Posted July 28, 2010, at 1:39 p.m. CST
 
 The Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo, Aug. 4-6 in Boston at the Westin Copley Place, will feature a panel titled, Working Out the Kinks: Addressing Feedstock Logistics in the Northeast. 
 
 The panel will feature David Dowler, extension director for the Penn State Cooperative Extension, who will talk about camelina as a new oilseed crop for permanent no-till systems in New England. After two years of growing camelina in northwest Pennsylvania, which was funded by the Northeast Sun Grant program and a USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service state Conservation Innovation Grant, they have learned much about its potential as a major biodiesel feedstock for the northeast, Dowler said. 
 
 Camelina yields of 1,200 pounds per acre are achievable and yields of 2,000 pounds per acre, or more, have been obtained, according to Dowler. The oil content of camelina is about 40 percent, twice that of soybeans. "We have accumulated field data on culture, production, harvesting, storing, processing, marketing of the seed and meal, and using the oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production," he said. "Research data from PSU poultry trials have demonstrated that the Omega-3s from camelina do transfer into eggs and poultry tissue when chickens are fed camelina meal. The high level of Omega-3 fatty acids found in camelina meal makes it an ideal feed replacement for flax in poultry, and as a value-added protein feedstuff for other classes of livestock." 
 
 Dowler said he believes that successful camelina production will hinge on capitalizing on the crop's uniqueness and subsequent opportunities it will create for diversity, rotations and significant cover cropping opportunities. 
 
 Crawford County Commissioners have signed a memorandum of understanding with PSU, according to Dowler, to use approximately 100 acres of their farm land to further this work. Dowler said joining PSU in this effort were three critical partners: Hero BX, formerly known as Lake Erie Biodiesel; Ernst Conservation Seeds, a local and nationally known seed producer for renewable fuels; and Northwest Grain Processors, a co-owned local soybean crushing plant that was idle but now has been converted into a crushing plant for camelina and canola. 
 
 Dowler also plans on discussing the challenges that lie ahead in commoditizing camelina. 
 
 Also featured on this panel is Randy Hill, head of Advanced Trailer. Three years ago, Advanced Trailer began exploring use of its drying trailer to remove moisture from woody biomass. After a series of projects since then, Hill will present results from this research at BBI International's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo, which will be the first public presentation of research related to transporting, drying and storing biomass while in a transport vehicle, he said. 
 
 Maurice Hladik, president of Biomass4Energy, will discuss possible solutions to the serious potential for a feedstock shortage in trying to fulfill the RFS2 volume requirements, specifically the 16 billion gallons of advanced biofuel required by 2022 under the federal mandate. 
 
 "The challenge to meet this biomass requirement is as large as the opportunities that this presents for rural America," Hladik said. "These opportunities and challenges will be discussed from both the point of view of the biorefinery investor and the farmer/forest owner." Hladik will speak from his 10-year experience as the lead feedstock scout for Iogen Corp. in the U.S., Canada and Europe. 
 
 Hladik said the low-hanging biomass fruit will be agriculture residues. "Forestry residue and new harvest trees are other biomass resources but again there are challenges regarding costs and the yields of cellulosic ethanol from softwoods," he said, adding that dedicated tree plantations also have their pros and cons for both biorefineries and landholders. Hladik said dedicated biomass crops remain the probable dominant source of biomass. "For most biorefiners, the preferred biomass source will be perennial grasses such as switchgrass or miscanthus," he said. "This preference is based on the security of supply which this presents because of the long-term commitment of the farmer with perennials and the lesser impact of climate on such crops." 
 
 There is understandable reluctance from farmers to make long-term commitments given the lack of knowhow to establish these grasses, the novelty of contracting a crop for years in advance and without a commitment by a biorefinery investor in the form of beginning actual construction. Hladik said the investor, on the other hand, does not want to risk the stranded asset of a cellulosic ethanol facility operating well below capacity if the local community proves to be reluctant to supply biomass and enter into long-term contracts. 
 
 Hladik said the biomass requirement to achieve the 16 billion gallon advanced biofuel portion of the RFS2 alone will be 200 million tons annually. "Assuming that a typical biomass provider will supply an average of 1,000 tons per year, this means that 200,000 farmers and others must make long-term supply commitments," he said. "Clearly this requires a massive and early mobilization of biomass providers in the next 12 years leading up to 2022. By comparison, there are about 150,000 wheat farmers in the U.S." 
 
 Qingzheng Cheng, a research associate with the Biomaterials and Wood Utilization Research Center at West Virginia University will discuss recent work in green pretreatments of woody biomass for ethanol production. Cheng said petreatment of biomass is the most costly single step-up to 20 percent of the total cost-of cellulosic ethanol production. It encompasses reducing biomass size, removing inhibitory lignin and enhancing conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose into fermentable sugars. 
 
 "Hardwood residues and three-year-old hybrid poplar of the third-generation progeny were examined as potential feedstock," Cheng said. "After debarked, dried, and milled to particles of different sizes, the samples were pretreated using environmentally friendly pretreatment methods, including ultrasonication, homogenization, and hydrogen peroxide and ammonia fiber expansion at different pressures and temperatures in a pressure reactor." Cheng said the particles were characterized using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and water retention value. The particle size was reduced, surface area was increased, and lignin content was dramatically decreased through the pretreatment processes. Cheng said the trademarked Accellerase 1000 enzyme was used to further evaluate the pretreated samples for sugar production. "The sugars produced were evaluated with high-performance liquid chromatography," Cheng said. "The results could potentially help lower bioethanol production cost with environmentally friendly pretreatments and improve utilization of woody biomass for bioenergy production." 
 
 BBI International Program Manager Tim Portz will moderate this panel. To register for the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo, visit <a href="http://ne.biomassconference.com">http://ne.biomassconference.com</a>.

Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo to address feedstock issues in the NE

Posted August 31, 2010, at 2:33 p.m. CST
 
 A recent dip into the U.S. DOE's Loan Guarantee Program funding has renewable energy groups feeling a bit neglected as it is the second time funding has been "borrowed" for other purposes, the first amount still not repaid.
 	
 President Barack Obama signed legislation that would allow a trimming of $1.5 billion for funding of emergency assistance to various states. A package containing the measure has passed in the House, but is waiting on Senate action. A letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., outlining the detriments of such a measure was signed by representatives from the American Wind Energy Association, the Geothermal Energy Association, the National Hydropower Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Biomass Power Association. 
 	
 "This reduction in funding severely limits the DOE's ability to support the suite of renewable resources through the loan guarantee program," the letter reads. "Further, a solicitation for manufacturers of commercial renewable energy technologies has not even been released yet by DOE. The proposed cut makes it likely that manufacturers of commercial renewable technologies will not be able to take advantage of the DOE Loan Guarantee Program." 
 	
 The first time funding was cut from the program was in 2009 for the Cash for Clunkers program. A total of $2 billion was trimmed from the $6 billion allocated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide loan guarantees for an estimate $60 billion worth of renewable energy projects. With the latest rescission, $3.5 billion will have been cut from the program and many projects will go unfunded, the letter states.
 	
 "I think it puts a lot of the projects that either had applied or possibly could apply in additional solicitations at risk unless we get some of that money back," said Dick Munson, senior vice president of Recycled Energy Development and member of the BPA. In addition, the Loan Guarantee Program has four active solicitations for proposals of up to $47 billion, but with only about $25 billion left after both the cuts, he added. "There's a huge gap between what they're anticipating of $47 billion and the $25 billion that's currently available after you take away these funds for both Cash for Clunkers and the state aid package," Munson said. 
 	
 The letter says the cuts will significantly undermine the Loan Guarantee Program and urges Pelosi to work with the Administration and Senate to reverse them and restore funding to the program. 
 	
 "I think this is one of the potentially great renewable energy programs because biomass companies and others in this recessionary period are looking for financing and this program is the big one that's out there," Munson said. "By it consistently being raided and not having funds restored to it, as well as not having the Administration flag this as a program that they really need to accelerate and get projects through the due diligence process, I think we're really missing an opportunity to spur the renewable energy industry through this financing program."

Renewables groups oppose Loan Guarantee Program cuts

Posted September 1, 2010, at 8:50 a.m. CST
 
 UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced Sept. 1 that its technology was selected for use in Rentech Inc.'s Rialto Renewable Energy Center for the conversion of biomass to transportation fuels.
 
 The renewable energy center, to be built in Rialto, Calif., will convert biomass, such as yard and tree trimmings, into renewable, ultra-clean diesel fuel and renewable electricity. The new facility will use UOP hydroprocessing technology, which converts hydrocarbons into clean-fuel products. The center is expected to produce roughly 640 barrels-per-day of liquid fuel and 35 megawatts of base-load electricity, enough to power approximately 30,000 homes each day.
 
