Startech Environmental Corp. will provide its Startech Plasma Converter System to SG Silesia, a wholly owned Polish subsidiary of London-based Waste2greenenergy Ltd., Startech's exclusive distributor for Poland. The system, slated to come on line this year, will be owned and operated by SG Silesia at Polish chemical company Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn SA's production facility in Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Poland. It will convert up to 110 metric tons of industrial waste to synthesis gas daily for sale to ZAK.

The Startech Plasma Converter System/PHOTO: STARTECH ENVIRONMENTAL CORP.

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Startech gasifier to be used in Poland

MonitorTech Corp. is supplying the Indeck Ladysmith Biofuel Center, a 90,000-ton-per-year wood pellet plant under construction in Ladysmith, Wis., with its continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS). The system will monitor carbon monoxide and oxygen at the facility. Indeck Ladysmith is building a sister pellet plant in Magnolia, Miss., but MonitorTech President Robert Mullowney said his company won't be supplying that plant with a similar system because the facility isn't required to have a CEMS.

MonitorTech provides CEMS to Indeck Ladysmith plant

Verdezyne Inc., formerly Coda Genomics Inc., will provide its advanced computational algorithms for generating enzymes to Genencor, A Danisco Division to assist Genencor with its research initiatives, including enzyme product solutions for biofuels. Genencor and Verdezyne have been working together since October to create libraries of synthetic genes and proteins for Genencor's future research. Verdezyne's technology involves the evolution of metabolic pathways for the cost-effective commercial production of biofuels and platform chemicals.

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Verdezyne, Genencor continue collaboration

The federal government's support for renewable energy seems to be stronger than ever, even as the world sinks into what is expected to be a deep recession. 
 
 I believe President Barack Obama's choice for U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu was a wise one, especially in light of last year's record-high oil prices. I don't think there is any doubt that Chu understands the situation this nation faces and that he knows what needs to be done to face the challenges that lie ahead. As he said in his statement before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in January: "Last year's rapid spike in oil and gasoline process not only contributed to the recession we are now experiencing, it also put a huge strain on the budgets of families all across America. Although prices are now lower, providing some relief to American consumers, we know that our economy remains vulnerable to future price swings. We must make a greater, more committed push toward energy independence and, with it, a more secure energy system."
 
 To give readers an even better idea of the administration's support for renewable energy, Senior Staff Writer Ron Kotrba conducted an interview with Valri Lightner, the new director of the U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Biomass Program. The program, according to Lightner, is focused on next-generation technologies and driving down the costs of these processes so the new renewable fuels standard can be met. To find out more about the Biomass Program and its direction, read Kotrba's feature, "Biomass: A Federal Perspective" on page 42.
 
 Time and the economic situation will tell what lies ahead for the biomass industry, but it's comforting to know that the federal government still understands the dangers of heavily relying on foreign oil and that high gasoline prices had a hand in causing our current financial situation. 
 
 I hate to end this column on a low note, but I'm not as confident that the U.S. Congress can help us out of this recession, judging by the trillion-dollar stimulus package that was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, our lawmakers need to stop worrying about reelection and their own futures, and start making decisions that are best for the future of the entire country. On the other hand, I was heartened to see that some Democratic senators are prepared to vote against the stimulus package despite the fact that it was crafted by their own party. This includes North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad, who said he was going to vote against the project because he didn't believe it was "fully targeted, timely and temporary." 
 
 Let's hope they go back to the drawing board, put aside their partisan differences and come up with a stimulus package that will truly help the country out of this recession. 
 
 Rona Johnson
 Features Editor
 <a href="mailto:rjohnson@bbiinternational.com">rjohnson@bbiinternational.com</a>

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Solid Support for Renewable Energy

The Energy Information Administration reported that as of October 2008, more than 48 percent of the electricity produced and consumed in this country was derived from coal. The U.S. fleet of coal-burning power plants numbers over 100, and new plants are in various stages of development. Additionally, we've all heard that new coal-fired power plants come on line in China almost weekly. 
 
 As a proponent of biomass and a professional working in the field, I initially regarded this statistic with some derision. I'm beginning to see, however, that partnering with the coal industry may be one way to expand the use of biomass as a power source.
 
 Coal-burning power plants in this country are supported by a massive infrastructure that harvests coal from the ground, delivers it to generation facilities via rail, and ultimately feeds it into power plants that are optimized to pulverize and combust the material to make electricity. 
 
 Comparatively, the biomass industry is in the development stage at each and every step in that process. Equipment manufacturers are building prototypes to efficiently harvest not just grain but also crop residue. Studies are being conducted on finding better ways to move the less energy dense material, and technologies are being developed to effectively harness the power bound up in our country's vast biomass resources. 
 
 The challenges presented will not be overcome simultaneously. As an industry, we need to welcome projects that provide us with an opportunity to confront these challenges, even if it is in an a la carte fashion. I look to my home state of Iowa and the opportunity presented to our industry by the coal-fired power plant planned for Marshalltown. The Iowa 
 Utilities Board granted conditional approval of the Alliant Energy Corp. facility as long as it derives 10 percent of its energy from biomass. While I understand that many in the renewable industry will look upon a 650 megawatt coal-fired power plant as a perpetuation of the fossil fuel paradigm, I see it as an opportunity to develop and prove out a reliable biomass fuel infrastructure. 
 
 Biomass's time is definitely upon us and while we are not yet in the driver's seat, we can learn a great deal riding shotgun.
 
 Tim Portz is a business developer with BBI International's Community Initiative to Improve Energy Sustainability. Reach him at <a href="mailto:tportz@bbiinternational.com">tportz@bbiinternational.com</a> or (651) 398-9154.

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Riding Shotgun with King Coal

While patents remain the principal form of intellectual property for protecting technological advancements in Canada, plant breeders' rights can provide an alternative or complementary protection for new plant varieties. Species engineering has begun on heralded, under-researched plant feedstocks such as switchgrass, camelina and jatropha, and protecting the fruits of such research and development labor can be achieved in Canada through a combined strategy.
 
 Criteria for Patents Versus Plant Breeders' Rights
 A valid patent will be granted for an invention that is novel, useful and nonobvious. If the invention was disclosed by the applicant more than one year before filing a patent application, then it is considered unpatentable in Canada for lack of novelty. 
 
 To qualify for a plant breeders' rights certificate, a plant variety must be new, distinct, uniform and stable. A "new" variety must not have been sold in Canada before the filing of the plant breeders' rights application and must not have been sold abroad for more than four years, or for more than six years in the case of woody plants and their rootstocks. 
 
 A "distinct" variety possesses measurably different characteristics from commonly known varieties. For example, a variety could be "distinct" because its seed oil content is higher than any known variety of the same species. Furthermore, a "uniform" variety exhibits predictable variation in its characteristics, and a "stable" variety has characteristics that remain unchanged over successive generations. 
 
 Subject Matter of Patents Versus Plant Breeders' Rights
 The Canadian Intellectual Property Office currently holds the position that multicellular organisms are not patentable subject matter. It may be possible to patent new and inventive methods of genetic engineering, or individual cells of multicellular organisms, but any claims to a plant itself will be rejected by CIPO. The Plant Breeders' Rights Act allows the exclusive right to a plant variety that is asexually or sexually reproducible. However, plant breeders' rights cannot be obtained for fungi, algae or bacteria. 
 
 Duration, Scope of Patents Versus Plant Breeders' Rights
 While the term of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing a patent application, the duration of plant breeders' rights is 18 years from the plant breeders' rights certificate issue date. 
 
 The scope of a patent is defined by its claims and often allows broad coverage of an invention, such as a plant cell containing a new chimeric gene that is applicable to several plant species. Each plant breeders' rights certificate, however, covers a particular variety belonging to a particular plant species. The plant breeders' rights certificate holder may exclude others from selling the protected variety, producing it for sale and making repeated use of the protected variety as a step to commercially produce another variety. 
 
 Plant Protection in the U.S. 
 In the U.S., breeders' rights can be obtained for sexually reproduced (by seed) or tuber-propagated plants. It's also possible to obtain a so-called "plant patent" for an asexually reproduced plant. The U.S. also allows regular utility patents for plants. 
 
 Given the need for improved plant feedstocks in the energy industry and the particularities of the Canadian intellectual property system, neither patents nor plant breeders' rights should be overlooked as valuable means of protection. 
 
 Micheline Ayoub is a patent associate in the fields of biotechnology and plant varieties protection at Robic, a Quebec-based intellectual property and business law firm. Reach her at <a href="mailto:ayoub@robic.com">ayoub@robic.com</a>. Jeremy Lawson is a patent agent in the fields of chemical and process engineering at Robic. Reach him at <a href="mailto:lawson@robic.com">lawson@robic.com</a>.

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Plant Breeders' Rights for New Feedstocks

Atlanta-based EnerTech Environmental Inc. received the 2008 Global Frost & Sullivan Green Excellence Award for its SlurryCarb process, which creates a renewable fuel from sewage sludge and other high-moisture wastes. EnerTech has a 1.6-ton-per-day process development unit at its Atlanta headquarters and a commercial-scale facility under construction in Rialto, Calif. The Rialto Regional Biosolids Processing Facility is designed to convert approximately 883 wet tons of biosolids per day into 167 dry tons of renewable fuel per day, which can be used as a coal substitute.

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SlurryCarb process receives green award

Through its affiliate Laidlaw Berlin BioPower LLC, New York-based Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. announced its completed acquisition of the former Fraser Paper pulp mill in Berlin, N.H. 
 
 The company is developing a 66-megawatt biomass-to-energy project on the site, including conversion of the boiler and related equipment. Once completed, the facility is expected to utilize approximately 700,000 tons of woody biomass annually, and directly employ 40 workers. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in late 2010.

Laidlaw acquires pulp mill in New Hampshire

BioEnergy International LLC recently established a specialty chemicals division, and added two new executives from chemical giants DuPont and BASF to lead the new department. Cary Veith, formerly a vice president with DuPont, joined BioEnergy International as vice president of research and development. Cenan Ozmeral, who most recently served BASF as a vice president, joined BioEnergy International as senior vice president and general manager of specialty chemicals.

Former DuPont, BASF execs join BioEnergy International

The U.S. EPA recognized seven landfill methane capture projects at the 12th Annual Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference and Project Expo in Baltimore on Jan. 13. Three were honored as LMOP projects of the year, including Granger Energy of Morgantown LLC's Conestoga Landfill Gas Utilization Project in Morgantown, Pa.; the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio's Green Energy Center Landfill Gas Energy Project in Grove City, Ohio; and a project undertaken by Greenville Gas Producers LLC and Greenville County in Greenville, S.C. For more information on the complete list of projects, visit www.epa.gov/lmop.

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EPA salutes landfill methane capture projects

Shareholders approved a name change for Virtual Media Holdings Inc., reflecting its merger with Biomass Waste Management and its plans to build biomass-to-power generation facilities across North America. The newly formed Biomass Secure Power Inc. is developing a 10-megawatt power plant in Abbotsford, British Columbia, which will provide water heat and carbon dioxide for collocated greenhouses, and electricity for BC Hydro. The plant plans to use trees destroyed by pine beetles as a feedstock, as well as other waste biomass streams.

Virtual Media Holdings changes name

Canada-based Zero Emission Energy Plants Inc. executed a global licensing agreement with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to build, operate and commercialize Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's compact gasification technology. The gasification systems are designed to convert low-value carbonaceous feedstocks into synthesis gas mainly consisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. ZEEP intends to develop a commercial-scale demonstration plant and build several large gasification facilities throughout the world. Possible locations for a demonstration plant include China, Canada, the U.S. and Australia, according to ZEEP.

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Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, ZEEP sign agreement

Bruks Rockwood Inc. is supplying its truck unloading equipment to two of Epcor Power LP's power plants in North Carolina: a 52-megawatt cogeneration facility in Roxboro and a 103-megawatt combined-heat-and-power plant in Southport. At these locations, wood residues will be processed as feedstocks in conjunction with coal and tire-derived materials. Dominion Energy will also employ two of the unloading systems at its 585-megawatt clean coal power plant in Virginia City, Va. The facility produces 20 percent of its energy from woody biomass.

Bruks Rockwood supplies biomass unloading systems

Environmental and engineering consulting firm Dudek and nanotechnology application developer Catalyx Nanotech Inc. have partnered to develop facilities adjacent to southern California landfills that will sequester carbon and convert methane gas into green hydrogen and nanomaterials. Catalyx Nanotech chairman Juzer Jangbarwala said the companies are currently focused on a pilot project but continue to plan commercial endeavors. "We are looking at 12 landfills that are already producing electricity," he said. "Our option helps eliminate emissions, so we do not expect long permit [issuance] for retrofits. As soon as the pilot unit is up and running, we will proceed with all 12 permits." The companies expect to eventually expand to other southern California regions.  B

Dudek, Catalyx Nanotech to produce energy from landfills

The University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment welcomed renewable fuels veteran John Sheehan as scientific program coordinator for biofuels. He has much experience in renewable energy development, having spent nearly 20 years with the U.S. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory conducting work on system dynamic models for strategic and policy decision-making related to ethanol and biodiesel. In his new position, he will focus on the direct and indirect consequences of biofuels production on land use across the world.

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Sheehan joins university's Institute on the Environment

Implementing a unique technology that has been in the works over the past six years, Quebec-based Enerkem Inc. began the start-up phase of its commercial-scale biogas plant in Westbury, Quebec. After a 14-month construction period, it will process biomass into synthesis gas, ethanol and methanol. 
 
 Since 2003, the company has operated a pilot plant in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Enerkem President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Chornet said he expects the commercial-scale facility to become fully operational within a few months after the alcohol modules are bolted to the syngas island. 
 
 The company's sequential gas conditioning and catalysis technology uniquely allows for the processing of certain types of demolition wood, such as decommissioned power poles and creosote-treated wood that most companies can't process due to air or environmental permit limitations. The 1.3 MMgy facility in Westbury is collocated with a sawmill and will utilize waste materials to produce 365 liters (95 gallons) of ethanol per ton. 
 
 Besides treated wood waste, the plant is also capable of processing sorted municipal solid waste. "Forestry biomass is like butter for us, although the plant is designed to be flexible," Chornet said.
 
 After the wood chips and other wastes are dried, sorted and shredded, they are stored in a container connected to the gasifier by a front-end feeding system. Slurries or liquids may also be fed into the gasifier through injectors. The carbonaceous materials, such as biomass treated with creosote, are converted into a syngas consisting mostly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen through a chemical gasification process. 
 
 The gasifier operates at low severities, temperatures of approximately 700 degrees Celsius (1,292 degrees Fahrenheit) and below 10 units of atmospheric pressure. During the gasification process, part of the creosote is broken down, forming a portion of the syngas. 
 
 Other traces of impurities are captured as residues in the form of a neutralized ash, or through a wastewater treatment system for effective disposal through the syngas cleaning system. The gas is cleaned and conditioned for use with existing catalysts through a sequential conditioning system that includes the cyclonic removal of inerts, secondary carbon and tar conversion, heat recovery units, and the reinjection of tar and fines into the reactor. The gas that is produced at the end of the cleaning process is ready for conversion into liquid fuel and end products.
 
 The ethanol produced at Enerkem's facility will be marketed and sold within Canada to refineries. Chornet said the company is currently in talks with refineries in the greater Montreal area.

Enerkem has begun operation of its commercial-scale syngasto-ethanol plant in Westbury, Quebec./PHOTO: ENERKEM INC.

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Enerkem commercial-scale biogas plant starts up

The 2009 International Biomass Conference & Expo, to be hosted by BBI International Inc. in Portland, Ore., on April 28-30, will feature 90 speakers and six feedstock-oriented session tracks to appeal to the most diverse of biomass interests. In addition, 150 exhibitors are expected. 
 
 The tracks, which aim to focus the various areas of attendee interest, are: crop residues, dedicated energy crops, forest and wood processing residues, livestock and poultry wastes, municipal solid waste, urban wastes and landfill gas, and food processing residues. The general sessions will offer keynote speeches and presentations from industry leaders. One particular session will include panelists representing the spectrum of biomass-to-energy conversion technologies available today. They will field questions from attendees who are looking for ways to best utilize their specific biomass feedstock streams. 
 
 "This event, now in its second year, is unique because it appeals to a much broader audience than other bioenergy industry conferences," said Tom Bryan, vice president of communications for BBI International. "We, as an industry, can't afford to keep preaching to the choir. The growth of this industry is dependent on the commercial production of power, fuels and chemicals from nonfood, non-feed raw materials." 
 
 Conference attendees can tour three facilities in the region for an additional fee. West Oregon Wood Products Inc. in Banks, Ore., uses forest and wood processing residues to create products such as fuel pellets. Summit Natural Energy Corp., which operates facilities in North Plains and Cornelius, Ore., uses food processing residues to produce more than 2 MMgy of ethanol. Clean Water Services' Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility in Hillsboro, Ore., is a treatment plant that utilizes anaerobic digestion and biogas recovery. 
 
 For more information or to register, visit <a href="www.biomassconference.com">www.biomassconference.com</a>.

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International Biomass Conference promises focus on feedstocks

Biomass-to-energy projects are moving forward around the globe. Here, Biomass Magazine details the most recent ones:
 
 &#9658;Scottish Water Waste Services plans to build a £7 million ($10.2 million) anaerobic digester at its Deerdykes composting facility near Cumbernauld, Scotland. It would produce biogas from recycled food waste to generate electricity and heat, beginning in April 2010. Two 500-kilowatt-hour generators will produce 6,000 megawatt-hours of electricity and 1.1 megawatts of heat annually. Monsal Ltd. is the anaerobic digester technology provider for the project.
 
 &#9658;The Scottish Association for Marine Sciences was awarded €5 million ($7.4 million) from the European Union to determine the feasibility of producing renewable fuel using seaweed as a feedstock , which the association is calling the BioMara Project. In October, SAMS issued a report that stated kelp might be farmed off the coast for the production of biogas and ethanol.
 
 &#9658;Gasunie, with more than 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) of pipeline in the Netherlands and Germany, will transport upgraded biogas through its pipeline for the first time at the end of 2009. The biogas will be supplied by Natuurgas Overijssel BV, which is building a plant with the capacity to produce 2 million cubic meters of biogas from organic household waste annually.
 
 &#9658;Lurgi GmbH, a subsidiary of Air Liquide Group, plans to build a €24.85 million ($32 million) pilot-scale gasification plant at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany. The facility, which is being built for Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, will produce one metric ton of the company's trademarked bioliqSynCrude synthesis gas per hour from dry biomass. The project is expected to be complete by 2012.
 
 &#9658;Between 2005 and 2030, China is expected to receive approximately 23 percent of global investment in renewable energy, or approximately $1.2 trillion, according to a report, titled "China: Clean and Renewable Energy Report to 2010." Published by Ireland-based Research and Markets, the report noted that China plans to produce 5.5 gigawatts of electricity from biomass by 2010, and 30 gigawatts by 2020.

