An important piece of the Little River watershed in the North Carolina Piedmont region will be protected for years to come in part through the help of a $20,000 grant from the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund to the Three Rivers Land Trust.
U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources is expected to reach 19 percent in 2020 and 22 percent in 2021, up from 17 percent in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information's latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released Jan. 14.
On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a plan to provide up to $75 million over five years for research to develop sustainable bioenergy crops tolerant of environmental stress and resilient to changing environmental conditions.
The steady build-out of Canada's industrial wood pellet industry continues, driven by multiple motivations.
Thanks to the hard work of university scientists and the United Nations IPCC, the case for bioenergy has been made even stronger in 2019.
The versatility and wide umbrella of biomass fuel and technologies are some of my favorite things about the industry.
Enviva recently made a sizeable donation to the North Carolina Tree Farm Program to keep the state's forests healthy and productive. The donation was made in celebration of Enviva's 15th anniversary and provides funding for a tree farm workshop.
A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's Global Agricultural Information Network predicts that Russia's wood pellet industry will continue to increase production and exports in response to growing demand from Europe.
The Port of Stockton announced that the first wood pellet shipment from the port was successfully loaded to the M/V Global Serenity in December. National Carbon Technologies shipped the pellets from Michigan and they were loaded by Metro Ports.
Drax Biomass Inc. announced Jan. 6 that Matt White will become its new senior vice president and run Drax's U.S. biomass operations from its headquarters in Monroe, Louisiana. Drax Biomass produces wood pellets for use at Drax Power Station.
Improved conveyor access can significantly reduce maintenance time and prevent injuries.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released data showing U.S. manufactures produced approximately 840,000 tons of densified biomass fuel in September, with sales reaching 870,000 tons.
The Japanese biomass market—particularly its relative fuel flexibility compared to the wood pellet-dominated European market—will create an interesting trading environment as demand grows in the coming years.
Backed by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, construction of Restoration Fuels, a commercial-scale torrefaction facility in John Day, Oregon, is well underway.
The USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service published a final rule for the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program on Dec. 27. The program provides quarterly payments to producers of eligible advanced biofuels.
Enviva applauds a new report, The Future of Bioenergy, published Dec. 5, 2019 in the Global Change Biology journal. The report makes an important contribution to the dialogue on bioenergy's role as an energy source into the future.
A report recently filed with the USDA FAS Global Agricultural Information Network indicates Japan's market for wood pellets is expanding rapidly. The U.S. is expected to supply Japan with 3 million tons of pellets annually by 2025.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities has released a new request for proposals for the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund. Up to $500,000 is available for 2020 grants to protect wetland forests in North Carolina and southeast Virginia.
Forisk Consulting has acquired the North American Wood Fiber Review from Wood Resources International. The Review, which tracks wood fiber markets in all major regions of the U.S. and Canada, will be published by Forisk beginning in Q1 2020.
The BTEC has thanked the House Ways and Means Committee for including the Section 25D residential biomass heating system tax credit in the draft GREEN Act, but is urging the committee to include the Section 48 credit for commerical biomass systems.
On Dec. 19, the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced up to $20 million in funding to develop technologies to quantify feedstock-related emissions at the field level.
President Trump signed two legislative packages into law on Dec. 20, avoiding another government shutdown. The packages include all 12 fiscal year 2020 funding bills and tax extenders legislation that will benefit biofuels and bioenergy.
Congress has passed a $5 million allotment for the new Community Wood Energy and Innovations Program in the $1.4 trillion spending deal, extended the Section 25C Wood and Pellet Stove Credit, and reauthorized the carbon neutrality of biomass policy.
Pinnacle Renewable Energy announced on Dec. 19 plans to build a new 360,000-metric-ton-per-year pellet plant adjacent to an existing sawmill in Demopolis, Alabama. The facility is expected to begin commissioning during the second quarter of 2021.
IAC has partnered with Agra Industries to bring to market an enhanced line of equipment to handle the wet bucking, chopping of the harvested hemp, drying of the hemp, storage and shipping of the material in various stages for extraction.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 17 voted to pass two legislative packages that comprise all 12 fiscal year 2020 funding bills. The packages also include tax extenders legislation that extends several biofuel and bioenergy tax credits.
Pinnacle Renewable Energy announced on Dec. 16 it has entered into a three-year fiber supply agreement with Alkali Resource Management Ltd. The fiber will be used at Pinnacle's Williams Lake pellet plant in British Columbia.
Dan Brouillette was sworn in to serve as the 15th U.S. secretary of energy on Dec. 11. He was nominated to the post by President Trump on Nov. 7 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 by a vote of 70 to 15.
The EIA released the December edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook on Dec. 11 predicting nonhydropower renewables will provide 10 percent of total U.S. utility-scale power generation in 2019, increasing to 12 percent in 2020.
The U.S. exported 550,035.3 tons of wood pellets during October, according to data released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on Dec. 5. Exports were down when compared to both October 2018 and September 2019.
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