 In August 2009, eight airlines signed a multiyear agreement with Rentech to together purchase up to 1.5 million gallons per year of diesel from the Rialto Project for use in ground service equipment at Los Angeles International Airport. The Rialto Project is scheduled to start up in late 2012.
 "Our technology helps Rentech to produce high-quality, ultra-clean transport fuels, meeting all product standards with a near-zero carbon footprint," said UOP Business Director for Refining Ashis Banerji. "The Rialto Project is an important step in increasing capacity of clean fuels from nontraditional sources."
 
 "We are pleased to add a well-recognized technology provider such as UOP to the suite of technologies to be deployed at our Rialto Project," said Timothy DeFoe, project director for the Rialto Renewable Energy Center. "The Rialto Project continues to advance, with FEED engineering work well under way. The project, anticipated to be the nation's first commercial biomass gasification facility for the coproduction of renewable synthetic fuels and power, will serve as a model for next-generation clean energy production."
 
 In the new unit the Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification system will be used to produce synthesis gas, or syngas, from biomass feedstock which is converted to ultra-clean hydrocarbons using Rentech's proprietary Fischer-Tropsch process and catalyst. The UOP Unionfining process and the UOP Unicracking process are then used to upgrade the hydrocarbons to ultra-clean jet and diesel fuel as well as specialty waxes and chemicals.
 Honeywell's UOP business has also developed a range of processes to produce high-quality, drop-in green fuels from natural feedstocks. Since 2006, UOP has commercialized processes to convert nonedible natural oils to Honeywell Green Diesel and Honeywell Green Jet Fuel. It has also established Envergent Technologies, a joint venture with Ensyn Corp. which offers pyrolysis technology for the production of renewable heat, power and transportation fuels from biomass sources such as forest and agricultural waste.
 
 SOURCE: UOP LLC

Rentech taps UOP technology for California facility

Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. has signed a contract to replace a coal-fired boiler on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus with a biomass boiler that will generate steam and electricity from clean, renewable biomass fuel. B&W PGG, a subsidiary of The Babcock & Wilcox Co., will design, engineer and supply a 150,000 pound-per-hour bubbling fluidized bed boiler designed to burn chipped hardwoods and various local opportunity fuels near the university campus. The new boiler will be retrofitted within the university physical plant's existing structure. The physical plant provides the university campus with electricity and steam for heating and other uses. Engineering work is underway at B&W PGG's Barberton, Ohio, headquarters. Delivery is scheduled for next summer.

1562-1286340921.jpg

B&W to replace coal-fired boiler with biomass boiler on MU campus

The biomass power industry took an undeserved beating in June as a result of two studies, one by the Manomet Center for Conservation Studies and one by the Environmental Working Group. I'm not going to go into any detail here on the studies because Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association, covered them in his BPA Update on page 7. 
 
 I should mention, however, that the Manomet study did contain some good news for combined-heat-and-power facilities and biomass heating operations, saying that the carbon benefits of these systems would be reaped within a decade when replacing oil and between 20 and 30 years when replacing natural gas (see pages 18 and 19).
 
 As you read this column, I hope you are planning to attend, or are at the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston. Because of the event's location, Anna Austin, Biomass Magazine associate editor, wrote a feature about renewable energy incentives in the Northeast region (see page 40). The story goes into the many different incentives, definitions, and rules and regulations, which vary from state to state and sometimes, as in the case of Massachusetts, can change. If you are not familiar with the renewable energy incentives in the Northeast you will want to read Austin's feature.
 
 The other two features are based on this month's theme, which is biogas. Lisa Gibson, Biomass Magazine associate editor, wrote about two companies in Europe that are demonstrating their anaerobic digestion process at breweries to showcase the benefits of using the spent grains and yeast waste streams to produce biogas (see page 34). The companies have installed a demonstration plant at the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan in Freising, Germany. 
 
 The other feature is about a new process for turning waste into energy using a rotary kiln gasifier (see page 28). Researchers at the State University of New York at Cobleskill are experimenting with the gasifier, which was developed and owned by W2E, focusing on feedstock and syngas handling. Gibson got the idea to do this feature after hearing Douglas Goodale's presentation at the International Biomass Conference & Expo in Minneapolis in May. Goodale is the bioenergy project manager and principal investigator for SUNY Cobleskill, who says the U.S. Department of Defense is interested in the technology. 
 
 Stories like these are just a few of the reasons why we at Biomass Magazine are still bullish on the success of the biomass industry, despite misleading and misconstrued studies about us.

1556-1286340918.jpg

Bullish on Biomass

In case you didn't notice, the biomass power industry has been under scrutiny lately. 
 
 The Manomet Center for Conservation Studies and Environmental Working Group both released studies in June that received considerable press attention-attention that resulted in a mischaracterization of our industry and the way we do business. The Biomass Power Association took these potential setbacks as opportunities to educate these groups-and the wider public-about what exactly biomass is, how we work, and ways that we contribute to the American economy and renewable energy sector. 
 
 While I understand that the recent attention has caused some to worry about the future of biomass in the U.S., I can assure you that, regardless of any misstatements or unflattering attention, I continue to have high expectations and hope for growth in our industry. 
 
 We know that biomass is a carbon-neutral resource that provides clean energy for electricity. And we know that we are not in the business of harvesting mature, merchantable trees to produce energy. The BPA, on behalf of our members and all biomass operators in the country, spoke out numerous times in June against the false claims included in the studies. Our efforts paid off: three co-authors of the report issued clarifying statements, stating that the focus of the study was on the harvesting of forests in Massachusetts, and was not a study of biomass electricity using residues or thinnings. In other words, the study was not about our industry. 
 
 The Pinchot Institute for Conservation, which is devoted to conservation efforts and sustainable natural resource management, was among several organizations that participated in the Manomet study and has since publicly clarified the report's findings. 
 
 Pinchot recently wrote in a press release, "… the study concluded that carbon emissions per unit of electricity generated can be higher with wood, based on the more concentrated energy content of fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas. However, this conclusion is not meant to address the additional significant environmental, economic, and social effects of fossil fuel use, nor does it reflect that electric power generation from forest residuals and waste wood results in minimal if any net carbon emissions."
 
 Following BPA's call for clarification and the Pinchot release, the Manomet Center issued a statement of its own: "First, the study addresses only the carbon cycle implications of biomass harvested from actively managed, natural forests. The study did not analyze woody biomass from other sources, for example biomass plantations, land clearing, tree work and landscaping wastes, or construction waste. These materials can be important potential sources of biomass-ones that likely have very different carbon cycle implications than biomass from natural forests-and merit careful and separate consideration in biomass policy development." 
 
 The Biomass Energy Resource Center also weighed in, offering a helpful clarification, pointing out inaccurate statements in a recent Associated Press story. 
 
 Biomass is a mature, viable renewable energy source that employs thousands of Americans. It has a pivotal role in renewable energy discussions. And it is gratifying to see the willingness of the studies' authors to make clear that they support our industry as long as we are utilizing wood waste materials as fuel, which is exactly what we do. 
 
 Like you, I take biomass's role as a clean biofuel very seriously. We should frequently remind ourselves and those outside our industry that:
 
 We believe in using sustainable biomass fuels that do not contribute to land-use changes and offer lower life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than traditional fossil fuels. 
 
 We do not harvest mature, merchantable trees for the purpose of producing energy. That approach defies economic sense. The residues generated from forest harvesting and thinnings for forest management, however, play an important role in combating climate change and generating renewable energy. 
 
 We fully support the use of woody wastes and byproducts derived from sustainable forestry slash, unused residues from mill operations and forest thinnings removed either to reduce forest fire risk or to allow select trees to attain merchantable sizes more quickly. 
 
 We also fully support nonforestry waste from the agriculture industry whether that's generated from rice mills, sugarcane debris, orchard and agricultural prunings and other biogenic materials that would otherwise be discarded. 
 You and I are acutely aware of the abundant possibilities for biomass power in this country. Together, we will continue to build the biomass power industry and earn increasing recognition as a viable, renewable energy source. BIO
 
 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>.

1557-1286340918.jpg

Recent Studies: Taking Advantage of Opportunities to Educate Americans About Biomass

Returning from a business trip on a flight from Memphis to Minneapolis, my boss sat next to a young man who was traveling to be in a friend's wedding. He was using a "diamond traveler" ticket earned with air miles accumulated mostly from his job as a turbine repair technician. Gas turbines for electrical power have been installed around the clock for several years because of cheap gas, lower capital costs, rapid construction and the goal of greater efficiency and lower carbon dioxide emissions. This young traveler was living the American dream. He attended a technical college in Minnesota for one year, was snatched up early by an energy business, and has been flying to strange lands experiencing cultures and people he had only read about on Wikipedia.
 