The Deerdykes composting facility is located near Cumbernauld, Scotland./PHOTO: SCOTTISH WATER WASTE SERVICES

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Biomass-to-energy projects advance worldwide

According to Chuck Anderson, vice president of eco-market development for ImageTree Corp., deforestation contributes an estimated 20 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions. On the upside, he believes interest in forest carbon sequestration is growing, as evidenced in the attendance of forestry sessions at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland, in December.
 
 The U.N. is working toward bringing forest carbon into a traded and regulated marketplace as part of its Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Program. 
 
 Dubbed REDD, the program aims to create incentives for countries to reverse deforestation and improve forest management.
 
 Anderson said Panama was recognized at the U.N. conference as the developing nation furthest along in readiness to address the issues concerning trading forest carbon credits. 
 
 The issues include creating transparency and credibility in measuring reductions in deforestation rates that can be independently reviewed, ensuring indigenous communities will benefit and addressing biodiversity concerns. 
 
 ImageTree is working with Panama and the intergovernmental organization CATHALAC, a Spanish acronym for Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin American and the Caribbean. "Panama has said they would like to participate in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases," Anderson said. One of the challenges has been to find accurate methods to measure changes in large tracts of forests. ImageTree will use its technology to help establish the baseline data that Panama will need to demonstrate improvements in forest carbon sequestration.
 
 ImageTree has developed analytical tools that combine satellite images of forests with aerial laser-aided measurements to create three-dimensional models of forests in high resolution. The technology can measure growth in the layers underneath the forest canopy at a resolution in which changes can be tracked in small areas, almost by individual trees, Anderson said. The company began utilizing the technology for the forest inventories in the U.S. and Canada, and it sees an opportunity with wood-based biomass projects needing to inventory feedstock supply in a particular region.

A three-dimensional image of a tropical forest is created from laser-assisted remote sensing data./PHOTO: IMAGETREE CORP.

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ImageTree prepares to measure forest carbon change

Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska and Wisconsin recently awarded grants for projects related to producing energy from biomass.
 
 The following projects were funded by the Iowa Power Fund:
 
 &#9658;Renew Energy Systems in Osage, Iowa, received $250,000 to build a mobile biomass briquetter for densifying biomass on-site for industrial and commercial heat and power generation. 
 
 &#9658;Amana Farms Inc. in Amana, Iowa, received $1.08 million for an anaerobic digester to generate electricity from biogas using cattle manure and organic industrial waste as feedstocks.
 
 &#9658;Iowa State University received $2.37 million to replace the natural gas used by ethanol plants with synthesis gas produced through biomass gasification, and to examine converting syngas to ethanol.
 
 The following projects were funded by the Advancing Colorado's Renewable Energy program:
 
 &#9658;Colorado State University's Golden Plains Area Extension Service received $50,000 to evaluate how energy crops should be rotated on northeastern Colorado dryland farms. 
 
 &#9658;The Flux Farm Foundation in Carbondale, Colo., received $50,000 to study the effects of applying biochar, a byproduct of pyrolysis, to western Colorado pastureland. 
 
 &#9658;The International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology in Lakewood, Colo., received $50,000 to work with students at the Colorado School of Mines to design a machine that would produce briquettes from a mixture of cattle manure and woody biomass. 
 
 &#9658;San Juan Bioenergy LLC in Durango, Colo., received $50,000 to study the chemical composition of syngas produced from gasifying sunflower hulls at the company's oilseed crushing plant in Dove Creek, Colo. 
 
 &#9658;Stewart Environmental Consultants Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo., received $50,000 to catalog and quantify the 
 feedstocks that might be available in northeastern Colorado for anaerobic digestion and biogas production. 
 
 The following projects were funded by the Nebraska Value-Added Agriculture program:
 
 &#9658;Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems in Oakland, Neb., in partnership with Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb., received $8,000 to purchase technical reference materials and to market the Renewable Energy Training & Workshop Program, which gives college students hands-on training with renewable energy production systems.
 
 &#9658;Tighe Biodiesel in Springfield, Neb., received $75,000 to build a farm-scale ethanol and biodiesel biorefinery that will also produce biogas through the anaerobic digestion of wastewater.
 
 The Wisconsin Focus on Energy program funded one project. Action Floor Systems LLC in Mercer, Wis., received $200,000 to replace the company's natural-gas-fired boiler and 50-year-old wood-fired boiler with a woody biomass boiler.

Four states award biomass energy grants

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are being developed and proposed in Massachusetts and California, and Michigan passed a law that encourages biomass harvest, a possible step in meeting RPS goals.
 
 In January, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released regulations that expanded support for renewable energy and alternative energy technologies mandated by the Green Communities Act, energy reform legislation enacted in July. The act called for changes to the state's RPS that would double the rate of increase in the use of new renewable energy and create a new Class 2 RPS to support the continued operation of older (pre-1998) renewable-energy-generating facilities. 
 
 Geothermal, hydroelectric and marine, and hydrokinetic energy are now eligible technologies under RPS Class 1. Liquid biofuels eligible for RPS Class 1 are required to meet life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and other standards set by the Clean Energy Biofuels Act of 2008. This includes algae-based fuel.
 
 RPS Class 2 is limited to generation that began on or before Dec. 31, 1997. Utilities and other electricity suppliers are required to purchase renewable energy credits from Class 2 facilities equal to at least 3.6 percent of sales, or make alternative compliance payments (ACPs) per megawatt-hour to meet the Class 2 RPS obligation. The initial ACP rate is $25 per megawatt-hour for 2009 and will be adjusted each year with the Consumer Price Index.
 
 Staying consistent with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order, which requires utilities to procure 33 percent of their electricity from renewable generation by 2020, 
 Assembly Bill 64 was proposed in December. It would increase the current requirement of 20 percent renewable procurement by 2010 but maintain the current standard for investor-owned utilities. It would also require publicly owned electric utilities to meet the 20 percent by 2010 target. Under current law, publicly owned utilities are required to have a plan in place for renewable procurement but are not required to meet a specific target. By 2015, utilities would be required to procure 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources, with the percentage increasing to 35 percent by the end of 2020. 
 
 In Michigan, farmers who purchase machinery that can harvest biomass material will receive a sales tax exemption under Public Act 415 of 2008. Introduced by state Rep. Dick Ball, the law provides a sales tax exemption on machinery such as combines that can harvest grain and other crops while collecting the biomass residue used to produce alternative energy.

States ratchet up RPS requirements, incentivize biomass utilization

NASA researchers are completing a study that aims to predict the agricultural productivity of land in the Midwest that is being converted from traditional cropland to biofuel feedstock production. Christopher Potter, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, and his colleagues presented preliminary findings of the biofuels crop research at an American Geophysical Union meeting Dec. 19. 
 
 To complete the research, Potter and his colleagues are using satellite imagery data collected by NASA. The satellite images are used to make observations regarding vegetative cover on croplands, and to map aboveground and subsurface carbon pools. The data allows the researchers to track the amount of cropland that is being dedicated to crops that can be used as biofuels feedstocks, such as corn, soybeans and switchgrass. Potter said his team aims to determine how much of a particular crop is being produced on an acre-by-acre basis and how many new acres of each crop are being planted each year. 
 
 To measure these aspects of crop production, Potter said researchers typically deal with statistics collected by county agencies. However, these statistics provide only a rough map of where the most productive croplands are located. Potter's research should provide a clearer picture. "With the satellite imagery, we can see individual plots and how they are producing," he said. "That gives a big advantage in understanding within a county where the best areas seem to be for generating high yields and sustaining those yields through several different kinds of years."
 
 The data mined from the satellite images is fed into a computer model, which will be able to simulate the effects of feedstock production on soil, taking into account biomass sources such as corn stover that are harvested rather than left in the field. Potter said the research alone won't be enough to identify what percentage of each crop is planted for use as a biofuels feedstock. In order to make that determination, researchers would have to team up with economists and market analysts, who would bring in additional statistics. 
 
 The research will produce an accurate estimate of the amount of land being brought into production each year and what kinds of crops are being grown on it. The team is analyzing satellite data spanning from 2000 to the present. The first stage of research is slated to be complete near the end of 2009.

Satellite data aids biofuel feedstocks research

Two companies are moving forward with respective plans to produce biobased chemicals in Brazil and France. A project being undertaken by Brazilian thermoplastic resin producer Braskem will manufacture green polyethylene from sugarcane-based ethanol, while a joint venture known as Bioamber SAS has begun construction of a biobased succinic acid plant in Pomacle, France. 
 
 According to Braskem spokesman Nelson Lataif, the process to produce polyethylene from sugarcane is simple in concept. "Sugar in the form of sucrose is extracted from the sugarcane and fermented to produce ethanol," he said. "This is dehydrogenated to ethylene, which is subsequently polymerized to polyethylene."
 
 The proposed Braskem facility will be located at the Southern Petrochemical Complex in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and will have the capacity to produce 200,000 tons of ethylene and polyethylene annually. To do this, the plant will consume approximately 400,000 tons of ethanol each year. However, the polyethylene plant won't be integrated with an ethanol plant. "Braskem will purchase [ethanol] as a commodity," Lataif said. The conceptual and basic design phase of the project is complete. The detailing phase and construction are expected to begin in early 2009, with operational start-up scheduled for 2011.
 
 The Bioamber joint venture was formed by U.S.-based DNP Green Technology Inc. and French research and development center Agro-Industrie Recherches et Developpements. Its plant is expected to produce approximately 2,000 metric tons (600,000 gallons) of succinic acid each year. The facility will utilize the U.S. DOE's proprietary E. coli bacterium, which is under exclusive license to DNP Green Technology and has been optimized by Bioamber. 
 
 The facility will utilize a fermentation process in which the E. coli feed on sugar and carbon dioxide to produce succinic acid. This can be completed using a wide variety of feedstocks. "Instead of using oil-based [chemical] building blocks … we found a way to make the same building blocks with the same functionalities, but using biological processes," said Roger Laurent Bernier, DNP Green Technology's vice president of research and development.
 
 According to Bernier, Bioamber's production facility is being constructed to prove the technology and supply samples of the biobased succinic acid to potential customers. Rather than construct additional facilities, Bioamber plans to license the technology to its customers.

Construction of Bioamber's biobased succinic acid plant has begun in Pomacle, France./PHOTO:DNP GREEN TECHNOLOGY INC.

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Biobased chemical plants develop in Brazil, France

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Environmental Power Corp. and Canada-based QuestAir Technologies Inc. have been ramping up their respective renewable natural gas projects that utilize anaerobic digestion technology.
 
 Environmental Power repaired and upgraded its Huckabay Ridge facility in Stephenville, Texas, and has resumed production of its trademarked pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (RNG). The company also resumed delivery of RNG to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under a long-term power purchase agreement that runs through December 2018. Under the agreement, Environmental Power will pipe 8,000 million British thermal units (Btu) of RNG to the California-based utility company annually.
 
 The Huckabay Ridge facility is owned and operated by Environmental Power subsidiary Microgy Holdings LLC. The plant, which started operation in January 2008, generates approximately 635,000 million Btu of RNG, enough to produce nine megawatts of electricity annually using manure from 10,000 dairy cows at local farms. 
 
 Meanwhile, QuestAir Technologies deployed its M-3200 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems for two international anaerobic digestion projects-one in Korea and the other in Austria-that will produce compressed natural gas (CNG) from biogas. 
 
 QuestAir's M-3200 PSA "is a modular biogas conditioning system that's skid-mounted for easy installation onto an existing anaerobic digestion operation," according to Andrew Hall, president and chief executive officer of QuestAir. "Basically, we just take the biogas that comes out of the digester and purify it into CNG, which can be converted into an alternative fuel, power or electricity," he said.
 
 In addition to Korea and Austria, QuestAir's biogas purification systems are being employed in Ohio, California and Canada with more under development throughout the world, according to Hall.

Environmental Power Corp.'s flagship Huckabay Ridge facility in Stephenville, Texas, can produce approximately nine megawatts of electricity per year using manure from 10,000 local dairy cows./PHOTO: ENVIRONMENTAL POWER CORP.

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Companies tap into renewable natural gas markets

During the third quarter of 2008, the cost of wood fiber fell for the first time in years because of two main factors: a strengthening U.S. dollar and a reduced demand from pulpwood, according to Wood Resources Quarterly. 
 
 The average global softwood pulp price fell 2 percent during the third quarter of 2008 to $110.43 per bone-dry metric ton (BDMT). During the same time, the average hardwood fiber cost was up almost $2, reaching a record high of $110.71 per BDMT, marking the third time in 20 years that the global average hardwood price was higher than the softwood price. 
 
 Sawlog prices fell 5 percent to 12 percent worldwide in the third quarter of 2008, according to WRQ. This was due to the reduced consumption of lumber in North America and Europe. The largest declines in log prices occurred in western Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Baltic States and New Zealand. U.S. prices were down approximately 5 percent from the second quarter of 2008, while log costs in Brazil and Chile remained stable. 
 
 The growing renewable energy industry continues to keep an eye on various wood prices. It may also be interested in a new report released by the Atlantica BioEnergy Task Force and compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Available at www.atlanticabioenergy.com, it recommends 15 actions that should be taken to implement renewable energy technologies in the Atlantica region's forest products industry, which consists of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the U.S. state of Maine. The 15 recommendations include implementing sustainable forest management strategies, improving the transportation infrastructure and drafting biomass removal guidelines without delay. 
 
 In regard to sustainable forest management strategies, the Forest Guild released an unrelated report in early January, titled "An Assessment of Biomass Harvesting Guidelines." 
 
 This document reviews the growing number of state biomass harvesting guidelines that advise how much woody biomass can be removed, and how much should be left in the forest to promote the health of watersheds, wildlife habitat and long-term forest productivity. The organization acknowledged that forest management guidelines developed years ago never addressed the removal of logging slash, small-diameter trees, tops and limbs because there was no interest. "New interest in woody biomass is a double-edged sword," 
 said Zander Evans, Forest Guild research director and author of the report. "If harvested sustainably, biomass can meet some of our energy needs and leave our forests healthier than they are now. However, without appropriate guidance, biomass harvests can seriously degrade our forests." The report can be found at <a href="www.forestguild.org">www.forestguild.org</a>.

Wood prices fluctuate; sustainable management practices available

Residents of Bellefontaine, Ohio, have started using electricity generated by their own trash via a landfill gas project built and operated by DTE Biomass Energy, a subsidiary of Michigan-based utility DTE Energy Co. The Ohio project, with a 4.8-megawatt generating capacity, was the third in the past year built by DTE Biomass Energy. A 1.6-megawatt landfill-gas-to-energy facility in Denton, Texas, started generating power in December, and a 3.2-megawatt plant in Statesville, N.C., started up in mid-2008. DTE now has 22 projects in 13 states.
 
 DTE Vice President of Business Development Rick DiGia said interest in landfill-gas-to-energy projects is steadily growing as a result of the renewable power standards taking effect in several states. In addition, since 1998, the U.S. EPA has required landfills meeting certain criteria to capture their landfill gas emissions. 
 
 DTE's first installation in Riverview, Mich., celebrated its 20th year in operation in 2008. The original wells are still producing small amounts of gas at the active landfill, DiGia said, although new wells have been added over the years as the landfill expanded. Where there is sufficient rainfall, new landfills begin generating gas within a year for a lifespan of approximately 10 years. In dry areas, such as Arizona, it may be five to six years before gas is generated, and the gas production continues for approximately 20 years. 
 
 "People think landfill gas is free," DiGia said. "Generally speaking, to sink a well and connect it to a collection system costs $20,000 per well." DTE uses standard compression, filtering and cooling technology to clean up landfill gas for three main products. For electrical generation, the gas is cleaned up and burned in a generator or turbine. For industrial applications, plant boilers are converted from natural gas or coal to utilize the landfill gas, which is a mixture of roughly equal parts of methane and carbon dioxide. The third application requires more complex technology to separate the carbon dioxide and other components to produce a pipeline-grade methane gas.

DTE Biomass Energy launches three projects in 2008

Ohio-based R&A Energy Solutions said it has developed a unique solution to transforming a multitude of waste materials into renewable fuels. 
 
 Chief Executive Officer Joel Keller said the company integrated a commercial-sized, proprietary pyrolysis system with a modified internal combustion engine and generator set system. "We have successfully tested carpet scraps, sewage sludge cake, manure, wood waste, auto shredder residue, food waste and sorted municipal solid waste as feedstocks," he said. 
 
 One of the pyrolysis systems, which are available in different sizes, is capable of converting nearly 50 tons of waste per day into 600 to 1,280 British thermal units per standard cubic foot, according to Keller. "The syngas produced will generate between 1.5 and two megawatts," he said. "In addition, significant amounts of pyro-oils and pyro-char are produced. [Furthermore,] hot water, space heating or chilling, and steam can be made from the waste heat."
 
 Before being processed, the feedstocks may need to be partially dried or mixed with drier materials such as crop waste, yard waste or forest residues. The feedstock is fed into the pyrolysis unit, where it's heated in a zero- or near-zero-oxygen environment. 
 
 The organic components rapidly vaporize to form a dry synthesis gas-consisting mainly of methane, ethane, propane and butane-which is then used as fuel to run an internal combustion engine and generator set, or in a boiler to make steam. "Waste heat is recycled to augment the energy from the syngas in the production of power or to dry additional fuel," Keller said. "The process is 85 percent to 90 percent efficient with ultra-low emissions." 
 
 Keller said depending on the feedstock, a variety of organic liquids may be produced through pyrolysis. "Many of these liquids may be used directly as transportation fuels," he said. The resulting sterile ash may be used as filler for concrete, mixed with liquid asphalt for road repair, used for certain industrial or manufacturing operations, or applied to farm fields, depending on exact content, local needs and regulations.
 
 The systems are modular and scalable, he said. They may be applicable to the dairy cattle feedlot, waste hauling, municipal utility and auto shredding industries. Systems are available in 500-, 1,000-, 2,000- and 4,000-pound-per-hour sizes, producing between 20 kilowatts and six megawatts.
 
 Keller said R&A Energy Solutions currently has three projects in the financing stage, and another five or six moving to the financing state within six months.

R&A Solutions pyrolysis system turns trash to gas

The cost to harvest, handle, transport and store low-density agricultural residue and other biomass materials often places biomass at a competitive disadvantage to fossil fuels. 
 
 The variable and often high moisture content in biomass and its natural decay can lower its value. Fortunately, biomass can be condensed to produce a uniform, competitive fuel product.
 
 One of the methods for condensing biomass is pelletizing. Corn stover, for example, can be made 10 times denser if it is first ground to a five-thirty-seconds-inch particle before pelletizing, according to Alan Doering, associate scientist of coproducts at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute office in Waseca, Minn.
 
 The most common biomass pelletized for fuel is wood, mainly from sawdust, wood chips and shavings. Eighty wood pellet mills across North America produce 1.1 million tons of pellets annually and 23 fireplace manufacturers make pellet stoves and fireplace inserts for burning pellets, according to the Pellet Fuels Institute, a nonprofit in Arlington, Va., that serves the pellet industry. The institute says 800,000 homes in the U.S. use wood pellets for heat.
 
