Tag Archives: green
Cool Planet To Open First Commercial Biorefinery In Louisiana
Cool Planet Energy Systems will open their first commercial biorefinery in Alexandria, Louisiana. The facility on the Port of Alexandria in Rapides Parish will serve as a showcase facility leading the way for Cool Planet to build similar facilities across the United States. Construction on the facility is expected to be complete before the end of 2014. Cool Planet is a developer of small scale biorefineries which convert non-food biomass into gasoline, jet fuel and soil enhancing biochar. “Louisiana is known for its substantial oil interests, but now will also have the distinction of being home to the first, of what is planned to become many, production facilities for Cool Planet’s renewable, high-performance gasoline and soil enhancing biochar,” said chief executive officer Howard Janzen. “Our goal for the Alexandria facility is to be economically competitive with conventional fuels made from non-renewable crude oil.” Alexandria was chosen as the site of their first commercial biorefinery due to the support shown by the city of Alexandria and the economic development team from the state of Louisiana. The location also provides access to an abundance of renewable biomass feedstock as well as easy access to barges, rail lines and trucks by which the biomass based products can be distributed. It is believed that the Cool Planet facility will have one of the lowest capital costs per plant in the refining industry, with project economics that work at facilities that are a 100 times smaller then conventional refineries as well as the ability to use a wide variety of biomass materials as inputs. Cool Planet processes biomass through a mechanical biomass fractionating system that uses pressure and heat to create a series of useful volatile components that then go through proprietary catalytic systems to make fuel and biochar. Cool Planet’s technology has attracted investors such as include General Electric, Google Ventures, BP, ConocoPhillips, NRG and the Constellation Energy division of Excelon. – EcoSeed Staff Continue reading
Main Pellet Consumers In Europe
September 02, 2013• Source: EBA/IHB • Views: 249 Decrease text sizeIncrease text size The European Union recently published its annual biofuels report for 2013 with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network. The report identifies the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Belgium as the major users of wood pellets in the EU. Main Pellet Consumers (1,000 MT) Calendar Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 UK – – – 1,990 2,720 3,380 4,540 Denmark 993 1,200 1,400 1,720 2,350 2,400 2,500 Netherlands 705 912 912 913 1,290 1,710 2000 Sweden 1,715 1,850 1,920 2,280 1,880 1,700 650 Germany 600 900 1,050 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,600 Belgium 735 920 920 950 1,130 1,200 1,320 Total 6,028 7,021 9,000 11,400 13,000 14,300 16,000 Source: AEBIOM and Member State sector organisations, e = estimate EU FAS Posts Differences in consumption characterize the European pellet market, says the report. The market can be divided in three regions. Markets such as the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK are dominated by large – scale power plants. In Denmark and Sweden, pellets are used by power plants but also by households and by medium scale consumers using wood pellets for district heating. In Germany, Austria, Italy and France pellets are mainly used in small – scale private residential and industrial boilers for heating. The demand for industrial pellets depends primarily on EU Member State mandates and incentives, while the residential pellet market is driven by prices of alternative fuels. The UK, the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to be the main growth market for pellets, and also the most dependent on imports. The large scale use of wood pellets by the power plants in the UK and the Benelux countries is driven by the EU mandates for renewable energy use in 2020. The governments of these countries opted to fulfill their obligations mainly by the use of biomass for the generation of electricity. Recently, the UK Government enforced the Industrial Emissions Directive, which is expected to boost consumption further in 2013 and 2014. The Dutch Government will decide upon the national renewable energy policy in the second half of August. According the draft proposal, old power plants build in the eighties will have to be closed and biomass use will be capped at 25 PJ per year. Continue reading
Meeting Booming Asian Pellet Demand: How Competitive Are Regional Play
CMT’s Biomass Pellets Trade & Power summit, put together with support from Premium Sponsor Pellet Association Malaysia (PAM) and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), in Seoul, on the 09-12 September, will set the stage for deep analysis of the ground realities in pellet trade patterns, feedstocks uncertainties, sourcing strategy, sustainability initiatives and pricing dynamics in the North East Asian biomass value chain. Asian biomass markets are witnessing profound shifts in trade and feedstocks sourcing with South Korea and Japan setting the pace for China, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Korean RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) and the Japanese feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for biomass have been important enablers of biomass trade in the region. Despite the potential, the Asian biomass market still face an uncertain future due to diverse challenges in cultivation, sub optimal pellet capacities, price volatilities, and cross border trade shifts. Korean and Japan’s demand for bioenergy depends on competitive sourcing of pellets from global sources. Moving forward, global and regional Asian pellet suppliers will have to invent novel supply models to remain competitive. Among the panelists are Chang Joo Ok, President & CEO of Korea East-West Power Co., delivering the keynote address and Timothy Ong, interim Chairman of Pellet Association Malaysia (PAM) speaking on the new initiatives in Malaysian biomass trade. Addressing Biomass pellet trade and development of wood pellets market trends is Prof. Gyu-Seong Han from Chungbuk National University (Forest Product Marketing Center), while global trade dynamics end is covered by Nick Tsirigotis of EDF Trading. Sharing DONG Energy’s experiences in conversion of coal to wood pellets fired power plant is Jens Price Wolf and elaborating on sustainable supply strategies will be Matt Bovelander of Indufor Asia Pacific Ltd. An inside perspective on going biomass-based power generation projects from South Korea’s top power utilities, Korea Southern Power (KOSPO), Korea East-West Power (EWP), Korea South-East Power (KOSEP), Korea Western Power (KOWEPO) and Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO) allows for a rare opportunity to assess the emerging scenario. The modalities of intra-regional alliance models will be explored by JP Jaepil Song, Eco-Frontier while Philippines project status update will be provided by Michael Paik, EnerOne, Inc. Bas Melssen from Agensi Inovasi Malaysia will present an overview of Malaysia’s National Biomass Strategy 2020, International biomass pellet trade shifts will be addressed by Todd G. Bush, Green Circle Bio Energy Inc., and the Russian wood pellet market by Dr. Olga Rakitova, The National Bioenergy Union, Russia. For more information and registration contact Ms Hafizah hafizah@cmtsp.com.sg at +65 63469218 & for more details. http://www.cmtevents.com Continue reading
