INDUSTRY NEWS


INDUSTRY NEWS SMALLTALK Biofuel from


waste wood Plans have been announced by Ensyn to begin retrofitting a particle board manufacturing fa- cility in Dooly County, Georgia, to produce 20 million gallons of renewable fuel from waste wood annually. The company is investing $100 million in the fa- cility and hopes to have it online by January, 2017.


Farmers selling their timber to the new plant can expect to earn around $120 per acre while the facility itself will add up to 138 new jobs in a rural county that was devastated by the board factory’s closure.


Europe’s GHG emissions


As 195 parties to the UN Frame- work Convention on Climate Change agreed to curb green- house gas (GHG) emissions and strengthen global action to fight climate change, ePURE noted, “Europe’s transport emissions have increased by 36% from 1990 levels and now account for 26% of Europe’s total GHG emissions – Europe’s second big- gest source of GHG emissions”.


Low oil prices impact on biofuels


from poplar Research to produce biofuels from poplar trees at commer- cial scale has suffered from the impact of today’s low oil prices. More than four years after the University of Washington received $40 million from the US Department of Agriculture to re- search tree-based biofuels, com- mercial production still requires oil to be above $80 per barrel.


fibre-based fuel In Canada, Cellufuel has brought its pilot plant online in the former Bowater Mersey paper plant in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, producing what it says is the world’s first carbon-neutral fuel using low-value wood fibre from a nearby timber yard. Although the technology is not yet ready for the market, the company will spend time evalu- ating the fuel’s potential.


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New biomass-fired boiler for Stora Enso sawmill


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contract has been signed between St ora Enso Timber AB and KPA Unicon Oy to


deliver a biomass-fired, hot water boiler plant to Stora Enso’s Ala sawmill in Ljusne, Sweden. The new Unicon Biograte 15 MWth boiler plant will utilise bark and wood residues from the sawmill as fuel, producing hot water for its drying kilns. The plant is scheduled to be in operation by November, 2016. The contract is a turnkey delivery, excluding civil and foundation works, but will include all process equipment, installations, commissioning and training of the operational personnel. The heart of the new biomass-fired boiler plant is Biograte combustion technology, which is especially planned for


utilisation of wet biomass fuels for effective energy production. The plant also includes KPA Unicon`s PlantSys system for local and remote control of the plant. PlantSys collects data from the process equipment and makes an easily outlined and controlled entity of the data. The system also enables reliable and trustworthy remote access to the plant, optimises the


parameters and predicts the future service and maintenance needs. “This boiler plant project is a great example of a case where process hot water is produced in a sustainable way. It is important that the boiler plants at sawmills get to utilise the least valuable by-product, bark, as fuel. Biograte combustion technology is the most capable solution in the market for burning wet biomass with high efficiency and usability,” stated Teemu Koskela, Sales Director, KPA Unicon.


Energy expert joins Catapult


Professor Neil Strachan, an interdisciplinary energy economist at University College London (UCL) Energy Institute, has been appoint- ed as a Non-Executive Director of the Energy Systems Catapult. He will take up his new position on 1 April, 2016.


As well as being the Professor of Energy Economics and Modelling at the Energy Institute, Profes- sor Strachan is also the Institute’s Deputy Director. In recent years, he was the principal investigator of the Whole Systems Energy Model- ling Consortium (wholeSEM), the


Speaking about his appointment to the Board, Professor Strachan said: “I am really excited to be joining the Board of the Catapult at such an early stage in its devel- opment. I am looking forward to working across the sector to sup- port and enhance the UK’s energy networks”.


UK’s ground-breaking, multi- institution initiative to develop, integrate and apply state-of-the- art energy models.


Chairman Nick Winser con- firmed: “I am thrilled that Neil will be joining the Catapult as a Non- Executive Director. His impressive research skills and experience in the energy arena will be a great addition to the Board”.


Potential for wood Indian cellulosic ethanol project


A joint venture project between Chempolis Ltd and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) has moved on after being approved by NRL’s Board. The project has preceded several preparation stages, including signing MoUs with the neighbouring state of Assam for the sustainable supply of bamboo. The parties will jointly build a world class biorefinery using Chempolis formicobio™


technology in North-East India for producing bioethanol with co-production of furfural and acetic acid from locally available bamboo.


“This is Chempolis’ and our partners anchor investment in India, which enables us to deliver our technologies and solutions to the next 50 biorefineries, which are needed in India by 2022,” said Pasi Rousu, President


of Chempolis Asia, Pacific and Americas.


Biofuels and cellulosic ethanol are subjects that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is promoting. The topic was discussed in meetings between the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipilä during his business delegation to India on 12-14 February, 2016.


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