 All levels of government in the U.S., from the Student Senate at the University of North Dakota to the current Democratic administration, have made assertions that the current economic downturn can be countered, in part, by creating jobs in energy efficiency and sustainable renewable energy. That young turbine repairman's career path is a product of the quest for higher efficiency in energy production and lower carbon dioxide. But before large numbers of the American population heat and electrify their homes with renewable energy and energy efficient technologies, the workforce necessary to make that happen will need to learn new skills and receive appropriate job training. 
 
 A report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Research into Action Inc.,1 states that just the energy efficiency side of U.S. job growth could triple in the next 10 years, but only if education and job training are stepped up dramatically.
 
 Most small business owners will agree that any significant increase in energy efficiency and green jobs will require a workforce dedicated to the realization of this objective. Yet for those individuals wanting to gain educational background and actual degrees in these fields, the choices can be limited. While a few schools actually have a specific curriculum devoted to renewable energy, such as Appalachian State University and Oregon Institute of Technology, most prospective students will have to enter traditional fields of academic endeavor and tailor their course work by adding classes in renewable energy. 
 
 Additionally, part-time employment, summer employment, and internships in renewable industries are invaluable in gaining not only experience but building the credentials for a successful resume and future career. Jobs that deal in renewable and sustainable energy, to the surprise of many, will more often than not be in what would be considered traditional energy fields, such as the fossil power generation industry. These organizations are transitioning to utilization of more sustainable fuels and processes and will require individuals with the motivation and skills to guide them. Some of these jobs will be strictly technical in nature such as engineering required to design and build biomass conversion systems or technicians to service wind generation systems. Other jobs will be found throughout the renewable energy field, including such traditional occupations as communications, community outreach, sales and marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, law, etc. 
 
 Utilization of biomass has been occurring for tens of thousands of years as a heat source. Transitioning to a more sophisticated use of biomass to generate power as well as other renewable products, however, is a challenge that will take a significant amount of effort. This effort requires more attention from higher education as the training ground for the future of renewable energy. 
 
 More jobs in renewable, efficient energy definitely require commensurate emphasis on these disciplines in U.S. science, engineering and applicable technical educational programs. I don't think all of our young people will become diamond travelers visiting exotic places, but they will definitely improve their chances for landing a well-paying job and living the American dream. 
 
 For job opportunities in renewable energy at the Energy & Environmental Research Center, visit <a href="http://www.undeerc.org/employment">www.undeerc.org/employment</a>. 
 
 Bruce Folkedahl is a senior research manager at the EERC. Reach him at <a href="mailto:bfolkedahl@undeerc.org">bfolkedahl@undeerc.org</a> or (701) 777-5243. 
 
 1Goldman C.A. et al. Energy Efficiency Services Sector: Workforce Education and Training Needs, report for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; March 2010.

1558-1286340919.jpg

Back to School With Biomass

Whether you believe in climate change or support carbon cap and trade, one thing we can all agree on is that being more efficient and productive with your existing resources is a good idea. A key component of a drive for efficiency is looking at all of your inputs and outputs, especially those considered waste and a cost center, and finding ways to reduce costly inputs and increase revenue producing outputs. For companies that have significant electricity or natural gas needs coupled with access to biomass resources, biomass cogeneration may make a great deal of sense.
 
 A simple explanation of how biomass cogeneration works can be taken from window manufacturer Andersen Corp. In 2005, executives at Andersen's Bayport, Minn., plant grew concerned that their growing need for steam could not continue to be met by the utility and their own existing, but old, wood boiler. Because Andersen generates a large amount of wood waste in its operations, it made sense to utilize that wood for its steam needs in a cogeneration plant. By mid-2007, the Bayport plant was producing all of its own steam and the plant won a 2007 Minnesota Environmental Initiative Award and was profiled in the October 2007 issue of this magazine.
 
 Pulp and paper companies can utilize black liquor or wood residues, others can use their organic wastes, while still others can arrange to buy biomass from surrounding providers. Many communities are increasingly looking to utilize their garbage as a feedstock for renewable energy for gasification or anaerobic digestion. Grocery store chains are looking to use their waste food in anaerobic digestion systems to produce renewable natural gas. Old railroad ties, tires, diseased trees, rice hulls, corn stover and other biomass materials are being considered as feedstock for power production, turning what could otherwise have been an expense into a cost savings or even a revenue generator.
 
 The potential benefits to a well-engineered and run cogeneration system include reducing or eliminating purchases of electricity or steam from third parties, reducing or eliminating disposal costs of "waste" biomass and, possibly, the ability to sell excess electricity generation to the grid. When evaluating these potential benefits, make sure to evaluate current utility contracts, including whether you may need a standby power agreement in case your system suffers a failure. Selling excess electricity to the grid sounds great, but may not be that easy because not every state permits net metering and sales back to the grid. Even if they do, you will have to negotiate a power purchase agreement with the utility and may have to arrange for connection to the transmission system, depending on the size of your project. Biomass power is typically considered renewable and usually eligible for preferential treatment under state renewable portfolio standards.
 
 Another potentially significant, but as of yet mostly unrealized, benefit to biomass cogeneration could be reducing the carbon footprint of your business. While the battle within the U.S. EPA and other agencies about whether biomass should receive any benefits under a carbon cap-and-trade system rages, it seems likely that reducing the carbon footprint of a sizable facility formerly powered by coal or natural gas by using biomass cogeneration should result in significant savings as well as afford an opportunity to sell the resulting credits in a new carbon cap-and-trade market.
 
 If you decide that biomass cogeneration may be right for you, here are some things to consider. First, make sure the equipment and technology you will be using is suitable for your needs and feedstock. There have been a number of recent instances where a technology was not properly paired to a facility and feedstock supply, resulting in significant losses and even litigation. Not every technology is suited to every need. If you expect to be involved in developing some of your own technology or solutions, work out the ownership of any jointly developed intellectual property up front with the technology provider. Make sure to research state, local and federal incentives carefully. On the surface, many of these incentives look terrific, but there are often hidden costs and pitfalls that may make them far harder to obtain than you may think. Be aware of potential community opposition. Unfortunately, biomass power is starting to experience local opposition. Be proactive and engage key stakeholders early. Part of engaging key stakeholders is determining early on what permits will be required and being aware of the costs and timelines to acquire those permits. An experienced adviser can help you navigate these issues and make sure your project is a success.
 
 Todd Taylor is a shareholder in Fredrikson & Byron's corporate, renewable energy, securities and emerging business groups. Reach him at <a href="mailto:ttaylor@fredlaw.com">ttaylor@fredlaw.com</a> or (612) 492-7355.

1559-1286340919.jpg

Making the Most of Biomass Cogeneration Opportunities

Waste Management Inc. has awarded its first Think Green prize in the 2010 Rice University Business Plan Competition to Biogas & Electric LLC, a California-based startup. The Think Green investment prize is designed to spur new approaches in the clean technology, recycling and renewable energy sectors. Biogas & Electric has developed technology to significantly reduce emissions of nitrous oxide generated during the combustion of methane-rich biogas from anaerobic digestion facilities. Improving the emissions of turbines or engines powered by biogas can help these systems generate more renewable energy while enhancing local air quality.

Waste Management awards Think Green prize to Biogas & Electric

Hoffmann Inc., an industrial construction, steel fabrication and material handling systems company, says the acquisition of Air-O-Flex Equipment Co. of Roseville, Minn. Air-O-Flex has been supplying hydraulic truck dumpers in the U.S. and abroad since 1947. Air-O-Flex truck dumpers and hydraulic cylinders will be manufactured by Hoffmann at its Iowa facility, which specializes in the fabrication of large, industrial components and equipment. Hoffmann will continue building Air-O-Flex's hydraulic dumpers including: drive-thru, extended arm, over-the-wall, semi-portable trailer and rail car dumpers. Manufacturing under the name of Airoflex Equipment, it will continue offering reliable, hydraulic truck dumpers for biomass, refuse-derived fuel, wood waste, seed corn, peanuts, sugarcane and other products.

1560-1286340920.jpg

Hoffmann acquires Air-O-Flex truck dumpers

Rentech Inc. and Fluor Corp. jointly announced that they have signed a contract under which Fluor will provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the Rialto Renewable Energy Center being developed by Rentech. Under the agreement, Fluor will perform FEED services for the facility and the supporting infrastructure for the project. The Rialto Project, which will use green waste as feedstock, is expected to be the first commercial biomass gasification facility in the U.S. that will coproduce renewable synthetic diesel fuel and renewable electric power.

