East Africa’s first utility-scale solar field is making progress. When complete, it is estimated to produce 8 percent of the country’s power generation capacity. The project is going forward due to Dutch solar developer Gigawatt Global Coöperatief having successfully closed on $23.7 million in financing for a 8.5 megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant from an international consortium of equity …
Renewable Energy Powers Asian Development Bank
Renewable Energy is now powering the Asian Development Bank (ABD). It’s Manila headquarters is now getting 100 percent of its energy from renewable energy including geothermal and solar power. ABD has signed an agreement with AdventEnergy, Inc. Geothermal energy is being delivered from plants in Tiwi in Albay province and Makiling-Banahaw in Laguna province, both of which are on the …
Aging Wind Farms Should Not Be Thrown to the Wind
As the wind energy industry continues to grow, there has been debate about whether wind turbines have a more limited shelf-life than other energy technologies, such as solar panels. With the United Kingdom’s (UK) target of generating 15 percent of the nation’s energy from renewable resources such as wind farms by 2020, aging wind turbines could be a concern. According …
Rapeseed King of Europe’s Biodiesel Feedstock
Soybeans might rule the roost as far as biodiesel feedstocks in the U.S. goes, but in Europe, rapeseed is king. A new study from the UFOP (Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V. – Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants) shows that rapeseed makes up nearly 90 percent of the material used to produce biodiesel in …
Dutch Company to Use SkyNRG Biodiesel
A Netherlands-based company in the construction and maritime infrastructure maintenance businesses will use biodiesel from a company used to fueling things a bit higher above the ground. Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) reached an agreement with SkyNRG, a supplier of renewable, sustainable aviation fuel, to provide about 65,000 gallons of biodiesel for Boskalis trucks. The pilot is consistent with Boskalis’ …
NEC Global Ethanol Conversation
It is always interesting to hear the perspectives of different countries during the National Ethanol Conference global panel and to see the similarities as well as differences in viewpoint. The panel was moderated by Bliss Baker, Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, and included Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen, as well as (from left to right): Joel Velasco, Senior Advisor to …
UK Researchers Study Algae-to-Biodiesel and More
Researchers in the United Kingdom are looking at turning a particular strain of algae into biodiesel … and more. This University of Greenwich news release says the school is leading a nearly $14 million international project to get products from the bright pink-orange microalgae Dunaliella found in salt lakes and coastal waters. The project will build a biorefinery called the …
Canadian Biodiesel Maker Gets BQ-9000 Designation
Canada’s largest biodiesel producer has gained an important quality status. This news release from Great Lakes Biodiesel Inc. says the company received BQ-9000 Producer status, the highest level of industry recognized quality assurance, from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC). “Achieving BQ-9000 Producer status is just one of many goals we achieved in an effort to continuously provide our customers …
Caribbean Islands Swapping Diesel for Renewables
The British Virgin Islands, Columbia, Dominica, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Turks and Caicos have joined the Carbon War Room and Rocky Mountain Institute’s ‘Ten Island Renewable Challenge‘. The campaign is designed to help get the islands off fossil fuels as well as move forward with projects for schools and hospitals. The commitments were complemented by news that …
Biodiesel Maker BIOX Posts Strong 1st Quarter
The owner of Canada’s largest biodiesel refinery had an encouraging first quarter of the fiscal year. The Wall Street Journal reports that BIOX nearly doubled sales of the green fuel from October to December of 2013 compared with the same period a year earlier, thanks to improving fundamentals in the biodiesel market north of the border and a Canadian province’s …