Dr. Jörgen Held, Renewtec AB has been appointed by one of the California Energy Commission´s projects (PIR-14-023) to be a member of the Technical Adisory Committee for the fluidised bed methanation demo project taking place in Woodland, California.
EUBCE, Europe’s largest biomass conference
The 1-4 of June 23rd European Biomass Conference & Exhibition, EUBCE 2015, took place in Vienna, Austria.
In total 1394 people from 76 countries participated in the conference. Notable was the huge interest for biogas, biomethane and gasification but it’s no surprise since gaseous biofuels have several advantages over solid and liquid biofuels.
Renewtec acted as session chairman for the session “Thermochemical Conversion Processes – Industrial Approach” and represented the European Biogas Association in the the conference closing cermony.
“According to Dr Held, we should not speak about biomethane from AD, biomethane from gasification or from any other technology separately, but about biomethane from renewable resources as a whole, which is a chance for Europe to increase energy security, have cleaner environment and stimulate growth. AD and gasification play together in one team as complimentary technologies.”
REGATEC 2015 – a success
The 7-8 May 2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Gas Technology, REGATEC 2015, took place in Barcelona, Spain. The fundamental idea of the conference is to provide a common platform for biogas, gasification, and Power-to-gas players since there are strong synergies between these sectors.
In total 140 people from 26 countries registered for the conference which was opened by Dr. Nakada from the world organisation on renewable energy, IRENA.
The president of the European Biogas Association, Dr. Jan Stambasky, seized the opportunity to launch the association’s new ”EBA vision and mission”. Now the association takes a holistic approach to renewable energy gases, whether they are produced through anaerobic digestion or gasification, which is in line with the fundamental idea of REGATEC.
During the two day conference 64 presentations by leading experts were given, and 17 exhibitors showed the latest within anaerobic digestion, gasification and Power-to-gas.
SEAT and Iveco Spain displayed the new generation of environmentally friendly gas powered cars with superior fuel economy. SEAT Mii Ecofuel consumes merely 2.9 kg/100km which gives a fuel cost of approx. 5€/100km in Sweden and approx. 2.90-3.60€/100km in the rest of Europe.
On the photo Dr. Jan Stambasky, the president of the European Biogas Association and Jörgen Held, CEO Renewtec and conference organizer, in front of one of the displayed NGVs, a SEAT Leon ST TGI.
REGATEC 2015 was sponsored by Cortus Energy AB, EQTEC Iberia, EBIOSS Energy, GDF Suez, JTI, Landvärme GmbH, and Schmack Carbotech GmbH.
REGATEC is organized by Renewable Energy Technology International AB (Renewtec AB) and Institute for Biogas, Waste Management & Energy
PSI visited by Renewtec
On the 1st of May Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland was visited by Jörgen Held. PSI works actively with the development of fluidised bed methanation which has potential to lower the production cost of bioSNG.
Dr. Serge Biollaz, head of Thermal Process Engineering Group at PSI shows a ”cold flow” model of fluidised bed methanation. It’s important to obtain good contact between the syngas bubbles and the catalytic bed material and at the same time keep the temperature on a constant level. Dr. Biollaz revealed that shortly a new lab for methanation of biogas and syngas as well as Power-to-gas will be built on the PSI premises.
The meeting finished with Renewtec informing about the market and competence platform for small scale bioSNG production that Renewtec and BioMil together with project partners from industry and academia is building up with financial support from the regional authority in Scania.
Renewtec visits KIT
The 30th of April Jörgen Held visited Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT, one of Europe´s largest energy research institutes. Dr. Siegfried Bajohr gave a presentation on KIT’s honeycomb methanation catalyst. The catalyst has potential to reduce the investment cost which is advantageous, especially for small scale plants. The catalyst is under testing in pilot scale at the Cortus gasification plant in Köping.
Dr. Manuel Götz gave a much appreciated guided tour in the KIT lab and told about 3-phase methanation which is another methanation technique suitable for small scale plants.
The meeting finished with Renewtec informing about the market and competence platform for small scale bioSNG production that Renewtec and BioMil together with project partners from industry and academia is building up with financial support from the regional authority in Scania.
To the right, Dr. Siegfried Bajohr, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and to the left Jörgen Held, Renewtec AB.
Crosscuts of honeycomb catalysts. The catalyst length is normally several meters.
Dr. Manuel Götz, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology shows an experimental set-up for 3-phase methanation.
Renewtec appointed chairman of grading committee
On the 26th of February Fredrik Weiland, Luleå Technical University, will defend his doctoral thesis on entrained flow gasification of wood powder.
The opponent is Prof. Thomas Kolb, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The grading committe is made up by Prof. Klas Engvall, Royal Institute of Technology, Dr. Sylvia Larsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Dr. Jörgen Held, Renewtec AB (chairman).
Vaasa EnergyWeek 2015
EnergyVaasa is the largest energy cluster in the Nordic countries and the organizer of the annual EnergyWeek conference. In 2014 Vaasa EnergyWeek attracted more than 2,400 participants.
EnergyWeek 2015 takes place 16-19 March in Vaasa, Finland. Renewtec is invited to give a speech on Power-to-gas and small scale gasification and methanation for biomethane production.
Renewtec new EUBCE Industry Committee member
Renewtec has been invited to become a member of the EUBCE Industry Committee.
EUBCE is the Europe’s largest international conference focused on biomass combining a highly-respected international scientific conference with an industrial exhibition and gathers participants from research, industry, policy and business of biomass.
- It highlights progress in research, technological development and production processes.
- It brings together all key specialists to make it the most important international platform for dialogue between research, industry, research and industry, and policy in the biomass sector.
The 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, EUBCE 2015, takes place 1-4 June in Vienna.
EQTEC Iberia and IREC visted by Renewtec
The 21st of October EQTEC Iberia SL in Parets del Vallés outside Barcelona was visited by Renewtec. EQTEC Iberia markets its proprietary fluidized bed gasifier adopted for agricultural feedstock and forest residues.
Luis Sanchez Angrill, CEO at EQTEC Iberia in discussion with Jörgen Held. EQTEC Iberia has together with EBIOSS Energy Group signed up as Gold Sponsor of REGATEC 2015.
The day after, the 22nd of October, Institut de Recerca en Energía de Catalunya, IREC, was visited. The mission of the Catalan Instutite for Energy Research is to contribute to the sustainable development of society and increase corporate competitivness via
- innovation and development of new technological products
- medium and long-term research
- development of scientific and technological knowledge in the field of energy
Dr. Josep Carreras, Group Leader at IREC and Jörgen Held, Renewtec in discussion about R&D of renewable methane for grid injection and/or as vehicle fuel.
Renewtec visits ICAEN
On the 20th of October Renewtec visited Instituto Catalán de Energía (ICAEN) in Barcelona. The Catalan Institute of Energy aims at the promotion and realization of initiatives and action programs for research, development and application of energy technologies, including renewables, boosting savings and energy efficiency, promotion of rational use of energy and, in general, the optimal management of energy resources in the different economic sectors in Catalonia.
Jörgen Held, Renewtec informs Francesc Vidal, ICAEN about the upcoming REGATEC conference that takes place on the 7th-8th May 2015 in Barcelona.