 Wood pellets are also used on a commercial scale. The institute cites a stage theater, prison and hydroponic tomato farm as examples.
 
 The wood pellet market is larger in Europe where 29 countries consumed 6 million metric tons of pellets in 2007, according to Force Technology, an industrial design company in Brøndby, Denmark. The company says Sweden was the largest consumer, followed by The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and France. Sweden was the largest producer of pellets, followed by Germany and Austria. The Netherlands and Belgium were large net importers, while Germany and Austria were significant exporters. Some countries import wood waste for pelletizing.
 
 Because wood pellets compete with fiberboard, particleboard and oriented strand board for raw materials, there have been recent reports of wood pellet shortages in the U.S.
 
 To satisfy demand for pellet fuels, agricultural residues and industrial food byproducts are being pelletized for fuel, although on a much smaller scale. According to Robert Hubener, sales manager for pelletizing equipment supplier Freedom Equipment LLC of Rockford, Ill., more customers are pelletizing products for fuel. "An interesting one is manure mixed in with wood pellets, basically [used] animal bedding," Hubener says. "It's a product that a lot of people [want] to get rid of."
 
 At Colorado Mill Equipment, a Cañon City, Colo., supplier of pelletizing equipment, Marcel Madar, operations manager, says pelletizing operations used to be limited "pretty much to feed," he says, "but now fuel-it's very, very popular." Madar says his company receives two to three samples weekly from companies interested in pelletizing. "It's amazing what kind of materials we get in," he says. "Everybody is trying to make a pellet out of whatever they can get their hands on. We are basically testing them to see how suitable they are for fuels." Madar says his company assisted the U.S. military with pelletizing cafeteria trash-paper, plastics and Styrofoam-to make liquid fuels through pyrolysis.
 
 Agrecol Corp., a Madison, Wis., grower of native plants and seeds, began producing biomass pellets four years ago. According to Mark Doudlah, president of Agrecol, the company began making pellets to deal with the high quantities of MOG (material other than grain) byproduct produced during seed-cleaning. "It didn't belong in a landfill," he says, "and composting is quite messy. Land-spreading for us wasn't a good option, either. We decided, let's densify and burn it." Doudlah says the company modified equipment from a retired feed plant to pelletize MOG, and later biomass from the fields. Agrecol uses the pellets to heat its facility and sells the rest.
 
 Challenges
 Pelletizing new forms of biomass is challenging. "We don't have much hair left, that's for sure," Doudlah says. "It's much more of an art than it is a science."
 
 In a report for the European Biomass Industry Association, French agronomist Olivier Pastré says nonwoody biomass generally has more hemicellulose and less cellulose and lignin than wood, giving it less tensile and compressive strength. In Europe, the Danish Technological Institute has been testing which combinations of biomass are best suited for pellet production and combustion, he says. Doering says AURI has been doing some of the same for its clients.
 
 AURI tests how biomass must be pretreated and milled to produce a high-quality pellet. "We like to see a pellet with a pellet durability index of 92 percent or better," Doering says, which is determined by tumbling pellets for a period of time to find the volume of fines produced. "You can make pellets that are 99 percent durable," he says, "but then you typically sacrifice throughput in terms of tons per hour."
 
 "It's about having that high-gloss sheen on the side of the pellet," Doudlah says, "[so that] when it gets to the end user, it doesn't contain a lot of dust."
 
 Hubener says pellet quality needs can vary. "We have a long list of questions that we ask all of our customers," he says. "Some customers plan to burn all of the fuel they make, in which case a low-quality pellet is perfect for them. [But] if they are planning on shipping it on a barge or shipping it overseas, they are going to have to produce a very hard pellet."
 
 To make pellets, the biomass must first be cleaned to remove contaminants. The clean biomass is then ground in a hammer mill or chipped to a uniform size, which must be less than the thickness of the pellet that will be produced. Grinding down biomass helps to reduce the horsepower the pellet mill must produce. If the biomass is high in moisture, it must be dried to approximately 10 percent moisture content.
 
 While the lignin content in wood is generally enough to bind pellets, other forms of biomass require special conditioning to strengthen them. Sometimes binders such as starch, sugars, paraffin oils, or lignin must be added to make the biomass malleable.
 
 Before pelletizing, the mixture must be conditioned using water of varying temperatures or steam. "Corn stover has a lower glass-transitioning temperature than switchgrass," Doering says. "You can get a very durable corn stover pellet at 165 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas to get an equivalent pellet with switchgrass, you have to obtain temperatures greater than 200 degrees, oftentimes 210 or 220 degrees."
 
 Once conditioned, the biomass is fed to a pellet mill. Inside the mill, rollers extrude the mix through a perforated flat or ring die, which effectively condenses the product into pellet form. The hot pellets must then be cooled to harden. They are then screened to separate residual fines, which can be reused.
 
 Changing the thickness of the pellet mill die and also milling speed, temperature, and pressure are keys to optimizing pelletizing efficiency and pellet quality.
 
 "The dies are all different," Doudlah says. "The rollers that extrude [the biomass] through the die are different, too, and that's important to watch."
 
 Doering agrees. "All feedstocks pellet differently," he says. "They require different-sized pellet dies or die thicknesses. One die doesn't fit all."
 
 Doudlah says because some biomass can be quite abrasive, additional products might be added to increase the service life of a pellet mill. "In any given seed cleaning day or week there might be six to eight different prairie species in that batch," Doudlah says. "We don't regularly pellet things twice the same way. If you can get 2,000 to 2,500 hours out of a die, you're probably doing pretty well." Doudlah says between pelletizing runs, Agrecol flushes the die by pelletizing grains, such as corn. "Those things also lubricate well because of the oils and things," he says.
 
 Scaling Up
 As more U.S. states and Canadian provinces adopt or increase renewable portfolio standards for electrical utilities, more power companies are looking at burning wood pellets in coal-fired boilers. Ontario Power Generation Inc., based in Toronto, Ontario, has been testing cofiring wood pellets with low-sulfur lignite coal at its Atikokan Generating Station in Atikokan, Ontario, with considerable success.
 
 But utilities are also looking beyond pelletized wood. Vattenfall AB, a European heat and electrical utility based in Stockholm, Sweden, has been renovating its 438-megawatt Amager Power Station in Copenhagen, Denmark, to cofire straw pellets with coal. The plant, which supplies both heat and electricity, burns 70,000 metric tons of pellets with 700,000 metric tons of coal annually. The company expects to increase the pellet portion to 150,000 metric tons this year.
 
 In the U.S., AURI has seen a continual growth in interest from industries for pelletizing nonwoody biomass over the past six years, spurred in part by sporadic increases in wood prices, Doering says. "[They are] looking at pellet fuels to displace natural gas," he says, "or looking at densified solid fuels to cofire with coal. We're working with some utilities, investigating that potential."
 
 "The big demand, as we see it right now, is going to be the electrical utility plants, the coal-burning plants," Doudlah says. "We have been involved in some test burns [with] some power plants and they are trying to see what the emissions are going to be. So far they have come back quite promising."
 
 Pastré notes that the fluidized bed combustion technology used at power plants is inherently flexible and can burn fuels with a wide range of calorific values, ash and moisture content and they have successfully been used to cofire wood, biomass and waste materials, in addition to coal.
 
 Before power companies can use biomass pellets, however, they must address emissions issues. Pastré notes that compared with wood, agricultural residues typically have higher nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine and potassium content due to increased use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides in agriculture. He says agro-pellets should primarily be used in large-scale combustion plants equipped with sophisticated combustion control and flue gas cleaning systems. In a report for Pellets Atlas, dubbed pellets@las, an Intelligent Energy Europe funded project for the European Union, Martin Junginger, a researcher at Utrecht University in The Netherlands, notes that unknown emissions from biomass pellets is one of the major factors preventing the development of a larger, nonwoody biomass pellet market. 
 
 Doudlah says having a power utility as a client is critical for setting up large-scale pelletizing operations. "I think to get one of these large plants going-to spend between $5 million and $15 million-you need a substantial anchor," he says.
 
 But like many renewable energy pioneers, Doudlah says economics aren't always the main driver. "Our goal at Agrecol is not to see yet another monoculture across millions of acres," he says, "but an ecologically sound and sustainable feed mix that, hopefully, includes enough lignin so that we can wean ourselves away from the amount of nitrogen used in this country." 
 
 Ryan C. Christiansen is a Biomass Magazine staff writer. Reach him at <a href="mailto:rchristiansen@bbiinternational.com">rchristiansen@bbiinternational.com</a> or (701) 373-8042.

The Amager Power Station in Copenhagen, Denmark, is being renovated to cofire straw pellets with coal. The plant, which supplies both heat and electricity, burns 70,000 metric tons of pellets with 700,000 metric tons of coal annually. The company exp

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Pelletizing biomass can be challenging. The lack of a one-size-fits-all process means that it can be more art than science.

The Art of Biomass Pelletizing

The end of the coal era is perhaps not in the foreseeable future, but biomass power is becoming an increasingly popular option for power providers. Before biomass can overtake coal, however, a solid infrastructure to support the biomass power industry must be developed. This effort would benefit from not only government support and tax incentives, but also the completion and evaluation of projects which will serve as forerunners in the nation's energy transition.
 
 Making the Switch
 According to the U.S. DOE, coal power plants account for 50 percent of power generation in the U.S., and more than 60 percent in the Southeast, which leads the nation in carbon dioxide emissions. 
 
 In contrast, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says that wood and wood-derived fuels accounted for 39 million megawatt hours, or 0.9 percent of total net electricity generation for 2007 in the U.S. For the first time, these fuels were the largest sources of renewable electricity generation, accounting for 37.1 percent of total net renewable generation, excluding conventional hydroelectric generation.
 
 Woody biomass power has caught the attention of Southern Co., one of the largest power companies in the U.S. The company is currently conducting technical and economic studies at multiple plants to evaluate the impact of converting to woody biomass power. These studies will provide a basic analysis to indicate whether these projects are economically feasible. 
 
 The Electric Power Research Institute is performing the studies and will compile data by investigating all relevant issues in full, including power conversion, unit operational changes, expected operation costs, new environmental controls, emissions, new fuel storage and handling equipment, required fuel supply, and local and regional fuel suppliers. 
 
 Southern Co.'s largest utilities provider Georgia Power has a massive project underway-one that may serve as a model for others-that will transform the 164 megawatt coal-fired Plant Mitchell, which is near Albany, Ga., to a 96 megawatt, 100 percent wood-fired plant. Pending approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission, the transformation will create the largest operating biomass power plant in the nation. 
 
 Meet Plant Mitchell 
 In recent years, Georgia Power has initiated a number of renewable action plans with Georgia Public Service Commission the state regulatory body. "In general, we want to pursue the benefits that renewable energy resources have to offer," says Kenny Smith, Georgia Power project manager. 
 
 An obvious benefit biomass has over coal, which is notorious for its negative environmental effects, is that it is clean burning. "This means significant reductions in certain emissions pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and mercury, as well as being carbon neutral," Smith says. 
 
 In addition, Smith points out the transition of Plant Mitchell will also allow the plant to embrace fuel diversity, and reap the cost benefits of using wood biomass as a fuel compared with coal. "The cost of coal fuel has risen dramatically in the past year or so," he says. "Not only that, but the projected cost for coal, natural gas and traditional fuels in 10, 20, 30 years has gone up substantially. That makes the idea of using wood chips as an alternative look more attractive than it did five or 10 years ago." 
 
 According to the U.S. DOE, the price of coal has gone up from about $30 per ton in 2000 to $150 per ton in September 2008. "In a nutshell, when we looked at renewable fuels, particularly wood biomass, there are a lot more incentives than there used to be-and as time goes on, renewable generation technologies continue to advance and become potentially more affordable," Smith says. 
 
 The incentives don't end there. A project like this is also expected to result in a cost savings for customers, Smith points out, rather than a cost increase which many have been experiencing. In Georgia, although there are no renewable production tax credits in place, the purchase of biomass fuel is exempt from sales tax, whereas natural gas and coal aren't. 
 
 "Over the life of this new biomass unit, fuel cost compared with coal cost would be roughly 30 percent less per year on a cost per kilowatt hour basis," Smith says. "Operating and maintenance costs would be about 13 percent less." 
 
 Cost, Sustainability and More
 The costs of transitioning Plant Mitchell to biomass power have been carefully evaluated. Smith says capital costs will total $102.8 million, for 76 megawatts of net capacity. "Those numbers are not the full project, but the portion of the project that will be put into the retail, or customer base," he says. "A portion of the plant has been committed to wholesale and has different numbers, but those are the numbers that are in the public venue, although the total project is 96 megawatts."
 
 Although in terms of Plant Mitchell's megawatt capacity, the number will drop significantly, Smith says in terms of energy-or kilowatt hours produced-it will produce more energy per year than the existing plant. "This is because we have it running a lot more, because wood fuel is expected to be much more cost-effective than coal," he says.
 
 As far as feedstock sustainability is concerned, Smith says that shouldn't be an issue. "We've had two separate external studies done to find out how much wood and wood biomass material is available in the region around Plant Mitchell because we wanted to make sure there was enough for us, existing users of the wood and other proposed projects similar to ours."
 
 According to the sustainability studies there is a large amount of material available, somewhere in the neighborhood off 11 to 12 times what we would need for this project, according to Smith. "Georgia is rich in forestry and timberland resources, so there is more than enough available for this project."
 
 According to the Georgia Forestry Association, the state has 23.8 million acres of commercial forest land, more than any other state. 
 
 When the project is able to move forward, it is expected to create 50 to 75 new jobs related to waste wood recovery. A logging crew would collect tops, limbs and unmerchantable timber, transform it into woodchips and haul it back to the plant to be unloaded.
 
 Georgia Power expects to hear from the Public Service Commission by March 12, if it can go ahead with the project. Smith says he expects it will be a go. "There has been a lot of strong support for the project from the PSC and other groups as well, he says. "The next big step is getting an air permit approved by the state Environmental Protection Division, which could take anywhere from 15 to 18 months."
 
 If the plan continues as scheduled, Georgia Power will receive an air permit between the spring and summer of 2010, begin the transition in 2011, and come on line prior to the summer of 2012. 
 
 If the project succeeds, the company will look into converting more of its plants to biomass, Smith says. "It's unique," he says. "It's the first one of its kind for our company-so we want to get some experience under our belt and see how it goes before we initiate others like it."
 
 Combating Coal 
 More states are becoming aggressive in regulating emissions and approving proposals for building new coal plants. Washington currently prohibits coal plants with emissions exceeding those of natural gas plants. Maine has enacted a law requiring the Board of Environmental Protection to develop greenhouse gas emissions standards for coal gasification facilities, which has led to a moratorium on constructing any new coal gasification facilities until the standards are developed. Texas and California have implemented similar legislation. 
 
 The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (see sidebar on page 33), which has been an advocate for the Plant Mitchell project, believes that a federal renewable energy standard will be passed within the next two to five years. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a renewable energy standard last year, but it failed to pass in the Senate. In a speech at Virginia's George Mason University in January, President Barack Obama said he supported a 25 percent by 2025 renewable energy standard.
 
 The U.S. isn't the only country trying to wean itself off coal. The province of Ontario, Canada, passed coal phase-out legislation, which calls for the end of coal-based power production by 2014. In Australia, the Australian Greens party is proposing to phase out coal power stations. 
 
 Although slow, the dominance of clean, renewable energy seems to be coming. It will be a long road full of challenges, but as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." 
 
 Anna Austin is an Biomass Magazine staff writer. Reach her at <a href="mailto:aaustin@bbiinternational.com">aaustin@bbiinternational.com</a> or (701) 738-4968.

Last year, a significant amount of coal-fired power plant proposals were shot down by regulators, and an increasing number of utilities are developing plans to convert to biomass. Is this a trend and, if so, will it continue?

Making the Switch

The U.S. DOE's Energy Information Administration estimates that the demand for renewable energy will grow by 31 percent over the next 25 years. During that same time period, renewable energy generation is expected to increase by 45 percent. One way to meet the energy needs of a growing population without encroaching on productive farmland is to turn current or previously contaminated sites into renewable energy hotspots. 
 
 To that end, the U.S. EPA has teamed with the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to identify nearly 10,000 contaminated lands and mining sites that hold potential for renewable energy development. To help developers, environmental managers, land managers and local, state and federal energy officials as well as private industry and communities track these sites, the agency has generated interactive maps using Google Earth, a virtual geographic information program. "The EPA is putting renewable energy production on the virtual map," says EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. "Our new interactive Web site encourages states and energy companies to put previously contaminated properties back to work."
 
 The maps merge data collected by the EPA and NREL and screen the sites for criteria including: distance to electrical transmission lines, distance to roads, renewable energy potential and site acreage. Sites with the potential to host a biomass energy facility are broken down into two categories: a biopower facility, which is a site with cumulative biomass resources of 140,000 metric tons per year or greater within 50 miles, or a biorefinery facility, which is a site with cumulative crop residues of 333,000 metric tons per year or greater within 50 miles. 
 
 "The EPA looks for opportunities to encourage the cleanup of contaminated sites, recognizing that some contaminated properties have attributes that could make them attractive candidates for the siting of renewable energy production facilities," explains EPA spokeswoman Latisha Petteway. "EPA partnered with the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to identify candidate sites and make the information publicly accessible."
 
 To access the Google Earth tool, users can follow the step-by-step directions found at: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland/. Once Google Earth has been loaded on the computer and the Renewable Energy Interactive Map has been launched, a bright blue, virtual, 3D orb-i.e. the Earth-spins into view. The initial image is a satellite picture of North America. 
 
 Navigation tools can be used to zoom in from the continent view to street level. As the outline of the U.S. takes shape, dots peppered across the states are evident. Each circular label represents a contaminated site recognized by the EPA as a potential host for bioenergy, solar or wind power facilities. Zoom in even further, and the individual states become apparent. At this point, clicking on one of the yellow, purple, red, orange or gray circles pulls up all sorts of information about the site including: the site name and location, acreage, the current environmental status of the site, information about the renewable energy potential of the site, and links to additional details such as incentive sheets that describe the availability of federal and/or state monies for renewable energy generation and contaminated land redevelopment. 
 
 The color-coded dots identify the EPA program that manages the site. For instance: a yellow circle represents sites managed under the Abandoned Mine Lands program; purple is used for brownfield sites; red is used to label sites managed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; pink and gray signify federal and nonfederal Superfund sites respectively. 
 
 One of these gray dots is the Rose Township Dump in Oakland County, Michigan. The site is about 40 miles northwest of Detroit and one mile west of the town of Rose Center. It spans about 100 acres and consists of undeveloped rural land surrounded by wetlands, lakes and hardwood forest. The site originally served as farmland but in the 1960s it was abandoned and illegal dumping ensued. Over the next decade, an estimated 5,000 drums of liquid industrial waste were buried or deposited on the surface of the site. It is suspected that some of the waste, which included solvents, paints and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are organic compounds used in transformers, coolants, pesticides and sealants, was dumped directly onto the ground or into pits so the drums could be recycled. The waste leached through the surface soils to ultimately contaminate the subsurface soils and groundwater. 
 
