Posted June 16, 2010, at 4:45 p.m. CST
 
 Mainstream media outlets have largely misinterpreted a biomass sustainability and carbon policy report released last week by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, according to study contributor Pinchot Institute for Conservation.
 
 In fact, the rapidly spreading assertion that woody biomass is dirtier than coal "couldn't be farther from the truth," Pinchot President Al Sample told reporters during a media advisory call held June 16, held to clear up erroneous news stories regarding the report's indications of woody biomass power plant environmental consequences in comparison with coal power plants.
 
 The six-month study, titled "Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study," was performed to address a wide array of social, scientific, economic and technical issues related to the use of forest biomass for generating energy in Massachusetts, after citizen and activist opposition to three proposed biomass power projects in the state prompted the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to commission the study. Pinchot's main role in the study was to provide a review of regulations and standards needed to ensure the sustainability of forest resources in light of potential increases in wood consumption for bioenergy.
 
 Sample said initially, an Associated Press story mischaracterized the study, and then countless other news outlets continued to repeat the same inaccuracies. "It was a gross simplification that resulted in a misinterpretation of the study's overall conclusions," Sample said. 
 
 As far as the data that influenced the misconstrued assumptions, Sample said when narrowly interpreted, the study suggests that when looking at the smokestack emissions, woody biomass emits slightly more CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced. That does not at all mean it is more polluting or inferior to coal plants, however, because it doesn't take into consideration any type of life-cycle analysis or other harmful emissions that coal emits and biomass does not. "That [wrong] impression surprised a number of us who contributed to the study," he said.
 
 Sample emphasized that the reason Pinchot felt it should provide clarification on the matter was because the organization is a nonprofit research institution that serves to provide accurate and comprehensive information to policymakers; he also noted that some groups may benefit unfairly from the widely circulated misreading. "We need to ensure that [policymakers] decisions, particular on wood biomass energy in the U.S., are based on fully comprehensive and accurate data, as we have the American Power Act and a number of other things in play," Sample said. 
 
 He added that the institution still feels that it is a strong study, though, and provides good analyses and information that was not previously available. 
 
 Adding insult to injury, the Environmental Working Group released a report June 16 that associates biomass power with "clear-cutting trees," wrongly claiming that state and federal incentive policies would soon support such activities. 
 
 In the report, EWG states it calculates that the current recommended goal of generating 25 percent of U.S. electricity from renewable sources by 2025 would require the equivalent of clear-cutting between 18 million and 30 million acres of forest. The claim significantly contrasts with studies performed by other renewable energy technology-neutral groups, such as the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, that have calculated the goal as achievable using only wood waste materials that the biomass power industry actually uses. 
 
 Biomass Power Association President Bob Cleaves said prior to the report he had not been aware of the organization, and that its assertions have no relevance to how power is generated from biomass today in the U.S. or to how it will be in the foreseeable future. "The study is flatly wrong that federal tax incentives are used to harvest trees; both the production tax credit and investment tax credit are only available for waste wood products, and the law has been clear on this point for about six years," he said. "The assumption that biomass electricity uses or will use harvested, merchantable trees to make power and will do so increasingly if Congress passes aggressive renewable energy laws is based on a premise without any economic analysis that suggests it's even viable to use whole trees." If that were the case, Cleaves pointed out, the many biomass power plants that are currently idle in the country, most located in heavily forested areas, would be running. "Right now they can't afford even waste wood at current fuel and power prices, let alone whole trees at twice the cost," he said.
 
 Referring to President Obama's recent call for a constructive dialogue on changing the U.S.'s energy policies in light of the BP Gulf oil spill, Cleaves pointed out that it will never be accomplished by engaging in tired rhetoric or environmental scare tactics. "We (the biomass power industry] welcome the debate," he said. "But let's get the facts right … we are going to make every effort we can to protect the truth."

Recent biomass studies misconstrued, inaccurate

Representatives from several biomass organizations including, left to right, Niebling, Rosenthal, Neal, McAdams, Cooper and Cleaves, took the stage at the International Biomass Conference & Expo to outline their legislative agendas. PHOTO: ELIZABETH 

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Johnson, manager of biofuels development at Alliance Energy, participated in a general session panel called A Utility Perspective on Biomass Derived Power. PHOTO: ELIZABETH BURSLIE, BBI INTERNATIONAL

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Nearly 300 exhibitors packed into the expo hall at the Minneapolis Convention Center during the 2010 International Biomass Conference & Expo. PHOTO: ELIZABETH BURSLIE, BBI INTERNATIONAL

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From left to right, Goodale, Nelson and Bilek participated in the One in the Same: Waste Management is Energy Management panel, which was moderated by Jonathan Scoll,far right, an attorney with Lindquist & Vennum. PHOTO: ELIZABETH BURSLIE, BBI INTERN

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The International Biomass Conference & Expo featured tours of the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is conducting an algal cultivation pilot study, the Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is building an anaerobic digester to capt

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Attendance at the 2010 International Biomass Conference & Expo mirrored growth in the industry and the excitement generated by the resurgence in renewable energy.

Biomass Bonanza

With forests covering about 86 percent of its land area, Finland is the most extensively forested country in Europe. Given that fact, it seems only natural that the country would utilize the abundant resource for energy, and indeed it has. In 2008, more than 430 wood-fueled district heating systems were operating in Finland, as biomass energy development grows more rapidly there than any other renewable resource.
 
 "In Finland, most of the development we're seeing is going into biomass," says Dominik Röser, research scientist with the Finnish Forest Research Institute. "The most abundant resource we have is definitely wood. In most rural communities, there are small-scale district heating systems based on wood-fuel heating municipal buildings like public libraries, hospitals and schools. Almost every single village has its own small-scale district heating networks." Large cities are also taking advantage of wood resources, and many have combined-heat-and-power systems for municipal buildings as well as for homes. In Röser's home city of Joensuu in North Karelia, about 44,000 households are connected to the network. 
 
 "[Finland is] already, at the moment, producing about 20 percent of our total energy consumption from wood, which is one of the highest in Europe," Röser says, adding that in North Karelia, 70 percent of total energy consumption is from renewable resources. "The long-term goal for our area is to become totally oil independent," he says. 
 
 The country's forestry industry is large and well developed, allowing for an efficient existing distribution system. "And we are very effectively using the byproducts of those industries," Röser says, citing black liquor, bark and sawdust. But over the past 10 to 15 years, Finland has been working toward developing the materials coming directly from the forests such as logging residues, thinning and stumps. "This is where we can grow in the industry," he says. 
 
 
 Established Expertise
 
 In the 7,000-person city of Eno, Finland, three district heating networks have a combined output of 4.8 thermal megawatts used for public housing and municipal buildings. All three, established separately between 2000 and 2004, are owned by private forest owners and together use a total of 7,700 meters of underground piping. It seems in Finland, district heating networks simply need a local demand to fill in order to warrant development. 
 
 "It's always a matter of proximity," Röser says. "When you have enough buildings in a given area, then you can build a district heating network." Apartment blocks are ideal for such systems, he adds, as they hold plenty of customers, all of whom will use heat. The latest trend he's seen in wood-fueled systems development is installation of the systems during construction of the buildings that will use them. For instance, if 50 new homes are being built, it's ideal to install piping when sewage and other systems are installed, for use later when the plant is developed. "It's much easier to put the pipes in at the same time," he says. 
 
 Part of the reason Finland has seen such success in its wood-fueled district heating development is that it uses simple combustion technology in most of its systems. "We have relied on technology that is reliable and that can work," Röser says. "When you are trying to establish a market, you have to use something that works and that's where, especially in Finland and Sweden, we've been very successful in installing and developing reliable technology." 
 
 Well-developed technology also helps convince citizens of the benefits of such a project. "If that system doesn't work, it's very difficult to convince the public that wood energy is something good," he emphasizes. But public opposition to harvesting from forests is not as fierce and abounding in Finland as it has been recently in the U.S., a fact Röser again attributes to a robust forestry industry. The systems can bring in added revenue for foresters and forest owners, who make up a large part of the country's citizens. "The big difference between North America and Nordic countries is that, especially Finnish and Swedish people are very used to using their forests and that's why it's not very difficult to convince them to harvest," he says. But getting correct information out before development can help if any resistance does crop up, he adds. "In my opinion, there are a lot of misconceptions out there in the public about wood energy. The public doesn't really know what they're dealing with. The public is the first one that has to be convinced and if you don't have the support, you can't do it against their will."
 
 Getting citizens on board can be the biggest challenge in developing district heating systems, Röser says, followed closely by building supply chains. "Our entire harvesting systems had to be somewhat modified and adapted in order to facilitate the harvesting of biomass," he says. The third and final large challenge was to research the environmental effects of the projects and their operations. The Finnish Forestry Research Institute has one of the biggest research programs to look at harvesting technology, social effects and environmental effects, he says. 
 
 
 CHP for Placer County
 
 Citizens in the Lake Tahoe, Calif., area are environmentally conscious too, according to Brett Storey, Placer County project manager, but structures in the region source power downhill from coal-fired plants in Nevada. So Placer County has proposed a small combined-heat-and-power (CHP) facility that could heat buildings such as schools and businesses. "We as a county have been trying to look at biomass as a solution for a number of things," Storey says. The facility, still in the early stages of development, would be located on the north end of the lake and would have the capacity to produce 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity, along with the heat, using forest residues from a 30-mile radius. "We're just sort of looking at this as a pilot project to make sure this is the right thing to do in these sensitive areas," Storey says. "We believe it is and we're hoping that everyone else there does as well." 
 
 Currently, forest residue in the region is burned or hauled away. "They've got all this biomass material they don't know what to do with," he says. The county is about to move forward with the land-use permits, along with its environmental impact statement and report, and Storey says the project has support from most of the citizens in the area. "If all goes well, we could construct in 2012 and be operational in 2013," he says. 
 
 The county has discussed possible off-take agreements with one school, three current businesses and developers of a nearby proposed project that would include a couple of buildings and some housing structures. The small CHP system will undoubtedly be able to handle the load. "We will have excess capacity," Storey says. "In fact, stage three to this is we're also talking with Caltrans, which is the state transportation agency who is going to redo the highway in the area, about at least heating the sidewalks for the community, but potentially heating the road." Such a measure would help with snow removal, a problem the cities have struggled with, and piping could be laid when the roads are already dug up for reconstruction, as Röser would recommend. "The timing fits perfectly," Storey says. "The cost would be so much less to lay the pipe as they're already doing this." That aspect of the project is in preliminary stages of development, but making optimal use of the facility is favorable. "We're trying to squeeze every single use out of this we can possibly get," Storey says.
 
 The $8 million to $9 million project would be a public private partnership between the county and the local energy company, Storey says, and has already been granted about $3 million for research and development from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. It would remove anywhere from 75 to 99 percent of pollutants emitted when the forest slash is burned and reduce pollution from fossil fuels for the buildings connected to the heating network. "We're fairly sure that everyone is going to see the benefits of this and get behind us," Storey says. 
 
 
 Significant Benefits
 
 Those benefits, according to developers, are numerous and monumental. In Eno, heating costs have dropped by €15 ($19) per megawatt hour; about 1.6 million liters of oil have been replaced each year; the local economy has saved about €1 million; carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by about 4,000 metric tons (4,400 tons) annually; and employment opportunities have increased, according to Röser. "There are significant benefits," he says. "[Finland] wouldn't put up new systems all the time if they weren't successful." 
 
 A proposed 47 MW CHP facility in Greenfield, Mass., will seek to reap most of those same benefits for the community, if it can be developed as planned. Madera Energy is working to establish a market for heat produced at the facility, looking at other developments nearby. "There's an industrial park close to us that could potentially be a demand for that heat, though I don't think it would be a particularly large demand," says Matthew Wolfe, principal of Madera Energy. A neighboring empty lot might be the site of a new greenhouse, offering another option, and a 3.5-mile stretch from the proposed site to the community's downtown area holds a hospital, police station and a school, not to mention the plethora of heat users downtown. "It's not just wishful thinking," Wolfe says. "We've actually had a number of conversations with these potential users of heat. At this point we're just trying to get a better idea of whether or not it would be economically feasible. There are a lot of challenges."
 In preliminary discussions, Wolfe made clear his intent to develop a plant that would not only generate power, but also heat, as it offers so many benefits. "We have to design this to be able to do district heating," he says. "It's something that people want to do and as you design a facility, you want it to be as advanced and forward-thinking as possible."
 
 The plant would run primarily on forest-based wood, along with shipping pallets, land clearing and saw-mill residue. Madera has a number of permits in place, but is still waiting for its air permit. A timeline is not yet determined, but Wolfe hopes to begin detailed design and construction in 2011, with operation in late 2013 or early 2014. 
 
 
 Building on Success
 
 Development is made easier in Finland by federal grants that typically cover about 40 percent of project costs, along with cooperatives to construct and operate, Röser says. When district heating development in Finland was in its infancy, municipalities took the risk and made the investment. Now, it's becoming more common for forest owner cooperatives to take the reins in investing and development, selling the energy generated to the municipality, according to Röser. Customers themselves can also come together in a cooperative by paying a fee to cover the investment until it's paid off, although that structure is more common in central Europe, he says. 
 
 But employing another community's business model is seldom the perfect solution when establishing widespread district heating networks. "There is no definite or clear blueprint," Röser says. "The challenge is to adapt the right business model to the right conditions. Of course, these business models have worked here and they would also work probably in the U.S. or in Canada, but it's not the one solution that fits everybody."
 
 Amqui, Quebec, has its own unique business model for heating the city's hospital, stemming from extensive research into Finland's success. "They have made it [work] for their conditions and I think that is really the key in all of this technology and know-how," Röser says. "People need to see what we're doing and adapt it to their own conditions." Cooperative Forestry Matapédia bought the boiler for the Amqui system, while the hospital secured the financing for the boiler house. The cooperative contracted the construction of the boiler house and delivered it to the hospital in December 2009, ready to heat, according to Yoland Légaré, cooperative general manager. Energie CFM Inc., a subsidiary of the cooperative, burns biomass from the cooperative's operations in the boiler and sells the energy to the hospital, he explains, adding that the system and model are considered beneficial to the community.
 
 "They have really created a successful business model and heating plant that is a really good pilot case for Canada or for all of North America," Röser says. BIO
 
 Lisa Gibson is a Biomass Magazine associate editor. Reach her at <a href="mailto:lgibson@bbiinternational.com">lgibson@bbiinternational.com</a> or (701) 738-4952.

Chipping operations provide fuel for district heating systems in Ilomantsi, Finland. PHOTO: FINNISH FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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A truck dumps a load of wood chips into a district heating facility in Eno, Finland. PHOTO: FINNISH FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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While the majority of cities and villages in Finland already employ wood-fueled district heating systems, countries such as the U.S. and Canada are just beginning to tap their forestry resources for such widespread networks.

The Heat is On

Carolina-Pacific LLC shipped 5,000 tons of wood briquettes to Scandinavia at the beginning of March, marking the first of the company's regular shipments out of its location at the Port of Georgetown, S.C. The briquettes are contracted to specific power plants there, adding Carolina-Pacific to the increasing number of U.S.-based manufacturers sending their woody biomass products overseas.
 
 U.S. companies are attracted to the European market because of higher demand and better incentives for renewable energy. In addition, wood pellet, chip and briquette producers in the Southeast U.S. have the advantage of a large supply of wood to satisfy that European demand, and the product can be transported by ship instead of more costly truck or rail. Cottondale, Fla., is the home of Green Circle Bio Energy Inc.'s 560,000-ton pellet plant, currently the largest in the world; Phoenix Renewable Energy is developing a pellet plant in Camden, Ark., with a capacity of 250,000 tons; and Point Bio Energy LLC is developing a 496,000-ton pellet plant at the Port of Baton Rouge, La. The products from these plants, and many more, are headed for Europe's well-established renewable energy market. 
 
 
 Patchwork Quilt
 
 The European Union has a policy that requires its member countries to generate 20 percent of their energy consumption from renewables by 2020. In addition, numerous individual nations have their own goals. "They're just about 10 years ahead of us in terms of a commitment to renewable energy," says John Kern, chairman and CEO of Carolina-Pacific. "What we've got here is a patchwork quilt of portfolio mandates for each state." Specifically in the Southeast where "coal is king," he adds, few states have goals that draw renewable developers. "There's a lot of indecision," he says. "There's a lot of inaction domestically here in the states because nobody knows what the future holds." Kern says he would sell his wood briquettes in the U.S. if a federal renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was passed, but even then, it would be years before the standards would take effect, and development takes time. 
 
 An RPS usually leads to the implementation of incentives to spur development and ensure those goals are met. "The thing is, there are some incentives in the EU so that there can be higher and better production coming from renewable energy," says Ronalds Gonzalez, a PhD student at North Carolina State University and co-author of "Wood Pellets: An Expanding Market Opportunity" (see page 68). "Here in the U.S., we don't have as much incentive to use wood pellets." Gonzalez adds that more tax incentives in the U.S. would drive the domestic market. 
 
 Europe adopted the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and in 2003 started with a disincentive to burn fossil fuels: the carbon tax, Kern explains. The continent aspires to drive down pollution to 1990 levels. "Every year they have to shave off a little bit more fossil fuel generation," Kern says. The domestic biomass market there is expensive from a logistics perspective, as trucking means the added cost of highway tolls and other fees, Kern says. The cost to move 5,000 tons across the Atlantic Ocean by ship is about the same as the cost to move it 100 miles across the countryside, he says. 
 
 In addition, wood resources in Europe are limited, meaning longer and even more expensive land transportation routes, and reharvesting must be done much more sparsely, Gonzalez says. Most areas wait 70 to 100 years, while some forestlands in the U.S. can be harvested again after about 18, he says. 
 
 "It has a lot to do with the supply," agrees Al Wolfson, senior associate at Malcolm Pirnie, an environmental engineering, science and consulting firm. "Most of the wood resources available that are reasonable are still in the U.S." But the majority of U.S. manufacturers in discussions with Malcolm Pirnie aren't looking exclusively at the European markets, Wolfson adds, as many are banking on an increase in domestic use and therefore a growing domestic market. "It's not an either/or situation. It's an and situation." 
 
 
 Growing Demand
 
 European renewable goals coupled with a limited wood supply drive a heavy demand for imported biomass. In 2009, 14.3 million tons of wood pellets were produced globally, of which European countries consumed 8.8 million tons. The continent is expected to reach a consumption of 55 million tons per year by 2020, according to the European Biomass Association. Europe is already using woody biomass for industrial, as well as residential and other applications. "My orientation is around trying to reap the harvest of the biomass markets that we have in the states and position it into the demand, which is in Europe," Kern says. "I'm bridging the chasm across the Atlantic between suppliers of biomass and the market." 
 
 In the U.K. alone, an estimated 12 million to 20 million tons of woody biomass per year will be needed to satisfy the demand, according to Pete Stewart, founder, president and CEO of Forest2Market, a market price and industry information agency. "It's a phenomenal amount," he says. While that demand drives densification development in the U.S., it can also hinder profitability, according to Stewart. Being so advanced in biomass utilization, Europe is experienced in developing and operating pellet plants. "They know exactly how much it costs to build those plants, manufacture and run them," he explains. They understand the cost structure very well so they take that knowledge to the manufacturers in the U.S. "We find it will be a very difficult-type market for manufacturers to squeeze out a margin because if the Europeans can't get what they consider a fair or good price, they're just going to buy it and do it themselves." 
 
 Germany-based RWE Innogy is developing a wood pellet plant in Waycross, Ga., called Georgia Biomass. The facility is expected to produce 826,000 tons of pellets each year, headed to RWE's existing power plants in the Netherlands for cofiring, according to the company. RWE was drawn to develop in the state by the wood surplus, along with a well-established harvesting and logistics infrastructure, local government support, and plenty of local workers with local support to train for RWE's special requirements, according to Michael Eissing, RWE project manager. "Unlike Europe, the U.S. has a huge growth surplus of wood with no use for the moment," Eissing says. "This is particularly true in the Georgia region. Wood growth is currently ahead of consumption in Georgia. Due to the large surplus available, wood is much more affordable in the U.S. than in Europe, with its restricted woodland availability." Furthermore, Eissing adds that forest management in Georgia is carried out sustainably, meeting RWE's strict standards for biomass production. 
 
 Such integration of the supply chain for European renewables is a growing trend, affecting the developing woody biomass product manufacturing market in the U.S, Stewart says. "[The market] will come in, but it will be a lot more integrated than people think it's going to be," he says. "There will be a bona fide pellet export business, but a lot of that will be integrated and a few independents will make it, but anybody who believes there's a 15, 20 or 25 percent manufacturing margin in that is just not thinking logically." 
 
 
 Export Market Limitations 
 
 The inability of U.S. companies to acquire a margin in the sale of their pellets can mean producers have to scrimp in other areas, including quality. "RWE was not satisfied with the quality of pellets coming from the U.S., so they're building their own plant," Stewart says. Wolfson is also concerned about the quality of U.S. pellets, with depressed pellet prices in Europe and cheap resources coming out of areas such as Brazil and Malaysia. "Quality could be a critical limiting factor," Wolfson says. "You really have to be a reliable supplier with a high-quality product." 
 
 Another factor limiting the development of a robust export market of woody biomass products is increasing concerns about shipping life-cycle analyses. "I've talked to a lot of shippers who are concerned about this," Wolfson says. "On the other hand, another thing we need to think about is we get a lot of goods brought in by container and a lot of those containers go back empty to their countries of origin. So I do think there's a lot of backhaul opportunities.
 
 "My expectation is that unless you really control your feedstock, as far as being in export and a pellet manufacturer, you're going to face two big issues," he says, citing significant increases in prices of raw material and competition for that raw material. 
 "I think there's going to be a big competition between existing pulp and paper mills and pellet plants," Stewart says. "They use exactly the same raw material, so there's going to be a big rub there. And I also think there's going to be some political fallout." American pulp and paper companies are going to lean on their representatives, especially locally, to dissuade any incentives providing tax abatements, making investments for new woody biomass densification facilities difficult, he predicts. "I think the big companies that are long-time players in the local markets will really push on them to not provide those sorts of incentives. And I think a lot of them will be successful." 
 
 In addition, complaints have surfaced about the USDA's Biomass Crop Assistance Program, including concerns that the Farm Service Agency was subsidizing the export of green energy to Europe. Stewart expects BCAP-2 to exclude exported material for payment qualification, which will undoubtedly affect the woody biomass products industry in the U.S. "I think it will slow down the development because pellet costs will be higher, manufacturing costs will be higher, and that means the end product cost in Europe will be higher," Stewart says. 
 
