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.
India targets biodiesel production of 1.2 million barrels per day by 2030
Quicknote bioenergy policies
During a visit to energy farmers in the central-Indian state of Chhattisgarh, India's president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the country plans to produce 60 million tonnes of biodiesel per annum by 2030. This is roughly 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day. The production of liquid biofuels for transport forms part of India's more extensive and ambitious biofuels program (earlier post).
Addressing farmers growing jatropha and karanj, biofuel crops that thrive in semi-arid zones and on low-value land, Kalam said that biofuels could transform India's long-term oil dependence scenarios. In a 25-minute interaction with jatropha farmers in Sundarkera village on the outskirts of the state capital, the president said he was very pleased to see that the shrub was being cultivated on a mass scale in the state.
'Jatropha is a vital tree for biodiesel, farmers should use only high oil-content quality saplings. They must trim at the right time in the first one year to split the tree in at least in 60 branches so that a single tree can produce 400 grams of seeds in a year,' Kalam said. The president himself is a staunch supporter of biofuels, and has developed in a keen interest in the agronomy behind cultivating energy crops.
The government and private sector majors should accelerate research in bio-fuel sector, Kalam said. Related aspects of production, marketing and processing should also be looked into, the president added. According to the Chhattisgarh government, biofuel rich plants like jatropha and karanj have the potential to help India get over its annual oil requirements which currently stand at 124 million tonnes, of which around 72 percent is met through imports at a cost of over rupee 1.5 trillion (€26.2/US$33.4 billion) [entry ends here].
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: karanj :: India ::
Article continues
During a visit to energy farmers in the central-Indian state of Chhattisgarh, India's president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the country plans to produce 60 million tonnes of biodiesel per annum by 2030. This is roughly 1.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day. The production of liquid biofuels for transport forms part of India's more extensive and ambitious biofuels program (earlier post).Addressing farmers growing jatropha and karanj, biofuel crops that thrive in semi-arid zones and on low-value land, Kalam said that biofuels could transform India's long-term oil dependence scenarios. In a 25-minute interaction with jatropha farmers in Sundarkera village on the outskirts of the state capital, the president said he was very pleased to see that the shrub was being cultivated on a mass scale in the state.
'Jatropha is a vital tree for biodiesel, farmers should use only high oil-content quality saplings. They must trim at the right time in the first one year to split the tree in at least in 60 branches so that a single tree can produce 400 grams of seeds in a year,' Kalam said. The president himself is a staunch supporter of biofuels, and has developed in a keen interest in the agronomy behind cultivating energy crops.
The government and private sector majors should accelerate research in bio-fuel sector, Kalam said. Related aspects of production, marketing and processing should also be looked into, the president added. According to the Chhattisgarh government, biofuel rich plants like jatropha and karanj have the potential to help India get over its annual oil requirements which currently stand at 124 million tonnes, of which around 72 percent is met through imports at a cost of over rupee 1.5 trillion (€26.2/US$33.4 billion) [entry ends here].
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: karanj :: India ::Article continues
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Austrian energy firm to invest 400 million euro in bioenergy
Wärmebetriebe GmbH's daughter Kelag is already Austria's largest clean energy firm, operating 55 CHP plants and delivering district heating to a dozen of cities and urban agglomerations. 43 of those are fed by biomass and biogass. In total, the company produces some 900 million kilowatthours per year, 10% of which are green kilowatts. The investment is aimed at expanding the share of green power, through the construction of biomass power plants for electricity generation and biogas infrastructures to bring the green gas to households via pipelines.
Kelag aims to develop markets in Northern Italy, Southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulargia and Romania. CEO Günter Zweiner says that "the first plants in these countries will be built early next year and will be operational before the winter sets in."
Zweiner observes an important trend in the emerging bioenergy market: it is getting more and more international, with companies investing abroad and sourcing (processed or raw) bioenergy feedstocks internationally. (See our earlier post on international bioenergy trade and on the development of bioterminals in Europe - with Antwerp's plans to become a leading 'bioport' as a case-study).
In Europe, investments in biomass and biogas are becoming important ways to diversify the continent's energy portfolio. High energy prices and the problematic relationship with Russia -- Europe's main natural gas supplier -- have lead to a perception of rising long-term energy supply insecurity. Bioenergy can contribute to curbing this trend. Recently, an advisor to the German government said biogas alone can replace all Russian natural gas imports by 2020 (earlier post) [entry ends here].
Article continues
posted by Biopact team at 4:21 PM 0 comments links to this post