Rentech awards Fluor FEED contract for Rialto Project

The American Council On Renewable Energy announced that renewable energy policy leader, Todd Foley, has joined the nonprofit in the role of senior vice president of policy and government relations. Prior to joining ACORE, Foley served in several industry and federal government positions, including most recently 12 years at BP Solar, where he was director of business development and external affairs. He has served on the board of directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Solar Electric Power Association, Solar Alliance and Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association.

1561-1286340920.jpg

ACORE hires senior VP of policy and government relations

Capstone Turbine Corp., a manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, has named Western Energy Systems its distributor in Northern California, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Headquartered in Brea, Calif., Western Energy Systems, part of Penn Energy Solutions and a subsidiary of Penn Power Group, is a clean tech, green business that provides comprehensive energy-efficient power generation equipment and service solutions. The firm has an extensive customer base along the West Coast. Capstone energy systems are used in combined heat and power and combined cooling, heating and power applications. The microturbines can operate on a variety of fuels, including natural gas, methane, diesel, biodiesel and propane.

Capstone Turbine adds Western Energy Systems as distributor

Posted July 27, 2010, at 4:30 p.m. CST
 
 Even in a province where woodlands cover around 78 percent of its total land area, the sustainability of forest-derived biomass power is in question. 
 
 Hearings for a new $200 million biomass cogeneration power plant proposed by Nova Scotia Power Inc. and NewPage Corp. kicked off July 26, a project which cannot proceed without approval from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. While developers and proponents tout the project's many potential benefits, opponents are claiming the plant would allow for an unacceptably high level of forest biomass harvesting or "clearcutting," as well as result in increased carbon emissions. 
 
 The 60 megawatt plant, which would be built at the Cape Brenton paper mill, would require 650,000 metric tons of woody biomass each year and would be able to provide about 3 percent of Nova Scotia's total power needs, while also meeting the paper mill's steam demands. Additionally, the project would create an estimated 150 new jobs in northern Nova Scotia, primarily in the forestry sector, while maintaining the mill's existing workforce of approximately 550 employees. The proposed plant would be located in the heart of a productive forest area of the province, so infrastructure and supply chains to provide wood products, including biomass fuel, already exist.	 
 
 Despite its many potential benefits, there is staunch opposition to the project, mainly because of forest sustainability concerns. For example, Nova Scotia environmental activist organization Ecology Action Centre has called for a moratorium on burning forest biomass for electricity, suggesting a five-year hiatus. This would allow the province to make decisions about whether forest biomass is an acceptable source of renewable energy and at what scale, according to Jamie Simpson, EAC member. The EAC has also pointed out that numerous scientific studies show that clearcutting generally reduces carbon storage in forests, both by reducing the age of forests and by accelerating the decomposition of organic matter stored in forest soil.
 
 On the other hand, the Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia released a study earlier this summer that found that clearcutting is down substantially in Nova Scotia, after concerns were raised about the high levels of clearcutting thought to be occurring throughout the province in recent years. FPANS found that data influencing clearcutting concerns was inaccurate. "Basically, we discovered that unless reported otherwise, harvesting is just put under the clearcut category for no reason," said Steve Talbot, executive director of FPANS. The difference between clearcutting in the FPANS study and the national database was more than 20 percent.
 
 NewPage said the project would indeed increase clearcutting, but by less than 5 percent, a level that the company said a rigorous analysis determined was sustainable and also indicated Nova Scotia forests could actually support an increase beyond this. NewPage expects the project to result in an annual increase in harvest area of about one-tenth of 1 percent of the land it currently manages. 
 
 The hearing is expected to wrap up July 30 with a tour of the proposed plant site, and NewPage and NSP hope to have a ruling by the beginning of October.

Hearings held for Nova Scotia biomass plant

Bandit Industries Inc. was selected as the 2010 World Trader of the Year by the West Michigan World Trade Association in recognition of its global success and strategy. The award recognizes Bandit's commitment to international trade, and highlights the deliberate steps taken to achieve its success in the global market. Bandit saw a 200 percent increase in its international sales volume in 2009. The company remains privately owned by founder Mike Morey Sr., his wife Dianne and his cousin Jerry Morey, who serves as the company's CEO. Traditional markets for their products include the forest, tree care, and landscaping industries, but increasingly the machines are used to assist in biomass energy production.

Bandit recognized by regional trade association

Recycled Energy Development, a Chicago-based waste energy recovery project developer, has acquired the 30-megawatt Honey Lake biomass power plant in Wendel, Calif. Following acquisition, RED hopes to increase the plant's efficiency and clean energy output. Built in 1989, the Honey Lake plant leverages nearby geothermal energy to help generate electricity from a biomass feedstock of forest thinnings, logging residue, mill wastes and other waste wood. One of the area's largest private employers, the facility sells its electricity under long-term contract to Pacific Gas & Electric. RED plans to make a significant capital investment and put its team's extensive clean energy expertise to work enhancing the plant's efficiency and production.

Recycled Energy acquires California biomass power plant

John Deere has introduced its E-Series forest machines to North America, following its initial launch in Europe. The E-Series is the latest development in Deere's line of wheeled harvesters and forwarders, all designed with stronger frames than their predecessors and equipped with rotating and leveling cabs. The four models in the E-Series Harvester family include the 1070E, 1170E, 1270E and the 1470E. The 1070E is available in a four-wheel or a six-wheel version. New generation harvester heads are part of the series launch, with the H414 developed especially for the 1170E harvester, and the compact-sized H412 compatible with the 1070E and 1170E harvesters. The E-Series' six forwarders include the 810E, 1010E, 1110E, 1210E, 1510E and 1910E. The load capacity and engine power of the two biggest models have been increased.

John Deere introduces E-Series to North America

Process and plant engineers responsible for operations involving biogas, landfill disposal site gas recovery and digester gas at wastewater treatment plants will find the Model ST51 Mass Flow Meter from Fluid Components International comes with stringent safety approvals. The ST51 Flow Meter measures methane and other combustible greenhouse gases. The entire Model ST51 system including the instrument and transmitter has been submitted for agency testing to ensure comprehensive reliability and safety that take into account the sensor and seal requirements as well as the temperature ratings. The ST51 Flow Meter is an explosion-proof instrument that is easy-to-install and requires virtually no-maintenance, the company says.

ST51 Flow Meter approved for methane gas applications

Morbark Inc. has added the compact 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper to its line-up of heavy-duty whole tree chippers. The Morbark 25/36 uses the design and technologies of the Morbark 30/36 and 40/36 models, but with a more compact profile. Aimed at the in-woods chipping market, the Morbark 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper is designed for processing moderate volumes. Standard equipment on the Morbark 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper includes the Morbark Integrated Control System, a diagnostic system that monitors hydraulic pressures, temperatures, clutch systems and engine efficiency while automatically adjusting to maximize performance.

1563-1286340921.jpg

Morbark adds 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper to line-up

BinMaster Level Controls of Lincoln, Neb., has introduced dual timer capacitance probes that feature a flexible-time delay for covered and uncovered conditions. This feature allows the user to set a probe to react either immediately or with up to a 30-second delay when it detects a covered or uncovered state. For example, the capacitance probe can be set to send an immediate alert when it reaches a covered state, but can be set to alert with a 15-second delay when it detects an uncovered state. BinMaster's capacitance sensors are used for high- and low-level detection in bins, silos, tanks, hoppers, chutes and other vessels used for material storage or process manufacturing. A wide assortment of probes and extensions make these capacitance probes appropriate for a variety of solid, liquid and slurry materials.

BinMaster introduces dual timer capacitance probes

The Catawba County, N.C., board of directors has voted to proceed with a wood waste-fueled combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant to be developed by Nexterra Systems Corp. in conjunction with GE Power & Water's gas engine division.
 
 The system will be built in the county's EcoComplex and will produce 2 megawatts of electricity for sale to a local utility, according to Nexterra. Waste heat from the engines will also be used to dry biosolids produced at a new wastewater treatment facility. The plant will be the first of its kind in the U.S., according to Nexterra. 
 
 The wood waste, which will come from the Catawba city landfill, will be gasified by Nexterra's proprietary gasification technology. The resulting syngas will be directly fired into a GE gas engine. The system will be capable of providing net efficiencies of up to 65 percent in CHP mode, which makes it economic at a small scale, according to Nexterra.

1564-1286340922.jpg

CHP plant for NC approved

Posted July 27, 2010, at 4:49 p.m. CST
 
 In a <a href="http://stateforesters.org/blog/scientists_urge_use_renewable_biomass">letter</a> to U.S. House and Senate leaders last week, 114 of the nation's leading environmental scientists express concern over the proposed U.S. EPA's Tailoring Rule equating biogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with fossil fuel emissions. It's "incorrect and will impede the development of renewable biomass energy sources," the letter says. 
 	
