was released with
the company's third quarter financial results which showed an overall increase in net loss as all activities
remained focused on commissioning and start-up of this first plant. KiOR has now successfully demonstrated the
scalability of its Biomass Fluid Catalytic Cracking (BFCC) process, a two-step pyrolytic technology platform capable of converting low-vale agricultural residues and other
waste biomass into "green crude" ready for further refining to gasoline and diesel equivalents. Last year, KiOR
secured off-take agreements with both Catchlight (a Chevron / Weyerhaeuser joint venture) and FedEx for its advanced biofuels, and received Part 79 fuels certification from the EPA. Fred Cannon, KiOR's President and Chief
Executive Officer: "I am pleased to announce that we have commenced operations at the Columbus facility and have
produced a high quality oil that is in line with our specifications for upgrading into cellulosic gasoline and
diesel. More importantly, we believe the high quality of the oil from the Columbus facility validates KiOR's
proprietary biomass fluid catalytic cracking, or BFCC, technology at commercial scale." 11/12/2012
Veolia Signs 25 Year Residual Waste Treatment and
Energy Recovery Contract
Veolia Environmental Services has announced signing a contract with the City of Leeds, United Kingdom to manage the
City's recycling and residual municipal waste treatment including developments for energy recovery The agreement
is a 25-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract valued at £460 million. The company was selected as
preferred bidder in January of this year for the high-tech recycling and energy recovery facilities, which are
estimated to save the municipality around £200 million over the term of the contract compared with the cost of
landfilling its residual municipal waste. In order to meet European Landfill Directive targets it is essential
to concentrate on converting waste into a resource. The British government estimates that achieving this target
will require an investment of £10 billion in waste management infrastructure by 2020. Jérôme Le Conte, CEO of
Veolia Environmental Services: " In the United Kingdom, Veolia Environmental Services is currently involved in
12 PFI/PPPs. This type of partnership contract will help make it possible to achieve the targets set under the
European Landfill Directive. Veolia Environmental Services made the strategic decision, well before the market,
to make waste a resource. In the United Kingdom in particular, clients are turning to us for innovative
solutions that enable them to improve their environmental and energy performance." 11/12/2012
Due 11/21/2012: Responses to DOE RFI on Biomass
Feedstock Logistic Systems
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the release of a Request for Information (RFI; DE-FOA-0000791) seeking stakeholder and research community input
regarding efficient strategies and technologies for reducing the delivered cost of lignocellulosic
biomass, increasing industry-accessible biomass volumes, and ensuring input quality specifications required by a
variety of biorefinery processes are met. The DOE considers this information of high importance to achieving the
2022 biofuels goals for the Biomass Program under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, 2007).
Although this is not a solicitation for proposals to be considered for funding, the DOE often follows RFIs with
similarly focused Request for Proposals (RFP). The full text of the RFI is available on-line as is a Summary Report from the
Biomass Densification Workshop that DOE hosted in Idaho Falls, Idaho in August 2011.
The new RFI follows on the Workshop findings, seeking to optimize feedstock supply chain operations to be
capable of reliably delivering feedstocks that meet a variety of material specifications, while being capable of
reacting to the demands of the evolving biomass processing industry. Responses to this RFI must be submitted in
Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format by email () no later than
5:00 p.m. EDT on November 21, 2012. 11/12/2012
Praj to Build $30MM Lignocellulosic Biofuels Commercial
Scale Demo
India based Praj Industries has announced that it is developing a $30 million commercial scale demonstration biorefinery for
conversion of lignocellulosic biomass feedstock to ethanol. The 10 million litre (2.6 million gallon) per year
facility will initially be based on a sugar fermentation platform, with the intent to expand India's ethanol
production based on non-food agricultural residues. Praj is already engaged in "over 450 ethanol plants in 45
countries across 5 continents" with both beverage and industrial grade alcohol production plants. The advanced
biorefinery is being developed at the company's Matrix Innovation Center inaugurated in 2008; construction is expected to break ground early
in 2013. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman of Praj Industries, announced the project during his welcoming
address at last week's F. O. Licht World Ethanol Conference in Munich: "The successful demonstration of various parameters at
the demo-commercial plant will put Praj at the forefront of the biobased economy and in the race for commercial
scale second generation biofuels. While this plant size is appropriate for emerging markets, with our past
experience of quick scale up, it will be well within Praj's capability to scale the capacity even up to 10
times. I am pleased to say that Praj will be the first Company in the tropics to set up such an integrated
facility." 11/11/2012
Stoel Rives Releases Free "Law of Biorefineries and
Advanced Biofuels" Guide
Oregon based legal firm Stoel Rives has announced release of "The Law of Biorefineries and Advanced Biofuels", which covers issues
such as early stage financing, business models, intellectual property, regulatory and permitting requirements,
real property procedures, contracts and incentives. This is latest in its free "Law Of" series that address
topics such as algae, wind, hydro, geothermal, and other legal arenas, and may be downloaded at no charge
following on-line registration. The new Biorefineries guide draws on the firm's experience in
first-generation biofuels while focusing on the particular challenges and legal issues facing next-generation
biofuels and biochemicals. Stoel Rives attorney Graham Noyes, co-editor: "We are in the midst of the rapid
commercialization of advanced biofuel and biochemical products. Recent state and federal policies have
accelerated the growth of the U.S. advanced biofuel marketplace, and the industry's economics are increasingly
attractive. As lawyers and supporters of the biofuel industry since its inception, we wanted to provide those in
the industry with our insights into the legal landscape of this unique and dynamic energy source."