 Another limitation is depth at U.S. ports. Carolina-Pacific's shipping capacity is limited by the Port of Georgetown's depth of only 6 meters, Kern says, adding that his once-monthly shipments will amount to about 60,000 tons this year and up to 120,000 next year. Plans to deepen the port to 9 meters would mean it could support 25,000-ton ships and significantly increase freight, he says. Carolina-Pacific also will increase its volume of export by procuring pellets from other companies for shipment with their own products. "We think we can fairly economically reach out about 240 miles or so," he says. 
 
 Deep water is essential for shipping wood resources, with most ports requiring about 12 to 13 meters, Stewart says. "There are a limited number of deepwater ports that have handling or bulk handling capabilities and you have to have those combinations," he says. 
 
 But many agree that the limitations are not insurmountable and won't stop the market from developing. "I do think there's such an incredible demand in Europe that there's going to be biomass wood chip and pellet export opportunities and it's going to grow over the next five to 10 years," Stewart says. 
 
 Wolfson agrees and says the U.S. is still in the fact-gathering phase to sort out the market. "In the next 10 years, we'll have a very good market," he says. "We're seeing intelligent landowners and pellet people and customers overseas getting together to develop truly sustainable supply chains." BIO
 
 
 Lisa Gibson is a Biomass Magazine associate editor. Reach her at <a href="mailto:lgibson@bbiinternational.com">lgibson@bbiinternational.com</a> or (701) 738-4952.

U.S. wood products shipments to Europe are expected to increase as the country?s baiomass power industry grows. 

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A growing number of U.S. wood pellet, chip and briquette producers are shipping their products to Europe, where demand is high, supply is limited and incentives are good. Some worry, however, that numerous obstacles will slow the developing export market.

Bridging the Global Supply/Demand Gap

Historically, the number of investment fraud cases in a given industry increases with the level of hype surrounding it. If it's frequently in the news and on the Internet, chances are it's also plagued by gimmicks, scams and/or embellished technological advancements camouflaged by enticing promises of high and quick returns.
 
 Rapidly expanding and increasingly profitable, the renewable energy industry is seeing its share of fraudulent business conduct. Perhaps the most notorious case within the biomass sector was brought to light in November by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged Pennsylvania-based Mantria Corp. with more than 300 cases of investor fraud via a $30 million Ponzi scheme. Mantria allegedly targeted elderly investors or those approaching retirement age to finance a supposed carbon negative housing community in rural Tennessee, as well as biochar, while claiming to be the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of biochar with multiple facilities producing at a rate of 25 tons per day.
 
 According to the SEC, Mantria never sold any biochar and had just one facility engaged in testing biochar for possible future commercial production. Mantria's only source of revenue was from its resale of vacant lots for its purported residential communities in Tennessee, but those sales didn't generate enough cash to pay investor returns, rather, the company provided 100 percent financing for almost all of its vacant lot sales to buyers using other investors' funds, the SEC says.
 
 Interest in biochar as a means to sequester carbon and as a substitute for charcoal has reached new heights in the past few years, a likely reason why scammers are hot on its trail, according to John Gannon of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. "When an area is hot for investors, scamsters understand that and so that's where they target their scams," he says. "When oil prices are high, we see oil and gas scams. When Hurricane Katrina hit, we saw scams there as well. Whatever is in the news is what scamsters and fraudsters target. The legitimate stories in the media help them build credibility about the purported investment that they are pitching."
 
 
 Swindling Styles 
 
 FINRA is a private corporation that oversees nearly 4,750 brokerage firms, about 167,000 branch offices and approximately 634,000 registered securities representatives. Formed by a consolidation of the enforcement arm of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Regulation Inc. and the National Association of Securities Dealers Inc., one of FINRA's many functions is to issue alerts and advice to investors to help protect their money and avoid scams.
 
 Gannon, who is FINRA's senior vice president of investor education, says there are two main ways of being scammed. The first, which is the scam that Mantria allegedly employed, is a Ponzi scheme. Named after Charles Ponzi who became notorious for using the technique during the early 1920s, the operation pays returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned. Mantria scammers allegedly encouraged investors attending seminars or online webinars to liquidate their traditional investments such as retirement plans, stocks, bonds and mutual funds and urged them to borrow as much as possible against their homes or businesses so that they could invest in Mantria. The funds acquired from new or existing investors were then used to pay other investors.
 
 The other most common scam is a "pump-and-dump" scheme. "The idea is to increase the price of the stock quickly by putting out bogus press releases, touting it on the Internet and in other various solicitations, basically creating a lot of activity to quickly jack up the price of the stock, and then they sell the shares they own and gain a big profit," Gannon says. "The prices then quickly go down when there's no more news/hype, and the investors who bought in at that time are left holding the bags." 
 
 In 2008, for example, the SEC filed charges against Mississippi-based Sustainable Energy, alleging that the company made false claims to boost share prices from 25 to 45 cents a share, even above 70 cents after some wildly exaggerated press releases. In one release, Sustainable Energy said it could produce 5 gallons of biofuel from one bushel of soybeans, at a price of 50 cents per gallon. As a result of the alleged embellished claims, stock prices soared quickly-and artificially-prompting Sustainable Energy CEO John H. Rivera's girlfriend to sell more than 2.6 million shares and then transfer a substantial portion of the proceeds into a bank account held jointly with Rivera. 
 
 Whether Ponzi, pump-and-dump or other, before an investor is lured into a bad investment, Gannon says it's likely that multiple red flags will be present that should be carefully analyzed. 
 
 
 Look for Red Flags 
 	
 Investors should always raise an eyebrow when the initial investment opportunity discovers the potential investor, rather than vice-versa, Gannon says. "Especially when the individual or organization presenting the opportunity is unknown or fairly unknown to the investor," he says. "Ask yourself … why would somebody you don't know bring you a promise of the next-greatest investment out there? Why are they targeting you with this pitch? If it's so good, why aren't they investing themselves?"
 If the company offering an investment is a public company, one should confirm that they are registered with the SEC. "Learn information about the company from that filing," Gannon says. "Many of the stocks that are used to defraud people haven't been in business that long. A lot of them have been created through a reverse merger, which is when a company will be in a certain business line and then suddenly, because an industry such as alternative energy is hot, change their name and complete a reverse merger resulting in the company being in a totally different business line. That is a red flag that tells you the investment could be a scam." 
 
 Most unsolicited recommendations involve stocks that cannot meet the listing requirements of a major national exchange such as the NASDAQ Stock Market or the NYSE. Rather, they are quoted on the OTC (over-the-counter) Bulletin Board or in the Pink Sheets, where there are no minimum financial and other quantitative standards that have to be met by the company, and no obligations to file annual or quarterly reports to publicly disclose information.
 
 Yet another red flag is when a vast amount of wealth is promised to an investor in a short time. "It's a very common tactic," Gannon says. "One solar panel stock scam touted a 200 percent gain, and another scam claimed the company's stock ‘soared 500 percent in one week.' When you see pitches like that step back, because it's highly unusual."
 By examining information on a company's financial statements Gannon says it's relatively easy to determine if a company has revenue and how much, and whether it's making a profit. Never rely on information you received in unsolicited faxes, e-mails, text messages or blog posts. It could be a paid promoter or con artist, especially online where a single person can use multiple aliases to create the illusion of widespread interest, Gannon says.
 
 
 Good Intentions, Bad Assumptions 
 
 Even if a new company's intentions aren't exactly to pull the wool over an investor's eyes, one must proceed with caution. Energy expert Ronald Rapier, chief technology officer for bioenergy holding company Merica International, says he thinks assumptions (relevant to the biofuels industry) regarding the cost of biomass is one of the worst some companies are making today. "I see many companies claiming they will produce cheap biofuel, but when you take a closer look they are basing that on getting cheap, free or even negatively valued biomass," he says. "Unless one can lock up a long-term supply agreement with someone who has a track record of being able to deliver biomass, I don't think this assumption will hold up."
 
 A high degree of skepticism should be applied to claims of processes being capable of handling "any type of biomass," Rapier says. "Different feedstocks behave very differently in different processes," he says. "In a gasification process, some high-ash or high-moisture feedstocks can be problematic. In a cellulosic hydrolysis process, there are certain feedstocks that produce strong enzymatic inhibitors. In general, processes are optimized around specific feedstocks, and they don't respond favorably to having inconsistent feeds." 
 
 All technology has to start somewhere, which is typically in the laboratory. For successful commercialization, lab-scale results have to be replicated at larger scales-an event that Rapier says isn't likely for the majority of energy technologies. "My own observation has been that most technologies die in the lab, and most that make it to the pilot stage die there. Very few survive all the way to commercialization, but government policies/funding can result in some surviving that shouldn't have survived."
 
 Reported results are almost always the best that a technology has ever achieved, according to Rapier. "When someone says ‘up to 100 gallons per ton' I discount that heavily," he says. "People who tend to hype their technology don't report typical results. They report the best results to investors and present them as typical, but when they build their plant, typical results are what they will get." Rapier adds that such assumptions are common among renewable energy companies today, a fair number of which have already resulted in bankruptcy. "[Faulty assumptions] will undoubtedly lead to a few more bankruptcies in the future," he says. 
 
 
 Spreading the Word 
 
 Regardless of whether you have fallen for a scam or were lucky enough to avoid one, the best thing to do is to report it to firms such as FINRA or the SEC. "If it didn't fool you, chances are there probably is or will soon be somebody who is falling for it," Gannon says. "By doing this, we can alert people to the issue." To further deter bogus investments, FINRA has developed a research-based scam meter, a free online tool that analyzes a user's investment to determine whether it has the red flags of a potential scam (www.finra.org/meters/scam). 
 
 One investor who lost $20,000 to a bogus green energy company told Biomass Magazine he simply put too much trust into the individual making claims about a company's technology and product, and discovered it much too late. "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet," warns the investor, who didn't want to be identified. "If you really want to know about something, do your own due diligence-you just can't do enough. Do lots of research, contact people, check out the patents and see if they are there and licensed to the company, and make sure the person or persons are who they say they are." BIO
 
 
 Anna Austin is a Biomass Magazine associate editor. Reach her at <a href="mailto:aaustin@bbiinternational.com">aaustin@bbiinternational.com</a> or (701) 738-4968.

Some renewable energy investment opportunities seem too good to be true-and occasionally they are. How can a potential investor tell a wise investment from a shell game?

Unearthing Green Scams

The use of biomass as a substitute for fossil fuel to create energy, whether heat or power (or fuels for that matter), is expected to dramatically grow in the future as a reflection of its potential benefits, including environmental, economic and ability to reduce energy risk. Figure 1 illustrates the dramatic biomass growth expected through 2035.
 
 Interestingly, the Energy Information Administration expects the majority of this biomass growth to take place with existing heat or power generation assets, with two-thirds of the expected growth to come from cofiring applications and not in new, dedicated biomass plants. 
 
 Just because industry growth is expected, however, doesn't mean that biomass is right for your business. At ground level, for the individual company seeking to economically produce energy from biomass, the difference between "potential" and "realized" benefits is meaningful. The development of a biomass strategy that's right for your business is essential for success. There are many questions to work through and analyses to complete to fully understand the complexities of this market and to define the likely benefits and risks to your specific business. 
 
 Thinking strategically when considering the key issues to follow will provide the framework for the development of your future plans for the utilization of biomass.
 
 
 Success Starts with Supply
 
 We all recognize that success is driven by the alignment of feedstock availability, composition and costs with your business operations. After all, feedstock not only drives your fuel costs but also drives the ultimate performance and efficiencies of your energy operations. 
 
 The process would be comparatively straightforward if all biomass resources were created equal and performed consistently. The challenge is that there is no common definition or standard for the term "biomass." Even something as seemingly consistent as "woody biomass" varies widely by species, moisture, size and form, bark and ash content, consistency, energy content, etc. Biomass is not created or defined equally and, therefore, by definition will not perform consistently in your operations. 
 
 As the biomass markets develop, too often we observe potential users working to evaluate what's being made available rather than focusing on what they truly need. This reactive approach can be problematic and creates increased risks for both potential suppliers as well as downstream users. Aligning your biomass strategy to fit your business, and not the other way around, is a primary success factor.
 
 To add to the feedstock challenge is the fact that the supply chain (delivering biomass feedstock in the form you need it) is immature and not well-defined or developed. The costs associated with supply chain coordination, including transportation and logistics, preprocessing, and storage and handling typically exceed the cost of the underlying biomass feedstock. Aligning this process to deliver the fuel resource in the form that best fits your business is also important. 
 
 Of course, understanding the operating performance and economics in your energy systems (from receiving through downstream energy production and emissions) is also critically important. 
 
 Suffice it to say determining whether biomass makes sense for your business is not a simple equation. Given the complexity involved, taking a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach to understanding the complete life-cycle impact on your business is required-from feedstock origination and delivery through downstream energy production and emissions. 
 
 The bottom line is, undertaking a major biomass initiative is risky business given the related challenges and uncertainties. Adhering to disciplined and repeatable business processes, working to truly understand the opportunities and risks in context of your business, and ensuring informed business decision making will reduce risk and improve your odds for success. 
 
 The following steps are recommended to help readers develop a long-term biomass strategy.
 
 Define Your Strategic Biomass Objectives
 As with any new initiative, it's important to "begin with the end in mind." Start by clearly defining what you seek to accomplish with your biomass strategy and why that is important to your organization. Make sure to define how you expect to measure the success of your biomass strategy, whether that is economic, environmental or regulatory or some combination thereof. 
 
 Define Your Biomass Process Requirements 
 Once you have defined what you seek to achieve with your biomass strategy, work to define your process requirements so you know what you are looking for and are positioned to communicate your requirements to potential suppliers. What are your downstream energy requirements for biomass? What are your feedstock specifications regarding volumes, consistency, composition, form, costs, etc.? What are your logistical and storage and handling considerations? What kind of supply terms do you desire? 
 
 Evaluate Potential Supply Resources and Strategies 
 Work with a potential feedstock supplier in the region to better understand what's available in your market and how the potential supply aligns with your defined requirements. In this part of the review you are really looking to understand what is available, identify potential supply risks and clearly define the gap between what is available and how that fits with your defined feedstock requirements. 
 This phase will form the foundation for developing a feedstock supply chain strategy and approach that is designed to deliver what your facility needs to achieve your strategic objectives. 
 
 Define Biomass Feedstock Supply Chain Strategy and Approach 
 Utilizing the information compiled above along with key supplier contacts developed in the process, work with potential supply partners to define the best supply procurement and delivery system for your organization. This may result in a strategy to develop intermediate feedstock aggregation and (pre)processing centers to normalize multiple types of feedstock into a consistent, homogenous fuel stream designed to meet the specifications of your organization. While the approach may increase the direct cost of the feedstock fuel, it should also reduce supply risk and improve handling and operating efficiencies.
 
 Prove the Concept Through a Pilot Phase 
 Once the conceptual approach has been defined, it's important to prove the concept through a pilot phase prior to committing the resources to scaling up the process. A pilot phase should be designed to test the feedstock origination process through receiving and downstream utilization in your operations. The goal is to test the process in the real world and to generate (and collect) the economic and operating data with which to evaluate the process and to compare it with your preliminary design estimates. While this process takes resources and time, the knowledge you gain through the process will no doubt save your organization time and money as you look to ramp up volumes in the future. 
 
 Plan for Scale-Up 
 Armed with the clearly defined strategic and operational objectives and an understanding of the biomass resources in your region and how they fit with your requirements, together with the actual operating data and insight gained through the pilot program, you should be well-prepared to determine if biomass represents a viable approach to achieving your goals and to develop an actionable plan to ramp up the process going forward. 
 Putting the biomass strategy before the business' operational needs forces the business into a range of alternative energy decisions that can negatively influence the goals of the business. The biomass strategy, therefore, must be subordinated to the business strategy. External guidance through this maze of decisions can help you make the correct ones for your business, saving you time, money and headaches. BIO
 
 Kirk Martin is a partner with Ascendant Partners Inc. Reach him at (303) 221-4700.

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Figure 1: EIA 2010 Renewable Energy Outlook

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Figure 2: EIA Projected Biomass Use (2009 Energy Outlook)

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Developing a biomass strategy that's right for your business is necessary to ensure its success because feedstock controls your fuel costs and the ultimate performance and efficiencies of your energy operations.

Align Biomass Strategy to Fit Your Business-Not the Other Way Around

Wood has been used for heating and fuel purposes for thousands of years. The wood industry has found itself on the verge of a revolution, however, because of the rapid increase in development and utilization of new wood-based solid and liquid fuels. Wood pellets represent an alternative to the use of coal, gas and even traditional wood logs and chips. Wood pellets are cylindrical, compressed wood particles used as burning fuel. Pellet size varies from one-fourth to one-third inches (6 to 8 millimeters) diameter and 1 to 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) in length, with a bulk density that is usually about 40 pounds per cubic feet (about two to three times the wood density of softwood).
 
 Based on the principle of densification of dried wood chips and sawdust, pellets offer better and more uniform heating properties per unit volume due to their low moisture content. Pellets burn cleaner, have reduced particulate emissions compared with coal, are more economical to transport due to increased bulk density and can be easily produced from wood waste and byproducts. This provides new ways to divert wood waste from reaching landfills as well as to increase overall profit through an integral and more efficient use of the raw material. Wood pellet applications vary from household heating to large-scale industrial power generation. It is important to emphasize that wood pellets are not a new product, they have been utilized for decades, but it is only now that the world is experiencing a large demand increase, and wood pellet potential is still underestimated.
 
 
 Global Market
 
 During the past four years, the global wood pellets market has experienced a dramatic increase. Global production went from almost 8 million tons per year1 in 2007 to more than 13 million tons in 2009, of which European countries consumed more than 8 million tons (2009). North America produced about 7 million tons in 2009, of which almost 5 million tons were intended for exports to Europe. Leading countries in the consumption of pellets in Europe are Sweden, Austria and Finland, while Germany, France and Italy are experiencing the largest market growth in both capacity and consumption of pellets. Russia is also increasing its production capacity and may become a key player for exports in the near future. In addition, countries such as Denmark, Belgium and Norway are experiencing the most significant increase of the region in pellet consumption. According to the European Biomass Association, it is expected that Europe will reach a consumption of 50 million tons per year by 2020 compared with 8 million tons per year in 2009. Regardless of increased production and consumption, European countries will have a lack of production capacity to satisfy the internal demand, mainly due to the scarce availability of sustainable sources of raw material in the EU. With an increasing demand from several European countries, and few exporters besides Canada and Germany, U.S. producers are finding a growing market that literally exploded, increasing from 2002 through 2006 by more than 200 percent. Despite this large increase in production, most pellets manufactured in the U.S. were intended for domestic consumption. Canada has dedicated more than 80 percent of its production for the export market, mainly to European countries, and is the largest exporter of wood pellets in the world. With the opening of several new facilities in the Southern U.S, the capacity for exports has expanded and European countries with demand for pellets, such as Sweden, Italy, Denmark and Norway, may take advantage of their better prices, faster shipping, and a steady availability and supply of pellets from these U.S. facilities. These countries may switch from their traditional Canadian supplier, depending on delivered prices and long-term supply agreements. The market for other continents, excluding North America and Europe remain marginal, with combined production of only 0.3 million tons per year. South America, Africa and Asia are far behind in the race for market share and positioning in the pellet market. These players must not be underestimated, however, especially countries such as Brazil. With the availability of raw material, and well-established wood and paper industry, it will be a matter of time for Brazil to become a key player in the wood pellets market.
 
 The U.S South has the ability to supply pellets for the European market at a competitive price because of enhanced production capacity due to a sustainable wood source from plantations. In addition, it may become a better alternative for European buyers than Canada, because of the locations of important ports, better road infrastructure and year-round harvesting. U.S. producers can achieve long-term agreements with European customers because of the increased demand for pellets, and the lack of resources (production capacity and raw material availability) to internally satisfy the demand.
 
 
 Wood Pellet Pricing
 
 Wood pellet prices in the U.S. are heavily affected by transportation costs. Since the most common delivery system in European countries is in bulk cargo, prices in Europe tend to be more stable around €215 per ton ($304 per ton2). Pellets in the U.S. are sold in bags by retailers, adding about $20 per ton in packing, pallets and wrapping material. With an average price of $276 per ton as of November, pellets can be found for as low as $176 per ton, or as high as $600 per ton in the Northern U.S. However, for U.S. companies intending to compete in the export market, the price for warehousing and the ocean freight costs must be taken into consideration. Warehouse costs may add around an additional $10 per ton, while ocean freight (which can be extremely volatile) adds $35 to $45 per ton to the price of pellets. The fact that pellets are not considered a commodity also affects the price. When they are considered a commodity, prices will have less variability, but will still be strongly affected by transportation costs and raw material availability. This wood pellet commodity market could be developed using futures contracts as with lumber, oil and other products.
 
 
 New Facilities 
 
 The U.S. wood pellet industry has been characterized as being dominated by several small- to medium-sized factories. The definition of a medium or large factory needs to be redefined, however. Typically, a large factory was considered to be producing about 100,000 tons per year. In recent years, several facilities in the Southern U.S. have started operations, producing more than 500,000 tons per year. The opening of such facilities redefines the term large-scale production in the wood pellet market. In addition, there are several facilities planned, permitted and ready to break ground, and several others projected to start construction as this article was being written, including four facilities from Phoenix Renewable Energy, planned in Arkansas. The largest wood pellet facility in the world started operations in 2007 in Cottondale, Fla., mainly producing and shipping pellets to Sweden. Several multinational corporations are investing in pellet facilities and operations; recently, Weyerhaeuser and Mitsubishi announced a strategic memorandum of understanding in order to explore and establish the feasibility of a pellet production facility in the U.S. by 2011, and depending on its success, more facilities could follow in the next few years.
 
 In Georgia, RWE Innogy is building a factory with the capacity to produce 1 million tons of pellets per year. More factories of similar size are projected in South Carolina and Georgia, intended for the export market to Europe. Germany has seen its pellet industry grow exponentially becoming an important exporter to neighboring countries. Since 2004, approximately 35 new facilities, in addition to the previously existent 15 plants, have started operations. With an average capacity of 66,000 tons per year, and several new facilities planned for 2010 and 2011, the potential of Germany as producer and exporter is now significant, and it's able to absorb market share from North American manufacturers. Canadian producers have also launched several new facilities. With a well-established market for exports and solid producers such as Pinnacle, looking for a business expansion, the number of factories in Canada has been significantly increased in the past four years, adding additional capacity for European exports. U.S. producers still have an advantage compared with Canadian manufacturers regarding shipping ports and strategies. States such as Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, all have proximity to important ports, a railroad system and a sustainable source of plantation grown wood for production, resulting in lower transportation costs and minimized storage time. Many of these Southern U.S. ports have a long history of wood chip, lumber, log, pulp and paper exports. In less than five years, the U.S. South's pellet industry has transformed from virtually nonexistent to producing 2 million tons in 2009. New pellet facilities have also been announced in the Northern U.S. (New Hampshire, New England Pellets), and the west (Oregon and California, Enligna U.S.). Southern states will still lead the pellet market development, based on the number of facilities announced and in recent operational status. 
 
