The Rwanda field, a $23.7 million, 8,5 MW solar energy plant has been connected to the power grid. Developed by Gigawatt Global, this is the first utility-scale project to reach financial close and come online under the Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) program that is part of the Power Africa Initiative. The Rwanda field – constructed in the shape of …
Greenergy Buys Harvest Biodiesel Assets
Greenergy has bought the assets of a major biodiesel maker in the United Kingdom. The company acquired Harvest Biofuels’ biodiesel manufacturing facility at Seal Sands on Teesside, England, giving Greenergy additional biodiesel production capacity to meet its own biofuel blending obligations in the UK. As part of the agreement reached with Harvest: Greenergy has taken on Harvest Biofuels’ biodiesel storage …
Harworth Opens Wind Turbine Project
UK-based Harworth Estates has completed the installation of a 500 kW wind turbine located at the former Arkwright surface mine, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The project was completed in partnership with Energy Prospects Co-operative. The site forms part of the former Arkwright open cast mining operation, which has been reclaimed and restored to agricultural land. Energy Prospects Co-operative raised money to …
Pioneering Solar-Powered H2O Desalination Plant
Abengoa has been selected by Advanced Water Technology (AWT) to jointly develop a large-scale desalination plant powered by solar energy. The plant will be located in Saudi Arabia and the according to AWT, when complete will the first and largest of its kind in the world. It will produce 60,000 m3 of water each day to supply Al Khafji City …
POET Fights Pollution in Haiti with Ethanol Stoves
An American ethanol company is fighting fighting pollution and deforestation in Haiti with ethanol-fueled cook stoves. This news release from POET says the company has partnered with with Project Gaia to replace wood-burning stoves with the clean-burning, ethanol-fueled ones. Today, most Haitians rely on charcoal and firewood to cook their daily meals. Consequentially, the nation has experienced extreme deforestation over …
EPA Response on RFS and CARBIO Plan
I just received the following response information from the EPA attributed to Byron Bunker, Director, Compliance Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality. The EPA representative I spoke with says the agency knows of the biodiesel industry concerns and wanted to provide a response to those concerns. The response is in the form of eight bullet points: 1. EPA is …
Biodiesel, Soybean Groups Criticize Import Decision
Proponents of the biodiesel industry in this country and the feedstocks that make it are blasting the U.S government’s decision to allow Argentinian biodiesel easier access to American markets. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and the American Soybean Association (ASA) say the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ease sustainability requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to …
GRFA: Sustainability Week Needs to Recognize Biofuels
As attendees gather in the Middle East gather for the 8th Annual World Future Energy Summit (WFES), one group is telling them to bring biofuels to the top of the sustainability, economic and climate change agenda. The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) says the 30,000 delegates from 170 different countries need to be talking about the green fuels during the …
FAO’s Chief Comments on Biofuels Welcomed by GRFA
Comments by a key United Nations agency chief that biofuels should be part of the energy mix is being welcomed by renewable fuel advocates. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva told attendees at the recent Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin that biofuels should be seen as a key part of the global agriculture complex, …
Study: Animal Fat Biodiesel Cuts GHGs by 85%
Biodiesel made from animal fat produces 85 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. This news release from the European Fat Processors and Renderers Association says new finding from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) in Germany confirm a long-held belief that animal fat biodiesel would have significant positive effects on the environment. The latest calculations carried out in the …