11/11/2012
CalRecycle Hosts 2nd MRF Technical Workshop in LA on
Standards & Residuals
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has announced that it will host the second in a series of workshops on November 26, 2012 at the
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Main Building to explore developing possible performance standards
for Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs). The workshop will discuss 1) a standard for determining when mixed
waste processing can be considered “comparable to source separation” to meet the requirements under the
Mandatory Commercial Recycling law (AB 341); and 2) a standard for determining when MRF residuals have been processed such that
sufficient recycled/composted materials have been recovered. Staff will present a proposed technical approach
and provide a more in-depth analysis of its pros and cons, as well as discuss other possible options. Teru filed comments on the first MRF workshop, held October 5, 2012 in Sacramento;
hopefully, the 2nd workshop will better address issues related to reprocessing on the MRF site for completion of
the Recycling process. Contact for the Los Angeles workshop: Tranette Sanders (), (626)
458-3562. Sacramento program contact: Michelle Caballero (), (916) 322-4032. Direct
questions, comments, and concerns by email (). 11/11/2012
Houston Places in Top 20 of Bloomberg Philanthropies
Mayors Challenge
The City of Houston has announced its placement among the top 20 US cities in the Mayors Challenge, the latest initiative of Bloomberg Philanthropies to "spread proven and
promising ideas among cities." The Mayors Challenge offers $9 million in prizes with a $5 million Grand Prize;
the five "boldest ideas with the greatest potential for impact" will win project funding. Houston's entry
detailed an innovative approach to waste management centered on the city's proposed "Total Reuse - One Bin for
All" program that will "… eliminate source separation at the household level and achieve high waste diversion
and recovery through game-changing technologies and new process systems. By developing the first total material
resource recovery facility in the U.S., Houston will improve the health and quality of life of its citizens,
divert more municipal solid waste than any other large city in the nation, improve air quality, save money,
change the way citizens think about materials, reduce extraction of raw materials, and influence other cities to
embrace this transformation. Houston will divert up to 75% of the waste stream, relying on technology, not
individuals. Residents will place everything in one bin – allowing access to all materials, recyclables, food
waste, yard trimmings, and e-waste – thus maximizing reuse." Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston: “The Challenge
tapped into Houston's innovative spirit, asking us to find new solutions to persistent problems. We are an
entrepreneurial City—if you can dream it, you can achieve it here. We look forward to Ideas Camp to help turn
our dream of full reuse and recycling and improved public health into reality.” 11/10/2012
Cleantech Open's 2012 Global Forum Announces This
Year's Finalists
The Cleantech Open has announced "category winners" following last week's Global Forum held in San Jose,
California. Finalists will now compete for top prizes in this year's Cleantech Open Business Competition. Two of
the finalists are focused on recovering renewable energy from "waste". In the case of New York headquartered
Rentricity, that waste is the excess pressure that can be scavenged from existing
water and wastewater piping, enabling water utilities to become energy independent. In April of this year,
Rentricity received funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) to integrate the company's PowerGateTM and PowerWeirTM modules in the
City's water and wastewater piping infrastructure. The second finalist Red Ox Systems of New Haven Connecticut took the Air-Water-Waste category. Red Ox develops
and commercializes the Electrochemical Desalination Cell, producing sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid
from the desalinization of wastewater, with an initial target market for this technology being wastewater
treatment in the oil and gas industry. The Cleantech Open business competition and entrepreneur incubator is a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to "find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that
address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges." Since 2006, the Cleantech Open has
enabled hundreds of clean-technology start-ups to bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition and helped alumni
contestants raise over $300M. 11/10/2012
WRAP Releases Household Waste and Recycling Centre
Guidance
The United Kingdom Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has announced the release of a new guidance document focusing on best management practices in handling household waste and
recycling centers. The guide is intended to assist all those involved in all aspects of waste handling,
materials recovery facilities, and re-use and recycling centers. Direction is provided for local authorities on
managing efficient and effective household waste and recycling centre (HWRC) services, including examples of
good practice, and includes an overview of relevant UK legislation and evidence-based approaches to assessing
and improving HWRC performance. Considerable data-rich background is provided to place current recommendations
in context. Case studies are offered to document major categories of operations. Waste composition and
characterization variability is explored for the entire UK, with examples of resulting impacts to management.