 For the U.S. domestic market, however, a single large-capacity factory may not be economically profitable, especially since wood pellets are mostly sold in bags. Transportation to several destinations from a single production site might make prices prohibitive to retail buyers. This market will require special attention in order to grow, and a solution for pellet companies may rely on having several small factories rather than one single large facility, especially when accessibility to roads, railroads and storage space is limited.
 
 
 Well-Established Technology
 
 The process for making wood pellets is fairly simple, and has been well-established and developed. The main issues to take into consideration are moisture content and wood species used in the process, making manufacturing a process of finding the right "recipe" for production conditions rather than a technological upgrade. Building requirements and labor for a pellet plant are relatively low. The key element for a pellet plant is having the criteria to choose the right equipment and capacities, especially when handling large production volumes, where typical investment levels can reach more than $30 million in equipment (for plants producing 200,000 tons per year). Nevertheless, by increasing the size of the facilities, some issues arise. Problems such as self-heating of the pellets while being stored, cooling of big volumes of pellets in the manufacturing process, utilization of local wood species with different properties that may affect production parameters and throughputs. The quality, condensation and crumbling of pellets while being transported as well as pellets from mixed species and wood waste must be managed. Production considerations for the pelletization of torrefied wood at an industrial level may represent great opportunities and technological advances that need to be addressed in order to ensure growth and sustainability of this market for the U.S. wood industry. 
 
 
 Final Remarks
 
 The right conditions for a massive scale of wood pellet production in the U.S exist. With high import requirements from European countries, and favorable manufacturing conditions and raw material availability that can be found in the Southern U.S., both small and large producers are finding a market niche that must be filled. The wood pellet market seems promisingly sustainable for years to come. In order to become reliable European market suppliers, U.S. producers must solve large-scale production issues regarding warehouse strategy, self-heating, transportation, handling and capital investment. The volatility of pellet prices in the U.S. has to be addressed in order to ensure the sustainability of the market. As a final thought, the technical feasibility for pelletizing torrefied wood must be further developed, due to the promising results and enhanced heating value provided by this material. BIO
 
 
 References:
 
 1Every weight unit expressed in tons is referred to metric tons of pellets, at 10 percent moisture content. One metric ton equals 1.2 short tons.
 
 2Calculated at a exchange rate of 1 Euro=1.412 U.S. dollars (01/23/2010)
 
 Adrian Pirraglia is a PhD candidate of wood products at North Carolina State University, Ronalds Gonzalez is a PhD candidate of paper science and engineering at NCSU, Daniel Saloni is an assistant professor in the Department of Wood and Paper Science at NCSU and Jeff Wright is an adjunct faculty member at NCSU. The author's research group has been working on several projects for energy densification and the economics of ethanol production during the past four years. Achievements of the group include the development of techno-economical models for pellet production, harvesting and transportation of biomass, material testing and characterization as well as market analysis.

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The competitive advantage of the Southern U.S. relies on shortened shipping times, as compared with many British Columbia, Canada, factories, whose travel route takes shipments through the Panama Canal. Opportunities are opened, as Italy, Belgium, an

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The world pellets consumption for the next 10 years is projected to increase by 25 percent annually, reaching nearly 140 million tons by 2020. Previous projected growth for 2010 was already surpassed by 2009, reaching more than 13 million tons. This 

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The typical price range for wood pellets in the most important markets in the world is notably higher for European countries, giving an advantage to exporters with low raw material and transportation costs when entering these markets

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The price composition for wood pellets at the mill gate reflects that energy, raw material (biomass), and labor are key cost drivers in the production of pellets. Energy costs include drying the wood chips prior to pelletizing, which usually can acco

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The pelleting process is relatively simple depending on how the raw material is received, with processes such as chipping, drying and grinding, being optional. 

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The conditions are ripe for a massive increase in the production of wood pellets in the U.S. due to demand from European countries, favorable manufacturing conditions and the availability of raw 
materials, especially in the South.

Wood Pellets: An Expanding Market Opportunity

The world's increasing demand for renewable or sustainable energy has spurred the development of alternative energy sources to replace the traditional natural gas and oil, and their increasing costs. The production of these alternative sources requires a variety of proven air emission control systems. Overviews of the applied technologies are included, and specific applications are discussed for processing of ethanol, wood pellets, poultry litter, and the operation of biomass dryers and gasifiers.
 
 As a result of environmental concerns, government agencies have established increasingly stringent standards for emissions control. Some of the biomass processes are listed below along with the air emission controls that can be utilized to meet the necessary requirements.
 
 Ethanol Production: Particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are typically released during fermentation, distillation, the spent grain drying process, and from storage tanks. The contaminants include: acetaldehyde, acrolein, ethanol, formaldehyde, 2-furaldehyde, methanol, acetic acid and lactic acid.
 
 Installations of scrubbers or thermal oxidizers have met the requirements for air pollution abatement. Alternate solutions include the Photo-catalytic Gas Treatment (PGT)1 system, which achieves air emission control without any auxiliary fuel. A comparison to the regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) is shown for an ethanol process. (Figure 1)
 
 Wood Pellets: Wood pellets are used as a supplement or replacement for oil and coal. The pellet is pressed or extruded under high pressure, generally after the wood has been dried to less than 15 percent moisture for use with combustion systems such as boilers.
 
 European utilities have already started using wood pellets to burn along with coal in existing power plants.
 
 The wood pellet plants operating in the Southeastern U.S. have installed and/or evaluated wet electrostatic precipitators (WESPs) and RTOs or PGT systems to control the PM, VOC, and HAPs which are primarily generated in the drying process of the green wood chips.
 
 Poultry Litter: Poultry litter is utilized as a biomass fuel source for power generation. More than 500,000 tons of poultry litter annually, as well as other biomass, produce 55 megawatts of power, enough electricity to serve approximately 40,000 homes.
 Potential process air emissions are controlled through a semi-dry absorption scrubber (SDA) and baghouse. (Figure 2)
 
 Gasification: Biomass, wood chips, sawdust, char, coal, rubber or similar materials are converted into solid ashes, soot and syngas or producer gas with a gasifier. The gas can then be filtered for tars and soot/ash particles, cooled and directed to an end-user such as a kiln, furnace, boiler, an engine or fuel cell to produce electricity.
 
 The quality of the gas from different gasifiers will vary depending on the system and overall fuel approach.
 
 Pre-drying of wood biomass is essential in some processes in order to achieve the higher Btu syngas necessary for the process.
 
 A wet electrostatic precipitator system, for instance the SonicKleen WESP, with a PGT or RTO system, can provide the necessary air emissions control for the facility. (Figure 3)
 
 
 Air Emission Control Equipment
 
 New technologies such as Catalytic Gas Treatment/PGT and traditional technologies are capable of meeting the most stringent control requirements of the biomass industry. A variety of control technologies are used in the biomass industry:
 CGT or PGT: The CGT or PGT system utilizes a simple liquid process to absorb aldehydes and/or alcohols from industrial process gas streams. The absorption system uses hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric acid (HNO3) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and aqueous catalysts to capture and oxidize the alcohols and/or aldehydes.
 
 The lower the concentration of emissions in the process stream, the lower the CGT/PGT operating cost. Other notable features include "instant-on" and no standby costs.
 
 The process gas flows up through a single-stage packed absorption tower, where formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and other aldehydes and/or alcohols are absorbed into the counter flow-water solution. The solution is retained for sufficient time in a reaction tank to complete the oxidation process.
 
 The clean solution is recycled back to the top of the absorption tower to repeat the simple, continuous oxidation process. Additional catalysts and hydrogen peroxide are added as necessary to maintain the desired oxidation levels.
 
 The CGT/PGT system is an economical solution to achieve compliance with the EPA maximum achievable control technology (MACT) requirements and eliminate the increasing fuel cost associated with the RTO alternative solution. It also eliminates the greenhouse gas emissions associated with nonrenewable fuel use.
 
 WESP: The WESP system is an ultra-high efficiency mist and particulate eliminator that achieves compliance with the ever-increasing EPA MACT requirements for particulate, fumes, mists and condensibles.
 
 The WESP system eliminates the problems associated with dry electrostatic precipitators, fabric filters and high-energy scrubbers:
 
 Hydroscopic particles, which tend to become sticky and solidify causing hard-to-remove deposits and plugging/blinding 
 
 Saturated gas streams, which can plug fabric filters or cause corrosion problems 
 
 High pressure drop: 30-inch water column for a scrubber for high efficiency sub-micron particulate removal, 6- to 8-inch water column in a fabric filter 
 
 Re-entrainment losses or bleed-through losses
 
 A down-flow WESP design offers unique features not available with an up-flow design. (Figures 4 and 5)
 
 In wood dryer applications, a venturi/cyclonic separator has been extremely successful in process gas conditioning providing removal of larger particulate and fully saturating the process gas prior to the WESP. (Figure 6)
 
 The WESP provides excellent PM control compliance and provides the protection required for downstream equipment for many of the biomass process air emission control systems.
 
 SDA: The SDA system is ideally suited as an efficient acid gas/mist control device upstream of a baghouse or ESP for many types of boiler applications in the biomass industry.
 
 The SDA injects lime slurry into the boiler (process) exhaust through an efficient atomizing nozzle system at the top of a down-flow absorption tower. The droplet size and uniform distribution into the air stream are essential to the performance of the SDA system. Droplet size is generally measured in sauter mean diameters and distributed in a bell curve fashion. Although the mean diameter is an important factor, the maximum droplet size and percentage of maximum droplets need to be considered in sizing the retention time to insure that all the water is evaporated and the bottom of the tower remains dry. Evaporation time for the larger droplets is exponentially longer than for small droplets. 
 
 A two-phase water and compressed air nozzle can generate a droplet one-tenth the size of a single-phase, water-only nozzle, thus substantially reducing the retention time and size of the absorption tower.
 
 The lime reagent absorbs and reacts with the acid mist to form calcium sulfite or sulfate, which is carried through to the baghouse where it is collected and removed from the system.
 
 The SDA offers several benefits over other types of control including:	
 
 Greater than 90 percent removal of SO2 and greater than 95 percent HCl removal
 
 Utilizes a low-cost reagent, lime
 
 No liquid effluent-all water is evaporated into the air stream
 
 No water treatment required
 
 Simple to operate
 
 Wide turndown ratio of 10 to 1
 
 RTO: Today's RTOs have optimized the benefits of structured media, simplified flow control and compacted the configuration into a smaller prepackaged unit, greatly improving on the original design. Thirty years of design improvements have resulted in a greatly improved RTO. Many of the low-concentration biomass processes still require substantial amounts of auxiliary fuel, however, and have a large carbon footprint.
 
 
 Conclusion
 There are many variations in biomass fuel and energy production that require a variety of customized solutions. Each application must be evaluated in light of the process characteristics, emissions regulations, and life-cycle costs to arrive at an optimal solution and choice of equipment. BIO
 
 References:
 
 1Groupe Conseil PROCD Inc., CGT™ US Patent 7,304,187, PGT Patent-Pending
 
 Rodney L. Pennington is a registered professional engineer with more than 36 years of diverse experience in all phases of research, engineering, design, management, sales and marketing of air pollution control and energy conservation systems. He has more than 20 patents, is a published author and speaker and has served as an expert witness in regenerative technology. Reach him at <a href="mailto:rpennington@turbosonic.com">rpennington@turbosonic.com</a>.

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Figure 6: Typical Venturi, Separator and WESP

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Environmental concerns have prompted government agencies to create rigorous standards for emissions control, and the biomass industry is no exception. Each process requires a different approach, depending on the feedstock, technology, regulations and life-cycle costs.

Air Emissions Control for the Biomass Industry

Posted June 10, 2010, at 4:30 p.m. CST
 
 Woody biomass energy production is commonly thought to be carbon neutral, but a Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences study shows a more complex picture of biomass energy's carbon footprint. The study, however, may have one fundamental flaw, as it bases its analyses on new forest biomass instead of the waste wood and residues most plants would use. 
 	
 "Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study" examines three main aspects of biomass energy in Massachusetts: feedstock availability; impacts of increased harvest on forest ecosystems; and carbon accounting implications. The study was commissioned and funded by the state Department of Energy Resources (DOER), which suspended all new applications for renewable portfolio standard (RPS) qualification, awaiting the results. 
 	
 The six-month study, commissioned largely in response to citizen opposition of four proposed biomass facilities in the state, shows that using forest biomass for energy results in "carbon debt" because burning wood releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per unit of energy than coal, oil or natural gas. Unlike fossil fuels, however, forests can grow back and recapture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, paying off the carbon debt. After the debt is paid off, if the forest continues to grow, a "carbon dividend" is realized and the use of wood then becomes increasingly beneficial for greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, according to the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. As a result, using forest wood for energy can lead to lower atmosphere GHG levels than fossil fuels, but only after the time when the carbon debt has been paid off. Whether or not full carbon neutrality can be achieved will depend on if, when and how the forest is harvested in the future, the study found.
 	
 In addition, combined-heat-and-power (CHP) facilities and biomass heating operations reach carbon dividends much sooner than forest biomass power plants because of greater efficiency, the study says. Replacing oil-fired CHP and thermal capacity yields benefits within a decade and when replacing natural gas thermal, taking between 20 and 30 years. Dividends from the replacement of coal-fired electricity with forest biomass begin approximately 20 years later, and when biomass replaces natural gas electricity capacity, carbon debts are still not paid off 90 years later, according to the study.
 	
 The work also determined that forest biomass availability depends heavily on prices that bioenergy facilities are able to pay for wood. At present, landowners in the region typically receive between $1 and $2 per green ton of biomass. Under that scenario, the estimate for new biomass that can be harvested annually from forests in the state is only between 150,000 and 250,000 green tons, only enough to generate 20 megawatts of power. Those estimates could potentially increase 50 to 100 percent when out-of-state forest biomass resources are taken into account. If prices were to increase to $20 per green ton, availability from combined in-state and out-of-state forest biomass could total between 1.2 million and 1.5 million green tons per year, but the study says that scenario is unlikely. 
 	
 "There are wood supplies from forest biomass and nonforest biomass," said Peter Bos, developer with Russell Biomass, which plans to build a 50 MW power plant in Russell, Mass., which would use nonforest biomass such as residues, stumps and other debris not considered new forest biomass. "Manomet estimated forest biomass conservatively, but that's probably OK because that will be taken into account when DOER establishes its new wood sustainability policies for each biomass plant." Nonforest biomass has substantially lower global warming impacts than forest biomass because it does not require cutting new wood, he said. At least 1 million tons per year of nonforest wood is available in the state and surrounding areas, he said, adding that estimate is conservative, as well.
 	
 A 2002 report found that 2.5 million tons of nonforest biomass is available in the state, the Manomet report cites, adding that the potential and value of these sources may be substantial and is worthy of further investigation. This point seems crucial to feedstock availability for Massachusetts biomass plants, as none of the proposed facilities have included cutting new forest biomass in their plans. "They're making a fundamental assumption that is not correct," said Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association, in reference to the Manomet study. "I think they missed the point that the overwhelming feedstock for biomass projects in the country is tops and limbs from the forest products industry, rice hulls, orchard prunings, all byproducts of another process." When taking that point into consideration, biomass power is absolutely carbon neutral, he added. "The report's authors appear to focus primarily on growing and harvesting trees for use in the generation of energy." Biomass was recently deemed exempt from California's cap-and-trade program, Cleaves emphasizes, and respected scientific and environmental groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Forest Guild have expressed strong support for biomass power. 
 	
 Bos is not concerned that the DOER might rule out biomass altogether for RPS qualification, saying the only way that would happen is if there was no waste wood available at all. "I think DOER in Massachusetts now has a framework they can use for allowable sources of wood supply," he said.
 
 As far as forest sustainability and biomass harvests, the study shows that harvesting rates would not increase from current levels in the low-price scenario. The combined volume of timber and biomass harvests in the scenario represents less than half of the annual net forest growth across the state's operable forest land base. In the high-price scenario, however, the total harvested approaches the total amount of wood grown each year on the operable private forest land base, the report states. 
 	
 A public comment period of one to two months follows the June 10 release of the findings, after which time, the DOER will carry out a redrafting process. "We will create standards, taking into account the study," said David Cash, assistant secretariat for policy at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy Environmental Affairs, which has a secretariat umbrella over six line agencies including the DOER. Cash said it's too early to speculate as to what the new standards will include and exclude. "It's clear from the findings that … long-term GHG balance on biomass electricity doesn't work," he said. Creating the standards could take another one to two months after the comment period, which Cash said will be an important aspect of final decisions. RPS qualification applications will remain suspended until new standards are finalized. The study can be viewed in its entirety at www.manomet.org.

MA biomass study finds complex carbon impact

Posted June 11, 2010, at 10:49 a.m. CST
 
 The Biomass Power Association is requesting an apology and a clarification statement from the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for misinformation communicated in a study released June 10.
 	
 "Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study" examines biomass energy in the state of Massachusetts, but bases its analyses on new forest biomass instead of the waste wood most biomass plants use or propose to use. It's a subject of grave concern for the members of the BPA who do business in 20 states, according to Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the BPA. "The report issued by Manomet on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has generated both a lot of interest, but also a tremendous amount of confusion and misinformation about a very, very important issue for our industry and that issue is carbon impacts from utilizing biomass in the production of electricity," he said.
 	
 In response to the study, Cleaves emphasized four major principles of the BPA and its members that guide operations: only sustainable fuels that do not contribute to land-use changes and offer much lower greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels are used; members do not promote harvesting of forests for energy; members fully support use of wood waste and byproducts from sustainable forestry; and members support the use of nonforestry waste from the agricultural industry. The Manomet study completely ignores waste wood fuels for the first 109 pages, Cleaves said, addressing them almost as an afterthought on page 110: "All bioenergy technologies, even biomass electric power compared to natural gas electric, looks favorable when biomass waste wood is compared to fossil fuel alternatives."
 	
 "It assumes, we think, that in order to support the growth initiative in Massachusetts, that the chopping of trees has to occur to produce an adequate amount of fuel to support these facilities," Cleaves said of the study. But that's not the fuel used by existing or proposed facilities in the country. 
 	
 "We want the commonwealth and Manomet to issue a statement immediately, recognizing that this study is not about waste wood and waste materials and organic residues that are not generated solely for the purpose of producing energy," he said. "to issue a study like was done yesterday and baldly assert that biomass is less carbon friendly than coal is flatly misleading, irresponsible and not an accurate portrayal of our industry."

BPA requests apology for misleading report

Posted June 14, 2010, at 10:13 a.m. CST
 
 A sawmill in High Level, Alberta, Canada, plans to use its waste materials as feedstock for what could potentially become the world's largest commercial-scale fast pyrolysis plant.
 
 Tolko Industries Ltd., a major producer and marketer of lumber, plywood and other forest products with woodland operations in several Canadian provinces, and project partner Ensyn Technologies will build and operate the facility at Tolko's High Level sawmill site. It will be capable of processing up to 400 dry tons of biomass per day into 22.5 MMgy pyrolysis oil produced through Ensyn's Rapid Thermal Processing technology. 
 
 Ensyn, which also has Envergent Technologies, a joint venture with Honeywell UOP, describes RTP as a fast thermal process whereby agricultural or woody biomass is introduced into a vessel and rapidly heated to 500 degrees Celsius (930 degrees Fahrenheit) by a tornado of hot sand, then rapidly cooled to generate about a 75 percent yield of bio-oil.
 
 Tolko Industries Energy Supply and Systems Manager Michael Towers said High North Bioresources LP will not have to procure additional feedstocks, as the facility is being designed to exclusively use the residuals from Tolko's sawmill. Construction of the plant will enable the decommissioning of the sawmill's waste burner that is currently in operation, he said. 
 
 Presently, the sawmill purchases natural gas for all its heating and drying needs, as well as power from the grid to meet its power needs, according to Towers. "It will require some capital expense to allow the sawmill to utilize heat from pyrolysis oil, [but] the new facility will produce energy in excess of the sawmill's requirements and will send power out onto the grid," he said. According to Randy Goodfellow, Ensyn senior vice president of corporate relations , all of the pyrolysis oil will be used on-site for electricity production. 
 
 The plant will also be capable of producing a resin ingredient that can be used in the manufacture of wood panel products. Goodfellow said construction of the bio-oil plant is set for spring 2011, operations are expected to commence in the second half of 2012. 
 To view an interactive video of Ensyn's bio-oil production process, visit <a href="http://www.ensyn.com/rtp.html">www.ensyn.com/rtp.html</a>.

Bio-oil plant to fuel Canadian sawmill

Posted June 16, 2010, at 4:07 p.m. CST
 
 The one-day Advanced Biofuels Workshop, a co-located event at BBI International's 26th annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, took place June 14 in St. Louis. The first panel, Game-Changing Pathways: Exploring New Roads to Tomorrow's Advanced Biofuels, demonstrated the wide range of products from, and process techniques for, advanced biofuels production. 
 
 Today the advanced biofuels industries are in the "let a thousand flowers bloom" mode, said Gregory Pal, senior director of corporate development with LS9 Inc. "Over time there'll be a shake-out and others will fall by the wayside," Pal said, referring to the questionable feasibility of some products and processes now under investigation. 
 
 LS9 has made headlines in recent months for its novel one-step approach using designer microbes to convert sugars, not lipids, into various diesel fuel substitutes. The microbes, what some have referred to as "magic bugs," ferment sugars into either methyl ester biodiesel or a renewable hydrocarbon fuel the company trademarked UltraClean Diesel depending on the desired end product. "There are no miracles required," Pal said. 
 
 The company is focused on diesel fuel substitutes because it rightfully recognizes that diesel is the dominant fuel outside the U.S., and in years to come diesel applications are expected to gain significant ground in the U.S. 
 
 Pal told the audience that LS9's pilot plant has been operating in south San Francisco for nearly two years, and mentioned the demo-scale plant in Florida expected to come on line next year. LS9 also recently gained U.S. EPA registration to sell its fuels into commercial markets. 
 
 While LS9 is focused on diesel fuels, Virent Energy Systems Inc. is focusing on biogasoline-and the company has big names backing it up. Cargill is invested in Virent and is helping arrange feedstock supply; Royal Dutch Shell is also deeply financially invested as its development partner while opening up market channels; and Honda is testing its fuels and providing performance feedback. 
 
 
 The company's vice president of business development, Greg Keenan, said there are similarities between the pathways of LS9 and Virent. "While LS9 is going biological route, we're using a solid state catalyst, the goal is to reduce the oxygen to carbon ratio and increase the hydrogen to carbon ratio," Keenan said. 
 
 The severity of Virent's process, called BioForming, increases from hydrolysis at 100 degrees Celsius, followed by pyrolysis at temperatures between 400 and 700 degrees, then gasification at around 1,000 degrees. In one to two hours, Virent's process moves from sugar in to drop-in product out. 
 