 The carbon dioxide released from the combustion or decay of woody biomass is part of the global cycle of biogenic carbon and does not increase the amount of carbon in circulation, according to the scientists. Equating biogenic carbon emissions with that of fossil fuels is not consistent with good science and could stop the development of new emission-reducing biomass energy facilities, they add. "It could also encourage existing biomass energy facilities to convert to fossil fuel or cease producing renewable energy. This is counter to our country's renewable energy and climate mitigation goals."
 	
 The EPA's final Tailoring Rule defines what stationary sources will be subject to greenhouse gas emission controls and regulations during a phase-in process beginning Jan. 2, 2011. Since the May release of the draft, the biomass industry has argued its emissions should not be included in permitting requirements.
 	
 "The CO2 released from burning biomass was absorbed as part of the ‘biogenic' carbon cycle where plants absorb CO2 as they grow (through photosynthesis), and release carbon dioxide as they decay or are burned," the scientists' letter states. "This cycle releases no new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is why it is termed ‘carbon neutral.'"Biogenic GHG emissions will occur through tree mortality and decay whether or not the biomass is used as an energy source.
 	
 In addition, the scientists argue that biomass power facilities generally contribute to a reduction of GHGs beyond just displacement of fossil fuels, as the use of forest fuels in modern boilers eliminates methane emissions from incomplete oxidation following open burning, landfilling, or decomposing, which occurs in the absence of a higher and better use for the material. 
 	
 "This letter from top scientists across the country is a great victory for the biomass industry and the 14,000 men and women in this country who are employed by the industry," said Bob Cleaves, President and CEO of the Biomass Power Association. "It vindicates our position that biomass is an essential renewable energy source for the nation." 
 	
 During a July 27 conference call held to discuss the letter, Cleaves mentioned the controversial Manomet study regarding Massachusetts biomass supply and carbon neutrality. The study outlines a complex debt-then-dividend carbon accounting model, finding biomass is better when replacing fossil fuels in certain applications than others and especially dirty in comparison when replacing natural gas for electricity. The biomass industry has argued several points of disagreement, including the fact that the carbon accounting did not include waste wood, land clearing and other feedstocks used by most biomass plants. "We think this is a timely letter," Cleaves said. "We think it's very important to set the record straight." 
 	
 Cleaves has also been involved with letters and comments submitted to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., requesting a national renewable electricity standard (RES) be included in his energy bill. The BPA and other organizations collaborated in a letter sent last weekend and Cleaves believes it is possible for the country to enact an RES. "It was actually a pretty historic coming together of environmental groups, renewable trade associations and labor alike," Cleaves said of the letter. "We're definitely working hard." He added that Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader who is now leading the Renewable Energy Coalition, has stated that there are 60 votes in the senate for a federal RES. "I'm hopeful that we can still pull this out, but it's certainly coming down to the wire," Cleaves said
 	
 About 30 senate democrats also signed a <a href="http://www.eenews.net/assets/2010/07/26/document_pm_02.pdf">letter</a> addressed to Reid calling for an RES in his energy bill, asking for a strong standard, not weakened by inclusion of nonrenewable energy sources. "A strong Renewable Electricity Standard should be an integral part of our national energy policy," the letter reads. "We urge you to ensure that we give our country the opportunity to win the clean energy race by including a Renewable Electricity Standard in energy legislation that is considered this summer."

Letters support carbon neutrality of biomass, national RES

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a Power Purchase Agreement between Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and DTE Stockton LLC, allowing DTE to retrofit an existing coal-fired power facility to generate biomass electricity that will be purchased by PG&E.
 
 Conversion of the 45-megawatt facility in Stockton, Calif., will help California meet its current renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 33 percent by 2020. Under the RPS, investor-owned utilities, energy service providers and community choice aggregators operating in California must obtain 20 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy by the end of 2010. 
 
 Retrofits of the Stockton facility are expected to be complete in 2013.

CPUC approves coal-to-biomass plant conversion

The Florida Public Service Commission has approved the proposed Gainesville, Fla., Renewable Energy Center, a 100-megawatt wood-burning power plant near Tallahassee that is slated for operation in 2013.
 
 Through a 30-year contract with Gainesville Regional Utilities, Boston-based American Renewables will build, own and operate the plant, using about 1 million tons of forest and wood processing residues and clean municipal wood waste per year, according to American Renewables. The feedstock will come from within a 75-mile radius, an area determined by an independent study to have more than adequate fuel supplies for the facility's needs, according to the company.

Florida PSC approves Gainesville biomass plant

The nation's first public advanced biofuel testing center will be built at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in San Francisco in order to help expedite the commercialization of next-generation biofuels.
 
 Funded by an $18 million U.S. DOE Recovery Act grant, the Advanced Biofuels Process Development Unit will provide industry-scale test beds for innovative technologies, and will be available for public use. The first-of-its-kind facility is scheduled to be fully operational by early 2011, and multiple locations in the San Francisco East Bay region are being considered for possible locations.

DOE funds public biofuel  testing center at Berkeley Lab

A Louisiana State University AgCenter report concluded that more than 1.7 million dry tons of woody biomass is unclaimed annually in a 75-mile radius around Bastrop, La., in Morehouse Parish, along with 1 million dry tons of mill residues and a standing inventory of 52 million dry tons of cull trees, pulpwood-size trees and top wood.
 
 The results will be used in marketing and promoting Morehouse Parish, to biofuel and other industries, according to Morehouse Economic Development Corp. CEO Kay King. MEDC funded the study and is aggressively looking for renewables companies to develop in the area, King said.

Study evaluates biomass resources near Bastrop, La.

Colorado-based renewable biochemical and biofuel company OPX Biotechnologies Inc. has successfully reduced the cost of its bioacrylic by 85 percent of its reduction target of 50 cents per pound, which represents cost parity with petroleum-based acrylic. The development marks a significant achievement in the company's quest to commercialize its process.
 
 OPXBio used its proprietary Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering technology to rapidly develop a microbe that when fully optimized will produce bioacrylic at the rate, concentration and yield needed for full commercialization, according to the company. With successful completion of its pilot-scale development this year, OPXBio is planning a demonstration facility in 2011 and its first commercial plant in 2013.

OPXBio achieves  cost reduction for bioacrylic

Three U.S. universities have been recognized by the U.S. EPA for their use of combined-heat-and-power (CHP) systems to save energy, lower greenhouse gas emissions and decrease air pollution, in turn reducing impacts on public health.
 
 The University of Missouri-Columbia, University of California, San Diego, and Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn., received Combined Heat and Power awards for reaching 55 to 75 percent efficiency in their CHP systems compared with fossil fuel power plants, which are about 30 percent efficient, according to the EPA. The savings from the efficiency increase can translate into a clear return on investment when the costs of installation and operation are compared with costs of purchasing power and thermal energy, according to the EPA.

EPA honors universities for CHP systems

Canada's National Research Council is collaborating with industrial partners to commercialize technologies for algae cultivation, biomass handling, oil extraction and fuel production. 
 
 NRC is committing about $5 million through the National Bioproducts Program and the NRC Institute for Marion Biosciences. In addition, about $1.2 million will be provided in monetary and in-kind contributions through partners, according to NRC. About 30 NRC researchers will contribute to the project, centered at the Ketch Harbour Marine Research Station in Nova Scotia. 
 
 The project will use local algae and 64 species have been collected, 24 of which have been brought into cultivation and six with exceptional oil yields are being studied extensively. Research focuses now on finding the best biofuel-producing species and developing pilot plants to move studies beyond the laboratory. Preliminary work and engineering plans have been drawn up to build a 50,000-liter cultivation pilot plant at Ketch Harbour.

1565-1286340922.jpg

Canadian NRC studies algae

Woody biomass power 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 a 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, 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 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 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. 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 said. Replacing oil-fired CHP and thermal capacity yields benefits within a decade and when replacing natural gas thermal it takes 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 megawatt (MW) power plant in Russell, Mass., that would use 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 are available in the state, the Manomet Center report cites, adding that the potential and value of these sources may be substantial and worthy of further investigation. This point is 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 Center 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 emphasized, 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 for 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. The study can be viewed in its entirety at www.manomet.org.
 
 A public comment period of one month followed the June 10 release of the findings and the DOER is now carrying out a redrafting process. RPS qualification applications will remain suspended until new standards are finalized. 
 
 
 A Swift Change
 
 But two days before the public comment deadline of July 9, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs ordered the DOER to take swift action in revising the state's RPS regulations in light of the study findings. "We're perplexed by it to say the least," Cleaves said of the timing. He added he is baffled by the process being undertaken for adopting regulations, as well as the language in a letter from the EEA to DOER. "Two days before the comments are due, they essentially adopt a final rule and direct their agency to promulgate the rule," he said. 
 