Metrics and methods for measurement of Center effectiveness are provided. Key finding: "The single most
important type of data for understanding how to improve HWRC performance relates to the composition of residual
waste. It is therefore a good idea to monitor the composition of residual waste at HWRCs on a regular basis. As
this tends to vary greatly between sites, local authorities operating a network of sites should monitor
composition at most or all of the sites. Combining data on residual waste composition with recycling tonnage
data can give you an understanding of the overall composition of HWRC throughputs, as well as capture rates for
materials currently targeted. This can highlight which materials need a greater focus for recycling. It can also
help to build a business case for targeting other materials which arise in significant quantities in HWRC
residual waste." 11/10/2012
Covanta Refinancing Three Waste-to-Energy Plants with
$335MM in Bonds
New Jersey based Covanta Holding Corporation has announced that it has priced new tax-exempt bonds totaling $335 million and are expected to
close later in the month. Proceeds from the offerings will refinance existing tax-exempt project debt at its
Haverhill, Niagara, and SEMASS facilities, as well as to fund certain capital expenditures in Massachusetts. The
bulk of the refinancing, totaling around $65 million, will support refunding project debt for the Covanta Niagara Energy-from-Waste Facility. The Niagara Facility converts municipal solid
waste (MSW) from the greater Niagara Falls / Buffalo Region into heat for steam production to drive turbines,
using two 1,125 ton per day processing lines. Steam is also sold to surrounding industrial plants, while energy
is sold to the New York State power grid. The Covanta Haverhill Energy-from-Waste Facility in Massachusetts will
receive $87 million to refund its project debt. In operation since 1989, the plant converts 1,650 tons per day
of regional MSW to generate up to 49 megawatts for sale into New England's power grid. An additional $20 million
will be utilized in Massachusetts as new proceeds for qualifying capital expenses (capex). Another $67 million
will refund project debt for the SEMASS plant, which converts 3,000 tons per day of processed refuse derived fuel while
recovering around 50,000 tons of metals from pre- and post-combustion feedstock treatments. Bank of America
Merrill Lynch is acting as lead manager on the transaction. Barclays, Guggenheim Securities and TD Securities
are acting as co-managers. 11/10/2012
Edeniq and Aemetis Form Advanced Biofuels
Implementation Partnership
California based biochemicals and biofuels specialist Edeniq, Inc has announced an agreement with advanced biofuels producer Aemetis to install Edeniq's biomass
pre-treatment technologies in Aemetis' biofuels plant. Edeniq’s Cellunator™ technology produces sugars by milling corn and other plant materials
into “right-sized” particles of feedstock that can be more easily converted. Aemetis’ Keyes, California facility
currently produces 60 million gallons of ethanol annually using its patented Z-Microbe and ambient temperature starch / cellulose hydrolysis process. Aemetis is also one
of three ethanol producers working with Edeniq on the company’s Pathway platform, a patented process that
integrates enzymes with the Cellunator™ technology to produce cellulosic ethanol using the existing plant
infrastructure. Aemetis is testing the commercial feasibility of the Pathway™ platform on site at their plant.
Aemetis acquired the biofuel company Cilion and its Keyes ethanol plant in July of this year after
more than a decade of development work with that company. Edeniq launched a pilot / demonstration biorefinery in Visalia, California after receiving a $3.9
million grant from the California Energy Commission. Brian Thome, President and CEO of Edeniq: “One of the
benefits of having a location in the Central Valley of California is that we can help our customers take
advantage of the agricultural resources this area provides. The installation at Aemetis will allow us to work
together to begin to utilize non-food plant material and will further demonstrate Edeniq’s mission of leveraging
current industry assets to bring additional unrealized ethanol fuels to market.” 11/10/2012
Due 11/30/2012: Renewable Energy Project Proposals to
SCPPA
The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking renewable energy products as structured projects. The
SCPPA would prefer to hold an undivided equity interest in joint ownership of renewable energy projects with
authority to sell all of the generated electricity to its members. SCPPA will also consider Power Purchase
Agreements (PPAs), which may include an option to purchase the project during the term of the agreement. Among
the types of projects being sought are baseload technologies; bioenergy projects may include (1) dedicated waste
feedstock or energy crops, (2) biogas, including landfill, digester gases and gas conversion or gasification
technologies where the conversion to electricity occurs on the same premises as the source of fuel, and (3)
biogas only, as previously sought in SCPPA’s June 2012 RFP on BioGas for delivery of pipeline quality fuel through existing
infrastructures to be used at SCPPA’s conventional generation plants. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or Waste to
Energy technologies are also eligible that can demonstrate the absence of incineration and are able to obtain
certification as a Renewable Resource by the California Energy Commission. Greenhouse Gas reduction projects
will also be consider as mitigation measures, including reduction or capture and sequestration technologies. One
hard copy including a Transmittal Letter of authentic offer with wet-ink authority signature, and any supporting
documentation may be delivered at any time during normal business hours prior to the end of business day (4:00
p.m. Pacific Standard Time) on November 30, 2012 to Southern California Public Power Authority, Attention: Kelly
Nguyen, 225 S. Lake Avenue, Suite 1250, Pasadena, California 91101. One electronic copy must also be delivered
on CD or USB flash-drive to the above address. Clarification questions may be addressed to Kelly Nguyen
() at (626) 793-9364. Note: a new RFP will be posted by 01/01/2013 after closing of
this RFP. 11/10/2012
Viridor and South London Waste Partnership Sign 25 Year
Contract
Pennon Group Plc has announced that its subsidiary Viridor South London Ltd has signed a 25 year waste treatment