 The Btu content of Virent's biogasoline comes in at around 120,000 Btu per gallon compared to petroleum unleaded gasoline at about 115,000 Btu, and ethanol at 76,000 Btu. The Reid Vapor Pressure of biogasoline is similar to that of fossil gasoline, Keenan said. 
 
 Keenan said the company is looking at beet and cane sugars, in addition to corn syrup, as feedstocks. 
 
 Another panelist on the Game-Changing Pathways panel at the ABW was Randal Goodfellow, senior vice president of corporate relations for Ensyn Technologies Inc., one-half of the Envergent Technologies joint venture with UOP. 
 
 Envergent's process utilizes oxygen-free fast pyrolysis in a circulating fluidized bed in which the ultra-hot sand heats bits of biomass and vaporizes them. Goodfellow joked that even though the Rapid Thermal Processing reaction takes less than one second, he tells people that it takes less than two seconds because public perception was that under a second is "too fast." 
 
 "We've had an advanced biofuel since 1989, it was a byproduct of our chemicals production," he said. Ensyn has been making smoky flavors from its process for years, which have been picked up by big names such as Kraft Foods and Burger King. 
 
 The feedstock comes in at 45 percent water, and they use excess gases off the process to dry down the product to between 6 and 8 percent moisture. He said the process yields 70 to 75 percent liquid fuel. 
 
 As far as feedstock choices go, Goodfellow said, "The sand doesn't care what it hits. It could be lignin-it is lignin." The joint venture hopes to have its fuels hitting commercial markets by 2012. 
 
 When used for heat, Goodfellow said the fuel is economic when oil is only $30 a barrel; when considering transportation fuels, it is economical when oil is only $40 a barrel. 
 
 Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc.'s Omar Abou-Sayed, vice president of corporate development, rounded out the ABW's kick-off panel, and he spoke on the company's metathesis process. Metathesis can produce a host of platform chemicals from double-bond triglycerides, such as 1-decene that makes up synthetic motor oil, to 9-octadecene, which Abou-Sayed said sells for $1,000 a pound. "We're going to make it for $1 a pound," he said. 
 
 "Out of a typical barrel of oil, 8 percent is used for petrochemicals-the naptha cut," Abou-Sayed said. "But that 8 percent makes up 40 percent of the profits." 
 
 He said Elevance sees 9-decenoic acid as the heart of the biochemical industry, which is why it's important to derivatize it to other chemicals. 
 
 "Prices being equal between a black molecule and green molecule, people will always pick the green one," Abou-Sayed said. 
 
 By fourth quarter this year, the company will begin biorefinery construction. "We need to achieve scale, and we'll be introducing productive capacity in the next 12 months," Abou-Sayed said. 
 
 SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

Game-changing pathways to advanced biofuels

Posted June 16, 2010, at 4:14 p.m. CST
 
 At the Advanced Biofuels Workshop June 14 in St. Louis, a panel took place that should be of interest to the many idled and distressed biodiesel facilities in the U.S., thanks to the long-lapsed biodiesel tax credit. The panel, titled, Second Life: Upgrading Existing Industrial Facilities for Advanced Biofuels Production, discussed opportunities where misfortunes otherwise abound. 
 
 Richard Aves, CEO of Cetane Energy LLC, presented on retrofitting biodiesel plants to produce between 200 to 2,000 barrels (8,400 to 84,000 gallons) per day of renewable diesel by way of hydroprocessing. He said Cetane Energy got U.S. EPA certification of its fuel in April 2009, and the company is currently looking at first-gen feedstocks for its second-gen process. 
 
 Its first demo plant was built at the company headquarters in Carlsbad, N.M., and can produce 200 barrels a day of hydroprocessed renewable diesel. Cetane Energy dubs the plant the first U.S. facility to produce hydroprocessed renewable diesel in a stand-alone facility. 
 
 Thus far, the company has five refineries planned, Aves said, and they are being engineered to produce between 500 and 2,000 barrels a day. Cetane Energy's first preference is to use idled/shutdown refineries. The locations of these projects are St. Gabriel, La.; Winnie, Texas; Lexington, Ky.; Las Vegas, Nev.; and Mobile, Ala. The Louisiana plant is in the engineering phase now, and construction is expected to begin later this year, Aves said. It is being designed to process 1,600 barrels per day. Cetane Energy also has license agreements with Rational Energies and Rio Grande Valley Biofuels. 
 
 "We're not waiting for commercialization," Aves said. "It's here." 
 
 Add-ons and retrofits to process and upgrade high-acidity feedstocks was the topic of Roman Wolff's discussion. Wolff is president of Houston-based Enhanced Biofuels LLC. He said his company's trademarked HS Reactor System is designed to process feedstocks with up to 100 percent free fatty acids (FFA) and/or carboxylic acids. 
 
 "Carboxylic acids found in pyrolysis oil are very corrosive and can leach into water," Wolff said. 
 
 Wolff discussed drawbacks of existing technologies to treat undesirable feedstocks, saying that ion exchange requires higher capital costs when dealing with feedstocks that have FFA content higher than 10 percent; acid esterification involves expensive metallurgy, large equipment, and high capital expenses, and is usually designed for batch processing; and with hydrogenation, Wolff said the corrosive, high-FFA feedstocks can degrade the catalyst and-contrary to Aves' talk-can only work on a grand scale. "I'll have to talk with Richard afterwards," Wolff said, looking over to Aves with a smile. 
 
 Unlike other advanced biofuel technologies, Enhanced Biofuels' HS Reactor System produces methyl esters. Wolff said next-generation technology providers rarely look at improving current processes, what his company does. The system employs a combination of reactor geometry, catalysts, temperature and pressure to allow utilization of undesirable and corrosive feedstocks. Enhanced Biofuels has two pilot units in operation today, one scaled at 3,000 gallons per year and the other much larger unit capable of producing 250,000 gallons per year. 
 
 "Advanced biofuel technology is here today," Wolff concluded. 
 
 When asked what aspects can make or break a retrofit project at a biodiesel refinery, Aves pointed out the situation with Healey Biodiesel, a small biodiesel plant in Sedgwick, Kan., which planned to trade in transesterification for Cetane Energy's hydroprocessing technology. The lack of available hydrogen, obviously necessary for hydroprocessing, killed that particular plant retrofit project, Aves said. Even so, he said his company and Healey Biodiesel have plans for future work together at locations where hydrogen supply is accessible, perhaps in the Gulf Coast region where the oil refineries are concentrated. 
 
 Eric Connor with ThermoChem Recovery International talked about the integrated thermochemical biorefinery concept, incorporating gasification of biomass at distressed pulp and paper mills to make syngas, which is then cleaned and fed into a Fischer Tropsch reformer to produce diesel fractions and paraffin waxes, and/or used in a combined cycle energy plant. 
 
 Since the thermochemical platform is exothermic, it integrates with an endothermic host process to create superior economics. He said the thermal efficiency of TRI's process is 72 to 81 percent. Depending on what markets the host company would like to take advantage of, the FT process can be tailored to produce a range of chain lengths from the lightest C1 to C4 (tail gas) to C20-plus chain lengths (paraffin waxes), Connor said. 
 
 TRI has an $8 million pilot plant at Southern Research Institute in Durham, N.C., which can process four dry tons per day using a positive displacement piston system that eliminates hydrogen blowback, and a fluidized bed boiler heating the solid biomass up to 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit, which operates at 65 psi on the bottom and 35 psi on the top. Eighty-five percent of the char is converted to syngas on that vessel, he said. It also utilizes a carbon trim cell, which is what allows TRI to manipulate the hydrogen to carbon ratio. The pilot also implements a weak caustic scrubbing to remove sulfur and particulates from the gas in the cleanup process, and then feeds the cleaned gas to the fixed bed FT reactor to produce C9 to C19 chain-length diesel molecules. 
 
 The company is integrating its process into the Flambeau River Biofuels Project in Wisconsin, which was awarded $30 million from U.S. DOE to demonstrate the biorefinery concept. The capacity will be 1,000 dry tons per day of forest waste biomass, and is expected to produce 9.5 MMgy of FT diesel, 7.6 MMgy of paraffin wax, 5.3 megawatts of green electricity, and steam and hot water for the onsite paper mill that's been around for 100 years. TRI is also working on an integrated biorefinery demo, Project Independence, at NewPage Corp. in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. 
 
 "You don't need to be large to do FT," Connor said. "I know this because I'm here. We don't want to look like the petroleum industry. Biomass is spread out. We can prove the economics for a distributed system."
 
 SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

A second life for idled industrial facilities

Honeywell will install wood-fueled energy systems at two New Hampshire school districts, heating two buildings in each district and saving them a combined $3.7 million over the next 15 years. The company will also perform several needed upgrades in both districts. 
 
 The Pembroke and Winnisquam school districts will finance the improvements and use the energy and operational savings the upgrades produce to pay for the work, according to Honeywell, which guarantees savings through a 15-year performance contract. Both districts will also receive funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the projects, resulting in no required up-front capital or additional money from the districts' budgets.

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As part of a plan to develop a new family of algae-based resins, Cereplast Inc. expects to offer the

The International Biomass Conference & Expo that was held May 4-6 in Minneapolis couldn't have been held at a better time, as millions of gallons of oil were uncontrollably gushing from the Gulf of Mexico seabed. Although tragic, it also emphasizes the nation's need for clean, reliable energy sources such as biomass. 
 
 This is no time to be smug, however, as strong opposition to biomass power projects is cropping up across the country. As Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association, said May 5 during a general session panel at the conference: "The carbon benefits of biomass are under siege." Cleaves urged the other organizations that filled out the panel including the Biomass Thermal Energy Council, Algal Biomass Organization, National Biodiesel Board, Advanced Biofuels Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, to work together to make sure that lawmakers understand the carbon neutrality of woody biomass. The group agreed that it's in everyone's best interest to tout the importance of renewable energy to America's national energy security and the environment. 
 
 Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, also mentioned how crucial it is to reach out to environmentalists on a more consistent basis. It's critical for the industry to be especially diligent when it comes to emissions. In this issue of Biomass Magazine, we've included a contribution called "Air Emissions Control for the Biomass Industry" (see page 76) that details several air emission control systems. To read more about the conference see "Biomass Bonanza" on page 38. 
 
 This month's magazine also includes a feature about the burgeoning demand for wood pellets, chips and briquettes in Europe and how U.S. and Canadian companies are shipping their products overseas. One European company is building a wood pellet plant in the U.S. and intends to ship those pellets back to its biomass power plant in Europe (see "Supply and Market: Bridging the Global Gap" on page 54). The demand in Europe is driven mainly by the European Union's goal of generating 20 percent of its energy consumption from renewables by 2020.
 
 This issue also includes an interesting feature on district heating and how Finland is producing about 20 percent of its total energy consumption from wood. Dominik Röser, research scientist with the Finnish Forest Research Institute, describes the country's model and cautions that although it has worked well for communities in Finland, every community needs to adapt its business models to local conditions. 
 
 The final feature, and probably the most important, is about the potential for scams to surface in growing industries (see "Unearthing Green Scams" on page 60). The feature discusses the two most common scams and the red flags that people need to be aware of as they look to invest in biomass-based businesses.

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Biomass Conference Creates Excitement

Several years back, ethanol was introduced as the fuel of the future for American cars. The U.S. seemingly had an endless supply of renewable corn and as gasoline prices spiked, the political will to stop relying on foreign oil was at an all-time high. It is now patriotic to drive a car powered by American corn. 
 
 So what happened? Why is ethanol now forced to justify its very existence? 
 
 Much of the reason is linked to the perception, however untrue, that government intervention through ethanol fuel subsidies caused corn prices to skyrocket, resulting in increases in the cost of basic foods. Never mind that the price of corn was part of a larger commodity bubble; foes of ethanol immediately claimed that a well-intentioned government policy to promote renewable energy lead to disastrous results. 
 
 The Washington Post reported that the higher cost of corn sent Mexico into "the grip of the worst tortilla crisis in its modern history." The food-versus-fuel debate, as it was termed, serves as an important illustration of how federal subsidies can be attacked on the basis of "unguided" government policy. 
 
 Today, biomass power sits at a similar crossroads. The potential for Congressional support of biomass power is stoking some fears that the market for woody waste material could skyrocket, resulting in higher, unsustainable prices for competing forest industries. Learning from ethanol's mistakes, the Biomass Power Association is actively working with Congress and the USDA to ensure that biomass power does not result in the same debate. 
 
 First, all government subsidies are not evil market distorters that are destined to cause chaos in competing markets. Many incentives are necessary in order to jump-start the investment needed to develop an industry, build the infrastructure to grow and create thousands of jobs in the process. The key is to work with Congress and other industries to make sure government support is measured and targeted. 
 
 Without production tax credits, for example, the biomass power industry could potentially be cut in half. This would have a devastating impact on small, rural communities that depend on these facilities for jobs and electricity. In many cases, these tax credits are literally the lifeline to the biomass power industry. 
 
 The BPA intends to work across industries to ensure that these essential programs remain intact. Biomass power can avoid the debate about "unintended consequences" by working with partners in the paper industry, composite wood industry, forest owners, and other major groups concerned about the consequences of renewable energy incentives. 
 
 The lessons learned from the food-versus-fuel debate during the ethanol boom should not be a roadblock to future programs that incentivize clean energy, but rather a road map to the best legislative path forward-with the least impact on other industries. The BPA is looking forward to partnering with Congress and all of the stakeholders, such as the paper and composite wood industries, to set responsible and measured energy policies that will ensure America maintains a strong energy-and economic-future. 
 
 Bob Cleaves is president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association. To learn more about biomass power, please visit <a href="http://www.USABiomass.org">www.USABiomass.org</a>.

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Avoiding the Food-Versus-Fuel Trap

The world's thirst for fuel is driving an increasing need for renewable fuels and a greatly reduced carbon footprint. The Energy & Environmental Research Center entered the competition more than two decades ago to convert biomass to renewable energy and fuels. 
 
 Ten years ago, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., instituted the Center for Biomass Utilization at the EERC, which evolved to become a world-class research program inventing, demonstrating, and commercializing new technologies for converting biomass to alcohols, distillate fuels, chemicals, heat and electricity-with the ultimate goal of reducing U.S. dependency on foreign imports, while stimulating the domestic economy.
 
 To satisfy the world's hunger for renewable fuels, the EERC is pursuing several new programs and infrastructure that will foster the development of a variety of new biomass research projects. The EERC will break ground on a Fuels of the Future facility this year that will allow the EERC to transfer fundamental research from the laboratory into commercialization. 
 
 The 7,500-square-foot facility will be added onto the current National Center for Hydrogen Technology facility. When the NCHT was dedicated in 2008, it was already full of a variety of technologies and test systems for the production and utilization of hydrogen. 
 
 Ongoing research, as well as a variety of new fundamental and applied research and development projects, are waiting in the wings for the Fuels of the Future facility. 
 
 Structurally, the new building will include a traditional laboratory area with ventilating hoods and bench-top work areas, a high-bay area with multiple levels, a control room, and a biomass preparation and handling area to accommodate a wide range of biomass types and processing systems. This preparation area is critical since biomass can range from low-density straw or grasses to higher-density wood chips. In some test scenarios, biomass must be downsized, dried, pelletized or treated before it is fired in reactors. The new facilities will accommodate all of these functions.
 
 Actual systems and test equipment that will fill the building are the result of existing and new contracts with commercial and government partners. Some of the projects of note this year will include:
 
 Construction and testing of new novel technologies for the production of renewable liquid fuels, inkling renewable jet fuel, green diesel and other renewable byproducts. A system design for the subscale pilot facility has already been completed. The system will be designed to convert nonfood-grade biomass oils derived from crambe or camelina into a liquid distillate fuel. 
 
 Development of an ASTM International standardized method for characterization of biomass for use as fuels and feedstocks, expediting biomass acceptance. Some of the first biomass types included in this study will be corn stover, livestock waste, beet pulp, wood residues and switchgrass.
 
 Utilization of nonfood-based waste biomass for conversion to liquid fuels or heat and power generation in small-scale biomass gasification systems.
 
 Strategic studies of paradigm-shifting technologies as well as educational outreach activities.
 
 As long as America needs to get places, fuels will be required. The EERC is using its world-class facilities and expertise to advance a variety of fuel technologies with its private-sector partners. These fuels may be available to fill your tank sooner than you think
 
 Chris Zygarlicke is deputy associate director for research at the EERC. Reach him at <a href="mailto:czygarlicke@undeerc.org">czygarlicke@undeerc.org</a> or (701) 777-5123.

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State-of-the-Art Programs and Infrastructure to Quench the Thirst for Fuels of the Future

Today's push to bring biomass energy projects on line and the seemingly never-ending death grip on project financing dollars has resulted in greater risk aversion by all contractual participants. Regardless of the feedstock being used and whether the project involves a stoker boiler, pelletization or torrefaction, completion and performance risk, among others are perceived to exist. As such, when the markets loosen up and opportunities surface, negotiating and allocating risk among transaction participants will require substantial consideration.
 
 Considering that the biomass project developer is the party paying for the construction, expecting the project to be completed on time within a stipulated budget and according to the quality and performance levels specified seems reasonable. In light of unforeseen issues related to technology, site and location, multiple cost components and the layers of skill deployment to which a project is exposed, however, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor understandably will adjust the bid price. At the end of the day, the parties understand that allocating and managing risk directly impacts the productivity, performance, quality and financial modeling of a biomass project. Thus, to ensure project success, each party should analyze what risks are likely to arise and the consequences of such risks, what can be done to avoid the occurrence of such risks, what party can prevent or control such risk, and finally, can the parties insure against such risk. The goal is to have the party with the most control (avoidance or mitigation), as much as may be negotiable, contracted to assume such risk. 
 
 The following briefly presents a couple of issues in EPC contracts that, among others, tend to be focal points when discussing/negotiating project completion of schedule risk. 
 
 In addition to the time value of money and reaching the commercial operation date to generate revenues as quickly as possible, a lot of pressure around construction timing has resulted from certain grants and incentives in the stimulus package. 
 Understandably, the developer and construction contractor seek certainty as to a project's construction schedule and contract completion. Owners want completion as per an agreed schedule to avoid additional costs and the contractor does not want to be held accountable for delays caused by the owner or other contractors. In light of the fact that biomass projects involve layers of skilled workers performing distinct activities that require specific sequencing, avoiding any domino effect delays benefits everyone. Implementing completion milestones throughout the project, in addition to reasonable liquidated damages, presents a couple of opportunities, if negotiated reasonably, that the parties can use to manage a project schedule and some of the associated risk.
 
 By agreeing to completion milestones throughout the construction, the developer can ensure that the project remains on track. Generally, such milestones are tied to certain installment payments due the contractor or adjustments to the EPC contracts retainage percentages. Thus, if the contractor fails to hit a milestone, the developer may hold back such payments or portions thereof until the contract is completed. To the extent the contractor finishes the project on time by "catching up," then those monies withheld may be tendered to the contractor as part of the final payment. 
 
 In the event the contractor fails to finish the project as per the agreed upon schedule, the developer may seek to apply the payments that were held back to any applicable liquidated damages negotiated in the EPC. Liquidated damages refers to the money, as agreed upon by the parties, that represents the dollar amount of damages caused by a contract default as to timely completion. Such damages are triggered by an inexcusable delay that extends contract completion beyond the completion date and are generally expressed in terms of a fixed dollar amount for every day that the contract extends beyond the completion date. 
 
 It has been established that to be enforceable, liquidated damage provisions amounts must: roughly approximate the damages likely to be incurred by the party seeking relief in the event of failure; and be sufficiently difficult to calculate at the time the contract is executed that both parties recognize the significant benefit of being spared any future difficulty of estimating those damages.
 
 Finally, in light of the multiple layers of third parties involved in large-scale projects, equitable schedule adjustments should be negotiated to accommodate for delays not caused by the EPC contractor.Again, the above discussion addresses only a couple of the risk allocation tools that are worthy of note. 
 
 John Eustermann is a partner at Stoel Rives LLP. Reach him at<a href="mailto: jmeustermann@stoel.com"> jmeustermann@stoel.com</a> or (208) 387-4218.

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Managing Construction Schedule Risk

PowerStock appoints Pettit to development role
 PowerStock, a provider of biomass feedstock solutions for renewable energy generation and advanced biofuels development, announced it has appointed Harrison Pettit, an ethanol industry veteran, to the position of vice president of business development. Prior to joining PowerStock, Pettit was director of business development for Pacific Ethanol Inc., where for four years he was instrumental in the development of the company's 220 MMgy of ethanol production and was the lead developer for its 60 MMgy plant in Burley, Idaho, completed in May 2008. Pettit also led Pacific Ethanol's advanced biofuels efforts, overseeing its 2.7 MMgy cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration project, which was selected in 2008 by the U.S. DOE for a $24.3 million financial assistance grant.
 
 John Deere launches 900K-series feller bunchers
 The John Deere 900 K-series tracked feller bunchers pack plenty of power. The largest, the 953K and the 959K, come with an industry-first 330-horsepower (hp) engine standard, while the smaller 903K and 909K have dual power options at 300 hp and 330 hp, respectively. The 900s feature a larger displacement Tier 3 PowerTech Plus 9.0L engine that delivers the power, with the lowest daily fuel cost in the industry and a 295-gallon fuel tank. Designed with a quick-recovery saw that never slows down, the 900K-series features a best-in-class felling head accumulation that picks up more trees at once and high-tractive effort-to-weight ratio with low-ground pressure for smooth operation.
 
 Ze-gen named top 50 Greentech Startup 
 Ze-gen Inc. announced that Greentech Media has chosen it as one of the top 50 venture capital-funded Cleantech Startups. The list includes companies from every sector of the cleantech industry, including green building, solar, wind, geothermal, smart grid, energy storage, next-generation vehicles and gasification. Ze-gen was chosen from among 500 venture capital funded firms. Inclusion in the Greentech Media's Top 50 Greentech Startups signals leadership amongst cleantech peers and Ze-gen's potential to severely disrupt the market. Ze-gen offers an economically viable and environmentally superior alternative to traditional landfills and incineration processes through its advanced gasification technology that creates renewable fuel from waste to produce clean energy.
 
 Jonsson named Chemrec CEO 
 Max Jonsson has taken over as CEO of Chemrec AB, following the resignation of Rick LeBlanc. Jonsson's company, Nykomb, of which he is chairman, is one of the owners of Chemrec. LeBlanc led Chemrec through the past year, during which considerable progress was achieved towards the goal of commercializing of Chemrec's technology for gasification of black liquor and production of motor fuels. Jonsson has a finance background and previously held senior positions in the development, financing and operation of independent power production projects. He founded and led the start-up of the HyHeat energy recovery technology company, whose technology won the Swedish Environmental Innovation of the Year award in 2009.
 
