The Italian model for agricultural biogas based on the principles of Biogasdoneright® is becoming an international case study. The state of play of the Italian biogas sector was presented last week in Rome at Biogas Italy, the annual event organized by the Italian Biogas Consortium (CIB). On this occasion, the Biogasdoneright® model promoted by CIB and…
Biomass from forestry residues such as thinning and harvest operations is often cited as an underutilized resource that could be mobilized for energy production. In many cases the residues of normal forestry activities that cannot be utilized in an economically viable way, are left to decay naturally on the forest ground. To some extent this…
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a technology to produce reactive lignin from pulp industry side streams, to be used as a replacement for toxic phenol compounds in wood adhesives. Traditionally phenol and formaldehyde containing adhesives are used in wood products such as plywood, laminated veneer lumber and laminates. There is a drive…
Global Bioenergies, a French company that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation, has announced the production of ETBE purely from renewable resources. The breakthrough heralds a new opportunity for increasing the proportion of biofuels in gasoline. Current standards limit the inclusion of traditional biofuels because of their physical and…
Wood combustion in small scale boilers is widely used for domestic heating. The combination of different parameters such as fuel quality, combustion conditions and boiler capacity can have a strong impact on the quality of exhaust gases, for example on the level of particle emissions (PM). Thanks to the progress achieved in combustion technologies, small…
Tar and tar related problems are still major obstacles for the development and implementation of biomass gasification technologies. Aromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are by-products in most high temperature thermochemical conversion processes. They lower the efficiency of these processes and form tarry deposits when the gases are cooled and vapours begin to condense. For…
Biomass residues and such as agro-industrial waste or sewage sludge are a viable resource to produce energy, fuels and chemicals. They are abundant and generally low-cost, but converting these feedstocks into marketable products can be a challenging task due to their heterogeneous nature. A promising technology to do this, is the TCR® system (Thermo-Catalytic Reforming) developed…
Torrefied wood or biocoal is generally regarded as a bioenergy carrier for co-firing with coal in large scale power plants, nevertheless, some of its properties may make it suitable also for use in small-scale applications. A group of Finnish researchers at the Lappeenranta University of Technology has investigated the combustion behaviour and the emissions of…
Lubricants are oil-based substances, with a wide industrial application along with some non-industrial use. Lots of refinery products find applications as lubricants, so this sector is also looking for some non-petroleum alternatives. Vegetable oils are nowadays considered as viable bio-resource for biofuels, and also promising candidates for the development of bio-based lubricants. Pure vegetable oils show…
Around half of the energy consumed in Europe is used for our heating and cooling needs. Residential heating generates the most part of this demand (45%), while industrial, commercial or service buildings represent 37% and 18% respectively. While the use of biomass for residential heating has grown considerably in the last years in many European…