 The cleanup process started in 1980 with the removal of more than 5,000 drums. In 1982, the site was placed on the National Priorities List, and over the next several years, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA initiated cleanup actions. Today, much of the contamination has been reduced to nondetectable levels, although groundwater continues to be monitored.
 
 This site is one of thousands that the EPA has identified as a potential biopower or biorefinery site. As it happens, over the past three years, researchers from Michigan State University have been proving the concept. With funding and acreage provided by Chrysler LLC, Kurt Thelen, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at MSU has been growing bioenergy crops on the Rose Township Dump site. 
 
 "Our main objective was to prove that you can logistically and economically go into these marginal lands close to urban areas and raise crops in a sustainable manner," Thelen explains. To that end, Thelen's group has been studying five different crops-corn for ethanol; canola, sunflower, and soybeans for biodiesel; and switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol. 
 
 Although all brownfield, Superfund, or other contaminated sites will be different depending on weather, soil and the type of contamination, at this site, the MSU scientists have found that the crop yields are comparable with those achieved on nonmarginal lands. The researchers found no significant difference in the ethanol yield or total oil content of the oilseeds. Although a small difference in the fatty acid profiles of the oilseeds grown at this site versus those grown on typical farmland were found, Thelen explains that the difference was so slight it would not alter the quality of the fuel. In addition, on one plot with slightly elevated levels of PCBs and heavy metals, the team did not detect the contaminants in the grain harvested from the crops planted in these soils. 
 
 "We're encouraged by the data we've generated," Thelen says. "I think this research will help the argument that these lands can be put to some productive use. There are more sites out there than people think." 
 
 Jessica Ebert is a freelance writer for Biomass Magazine. Reach her at <a href="mailto:jebertserp@yahoo.com">jebertserp@yahoo.com</a>.

The Google Earth Renewable Energy Interactive Map allows users to identify contaminated lands across the U.S. that hold promise for renewable energy development./SOURCE: GOOGLE EARTH

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Zoom in on the Google Earth Renewable Energy Interactive Map and view individual sites identified with a colored circle. Clicking on a circle pulls up information about the site including its name, location, size, the EPA program that manages it, the

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This is a panoramic view of field plots on the Rose Township Dump site. Over the past three years, the use of this land to grow five different bioenergy crops has been studied by researchers at Michigan State University. /PHOTO: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVER

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Thelen harvests canola from the Rose Township Dump site./PHOTO: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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To encourage the reuse of contaminated lands for renewable energy production facilities, the U.S. EPA has developed an interactive Google Earth map that tracks these sites and provides information on the potential of each property for biomass energy, solar or wind development.

Contaminated Sites = Renewable Energy Hotspots

For those familiar with the "Billion Ton" study, the Biomass Program under the U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program should ring a bell. The Biomass Program has been responsible for many important research and development breakthroughs in the area of biomass conversion to fuels. The U.S. DOE grant funding for commercial-scale biorefineries and the 10 percent validation plants; a series of grants for cellulase and hemicellulase development; funding for advancements in thermochemical processing; and the report titled "Effects of Intermediate Ethanol Blends on Legacy Vehicles and Small Engines," are all products of the Biomass Program. Valri Lightner, formerly the strategic planning designated federal officer for the program and now acting director, spoke with Biomass Magazine shortly after President Barack Obama's inauguration. 
 
 Q: I think the question on everyone's mind is how is the Obama administration is going to affect the Biomass Program? 
 A: I think time will tell on that. It appears that he supports renewable energy, biofuels and the work we're doing in the biomass program as part of that, and the program continues to have bipartisan support, so we're expecting we'll continue getting support. 
 
 Q: Recently the Energy Information Administration predicted that the U.S. would likely fall short of its aggressive biofuels targets under the new renewable fuels standard, commonly referred to as RFS2. What is the Biomass Program doing to ensure those goals are met? 
 A: We're mainly focused on next-generation technologies-for the advanced biofuels portion of the renewable fuels standard goals. Our program is focused on doing the research, development and demonstration to drive down the cost that would enable those technologies to compete with those in place so those goals can be met. There are different analyses that can be done-inclusion of different policy incentives and scenarios that enable different numbers. The numbers did fall a little short but they weren't too far off the mark from the RFS. 
 
 Q: One of the program's goals is to make cellulosic ethanol cost competitive by 2012. Do you think this is something that can still be done? 
 A: Let me just clarify what that goal is. That is a research and development goal, based on pilot-scale and bench-scale data put into a model projected to get to commercial scale, so we don't think we'll have commercial facilities operating and producing advanced biofuels at $1.33 a gallon by 2012. But we do expect to have research that shows if you projected the scale and integrated, you could achieve that. At this time, we're currently on target but we continue to evaluate our progress every year. It does require that some breakthroughs occur over time, but we continue to evaluate those numbers each year. 
 
 Q: You mentioned breakthroughs. Specifically, what kind of breakthroughs? 
 A: We do tend to focus on two primary routes, although different technologies can be mixed and matched so things can be done slightly differently. The enzymes are one area we focus on-trying to drive down the cost. That is probably one of the key areas but we're also looking at some of the pretreatment technologies for the biochemical route, as well as fermentation organisms. On the thermochemical side, the more expensive area tends to be the cleanup of the synthesis gas, so finding catalysts that have lifetime and reduced cost, and also, converting that clean gas into fuel-the fuel synthesis piece. Those are some of the key areas we are working on to drive down the cost. Having said that, one of the areas that is probably least demonstrated is the ability to take these cellulosic biofuels from the field to the plant gate-we call that feedstock infrastructure. This includes harvesting, storage, transportation and collection systems. Demonstrating that is going to be critical also. 
 
 Q: I understand many of the national labs are working on these issues, but as far as infrastructure is concerned, is the Biomass Program conducting any work on the finished fuel end of distributing the product more efficiently? 
 A: Within the past year-and-a-half or two years we started working on the back end of the infrastructure-getting the fuel product from the plant gate to the vehicle tank. Our current focus has been on testing blends of ethanol that are greater than 10 percent and less than 85 percent, to evaluate the impact on legacy vehicles and small engines, and that's primarily where we've been focused. The DOE has done some feasibility work on pipelines, and we've done a lot of work evaluating that … so it's an area we're following, and we're trying to determine exactly what our role in that research and development would be, and trying to enable pipeline use for biofuels in the future. Right now we're primarily focused on the ethanol, but we're also expanding to fuels other than ethanol that might be compatible with the existing infrastructure. 
 
 Q: What about biomass to power, cofiring biomass or green chemicals? Are these areas the program is involved in and, if so, to what extent? 
 A: Not at this time really. The only time we'd do a project like that is if it's also producing fuels, such as our integrated biorefinery activities where the primary product is a biofuel, but some of the biomass is also being used to provide power and heat back into the process. That's part of our activity, but we don't have any projects looking at cofiring coal and biomass independently at this time, and really that's because of the previous administration's priorities on fuels. That's where our researchers are dedicated at this time. 
 
 Q: How is the indirect land-use issue going to affect the future of the biomass industry and the Biomass Program? 
 A: The EPA has the lead on that because there are some requirements within the RFS. In order to be counted against the RFS, you have to have a certain greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and within that, indirect land use is taken into account. I know EPA has been drafting a rulemaking to issue publicly and get feedback on how they would propose that this be monitored and counted. That's going to be very important-it's really going to determine what qualifies under the RFS, so it's going to be critical how that whole issue is handled. 
 
 Q: Have you got any insight into what EPA might determine? If you had a crystal ball, what would you see? 
 A: I don't have a crystal ball on this one. I know there's been a lot of input into the process across the federal government, and EPA is taking in all of that information and is trying to put together a rulemaking for how they would monitor what they believe is in the best interest of the country. We're trying to provide analytical support for that. 
 
 Q: Regarding all the grants for commercial-scale biorefineries and 10 percent validation plants, when DOE issues these multimillion dollar grants, to what extent is the Biomass Program involved? 
 A: We work very closely with our Golden, Colo., field office, which cuts the checks, but that's after a pretty lengthy process of selection. Our office is ultimately responsible for selecting grant winners, but we work very closely with the Golden office in that. But just to make sure you're aware, there is a pretty thorough merit review process. All of the proposals that come in are evaluated by people, mostly outside the government, for technical merit, and scored on their technical merit. Then, there are other points that may be outlined in the solicitation process. And before checks are cut, there's a negotiation period and an agreed upon statement of work. There is certain due diligence the government has to do to verify that the work has been accomplished according to the original agreed upon scope before we reimburse the funds. 
 
 Q: Have there been any issues with funding of the original six biorefineries (Abengoa Bioenergy, Iogen Corp., Alico Inc., Poet LLC, BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. and Range Fuels Inc.), and what happens if a project falls through? 
 A: There hasn't been a case where we've negotiated an award and then the award falls through, but two of the projects have withdrawn their applications during the negotiation process (Iogen and Alico) and have decided not to go forward with their projects, so we now have four commercial-scale biorefineries that we're working on. And of the four, two of those are still in Phase I (BlueFire and Abengoa), which is the engineering, design and environmental compliance phase, so they haven't been awarded funds to begin construction. The other two have been awarded Phase II funds (Poet and Range Fuels), which includes the beginning of construction. 
 
 Q: Are you getting any feedback from the industry about what they like and dislike about the Biomass Program?
 A: We have a formal peer review every two years, and it's coming up again this spring. The last one was about 18 months ago. What we heard then, and what we've been trying to implement, is that industry saw that we need to do more in the thermochemical area, but not at the expense of biochemical work. They also indicated that work in the feedstock, infrastructure, and feedstock production-the planting of crops-needed more emphasis and that we need to do more in cooperation with USDA. And, they recognized and applauded that we were starting to look at end-use distribution-getting biofuels from the plant gate to the vehicle tank, but it was also suggested that we do more in that area. We've been trying to follow through with those recommendations. 
 
 Q: Is there anything else you would care to add? 
 A: One thing that has come up lately as being a really important and critical area is sustainability. We are really working hard across the fellow governments to make sure what we are doing in biofuels is sustainable, meaning it does not harm the environment, or that it is good for the environment, good for people. We just want to make sure we are doing the right thing-that is very important. 
 
 Ron Kotrba is a Biomass Magazine senior writer. Reach him at <a href="mailto:rkotrba@bbiinternational.com ">rkotrba@bbiinternational.com </a>or (701) 738-4942.

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Biomass: A Federal Perspective

The drive for carbon-neutral energy sources has given rise to increasing focus on biomass for energy. A large component of the world's biomass energy resource is wood, and pellets are a logical form to provide heat and power.
 
 The U.S. has a great potential to meet the growing demand for wood pellets. Because of its favorable climate and topography, growing enough trees is not a problem. Also, both the pulp and paper and panelboard industries are mature with well-established markets and technology for the harvesting, transportation and processing of wood. This situation makes pellet production in the U.S. an attractive option.
 
 That's how Green Circle Bioenergy LLC saw it. Beginning in 2006, Green Circle began the process of planning a major pellet facility in order to meet the market demand for green fuel in Europe. Because of the value of carbon dioxide emission offset credits within the European Economic Community, green fuels such as wood pellets command a market premium over traditional fuels such as coal. 
 
 In early 2007, Green Circle began construction on its facility in Cottondale, Fla., approximately 25 miles north of Panama City. Start-up occurred in the spring of 2008. At full production, Green Circle produces 550,000 tons of pellets per year, making it one of the largest pellet manufacturing plants in the world. Most of the pellets are shipped to Europe for use in power-generating boilers.
 
 Pellet Manufacturing Emission Challenges
 The green chip drying and handling area of a wood pellet production facility includes a complex array of machinery and choices that can be integrated to work together. For emissions control, gases from the dryer and the heat energy system must be cleaned in order to meet local, state and federal requirements. Basically, this comes down to meeting the standards for emissions of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Included in these two categories are special categories of emissions known as hazardous air pollutants that generally have even more restrictive requirements for abatement. For example, formaldehyde in the gas stream is part of the general category of volatile organic compounds and is considered a hazardous air pollutant by the U.S. EPA. Similarly, manganese will be present as a particulate and is also considered a hazardous air pollutant.
 
 The drying process described above creates significant quantities of all these pollutants. More specifically, the combustion of wood and the subsequent intimate contact of the hot flue gases with green wood chips for drying results in an emission profile that has three main categories of particles: inorganic fly ash from combustion, organic condensibles from the green wood chips, and coarse wood particles from the tumbling action of the dryer. Each of these particles must be abated in a single piece of equipment before the gas stream is treated for the volatile organic compounds. This contaminated gas stream profile presents a complex emission control challenge.
 
 The cornerstones of the emission control system that answers this challenge are two technologies designed for different, yet synergistic, duties. The first is the wet electrostatic precipitator, whose main function is to reduce the concentration of particulate matter in the gas stream to levels that are both acceptable for discharge to the atmosphere and suitable for treatment in downstream volatile organic compound control equipment. 
 
 The second technology is the regenerative thermal oxidizer, whose main function is to destroy the volatile organic compounds with high temperature combustion.
 
 Panelboard Industry Experience
 Since the early 1990s, regenerative thermal oxidizers have been employed for emission control from wood dryers used in the manufacture of panelboard products such as plywood, particleboard and oriented strand board. Regenerative thermal oxidizers effectively incinerate volatile organic compounds using a minimum of energy.
 
 Volatile organic compound-laden gas is routed into a heat recovery chamber that is filled with ceramic media. By passing through the inlet heat recovery chamber, the emission stream is preheated to a temperature near that of the combustion chamber, in which a natural gas burner maintains the temperature to approximately 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit (the temperature required for complete thermal oxidation). 
 
 Upon exiting the combustion chamber, the emission stream enters the outlet heat recovery chamber. The gas stream passes through the outlet heat transfer media bed where the heat energy gained from the inlet heat recovery chambers and combustion chamber is transferred to the ceramic heat exchange media (heat sink). This is the final step in the regenerative process. Typical discharge temperatures from regenerative thermal oxidizer systems are approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit above the inlet temperature. Finally, the emission stream exits the regenerative thermal oxidizer system through the outlet diverter valves and is transferred to the stack via the induced draft fan. 
 
 After a prescribed period of time (typically two to six minutes) the gas stream is reversed. This back-and-forth, regenerative operation allows the regenerative thermal oxidizer to recover up to 95 percent of the heat generated in the combustion chamber to greatly minimize fuel costs.
 
 Unfortunately, much of the early regenerative thermal oxidizer experience in the panelboard industry was not good. Most wood dryers in this industry are directly heated with flue gas from the combustion of wood. The inorganic fly ash particles in the flue gas are comprised principally of oxides of sodium and potassium, compounds that proved to cause great harm to the internal components of regenerative thermal oxidizer. In addition, other particulate contaminants such as condensed tar from the drying process were also found to be troublesome because they tend to build up and foul the regenerative thermal oxidizer.
 
 To counter these problems the panelboard industry employed wet electrostatic precipitators as a solution for the collection of particulates. Since the 1980s, dozens of these units have been used at plywood, particleboard, medium density fiberboard and oriented strand board plants and are presently considered the technology of choice for abating particulates in the dryer off gas streams.
 
 Wet electrostatic precipitators work by first cooling the hot gas stream with water sprays. This step serves two functions. First, it cools the gas to the lowest practical temperature to help condense high molecular weight organic compounds, turning organic vapors into liquid particles. It also serves to preclean the gas stream by scrubbing out coarse dust particles. The next step is treatment in an electrostatic precipitator for the collection of the condensed organic particles and the remaining fine, inorganic, fly ash particulate.
 
 The final step is the removal of the collected particulate matter from the system. 
 
 Once the gas stream has been cleaned of most of the organic and inorganic particulate matter it can be treated in the regenerative thermal oxidizer for the destruction of volatile organic compounds and organic hazardous air pollutants. 
 
 The adaptation of the wet electrostatic precipitator/regenerative thermal oxidizer technology combination has proven to be successful in the panelboard industry. Many facilities now operate in complete compliance with restrictive volatile organic compound emission limitations without the requirement for costly down time to clean or replace regenerative thermal oxidizer media.
 
 Green Circle's Green Decision
 For emission controls Green Circle selected E-Tube wet electrostatic precipitators and GeoTherm regenerative thermal oxidizers supplied by the Geoenergy Division of A.H. Lundberg Associates. The combination emission control system at the Green Circle plant is designed to reduce particulate emissions to less than 0.01 grains/scfd (approximately 20 milligrams per Nm3) and destroy the volatile organic compounds by 95 percent. Included in these design emissions levels is compliance with regulations for hazardous air pollutants emissions. 
 
 In summary, treatment of these gases with the combined wet electrostatic precipitator/regenerative thermal oxidizer system results in a gas stream that exceeds all modern standards for the emission of particulate matter volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. In addition, energy consumption is minimized and operational reliability is assured through the use of technology that has been demonstrated in similar wood drying panelboard installations. 
 
 Steve Jaasund is manager of the Geoenergy Division of A.H. Lundberg Associates Inc. Reach him at <a href="mailto:steve.jaasund@lundbergassociates.com">steve.jaasund@lundbergassociates.com</a> or (425) 283-5070.

A large wood pellet plant looked to experience in the panelboard industry for a proven approach to controlling its emissions. A reliable technology provided the answer for its low emissions goal.

Controlling Emissions in a Growing Wood Pellet Marketplace

The potential to use biomass as a low-cost fuel that reduces carbon footprint is growing. The equipment options for firing biomass to replace fossil fuel in plant operations are equally vast.

Biomass Equipment Options for Steam and Power

It's a new year, there's a new U.S. president, and there is a new climate for biomass energy and fuels. Last year at this time, the biofuels industry had just seen some of the best economic times in its young history, but trouble was brewing with sky-high commodity prices. Just after biofuels survived worldwide blame and criticism for driving up the price of food, markets collapsed, fuel prices fell and, by the way, food prices remained the same. Eventually, several ethanol companies went into bankruptcy, biofuel plants under construction were put on hold, and designs for new plants were filed in the "wait until whenever" file. 
 
 However, this is a new day. Before the economy collapsed, close to a dozen so-called second-generation biofuel projects were funded with federal dollars and matching industry investment. In addition, a loan guarantee program was established for these high-risk projects. Most of these projects continue to go forward and hold promise for demonstrating the technical and economic viability of revolutionary new approaches to making renewable fuels. This viability will have the snowball effect of raising the biofuel bar and should bring confidence to lenders and investors. 
 
 Enter the new president. In an attempt to stimulate the U.S. economy, President Barack Obama proposed a multibillion dollar rescue plan. The final details of this plan were not known at press time, but language thus far indicates billions of dollars in support of renewable energy and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for biofuels and infrastructure development. Several billion dollars will also be added for loan guarantees related to alternative fuels and energy. Added to the financial incentives are the strong biofuel positions of the president's selections for heads of the U.S. DOE, EPA and USDA. Things are looking up.
 