agreement with the South London Waste Partnership. The agreement requires Viridor to finance, construct and
operate a new Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Viridor's existing landfill and recycling facilities in
Beddington, in the South London borough of Sutton. Viridor was selected as the preferred bidder in December 2011; the project has been undergoing extensive
environmental assessment since that time. Viridor submitted formal planning applications in August 2012, and the
contract depends upon permitting approval. The Beddington ERF has been designed to process around 275,000 tonnes of non-hazardous residual
waste a year, focusing on conversion to energy of the wastes remaining after recyclates and compostable
resources have been removed at the recycling facility. Environmental benefits will include landfill diversion of
up to 95 per cent of waste delivered to the facility and the generation of up to 26MW of electricity, which will
power the facility itself and supply over 22MW to the National Grid. District heating is also under
consideration, using excess thermal energy generated in the conversion process. The project requires capital
investment of approximately £200 million by Viridor and the plant will be built by the UK/French joint venture
Lagan-CNIM as the EPC Contractor, the team selected to develop Viridor's Cardiff Energy from Waste facility in April of this year. 11/06/2012
BioAmber, Faurecia-Mitsubishi Chemical Collaborate for
Automotive Bioplastics
BioAmber, Inc has announced that it will supply biobased succinic acid to the Faurecia-Mitsubishi Chemical
partnership for production of automotive plastics. Faurecia has been conducting research into bioplastics derived from 100% natural materials
since 2006 (BioMat project) and has signed an exclusive industrial partnership agreement with Mitsubishi
Chemical Corporation to co-develop bioplastics designed for mass-production for use in automotive interiors. In
August 2011, the BioAmber subsidiary Bluewater Chemicals began development of a bio-sourced succinic acid production plant in Sarnia, Canada. The biomaterial supply will
enable the joint Faurecia-Mitsubishi Chemical program to develop a polymer that can be used in mass-production
for automotive interior parts (door panel trim strip, structural instrument panel and console inserts, air
ducts, door panel inserts, etc.) to reduce weight, increase the recyclability of components and improve the
environmental impact of the product lifecycle from materials extraction through end-of-life. Nicolas Pechnyk,
Vice President Engineering for Faurecia Interior Systems: "This strategic agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical
will make Faurecia the first automotive equipment supplier to mass-produce a 100% bio-based plastic."
11/06/2012
Campbell Soup and CH4 Biogas Partner on Ohio's 1st
Biogas Power Plant
Campbell Soup Company has announced a partnership with Florida based CH4 Biogas LLC to develop Ohio's first commercial anaerobic digestion (AD) facility for
generation of methane-rich biogas to electricity. Feedstock is to be sourced from Campbell's Napoleon, Ohio
beverage production facility and augmented with local food processor and dairy waste, converted in a digester
with design capacity of up to 450 tons per day. CH4's Napoleon Biogas plant will be located on land across the street from Campbell's facilities
in Harrison Township, in western Ohio. Construction is underway and slated for completion in mid-2013. The
project is financed by EKF (Eksport Kredit Fonden), the Danish state export credit agency, which will provide a
debt guaranty on the financing and with investments from CH4 Biogas and BNB Napoleon Biogas. The site is
adjacent to a 60-acre, 9.8 MW solar system constructed by BNB Renewable Energy Holdings for Campbell in 2011
that currently provides 15 percent of power for Campbell’s Napoleon facility. Dave Stangis, Campbell’s Vice
President of Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility: “This new biogas technology will improve Campbell’s
Napoleon recycling rate to approximately 95 percent, reaching the company’s 2020 destination goal for the site
early." 11/06/2012
Vision Plasma Systems Signs Brazilian Manufacturing
Agreement
Nevada based Vision Plasma Systems, Inc. has announced entering into an agreement with the Mayor of Londrina, in the State of Parana,
Brazil, promising incentives to develop a manufacturing facility. The company said that the agreement promised
financing and tax incentives, as well as land donation to induce it to manufacture the Arc Master I mobile plasma gasification system in Londrina. Londrina is at the center of the
South American technology business zone called Mercosul, and offers a modern highway and railroad system that
provides direct logistics access to the seaport of Paranagua. The Arc Master I mobile unit converts up to 5 tons
per day of hazardous wastes without any air emissions or ash from the gasification process. The unit is built
inside two ISO 40 ft metal containers to allow transport by truck, rail, ship, or plane worldwide for a mobile
solution to the remediation of all forms of waste. The Arc Master I mobile unit is entirely self-powering,
creating its own energy from the waste that it processes, and creating up to 240KW of usable electricity at the
site. Vision Plasma Systems signed a $11.6 million agreement in August with Cell Runner of Japan to provide two of its modular
plasma waste treatment systems for use in the Fukushima nuclear clean-up operations, and in September, arranged
for $1 million in financing with Fairhills Capital of White Plains, New York. 11/05/2012
Renmatix Signs Russian Biochemical and Biofuels
Development MOU
Pennsylvania based cellulosic sugar production company Renmatix has announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian State Corporation "Bank for
Development and Foreign Economic Affairs" (Vnesheconombank) and the venture capital firm Bright Capital
Management. Under the MOU, the parties will "consider mutually beneficial relationships, potential collaboration
and investment" in the biochemical and biofuels industries. The companies will pursue the development of a
series of industrial plants that will produce cellulosic sugar from woody biomass. The Russian parties will
assist in management of licensing for the Plantrose technology into the Russian Federation and will seek key
Russian and international industrial partners. Duncan Cross, Renmatix Director and head of the company's Russian
initiatives: "Russia's rich endowment of natural resources offers abundant opportunities for our technology.
