Intervate successfully gassify waste cooking oil and grease to produce excellent quality Syngas, thereby proving that it can be used to genrate green electricity. Billy Lilly said the news was "an encouraging development".

Industry website Letsrecycle.com reported on July 27th on the commencement of consultations that may lead to the closure of the Sonae chipboard manufacturing facility at Knowsley.

http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/wood/uk2019s-largest-wood-recycling-plant-could-close

According to the report the Sonae facility currently processes 400,000 tonnes per annum of waste wood per annum. The report describes its potential closure as "a huge blow to the wood recycling industry" and further comments that the "waste wood recycling industry is already suffering from a lack of demand for waste wood".

A futher article from letsrecycle.com on the current supply-demand imbalance can be found here.

Julian Ackerley commented, "Whilst this is of course disappointing for the workforce in St Helens, the closure highlights the urgent need for long term infrastructure capable of utilising waste wood produced in the UK for the generation of green energy. Intervate's proven biomass gassification technology is ideally placed to meet this need."

On July 25th, DECC confirmed that Advanced Gasification will receive 2.0 ROCs per MWh under the Technology Banding Review for facilities commissioned in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. The level of support will decline to 1.9 ROCS per MWh in 2015/2016 and then to 1.8 ROCs per MWh in 2016/2017.

DECC also took the opportunity to harmonize the banding between "standard" and "advanced" ACTs with both approaches now attracting the same level of support

DECC also published its estimates on the average household electricity bills of RO support costs under the revised technology bands. DECC forecasts that in 2015/2016 the average household electricity bill will include £ 50 of support costs attributable to the RO.

Edward Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change said:

"Renewable energy will create a multi-billion pound boom for the British economy, driving growth and supporting jobs across the country. The support we're setting out today will unlock investment decisions, help ensure that rapid growth in renewable energy continues and shows the key role of renewables in energy security".

DECC stated that by 2017 this package could deliver as much as 79TWh of renewable electricity per annum in the UK - nearly three quarters of the way towards the 108TWh of electricity needed to meet the UK's 2020 renewable energy target.

Intervate are pleased that DECC have removed any uncertainty regarding Technology Banding for Advanced Gasification and welcome the Goverment's continuing commitment to a RO system that combines certainty, transparency and longevity.

Trials by Harper Adams University College have demonstrated the beneficial impact of a a Biochar and compost mix on the growth of crops such as tomatoes and peas. Dr Charles Murray, of Harper Adams, stated that “Crop yields from the biochar trial exceeded that of a control group using conventional John Innes compost”. Phase 2 field trials will take place during the spring of 2013. This work will be supplemented by further trials to establish the benefits of Biochar addition to wind row compost systems.