By: Dan Moser, University of Nebraska WesternFarmPress.com Replacing foreign oil with domestically grown biomass would revolutionize world politics and economies, with states such as Nebraska emerging as potentially huge winners, says a former Clay County farm boy who’s now one of the world’s leading biotechnology scientists. Jay Keasling, a professor of biochemical engineering at the [...]

By: Anna Simet Biomass Power and Thermal Thermal energy project developer Recast Energy has announced it owns more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon offsets. The company is selling them to buyers looking to build a reputation for best practices in environmental sustainability or to prepare for compliance with possible future legislation. The offsets were [...]

By: Eric Mortenson OgreonLive.com ST. HELENS — It could be the ultimate expression of a heated sibling rivalry. The younger brother makes something and the older one burns it up. But in this case, Chris and Francis Sharron are partners in a problematic revival of the oldest human heating method: setting fire to wood. Chris [...]

The 2012 PFI Annual Conference will be held from July 29-31, 2012 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT. The PFI Annual Conference is the annual opportunity for members of the densified biomass fuel industry to gather for three days of educational opportunities, vendor exhibits and networking. Attendees  include manufacturers, retailers, industry suppliers, government [...]

By: Kate Galbraith The New York Times AUSTIN, TEXAS — A century ago, rural homes in the United States and Europe commonly relied on wood for heating. Now wood is making a comeback, thanks largely to pellet technology. The energy-dense pellets, which resemble dry dog kibble and are mostly made from mill residue like sawdust [...]

By: Andy Eubank Hoosier Ag Today The National 25x’25 Alliance Monday recognized Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar for his committed leadership in pursuing polices that accelerate the development of renewable energy resources on the nation’s farms, ranches and forestlands. Last week, Sen. Lugar joined with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) in drafting an amendment to the proposed [...]

By: Associated Press The Washington Post RICHMOND, Va. — Pursuing a portfolio of renewable power sources such as solar, biomass and wind power to satisfy Virginia’s energy appetite through 2035 would create tens of thousands more jobs than relying on either coal or natural gas, a George Mason University study concludes. The study released Wednesday [...]

By: Luke Geiver Biomass Power & Thermal The International Biomass Conference & Expo, held in Denver, Colo., April 16-19, included an industry award ceremony, the first in the annual event’s history. The Excellence in Bioenergy Award was given to William Strauss, president of FutureMetrics LLC, and the Groundbreaker of the Year Award recipient was Ameresco’s [...]

By: Anna Austin Biomass Power & Thermal Nearly 1,300 gathered at the International Biomass Conference & Expo held in Denver, Colo., April 16-19, to hear leaders of biomass industry sectors discuss current challenges, opportunities and goals… Jennifer Hedrick, executive director of the Pellet Fuels Institute, touched on issues affecting the biomass pellet and densified fuel [...]

By Chris Wiberg | April 05, 2012 In my last column, titled “The End of an Era,” I described a fundamental shift that I observed over the past year pertaining to standardization of the pellet fuels industry. Essentially, the industry has generally accepted that standardization is upon us and it is now time to implement [...]