Mexico’s Energy Scenarios: Update of the World Energy Council Report
In october of this year, the National Institute of Electricity and Clean Energy (INEEL for spanish acronym) participated in the workshop: "Update on energy systems 2020", which was organized by the World Energy Council (WEC) - Mexico Chapter. The objective of the...
ENAEM, the strategy for the adoption of efficient stoves in Honduras
The National Strategy for the Adoption of Improved Stoves (ENAEM in Spanish) is the Honduran national framework for the displacement of the traditional stove and promoting the transition and sustained use of efficient wood stoves. It is the result of a participatory...
Clean Cooking Alliance Annual Report
In june of 2020, the Clean Cooking Alliance, released its 2019 annual report where shows important events, such as the convening of the "Clean Cooking Forum 2019" in Nairobi, Kenya and the launch of "Clean cooking is ...", the first worldwide campaign created...
Canada works in the production of high quality pellets
With the financial support of the AgriScience Program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) aims to produce e pellets of high quality from biomass resources. As a member of BioFuelNet Canada (BFN), the...
Wood energy and forest landscape restoration: exploring positive linkages
Wood energy and forest landscape restoration are often considered contradictory, likewise, we hear that the traditional use of wood fuels causes forest degradation, or even that the conservation of forest habitats reduce access to forest. energy and livelihoods of...
In memoriam: Kirk R. Smith (1947-2020)
The Solid Biofuels Cluster regrets deeply the decease of Dr. Kirk Smith on June 15th 2020. At the time of his departure, Kirk (as he was known by those who shared work and experiences despite his enormous prestige), was Professor of Global Environmental Health and...
Energy Transition and Thermal Quality in Rural Housing: the case of the Northwest of Argentine Patagonia
In a large number of rural communities in the world, there are advances and efforts to promote energy transition processes towards a combined use of fuels. Firewood is the only source of energy in these places and this led to the importance of studying the residential...
Professor Omar Masera awarded Cheney Fellowship by University of Leeds
It is with great pleasure that we inform you that Dr. Omar Masera Cerutti, Head of the Group on Ecotechnology and Bioenergy Innovation at UNAM (GIEB-UNAM), and technical leader of the Solid Biofuels Cluster, has been chosen as the recipient of the prestigious Cheney...
BIOMASS: MUCH MORE THAN ENERGY
Biomass is defined as the biodegradable fraction of biologically derived products, wastes and residues from agricultural activities (including substances of plant and animal origin), forestry and related industries as fisheries, aquaculture and the biodegradable...
Strategic planning for the use of pellets biomass waste in Mexican thermoelectric plants
The environment depletion caused by the intensive use of fossil fuels to produce electricity to satisfy the increasing demands has motivated the searching of alternative energy sources. In this context, residual biomass from different crops has been considered as...
Vulnerability to COVID-19 in rural and peri-urban populations due to the domestic use of firewood
Researchers of the Group of Ecotechnological Innovation and Bioenergy (GIEB) of the Institute of Investigations in Ecosystems and Sustainability (IIES), UNAM, the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases “Dr. Ismael...
Adoption of renewable energies is key in the energy transition
In times of pandemics, research on how to “rebuild” a healthy, resilient, prosperous and low-carbon world has emerged. According to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), to achieve this goal, adoption of renewable energies is key, as it fosters jobs creation...
Webinar – IEA Bioenergy, Global Collaboration on Sustainable Bioenergy, A Look Forward
The IEA Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) comprises a world-wide network of experts in every aspect of the value chain of biomass for energy. Our mission is to increase knowledge and understanding of bioenergy systems in order to facilitate the market...
Run, Forest, Run—what about Biomass?
Run Forrest Run!, is a phrase that evokes to the 1994 film “Forrest Gump”, which was awarded for best film, screenplay and actor at the Oscars that year. Nonetheless, Dr. Padmaperuma, author of this note, uses it to refer to forests and their management. Forests are...
Atention: take a hot air balloon trip and learn about biomass!
Argentinian Government and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are in charge of a project for the Promotion of energy derived from biomass (PROBIOMASA in Spanish), which aims at increasing the production of thermal and electrical energy...
Clean cooking makes for happier cooks: One woman’s story from Ghana
Lucy Anipa lives in Ghana, where she works as a member of her local school’s kitchen staff. Lucy used to spend long hours every day inhaling toxic smoke as she prepared meals for students and teachers. Like so many cooks in school kitchens around the world, Lucy...
Research Article. Forests: Carbon sequestration, biomass energy, or both?
There is a continuing debate over the role that woody bioenergy plays in climate mitigation. This brand new paper in Science clarifies this controversy and illustrates the impacts of woody biomass demand on forest harvests, prices, timber management investments and...
Clean Cooking Alliance launches COVID-19 Campaign
In response to the #COVID19 crisis, the Clean Cooking Alliance has launched a new online "COVID-19 Resource Page" to provide the Clean Cooking sector with information and digital tools that may be helpful in adapting to the changing landscape: COVID-19 is impacting...
Exposure to kitchen smoke in India Women: Coronavirus Crisis, Solutions and Lessons in India
India, with 1.3 billion people, was a dark spot on the global map of known Coronavirus Disease 2019 cases as recently as 2 March. But public health officials and scientists there, along with journalists, have known that was no cause for relaxing. According to the...