 Boldt to build We Energies cogeneration plant 
 The Boldt Co. will provide all construction services for We Energies' new 50-megawatt biomass cogeneration plant at the Domtar Corp. paper mill in Rothschild, Wis. The total project cost was pegged at $255 million. We Energies, the Milwaukee-based provider of electricity and natural gas to more than 1 million customers, said the project will create about 400 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs in central Wisconsin. Construction could begin next spring if the Wisconsin Public Service Commission gives the green light by the end of the year. The facility will use forest residue, clean wood waste and wood shavings to generate electricity and steam to assist Domtar's papermaking operations and wean the Montreal-based firm off fossil fuels.
 
 ArborGen hires Mann as general manager Australasia operations 
 ArborGen, a tree improvement and production company, announced that Greg Mann has joined the organization as general manager of ArborGen Australasia. Mann will oversee ArborGen New Zealand and Australia operations. He comes to ArborGen with more than 15 years of business and science experience. Most recently he was the commercial general manager at The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd., a New Zealand science company specializing in elite cultivar development, sustainable production systems and bioprotection, where he led the team responsible for the commercialization of technology and intellectual property. 
 
 Buhler Aeroglide acquires drying technology license
 Buhler Aeroglide announced a license agreement with Ronning Engineering Co. Inc. of Overland Park, Kan. The license agreement includes the utilization of Ronning's drying technology for specific market segments such as biomass. The license agreement completes Buhler Aeroglide's portfolio of convection drying technologies. With the addition of Ronning's specialized rotary drying technology, Buhler Aeroglide is able to provide fully-integrated biomass processing solutions from drying of raw material to grinding, pelleting and final bulk load-out of finished biomass fuel pellets. The acquisition will allow Buhler Aeroglide to provide drying solutions for the largest production rate challenges.
 
 A.W. Jenkinson, Stobart Group set up joint venture
 A.W. Jenkinson Forest Products, a U.K. supplier of wood chip and bark products, and Stobart Group Ltd., a provider of multi-modal transport and logistics in the U.K., have formed a new joint venture, Stobart Biomass Products Ltd. The new company was created to source and distribute supplies of biomass fuel to the emerging U.K. renewable energy market, allowing A.W. Jenkinson to concentrate on its traditional customer base. The biomass fuel sources will include low-grade virgin wood, arboricultural arisings, low-grade wood chips woody green waste, recycled timber and refuse-derived fuels.
 
 Irish joins Anderson Partners as media director
 Anderson Partners announced today that Cort Irish has joined the firm as media director. Irish will manage Anderson Partners' media planning and buying services, including both traditional and online media. He will also have a role in the firm's client development efforts. Before joining Anderson Partners, Irish was media director for Bozell in Omaha and has also worked for several national agencies, including Publicis/MediaVest and Starcom in New York and Chicago. Prior to that he worked with advertisers such as Denny's restaurants, Kraft, Green Giant and Allstate, before returning to Omaha, his hometown. 
 
 Upfill-Brown joins Terrabon as COO
 Terrabon Inc., a waste-to-fuel conversion technology company, announced that Simon Upfill-Brown has joined the company as chief operating officer. Upfill-Brown has more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership roles and a proven track record in the development of early-stage technology companies. He will oversee the company's operating teams and will play an integral part in driving development of Terrabon's innovative technologies. Prior to joining Terrabon, he served as CEO of GreenFuel Technologies Corp. in Cambridge, Mass., a venture spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that recycled flue gas CO2 into valuable ingredients for feed, food, fuel and chemical markets. 
 
 NDARE elects officers
 Patrice Lahlum, West Fargo, N.D., is the new chair of the North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy. Lahlum, a consultant to the Great Plains Institute on biomass programs, was elected at NDARE's annual meeting. Other officers include Kim Christianson, Great Plains Energy Corridor, vice chair, and Jocie Iszler, communications consultant, secretary-treasurer. Other members include Al Christianson, Great River Energy; Mindi Grieve, Environmental Law & Policy Center; Terry Goerger, farmer; and Mike Williams, Greenfields Energy. Kim Christianson was elected to his first three-year term and Iszler was re-elected to a three-year term on the board. NDARE promotes the development and use of renewable energy, including biofuels, biomass and wind energy, as well as the widespread adoption of smart energy efficiency and conservation practices.
 
 Capstone Turbine's Crouse elected chairman of WADE
 Capstone Turbine Corp., a clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced that Capstone Executive Vice President Jim Crouse was elected chairman of the board of directors for the World Alliance for Decentralized Energy. In the influential role as WADE's chairman, Crouse will help the organization set its agenda, expand its global presence and broaden efforts to accelerate worldwide development of cogeneration, onsite power and decentralized renewable energy systems. WADE's membership includes more than 200 corporate leaders in the decentralized-energy industry, national cogeneration and decentralized energy associations, and a number of public and private institutions.

Buhler Aeroglide acquires drying technology license

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John Deere launches 900K-series feller bunchers

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Business Briefs

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven, N.Y., will research Jatropha curcas as a sustainable, low-cost feedstock and chose California-based SG Biofuels as its source for seed and oil to test combustion properties. SG Biofuels has the largest library of jatropha material in the world and operates plantations in Latin America. 
 During the tests, jatropha will be blended with residual oil combusted in a commercial boiler that has been used to test other biofuel blends over the past few years. Measurements of gases and particulates in the stack will be taken to evaluate the differences blending makes. Physical and chemical properties will also be evaluated.

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SG Biofuels partners with Brookhaven National Laboratory

As part of a plan to develop a new family of algae-based resins, Cereplast Inc. expects to offer the first grade of Cereplast Algae Plastics for commercial use by the end of the year, according to the company.
 
 Cereplast is currently using renewable material such as starches from corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes to produce biobased resins. 
 
 Cereplast is in contact with several companies that plan to use algae to minimize emissions from smokestacks. The company is also in discussions with chemical conversion companies that potentially could convert the algae biomass into viable monomers for further conversion into potential biopolymers.

Cereplast offers algae plastics

Carbonomics, an emissions trading company, will help develop a new carbon "asset class" in an industry working group to develop jet fuel from algae using waste streams. 
 
 The working group is led by OriginOil Inc., a Los Angeles-based company working to transform algae into a true competitor for petroleum. Through modeling, OriginOil has concluded that carbon credits are a key contributor to cost-effective algae production. 
 
 Initially, Carbonomics will determine if the activity complies with the Voluntary Carbon Standard, the American Carbon Registry and possibly the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. Once a protocol has been established and validated, the working group will register projects, perform annual audits and identify opportunities for credit sales.

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Carbonomics joins OriginOil's first working group

The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy has decided not to act on a citizen petition that would limit clean energy development in the state. The measure is too broad and would cut off essential incentives for renewable energy, the committee said. 
 
 The initiative calls for a mandate that would exclude facilities producing more than 250 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour from qualifying for the state renewable portfolio standard. That would also eliminate them from qualifying for tax credits crucial for affordable operation. 
 
 Initiative proponents can still push for inclusion on the November ballot, but they need 11,000 signatures to do it.

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Mass. Legislature says no to initiative

Wheelabrator Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Waste Management, purchased the Southeastern Public Service Authority's refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in Portsmouth, Va., and adjacent waste-to-energy facility for $150 million. Wheelabrator officially assumed management of the operation, dubbed Wheelabrator Portsmouth, on April 29.
 
 The purchase concludes a two-year process aimed at selling the two plants in order to reduce debt and operating costs and draw on the expertise of a private vendor, according to Wheelabrator. SPSA chose Wheelabrator in November from a pool of four companies.
 
 A total of 164 SPSA employees at the facilities will become Wheelabrator employees. Wheelabrator also plans to invest more than $20 million in capital improvements.

Wheelabrator buys Portsmouth RDF plant

By the end of 2011, New Jersey-based NRG Energy will be generating up to 15 megawatts (MW) from cofiring clean woody biomass at its Dunkirk Generating Station in western New York. 
 
 The company received a 10-year contract from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for the power and plans to locally source forest and wood processing residue, according to the company. 
 
 NRG is also planning to use biomass as the primary fuel at its Montville Generating Station in Uncasville, Conn., after repowering one of the facility's existing units to produce up to 40 MW.

NRG will cofire in NY

Algal technology developer PetroAlgae Inc. reported the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Asesorias e Inversines Quilicura, a major shareholder of Subus Chila S.A., and expects the MOU to enable the development of a micro-crop technology system for the large-scale production of green gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in Chile.	
 
 By managing light exposure the technology is able to dramatically increase growth and productivity of indigenous organisms in open-pond bioreactors. The resulting micro-crops absorb approximately twice their weight in CO2 and are harvested every few hours to produce a high-quality protein and carbohydrate-rich biomass, according to PetroAlgae.
 
 Last year, the company was the recipient of the Sustainable Biofuels Technology Award in the technology supplier category at the World Biofuels Markets.

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PetroAlgae signs MOU to launch technology in Chile

In an effort to confirm no difference in performance exists between a 50/50 camelina biofuel blend and standard petroleum-based JP-5, the U.S. Navy will log 23 test flight hours with the biofuel in an unmodified F/A-18 Super Hornet dubbed Green Hornet. The most recent flight was on Earth Day, April 22, when the aircraft broke the sound barrier, travelling at 1.2 Mach, according to Billy Ray Brown, public affairs officer for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division.
 
 The test program is a significant milestone in the certification and operational use of biofuels by the Navy and Marine Corps. "We're trying to certify it as a drop-in replacement," Brown said, adding that all of the feedback thus far indicates the camelina-derived fuel does serve as a drop-in, but tests won't be complete until the middle of this month. Final approval and certification of the biofuel blend could be six to nine months from the Earth Day flight.
 
 The Navy is not growing the flowered plant nor producing the fuel. Instead, the Defense Energy Support Center awarded a $2.7 million contract to Sustainable Oils, a joint venture between Targeted Growth Inc. and Green Earth Fuels LLC, for 40,000 gallons of the biofuel, according to the Navy. During the fuel procurement process, a request for a proposal is submitted to the Defense Energy Support Center, outlining the needs and requirements, Brown explained, adding that the Navy lab requested a nonpetroleum, nonfood source. "[The Defense Energy Support Center] goes out with all the need requirements to do that collective buy," he said. "[Camelina] fit the bill." 
 
 The annual plant has seed pods about the size and shape of a small pea that are about 40 percent oil, compared with soybeans' 20 percent, according to Sustainable Oils, which says it has the largest camelina research program in the nation. The company calls the short-seasoned, fast growing crop the "darling" of biodiesel production. Camelina matures earlier than other crops so it's not dependent on rain later in the summer. It can also be harvested early, allowing the ground to absorb later-season rainfall to enter the next year in a better position, according to Sustainable Oils. 
 
 The blend went through the Navy's lab testing programs prior to any test flights. "Before we can use the fuel, we have to make sure we can use the fuel," Brown said. Test and certification protocols will identify fuel chemistry and physical properties testing; material, component and engine performance testing; operational aircraft testing; and fleet trials, according to the Navy. Critical certification requirements include chemical properties, material compatibility, component and propulsion system performance, and weapon system performance. 
 
 But testing and certification most likely won't stop with camelina. "The idea is to certify as many different fuels as possible," Brown said. The Navy hopes to source at least half of its total energy consumption from alternative sources by 2020.
 The U.S. Air Force, which is catching on to camelina, as well, flew an A-10 Thunderbolt II jet on a blend of camelina-derived biofuel and standard JP-8 jet fuel at the end of March. The Air Force has a goal to acquire half of its domestic aviation fuel from alternative fuel blends by 2016.

The U.S. Navy is testing a 50/50 camelina biofuel blend in its unmodified Green Hornet. PHOTO: NAVY VISUAL NEWS

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Green Hornet flies supersonic on camelina blend

The U.S. EPA has released a set of proposed changes to the Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule that would reduce mercury emissions from industrial boilers, process heaters and solid waste incinerators by more than 50 percent. 
 
 The proposal would also considerably slash emissions of other pollutants from those technologies that are thought to cause cancer or other serious health problems, along with climate change, according to the EPA. The proposal, open for a 45-day comment period, includes emissions standards for three source categories: area source industrial, commercial and institutional boilers; major source industrial, commercial and institutional boilers; and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators
 . 
 For area source boilers, the EPA recommends a rule with standards to address mercury, particulate matter and carbon monoxide, applicable to technologies based on whether they are coal or biomass-fired and new or existing, according to the proposal. Major source boilers would have a work practice standard instead of emission limits under the proposal and operators would be required to perform annual tune-ups for each unit. The major source standards would include limits for mercury, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, hydrogen chloride and dioxin. Finally, the proposal would limit nine pollutants from commercial and solid waste incinerators: mercury, lead, cadmium, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, dioxin and furans, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The limits would require reductions at 172 of 176 operating solid waste incinerators, as four already meet the proposed standards, according to the EPA. 
 
 The agency also proposes a new definition to identify which nonhazardous secondary materials would be considered solid waste and which would be considered fuel. That distinction determines whether a facility burning the material would be considered a boiler or a solid waste incinerator pursuant to the proposed rule. The proposal states that the definition would not include, among other criteria, material that has been determined through a case-by-case petition process to not have been discarded and to be indistinguishable in all relevant aspects from a fuel product. The entire proposal can be found at www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion. 
 
 When fully implemented, the proposed rule would yield combined health benefits estimated between $18 billion and $44 billion annually, according to the EPA. That includes preventing between 2,000 and 5,200 premature deaths and about 36,000 asthma attacks per year. The estimated annual cost of installing and operating the pollution control equipment necessary to meet the proposed standards is $3.6 billion. The proposed rule comes after a District of Columbia Circuit Court vacated and remanded the original definition of commercial or industrial solid waste incinerator and the Boiler MACT rule in June of 2007.
 
 
 Petition for Change 
 The original MACT rule was finalized in 2004 and consists of a floor limit for each pollutant and source category, below which the standard cannot be set; and a technology-based standard, which can be equal to or more stringent than the floor. Before establishment of the MACT rule, emissions standards had been risk based.
 
 Some municipalities and environmental groups dissatisfied with the MACT rule petitioned the EPA to reconsider it in 2004, according to Anna Wildeman, a member of the Land and Resource Practice Group for law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. The EPA granted the reconsideration and issued a revised rule in December of 2005. Still not pleased, the groups filed petitions with the D.C. Court of Appeals to review the final rule in February of 2006. 
 
 The petitions outlined a few issues challenging how reasonable the MACT rule was as it related to the requirements of the Clean Air Act. First, it said the definition of commercial and industrial waste was much too narrow, specifying only waste combusted at a facility that cannot or does not recover thermal energy for useful purpose. "The agency did not actually define waste," Wildeman said. "It defined waste by the process." That effectively limits the number of facilities that would fall under the definition of a commercial or industrial solid waste incineration unit-defined as a facility that combusts solid waste-and significantly increases the number of facilities that fall under the boiler rule, wherein lies the other issue outlined in the petition: The MACT floor for industrial boilers was a "no control" standard. 
 
 "The court agreed with the petitioners that EPA's definition of commercial or industrial waste was contrary to and in conflict with other definitions in the Clean Air Act and vacated that definition," Wildeman said. "The court further noted that, because a revised definition of commercial industrial waste would alter the number of facilities subject to the Boiler MACT rule, and because MACT standards are based on averages of similar facilities in the same source category, the Boiler MACT rule also had to be vacated." 
 
 The proposed rule would affect numerous biomass facilities, although some are still wading through the documents, numbering more than 1,200 pages. "We're still in the process of looking over the proposal and determining its impact," said Lynn Wallace, spokeswoman for Georgia Power, which is developing a 96-megawatt biomass power plant in Albany, Ga. The project is stalled on its timeline for operation before the summer of 2012, awaiting the MACT rule release. Wallace had previously said the company expects it will be affected, but has made arrangements to comply with any new standards and continue with the development of its wood-fired facility.

EPA releases proposed MACT rule changes

Lafarge's cement plant in Bath, Ontario, is aggressively pursuing carbon emission reduction strategies through the planting of multiple energy crops that may eventually replace a portion of the 110,000 metric tons of coal and petroleum coke the plant requires as fuel each year.
 
 "We recognize that our industry (cement) represents 5 percent of the world carbon emissions," said Robert Cumming, Lafarge environmental and public affairs manager. "There's also a very high demand for our products, for example, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings use a lot of cement."
 
 When initially embarking on the project, Lafarge had an agreement with biotechnology start-up firm Performance Plants, which provided its seed trait technologies for the planting of switchgrass, little bluestem, hemp, sorghum and tropical maize. Financial restraints forced Performance Plants to pull out of the project, according to Cumming, but Lafarge is still moving forward with its previous plans. 
 
 Last year, Lafarge began a multiyear life-cycle assessment study with Kingston, Ontario-based Queen's University's Energy and Environmental Policy Institute, and has been working closely with researchers on planting trials of perennial crops, utilizing about 2,500 acres of land surrounding the cement plant. Previously, Lafarge rented the land for agricultural purposes, but it was turned back over to the company when farmers could no longer use it. "Eastern Ontario doesn't have a very good agriculture industry because it doesn't host much class 1 and 2 land, mostly class 3 and 4, so biomass crops are a good fit here," Cumming said. 
 
 Lafarge has four fields set-aside for the trials, land on which the university has been performing various soil sample tests. "During this multiyear trial, we will try to confirm that we can get at least a 90 percent savings on CO2 by growing these crops," Cumming said. "It would be a 100 percent savings if we could use tractors fired by biomass. We're looking at carbon sequestration while root structures are being established in the first two years. We're hopeful that farmers, should this business (biomass crops) take off, will eventually earn some carbon or offset credits for such a land-use change. The only way that can happen is to have a scientific opinion to support it and that's what this is about-life-cycle assessments for purpose-grown crops-partly aimed at the long term, or when we begin to trade carbon credits. We want to earn rock-solid data, so there won't be any questions about what we're doing."
 
 The second element to the Lafarge project will be testing and using the biomass crops as a fuel source. "Last summer, we contracted a number of local farmers to grow four different crops on the properties, all with different soil types," Cumming said. The harvest yielded 950 1,050-pound bales and now, Mesa Reduction Engineering and Processing Inc. out of Albany, N.Y., will provide equipment to process the bales before they are burned with the coal.
 
 A forklift will be used to set the bales onto a conveyer belt, which will take them into a pre-shredder that will reduce them to chip size, and then through a grinder to produce a powdery material that will be blown pneumatically into the front end of the cement kiln. "We (the cement industry) use a lot of fuel," Cumming said. "Not nearly as much as the power industry but we're up there, and the reason we need so much energy is because we're heating rock up to almost a semi-molten level, about 1,400 to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,550 to 2,730 degrees Fahrenheit)." 
 
 A typical kiln is cylinder shaped, about 18 to 20 feet in diameter and 650 feet long. "They're very large," Cumming said. "The front face of the kiln itself will be pneumatically blowing the powder into it with the coal and petcoke, the amount of which we use will be reduced."
 
 During the tests, Lafarge will use up to 30 percent biomass, but a minimum of 10 percent. "Essentially we'll have the equipment there for a couple of weeks in early June, we'll then do a full emissions testing program to measure the effects and confirm the benefits of the fuel," Cumming said. To do that, Lafarge is working with emissions testing technology firm RWDI consulting, which will also perform tests using the plant's traditional fuel in order to produce data for comparison.
 
 Cummin said the main impetus in the project as a whole is to stay ahead of the carbon emissions reduction game. "Lafarge has already reduced its CO2 emissions by 20 percent since 1990," he said. "In light of recent governmental commitments, we need to further reduce those emissions by about 18 percent, and what that means for the cement industry is more challenges than most because two-thirds of our emissions comes from converting limestone to lime." Ontario currently has a target of 20 percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 2020, which means Lafarge would have to replace nearly half of its fossil fuels with biomass, according to Cumming. "That [2020] is only 10 years from now, and so we need to start work today to build the future," he said. "We recognize that carbon challenges are coming, and we intend to meet them head-on. We do have other possible solutions, but this one (biomass) is the most promising."

The 1,000 ton bales of processed biomass comprised of switchgrass, hemp and miscanthus are delivered to the cement plant for use as fuel. PHOTO: LAFARGE

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This vibrant green hemp modified for high-energy performance grows at the Lafarge plant in Bath, Ontario. PHOTO: LAFARGE

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Lafarge cement plant reduced CO2 with biomass

Earth Day (April 22) brought a fitting and special occasion for Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt. The campus celebrated the official opening and operation of its combined-heat-and-power biomass facility, which provides 85 percent of the school's heat and generates 20 percent of its electricity.
 
 The event marked a major step in the college's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2011 through an emission reduction of more than 50 percent, which makes it the first higher education institution in the nation with that distinction, according to the college. A handful of colleges have claimed complete climate neutrality, but largely through the purchase of carbon credits. 
 
 The CHP facility will burn 4,000 to 5,000 tons of locally harvested wood chips each year, with No. 6 fuel serving as a backup mainly to heat campus buildings, according to GMC. The plant will reduce annual net greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources on campus from 2007 levels of 3,420 metric tons of carbon dioxide to 546 metric tons. The $5.8 million plant will pay for itself over 18 years through savings on fuel costs, according to the school. 
 
 The project is largely a result of student activism, stemming from a proposal written for a 2005 honors seminar to study the feasibility of a new biomass heating plant. The students convinced their peers that the study was worth $10,000 in student activities money and when current President Paul Fonteyn assumed his duties in July 2008, he made the plant one of his first priorities, according to GMC. 
 
 At least nine courses this past year focused on some aspect of the biomass plant and use of wood as a fuel source. GMC also sees the facility as an in-class educational resource for students and will employ real-time data streaming from the plant on its Web site.

Vermont college opens CHP biomass plant

The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre on the University of Western Ontario campus will house a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant slated for operation in mid-2011. Ontario-based Woodland Biofuels Inc. will develop the facility, with an expected price tag of CA$12 million ($11.5 million) and the capacity to produce about 750,000 liters (198,000 gallons) of ethanol annually. 
 
 "The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre … is designed to house demonstrations that use biomass as feedstock," said Woodland President and CEO Greg Nuttall. "It is ideally suited for our process." The plant will use Woodland's patented Catalyzed Pressure Reduction gasification process, which can convert multiple feedstocks into syngas for the production of ethanol, acetic acid, reformulated water or power. The demonstration facility will use mainly wood waste. "Our process is capable of producing multiple different industrial chemicals, but we are focused on ethanol for now and our first commercial plant will produce a single product-ethanol," he said. 
 
 Woodland Biofuels and its partners received CA$4 million from the Ontario Innovation Demonstration Fund for the demo project. Nuttall said the plant was given more monetary awards, but he declined to release details. The province's investment will help create jobs as part of its Open Ontario Plan, a five-year strategy to strengthen the economy and create employment opportunities. Construction and operation of the plant will create 35 full- and part-time jobs, according to Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation, and if the technology is proven successful, Woodland could potentially hire another 585 employees over the next five years. 
 
