Renewed interest in wood as power source
Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008From the Associated Press: While airwaves have been permeated by advertisements for solar and wind power, last year wood generated more net electricity in the U.S. than those two up-and-comers combined. New wood-burning electricity plants are again being proposed from Massachusetts to New Mexico as the nation finds itself in a third energy shock.
USFS 2009 woody biomass grants
Posted on Friday, September 19, 2008The Forest Service State and Private Forestry Technology Marketing Unit announced in the Federal Register on September 11th, 2008, a Request for Proposals for Woody Biomass Utilization Grant - Forest Restoration Activities on National Forest System Lands (PDF, 60 KB) for woody biomass utilization grant applications for 2009.
Silver lining: renewable fuels company says it wants wood debris from storm
Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008In the midst of hurricane season, some renewable fuels companies see a potential benefit from storm debris that may occur. New York City-based Green Energy Resources is preparing for the damage recovery from Gustav and any others that may hit landfall this season. “We're very interested in getting as much as we can,” said Green Energy's CEO.
PA releases guidelines for landowners and industry on harvesting biomass
Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is offering guidelines for harvesting forest biomass as an alternative energy source. The guidelines were prepared with comments from various stakeholder groups after DCNR's two-year study of forest biomass energy and related issues and include a number of recommendations for private forest landowners, for example, how much biomass should be left in the forest during harvesting to protect soil quality, wildlife habitat and future forest productivity.
New DOE genome sequencing projects include Loblolly pine
Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008
Loblolly pine is the most commonly planted tree species in America – accounting for about 75 percent of all seedlings planted each year – and will be the focus of one of 44 DNA sequencing projects the DOE's Joint Genome Institute will undertake in the coming year.
Major tech advances necessary for renewable energy goals to be affordable
Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008Dramatic progress in renewable energy technology is needed if the U.S. desires to produce 25 percent of its electricity and motor vehicle fuel from renewable sources by 2025 without significantly increasing consumer costs, according to a new RAND Corporation study. The study finds that biomass resources and wind power have the greatest potential to contribute toward reaching the 25 x '25 goal.
Neighbors to the north serious about biomass
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008From Biomass Magazine: International partnerships offer some of the best opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs and municipalities to develop bioenergy. Finnish, Swedish and Austrian technologies and consultancies have been building sustainable bioenergy chains for the past two decades, and Canada, with its vast supply of forest resources, is well positioned to take advantage.
Biomass plant in AZ using material from forest-thinning efforts
Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008Arizona's second and largest biomass plant began providing electricity to 9,000 homes last week, generating electricity with material from forest-thinning efforts in the White Mountains and unusable, recycled paper fibers from a nearby paper mill. Officials say the plant will provide a stable source of electricity for communities that were dependent on power lines that are often compromised during Arizona's active wildfire season.
World's largest wood pellet plant opens in Florida
Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008Green Cycle Bio Energy Inc. will officially open a manufacturing facility today that produces wood pellets as a renewable industrial fuel. The facility is the world's largest wood pellet plant and has the capacity to produce more than 560,000 tons per year which the company will sell to electric utilities in Europe.
U.S. Endowment releases RFP on biomass energy/tracking system
Posted on Wednesday, June 4, 2008The U.S. Endowment today released its fifth request for pre-proposal (RFP). "This effort to assess 'The State of Wood-based Bio-energy/Bio-fuels Technologies and Industries in North America' (PDF) expands our reach both programmatically and geographically," said Endowment President Carlton Owen. Products from the work will include a "state of the field" in terms of commercial applications of technologies on one hand and a real-time system to track the use of woody biomass as an energy raw material on the other.