 So is it thumbs up for the future of biofuels? I say we really only have one direction to go, and that is up. Current annual biofuel production in the U.S. is approximately 8 billion to 10 billion gallons, primarily from corn ethanol and soybean-based biodiesel. As part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, a Renewable Fuels Standard Program was established that requires progressive increases in biofuels (for motor vehicles) production to a level of 36 billion gallons by 2022. With corn ethanol and soy-based biodiesel capped at 15 billion gallons because of cropland availability and food woes, around 21 billion gallons will have to be supplied from biomass sources. We are required by law to increase biofuel production-and fast. Biomass from residues of agriculture, forests, manufacturing and energy crops must be utilized. 
 
 We have discussed in this column and numerous other articles in this magazine over the past two years many different technologies and biomass feedstocks that are being used for producing a variety of different biofuels. The number of approaches is dizzying, but in the race to develop efficient and cost-effective technologies for cellulosic ethanol, non-methyl ester diesel, renewable jet fuel and green gasoline, there will be winners. I heard a colleague call it the $50 billion worldwide prize-in reference to the first technology to truly produce renewable biomass-derived liquid motor fuels at a comparable cost to corn ethanol or biodiesel. 
 
 In this new year, the United States is getting close to a renewable liquid fuel prize. As mentioned, the economy does not seem to be hindering the opening of a window of perhaps one to three years, wherein technology winners for viable biofuels will be evident. I say faltering economy be damned! Let's get a winner. Maybe it's the EERC renewable diesel/jet fuel process that converts any type of vegetable or animal triglyceride oil to a hydrocarbon-only fuel with the same properties as petroleum diesel. The EERC is very close to inking a deal for commercial production. Whoever wins, we will all win. Let's pace ourselves, stay on course and run for the prize. 
 
 Chris J. Zygarlicke is a deputy associate director for research at the EERC and is also vice chairman of the National Hydrogen Association Renewable Hydrogen Working Group. Reach him at <a href="mailto:czygarlicke@undeerc.org">czygarlicke@undeerc.org</a> or (701) 777-5123.

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In Troubled Times, Biofuels Could Be a Winner

Web exclusive posted March 2, 2009, at 9:10 a.m. CST 
 
 New energy legislation recently proposed in Ontario would help the government attract new investment, create green jobs and protect the climate. If passed, the <a href="http://www.mei.gov.on.ca/english/pdf/Green_Energy_and_Economy_Act_Compendium.pdf">Green Energy and Green Economy Act</a> would help the Canadian province build a stronger, greener economy. It's estimated that the legislation could create up to 50,000 jobs in three years while sparking growth in clean energy sources, such as biomass and biogas. 
 
 The proposed legislation consists of a series of coordinated actions designed to make it easier to bring renewable energy projects to life while fostering a culture of conservation. Many of the components contained within the proposed legislation seem to mirror the intended purposes of energy legislation included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law in late February. 
 
 According to information on the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure Web site, the legislation would provide more certainty and clarity in the approval process for renewable energy projects, while expanding and improving the province's electrical grid system. 
 
 In order to expedite the growth of renewable resources, such as biomass and biogas, the legislation would create a feed-in tariff to guarantee specific rates for energy generated from renewable resources. It would also establish the right to connect to the grid for renewable energy projects that meet technical, economic and other regulatory requirements. Furthermore, the legislation would establish a one-stop streamlined approval process for projects that meet regulatory requirements. 
 
 The proposed legislation seems to be strongly supported by <a href="http://www.mei.gov.on.ca/english/pdf/gea-quotes.pdf">Ontario's renewable energy industry</a>. 
 
 If passed, the act would build on the government's earlier initiatives, including a plan to eliminate the use of coal-fired power by 2014. 
 
 Additional information on <a href="http://www.news.ontario.ca/mei/en/2009/02/ontarios-bold-new-plan-for-a-green-economy.html">the proposed legislation is available on Ontario's Web site</a>.

Ontario: Proposed bill seeks to increase renewable energy

Web exclusive posted Feb. 25, 2009, at 2:59 p.m. CST 
 
 <a href="http://www.adagebiopower.com">Adage</a>, a joint venture between electric power company Duke Energy and Areva, an energy products and services vendor, has signed a preliminary agreement with Washington-based power provider Energy Northwest to develop wood waste biomass power plants in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
 
 According to the agreement, the companies will market wood biomass-generated power to Energy Northwest's 24 member utilities, as well as other regional utilities. The partnership's goal is to construct and operate 50-megawatt biomass power facilities-each one will provide enough electricity to power about 40,000 homes-within the selected states. 
 
 Areva will construct the power plants; Duke Energy Generation Services, a commercial power business unit of Duke Energy, will operate them. 
 
 Headquartered in Chadds Ford, Penn., Adage was formed in September 2008. The joint venture between Areva and Duke Energy serves to develop bio-energy solutions for U.S. electricity customers; it has a goal of building and operating 10 to 12 standardized wood-biomass power plants in the U.S. by 2014.

Adage, Energy Northwest form joint venture

Web exclusive posted Feb. 26, 2009, at 11:45 a.m. CST 
 
 <a href="http://www.opc.com">Oglethorpe Power Corp.</a>, the largest power supply cooperative in the U.S., has named Keith Russell as senior vice president of construction. In his new position, Russell will oversee construction of Oglethorpe Power's biomass-fired power plants. 
 
 Russell previously has held senior management positions at Southern Co. business unit Southern Co. Generation since 1990, and has served as a construction engineer at Alabama Power Co. 
 
 In September 2008, Oglethorpe Power announced it would construct of up to three 100-megawatt facilities which will be designed to use woody biomass. Two of the plants are scheduled to be built and operational in 2014. (Read <a href="http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2030&q=Oglethorpe">"Oglethorpe Power to develop three Georgia plants."</a>)

Russell joins Oglethorpe Power

Web exclusive posted Feb. 26, 2009, at 4:22 p.m. CST 
 
 Vancouver, British Columbia-based <a href="http://www.nexterra.ca">Nexterra Energy Corp.</a> has launched a $30 million program to commercialize a new application of its proprietary biomass gasification technology. The two-year program will test and demonstrate the generation of heat and power for small-scale plants by firing syngas into high efficiency gas engines. 
 
 For the past two years, Nexterra has been working with <a href="http://www.gepower.com/home/index.htm ">GE Energy</a> to upgrade syngas generated by gasifying wood biomass so that it meets fuel specifications of GE's Jenbacher internal combustion engines. 
 
 "Biomass power generation is a multi-billion market opportunity driven by rising power prices and renewable portfolio standards," said Jonathan Rhone, President and chief executive officer of Nexterra Energy. "Our objective is to exploit this opportunity by creating a new standard of small-scale biomass power solution that has widespread application as a distributed generation solution. We believe this approach has significant advantages over large-scale, centralized combustion-based biomass power plants in terms of higher efficiency, lower fuel risk and reduced emissions."
 
 Once fully developed, Nexterra will combine its technology with GE Energy's engines to develop modular biomass combined heat and power plants, which will be fully automated and not require steam generation equipment. According to Nexterra, the scale of the plants will range from 2 to 10 megawatt electric and will yield net efficiencies of up to 60 percent in cogeneration mode and 30 percent in combined cycle mode. The systems will be designed for public institutions such as universities and hospitals; industrial operations such as food or beverage plants and waste management facilities; as well as stand-alone power for independent power producers or electric power utilities.
 
 "We are very encouraged by the results Nexterra has achieved with its syngas conditioning technology and look forward to working with them on the next phase of development," said Prady Iyyanki, chief executive officer of GE Energy's Jenbacher gas engine business. "GE's Jenbacher business has a long history of developing ‘special gas' applications for reciprocating engines, and we believe the combination of biomass gasification and internal combustion engines is a breakthrough for biomass power generation." 
 
 The new program will consist of two phases, with a total cost of $30 million. In the first phase, which will occur in 2009, Nexterra's syngas conditioning technology and a GE Jenbacher J208 GS 250 kilowatt engine will be installed and tested at Nexterra's product development center. In phase two, a commercial-scale 2-megawatt plant will be demonstrated at a customer's site. According to Nexterra, discussions are underway with a number of candidate sites to host the demonstration facility. 
 
 GE Energy has supported the work through its Jenbacher gas engine division. In addition, Nexterra received a $3 million grant from British Columbia's Bioenergy Network in early February; it has also received financial support from Canada's National Research Council. 
 
 To view an illustration of Nexterra's commercial demonstration plant featuring a GE Jenbacher engine, visit <a href="http://www.nexterra.ca/news/media.cfm">www.nexterra.ca/news/media.cfm</a>.

Nexterra launches biomass power program

Web exclusive posted Feb. 27, 2009, at 11:15 a.m. CST 
 
 "It begins with energy." Those were the words of U.S. President Barack Obama during his Feb. 24 address to the joint session of Congress as he attempted to instill confidence that the country can recover from the current recession.
 
 Obama re-avowed his commitment to renewable energy by stating that energy is the first of three areas critical to the country's economic future. "To truly transform our economy, protect our security and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," he said. 
 
 Obama also called on Congress to draft carbon cap-and-trade legislation. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking minority member of the Senate's environment and public works committee blasted Obama's request for a cap-and-trade system and said it would result in the largest annual tax increase in the history of America. "As bad as the stimulus spending bill was, this would be much worse because instead of being one-time spending, the cap-and-trade tax increase would keep occurring year after year," he said. "During times of economic turmoil it is folly to impose more pain on families by intentionally raising their energy costs through cap and trade." 
 
 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he looks forward to working with the president in solving the country's economic problems as related to energy reform. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said the challenge of reviving the economy is directly related to a handful of issues, including energy independence. "I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to build bipartisan coalitions to make progress in all of these areas," he said.
 
 During his speech to Congress, Obama also declared that the government will invest $15 billion annually to develop renewable energy technologies, including advanced biofuels and fuel-efficient vehicles. "None of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy," he said. "But this is America. We don't do what's easy. We do what is necessary to move this country forward."
 
 A full transcript of Obama's remarks can be viewed at <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-President-Barack-Obama-Address-to-Joint-Session-of-Congress/">http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-President-Barack-Obama-Address-to-Joint-Session-of-Congress/</a>.

President directs Congress to focus on energy

Web exclusive posted Feb. 27, 2009, at 11:29 a.m. CST 
 
 The proposed U.S. government budget for fiscal year 2010 put forth by President Barack Obama contains an unprecedented spending total of $3.55 trillion, of which billions in new spending has been allocated for renewable fuels-related projects. 
 
 The following is a brief breakdown of proposed spending and budget cuts affecting the renewable fuels industry.
 
 U.S. EPA 
 Obama's budget increases funding for the U.S. EPA to $10.5 billion, a 34 percent increase from the 2009 level. Obama plans to spend some of the money to develop two energy-related programs: a comprehensive energy and climate change plan and an emissions reduction program. The energy and climate change plan would identify ways to invest in clean energy, address global climate change and create new "green" jobs. 
 
 The economy-wide emissions program, essentially a cap-and-trade program, would require a reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) to approximately 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Revenue created through the program would be used to fund investments in "a clean energy future," according to the budget outline. Revenue is expected to begin being generated in fiscal year 2012 and is projected to total $150 billion over 10 years.
 
 The EPA will also receive a $19 million increase in funding for work on GHG emission inventory and to work with industry sectors to report GHG emission data.
 
 USDA
 Estimated allocations for the USDA increased slightly from $24.6 billion in 2009 to $26 billion in 2010. Including in the agriculture department funding is $250 million in loans and grant money for renewable fuel projects. The budget outline states that Obama is a strong proponent of American-made renewable fuels and the additional money provided in the 2010 budget will help rural areas to continue to lead the country in this sector.
 
 Direct payments to farmers with sales revenues of more than $500,000 annually would be phased out over three years. According to the budget outline, "Large farmers are well positioned to replace those payments with alternate sources of income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as carbon sequestration, renewable energy production, and providing clean air, clean water and wildlife habitat."
 
 U.S. DOE
 Under the proposed budget, the DOE is allocated a total budget of $26.3 billion. Among its expected duties is the continued support for further research, development, demonstration and commercialization of biofuels and renewable energy by way of loan guarantees. Specific monetary totals were not supplied for the loan guarantee program. 
 
 A complete outline of Obama's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget can be viewed at <a href="http://www.omb.gov">www.omb.gov</a>.

President's budget includes renewable energy

Web exclusive posted Feb. 27, 2009, at 11:44 a.m. CST 
 
 Peter Olsen, the owner of <a href="http://www.kodiakwoodfuels.com">Kodiak Wood Fuels</a> in Kodiak, Alaska, has an idea – a Biomass Bag for transporting wood chips and other woody biomass across shallow rivers. The idea is a finalist in the 2009 <a href="http://www.alaskamarketplace.org">Alaska Marketplace</a> competition, an event sponsored by the <a href="http://www.nativefederation.org">Alaska Federation of Natives</a>. 
 
 The Biomass Bag is a reusable bag for transporting woody biomass. The bag uses the natural lower density of wood and also captured air to float the biomass across shallow waters, such as rivers in late summer. "If you've been rafting down a river or have been out on the ocean, you can stick your sleeping bag in a little yellow bag, roll the end up on it and snap it shut and, most of the time, it stays dry," Olsen said. "If you increase that concept roughly by about 100, you're getting close to getting your brain around what I've got here."
 
 Olsen said using bags increases the handling and transportation efficiency of moving woody biomass from the source to the consumer. Using durable bags that can be tied together and float eliminates the need for expensive barge transportation systems for transporting the biomass and also removes the need for handling smaller pieces of bulk biomass at various points along the way.
 
 Bags can more easily be transferred from truck to river and back to the truck. "We can put these bags right in the water, transport them to the community, and pull them out and deliver them without re-handling [the biomass]," Olsen said. "Then you just roll them up and throw them in your boat and go back for more.
 
 "This is not rocket science, but it is stuff that has to work on a day-in and day-out basis," Olsen continued. "We're talking about a system that has to work [where] you can't afford barges and tugboats and all of that happy stuff. There are shallow waters and so forth there that are difficult to get in and out of, sometimes. Plus, the economics of having that kind of hardware up there is not in the cards. At the end of the day, the cost on a per-British thermal unit basis (has to be competitive)."
 
 Olsen said the idea for the Biomass Bag grew out of the need to find an alternative, renewable energy source for the hundreds of bush villages in Alaska. "The interior of Alaska has the highest energy costs in North America," Olsen said, "and they have the economy that can least afford it. Not everybody likes to put it this way, but I'm a little more blunt than a lot of folks: I think at least 50 percent of these communities are at risk of (dying). They are largely subsistence communities, but if their food and energy costs exceed what they have, then those communities are not going to live. We're talking a heating oil cost of $7 to $10 per gallon in a subsistence community."
 
 Olsen used the villages along the Yukon River as an example of where the Biomass Bag might be useful. "The Yukon River is 2.5 miles wide right across from Fort Yukon," he said, "and a lot of their forest resources are on the other side of the river, (and) on the last 200 miles of the Yukon River, for example, there are a number of small communities that don't have biomass as an alternative fuel for heat-but some of their relatives upriver do. If you can build a bigger bag to transport more of it further distances to communities (that need it), that's the part that is exciting to me."
 
 For now, the Biomass Bag is just an idea, but Olsen said he hopes the Alaska Marketplace competition can help to bring the idea to fruition. "Right now, I'm folding up tarps in my living room and taking some duct tape and attaching rings here and there and looking at how to do this," Olsen said. "We are at the very earliest stages of this thing. I've got to get it out of my brain and get it into the hands of some folks who can help put this thing together."
 
 The Alaska Marketplace competition is modeled after <a href="http://www.developmentmarketplace.org ">The World Bank's Development Marketplace</a>. Olsen must now prepare an implementation plan for his idea, which will be judged by a group of private and public sector professionals at the Alaska Marketplace competition event which will be held this spring. Olsen's idea will be evaluated on innovation, sustainability, and profitability, as well as the idea's ability to reduce poverty, create jobs, and preserve cultural heritage. The winners will be awarded funding and will receive entrepreneurial training and implementation coaching to develop and implement their business plans and ideas.
 
 "The whole system concept is bigger than what the Marketplace will be able to fund," Olsen said, "but I thought, well, what the heck. Let's get started."

Biomass Bag finalist in Alaska competition

Web exclusive posted Feb. 27, 2009, at 11:57 a.m. CST 
 
 A Purdue University agricultural researcher has determined that shredding stover rather than chopping it could provide benefits to ethanol producers. Dennis Buckmaster, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, began researching shredding stover as a more efficient way to feed dairy cattle. He found that by shredding the material, the surface area was increased and the desired cellulose within the plant was more easily accessed. The rumen of a cow is basically a microbial fermentation vat, said Buckmaster, "so what's good for a cow should be good for a biorefinery."
 
 As well as increased accessibility to desired plant materials, Buckmaster has determined that shredding a plant lengthwise along the fibers required less energy than the currently accepted chopping method. His research supports a 1987 finding by University of Wisconsin agricultural engineering professor Kevin Shinners that showed shredding stover required 10 times less energy than chopping stover. For ethanol producers, less energy used at harvest time or during processing means less cost required to produce fuel from that feedstock. The increased access due to shredding may also decrease the need for more expensive pre-treatment.
 
 Currently the shredded stover concept is lacking commercial harvest equipment. According to Buckmaster, the shredders on the market now flail the stalks rather than shred them. He devised his own shredder for testing, but said it was not the most efficient or robust piece of equipment. Buckmaster is currently conducting lab-scale experiments to design a more efficient shredder. He hopes that by the time demand has increased for stover as a feedstock, a manufacturer will be able to offer a piece of equipment to efficiently shred the plants. 
 
 Buckmaster's research is being funded by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. For more information on Purdue University's research programs, visit <a href="http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/research/research_areas.html">www.purdue.edu/purdue/research/research_areas.html</a>.

Dennis Buckmaster, in foreground, and research assistant Bart Coffman found that shredding, not chopping, corn stover may provide easier access to the cellulosic matter used to produce ethanol./PHOTO: TOM CAMPBELL.

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Shredding stover can benefit ethanol production

Web exclusive posted March 5, 2009, at 11:08 a.m. CST 
 
 DSE A/S, a technology company based in Horsens, Denmark, has established a new business division. DSE Global Product Division (GPD) was created as part of the company's growth strategy. 
 
 According to DSE, the goal of GPD will be to increase the company's focus on biomass and enameled wire, which were previously part of DSE's Test Technology Division. DSE hopes the new division will drive continued success on export markets and the development of new products. 
 
 "We believe the new organization structure will help DSE elevate to a new level on our export markets and contribute to continued growth," said Peder Lomborg, DSE vice director of business development. 
 
 Jorgen Kjaersgaard, who has worked with DSE for 10 years, has been appointed Division Manager for the new business division. "Within biomass there is high focus on carbon dioxide-neutral energy sources at the moment – not only in Denmark but in the whole of Europe, where we see a massive interest for building power stations based on biomass fuel," Kjaersgaard said. "Denmark has been a pioneer in this area, where DSE has supplied moisture measurement systems to the Danish power stations. Therefore, we see a good opportunity for selling our moisture measurement systems to many of the new export markets around Europe."