 After completing the demo plant, Woodland expects to begin construction of a 20 million gallon waste-to-ethanol plant, which should come on line about 18 months later, according to Nuttall. 
 
 Woodland uses its CPR technology to develop plants worldwide for companies or organizations looking to manufacture products using waste streams. A typical plant buyer would have access to unused biomass including wood and agricultural residues or biosolids such as sewage sludge, according to Woodland.

Woodland develops demo cellulosic ethanol plant

Posted June 14, 2010, at 10:28 a.m. CST
 
 Woodellets.com commends Manomet biomass study
 
 WoodPellets.com, a distributor and direct-to-consumer provider of wood pellet heating fuel, applauded the findings of a six-month study commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and conducted by the Manomet Center for Conservation Science. This study concluded that "the use of biomass for heating and combined-heat-and-power (CHP) facilities would result in a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 relative to oil, but biomass-fired electricity would result in a 3 percent increase in emissions over coal-fired electricity in 2050. 
 
 "This study offers further evidence that using renewable biomass to generate heat is the cleanest, most efficient use of our biomass resources," WoodPellets.com CEO Jon Strimling said. "Homeowners have a tremendous opportunity to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and to save on their heating costs by using wood pellets for heating. In a world where BP's recent oil spill has made us only too aware of the environmental hazards of oil, consumers and businesses can switch to a safe, domestically produced alternative today. From high-efficiency heating appliances to sustainably harvested fuel and convenient fuel delivery systems, all the pieces are in place for the renewable heating revolution. We invite every citizen to join us in this movement." 
 
 Thermal energy, essentially heat, accounts for roughly one-third of the total energy used in the United States. Europe has proven that biomass can replace oil heat and displace carbon emissions. To fully confront our nation's energy crisis and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a comprehensive policy must address the thermal sector, not only the electric and transportation sectors. "Now what we need is a renewable thermal standard to tackle the heating sector," Strimling said. "Investing in the thermal energy sector will not only slash our greenhouse gas emissions, it will also lower energy costs for homeowners and businesses." Consumers who switch from heating oil to wood pellet fuel can save hundreds of dollars in annual energy costs. 
 
 But consumers are not the only ones who can save on their heating costs. In Massachusetts alone, state and federal agencies contributed more than $233 million to providing heating fuel assistance in 2008. Nationwide, fuel assistance programs in 2010 totaled more than $5.1 billion, with most of those expenditures supporting oil purchases. "By spending billions of dollars of public funds annually, the LIHEAP and state fuel assistance programs are essentially enabling our nation's addiction to oil heating," Strimling said. "We are calling on policymakers to ensure that at least a portion of our heating assistance program funds are allocated to enable a transition to clean, renewable, locally produced, and carbon neutral heating fuels. This switch could provide heat at a lower cost, effectively enabling LIHEAP to provide coverage for more families across the state." 
 
 Thirty-nine percent of Massachusetts homes are heated with heating oil, compared with a national average of just 9 percent. Those homes consumed 15,253,000 barrels of oil in 2008, and emitted 14 billion tons of C02. The Manomet study found that heating with renewable biomass instead of heating oil will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. With the second-highest residential fuel oil consumption in the nation, Massachusetts can slash greenhouse gas emissions by helping consumers make the switch from fossil fuels to renewable biomass fuels. 
 
 WoodPellets.com applauds Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Phil Giudice's desire to "begin the process of refining our renewable energy regulations to provide incentives only for biomass energy that truly reduces our greenhouse gas emissions and protects our forests." Thermal biomass appliances are currently eligible for many clean energy tax credits and incentives, including a 30 percent federal tax credit, up to $1,500, for qualifying biomass stoves. More than a million families in the U.S. already heat their homes with wood pellets or biomass fuels.
 
 SOURCE: WOODPELLETS.COM

Woodpellets.com commends Manomet biomass study

Novozymes Biologicals BioAg Group will expand its market this year for Met52 Granular-a bioinsecticide made from a soil fungus-from just Europe to include the U.S. and Canada.
 
 Met52 is based on sterile rice and contains Metarhizium anisopliae, a naturally occurring fungus that efficiently kills a range of insects that threaten professional greenhouses and nurseries. It protects against black vine weevil and strawberry root weevil larvae, thrip adults and larvae, mites, gnats, grubs and white flies, according to Sanford Gleddie, global marketing manager for Novozymes Biologicals BioAg Group. "We've been working and researching with this particular fungus for coming on 10 years now," he said. The product was launched in Europe in 2007 and, upon completion of field trials, can now be registered for commercial, nonfood use in North America for ornamentals, shrubs, and forest and shade tree seedlings, among others. The registration process in the U.S., similar to that of chemical insecticides, includes state and U.S. EPA approval. The market expansion is not spurred by demand for biocontrol, Gleddie said, but by product development. 
 
 The active ingredient in Met52 is the fungal spores. When mixed into potting soil, it grows rapidly and infects the harmful insects, killing the larvae in three to five days, according to Gleddie. "It's a good bug controlling a bad bug," he said. "We're manufacturing and applying a high level of these spores where they're needed." 
 
 The fungus is potent and has the added advantage of resistance management. "It has a broad mode of action," Gleddie said. "It's not very specific to one metabolic pathway." When chemicals with specific modes of action are used consistently, any insects that are not susceptible to them will quickly multiply. While Met52 is more effective on some insects than others, it has been tested on a wide range of bugs and Novozymes is working to further expand its abilities. 
 
 Novozymes is also working to develop a spray formula of Met52, along with a registration for use on food crops. "There's a really good fit for this biocontrol on those types of crops," Gleddie said.

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Novozymes launches bioinsecticide in North America

Texas-based Glycos Biotechnologies Inc. is expanding its biochemical production capabilities to Malaysia under an agreement with Malaysian Bio-XCell Sdn. Bhd., a government-supported industrial ecosystem focused on the advancement of biotechnology in the country.
 
 The two will collaborate on the construction of a biochemical and biotechnology facility within Bio-XCell's industrial park in Malaysia. The center will include a research and development lab, along with a 20,000-metric-ton (22,000 tons) commercial biochemical production facility that will manufacture acetone, technical-grade ethanol and isoprene, according Rich Cilento, GlycosBio CEO.
 
 Research and production at the facility will use waste products from the palm oil industry including crude glycerin and fatty acids, Cilento said. No contracts for supply are in place as yet, but several companies have shown an interest in providing their waste streams for the process. GlycosBio takes a unique approach to biochemicals production, using mostly waste streams, especially glycerin, in lieu of sugars, which are more commonly utilized in such processes. "It's sort of hand in glove with our technology," Cilento says of the decision to expand to Malaysia. "Their natural resources align with our feedstock strategy. They don't have a lot of sugar." The country also has a long-standing oleochemicals industry, he added. "It completely makes sense for us to have a long-standing partnership with them."
 
 The Malaysian government, through its Biotechnology Corp., is promoting and encouraging a biochemical industry through financial support for companies willing to expand there. "Their program is to support entirely the cost to construct and purchase equipment," Cilento said, adding that a cost estimate has not yet been established and, through a long-term agreement, GlycosBio will pay it back. The developing biochemicals industry will be both for domestic and export markets, he said, although the country only has a population of about 25 million to 30 million. "Malaysia doesn't have a huge addressable market. Most will be more than likely export."
 
 Bio-Xcell's industrial park is the perfect location for the plant, Cilento said, as all the infrastructure is already in place. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year and to be completed in 2012, followed shortly by operation. 
 "Ultimately, our goal will be to show that we can integrate into an existing oleochemical plant to make an additional chemical," Cilento said.

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GlycosBio expands to Malaysia

French oil supermajor Total S.A. has invested in Warrenville, Ill.-based cellulosic ethanol company Coskata Inc., leading the company's Series C-Prime funding round. Total will now have a seat on Coskata's board of directors. 
 
 Total says the investment is part of the company's strategy to prepare for an energy transition, which involves supporting the development of innovative start-ups through its Corporate Venture Activity. Also participating in the transaction were several of Coskata's prior investors, including Blackstone Cleantech Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, and Arancia.
 
 Coskata made its initial public debut at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, when General Motors Co. announced it had taken an undisclosed ownership stake in the company. Last October, together with GM and plasma gasification company Alter NRG Corp., Coskata officially unveiled its $25 million semi-commercial cellulosic ethanol facility near Madison, Pa., and soon after announced plans for a commercial facility that will be located in the Southeast U.S.
 
 Developed by Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma researchers, Coskata's process technology is capable of converting multiple biomass feedstocks, including woody biomass, agricultural waste, energy crops, and construction and industrial wastes, into synthesis gas. The syngas is cleaned, cooled and passed through a conversion process, where it undergoes bacterial fermentation using Coskata's proprietary microorganisms. The microorganisms consume the carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the syngas stream, and the resulting ethanol is recovered from the solution.

Coskata unveiled its semi-commercial feedstock flexible facility in Madison, Pa., in October. PHOTO: COSKATA INC.

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Oil giant invests in Coskata

Alabama-based Extreme Forest, a five-year old company that had previously focused on contracts for private land clearing, has developed new biomass collection equipment and is working to perfect a mobile biomass power generator.
 
 Owner Michael Durden said his company began designing collection equipment a couple of years ago when the value of woody biomass began to greatly increase, creating a need for quick and simple ways to collect materials while obtaining the right chip or pellet consistency. 
 
 The machines are much like typical mobile mulcher or pregrinder machines, but have heads on them that can collect the material while processing the biomass instead of leaving it on the ground for later collection. "It's blown into a basket right away so it's ready to be burnt or processed into pellets," Durden said. The machines can clear and collect material from one acre, depending on the material density in about three to four hours. One acre can contain 50 to 100 tons of biomass, Durden pointed out, but at a maximum the machines can handle about 100 tons every four hours.
 
 Extreme Forest is also working to perfect a mobile biomass generator, according to Durden. He said the electrical capacity right now is at about 5 megawatts, but will be increased as the company perfects the design. "These generators will be useful at sites without readily available electricity such as at an oil rig, or in a community that's been hit by natural disaster," Durden said. "If power lines are severed, we can quickly utilize the available waste materials for power production, as the machines can be plugged right into the grid. They will also be capable of removing moisture from the biomass instantly, similar to but not exactly like flash drying. If you've got a large amount of wet wood like during Hurricane Katrina, these will enable power production on-site within a day of setting up."
 
 Durden said Extreme Forest is working with a few different groups on some regulatory and grid aspects surrounding the generators, but Extreme Forest has done most of the design work. The company is also working with Alabama's Environmental Protection Division to gain emissions approval. 
 
 The first generator is nearly complete, according to Durden. The company will not have them available for sale until after it runs tests, but should have them on the market within 10 to 12 months. "It's just a matter of tweaking and fine-tuning them to possess the optimum efficiency, and also making sure they comply with air quality requirements," he added.

Extreme Forest develops biomass collection, power machines

French engineering company Thermya is working to commercialize and introduce a fast continuous torrefaction technology to the North American marketplace, after more than a decade of perfecting the technology in the European Union.
 
 Development of the TORSPYD began in 1994 by Jean-Sèbastien Hery in collaboration with the University of Leven, Belgium, resulting in a treated wood recycler prototype in 1995. After Thermya was created in 2002, the company acquired patents to the initial technology and continued work to further develop the process. In 2006, the TORSPYD process was completed and the first pilot unit was built in 2007.
 
 Thermya signed a first license agreement in 2009 with the Spanish company IDEMA, Group Lantec. Thermya spokesman Jean-Christophe Labastugue said the license gives the company the right to construct and/or sell torrefaction plants based on the TORSPYD technology, but not exclusivity.
 
 Thermya describes its process as a soft thermal treatment of biomass (240 degrees Celsius or 464 degrees Fahrenheit) based on the continuous circulation of two air flows moving in opposite directions. The hot neutral gases are dehydrated and then depolymerized in the reactor to eventually produce biocoal.
 
 According to Thermya, the TORSPYD biocoal product retains 90 percent of its initial mass and contains a moisture level of 1 percent. Properties and energy content vary, depending on the properties of the initial raw biomass, but the company says wood-derived biocoal has a calorific value of 20,000 to 21,000 kilojoules per kilogram. 
 
 The size of a typical unit depends on the required production capacity and what type of biomass will be utilized. Units developed by Thermya range from 100 to 5,000 kilograms per hour, and are designed to operate on the basis of 8,000 production hours annually.
 
 Labastugue said the first commercial TORSPYD torrefaction plant is currently under construction in Northwest Spain, and should be operating at the end of the year. 
 The company is looking to secure commercial and industrial long-term partnerships in North America.

The TORSPYD torrefaction pilot unit at Thermya?s headquarters can convert biomass into a biocoal product that retains 90 percent of its initial mass. PHOTO: THERMYA

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French torrefaction firm targets North America

The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority has released a renewable fuel road map for New York that indicates there is potentially 1 million to 1.68 million acres of nonforest land that can be used for bioenergy feedstock production in New York. 
 
 The 140-page document assesses the prospects for the expansion of biofuel production within the state while focusing on biomass resource availability and economic and environmental impacts. The road map considers 11 key issues, including stakeholder input, analysis of sustainable feedstock production in New York, feedstock transportation and logistics, life-cycle analysis and public health and biofuel industry economic impacts and analysis. 
 
 The road map's lower estimate of available biomass crop land (1 million acres) assumes that no cropland is used for new bioenergy feedstock production, rather new production lands come from abandoned farmland, old pasture, and scrub and shrub lands not currently used for production. The estimate also assumes that only about half of New York landowners would be interested in production. The higher estimate of 1.68 million acres assumes additional land (approximately 0.68 million acres) becomes available by the year 2020 due to projected increased crop and milk yields but on less land, freeing some current crop land for lignocellulosic energy feedstocks.
 
 Another potential feedstock source the report considers is municipal solid waste (MSW) for ethanol production. Using data from two New York State MSW characterization studies and a U.S. EPA waste characterization study, estimates of waste biomass available for ethanol production were extrapolated from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Waste Management Plan 2000 update. The road map calculates that if New York were to convert only the yard waste and paper waste fraction that's not currently being recycled into ethanol, it could possibly yield 426 MMgy of ethanol in the short term and 524 MMgy in the long term, depending upon the conversion process used. 
 
 Overall, New York lands could potentially provide 5.6 to 16 percent of estimated 2020 in-state gasoline consumption, assuming that the technological barriers to commercial-scale production of lignocellulosic ethanol are overcome by the year 2020, according to the road map. It also finds that New York-derived biomass could support four large-scale centralized lignocellulosic biorefineries (capacity ranging from 90 MMgy to 354 MMgy) or up to 24 smaller capacity (60 MMgy) biorefineries. 
 The Renewable Fuels Roadmap and Sustainable Biomass Feedstock supply For New York can be accessed at www.nyserda.org.

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New York biofuel road map released

Point Bio Energy LLC has selected the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, La., as the future location of a proposed $100 million wood pellet plant, after conducting a national survey of possible project sites in the U.S.
 
 Plans for the facility were officially announced April 21 by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; Point Bio Energy CEO Bill New; Port of Greater Baton Rouge Executive Director Jay Hardman; Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain; and Baton Rouge Area Chamber President Adam Knapp.
 
 When complete, the plant will produce 450,000 metric tons (496,000 tons) per year of wood pellets derived from locally sourced woody biomass as well as wood delivered by barge from other locations on the Mississippi, Atchafalaya and Red rivers, and the Intracoastal Waterway through existing barge unloading facilities.
 
 Point Energy intends to ship the pellets overseas for use in Europe where the fuel pellet market is well-established.
 
 Hardman said the project is one of the biggest for the port in recent years, and will be the first green industry to locate there. "Plans for the plant have been and continue to be well-received [in the area]," he said. 
 
 Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will generate $12.9 million in new state tax revenue and $9.6 million in local tax revenue over the next 10 years, bringing the port an estimated total of $825,400 per year. In addition, up to 100 direct jobs and 273 indirect jobs are expected to be generated from the plant's construction.
 
 Point Bio Energy expects to make use of Louisiana's Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption program. The ITE program provides property tax abatement for up to 10 years on a manufacturer's new investment and annual capitalized additions and applies to all improvements to the land, buildings, machinery, equipment and any other property that is part of the manufacturing process. The state's Quality Jobs program provides a 5 to 6 percent cash rebate of annual gross payroll for new direct jobs for up to 10 years and a 4 percent sales/use tax rebate on capital expenditures, or a 1.5 percent investment tax credit for qualified expenses.
 
 Construction of the wood pellet plant is expected to begin this summer and commercial pellet manufacturing operations are expected to commence in the last quarter of 2011.
 
 Hardman said the port commission hopes to give the final approval for a 20-year lease on the 18.8-acre site April 22.

Louisiana to host wood pellet plant

Traverse City, Mich., could be the home of a 10 megawatt combined-heat-and-power biomass facility, following an April 21 vote by the Traverse City Light & Power board to move ahead with the project. 
 
 After about five years of research and debate, the company has decided it will develop plans for the facility, which is expected to consume about 100,000 tons of wood chips annually from clean forestry residues and other biomass products such as pallets. The plant will not utilize construction and demolition debris, or anything else that has been treated or painted, according to Jim Cooper, TCL&P key accounts and marketing manager. No timeline for construction or operation has been established, as TCL&P has not yet begun designing the facility. Costs have not been determined either, but estimates show it could be about $40 million, depending on design and engineering, Cooper said.
 
 Four separate studies by the Department of Natural Resources and individual forestry experts have determined that there is plenty of woody biomass available to support the project, Cooper said. 
 
 As is the case with most recent biomass project proposals, TCL&P has faced vocal opposition to its plans, but results of a recent random telephone survey suggest opponents remain in the minority of the company's customers. The Research Services of Northwestern Michigan College found that customers are either "very supportive" or "somewhat supportive" by more than a two-to-one margin. About 755 customers were surveyed between March 23 and April 8, with an overall margin of error for residential as well as commercial customers of less than ±5 percent. TCL&P serves 11,000 customers and 80 percent of its load consists of businesses.
 
 The opposition, albeit marginal, has impacted the TCL&P board's decision-making process regarding the plant. "That's the reason why it's taken a while to come to a conclusion," Cooper said. TCL&P used some of that time to study alternative sources of power, but determined biomass would produce the lowest electric rates for its customers and allow the highest efficiency for the facility, at about 75 to 80 percent, according to Cooper. The plant would also mean locally generated electricity, lower greenhouse gas emissions, local investment and job creation, he added.

TCL&P votes yes on biomass plant

USDA's Biomass Crop Assistance Program proposed rule comment period expired April 9. Those anxious for the final rule release and/or the current freeze on the program to cease can now only wait for the USDA to sort through the 24,000-plus comment submissions and formulate a fair and consensus-driven rule. 
 
 When that will be, however, remains unclear although some in the industry have speculated that it will likely come out later this summer. 
 
 The proposed rule was released Feb. 8, and individuals or groups had 60 days to submit feedback on program elements. Key provisions included eliminating the dry tonnage measure and adapting to industry norms, scaling back matching collection, harvest, storage and transport (CHST) payments of certain qualifiers and a prohibition on wood materials that might otherwise be used for higher-value purposes.
 
 The prohibition stemmed from concerns expressed by the composite panel and fiberboard industries, alleging that the CHST payments for certain eligible materials such as sawdust and wood shavings were directly increasing prices and competition for an established market.
 
 The wording in the proposed rule is as follows, "CCC proposes that vegetative wastes, such as wood waste and wood residues, collected or harvested from both public and private lands should be limited to only those that would not otherwise be used for a higher-value product. More specifically, for materials collected from both public and private lands, CCC is proposing to exclude from matching payment eligibility wood wastes and residues derived from mill residues (i.e. tailings, etc.) or other production processes that create residual byproducts that are typically used as inputs for higher value-added production (i.e. particle board [sic], fiberboard, plywood, or other wood product market."
 
 Donna Harman, CEO of the American Forest and Paper Association said AF&PA supports USDA's stated goal of avoiding diversion of materials potentially eligible for the BCAP matching payments from existing value-added production processes already occurring in the marketplace. "Unfortunately, we have serious concerns with USDA's proposed approach to implementation," she said. "If USDA focuses the matching payments component on woody biomass materials without a viable market, it can avoid diversion of materials from existing value-added production processes …"
 
 The Biomass Thermal Energy Council said BCAP should preserve the program eligibility of vegetative waste materials such as wood wastes and residues, while the Biomass Power Association suggested that sawdust and wood shavings from saw mills be explicitly excluded from the eligible materials list, but that suppliers of the materials be allowed to petition USDA for eligibility where it can be demonstrated that no higher value use currently exists. "This safeguards biomass used by the composite panel facilities but only when there is a demonstration that such materials will actually be put to such use," said BPA President Bob Cleaves. 
 
 The Composite Panel Association suggested a clearer definition of the prohibition proposal, commenting that the terms "wood waste" and "wood residue" are not defined in the proposed rule nor discussed in any legislative history. CPA recommended that it be clearly stated that eligible wood waste and wood residues do not include scraps, sawdust, chips and shavings from saw mills and other wood mill facilities, either in a standalone definition of those terms or in the definitions of renewable biomass.

BCAP comments amassed, final rule release indefinite

The first automated, real-time, remote, integrated energy system (ARIES) biodiesel production unit was delivered to U.S. Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, Calif., for the final phase of a collaboration on its development.
 
 The Navy, Biodiesel Industries Inc. and Aerojet Inc., a world aerospace and defense company, formed a cooperative research and development agreement to build a process that would make ASTM-quality biodiesel using local sources and it seems they have succeeded with ARIES. The unit delivered to the base is a commercial-scale system and will be run through demonstrations for a final validation of the process.
 
 ARIES is equipped with a new and revolutionary element: remote control technologies that provide real-time sensing and management of key chemistry and processing parameters. The tools were developed by Aerojet, the same company that developed remote sensing and automated technology that sent man to the moon. 
 
 Real-time sensing can eliminate lengthy testing steps such as transesterification, which can take up to 1.5 hours, according to Russell Teall, Biodiesel Industries founder and president. When the reaction can be seen as it's happening, those tests become unnecessary. "It's a major advancement," he said. "It's the first time that sort of technology has been applied to biodiesel. It speeds things up by a factor of two." The system includes stop points where it will show readings, asking if the operator would like to proceed with the reaction. 
 
 The system also monitors the feedstock characteristics in real time. It can take several kinds of feedstocks including yellow grease, animal fat, energy crops, waste agricultural products and more. Not only that, but they can be mixed together. "You have to know what sort of characteristics the feedstock has," Teall said. "Separating is burdensome, but ARIES can mix them up and tell you what the characteristics are on the fly." The system will also recommend the best formula for the process with those particular feedstocks, leaving less room for operator error. The best feedstock mix depends on the location and climate. Teall cautions dependence on one feedstock can be unsustainable and vertical integration is crucial. 
 