This MOU marks a step towards increasing the footprint of the Plantrose process. Renmatix's water-based
conversion technology quickly and efficiently deconstructs woody biomass -in ample supply throughout Russia-
into the affordable building blocks for bioethanol, and other sustainable chemicals and fuels." In January of
this year, the chemical company BASF invested $30 million in Renmatix, and in August, the firm signed a collaborative
agreement with Waste Management to explore conversion of urban wood waste to sugar.
Renmatix's proprietary Plantrose™ technology uses supercritical hydrolysis rather than the more common and more
expensive enzymatic hydrolysis methods for breaking down cell walls and converting the long-chain cellulose
molecules to fermentable sugars. 11/05/2012
SDSU Researchers Develop Bio-Oil, Biochar,
Activated Carbon Process
South Dakota State University (SDSU) researchers in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering have used Sun Grant funds to develop a cost-effective rotating fluidized bed reactor for conversion of
agricultural residues and other biomass into bio-oil. Lin Wei, assistant professor in the department explained
that their patent-pending system requires no carrier gas to feed the material into the continually processing
system, as do many traditional pyrolysis reactors. In addition to bio-oil, the reactor produces syngas and
biochar. Wei combusts the syngas to preheat the bio-oil, then processes the oil with catalysts to remove oxygen
and other elements to make liquid fuel that is close to gasoline with one-third more energy than ethanol. Wei's
next goal is to improve the reactor's conversion efficiency from 30 to 40 gallons of fuel per ton of feedstock
to 90 gallons. Department Head Van Kelley explained that assistant professor ZhenGrong Gu has developed a
patent-pending process for conversion of the secondary product biochar into activated carbon that can be used
for energy storage in capacitors, at 2 percent of the cost of regular batteries. Through another research grant,
Gu also devised a method to turn biochar into fertilizer, a technique which has been licensed to a commercial
company. The end product, Kelley said, "can be returned to the land as sequestered carbon." The Sun Grant
Initiative is a network of land-grant universities collaborating with government agencies and the private sector
to develop bio-based transportation fuels. The South Dakota Innovation Partners helps secure seed funds for start-up businesses
originating in SDSU research; Senator Tim Johnson sponsored the Sun Grant Initiative funding supporting the research. 11/05/2012
Alter NRG Closes $10MM Strategic Financing
Round
Alberta, Canada based Alter NRG has announced an agreement to issue 30,769,230 common shares to three new strategic
investors at a price of $0.325 per common share for total gross proceeds of approximately $10 million. The
agreement is subject to Canadian trading approvals, and once released, the funds raised will enable market
expansion for the Westinghouse Plasma Gasification solution, and strengthen the Alter NRG balance sheet
to execute its long-term business strategy. Alter NRG acquired the Westinghouse Plasma Corporation in 2007 along
with the plasma gasification technology Westinghouse had been developing. The plasma gasification process
produces clean syngas from a multitude of cheap and abundant feedstocks, including waste and biomass, to meet
the social and regulatory demand for affordable and clean energy. Following completion of the new
financing, it is expected that Ervington Investments Limited ("Ervington") will own approximately 18.2% of the
Company's issued and outstanding common shares, and the other two investors, Ms. Zara Shvidler and Eturab Trade
Corp. will own approximately 9.1% and 3.0%, respectively. Ervington, whose ultimate beneficial owner is Roman
Abramovich, has a complementary investment in the waste to energy sector in a fuel cell development company,
which when combined with plasma gasification is expected to significantly improve the overall efficiency of
waste to energy facilities. Applications have been filed with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX); a closure date
of January 1, 2013 has been established. In May of 2012, Alter NRG announced completion of testing in the use of the waste-sourced syngas to fuel
state-of-the-art Coen boilers for power generation. 11/05/2012
BIOGEN Secures Agreement for 2nd Food Waste AD Plant in
Wales
Bedfordshire, United Kingdom based BIOGEN (UK) Ltd has announced an agreement with the North Wales Consortium (representing Denbigshire County
Council, Conway County Borough Council and Flintshire County Council) for development of an anaerobic digestion
(AD) facility in Waen, St. Asaph, Denbigshire, Wales. The Waen plant will process 22,500 tonnes of locally sourced residential and commercial food