 In the letter, Massachusetts EEA Secretary Ian Bowles wrote, "In light of the Manomet study, we have a deeper understanding that the greenhouse gas impacts of biomass energy are far more complicated than the conventional view that electricity from power plants using biomass harvested from New England biomass forests is carbon neutral. The findings of the Manomet study have changed the policy landscape for biomass energy production derived from wood fuels." He wrote that the state's policy should reflect the "current science" by supporting facilities with the GHG profile needed to fulfill the state's emission reduction mandates of reaching 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and 10 to 25 percent by 2020. "Given the general findings of the Manomet study, our obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008, and the authority of the DOER to regulate state incentives for renewable biomass sources of energy, … I direct you and your staff at the DOER to move expeditiously to align our regulations with our better understanding of the greenhouse gas implications of biomass energy." 
 
 The letter outlines six important changes to policy: in order to qualify for renewable energy certificates, facilities must be designed, constructed and operated to achieve maximum practicable efficiency as determined by the DOER, providing significant near-term GHG dividends in a combined-heat-and-power (CHP) facility or comparable technology; renewable energy generating sources must yield at least a 50 percent life-cycle GHG reduction per unit of energy over 20 years; the fuel source must be grown, harvested and used sustainably; construction and demolition debris will not be eligible for renewable energy certificates; regulations will not apply to energy from anaerobic digestion of agricultural crops, animals wastes, food or sewage sludge; and regulations must address the use of forest residues. 
 
 
 Disregarding Public Opinion?
 
 Issuing such an order before the comment period is over shows a lack of transparency and implies a disregard for public input, according to Cleaves. Robert Keogh, spokesman for the EEA, doesn't see it that way. "The point of Secretary Bowles' letter at this point was to set out his expectations and essentially his first comment on the direction that he sees for policy coming out of the Manomet study," he said, adding that the rulemaking process will include public comment periods, hearings and comment periods on draft regulations. "This is an ongoing process of back and forth between the public and state officials, so that comment process is ongoing." Keogh said there's no doubt the policy will change and the letter represents the start of that process.
 
 Despite the language and timing of the letter, which does add that questions remain to be answered, Keogh assured that public comments play a large role in drafting policies, although the intent to make policy changes will stand. "Certainly the final terms of the policy change will be very much informed by the public comment," he said. "The fact that there will be policy changes, I think, is not likely to change. We're not going to wind back the tape and say we don't need sustainability and carbon criteria for biomass after all. We do need that."
 
 Following release of the letter, grassroots group Stop Spewing Carbon announced it will no longer push for its ballot initiative limiting biomass power emissions to 250 pounds per megawatt hour, as it considers the letter a sign of its victory. "Ending renewable energy credits for dirty incinerators was the central goal of our ballot question and we have won," said Meg Sheehan, chair of the campaign, in a statement published on its Web site. "This is a groundbreaking development that means an end to commercial biomass electric power plants in Massachusetts," she also is quoted saying. Sheehan did not answer inquiries about whether the group gathered enough signatures for ballot inclusion. Keogh agrees the policy change does achieve the group's goal of restricting renewable energy incentives to only those technologies that contribute to the state's GHG goals. He added that it's hard to say at this point whether Sheehan is correct in her statement that biomass power will be eliminated in the state.
 
 Bowles requests in his letter that the DOER draft regulations on or before Sept. 1 of this year, draft final rules on or before Oct. 31 of this year, and have final regulations in place by Dec. 31 of this year. 
 When asked if forest residues will be as thoroughly assessed as new forest wood was in the Manomet Center study, Keogh said, "It will be fully and thoroughly vetted through the rulemaking process, yes."

MA biomass study finds complex carbon impact

Mainstream media outlets have largely misinterpreted a biomass sustainability and carbon policy report released in June 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 said during a media advisory call on 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," addressed a wide array of social, scientific, economic and technical issues related to the use of forest biomass for energy in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources commissioned the study in response to citizen opposition to four proposed biomass power projects in the state. 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 for 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. "That [wrong] impression surprised a number of us who contributed to the study," he said.
 
 Sample emphasized that Pinchot is providing clarification on the matter because it is a nonprofit research institution that serves to provide accurate and comprehensive information to policymakers and that some groups may benefit unfairly from the widely circulated misreading. "We need to ensure that decisions [by policymakers], particularly 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 study is strong 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. 
 
 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.

Recent biomass studies misconstrued, inaccurate

If the most recently released EPA ruling regarding the industrial boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (IB MACT) passes as is, it will devastate the biomass power industry, as it would require expensive alterations at virtually 100 percent of existing facilities, according to Bob Cleaves, CEO and president of the Biomass Power Association.
 
 A 45-day comment period on the new ruling opened June 7 and Cleaves has been inundated with concerns from the biomass industry. Under the new standards, biomass boiler units conventionally considered multifuel boilers would instead be classified as incinerators and be subject to new emission limits for five pollutants: mercury, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and dioxin, according to the BPA. The limits for dioxin alone are more than 100 times more stringent than medical waste incinerator dioxin rules. No existing biomass facility meets all the proposed limits, according to the BPA. 
 
 "The early indications are that the standards, using existing technology, are unachievable," Cleaves told participants in a June 8 media conference call on the matter. The rule would be expensive to comply with and would cost the forest products industry $7 billion, Cleaves said. "If it passes, we'll lose ground," he said. "Plants will close." 
 
 If biomass plants close, the agricultural, wood and other residues used at those plants would in many cases be openly burned, causing air pollution vastly in excess of the EPA's ruling, Cleaves emphasized, calling it an obvious and sad consequence of the ruling. "This rule is unfortunate and inconsistent with the administration's stated goal of supporting biomass," he said. Cleaves added that the BPA is more than willing to work with the EPA in developing health-based, rational and achievable standards.
 
 When asked how the ruling would affect plants slated for operation in the next couple years, Cleaves was less than hopeful. "I have received universal feedback from my members that if enacted as proposed, it would halt development," he said. One e-mail Cleaves shared during the call predicted a "mass exodus from biomass" to natural gas if the rule passes. 
 
 Although Georgia Power does not know yet how the proposed rule would affect its plans for converting Plant Mitchell near Albany, Ga., to a 96-megawatt woody biomass facility, the company expects to move forward, keeping in mind options for alternative boilers. While Plant Mitchell is not considered a multifuel boiler and would not fall under the definition of an incinerator under the new rule, the proposed standards that do apply to the plant are tighter than expected, according to Lynn Wallace, Georgia Power spokesperson. "The IB MACT rule is actually more stringent than we anticipated," she said, adding that it could change the boiler design for the project. 
 
 The proposed ruling can be found on the Federal Register. The rule should be finalized by the end of this year.

BPA: IB MACT ruling threatens biomass industry

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," he said, adding, it will have a model similar to soil testing labs or plant diagnostics labs.
 
 It's safe to say the facility will be up and running in one year, Cannayen said. 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.

New lab will test ND biomass feedstocks

After more than two years of research and industry engagement, London's Olympic Delivery Authority has determined that it is no longer feasible to install a wind turbine at the 2012 Summer Olympic Park and is now investigating other options, including a biomass gasification combined-heat-and-power (CHP) unit, to meet renewable energy requirements. 
 
 The wind turbine was proposed for the park to meet ODA's target to deliver 20 percent of the Olympic Park's legacy energy requirements from renewable sources from 2014 onward, when the site is fully operational. The ODA selected a preferred bidder in December 2008, but it wasn't until 2010 that new health and safety regulations were enforced, which for design reasons, applied to the type of wind turbine selected for the project. 
 
 According to the ODA, the preferred bidder's turbine supplier felt unable to comply with the new regulations before the Olympics and subsequently withdrew from the project. Further engagement with the industry concluded that the new safety requirements would be undeliverable in the proposed timetable.
 
 ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said they are now researching several other alternative renewable energy options across the Olympic Park site, one of which is a biomass gasification CHP unit. 
 
 The unit would be located near an energy center being built at the site, and would gasify biomass to produce a synthesis gas that would power generators. Excess heat would be captured and reused at the site. The ODA is now working on a business plan for the possible procurement and installation of the biomass unit. 
 
 The ODA expects further decisions to be made on renewable energy options this summer.

1566-1286340923.jpg

Wind turbine scrapped, biomass an option for Olympic Park

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 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 that 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 pointed out that by assuming the exceptional situation (land conversion) has occurred unless proven otherwise, the draft rule will treat a 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 uncommon in other parts of the state. 
 
 The NYBEA also alleged 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 rule-making process. 
 