Denmark company launches new business division

Web exclusive posted March 5, 2009, at 11:53 a.m. CST 
 
 According to Wood Resources Quarterly's recent global wood pellet production numbers for 2008, close to 10 million tons of pellets were produced last year. WRQ projects that this number will double over the next four to five years. While the biggest wood pellet market is still Europe, WRQ predicts that the U.S. will catch up as a result of policies to come from the new Obama administration. 
 
 "The new leadership in the U.S. government is going to have a positive impact on alternative fuel usage and the expected change in energy policy could very well result in increased imports of pellets from Canada to the U.S., which will eventually diminish the flow of biomass from North America to Europe," WRQ stated in a press release. "As a result, European pellet consumers will have to search for alternative supply sources in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Russia." 
 
 While the traditional source for wood-pellet fiber has been sawdust and shavings from the sawmilling industry, WRQ noted that this supply has begun to "tap out," and alternative fiber from forest residues, urban wood waste, and fast-growing tree species is now being sought. 
 
 Out of the 10 million tons of pellets produced in 2008, WRQ noted that an estimated 25 percent of that, or close to 2.5 million tons, was exported from the country in which the pellets were produced. 
 
 "Most of the overseas volume was shipped from British Columbia (Canada) to Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, despite the seemingly prohibitively costly 15,000-kilometer (9,321-mile) journey from the interior of British Columbia to the European market," stated WRQ, adding that the low cost for raw material in Canada along with the high prices for wood pellets in Europe more than justify transportation costs for the long haul across the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 WRQ posed an interesting question however: "The question is how long expansion of the overseas water-borne transport will continue to grow, given the uncertainty of future costs of oil and the paradox of consuming large quantities of low-refined heavy fuel oils for the shipments of green energy to European customers."

WRQ releases wood pellet stats

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 9:53 a.m. CST 
 
 Through its wholly owned subsidiary <a target="_blank" href="http://naturalfuelsindustries.com/ " rel="external">Natural Fuels Industries</a> and its Thailand-based affiliate Natural Fuels Industries Co. Inc., Vega Promotional Systems Inc. recently announced it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire a manufacturing facility on the port of MAP Ta PHUT in Thailand. 
 
 NFI plans to retrofit the existing manufacturing facility to produce 8-millimeter sized fuel pellets and fire logs. According to Naider Mangi, NFI's project manager and chief operating officer, the fuel pellets will be manufactured from agricultural waste products, such as rice straw, corn and eucalyptus waste.
 
 The facility is located on 50 acres of land on a deep sea port and includes various buildings with 200,000 square feet of manufacturing and storage space. Planned retrofits include the addition of new machinery, such as power cogeneration units, Mangi said. The facility will use a portion of the power that's produced; the remaining power will be sold back to the grid. 
 
 Once completed, the plant is expected to have the capacity to produce 500,000 metric tons of biomass-based fuel pellets annually. Mangi said retrofits are expected to take approximately three months. The company plans to have the facility running at full capacity by the third-quarter of 2009.
 
 Approximately 20 percent of the pellets produced will be used locally in Thailand, Mangi said. The remaining 80 percent will be exported to customers in Europe and the U.S. The agreement allows NFI to use the deep sea port facilities and all necessary equipment to load and off load raw materials and finished product. 
 
 According to Mangi, NFI intends to develop three additional facilities in unnamed international locations. These facilities will produce both biomass-based products and biodiesel.

Company to manufacture fuel pellets in Thailand

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 10:22 a.m. CST 
 
 Researchers at the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbe.umn.edu " rel="external">University of Minnesota Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering</a> have determined that densified corn stover, when used as a fuel for heat and power applications, produces 15 times less life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas and 25 times less than coal. The researchers suggested that ethanol plants could be tapped to produce the heat and electricity for their own operations and for general consumption on the grid, which would also lower overall emissions from those plants.
 
 "The new research allows us to better predict the full cost of using corn stover biomass to meet the heat and power needs of these facilities," said Vance Morey, a lead investigator for the study. "This includes the environmental costs of collecting the corn stover and then transporting it to the ethanol plant."
 
 To determine the economic feasibility of using condensed corn stover for fuel, researchers evaluated the logistics of collecting round bales of stover from the field during fall harvest, delivering the bales to storage facilities within two miles of the field, and condensing the stover using a roll-press compactor, which increased the density of corn stover from six to 15 pounds per cubic foot. For the study, the grinding of the corn stover was completed at the <a target="_blank" href="http://wcroc.cfans.umn.edu " rel="external">University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center</a> in Morris, Minn., and the roll compaction was completed at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bepex.com " rel="external">Bepex International LLC</a> in Minneapolis. 
 
 After condensing the corn stover to increase the distance the stover can economically be hauled by truck, Morey said the delivered cost of the corn stover was $77 per ton. He said 30 percent of that cost is to replace the nutrients lost from harvesting the corn stover. Morey noted that replacing the nutrients accounted for 45 percent of the lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions for using corn stover as fuel.
 
 "We were surprised by how much nutrient replacement-specifically, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium-impacted the economic and environmental costs," Morey said. "We thought the nutrient replacement costs would be much less. Clearly, producers need to consider nutrient replacement along with other collection costs if they decide to sell their corn stover."
 
 The next phase of the study will look at using the roll-press compactor to condense native grasses, straw, and alfalfa, and to look at ways to increase biomass electricity generation at ethanol plants.

Researchers study corn stover for heat, power

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 10:29 a.m. CST 
 
 The Florida Energy and Climate Commission, which is housed within the Executive Office of Gov. Charlie Crist, has awarded $2.5 million to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ftboa.com " rel="external">Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association</a> to build a gasification plant to convert stall waste, as well as wood and organic waste, to syngas for the production of electricity.
 
 FTBOA is an Ocala, Fla.-based organization that administers the $15-million state breeders' incentive program and is responsible for promoting the Florida thoroughbred industry. According to FTBOA, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.maxwestenergy.com " rel="external">MaxWest Environmental Systems Inc.</a> will be the technology provider for the gasification plant, which is expected to process 50,000 tons of stall waste and 50,000 tons of wood and organic waste per year to produce 10.5 megawatts of electricity. The gasification plant is expected to employ 24 people.
 
 With more than 35,000 thoroughbred horses on 431 breeding and training farms covering more than 70,000 acres of pasture in Marion County, Fla., the FTBOA said the disposal of stall waste is a concern. Currently, individual farms are responsible for stall waste disposal. "We have spent a number of years trying to settle this issue for the thoroughbred farms," said Richard Hancock, executive vice president of FTBOA.
 
 For more information, read the following articles: 
 <ul>	<li><a href="http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1961 ">"MaxWest receives $10 million investment"</a></li>
 	<li><a href="http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1390 ">"Florida venture to turn horse muck into energy"</a></li></ul>

Race horse waste-to-energy project receives grant

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 10:56 a.m. CST 
 
 The borough of Smethport, Pa., plans to implement a community-wide woody-biomass powered combined heat and power (CHP) system. On March 5 the Smethport Board of Trade announced that the Pittsburgh-based Richard King Mellon Foundation had awarded the community a $50,000 planning and engineering grant to support the Smethport Woody Biomass Demonstration Project. 
 
 In addition, the borough is in the process of hiring a project engineer consultant to oversee the planning phase of the project. To fill this position the community is seeking Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from engineering consultants and other professional organizations with experience in the design of district heating distribution and wood-fired combined heat and power systems. The deadline for submitting SOQs is March 25. 
 
 Inspiration for the project resulted from a trip to Austria, said Smethport Mayor Ross Porter. Last year a delegation of educators and state and federal officials traveled to Austria to investigate renewable energy opportunities. As part of the trip, the delegation visited the Austrian town of Güssing, which is a model green energy community that generates the majority of its own energy and serves as a research hub in Europe for a variety of renewable energy projects. 
 
 Due to Smethport's abundant woody biomass resources, and the fact that the city owns its own electrical utility, the community was identified as one uniquely positioned to serve as a demonstration project for a woody-biomass powered CHP system. In addition, the community has a need to replace its potable water distribution system. The borough intends to install the distribution lines for the district heating system in the same trench as the new water distribution system, which will allow the community to reduce construction costs. 
 
 According to Porter, the project will utilize low-value and waste forestry products. "We're in the heart of the black cherry capital of the world," he said. "We have wonderful hardwoods here. We're not going to be using our good wood." The project will utilize waste wood and tree species that lack value and block the growth of more valuable hardwood trees, he added.
 
 The project will be completed in conjunction with sustainability studies being conducted by Pennsylvania State University. One concept of the project is localization, Porter said. The project will utilize locally sourced feedstocks and lead to local economic development. The goal is to create a sustainable community-scale project, he continued. Construction on the project could start within 12 to 18 months. 
 
 Leaders of the project are working closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources, Pennsylvania State University, the U.S. Forest Service, the McKean County Commissioners, Pennsylvania State Sen. Joe Scarnati and Gov. Edward Rendell's offices, as well as a variety of other state and federal offices. 
 
 To learn more about the <a href="http://smethportpa.org/bouroug/green-energy-biomass/ ">Smethport Woody Biomass Demonstration Project, visit the community's Web site.</a>

Pennsylvania town to become energy self-sufficient

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 11:02 a.m. CST 
 
 Scientists at the <a target="_blank" href=" http://aces.illinois.edu " rel="external">College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences</a> at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have genetically modified corn so that it grows larger with fewer grains, more leaves, and a bigger stalk full of sugars. The genetic modification might help scientists to engineer corn and its relatives to produce bulkier, more sugary biomass for energy crops.
 
 "What we've done with corn could also apply to sorghum, sugarcane, miscanthus, switch grass, and other plants related to corn that are being talked about for biofuels," said Stephen Moose, associate professor of maize functional genomics and genetics at the University of Illinois. "We may have some potential there."
 
 Moose said the gene responsible for bulkier corn is glossy15, a name that describes the gene's role in giving corn seedlings a waxy coating. The gene also slows down how quickly the plant matures. "This gene is related to a family of genes that are known to control the rate of development," Moose said. "We knew that if you reduce the function of the gene in corn, that the plant progresses to its adult phase faster. We figured if we increased the activity of the gene it should grow more slowly. We did that by taking the DNA sequence from corn and then put back into the corn extra copies of the gene."
 
 Putting more glossy15 into the DNA of corn had the expected effect: it slowed down the growth of the plant. "But then it also had an unexpected effect," Moose said. "Even though it slows the rate of growth, [the plant] flowers much later, and so the plant just keeps growing and growing and growing through the season instead of stopping in mid-summer when it's time to put seeds on. And so there aren't as many seeds and, because you have a bigger plant that has less grain, it doesn't have a place to put the nutrients that it has accumulated over the season. That's why the carbon accumulates as sugar, because it doesn't go into the grain where it normally would be packaged as starch."
 
 Moose said reducing the amount of grain a corn plant produces to make a bigger plant is not a new idea. "The difference in our case is that we have a single gene that does it," he said, "and it's sort of very predictable in what it does and we know exactly what gene it is."
 
 The next phase for the study is to compare genetically modified commercial breeds of corn with tropical maize, which naturally grow bigger and produce more sugar when moved to northern latitudes with longer summer days. "What we think is happening is that the gene that we've been working with taps into the same developmental process that makes these tropical lines bigger and produce more sugar," Moose said. "I think what we found is that this gene is better than the tropicals in some ways, because with the tropicals, you get the good effects of more biomass, but they don't have the right disease resistance or they may have other things that sort of come along that are not as desirable."
 
 Moose said if a company were to consider using glossy15-gene-modified corn in commercial agriculture, there would be a three- to five-year wait for the government to approve the hybrid. "Because it does have some grain, there is the potential that it could end up in the food supply," he said, "and so we would have to go through the same process as if it was being marketed for food."

Scientists modify corn to bulk up its sugary biomass

Web exclusive posted March 6, 2009, at 2:06 p.m. CST 
 
 Helius Energy PLC, a biomass power developer in the United Kingdom, has appointed Oliver Blundell as feedstock director and will work to expand the company's program in developing sustainable biomass supply chains. Blundell previous held a number of roles within the Cargill group. Most recently, he was based in Geneva and was responsible for developing fuel supply chains for planned biomass projects and assessing energy markets.
 
 Helius Energy is developing a series of large and small biomass power plants across the United Kingdom. Earlier this year, the company announced that it had signed an option on land for a proposed 100-megawatt biomass power plant at Avonmouth Dock. In January, Helius Energy said it had received planning permission on a joint venture with Rothes Distillers Ltd. to install a biomass-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) plant to the distillery. The CHP unit will use a combination of distillery coproducts and wood chips to generate 7.2 megawatts of electricity. The company has sold its flagship project -a 65 megawatt project at Stallingborough - to RWE Innogy GmbH and will maintain a long-term interest in the project. Planning approval, long-term feedstock and construction agreements are in place for the Stallingborough project.

Helius Energy names feedstock director

Web exclusive posted March 10, 2009, at 2:24 p.m. CST 
 
 Interstate Power and Light Co., a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corp., has cancelled plans to construct a proposed 649-megawatt Sutherland Generating Station Unit 4 in Marshalltown, Iowa.
 
 Other partners of the project are Central Iowa Power Co-op., Corn Belt Power Co-op. and the North Iowa Municipal Electric Co-op. Association.
 
 Alliant Energy said it intended to co-fire the plant with biomass, such as switchgrass or corn stover. The company anticipated it would burn an estimated 110,000 tons of biomass annually at the generating station, which equates to providing power to just under five percent of the 472,500 houses the facility would have had the capacity to power. 
 
 Alliant Energy said the decision was made because of a combination of factors including the current economic and financial climate, increasing environmental, legislative and regulatory uncertainty regarding regulation of future greenhouse gas emissions and the terms placed on the proposed power plant by regulators.
 
 "Our company and our partners appreciate the tremendous support demonstrated for this project by our labor partners, industry, agriculture and business leaders, the community of Marshalltown and economic development organizations across the state," said Tom Aller, president of Interstate Power and Light. 
 
 The cancellation of the Marshalltown plant comes on the heels of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission denying Alliant Energy's proposal to expand its existing coal-fired Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Cassville, Wis., which included the committal of utilizing up to 20 percent biomass. (Read <a href="http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2192&q=Alliant">"PSCW denies coal power plant proposal."</a>)
 
 "While our company is disappointed in this missed opportunity to further Iowa's efforts to grow its economy and position our state as a leader in renewable energy, we will continue to focus our efforts on expanding our renewable energy resources and energy efficiency initiatives and reducing our environmental impact," Aller said.

Alliant Energy cancels proposed Iowa plant

Web exclusive posted March 10, 2009, at 3:36 p.m. CST 
 
 U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing March 5. During his testimony, Chu presented his vision for energy research and development at the U.S. DOE and spoke of the importance of those efforts in meeting the U.S. energy and climate changes challenges. 
 
 In order to prosper in the 21st century, Chu said, the nation must work to reduce its dependence on oil, use energy in the most efficient ways possible, and decrease carbon emissions. "I look forward to working with others in the administration, this committee, and the Congress to meet the president's goal of legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America," Chu testified. "Such legislation will provide the framework for transforming our energy system to make our economy less carbon-intensive, and less dependent on foreign oil."
 
 During his testimony, Chu also spoke of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He said it's a top priority for the DOE to get that money into the economy quickly, carefully and transparently. He also talked about the need to increase funding for energy research and refocus the way research funds are spent. 
 
 Chu spoke of the need to focus on transformational technology research, which he defined as research that is ‘game-changing' rather than merely incremental. An example, Chu said, is the current biofuels research underway at the three BioEnergy Research Centers located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; the University of Wisconsin in Madison; and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Each of these centers is targeting breakthroughs in biofuel technology development that will be needed to make abundant, affordable, low-carbon biofuels a reality," Chu said. "While these efforts are still relatively new, they are already yielding results, such as the bioengineering of yeasts that can produce gasoline-like fuels, and the development of improved ways to generate simple sugars from grasses and waste biomass."
 
 According to Chu, there is a need to complete more transformational research at the DOE in order to develop a range of clean energy technologies to the point where the private sector can pick them up. One example is the development of biofuels manufactured from lumber waste, crop wastes, solid wastes and non-food crops.

Chu presents energy research, development vision to senators

Web exclusive posted March 11, 2009, at 3:11 p.m. CST 
 
 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.orbitenergyinc.com" rel="external">Orbit Energy Inc.</a>, a renewable energy technology company, has appointed Neal Whitley as leader of business development. 
 
 Whitley has 25 years of business and product development experience. In his new position, Whitley will coordinate investor relations, corporate partnerships and government relations for the company; and will work with university systems and their renewable energy initiatives. Whitley will also focus on the creation of partnerships with public and private organizations to assist with waste and energy needs. 
 
 Orbit Energy owns a proprietary waste-to-energy technology that was originally developed by the U.S. DOE. The company has a plant in Clinton, N.C., that has effectively demonstrated converting biomass into energy. The technology converts a wide range of solid organic material such as food waste, yard trimmings, paper, cardboard, swine waste, and other animal manure into bio-methane and nitrogen-rich compost. The methane can be used to run a generator to create electricity, or upgraded to pipeline quality natural gas. The compost can be sold for agricultural or industrial uses. Orbit plans to build two plants by 2010 and 45 plants by 2017.

Whitley joins Orbit Energy

Web exclusive posted March 11, 2009, at 3:52 p.m. CST 
 
 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sdtc.ca/en/index.htm " rel="external">Sustainable Development Technology Canada</a> recently announced that 16 new clean energy projects have been awarded a total of $53 million in funding. 
 
 SDTC operates two funds aimed at the development and demonstration of innovative technological solutions. The $550 million SD Tech Fund supports projects that address climate change, air quality, clean water and clean soil. The $500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund supports the establishment of first-of-kind large demonstration-scale facilities for the production of next-generation renewable fuels.
 
 According to the SDTC, the 16 chosen projects offer technological solutions to the challenges Canada is currently facing in strengthening the economy while responding to environmental issues. The innovations can be used in multiple major economic sectors ranging from power generation to agriculture and waste management. 
 
 Three of the projects receiving funding involve biomass technologies. One project led by Kingston, Ontario-based <a target="_blank" href="http://www.performanceplants.com/index.html " rel="external">Performance Plants Inc.</a> seeks to improve cellulosic conversion. The project will receive up to $5.5 million in funding from SDTC, which will be used to advance the company's trait technologies that improve conversion of cellulose into biofuels and biochemicals. According to information released by SDTC, PPI's advanced trait development methodology makes it easier to release useable sugars from cellulose fibers. This benefits the ethanol production process by lowering the energy requirements for conversion, reducing enzyme requirements, accelerating the processing times.
 
 According to Peter Matthewman, PPI's president, the company has developed a set of technologies referred to as Enhanced Conversion Technology that alters the cell walls of plants to significantly improve their conversion into biofuels. The funding will primarily be used to further develop the Enhanced Conversion Technology to increase the amount of releasable glucose and develop these traits in non-food crops. The funding will also be used to support the acceleration of PPI's Biomass Enhancement and Water Use Efficiency technologies. 
 