waste annually for generation of over 12 megawatt of renewable electricity. Given all planning approvals, the
plant should be operational in the first half of 2014. This is Biogen's second food waste AD project in Wales, following agreements for development of a plant in
Gwynedd. Richard Barker, Biogen’s CEO said, “Biogen is looking forward to starting construction on our second
Welsh AD plant alongside our partners, the North Wales Consortium and Iona Capital. We look forward to becoming
leaders in this field in Wales." In a separate announcement, Iona Capital reported on closure of its £7m investment in Biogen Waen Ltd, a
joint venture company with Biogen. The awarded contract is for 15 years and was in part dependent on the secured
waste feedstock supply provided by the North Wales Consortium. Nick Ross, Director, Iona Capital: “This is a
second project we have completed in Wales and we are delighted to have worked successfully again in partnership
with Biogen and the Welsh Government. These projects are the first local authority backed schemes focussed on
Anaerobic Digestion and we are pleased to have been able to support such an innovative regional infrastructure
program.” 11/05/2012
Due 03/01/2013: Long-Term Energy Proposals to Maine
PUC
The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has announced the release of the 2012-2013 Request for Proposals (RFP) for long-term contract proposals from qualified resources for
capacity, associated energy and/or Renewable Energy Credits. New and existing resources may participate, with
resources including supply-side (renewable and non-renewable) as well as demand-side resources. Bidders selected
will enter into long-term contractual arrangements with one or more of Maine’s investor-owned transmission and
distribution utilities, Central Maine Power Company (CMP), Bangor Hydro-Electric Company (BHE), and Maine Public
Service Company (MPS) (collectively the T&D utilities). The Notice also includes as Appendix A, the required
Statement of Commitment. Renewable capacity resources must rely on one or more of the
following: fuel cells, tidal power; solar arrays and installations; wind power installations; geothermal
installations; biomass generators (including landfill gas); or hydroelectric generators that meet all state and
federal fish passage requirements applicable to the generator. The Maine PUC does not recognize as a renewable
capacity resource a generator that is fueled by municipal solid waste. All inquiries about the RFP should be
directed to Faith Huntington (), Director of Electricity and Natural Gas, Maine Public
Utilities Commission, (207) 287-1373. 11/04/2012
RWE Innogy Joint Venture Opens German CHP Bioenergy
Plant
RWE Innogy, the renewable energy arm of Germany's gas and electric company RWE
Group, has announced that GBE Gocher Bioenergie just celebrated the opening of its biomass fueled
combined heat and power (CHP) or co-generation facility on Klever Straße. GBE Gocher Bioenergie is a joint
venture between RWE Innogy, the Goch-based food producer Nähr-Engel and the Goch municipal utility. The € 34
million facility will be fueled on "landscaping wood" (green waste), generating 28 megawatts of thermal energy
(MWt) to supply the potato processing operations with steam, and around 7.6 megawatts electric energy (MWe) to
export renewable electricity to the regional grid. Compared with a conventional plant of the same size,
its CO2 savings potential totals approximately 48,000 tonnes per year, while fuel use efficiency of up to 70%
can be achieved in the cogeneration plant by the combined production of electricity and heat. RWE Innogy, the Group's "bundled" renewable energy development division, has
experience in bioenergy fueling in its cogeneration facilities beyond green waste and urban wood wastes, to
include agricultural and forestry residues. The company also owns and operates one of the world's largest pellet
fuel production facilities, the Flyer Pellet Plant in Waycross, Georgia in the United States. 11/03/2012
Groundbreaking Announced for Biogas CHP System at
"The Plant" in Chicago
"The Plant," a redevelopment project in the City of Chicago, has announced a November 9, 2012 groundbreaking ceremony for the project's biogas combined
heat and power (CHP) system. Illinois-based EISENMANN Corporation is the US branch of the German firm EISENMANN AG; its anaerobic digester is a critical component to The Plant’s goal of
being a sustainable, net-zero energy vertical farm and food business incubator. Once completed, the digester
will divert 5,000 tons of organic waste from landfills annually to fuel a generator for electricity and heat for
The Plant and its businesses, requiring no additional use of fossil fuels. The Plant operates in a 93,500 sq.
