Clenergen officials announced this month a memo of agreement with Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation to design and install up to 34 megaWatts (MW) of biomass power plant capacity at certain of Rio Tuba's mining operations in the Philippines.

Air Products officials July 20 announced a proposed 49 megaWatts gasification-based waste-to-energy (WTE) project at Teesside, UK.

The Stamford, Connecticut Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) on July 7 voted 6-2 to reject a proposed sewage-sludge gasification project that could have become a pioneer in the U.S. market.

Hawaii-based ClearFuels Technology officials announced July 13 that they’ve received an investment from “social investment” organization, The Ulupono Initiative, aiming to support bridge financing and partner with the ClearFuels team to develop commercial biomass-to-liquids (BTL) projects in Hawaii.

Coal, natural gas prices are rebounding, but ULSD is falling.

Gasification projects around the world.

Opti Canada and Nexen officials July 15 both reported improved results from their “Long Lake” gasification-driven oil sands crude production venture in Alberta, Canada.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced July 14 that they’ve formed a “Clean Energy Partnership” to accelerate the development and deployment of coal-gasification and carbon capture and storage technology.

Australia-based GTL Energy (GTLE) officials announced July 12 that they’ve commissioned what they’re calling a “first-of-a-kind” low-rank coal (including lignite) upgrading plant near South Heart, North Dakota. The scheme could boost the thermal efficiency of future gasification and other clean-coal plants.

New Zealand-based LanzaTech officials announced July 13 that they’re launching a US$18 million “series B” financing round, led by China-based venture capital firm, Qiming Ventures.

The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) announced July 15 that they’ve shut-down Cougar Energy’s “Kingaroy” underground coal gasification (UCG) operation in Australia because of fears of possible water contamination.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) director Richard Leopold is petitioning South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to conduct a full-blown environmental impact statement (EIS) study on the proposed 400,000 barrels/day Hyperion Energy Center (HEC) oil refinery and 200-megaWatts integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project.

American Public Power Association (APPA) officials July 7 released a new study showing that forcing coal-fired power plants to switch to natural gas – supposedly to meet future legislated limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – would be far more costly than is generally assumed in studies that show abundant natural-gas supplies in North America.

The South African Competition Tribunal July 20 confirmed the settlement agreement between the Competition Commission and Sasol Nitro regarding “excessive pricing” allegations in Sasol’s fertilizer businesses.

British energy minister Chris Huhne, German environment minister Norbert Roettgen and French ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo last week published a joint editorial in the Financial Times calling upon the European Union (EU) to make a unilateral 30% cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2020, instead of the current 20% target.

Siemens officials announced July 19 that they’ve won a US$8.9 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy to build their first U.S. post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO2) capture project at Tampa Electric in Florida.

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced July 20 a total of US$5.2 million in new funding for the “International Energy Agency (IEA) Greenhouse Gas Weyburn-Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project.”

Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) officials announced July 16 that they’ve signed a “strategic agreement” with Mitsubishi to cooperate on carbon capture and storage (CCS), wind farms, smart grids, “high efficiency power generation” and “low carbon vehicles.”

Scientists at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and South Korea are reporting a world record for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacity on a class of materials known as MOFs, or metal-organic frameworks.

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) are reporting a new steam-process scheme for regenerating amine materials used to capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants.

The European Commission announced July 14 that it has won unanimous approval from European Union (EU) member states for its proposed regulation for auctioning greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances under the EU’s “Emissions Trading System” (ETS).

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) officials announced July 7 grants of up to US$67 million for 10 advanced technology projects for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal combustion.

Adding nutrients to plankton could boost the ability of the world’s oceans to capture and store massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to a new study.