 The DEC accepted public input on the draft policy until June 18.

NY RGGI draft policy excludes most forest biomass

Researchers at energy crop development company Ceres Inc. say a newly developed genetic trait that increases the salt tolerance in plants could potentially enable the revival of more than 1 billion acres of abandoned crop land across the globe, for both energy and food crop purposes.
 
 Upon analysis of a 2008 Stanford University study, "The Global Potential of Bioenergy on Abandoned Agriculture Lands," Ceres researchers inferred that a massive amount of land was unproductive and could benefit from trait improvements such as salt tolerance and others that make crops hardier and more resilient to stress, according to Ceres's Gary Koppenjan. "As reported by the U.S. Salinity Lab, there are 15 million acres in the U.S. where productivity is limited by salt buildup in the soil," he said. "This is especially problematic in California, and other areas where irrigation is used."
 
 Salt has been damaging to land in other parts of the world, too. "It's been a problem in Asia, where coastal flooding is common, and a staple crop-rice-is quite sensitive to salt. It's also a problem in the developing world, where cropping practices and poor drainage damage cropland," Koppenjan said, adding that although salt is not currently a nuisance in the Midwest, where most of the row crops are grown, in the future it will likely be a bigger problem on the marginal acres where energy crops are being targeted. 
 
 So far, Ceres's work has focused on improvements in switchgrass and rice in a greenhouse. Researchers tested the trait against high salt concentrations, including trials where they dumped sea water from the Pacific Ocean onto the soil, and saw a significant salt tolerance. "We have seen [salt tolerance] levels five times greater than any previously published results," Koppenjan said. The salt tolerance improvement will likely work in other energy grasses as well, Ceres believes, including sorghum and miscanthus. 
 
 Crop yields now need to be measured in the field, tests which Ceres plans to begin next year. Koppenjan noted that initial work was completed in a test plant used primarily for greenhouse testing (not a crop plant), a method that provides trait development advantages such as precision and a plug-and-play ability to add the trait to other crops. "Typically, we use rice as a model crop to study trait performance since it is a grass species, easy to work with and predictive of how traits will work in energy crops," he said. "Since the results were so impressive, we decided to move forward with additional work in rice for both business and humanitarian reasons. Clearly, rice is an important and valuable crop, but there are areas in the world like coastal region of Bangladesh where salt-tolerance would provide basic food security for millions of people."

A control plant, left, has died due to salt exposure, while the improved plant, right, remains healthy. PHOTO: CERES INC.

1567-1286340923.jpg

Salt-tolerant trait may unlock land for energy, food crops

The Iowa Power Fund board voted July 1 to provide San Francisco-based Syngest Inc. with $2.5 million for its planned biomass-to-ammonia plant in Menlo, Iowa. The vote solidifies funding that the company has been working toward for more than a year, but the money is contingent upon $3.5 million in matching funds, which Syngest CEO Jack Oswald believes is more than achievable. 
 
 "As of today, we're off to the races," Oswald said. "This is a very important juncture. The state has put up a very big gesture." The amount is among the top five awards given by the Iowa Office of Energy Independence's Power Fund and in return, Syngest proposed to completely pay back the amount over time as it develops more facilities in the state. "We easily expect to be able to pay it all back," he said. 
 
 The bio-ammonia plant will turn 150,000 tons of corncobs into 50,000 tons of anhydrous ammonia annually, enough to fertilize 500,000 acres of land. The process involves a pressurized oxygen-blown biomass gasifier operating in an expanding bed fluidized mode. After the resulting syngas is cleaned, the carbon monoxide portion is shifted to maximize hydrogen, which is purified and catalytically reacted with nitrogen to make ammonia. Syngest has procured 75 acres for the plant, five of which will be used for the facility itself and the rest for biomass storage. The plant will require 10 percent of available corncobs within a 30- to 40-mile radius. 
 
 "As of today, the clock really starts ticking," Oswald said after the vote, adding that the plant should be operational about 30 months from now. 
 
 "I realize the risks we have in this project," said Tom Wind, a Power Fund board member, during the meeting. "I think this project is worthy of support because of the early stage and potential of long-term benefit. The rewards are big and outweigh the risk. If we don't step up and do this now, I'm not sure who's going to do it, and if not in Iowa, I don't know where else it should be done. I see the risk, but I think the rewards are really large, so I'm supportive of this." 
 
 The Syngest term sheet passed by a vote of 6-1 with some members absent, confirming Oswald's expectation that it would ultimately be approved. "It's a good fit for Iowa," he said. "There's no reason to continue using fossil fuels for nitrogen fertilizer." Had the funding been denied, the project would have proceeded, albeit more slowly and with more challenges. "It wouldn't have shut [the project] down," Oswald said of a no vote. "It would have made it a lot more difficult." 
 
 Now that the votes are in, Oswald and his team are ready to move forward quickly and begin raising more money. "This is a big milestone for us and we're thrilled," he said.

1568-1286340923.jpg

Syngest gets state funding for bio-ammonia plant

NextGen Biofuels Inc. and Iowa State University will conduct cofiring trials with coal, wood chips and wood pellets at ISU's coal-fired combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant, as the school contemplates switching to a biomass-coal blend.
 
 Instead of spending millions on retrofitting, the project is designed to evaluate the efficiency of burning biomass in an existing coal boiler. "We're trying to demonstrate that you can run wood biomass through a currently operating coal plant," said Bob Ravlin, president of NextGen. The fuel does, however, need to be tailored to the boiler type, he added. NextGen procured pine wood pellets and wood chips from Rocky Mountain Pellet Co. in Colorado for the 3½-month tests, which began June 28, Ravlin said. 
 
 The tests were to begin with a 5 percent biomass blend, gradually increasing to 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent. Separate testing would be done for the two different forms, as they are handled differently for the boiler. "Each feedstock has its own benefits and drawbacks," Ravlin said. 
 
 ISU has also done similar tests with construction and demolition waste, but the feedstock proved too dirty and was loaded with impurities, according to Jeff Witt, assistant director of utilities for ISU. "We are looking to displace some of our coal," he said. "We've been looking around in the past couple years." Although most biomass products will be more expensive than fossil fuels, there are clear benefits to the switch, Witt said. 
 
 The testing is preliminary and the school has not looked deeply into supply chains or sustainability as of yet. "There's probably enough product, but there's nobody making it right now," Witt explained, using a cart before the horse metaphor. If any other kinds of biomass feedstock seem applicable, they will be tried also, he said.
 
 Once testing is complete, results will be evaluated and the school will decide whether to proceed with further research into the wood chip and pellet feedstocks for the long term. "It's a work in progress," Ravlin said. "You've got to start somewhere. You've got to start simply and build up from there." Besides demonstrating that it is possible to burn wood in existing coal boilers, NextGen has other goals for the project. "We want to jump-start the local economy," Ravlin said, adding that the logistics, know-how and equipment for lumber are already established. "You've got to get that area started." Fortunately, the tests have garnered a lot of attention from local utilities looking into the benefits of cofiring biomass, Ravlin said.

NextGen, ISU test biomass in coal boilers

When Douglas Goodale, bioenergy project manager and principal investigator for the State University of New York at Cobleskill (SUNY Cobleskill) discusses his upcoming research project, he beams proudly, clearly illustrating that he believes it will represent a breakthrough in gasification systems and waste-to-energy technology. His enthusiasm is directed toward a rotary kiln gasifier developed and owned by Chicago-based W2E and en route to a new lab facility established for such research at SUNY Cobleskill.
 
 As its name suggests, the rotary kiln gasifier facilitates a natural rotation providing agitation of the feedstock at high temperatures and allowing for a more complete conversion of all the feedstock to syngas. Contrary to traditional gasifiers, it sits horizontally and at a slight slope, allowing for a gravitational flow that moves the feedstock through the system, Goodale says. "The hope is that we don't turn too fast, but we turn fast enough to keep the feedstocks moving and we put it on a slight angle so that gravitational flow, along with the rotisserie, moves the feedstock from the point of entry to the point that they're totally transitioned from their biosolid state into a biogaseous state," he explains. "We control the speed and control the angle, and therefore control the rate of movement from entry to exit. We want it to be fast enough so it doesn't sit there in the chamber. We want it suspended." The primary approach is to establish a working 100-kilowatt (kW) prototype of the gasifier, dubbed TurnW2E, at SUNY to serve as a research demonstration, with installation of a 1-megawatt gasifier in the following phase. "This technology is innovative with the potential of revolutionizing the way biowaste is handled today," Goodale says.
 