ft. repurposed meatpacking facility and is a food-focused project, featuring 30,000 sq. ft. of planned aquaponic
growing systems and 27,000 sq. ft dedicated to artisanal, sustainable food production. The installation of the
renewable energy system provides low-cost electricity and heat, while the reuse of food-grade building materials
allows for reduced rent and business incubation. John Edel, Founder and Executive Director of The Plant,
purchased the building in 2010 and began deconstruction and renovation. The Plant project has been partially
funded through grants by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Food Scrap Composting
Revitalization and Advancement Program (F-SCRAP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It has
also been supported by a loan from the Chicago Community Loan Fund. 11/03/2012
Elsevier and DOE Collaborate on Free Scientific
Research Data Access
Amsterdam based
publisher Elsevier, part of the Reed Elsevier Group PLC, has announced reaching a collaborative agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Scientific Technical Information (OSTI) to add 300,000 of the DOE's full-text technical reports to Elsevier's free
on-line search tools, SciVerse Hub and Scirus. The OSTI collects, preserves, and disseminates DOE-sponsored research and
development (R&D) results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs
and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions. Elsevier is also including over
100,000 documents from the DOE in Elsevier Biofuel, a research discovery solution tailored to bio-energy and bio-based
products. These papers, mostly technical and program reports, contain research, practical information and facts
about technology, projects and production around the world. Elsevier works in partnership with the global
science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals and close to 20,000 book titles. Olivier
Dumon, Managing Director for Elsevier's Academic & Government Research Markets: "This collaboration will
provide both Elsevier and OSTI users with more comprehensive results and improved discoverability of
information. We believe the quality content from each source will greatly enhance our offerings."
11/02/2012
CEC Releases Final Documents for Electric Program
Investment Charge
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has posted final documents for the Electric Program Investment Charge submitted by the CEC to
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Now available: (1) Application of the California Energy
Commission - For Approval of Electric Program Investment Charge Proposed 2012 Through 2014 Triennial Investment
Plan with Attachment 1: Investment Plan nd Appendices A-F (including Sample PON, Budget Template, and Invoice
Template) and Attachment 2: The CEC's Latest Financial Statement; (2) Notice of Availability - Application of
the California Energy Commission For Approval of Electric Program Investment Charge Proposed 2012 Through 2014
Triennial Investment Plan; and (3) Certificate of Service. The submissions respond to the CEC's designated
portions of the CPUC Rulemaking 11-10-003 and authorized by the CPUC's Phase 2 Decision 12-05-37. The designated
areas are administered by CEC under the Electric Program Investment Charge Docket #12-EPIC-01.Finalization of the documents follows
the October 31 workshop and reflects all comments received prior to and during that workshop.
11/02/2012
Energos Thermal Conversion Selected for Milton
Keynes Waste Recovery Park
The United Kingdom's (UK) advanced thermal waste conversion company ENERGOS has announced its selection for waste treatment in the proposed multi-technology
Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park. Selection of the preferred bidder was a joint
decision by AmeyCespa and the Milton Keynes Council. AmeyCespa, a major UK based waste management firm, will
develop a three-stage waste treatment process starting with a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to sort and set
aside recyclates, and moving wet organics to anaerobic digestion (AD). Over 90,000 tonnes per year of dry
materials will then be treated by the ENERGOS technology, consisting of two-stage gasification and syngas cleanup process
train. The clean syngas will be combusted for steam production to drive turbines and generate up to 7 megawatts
of renewable energy. The process is flexible, allowing it to adjust to changes in the composition of residual
waste or in the type of waste fractions being treated to include municipal solid waste (MSW), residual MSW,
solid recovered fuel (SRF)/ refuse derived fuel (RDF) and commercial waste. Nick Dawber, Managing Director of
ENERGOS, said: "ENERGOS is pleased to be selected as a partner in the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park. We
offer an environmentally responsible, community sized energy from waste solution that will ensure the diversion
of biodegradable material from landfill. Our facilities generate renewable energy and displace the use of fossil
fuels. 11/02/2012
Due 11/30/2012: Applications for West Midlands UK
Bioenergy Competition
The European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) headquartered at Aston University, United
Kingdom (UK), administers the BioenNW network to "deliver local bioenergy to northwestern Europe." BioenNW has
announced the launch of a novel program this month, the Regional Competition for Development
of Innovative Bioenergy Schemes. The "Pyroformer" thermal conversion system developed by EBRI will be coupled with anaerobic
digestion for the West Midlands bioenergy project. EBRI has developed a pyrolysis system for conversion of waste
to combined heat and power, funded largely by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). BioenNW is focused
on promoting the use of innovative bioenergy power plants fuelled by waste on a small scale (from 5-10MW output)
across the following regions: (1) The West Midlands, UK, (2) Ilede-France (IdF), France, (3) Wallonia, Belgium,
(4) Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and (5) North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. This competition is directed toward
establishing five waste-to-bioenergy projects in the West Midlands, UK and is open to all stakeholders including
developers, local governments, industrial organizations, landowners, and waste and energy companies that have
specific sites they feel would best host a bioenergy development. The on-line Expression of Interest form must be submitted by email to the regional Bioenergy
Support Centre for the West Midlands at the Birmingham City Council by November 30, 2012
(). Selected applications will then be asked to submit final project proposals by February
28, 2013, with winners announced in April 2013. Direct questions to Joanna Fletcher, BioenNW Project Manager at
Aston University () or Richard Rees (), Bioenergy Support Centre,
Birmingham City Council. 11/02/2012
Sapphire Energy and ISB Collaborate on Algae-to-Oil
Commercialization
San Diego based Sapphire Energy has announceda strategic partnership with Seattle's
Institute for Systems Biology(ISB) to advance the research,
development, and commercialization of algal biofuels. The companies will focus on applying systems biology
solutions to algae with the goal of significantly increasing oil yield and improving resistance to crop
predators and environmental factors in order to further the advancement of commercialized algae biofuel
production. Sapphire can utilize carbon dioxide from industrial emissions or the atmosphere to drive algal
growth; the firm's "green crude" technology platformalso integrates anaerobic
digestion of the algal solids left after oil harvesting, providing necessary nutrients and additional CO2.