 The funding will support research and development of Miscanthus, sorghum, hemp and switch grass, said Kevin Gellatly, PPI's vice president of alliances. In addition to increasing crop yields and digestibility, testing at various industrial facilities will be conducted, Gellatly continued. To complete this testing PPI has partnered with British Columbia-based cellulosic ethanol company Lignol Energy Corp. and the Saskatchewan Research Council. 
 
 Two other biomass projects also received funding from the SDTC. A project led by British Columbia-based Alterna Energy Inc. will seek to develop a commercial-scale woody biomass to biocarbon production facility. The facility will produce a biocarbon product that can be pelletized and used as an alternative to wood pellets and coal. 
 
 Toronto-based Greenfield Ethanol Inc. also received SDTC funding to support a biochemical lignocellulosic ethanol demonstration project that utilizes corn cobs as feedstock. 
 
 More information on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sdtc.ca/en/news/media_releases/Projects_Rd13.htm" rel="external">the other projects that received funding can be found on the SDTC Web site</a>.

Canadian foundation funds biomass projects

Web exclusive posted March 12, 2009, at 11:40 a.m. CST 
 
 Pellet stove manufacturers are bracing for another record-breaking year in sales. According to Arlington, Va.-based <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hpba.org" rel="external">Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association</a>, which represents manufacturers and retailers of pellet stoves, the number of pellet stoves shipped from manufacturers to retailers jumped 161 percent in 2008, driven by high gasoline prices and projected higher fuel oil prices for the winter of 2008-09.
 
 "Good golly, the people in the Northeast stormed the fireplace and stove shops and the manufacturers couldn't keep up with it," said Leslie Wheeler, director of communications for the HPBA.
 
 Now, the $787 billion federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law Feb. 17, included a 30-percent tax credit (up to $1,500) for the purchase of a 75-percent efficient biomass-burning stove in 2009 or 2010.
 
 "Our trade show is next week in Reno (Nev.) and it will be the talk of the town," Wheeler said. The HPBEXPO 2009 will be held March 19-21.
 
 While the new tax credit takes effect immediately, Wheeler said the Internal Revenue Service has not issued the guidelines for determining which stoves meet the efficiency requirements to qualify for the credit or how a manufacturer will qualify its products. 
 
 "How the IRS is going to determine the 75-percent efficiency is unclear," Wheeler said. "The manufacturers are going to have to provide some sort of credential saying that their stove has met this testing and that it has tested to be 75-percent efficient or more. Our manufacturers are chomping at the bit, because they want to say that their stoves are going to qualify and they want to sell them.
 
 "(However), some manufacturers and some retailers out there are jumping the gun," he continued, "and that is the real danger, because we don't know what that testing is going to be. Pellet stoves are more efficient than wood stoves and so there will be more pellet stoves that qualify compared to wood stoves."
 
 Wheeler said in a letter to the IRS, the HPBA recommended that all pellet stoves be included. "Right now, if you want to sell a wood stove, you have to have a [U.S. EPA] certification," he added. "However, pellet stoves, because of their technology, already meet those requirements for low emissions and so they don't need to be EPA-certified. However, the IRS might require it. Some pellet stoves manufacturers have gone through the certification process, but there are many out there that have not and they may very well have to go through that process. The testing laboratories are going to be busy. It will be a windfall for them, too."
 
 Wheeler said the HPBA has also recommended that the IRS should include fireplace inserts for pellet fuels in the eligibility requirements for the tax credit.

HPBA: Pellet stove sales are hot

Web exclusive posted March 12, 2009, at 12:03 p.m. CST 
 
 Legislators in Maine are considering a bill which would require wood pellet manufacturers to label their product as a way to provide quality assurance for consumers. Earlier this year, Rep. Wright Pinkam, R-Dist. 88, introduced LD 298 which, if passed, would require wood pellets and other biomass heating fuel sold in Maine to be labeled, identifying whether the fuel meets state Department of Environmental Protection standards. The legislation would also require the environmental protection department to create standards for wood pellet quality. 
 
 On March 10, the natural resources committee considered the bill and reached a majority opinion that the bill should not pass. Their recommendation, along with the bill, will make its way through the state house and senate for a final decision.
 
 According to the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pelletheat.org " rel="external">Pellet Fuels Institute</a>, a non-profit industry association, Maine is the first state to consider a law requiring wood pellets to be labeled for quality assurance. PFI Communications Manager Deidra Darsa told Biomass Magazine that the industry currently sets its own standards and expects pellet mills to responsibly test and certify their product. PFI is currently developing its own standards label that will be available for compliant members to apply to their product. Tests recommended by the institute include: density, dimensions, fines (limited amount of sawdust), chlorides and ash content.

Maine legislators review wood pellet regulations

Web exclusive posted March 12, 2009, at 3:08 p.m. CST 
 
 Nine leading biomass companies recently formed the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.biomassthermal.org" rel="external">Biomass Thermal Energy Council</a> with a mission to advocate the use of biomass for heat and other thermal applications. In the U.S., thermal energy accounts for about a third of the total energy used today, and founders of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council see opportunities for biomass to fuel that demand. 
 
 "The use of biomass for thermal energy is the most responsible and efficient use of this renewable resource," said Charlie Niebling, the council's board chairman. "There is enormous potential for wood pellets, wood chips, energy crops, agricultural residues and other forms of biomass to help meet America's thermal energy needs." 
 
 According to the council, it has begun "extensive government affairs activities" in promoting biomass thermal energy in federal, state, and regional policy debates regarding renewable energy. The group is also developing strategic guidance for industry and policymakers, which will detail the benefits from using biomass in all its forms for thermal energy. 
 
 An awareness and education campaign is also part of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council's mission. In an effort to increase education and awareness of the benefits of biomass thermal energy and the technologies that will lead to its wider use, the council plans to target its campaign to the media, government and industry leaders, stakeholders, as well as the general public. 
 
 Research is another area in which the council will engross itself. The council expects to generate white papers and reports related to biomass thermal energy. One specific topic identified for research is analyzing the economic impact of biomass thermal energy. The Biomass Thermal Energy Council also plans to identify international and U.S. regulatory and permitting issues that can hinder commercialization of biomass for thermal energy applications and offer solutions to those issues.
 
 "We see tremendous opportunity in regions that depend heavily on fossil fuels for heating and combined heat and power," said Jeffrey Serfass, the council's executive director. "Biomass thermal energy can replace those non-renewable fuels while reducing the demand for imported fuels and reducing greenhouse gases. As such, the use of biomass for heating should be an important component of the Obama Administration's new energy policy."
 
 The nine founding members of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council are <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bmfp.com/" rel="external">Bear Mountain Forest Products Inc.</a> in Portland, Ore.; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.woodboilers.com/" rel="external">BioHeatUSA</a> in Oak Creek, Colo.; Energex Corp. in Davenport, Okla.; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.forestenergy.com/" rel="external">Forest Energy Corp.</a> in Show Low, Ariz.; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.iwoodfuels.com/" rel="external">International WoodFuels LLC</a> in Portland, Maine, and San Diego; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.marthwood.com/" rel="external">Marth</a>; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pelletheat.com/" rel="external">New England Wood Pellet LLC</a> in Jaffrey, N.H.; <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pelletsales.com/" rel="external">PelletSales.com LLC</a> in Manchester, N.H.; and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.woodstonepellets.com/" rel="external">Woodstone USA</a> in Hingham, MA.

Biomass companies form thermal energy council

Web exclusive posted March 12, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. CST 
 
 The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csiro.au " rel="external">Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization</a>, Australia's national science agency, has published a new report that states more research should be completed before biochar, a byproduct of biomass gasification or pyrolysis, should be applied to soils to sequester carbon.
 
 In the report titled <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csiro.au/files/files/poei.pdf " rel="external">"Biochar, climate change and soil: A review to guide future research,"</a> Evelyn Krull, a senior research scientist at CSIRO, said that most of the research that has been completed about biochar and carbon sequestration has consisted of small-scale studies, the results of which should not be generalized and which leave important unanswered questions.
 
 For example, Krull said, because the chemical and physical properties of biochar is affected by the biomass feedstock and also by the specific gasification or pyrolysis process conditions used to create it, how that biochar byproduct might affect the soil, air and water is not known.
 
 Krull said biochar samples have not been analyzed for the broad range of potentially harmful chemical contaminants that are associated with combustion. Biochar produced from various feedstocks should be examined for toxic substances, she suggested, adding that a rapid screening technique must be developed so that varieties of biochar can be identified.
 
 Krull said given the apparent stability of biochar, safe application rates for individual soil types need to be determined.
 
 The affects that biochar might have on microbial communities in the soil and their interaction with crops grown there are not yet understood, Krull said. Also, the ways biochar affects the water-holding capacity of soils have not been determined and only recently have there been studies initiated to examine how biochar moves through soils into waterways.
 
 "Current studies are, in many cases, conceptually or geographically limited," Krull said, "and are often constrained by limited experimental data." She said her report aimed to identify gaps where new research should be focused in a way that will enable biochar to be used for climate change mitigation and to maintain soil productivity.

Australia agency calls for more biochar research

The Colorado Agricultural Value Added Development Board, part of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, awarded $150,000 in Advancing Colorado's Renewable Energy grants to two biodiesel-related projects. 
 

 In partnership with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST) in Lakewood, Colo., was awarded $100,000 to assist with the implementation of two farm-scale oilseed crushing and biodiesel production facilities. According to Raphael Shay, sustainability project manager for ICAST, one of the facilities will be at a feedlot in Stratton, Colo. "By producing meal with the oilseeds, we can actually make the project viable," he said. "The biodiesel in this case is the coproduct. We're hoping to use this as a demonstration project so that other producers see how it can be done." 
 
 While growers in the region are more familiar with sunflowers, Shay said soybeans will be used as a feedstock "just because sunflowers are very valuable in the market right now." 
 
 The facility is expected to be operational this summer and will produce 100,000 gallons of biodiesel per year. The glycerin byproduct might be diluted with wastewater and sprayed onto fields, or it might be used as a feed additive. 
 
 Shay said the location for the second facility hasn't been finalized, but it might be built at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colo. There, dryland canola and camelina oilseeds from test fields would be crushed for use as a straight vegetable oil fuel or converted into biodiesel to be used in research center tractors. Students from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., will design and build the oilseed fuel operations at the research center. Shay said students from the University of Denver are expected to work on a model business plan for farm-scale biodiesel production facilities for ICAST. 
 
 "Speaking with producers, one of the problems that we found [often] is the very unstable price of fuel, which makes it really hard for them to plan whether their farms will be viable or not," Shay said. "By producing biodiesel with on-farm crops, we therefore isolate the producers from price variability."
 
 In 2007, ICAST and CSU studied the performance of five oilseed crops-soybeans, safflowers, sunflowers, canola, and camelina-at nine locations within Colorado: Fort Collins, Akron, Walsh, Dailey, Idalia, Julesburg, Brandon, Yuma and Rocky Ford. Crop performance was tested under three environmental conditions, including dryland, limited irrigation and full irrigation. The collected data included seed yield, moisture content, plant height and pod shattering.
 
 Over the past two years, ICAST has been using a mobile biodiesel demonstration unit, dubbed Big SID (Seeds Into Diesel), to educate farmers and ranchers in Colorado and Wyoming about how to make biodiesel on the farm. It includes a seed crusher and biodiesel reactor, is mounted on a donated flatbed military truck and is designed for mobile farm-scale biodiesel production. Depending on seed oil content, the oilseed crusher can process five tons of seed per day, producing 16 to 20 gallons of oil per hour. The idea is that a Big SID-type unit could be easily transported to produce oil and meal for individual farms. "We actually have a few projects that are moving into the implementation phase," Shay said, adding he knows of at least two other farmers who have started their own farm-scale biodiesel production operations after visiting the Big SID mobile unit. 
 
 Colorado State University's Golden Plains Area Extension Service received the second ACRE grant. A $50,000 research grant will be used to evaluate how energy crops should be rotated on northeastern Colorado dryland farms. "What we're trying to do is take the potential renewable energy crops-whether they're biodiesel, ethanol or cellulosic sources-and see how they fit into a cropping sequence," said Alan Helm, area extension agent for CSU. "Which crops follow which best? Which crops don't follow? If we start growing some of these alternative crops, whether it's canola or camelina, where do they fit into our cropping systems?" 
 
 Helm said canola, camelina and sunflowers will be rotated with dryland corn, grain sorghum, forage sorghums, winter wheat and other crops at the Central Great Plains Research Station to determine how well the crops grow in sequence. "Every crop will be planted into every residue," he said. The ACRE grant covers the first two years of the project, but additional grants will be sought to extend the project.

This mobile biodiesel demonstration unit, dubbed Big SID (Seeds Into Diesel), is used to educate farmers and ranchers in Colorado and Wyoming about making biodiesel on the farm./PHOTO: INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR APPROPRIATE AND SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY

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Dryland crops are rotated in sequence at the Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colo./PHOTO: USDA

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Colorado grants assist farm-scale biodiesel projects

A group of Spanish developers working under the company name Ecofasa, headed by chief executive officer and inventor Francisco Angulo, has developed a biochemical process to turn urban solid waste into a fatty acid biodiesel feedstock. "It took more than 10 years working on the idea of producing biodiesel from domestic waste using a biological method," Angulo told Biodiesel Magazine. "My first patent dates back to 2005. It was first published in 2007 in Soto de la Vega, Spain, thanks to the council and its representative Antonio Nevado." 

 
 Using microbes to convert organic material into energy isn't a new concept to the renewable energy industries, and the same can be said for the anaerobic digestion of organic waste by microbes, which turns waste into biogas consisting mostly of methane. However, using bacteria to convert urban waste to fatty acids, which can then be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production, is a new twist. The Spanish company calls this process and the resulting fuel Ecofa. "It is based on metabolism's natural principle by means of which all living organisms, including bacteria, produce fatty acids," Angula said. "[It] comes from the carbon of any organic waste." 
 
 He defined urban waste as "organic wastes from home like food, paper, wood and dung," and added that any carbon-based material can be used for biodiesel production under the Ecofa process. "For many years, I wondered why there are pools of oil in some mountains," he said, explaining the reasoning behind his invention. "After delving into the issue, I realized that [those oil deposits] were produced by decomposing organic living microorganisms." This, in Angulo's mind, sparked the idea that food waste and bacteria could be turned into fatty acids that could react into biodiesel. Two types of bacteria are under further development by Biotit Scientific Biotechnology Laboratory in Seville, Spain: E. coli and Firmicutes. The Ecofa process also produces methane gas, and inconvertible solids that can be used as a soil amendment or fertilizer. "There is a huge variety of bacteria," Angulo said. "Currently, [biodiesel producers] receive a fat that must be processed through transesterification into biodiesel, but we are also working on other types of bacteria that are capable of producing fatty acids with the same characteristics as biodiesel." He said this would eventually allow producers to skip the transesterification step. 
 
 Ecofasa may avoid the ongoing food-versus-fuel debate and its expected successor, indirect land use, with its Ecofa process. "It would not be necessary to use specific fields of maize, wheat, barley, beets, etc., which would remain for human consumption without creating distortions or famines with unforeseeable consequences," the company stated in a press release. "This microbial technique can be extended to other organic debris, plants or animals, such as those contained in urban sewage. You can even experiment with other carbon sources, and this opens up a lot of possibilities. It is only necessary to find the appropriate bacteria." 
 
 The company created its name by combining the term "eco-combustible" with F.A., the initials of the inventor. 
 
 "Today we feel that we can produce between one and two liters [of biodiesel] per 10 kilograms of trash," Angulo said. That's a little more than one-fourth to one-half of a gallon for every 22 pounds of trash-or between 24 and 48 gallons per ton of urban waste. "We are working to improve that," he said.

Francisco Angulo, developer of the Ecofa process, demonstrates the operation of a car with Ecofa biodiesel./PHOTO: ECOFASA

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Francisco Angulo, left, talks about the benefits of the Ecofa process during a conference panel discussion./PHOTO: ECOFASA

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Spanish company touts process to turn urban waste into biodiesel

Gold Star Biofuels, a Goldstar Farms Ltd. company based in Ghana, has formed a joint venture with Aiken, S.C.-based USFuelTech LLC, a provider of turnkey modular biodiesel production facilities, to design and build small biodiesel plants in Chile that will use locally cultivated jatropha as a feedstock.
 
 Gold Star Biofuels aims to install up to eight biodiesel production units, each producing approximately 8 MMgy using USFuelTech's proprietary process technology. The first production unit, to be built near Puerto Montt, will supply B20 to a 43-megawatt power facility owned and operated by Energy Partners Chile in Degan on the island of Chiloe, according to Executive Director Jack Holden. 
 
 "We will have about 5 [million] to 6 million [jatropha] acres in Chile by the time we get done, mostly in the northern part of the country," he said. To start, the company has secured agreements with Chilean farmers to cultivate jatropha on 2.5 million acres. The delivery of biodiesel to Energy Partners Chile for electricity generation is expected to occur within two years. "It's going to take about five to seven years to get to the point where we are completely independent," Holden said.
 
 USFuelTech's biodiesel processing units are capable of converting virgin oils and waste vegetable oils into biodiesel. However, the speed at which they operate depends on the type of feedstock that's used, according to Robert Horning, president and chief executive officer of USFuelTech. The units have total output volumes ranging from 5 MMgy to 20 MMgy. "We can build and transport a 5 MMgy processing unit in a 40-foot container, excluding storage tanks," he said. "All the units have skids, so you could load it on the back of a container truck. They're all self-contained, meaning there's nothing else you need except electricity."
 Specifically for Gold Star Biofuels, 

 
 USFuelTech will be shipping some biodiesel facilities preassembled, while some will be delivered in pieces that Gold Star Biofuels can assemble in Chile, according to Holden. 
 
 In addition to its line of modular bio-diesel production refineries, USFuelTech offers biomass-to-energy production "pods" that can gasify crushed jatropha cake left over from the biodiesel production process. The gas can then be converted into electricity or heat for rural Chilean villages, according to Horning. The biomass-to-energy units can gasify other agricultural residues, as well as municipal solid waste. "Essentially, we could use all the waste found in a rudimentary sewage system as an input stream for the biomass gasifiers and give it back to the villages in the form of either methane gas so they can use it to cook instead of using charcoal, or in the form of fuel to run a generator so they can for the first time have electricity for lights," Holden said.
 
 According to Horning, USFuelTech offers a variety of biomass-to-energy production facilities that can operate at 250 gallons per hour, 500 gallons per hour, 2,000 gallons per hour or 10,000 gallons per hour. Gold Star Biofuels will be installing 500-gallon-per-hour units in Chile, he said. The facilities come standard with a computerized "in-line process testing" station. According to Horning, this feature allows an operator to track data such as what feedstock is being used, water content levels, free fatty acid levels and other factors in real time during production. Not only can the data be monitored by the operator of the unit itself, but an overseer can observe the data from a remote location. This feature offers optimum interactivity between operators in different parts of the world and improves quality control procedures, he said. "You could actually run the plants from a central control panel from anywhere in the world," he said. "The other idea is to have video capability with Skype or something like that."
 