Smoke from open fires can cause lung inflammation
Traditional stoves that burn biomass materials and are not properly ventilated, which are widely used in developing nations where cooking is done indoors, have been shown to significantly increase indoor levels of harmful PM2.5 (miniscule atmospheric particulates) and...
Air quality monitoring in rural communities of Guatemala SBF Cluster
The Solid Biofuels Cluster through it’s Low Power Heat Generation Research Line had international activity in Guatemala. PhD Víctor Ruiz and MSc Juan Carlos Vázquez performed measurements of intramural air quality and exposure to pollutants from the use of open fires...
STUDY: WOOD PELLETS ARE THE BEST CHOICE FOR RESIDENTIAL HEATING
According to Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor, Xiaotao Bi, wood pellets are the best choice for residential heating. “In an isolated environment, when only the emissions from the burning fuel are analyzed, natural gas appears to be a cleaner option,” says...
Austria becomes the world capital pellets
Technical site visits: pellets & wood chips, 03 March ”. With this statement it is clear that the activity that inaugurates the World Sustainable Energy Days in Wels has a lot to do with pellets. Modular systems for combustion and heating with them operated by...
Implementation Guide for the GBEP Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy
The Implementation Guide for the Global Bioenergy Partnership Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy has been developed to complement and enhance the first edition of The Global Bioenergy Partnership Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy, published in 2011. It...
What is the difference between carbon neutral and carbon negative?
Please read the complete article here: IEA Bioenergy. Microsoft recently announced that it aims to become carbon negative by 2030. What’s more, the company said that by 2050, it plans to have removed from the atmosphere all the carbon that it has emitted since it was...
Developing business models for efficient use of biomass – Summary and conclusions
This publication provides the summary and conclusions from the workshop ‘Developing business models for efficient use of biomass’ held in conjunction with the meeting of the Executive Committee of IEA Bioenergy in Tallinn, Estonia on 22 October 2019. Key messages from...
Funding opportunity for bioenergy technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy...
Sweden mulls banning old wood burning stoves
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has proposed phasing out old wood burning stoves arguing that they cause dangerous pollution, Radio Sweden reported. SEPA says that, according to conservative estimates, around 1000 Swedes die early each year because...
Heating woes fuel Balkan smog crisis
As winter grips the Balkans, the poor are caught in a cruel bind, being forced to light fires at home for heating while fuelling a pollution crisis smothering the region. In recent weeks, Balkan capitals from Belgrade Sarajevo to Skopje and Pristina have been ranked...
CONFERENCE: Accelerate the growth of the bioeconomy through applied research and policy change
At the request of the Bioeconomy and Productive Development Program of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) of Argentina, we inform you that the Conference of the International Consortium for Research in Applied Bioeconomy (ICABR) will be...
How to convert a coal power plant into a biomass plant
Four years after its closure, Ence has “resurrected” the Elcogás thermal plant giving it a new use. The company headed by Ignacio Colmenares, has become the first company to transform a coal-fired thermal power plant located in Spain into a renewable energy generation...
Report: Waste biomass can help California meet net-zero goal
A new report released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has determined California can achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045 at modest cost using technology that is already demonstrated and mature, including carbon capture from waste biomass...
Sustainable bioenergy use. UN Press Release.
While renewable energy is advancing rapidly in Africa due to consistent efforts and investment, biomass is still largely used on the continent. In addition to being of significant value to African economies, it is the single most important energy source for most...
World Economic Forum 2020 Aims for Sustainability
This year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will call on corporations to raise their ambitions for climate action under the theme Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World. The meeting’s 50th edition, opening January 21 and running for four days in...
Ceder-Ciemat strengthens its equipment to investigate biomass emissions
The Ceder-Ciemat, under the current Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Miciu), has one of the most recognized teams, human and technological, for the study of the entire biomass value chain. A little over a year ago, when he received the Bioenergy...
KLE Technological University launches a biomass shredder for sugarcane trash
Having spent a year on converting the patented design into a product and conducting field trials, the Centre for Innovation and Product Development (CIPD) of KLE Technological University (KLETU) has announced the launch of a multi-purpose biomass shredder that is said...
What is Biomass Energy?
Biomass is a renewable energy source that is used to generate electricity. Organic matter (from trees and plants) is burned to heat water, creating steam. The steam then puts pressure on a turbine, causing it to turn, powering a generator and creating electricity....
SBF Cluster at the Congress of the Fluid Dynamics Division of the Mexican Physical Society
The XXV Annual Congress of the Division of Fluid Dynamics was held in the city of Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico, from November 5 to 8, 2019, within the UNAM Cultural Center (CCUNAM), located in the center Historical city. Students of the Design and Modeling...
How forests help generate energy through biomass
The energy generated through the burning of waste from nature does not stop growing worldwide, especially in some countries that set trends such as Spain and other Nordics. Biomass is nothing more than surplus or forest residues that instead of being forgotten, are...
New Statistical Report of the World Bioenergy Association
The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) publishes this month the Global bioenergy statistics 2019 report. It reflects the figures of energy production and consumption from all types of biofuels during 2017, where bioenergy accounted for seventy percent of renewable...