Sapphire recently began operating the first phase of its 300-acre commercial demonstration Green Crude Farm, also known as an Integrated Algal Bio-Refinery, in
Columbus, New Mexico, in partnership with the US Department of Energy. The Green Crude Farm is operational, and
is expected to be online at production scale of approximately 100 barrels of Green Crude per day by the end of
2014. Sapphire also operates a 22-acre research and development facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. ISB is a
non-profit institute established in 2000 dedicated to application of systems biology, by integrating biology,
computation, and technological development, enabling scientists to analyze all elements in a biological system
rather than one gene or protein at a time. Leroy Hood, president of Institute for Systems Biology: “Sapphire has
embarked on one of the most exciting new technologies of our decade – to produce crude oil from algae at scale.
By linking Sapphire’s expertise in algae with ISB’s cross disciplinary approach to biology, we hope to reverse
engineer the gene networks in algae and create strategies that will significantly improve the yield of green oil
and crop protection and reduce significantly the time to market.” 11/01/2012
Indian River BioEnergy Center
Begins Renewable Power Generation
Illinois-based INEOS Bio, part of the global chemicals company INEOS, announcedthat the Indian River BioEnergy Center is now
generating renewable electricity sufficient to power its own facility and for export to the regional grid. The
INEOS New Planet BioEnergy joint venture project in Vero Beach, Florida was completed in June 2012 and has been
undergoing commissioning. The ability to produce renewable power signifies that the plant is now fully
operational. Speaking at this week's Advanced Biofuels Markets conference in San Francisco, INEOS CEO Peter
Williams noted that now they are "learning to drive the plant." At full production, the Center is expected to
produce 8 million gallons of advanced cellulosic bioethanol and six megawatts (gross) of renewable power using
renewable biomass including yard, vegetative, and agricultural wastes. INEOS Bio's feedstock-flexible technology platformconverts low-value wastes
and residuals in a multi-step process beginning with gasification, followed by fermentation, distillation and
on-site power generation. INEOS Bio already has secured Part 79 biofuel registrationfrom the EPA for conversion of
non-food vegetative waste materials into cellulosic ethanol. The company expects to expand feedstock into
broader usage of municipal solid waste fractions, after full start-up and will serve as a reference facility for
future plants developed by INEOS Bio or through its licensing program. Peter Williams: "The production of
renewable power is a significant benefit of our technology. The power generated improves the energy efficiency
and greenhouse gas savings of the facility while contributing to the base load of renewable electricity for the
local community. We look forward to rapidly rolling out this technology globally to provide the benefits of
bioethanol and renewable power from waste to local communities." 11/01/2012
REG Acquires Idle 15 MGY Texas Biorefinery to Produce
REG-9000® Biodiesel
Iowa-based biodiesel production company Renewable Energy Group (REG) has announced an expansion of its production base to more than
225 million gallons, with the acquisition of a 15 million gallon per year (MGY) biodiesel facility located in New Boston, Texas. The New Boston
facility began production in June 2008 and has been idled for approximately four years. Brad Albin, REG Vice
President of Manufacturing, said the plant will undergo some construction and minor upgrades prior to the
facility’s start-up, which is expected in the first quarter of 2013. REG plans to utilize animal fats and other
high free fatty acid feedstocks to produce biodiesel at the refinery. REG paid $300,000 in cash and issued
900,000 shares of its common stock to North Texas Bio Energy for the multi-feedstock biorefinery located about
22 miles west of Texarkana. It is REG’s second Texas biodiesel production facility, following its 2008
acquisition of its Houston-area plant. Utilizing an integrated value chain model, Renewable Energy Group is
focused on converting natural fats, oils and greases into advanced biofuels, marketing its REG-9000® biodiesel
product line as offering more stringent standards than ASTM D6751 regardless of feedstock. REG has already filed
for Part 79 biofuels registration with the EPA; Vice President Albin commented: “The REG technology team will
soon be on-site in New Boston to re-start the biodiesel process with a plan to have high quality, REG-9000®
biodiesel available in the market upon the completion of the EPA registration process."
11/01/2012
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