 In 2005, Goldstar Farms began cultivating jatropha in Ghana, where it has commitments from farmers to grow the crop on approximately 5 million acres. The company plans to begin producing biodiesel at its facility in Nkawkaw, Ghana, in 2009, according to Holden. 
 
 In addition to Chile, Gold Star Biofuels intends to begin cultivating jatropha in Columbia in mid-2009, and is evaluating the potential for growing jatropha in Mexico, the Republic of Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Holden said the company also identified a site south of Chicago for producing biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. 
 
 Holden said landowners agree to 50-year commitments to provide Gold Star Biofuels with jatropha. The company shares profits with landowners, provides medical insurance to all of its workers and their families, and supports local clinics and schools in the areas they operate. Instead of hiring migrant workers, it employs people year-round. Holden said it's part of Gold Star Biofuels' commitment to "being socially responsible."

USFuelTech LLC's biodiesel processing units can convert any virgin or waste vegetable oil into biodiesel./PHOTO: USFUELTECH LLC

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Gold Star Biofuels, USFuelTech to produce biodiesel in Chile

It is my honor to serve the industry for another year as chairman of the National Biodiesel Board. Although every year brings its own challenges to the industry, 2008 was especially trying for us all. The struggles we face mirror what many Americans are facing-tough economic conditions, severe cutbacks and uncertainty for the future. Like so many others, our industry is gasping for air even as biodiesel holds great promise in helping the country break free from the very undertow that holds us back. We create jobs. We create domestic demand. We stimulate growth in energy, the lifeblood of our nation.
 
 To add to the economic challenges, we found ourselves forced to take a defensive posture. We've invested significant resources to defend the U.S. biodiesel industry against European trade complaints, while opponents of biodiesel seek to raise doubt among consumers and policymakers by falsely accusing the renewable fuel of being unsustainable. 
 
 While science does not support the accusations, opponents of biofuels are still spending millions of dollars on negative campaigns to convince the public otherwise. The misinformation has permeated common beliefs and severely threatens the well-being of the biodiesel industry. The NBB recognized these threats in 2008 and began taking steps to combat them, seeking funding and launching new initiatives, including a Sustainability Task Force. We've launched www.BiodieselSustainability.com, a Web site to get the facts out on biodiesel's environmental benefits and its role in the food chain. We've held high-level editorial board meetings, and had placements in publications such as Time and USA Today since the unfounded attacks on biodiesel began. We are also engaging social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook and others, which have become powerful tools in 
 shaping public perception. We anticipate great strides in fiscal year 2009 to combat faulty science and misinformation, but recovering from such blows will be a long, uphill battle. 

 
 Those efforts must continue in fiscal year 2010. 
 
 2008 brought accomplishments on the technical front, such as ASTM's passage of new specifications, including a B6 to B20 spec, which will open doors for biodiesel through greater original equipment manufacturer acceptance. In federal legislation, the blenders tax incentive was extended through December 2009, an expanded renewable fuels standard was passed, and the renewable diesel tax incentive was corrected so that only operations adding new refining capacity qualify, just to name a few. 
 
 We have also made great strides in feedstock development through the fiscal year 2009 program. We worked with the Danforth Plant Science Center and the Center for Evergreen Energy in St. Louis to host a biodiesel feedstock symposium. The event gathered experts to provide input for expanding feedstock supplies. 
 
 Our world-class team of professionals with diverse skills has not achieved these wins on its own. These victories are also the result of efforts by NBB members. Active members provide valuable input, support and action in all program areas. An engaged industry is powerful indeed.
 
 Ed Hegland
 NBB Chairman
 
 
 2009 marks my 10-year anniversary serving the NBB. Never in my nearly two decades of biodiesel business have we had a more challenging time. I know our members face enormous challenges and will be transitioning to respond to industry adjustments, including the production demands of the biodiesel renewable fuels standard. Despite these changes in our industry, our members have voted to substantially reduce producer dues by approximately 25 percent. This vote results in dues reductions for every producer-member.
 
 With new opportunities ahead, we continue to work for and with our members to set the course for the NBB in fiscal year 2010. Thank you to each of you who have participated in our intensive fiscal year 2010 prioritization process. We have held committee meetings, led a membership survey and hosted a member webinar. The process of finalizing priorities helps direct staff on industry priorities, and the allocation of financial resources to break down our industry's barriers. NBB programs have been critical for our industry's federal policy and technical achievements. It has helped nurture the growth of state biodiesel legislation. More than 600 biodiesel bills were introduced in 2008, compared with 300 in 2007. 

 
 Also, the petroleum outreach program launched www.BioheatOnline.com which gives dealers and consumers the tools to market Bioheat fuel and realize its benefits. It is also helping us work toward turning the tide of public perception on the food-versus-fuel debate and other misinformation campaigns.
 
 Part of the effort to overcome barriers began after the NBB created a Sustainability Task Force, which has been extremely active. It has been successful in fostering discussions and forming outside partnerships to ensure our industry stays on a sustainable path. This group developed important sustainability guidelines for the biodiesel industry to follow. Don Scott, an environmental engineer, is leading this group and coordinating industry efforts through a newly created director of sustainability position. Once again, feedstock-neutral support from soybean checkoff benefactors has increased in a meaningful way, leveraging our member dollars while answering the call to fend off attacks on the biodiesel industry and farmers. Agricultural producers continue to use their significant public policy influence to support biodiesel legislative priorities. Also, the contributions of the fats and protein organizations, which supply larger-than-ever feedstock volumes, have become active, critical partners.
 
 This year, we hope to see the blenders tax incentive extended past 2009; a resolution to the European Union trade case; positive movement of biodiesel in low-carbon policy, which is becoming "the issue" of our time, with many state legislatures taking the lead over the federal government in developing low-carbon fuel standards; better science applied to indirect land-use change modeling; and public acceptance of biodiesel as a sustainable fuel. We expect an increase in domestic demand for and consumption of biodiesel that will serve as a catalyst for integration in more market segments, such as home heating oil. These are no small tasks, but thanks to the work of members setting our priorities at the beginning of the year, we will have a path to follow for continued success.
 
 Gary Haer
 NBB Vice Chairman

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2009 Letters From Leadership

Web exclusive posted March 4, 2009, at 10:37 a.m. CST 

 
 A jatropha plantation company has joined forces with environmental stewardship and carbon credit project consultants to form <a href="http://www.jatrophabiojet.com">JatrophaBioJet Corp.</a>, a company that plans to develop the jatropha oil feedstock market for aviation fuels. <a href="http://www.abundantbiofuels.com ">Abundant Biofuels Corp.</a> is partnering with <a href="http://www.southpolecarbon.com">South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd.</a> and <a href="http://www.mitchhawkins.com/">Mitch Hawkins & Co.</a> to develop the jatropha oil market.
 
 According to Mitch Hawkins, chief executive officer for JatrophaBioJet, the company aims to play a role that so far has been unfilled. "You've got really three unrelated worlds," Hawkins said. "You've got the jatropha growers and developers who are all focused on biodiesel; you've got the aerospace industry which, as large as it is, is fairly very insular; and then you have the carbon credit industry, which is populated with very, very sophisticated people, but they focus primarily on the carbon offset activity almost completely and, while they do many, many different kinds of projects, the people in that industry are focused on the carbon offsets, they are not focused on the projects themselves.
 

 "There appears to be a space in the middle for someone to be able to interface," Hawkins continued, "to enable the jatropha-to-jet-fuel market and the handling of the attendant carbon offsets. We want to stand in the center of that space, to relate those three activities, to move the commodity from the plantation to the aircraft and to enable the carbon offset activity, which is attached when you replace petroleum fuel with biofuel."
 
 Hawkins said JatrophaBioJet's focus on aviation fuel is unique in the jatropha grower industry.
 
 "There is a need for biofuel feedstocks to be turned into jet fuel," Hawkins said, "and most of the focus of the jatropha industry has been on biodiesel. JatrophaBioJet intends to link jatropha growers to the aerospace industry. "We'll be sourcing supply contracts for jatropha oil," he said. "We will be refining it and it will get blended either by us or someone else, and then we will be handling contracts for sale. We will be handling contracts on both ends: the source contract and the sale contract."
 
 Abundant Biofuels is developing jatropha plantations in five countries, Hawkins said, while South Pole Carbon Asset Management has offices around the globe with 150 carbon credit projects underway. 
 
 For more information about Abundant Biofuels Corp. read <a href="http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=1959&q=&page=all ">"Feedstock Frenzy."</a>

JatrophaBioJet to source jatropha for aviation fuel

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, are growing jatropha on two-acre plots at three locations in California-near Davis, Bakersfield and El Centro-to test how the biodiesel feedstock fares in California's varied climates. The research is funded by Chevron Corp., which in 2006 invested $25 million in the California Biomass Collaborative to pursue advanced technology aimed at converting cellulosic biomass into transportation fuels. The jatropha was planted in April.

Jatropha was planted in the San Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield, Calif., by researchers at the University of California, Davis./PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

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UC Davis grows jatropha

Is it just me, or is this editor's note getting smaller?
 
 Actually, I wanted to make room for this letter to the editor we received in response to our January cover story, "Re-New-able York City." It reminds us as journalists that there are at least two sides to every story. It also reminds me that not everyone is going to see eye-to-eye.
 
 One place where people apparently do see eye-to-eye is the local coffee shop. Did you know that worldwide, people consumed 15 billion pounds of coffee last year? Our feature, "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Biodiesel," written by Susanne Retka Schill, details some unique research being done at the University of Nevada-Reno, where coffee oil is being explored as a biodiesel feedstock. The researchers estimate that waste grounds from all the U.S.-based Starbucks alone could produce 2.9 million gallons of biodiesel annually. The number increases to 208 MMgy when the entire world's coffee production is calculated. Relatively speaking, this isn't a large amount, but a project like this would definitely have a dependable feedstock supply.
 
 Research seems to be the unintended theme of the Industry News section this month, as well. Check it out for results on oxidative stability and railcar lining tests in the U.S. and Europe. Spoiler alert: All results came back positive for the biodiesel industry.
 
 Jessica Sobolik
 Managing Editor
 <a href="mailto:jsobolik@bbiinternational.com">jsobolik@bbiinternational.com</a>

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Coffee Drinkers, Perk Up

I just finished reading "Re-New-able York City" in the January issue of Biodiesel Magazine and was disappointed to find the article so one-sided. It didn't give any space to the opponents of the New York City biodiesel mandate (we are advocates of an ultra-low-sulfur diesel heating oil mandate), and there was not a single mention of the negative environmental impacts of sourcing biodiesel from virgin feedstocks. 
 
 Less than 1 percent of all cropland cultivated in the U.S. is certified organic by the USDA. That means that at least 99 percent of the virgin feedstocks used to produce biodiesel is coming from conventional agro-industrial farms that are anything but environmentally friendly. This fact raises the fundamental question, "How can biodiesel be environmentally friendly when it is produced from crops that were cultivated using environmentally destructive practices?" It would be irresponsible to move forward with a biodiesel mandate in New York City before there is a certification system in place to ensure that biodiesel sourcing and production practices are environmentally friendly (clearing new land for energy crops releases up to 420 times more carbon dioxide than the fossil fuels they displace).

 
 Biodiesel can be refined from a wide variety of vegetable oils and animal fats, but in the U.S., subsidies and tariffs make soybean oil the dominant feedstock. Soybeans may be a renewable resource, but America's industrial-scale farms devour enormous quantities of nonrenewable and irreplaceable resources. Powering the machines that plow, plant, harvest, cast fertilizers, spray pesticides and pump irrigation water is energy-intensive. The fossil fuels consumed by on-farm operations release significant quantities of greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions. 
 
 Adding to soybean agriculture's formidable fossil fuel tally, large amounts of natural gas are needed to produce the nitrogen-based fertilizers that promote their growth. These fertilizers break down in fields, releasing nitrous oxides, a global warming agent hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide. When these fertilizers leach from farm fields, they poison drinking water and ravage marine ecosystems. Runoff from Midwestern farm fields ends up in the Gulf of Mexico, where it contributes to a New Jersey-sized "dead zone" almost entirely absent of marine life.
 
 A toxic rainbow of pesticides is sprayed on soybeans in an effort to combat weeds and insects. Making matters worse, 91 percent of the U.S. soybean acreage planted in 2007 was genetically engineered to tolerate herbicides, a development that has boosted glyphosate applications severalfold. Glyphosate, a powerful weed killer, is the third most common cause of pesticide illness in farm workers; exposure has been linked to rare cancers, miscarriages and premature births. 
 For more information on the New York City biodiesel mandate, see http://habitatmap.org/habitatmap_docs/BiodieselFactSheet.pdf.
 
 Michael Heimbinder
 Executive Director
 HabitatMap

letter to the editor

Eleven Mid-Atlantic states have signed a letter of agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the development of a comprehensive, regional low-carbon fuel standard. 
 
 The states will analyze low-carbon fuel supply options and develop a framework for a standard on how to use those fuels. A report issued by the U.S. EPA in 2002 found that biodiesel-blended fuels emit less particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide when compared with standard diesel fuel. 
 
 The Mid-Atlantic analysis will consider both direct and indirect emissions, such as those resulting from potential land use changes. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management will conduct the study, and the final results will be submitted to the governor of each participating state by Dec. 31. States participating in the program include Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

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Mid-Atlantic states to create low-carbon fuel standard

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Gran-holm signed 11 bills at the end of 2008 that aim to advance renewable fuels statewide. Among the provisions, five renewable fuels renaissance zones were added to the existing 10 that receive tax exemptions. Another bill created a Renewable Fuels Fund to promote alternative fuels in Michigan, including an income tax checkoff provision for citizen contributions. Michigan's Renewable Fuels Commission was extended until 2012 and is charged with tracking renewable fuels in the state. The Michigan Department of Agriculture will develop rules regulating the quality and purity of biodiesel.

Michigan passes key legislation

The North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy, an advocacy organization that supports the development of renewable energy, recently presented the North Dakota legislature with a report outlining various actions the state could take to advance the development of renewable energy. The report included a recommendation that the state adopt a renewable fuels standard mandating the sale of B5 and E10 at retail locations. The NDARE also recommended that the state work to develop renewable fuels infrastructure, including the installation of blender pumps, and that a countercyclical production incentive be adopted to benefit the biodiesel industry. The production incentive would be similar to a program already in place for ethanol, and would be designed to assist producers when biodiesel prices are unusually low or feedstock prices are unusually high.

North Dakota group recommends RFS

Signal Hill, Calif.-based Primafuel Inc. unveiled its international Algae Biorefinery Program in January, which aims to develop technologies that produce high-value algae-based products and sustainable fuels, according to Rahul Iyer, the company's chief marketing officer. 
 

 Primafuel holds an exclusive licensing agreement with Israel-based Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and its Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory, where an internationally recognized team of experts work on strain selection, genetic engineering and aquaculture. Led by Sammy Boussiba, the group includes more than two dozen scientists, researchers and engineers. 
 
 According to Iyer, Primafuel's goals for the international Algae Biorefinery Program include designing technology platforms to maximize the economic value of algae, and exploiting the ability of certain algae strains to produce high-value fine chemicals and renewable fuel compounds.

The algae inoculation system at the Microalgal Biotechnology Laboratory in Israel maintains a unique collection of high-value algae strains./PHOTO: PRIMAFUEL INC.

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Primafuel launches algae program

Iowa continues to forge ahead in renewable fuels infrastructure development with the help of grants recently doled out by the Iowa Department of Economics Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Board. More than $1.52 million was given to 43 biodiesel and E85 retailers and terminal operators across the state to expand their E85 and biodiesel fuel infrastructure
 
 Of the 43 projects, 13 involved biodiesel dispensers, including Pioneer's Rest Area in Dubuque, Iowa, which recently installed the state's first biodiesel blender pump. Now operational, it offers B2 and B5 blends.
 
 Twelve tank wagons and three biodiesel terminals also received funding. The RFIB plans to provide $13 million in financial incentives over the next three years to further expand consumer access to renewable fuels.

March 2009

Business Briefs

Startech gasifier to be used in Poland

MonitorTech provides CEMS to Indeck Ladysmith plant

Verdezyne, Genencor continue collaboration

SlurryCarb process receives green award

Laidlaw acquires pulp mill in New Hampshire

Former DuPont, BASF execs join BioEnergy International

EPA salutes landfill methane capture projects

Virtual Media Holdings changes name

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, ZEEP sign agreement

Bruks Rockwood supplies biomass unloading systems

Dudek, Catalyx Nanotech to produce energy from landfills

Sheehan joins university's Institute on the Environment

International Biomass Conference promises focus on feedstocks

States ratchet up RPS requirements, incentivize biomass utilization

Satellite data aids biofuel feedstocks research

Biobased chemical plants develop in Brazil, France

Business Briefs

Columns

Solid Support for Renewable Energy

Riding Shotgun with King Coal

2009 Letters From Leadership

Coffee Drinkers, Perk Up

letter to the editor

Animal Fat-Based Biodiesel: Explore Its Untapped Potential

Featured

The Art of Biomass Pelletizing

Making the Switch

Contaminated Sites = Renewable Energy Hotspots

Biomass: A Federal Perspective

Synthesizing Multiple Feedstocks Into Quality B100

Glycerin: Research Turns Up New Uses

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Biodiesel

Contributions

Controlling Emissions in a Growing Wood Pellet Marketplace

Biomass Equipment Options for Steam and Power

March 2009.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Startech gasifier to be used in Poland

MonitorTech provides CEMS to Indeck Ladysmith plant

Verdezyne, Genencor continue collaboration

SlurryCarb process receives green award

Laidlaw acquires pulp mill in New Hampshire

Former DuPont, BASF execs join BioEnergy International

EPA salutes landfill methane capture projects

Virtual Media Holdings changes name

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, ZEEP sign agreement

Bruks Rockwood supplies biomass unloading systems

Dudek, Catalyx Nanotech to produce energy from landfills

Sheehan joins university's Institute on the Environment

International Biomass Conference promises focus on feedstocks

States ratchet up RPS requirements, incentivize biomass utilization

Satellite data aids biofuel feedstocks research

Biobased chemical plants develop in Brazil, France

Business Briefs

Columns

Solid Support for Renewable Energy

Riding Shotgun with King Coal

2009 Letters From Leadership

Coffee Drinkers, Perk Up

letter to the editor

Animal Fat-Based Biodiesel: Explore Its Untapped Potential

Featured

The Art of Biomass Pelletizing

Making the Switch

Contaminated Sites = Renewable Energy Hotspots

Biomass: A Federal Perspective

Synthesizing Multiple Feedstocks Into Quality B100

Glycerin: Research Turns Up New Uses

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee Biodiesel

Contributions

Controlling Emissions in a Growing Wood Pellet Marketplace

Biomass Equipment Options for Steam and Power

March 2009