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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Farmer-to-farmer biomass power in Punjab

Some interesting details have emerged on the biomass projects underway in the state of Punjab, India. So far, four biomass power plants with a 28 MW capacity each been completed and six more projects of 87 MW capacity are under implementation in India's most productive agricultural state (earlier post).

Punjabi minister of New and Renewable Energy, Vilas Muttemwar, now unveiled the foundation stone of a path-breaking project for the generation of power from rice straw and other farm wastes at village Ghanaur in Patiala District.

The new 12 MW Biomass power project will be the first out of nine similar projects to be set up in rural Punjab. The plant, which runs entirely on renewable biomass, will become operational within two years followed by other similar units which will come up within four years, generating a total of 108 MW of electricity.

The projects are seen as unique 'farmer to farmer' initiatives, all located in rural areas to provide electricity in a decentralised manner. Even though they aren't run co-operatively in the legal sense of the term, they are managed collectively:
  • the farmers are left to organise and train themselves, so they can operate and maintain the facility themselves (contrary to the image of Indian bureaucratic sclerosis, red tape, and a Nanny-state allure, the country has been advocating a policy of 'self-organisation' and 'bottom-up' development for quite a long time, especially in rural areas)
  • the plant will not only provide valuable extra electricity to farmers, but the project will provide them with additional incomes, which are kept within the community; some 10,000 to 15,000 farmers located around each project area, will sell their waste biomass to the communally operated facility
  • for each 5MW of power, the project will generate an estimated 100,000 mandays of work, showing the employment opportunity brought by it
The biomass project is seen as a major milestone on the path towards sustainability and climate change mitigation, for three reasons:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Firstly, it will convert agricultural waste into valuable energy, thereby reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Secondly, it will reduce the release of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of over 100,000 tons of these wastes. Lastly, the plants work 100% on renewable biomass, without the input of any fossil fuels, which is why they will earn valuable Carbon Credits.

Incentives
"Biomass-based power projects will get fiscal incentives like accelerated depreciation, tax holidays for 10 years and interest subsidy on term loans," the minister said in Baghaura village.

In addition, customs and excise duty exemption for equipment and machinery would be made available for such power projects in the future.

The project has been a major thrust area for the Punjab Government, the Punjab State Electricity Board, the Department of Science & Technology and other state government organizations who have all worked to develop this project.

posted by Biopact team at 12:41 PM  

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