 The Navy will make good use of the remote-controlled system, as it has identified 20 locations for the initial rollout, Teall said, adding that he doesn't know a timeline for their establishment. The Navy has an obligation to have between 20 and 50 percent of its energy needs met internally by 2012. "So it's going to be a fairly rapid rollout," he said. The Navy's immense consumption of fuel prompted the seven-year project, which began in 2003. "They're the largest user of biodiesel in the world and it's important they have access to their fuel," Teall said. 
 
 The integrated energy system makes ARIES applicable to non-Navy endeavors, as well. The system produces about eight times more power and heat than it needs for its own processes. "In the international market, there's a huge need in rural communities to create income and businesses that don't exist right now," Teall said. He cited India, where about 150,000 villages are without electricity. "It becomes a very efficient source of local heat."

ARIES home at California naval base

Posted June 14, 2010, at 10:51 a.m. CST
 
 The federal government needs to adopt a suite of new policies to spur production in the stalled advanced biofuels industry, according to a <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/The-Billion-Gallon-Challenge.pdf">report </a>released June 14 by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Advanced, cellulosic biofuels-made from grasses, wood chips, wastes and other nonfood sources-release dramatically less pollution than gasoline or corn ethanol. Reforming production tax credits for biofuels and providing new loan guarantees, investment tax credits and other financial incentives would spark investment in cellulosic biofuels, cut oil consumption, reduce global warming pollution and ultimately save taxpayers money, the report found. 
 
 "We need to get advanced biofuels out of the laboratory and into gas tanks," said Jeremy Martin, author of the report and a senior scientist in UCS's Clean Vehicles Program. "In the current financial climate, existing federal policies are simply not enough to encourage the investments that will make these fuels a reality." 
 
 Congress set mandates for cellulosic biofuel production when it passed the national renewable fuels standard (RFS) in 2007. Regardless, production is falling short due to the financial crisis and misguided policies. Increasing production of cellulosic biofuels would reduce U.S. oil dependence and curb the heat-trapping emissions that cause climate change. 
 
 The report recommends increasing U.S. cellulosic biofuels production to 1 billion gallons per year through a suite of financial incentives that would help build 10 to 20 commercial-scale biorefineries nationwide. Such a "billion gallon challenge" would get advanced biofuels production back on track to meet the requirements of the RFS and buoy the industry. 
 
 Currently, cellulosic biofuels are falling far short of the mandated levels. In 2010, the standard requires fuel suppliers, largely oil companies, to purchase 100 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, but the U.S. EPA had to lower this target to just 6.5 million gallons due to a lack of supply. This production shortfall will only get worse unless new policies are enacted, Martin said. According to the US DOE's Energy Information Administration, annual production of cellulosic biofuels will not exceed 1 billion gallons until 2017 and will fall more than 10 billion gallons short of the RFS mandate of 16 billion gallons in 2022.
 
 UCS also proposes replacing existing ethanol subsidies with a new "biofuels performance tax credit" that rewards biofuels based upon environmental performance. Currently, taxpayers pay nearly $5 billion per year to fund the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, which pays oil companies and other fuel providers to purchase ethanol without requiring any pollution reductions. Since the RFS already requires these companies to purchase ethanol, the VEETC essentially pays oil companies to comply with existing law. 
 
 "We shouldn't be paying the oil industry billions of dollars a year to purchase biofuels when it is already required to do so by law," Martin said. "We need to make smart investments in clean, advanced biofuels that can cut our oil dependence and reduce heat-trapping pollution." 
 
 Existing biofuels tax credits are expensive. Extending current tax credits would cost nearly $100 billion (in 2009 dollars) over the next 10 years, with more than 60 percent supporting mature, or "conventional" industries, such as corn ethanol and soybean biodiesel. 
 
 UCS recommends that Congress adopt a performance-based biofuels tax credit based on fuels' energy content and emissions reductions compared with typical corn ethanol. Such a standard would support biofuels producers that go beyond the RFS requirement, with larger payments for more energy-dense fuels that displace more oil, and for bigger reductions in heat-trapping pollution. The cleanest biofuels, such as cellulosic biofuel, would get the largest tax credits, as much as $1.15 per gallon of gasoline equivalent for a zero-carbon biofuel. But even corn ethanol could qualify for substantial tax credits if producers upgrade their facilities with advanced, low-carbon production technology. 
 
 The total cost of government support for the first billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels would be about $4 billion over four or more years, UCS calculated. By comparison, the U.S. spends $6 billion annually on current tax credits for well-established biofuels such as corn ethanol and soy biodiesel. Additionally, reforming tax credits to make them performance-based would save taxpayers $20 billion from 2011 to 2014 because the subsidy would deliver less unnecessary aid.
 
 "We're wasting a lot of money to support ethanol that isn't making us any more energy independent or any less vulnerable to global warming," Martin said. "We need to make that money work for us by using it to support clean fuels that will do both."
 
 SOURCE: UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

New federal policies needed to jump-start advanced biofuels

Posted June 15, 2010, at 8:31 a.m. CST
 
 The conversion of an old mill complex in Biddeford, Maine, to biomass feedstock will be the topic of William Strauss' presentation during From Drawing Board to Deployment: Real World Biomass Projects in the Northeast, a case studies panel at the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo Aug. 4-6 in Boston. Strauss, president of financial and economic modeling firm FutureMetrics, can barely contain his excitement when he talks about the 14-building complex, already housing condos, apartments, small businesses, a gym, a dance studio and other developments. "It's like its own little village," he said. 
 	
 The complex, once used by WestPoint Stevens to make blankets, was built in the 1930s and the boilers were made in Nazi Germany, evidenced by piping still emblazoned with swastikas, Strauss said. Even so, the buildings are in pristine condition, making for a much easier conversion to wood chip feedstock from natural gas. The new system will be a combined-heat-and-power facility that will use piping already in place for an existing district heating network in the complex, Strauss said, adding that no timeline is in place yet for operation of the biomass CHP plant. 
 	
 As many old mills sit uninhabited in the northeast, conversion is a hot topic, but Strauss emphasizes that this complex is in much better shape than most. "It's just such an amazing find," he said. 
 	
 Presentations like Strauss's could still come in handy for other companies looking into converting, as experience and examples can go a long way. "The best place to learn is from people who have already cut their teeth doing these kinds of projects," said Eric Epner, panelist and vice president of Fuss & O'Neill Inc. During his presentation titled Case Study-Real World Experience with a Renewable Biomass Energy Project, Epner will discuss his company's hand in the conversion of a commercial greenhouse from fuel oil to wood chips, replacing about one-half million gallons of fuel oil per year. The conversion was complete and operating in March of 2009. "That was our entrée into the biomass world," he said.
 	
 The biomass industry is still young in many ways and regional events such as the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo can facilitate the transfer of good information and networking, Epner said. "We were intrigued by a regional show. I'm interested to see who comes to this one. It'll be neat to see the more local people." 
 	
 Fellow panelist Wayne McFarland, principal of Stearns & WhelerGHD, thinks the interest in the event and the case studies panel in particular should be high with the current level of interest in renewable energy, sustainable energy sources and carbon footprint reduction. In his presentation, Cornell University Biomass to Energy, he will talk about several innovative biomass-to-energy technologies including pyrolysis for biochar production and generation of biomass energy from dry fermentation. "Cornell University is leading the efforts to develop and improve several ways to convert biomass to energy while promoting carbon sequestration to reduce production of greenhouse gases," he said. "The main goal is to make the audience aware of potential biomass-to-energy opportunities using anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and dry fermentation." Recent problems with fossil fuel trade balance, greenhouse gas production and the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico should renew our interest in renewable biomass as a preferred energy source," he said. 
 	
 Panelist Bill Gabler, project manager for New Hampshire-based Clean Power Development LLC, hopes to spur interest in a new generation of biomass CHP facilities through his presentation titled A 21st Century Combined Heat and Power Project. The facilities have overall efficiencies in excess of 60 percent, he said. The company's project in Berlin, N.H., will have a minimum of 62.5 percent efficiency, he cited, contribute about 17 megawatts (MW) to the grid and supply 10 to 12 MW of thermal output for use in industrial, commercial and greenhouse facilities. In addition, stack exhaust from the wood chip-fed facility will be piped to the greenhouse and algae production facilities. 
 	
 "I believe that the discussion has value for the Northeast biomass industry because we are dealing with a finite renewable resource that must be managed and utilized to the maximum extent possible," Gabler said. The goal of his presentation is to open the eyes and minds of attendees and stimulate a new thought process to inspire consideration of new possibilities for biomass power, he said. "I would hope that an attendee would be exposed to a range of new ideas and have the opportunity to explore new worlds of possibilities, rather than remain constrained to the methods of the past," he said.
 	
 To find out more about the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo, visit the website at <a href="http://www.BiomassConference.com/northeast">www.BiomassConference.com/northeast</a>.

Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo panel to address conversion case studies

Posted June 15, 2010, at 9:42 a.m. CST
 
 The U.S. EPA's Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule is so stringent that it could create serious disincentives for the use of renewable energy and be unsustainable for the forest product industry and the nearly 900,000 men and women it supports.
 
 The American Forest & Paper Association and the American Wood Council offered a statement at an EPA hearing in Arlington, Va., June 15 recommending ways to protect both public health and jobs by targeting environmental investments where there is a real need. 
 
 "If EPA were to provide more flexible approaches in the Boiler MACT rule, it could protect the environment and public health while preventing severe job losses and billions of dollars in unnecessary regulatory costs," said Tim Hunt, representing AF&PA and AWC at the EPA hearing. 
 
 Boiler MACT could cost the forest products industry alone more than $6 billion in capital expenditures and hundreds of millions more in annual costs unless significant changes are made. This comes at the heels of the worse economic decline the industry has faced in modern history, with over 350,000 job losses since 2006. 
 
 "To be a sustainable industry supporting high-paying jobs and providing sustainable products, environmental regulations need to be balanced," Hunt continued. "Otherwise, costs of this scale will force further mill closures and tens or even hundreds of thousands of additional job losses."
 
 SOURCE: AF&PA

AF&PA, AWC appeal to EPA to change Boiler MACT

Posted June 15, 2010, at 2:14 p.m. CST
 Cleantech Open announces semifinalists
 
 
 The North Central region of the <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com">Cleantech Open</a> business competition announced that 16 semifinalist teams have been selected to represent the region in the world's biggest clean tech business competition. The semifinalists were selected from a talented pool of more than 50 cleantech entrepreneurs from across the seven-state region of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. North Central semifinalist teams will compete for regional prizes including combined cash and in-kind services worth up to $30,000. Only the top cleantech entrepreneurs will advance to compete at the national level for a grand prize of $250,000 in investment and services. 
 
 Over the next few months, semifinalist teams will receive coaching from the Cleantech Open network of talented business mentors, one-on-one consulting with specialists, an intensive business boot camp at the Cleantech Academy and local supporting events, training and materials. This support helps each team develop a comprehensive business plan and investor pitch to be presented to professional investors and experts. The National Awards-the Academy Awards of Cleantech- takes place Nov. 17.
 
 "This year's entries are more numerous and more innovative than ever," said Rex Northen, executive director of the Cleantech Open. "Semifinalists will receive help with everything from grant-writing to public relations- and the winners will walk away with a valuable ‘Startup in a Box' of cash and services. We're delighted to be promoting the success of such talented entrepreneurs."
 
 The 2010 Cleantech Open competition offers more than $1 million in total prizes and aims to create 100,000 green-collar jobs in America by the end of 2015 with its 100K Jobs Challenge. The semifinalists for the 2010 Cleantech Open North Central Competition are: 
 
 BioCee, Inc.
 Minneapolis, Minn.
 Biocatalysts for clean fuels, water and chemicals
 
 Blue Planet Strategies
 Madison, Wis.
 Water treatment for copper mining that extends production of presently unusable copper deposits
 
 CORE
 Madison, Wis.
 Retrofitting kit to reduce harmful emissions from internal combustion engines
 
 Direct Drive Energy LLC
 Lowden, Iowa
 Kinetic energy storage mobile power refrigeration
 
 EarthClean Corp.
 Minneapolis, Minn.
 Biodegradable, non-toxic fire suppressant systems that can be used in existing firefighting equipment
 
 Easy Energy Systems Inc.
 Welcome, Minn.
 Modular waste to energy systems
 
 Emission Control Solutions LLC
 Pomona, Kan.
 Technology to increase engine fuel efficiency and reduce emissions
 
 Energy Control Technologies Inc.
 West Des Moines, Iowa
 Automation systems for energy efficient operation
 
 Environmental Technologies Inc.
 Mankato, Minn.
 Anaerobic digestion process technology to convert organic waste into renewable natural gas
 
 Grain Life Technologies
 Des Moines, Iowa
 Energy efficient and advanced post-harvest technologies for the grain industry
 
 Graphene Solutions Inc.
 Platteville, Wis.
 Technologies that increase the practical application of nanomaterials
 
 IrriGreen Technology
 Minneapolis, Minn.
 Intelligent underground sprinkler systems to cut water usage and costs in half
 
 New Water LLC
 Minneapolis, Minn.
 Bio-remediation for water utilities
 
 PNR Greenhouses
 Des Moines, Iowa
 Turnkey greenhouse and aquaculture development in close proximity to metropolitan areas
 
 Silicon Solar Solutions LLC 
 Rogers, Ark.
 Technology to improve energy output and lower cost of silicon-based solar power cells
 
 SynGest Inc.
 Waukee, Iowa
 Conversion of non-food biomass into value-add nitrogen fertilizer and other renewable biofuels
 
 SOURCE: CLEANTECH OPEN

Cleantech Open announces semifinalists

Posted June 15, 2010, at 2:42 p.m. CST
 
 In accordance with its membership in the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released a draft policy that explains what constitutes as sustainably harvested forest biomass in New York, and its restrictions are causing a stir amongst the state's biomass power supporters as it restricts a large portion of forest biomass.
 
 Ten northeastern states are part of the RGGI, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2009, and serves to reduce global warming pollution from power plants through implementation of a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade system. RGGI caps the overall level of CO2 emissions allowed from power plants in the region starting in 2009 and continuing through 2014, then reduces emissions 2.5 percent annually over the next four years to achieve a 10 percent reduction by 2019. 
 
 RGGI rules consider sustainably harvested biomass as carbon neutral when it is converted into electricity, allowing power producers to exclude those emissions from their GHG reduction obligations. However, it is up to each individual state to form its own definition of what constitutes as "sustainably harvested" biomass. 
 
 According to the New York Biomass Energy Alliance Director Dan Conable, the standard proposed by the DEC appears to be one of the most restrictive put forward by any government organization to date, mainly due to a new permanence criterion that requires proof that forest biomass-including mill waste and construction and demolition debris-originated in forests which are under a permanent easement or other legal arrangement guaranteeing that the land will remain in forest for at least 100 years. 
 
 Conable and the NYBEA, a coalition of individuals, businesses, and organizations advocating biomass as a renewable energy source, are urging the DEC to withdraw the proposal, since nearly all of the forest biomass available in New York comes directly or indirectly from the selective cutting of private forests, or from urban and other wood waste, rather than land conversion. In a recent letter to the DEC, the NYBEA points out that by assuming the exceptional situation [land conversion] has occurred unless proven otherwise, the draft rule will treat a very large proportion of currently available wood forest biomass as the equivalent of coal or even worse, from the RGGI perspective. And while there are large areas of former paper company and other lands in the Adirondack region that are under state-held conservation easements that permit planned harvests, such arrangements are very uncommon in other parts of the state. 
 
 The NYBEA also alleges that unlike the biomass guideline development process for the state's renewable portfolio standard, which is currently set at 30 percent by 2015, there does not appear to have been a systematic outreach to industry members or organizations in the formulation of the policy. The group is suggesting that the DEC adopt the biomass guidelines established in the RPS, which would include the materials excluded in the DEC's draft, and also that the draft finalization be influenced by a public rulemaking process. 
 
 The DEC is currently accepting public input on the draft policy until 5 p.m. on June 18. It can be accessed at <a href="http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/65141.html">http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/65141.html</a>, and comments may be submitted to <a href="http://DAR12@gw.dec.state.ny.us">DAR12@gw.dec.state.ny.us</a>.

NY RGGI draft policy excludes most forest biomass

Posted June 15, 2010, at 4:12 p.m. CST
 
 "Show me the gallons," said Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association and keynote speaker at the Advanced Biofuels Workshop, which took place June 14 in St. Louis as a co-located event at the 26th International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo. McAdams said he was bringing the audience into the "no spin zone" and discussed the troubling issues regarding the lapsed biodiesel and other tax credits that are crippling America's drive toward energy independence. 
 
 "It's not just tax credits that Congress is dealing with," he said. Health care, oil spill liability, offshore drilling and a number of other pressing issues are occupying Congress' time. "You pick them and I work with them," McAdams said. "I protect you from those you elect." He then observed that he wasn't sure how the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was ever going to get cleaned up because BP is so busy coming to Washington for hearings. 
 
 McAdams' consistency in his message over the years is unwavering, pushing for technology and feedstock neutrality and tax parity in the biofuels sector. The various biofuels industries need to work together, he said, but the way things are typically done tend to be in "siloed" form. 
 
 He forewarned of economic leavening and asked "how much food is in the trough" regarding the tax extenders package that has been going back and forth between the House of Representatives and the Senate-when it's not being ignored entirely. 
 
 "The House is tired of taking the Senate's position," said McAdams, indicating that the internal power struggle on the Hill is debilitating progress on all fronts. 
 
 "What is doable in terms of tax policy? How do we get across this valley of death?" McAdams asked. 
 
 He mentioned there are four bills floating around Congress now seeking to change cellulosic credit; and reminded everyone that there is no longer a 50 cent credit for black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp and paper mills that can be burned for energy. 
 
 "There's no parity across the divisions-and then one tax credit is for a product, another is for a process," McAdams said with cynicism, reemphasizing that the tax code needs to be technology neutral. "Now the tax codes look like they were all brought to you by special interests," he said. 
 
 Of the nearly $800 billion shelled out in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, only $564 million went to advanced biofuels projects; and only $80 million toward advanced biofuels research. McAdams asked, "Did you get your fair share?" 
 
 SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

McAdams: 'Show me the gallons'

Posted June 15, 2010, at 4:26 p.m. CST
 
 Policy, carbon reduction and symbiosis were the topics of the morning session at the 26th annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo Tuesday morning, June 15, in St. Louis. The Gulf oil spill led the remarks of the event's first two speakers. "After all the saber rattling and desk pounding happening over this oil spill is over, we will recover," said Mike Bryan, chairman of BBI International in his welcoming remarks. "What's most important is to learn from this event. We will need oil for many decades. We need to maximize our domestic oil production and maximize our alternative energy production, from all sources." 
 
 "Now is the time to break our addiction to oil," said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, in his keynote address. "Now, no one in this room is naïve enough to believe that America is going to stop using oil today, tomorrow or in the near future. But that should not deter us from aggressively proceeding with efforts to develop and deploy the wide range of ethanol technologies you in this room are developing. The lesson of the tragedy in the Gulf need not be that America must stop drilling off shore; rather, it must be that we need not drill at all if we properly empower the people in this room to do their jobs," Dinneen said to the ethanol producers and technology developers among the more than 2,000 attendees at the conference. 
 
 Dinneen recounted the growth in the industry and the numerous challenges that have been overcome as well as those still being faced today, such the multiple regulatory changes and waivers needed to be enacted to facilitate the expected implementation of E15. He also spoke of the importance of extending the blenders tax credit. "Extending these tax incentives comes at a critical juncture in the evolution of our industry," he said. "Existing ethanol biorefineries are developing breakthroughs in both the production process as well as the production of new coproducts that are improving efficiencies, reducing inputs and making ethanol even more economically and environmentally sustainable." 
 
 "Additionally, tens of thousands of jobs are at risk," he warned. "Allowing the blenders credit to expire would cost the nation 112,000 jobs at a time of near-record unemployment. It would force nearly two out of every five ethanol plants to close. If the example of the biodiesel industry taught us anything, it is that we cannot wait." 
 
 Dinneen went on to summarize a number of the policy initiatives and issues facing the ethanol industry, closing his remarks with a reference to the internal political dynamics of the ethanol industry with the newcomer group Growth Energy joining the well-established RFA and American Coalition for Ethanol working as an advocate for the ethanol industry. "Ours is an industry far too small to afford mixed messages and petty in-fighting," he said. "Regardless of your trade association of affiliation, we have thrived as an industry because we have always found a way to come together for the greater good. We have been successful because the men and women who make up this industry care not who is representing them, as long as those people work tirelessly on their behalf." 
 
 The keynote presentation was followed by two panel discussions. Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis moderated a panel examining corn ethanol's falling carbon score. Steffen Mueller, research economist at the university of Illinois-Chicago, shared the results of a survey of ethanol producers showing marked improvement in efficiency of ethanol yield, water use and power use over the past decade. Charles Hurburgh, professor of ag and biosystems engineering at Iowa State University, outlined the expected improvements in corn yields in the years ahead, and the need to allow corn ethanol production to expand beyond the 15 billion per year cap for corn-based ethanol receiving renewable identification numbers under the renewable fuels standard. An expected corn yield improvement between 4 to 6 percent per year in the next decade will result in 350 million to 500 million more bushels of corn each year, he pointed out. With the use for traditional markets remaining relatively flat, ethanol use of corn needs to expand to absorb the increase. Pete Moss, vice president of market for Cereal Process Technologies and Martha Schlicher, technology lead for Monsanto Bioenergy, filled out the first panel talking about reducing corn ethanol's carbon score. 
 
 The second morning panel, moderated by G-Team principal Tom Corle, addressed the potential for industrial symbiosis. Niels Henricksen, CEO of Denmark-based Inbicon, described the synergies achieved at Kalundborg, Denmark, where Inbicon's demonstration cellulosic ethanol plant came on line in late 2009. Nine organizations in the industrial site have more than 30 agreements in place exchanging energy, recycling water and waste products among a power plant, oil refinery, enzyme manufacturer, wastewater treatment facility, Inbicon and others. 
 
 Three other panelists described their proposed projects illustrating several approaches being developed in the United States. Sandra Broekema, manager of business development for Great River Energy, described the existing synergies experienced by the co-location of Blue Flint Ethanol with the company's western North Dakota Coal Creek Station power plant. GRE is now building a 62 megawatt combined-heat-and-power plant at Spiritwood, N.D., that will meet the steam requirements of the Cargill Malt plant next door. The company is seeking partners in a proposed 20 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant for the Spiritwood Energy Park. 
 
 John Gell, Genessee Regional Biofuels, described a project to locate a 20 MMgy woody biomass-based cellulosic ethanol plant in the Eastman Business Park in Rochester, N.Y., where film used to be made. The site includes rail access, nearby power plants and interstate access. In addition to water, power and steam, the long-time chemical production site has "public support for development," Gell said. 
 
 Peter Bendorf, Integro Services Group, described another brownfield site at Alton, Ill., being considered for an integrated ethanol project. In addition to a traditional dry-mill corn ethanol plant, an Inbicon biomass refinery would integrate cellulosic ethanol production from corn stover into the corn ethanol stream. Other technologies being considered are Arisdyne cavitation and perma membrane dehydration technology. 
 
 With the conclusion of the morning session, the FEW continued with the expo and breakout session organized in five tracks: production/operations, management/business, cellulosic ethanol, distillers grains/coproducts and energy/carbon/environment. 
 
 SOURCE: ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

FEW: Opening session covers policy, corn ethanol's carbon score, symbiosis

Posted June 15, 2010, at 4:28 p.m. CST
 
 Two industry leaders were recognized at the 2010 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in St. Louis on June 15. Jeff Broin, CEO of Poet, was presented with the High Octane Award for his pioneering vision, leadership and unstoppable pursuit of industry growth and Gunter Brodl, president of Vogelbusch USA Inc., received the Award of Excellence for his trailblazer leadership and engineering distinction in the global ethanol industry. 
 
 Broin is well known as the man behind Poet, which has 26 plants in seven states and produces more than 1.6 billion gallons of ethanol annually. More than 10,000 farmers are invested in Poet plants, 30,000 farmers deliver grain to those plants and 1,500 people are employed at the plants. In April, Broin announced that Poet would add 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol to its production numbers by 2022. During the same month, the company started a new national television advertising campaign. 
 
 Broin was introduced to ethanol when he was growing up on a farm in southeast Minnesota. His father, frustrated that the government was paying farmers to idle cropland, built a small-scale ethanol plant to use the excess grain produced on the family farm. In 1987, instead of coming home from an auction with spare parts, the family mortgaged the farm and purchased an ethanol plant for $70,000. At only 22 years old Broin moved to Scotland, S.D., to renovate the plant, even living in it for a while. 
 
 "I'm humbled and honored to receive this award," he said during the presentation in St. Louis. However, he went on to say it was really the Poet team that should have the credit. "I'd really like to accept it on their behalf more than mine," he said. 
 
 Award of Excellence winner Brodl established Vogelbusch USA, based in Katy, Texas, more 20 years ago. Since that time the company has designed North American ethanol plants that today produce 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol. The parent company began in Austria in 1921 to develop and market products for yeast and alcohol fermentation. 
 
 Brodl came to live in the U.S. when the ethanol industry was in its infancy and has been working in that industry for the past 45 years. He was part of getting some of the first fuel ethanol plants operating and helped introduce the industry to Vogelbusch's Multicont, a state-of-the-art continuous fermentation process. He has continued to work as an innovator of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly designs to improve ethanol production. 
 
 The ethanol industry got its start with the goal of replacing oil. Today, Brodl said, people are being asked to wear boots on the beach because there is too much oil. In the time that he has been a part of the industry he has seen ethanol face many accusations, many of them uncalled for and untrue. It's so important, he said, that the industry educates the public that ethanol is a good thing for the U.S. and for the environment. "We've got to do more to change public relations," he said. 
 
 Broin and Brodl join a list of previous winners that goes back to 2000. Last year Phil Madson of Katzen International was named the Award of Excellence winner and Kathy Bryan of BBI International was the High Octane winner. In 2008, Jay Shetty and David Kolsrud received the honors and in 2007 it was Steve Lewis and David Kelsall. 
 
 In addition, two students were announced as the winners of the 2010 Kathy Bryan Memorial Scholarship. The long-time scholarship program was dedicated this year to Bryan, the cofounder of BBI International and sponsor of FEW and Ethanol Producer Magazine who died last summer. This also is the first year that scholarships are being given out to the children of ethanol plant employees, with a special emphasis on those applicants that have plans to work in the ethanol, alternative energy or environmental fields. 
 
 Mary Krull, the daughter of Peter Krull, a plant manager at Valero Renewables-Albert City, Iowa, and Nicholas Ballard, the son of Kim Ballard, a process operator at Big River Resources LLC, Galva, Ill., will each receive $2,000 scholarships, which go directly to their schools. They were chosen out of more than 100 applicants representing 52 ethanol plants. 
 
 Krull is a 2010 graduate of Spencer (Iowa) High School. She plans to attend Iowa State University and major in chemical engineering. She wants to work as an environmental engineer, with an emphasis on water and soil quality. Ballard graduated from Galva (Ill.) High School in 2008. He attends Bradley University and is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a goal of working in alternative energy. 
 
 SOURCE: ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

FEW: Broin, Brodl receive awards in St. Louis

Posted June 17, 2010, at 9:52 a.m. CST
 
 Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association, addressed on a media call a misleading report released June 16 by the Environmental Working Group on biomass fuels. Cleaves emphasized that, contrary to implications in the report, the biomass industry -- particularly the BPA and its members -- does not advocate harvesting trees for energy production. Rather, the vast majority of biomass facilities utilize wood waste material and industry byproducts for clean energy production.
 
 "The study has no relevance to how biomass power is generated in this country today and no relevance to how it will be generated in the foreseeable future," Cleaves said. "It uses misplaced assumptions, bad information and questionable carbon math in order to make a policy statement about a problem that does not exist." 
 
 The BPA is not aware of any facilities that use whole trees for energy. This is not an economically sustainable approach to biomass, as the costs of cutting down one tree far outweigh the potential energy benefits. 
 
 Cleaves also disagreed with the EWG's assertion that biomass power would be unable to meet the 2025 renewable energy goals without harvesting trees. He cited Southern Alliance for Clean Energy projections that clean energy could double in the country by utilizing waste wood biofuels from just four southern states. 
 
 Cleaves challenged the notion contained in the report that the federal government provides tax incentives for using whole trees as biofuels: "Both the production tax credit and the investment tax credit passed by Congress last year are only available for waste wood products and other organic byproducts-not merchantable timber," he said.
 
 Finally, Cleaves highlighted the biomass industry's crucial role as the nation increasingly values clean energy. "Last night the President called for a constructive dialogue on changing our nation's renewable energy policy. We will never accomplish change in this country by engaging in tired rhetoric and environmental scare tactics. We welcome the debate but let's get the facts right." 
 
 SOURCE: BPA

BPA CEO: Let's get the facts right on biomass

Posted June 17, 2010, at 10:31 a.m. CST
 
 Lisa Gibson
 	
 	
 North Dakota State University and the USDA's Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory south of Mandan, N.D., are teaming up to establish the state's first biomass testing laboratory.
 
 The facility will be configured into existing infrastructure at the NGPRL for the study of dimensional, mechanical and thermal characteristics of North Dakota biomass. "The goal is to determine the characteristics of the input material, namely biomass feedstocks of North Dakota and serve the users," said Igathinathane Cannayen, NDSU research and extension engineer and researcher in the project. "These characteristics … are the first stage in the utilization of biomass through various pathways such as bioenergy (cofiring, pyrolysis, gasification), bioproducts (bio-oil, biochar, chemicals) and biofuels (hydrolysis, fermentation). The lab will be serving the needs of the farmers, biomass producers and industry personnel." The lab will have a model similar to soil testing labs or plant diagnostics labs, he added.
 	
 It's safe to say the facility will be up and running in one year, Cannayen said, and the collaborative was awarded $225,000 from the North Dakota Industrial Commission's Renewable Energy Program to cover the cost of the major equipment considered to be the starting point of the lab. Funding from NDSU has also been used and more will be sought from other sources to ensure it is fully equipped. "For the required operating funds, industries and other organizations will be contacted," Cannayen said. The immediate roadblock is an operating grant that would provide salary for a technical assistant, without that position testing and productivity would be limited as Cannayen is working on several other research and extension projects, he said. 
 	
 The NDSU departments involved in the collaboration are the Department of Agricultural Biosystems Engineering and Agribusiness and Applied Economics, by virtue of the departments of the project investigators-Cannayen and NDSU Professor Cole Gustafson. NDSU and NGPRL work together through a number of specific cooperative agreements. The NGPRL extends office and research facilities to NDSU's faculty members, Cannayen said.

ND gets biomass testing lab

Posted June 17, 2010, at 4:49 p.m. CST
 
 A 30-million-liter bioethanol plant planned for the INEOS Bio Seal Sands site in Tees Valley, U.K., will be the first commercial plant in Europe using the company's advanced BioEnergy Process Technology. 
 	
 The plant should be operational by 2012 and will also generate 3 megawatts of electricity for export from over 100,000 metric tons (110,000 tons) per year of biodegradable household and commercial waste, according to INEOS Bio. The plant will have the capacity to provide the biofuel requirement of around 250,000 vehicles per year running on E10 and electricity for 6,000 households. 
 	
 "Using our technology, the waste that is collected from homes and offices and otherwise thrown away, can be recycled into clean biofuel for cars and renewable electricity for homes and industry," said INEOS CEO Peter Williams. INEOS Bio's BioEnergy Process Technology combines thermochemical and biochemical processes to produce energy-efficient and low-cost biofuel from biomass materials. At the heart of the technology is an anaerobic fermentation step where naturally-occurring bacteria convert gases derived directly from biomass into bioethanol, according to the company. The bioethanol production is integrated with combined heat and power generation. The process supports high recycling and high landfill diversion rates and an independent life cycle assessment indicates that the bioethanol would deliver 100 percent greenhouse gas savings compared with using petrol in today's cars, according to INEOS Bio. 
 	
 The company has received £7.3 million ($10.8 million) in grants from regional development agency One North East and the Department of Energy and Climate Change toward the £52 million construction costs for the facility. The plant will create 40 new permanent jobs, along with 350 jobs in the construction process. 
 	
 Once operational, plans include the expansion of the facility to a larger integrated biorefinery, combining advanced bioenergy production with advanced waste treatment by 2015, according to INEOS Bio.

INEOS Bio develops waste-to-bioethanol plant

Posted June 18, 2010, at 9:33 a.m. CST
 
 Securing local, uniform, low-carbon feedstocks is key to an efficient industrial-scale power operation, but it isn't a simple task. Different feedstocks possess vastly different physical and chemical properties, and performance varies considerably from one conversion technology to another. Furthermore, one feedstock may make sense in a given region, but not in another. 
 
 Shifting the resource base for chemical and energy production from fossil fuels to renewable raw materials is seen by many as one of the key strategies toward sustainable development, according to Philip Nuss, University of New Hampshire researcher. Considering organic waste such as from municipal solid waste streams as well as construction and demolition (C&D) as alternative feedstocks could help to reduce pressure on global arable land and enhance landfill diversion, Nuss said. 
 
 Nuss will discuss gasification followed by synthesis gas combustion in a steam boiler as a way to transform C&D-derived biomass into renewable electricity and heat, during the panel Getting it Right: Building a Low Carbon Biomass Supply Chain to Meet Industrial Scale Demand at Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston. "My presentation will explain the system-wide environmental burdens associated with this route using life-cycle assessment," he said. "Results are compared to the use of virgin greenwood biomass as alternative gasification feedstock as well as to conventional fossil-based energy provision."
 
 Nuss added that he is hopeful that results of the study will add to the current debate on sustainable biomass utilization in the Northeast, and to support near-term options for enhanced waste utilization. 
 
 Joining Nuss on the panel will be Idaho National Laboratory's Christopher Wright, who will introduce a new supply system that will improve physical and chemical properties of biomass feedstocks and supply logistics. Focusing on issues surrounding smaller farm sizes and localized farm transportation systems, Wright will detail how the system will enable development of high-capacity, lower cost commodity-scale supply systems that take full advantage of current Northeast transportation infrastructure and traditional conversion facility economies of scale. 
 
 Other speakers on this panel include Chris Jedd of Clean Coal Briquettes Inc., who will discuss an alternative briquetting technology developed utilizing biomass to help coal-fired power plants meet their renewable energy portfolio standards and reduce emissions, and Dan Conable of Cato Analytics LLC, who will explain the methodology and significance of designing a closed-loop supply chain in the Northeast. 
 
 For more information about the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo, go to <a href="http://ne.biomassconference.com">http://ne.biomassconference.com</a>.

Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo panel to explore feedstock supply chains, life cycles

Posted June 21, 2010, at 10:59 a.m. CST
 
 The Forest Landowners Association, the advocacy organization for family forest owners, has expressed praise for the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences' mission regarding the budding woody-biomass energy industry in Massachusetts. But June 21, FLA voiced concern about a state agency's misinterpretation of a new Manomet Center report. FLA believes such misinterpretations of practical forestry could ultimately set the stage for policies that accelerate forest loss in Massachusetts and elsewhere. 
 
 Produced by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences of Plymouth, Mass., at the request of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the agency concludes from the report that burning wood is more harmful than burning coal or fossil fuels to our environment. Furthermore, in interpreting the report, the DOER has opined that the emergence of a vibrant biomass energy market might result in the state's forests being harvested at accelerated rates. In response, the agency is suggesting that additional regulatory frameworks may be needed to protect public values. However, the FLA questions the agency's findings and cautions against public policy decisions being made on the basis the agency's view.
 
 Scott Jones, FLA's CEO, praised the Manomet Center's mission, expressing admiration for the organization's work on issues of environmental sustainability. "We hold the Manomet Center in very high regard and we are most supportive of the goals they set for this study and of its recognition of the long-term carbon neutrality of biomass," he said. "However, we disagree with the state of Massachusetts' position that burning wood is less climate friendly than burning fossil fuels – and that promoting renewable electricity generation will result in unsustainable forest management – because we see no logic or compelling evidence to support either view."
 
 "Furthermore," he continued, "the idea that private landowners would clear their forests and sell high-value whole trees at a discount so they can be used to produce woody-biomass fuels is nonsensical, because it flies in the face of basic resource economics. Contrary to the state's concern in that regard, to our knowledge there is absolutely no precedent of this happening in any part of the country."
 
 Jones concluded, "America's 10 million private forest owners manage 60 percent of the nation's forested land base and it is expensive for them to maintain these lands, which not only provide renewable wood products, but also clean water, clean air, aesthetic values and recreational opportunities. As a result, private forest owners need vertical markets into which they can sell high-value sawtimber, mid-value pulpwood and low-value logging residuals like bark, limbs, chips and sawdust, which are the primary sources of woody-biomass fuels. Without these varied outlets for their wood products, the economics of land ownership often do not work and many forest landowners will have difficulties maintaining their forestlands as forests, which is not in the interest of society as a whole." 
 
 SOURCE: FOREST LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION

Will family forest owners sell wood or sell real estate?

Through a Freedom of Information request, Reuters obtained and reported in April on a European study "that claimed biodiesel from North American soybeans has an indirect carbon footprint of 339.9 kilograms of CO2 per gigajoule-four times higher than standard diesel-an annex that was controversially stripped from a report published in December," Reuters stated. 
 
 The European study focused on a number of other issues besides biodiesel, including the common agriculture policy, the EU emissions trading scheme and more. 
 
 A representative of the European Biodiesel Board told Biodiesel Magazine that the report quantifies the effects on greenhouse gas emissions of selected EU climate change policies and measures, and "does not cover our main biofuels legislation, Directive 2009/28/EC adopted last year, but merely our old biofuels directive." 
 
 The EBB representative added, "We understand that in assessing this older biofuels legislation, the consultants tried to evaluate potential indirect land use change (ILUC) impacts. Since no data or methodology was available, this was done in a very simplistic way, using a risk factor approach. In other words, if the risk factor is assumed to be 25 percent, the ILUC impact is X, and if the risk factor is 75 percent, the ILUC impact is Y. This 'risk factor' methodology explained why the consultants ended up with such incredibly high emission factors for biodiesel. Ultimately, it was considered as completely arbitrary and removed from the final study. Overall, this exercise has nothing to do with the current modeling exercise on ILUC conducted by the European Commission." 
 

 A representative with the German oilseed promotion council (UFOP) told Biodiesel Magazine that in this study, ILUC has been taken into account although there is no accepted method, even among scientists. "The ILUC factor of the Ecoinstitute in Germany, which is used in this study, is not correct," the source said. "This is because it does not take into account the replacements effects within a region. For example, although about 3 to 4 million hectares within the EU are used for rape methyl ester production, we have a tremendous overshoot of cereals. The methodology approach of the Ecoinstitute leads to the situation that ILUC in Indonesia is lower than in the EU." 
 
 The UFOP source went on to say, "The experience of the institutes involved in this study is also questionable-especially the German Fraunhofer Institute. I could not find any corresponding references on the Web site of this Institute." 
 
 One of the key sentences in the study is that biodiesel from European rapeseed has an indirect carbon footprint of 150.3 kg of CO2 per gigajoule. "In the EU's Renewable Energy Directive, the dimension is: gCO2/MJ," the source said. "But kg and gigajoule sounds worse."
 
 In response to this study and its purported findings, Don Scott, director of sustainability with the National Biodiesel Board, said, "Sustainability is a priority for our industry. The EPA process to conclusively establish GHG emission from soy biodiesel is the largest effort in history to quantify the benefit of biodiesel in a comprehensive way. This was also an open process with public stakeholder and expert involvement. It affirmed biodiesel's benefit over petroleum, including soy biodiesel. The European estimates were biased to European products, and did not follow proper life-cycle analysis for U.S. products."

European Report on Biodiesel GHG Emissions is Flawed

During his Iowa visit on April 27, President Barack Obama heard firsthand of the urgency to reinstate the biodiesel tax credit from Brad Albin, vice president at Renewable Energy Group Inc. and secretary of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Following Obama's speech and town hall session at Indian Hills Community College, Albin grabbed the president's attention. 
 
 During a 90-second exchange, Albin shared the message of the biodiesel industry's state of disruption and uncertainty resulting from the lapse of the federal biodiesel blender tax credit since Jan. 1.
 

 "I shook his hand and told him that we're losing jobs as we stand here, which seemed to get his attention," explained Albin, who had been sitting in the second row. "I told him about plants idling and that more than 90 percent of manufacturing staff at U.S. biodiesel plants have been laid off as a result of the tax credit lapse." 
 
 "We're going to die without this tax credit," Albin told the President, who then responded, "We won't let you die … I'm on your side, but I've got a Congress to deal with."

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Obama: 'We won't let you die'

Navistar International Corp. reached an agreement May 3 with the U.S. EPA in which EPA promised to hold a public workshop or hearing to address issues Navistar raised in its federal court appeal of EPA's certification policies for SCR-equipped diesel-powered trucks. Navistar had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to void those policies because they had been adopted by the EPA without the public process required by law, but instead following input only from the SCR engine makers. 
 
 In its appeal, Navistar charged that EPA is using those policies to allow SCR-equipped diesel-powered trucks to operate for extended periods without any control of NOx emissions and is certifying SCR engines as meeting NOx emission requirements when they do not. 
 
 The agreement reached yesterday provides that EPA will "engage in a public process to reexamine its policies, for future 2011 and later model year engines," during which it will "provide a thorough review of EPA's policies regarding operation of SCR-equipped engines." The agreement must be published by EPA in the Federal Register for comment before it can become final.

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Navistar resolves lawsuit against US EPA

SGS North America Inc. is offering its services to biofuels producers in meeting new U.S. EPA registration requirements mandated by RFS2. Multiple steps are involved in the registration process, including electronic application submission, EPA processing, approval, and finally verification by a licensed professional chemical engineer in the state in which the biofuel plant is located. To finalize the registration process, an independent third party company must be retained to provide written verification of key elements of the electronic application, including types of feedstocks used, a description of production processes, coproducts produced, process energy fuel types and locations of origin, and baseline volumes as specified in EPA-issued air permits. The company will provide an on-site visit, a review of critical documents and a written report and cover letter verifying the information provided in the electronic registration. With less than two months before the deadline, ethanol and biodiesel producers are under considerable pressure to complete this important requirement.

Biodiesel plant registration service offered

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced May 4 that the USDA is planning to accept applications for the Biorefinery Assistance Program, the Repowering Assistance Program and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. Details on how to apply were to be released in early May in the Federal Register. 
 
 The Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels works to support and ensure expanding production of advanced biofuels by providing payments to eligible advanced biofuels producers. Advanced biofuels are derived from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. These include cellulose, sugar and starch, crop residue, vegetative waste material, animal waste, food and yard waste, vegetable oil, animal fat, and biogas (including landfill gas and sewage waste treatment gas). The advanced biofuels program is an important part of achieving the Obama administration's goal to increase biofuels production and use. 
 
 USDA's Biorefinery Assistance Program provides guaranteed loans to develop and construct commercial-scale biorefineries or to retrofit existing facilities using eligible technology for the development of advanced biofuels. The amount of a loan guaranteed for a project under this program cannot exceed 80 percent of total eligible project costs. 
 
 The Repowering Assistance Program is designed to encourage the use of renewable biomass as a replacement fuel source for fossil fuels that are used to provide process heat or power in the operation of eligible biorefineries (those in existence on June 18, 2008, the date the 2008 Farm Bill was enacted).

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Details to come on advanced biofuel funds

LL Bio-fuels Namibia, a foreign-initiated multi-billion-dollar venture, has secured 300,000 hectares of land from chiefs in the northeastern Caprivi Region to plant jatropha for biodiesel production. LL Bio-fuels signed a 20-year lease agreement with the co-owners of Katima Farm-the Caprivi Regional Council and Namibia Development Corp.-to enable the firm to undertake various crop experiments aimed at maximum oil output. LL Bio-fuels plans to produce the first barrels of the green fuel next year.

June 2010

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Biomass Conference Creates Excitement

Avoiding the Food-Versus-Fuel Trap

European Report on Biodiesel GHG Emissions is Flawed

Mechanical High-Shear Dispersion

Featured

Biomass Bonanza

The Heat is On

Bridging the Global Supply/Demand Gap

Unearthing Green Scams

Ultrasonic Biodiesel Processing

Toledo Transit Authority Studies B20 Fuel Economy

Contributions

Align Biomass Strategy to Fit Your Business-Not the Other Way Around

Wood Pellets: An Expanding Market Opportunity

Air Emissions Control for the Biomass Industry

June 2010.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Biomass Conference Creates Excitement

Avoiding the Food-Versus-Fuel Trap

European Report on Biodiesel GHG Emissions is Flawed

Mechanical High-Shear Dispersion

Featured

Biomass Bonanza

The Heat is On

Bridging the Global Supply/Demand Gap

Unearthing Green Scams

Ultrasonic Biodiesel Processing

Toledo Transit Authority Studies B20 Fuel Economy

Contributions

Align Biomass Strategy to Fit Your Business-Not the Other Way Around

Wood Pellets: An Expanding Market Opportunity

Air Emissions Control for the Biomass Industry

June 2010