 
 Feedstock Flexibility
 
 W2E owns the rights and the technology to the TurnW2E prototype, but is sharing the license with Goodale and his SUNY team for use and research in SUNY's $4 million Environmental Science and Technology Center. The gasifier, which reaches temperatures up to 2,000 degrees, has not arrived on the campus yet, awaiting completion of the center. Once it is installed there, Goodale's team will focus on feedstock and syngas handling. Not only can the system take almost any type of feedstock, but those feedstocks can be fed separately or commingled. "We don't separate our materials," says Renee Comly, W2E CEO and director of business development. "We can take almost anything. I think every gasifier says that, but we can take almost any volume so our feedstock does not have to be at capacity and it can be used at lower volumes at different times of the day." Material is preprocessed for the gasifier, which has a 1:5 ratio for capacity, she adds.
 
 As part of SUNY's Biowaste Conversion to Bioenergy Through Gasification project, Goodale will experiment with feedstocks such as paper, green waste, cafeteria waste and organic municipal solid waste in the rotary kiln gasifier. But will the system require reconfiguration to take all the different types? Goodale says no. "[W2E] believes they have it perfected to the point where it doesn't have to be reangled and they think that they have the speed of rotation where it needs to be for the feedstocks that we are putting into the kiln," he says. "I don't think this is going to need to be readjusted." The feedstock flexibility is a direct result of the slope and rotation of the kiln. Although modest, the slope controls the speed that feedstocks move from entry point to total gasification. "I don't know of any other gasifier or any other kiln or any other method of digestion that can handle this diversified feedstock stream," Goodale says.
 
 Energy value will vary depending on feedstock, but an important aspect to consider, according to Goodale, is the project does not require growing crops and changing land mass.
 
 W2E is in the process of launching the technology, with patents pending, and Comly is not comfortable releasing details about the happenings inside the chamber. She does share, however, that TurnW2E consists of different zones, giving it an efficient output. While SUNY's prototype will be for batch runs only, the rotary kiln gasification process is being used continuously at an industrial park in South Korea, where 100 tons per day of industrial waste from a mattress factory is converted to steam and sold to tenants of the park, Comly says. The system is also being installed in Cochin, India, where it will produce power from industrial and local wastes. In addition, a system is under construction at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska that will serve as a demonstration and validation unit producing electricity from waste for the local grid.
 
 
 Clean Pipes 
 
 Once the system reaches SUNY's laboratory, Goodale will evaluate the cleanliness of the syngas, expecting favorable results. "I'll be looking at how clean the gas pipe is and my hypothesis is that the pipe will be clean," he says. Because of the high temperatures, the system does not produce significant tar. "If not, we'll remove any tar and put it back through the kiln." Tar is a combustible, composed of hydrocarbons, and Goodale emphasizes that anything combustible will be used inside the kiln. "We want to do whatever is necessary to have a clean gas, as clean as possible, exiting the kiln.
 
 "This is a very rich team in the sense of their knowledge base and we're really pioneers with this," he says. "No one has this prototype but W2E. Being one of a kind, we think it will make it possible for us to roll out this technology." During prototype batch runs at SUNY, the feedstock and syngas properties will be evaluated. His team will focus initially on electricity generation, but Goodale plans to explore liquid fuel options for the system in the future, under the assumption that the syngas can be turned into diesel and gasoline. 
 
 
 Military Applications
 
 While there is no steadfast timeline, there is interest from government agencies in the scale-up and use of the rotary kiln gasifier. The U.S. DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense have issued grants to SUNY for the project and the DoD has a particularly significant interest in it. "The army certainly recognizes that wherever we have troops stationed, it is a substantial investment to care for our troops," Goodale says. "We have to care for them and that comes on the dollar of the taxpayer here in the U.S." Mess halls, for instance, produce substantial amounts of waste that usually winds up in landfills. The Military Academy at West Point, a project collaborator, sends its food waste to out-of-state landfills, Goodale says. That garbage can be converted to energy and used on-site for military operations. "That's why the U.S. Army has said, ‘Yes, let's put some money into the SUNY Cobleskill project,'" Goodale says.
 
 "It has multiple applications as a stand alone, to generation of power to combined heat and power," says Philip Darcy, energy and environmental integrated production team leader for the DoD. The rotary kiln gasifier is an economic alternative to waste disposal, he adds. "It has the capability to reduce logistic support to forward application and recycle (thermal) wastes on installations, extending landfills and reducing costs of operations at the installations." The military is asking that the technology be transportable, allowing for easier deployment at multiple locations. Estimates by the Logistics Management Institute in a 2003 report indicated a cost of between $62 and $903 per ton for in-theater waste disposal and a cost to the DoD of $13 per gallon to deliver fuel to supply depots in-theater with additional transportation costs to battalion support areas, according to SUNY Cobleskill. 
 
 In agreement with Darcy, Goodale says the system is economic compared with other waste-to-energy processes such as anaerobic digestion (AD). AD systems are probably no pricier than rotary kilns as we've known them for years, but the gas they produce is not clean enough for internal combustion engines, so a backup engine is needed when the first one needs cleaning, Goodale says. The cylinders need to be cleaned and the residues need to be removed from the walls, representing added cost not necessary with rotary kiln gas, which is nearly free of methane. In addition, the payback period for AD systems tends to stay above 10 years, compared with between five and 10 for a rotary kiln, Goodale says, adding that that has yet to be proven. "I'm making a hypothesis that the rotary kiln gasifier will be very economic for these reasons: fairly short return on investment period, cleaner gas than the alternatives, and utilizing feedstock that is heretofore considered waste and not investing in growing a crop," Goodale lists. "This man believes that the system will prove itself to be very economic. 
 
 "Keep funding coming, DOE people, and we'll see if we can't do something that's going to, not at the end, but at some milestones, bring a real revolutionary method of handling both the military and society's waste streams," Goodale 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.

The rotary kiln gasifier prototype will be further studied by Goodale's team at SUNY Cobleskill. PHOTO: W2E

1569-1286340924.jpg

W2Es rotary kiln design is already being used in South Korea. PHOTO: W2E

1570-1286340925.jpg

A research team at SUNY Cobleskill has a giant undertaking ahead of it, demonstrating and developing applications for an innovative gasification technology prototype that holds promise for alternative and purposeful waste disposal.

A New Twist on Gasification

The Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan is renowned in the beer industry, making its Freising, Germany, location perfect for demonstrating an anaerobic digestion (AD) process for spent grains and yeast waste streams. "Everybody who works in this field knows Weihenstephan," says Markus Grasmug, chief technology officer for Austria-based enbasys gmbh, developer of the biogas process employed at the facility. 
 
 Indeed the location did help draw attention from all over the world including the United States. Enbasys' multifeedstock Enbaferm process was coupled with a hydrolysis system developed together with ATRES engineering biogas, a German company. The demonstration was not an attempt to prove the technologies, as they have already been deemed successful, but instead to show breweries that their waste streams can be used to produce energy for their own processes. "We know that with our technology, we can produce biogas, but to convince them, to see with their own eyes that, yes, I can produce biogas from my feedstock, is why we installed the demonstration plant," Grasmug says. 
 
 "The idea from this demonstration plant was to show that our concept for using the spent grains from breweries for anaerobic digestion is a feasible project or a feasible idea," says ATRES Owner Gunther Pesta, who has been working on the concept for more than 10 years. 
 
 
 The Technology
 
 The patented Enbaferm system consists of two phases: hydrolysis and methane, according to Grasmug. The process is being used at several locations with multiple feedstocks including organic portions of municipal solid waste. The only difference is the pretreatment for the different feedstocks. Enbaferm has a higher loading rate than conventional AD systems, making only two fermentors necessary, regardless of the volume of feedstock. "That means we can load three times more organics into the system with the same efficiency," Grasmug explains. 
 
 Enbasys engineers were able to design the system to eliminate the problem of foaming in the fermentors, along with sediment settlement. Sediment accumulation means money and time spent on discharging, cleaning, refilling and restarting the fermentors, Grasmug says. Enbaferm also saves its owners and operators money because it requires no chemical additives. "A lot of systems need to blend the feedstock with other substrates to stabilize the process or for pH regulation," he says, adding that the cost of transporting those chemicals to the plant can be burdensome. 
 
 On the other hand, the hydrolyser is a simple and ordinary process, Pesta says. "It's just less or more a simple hydrolyser similar to other biogas processes," he says. The system is smaller than others, however, has an optimized retention time and special procedural methods. 
 
 When integrated at the 1,000-year-old Weihenstephan brewery, the two processes were just as efficient as their developers had hoped. "It was very successful," Grasmug says of the demonstration. "We had a lot of voices, even from the United States." The demonstration was installed and operating for nine months, ending in late March/early April of this year and producing small amounts of biogas. "We didn't heat the whole city with the energy," Grasmug jokes, adding that the demonstration biogas, as it was in such small quantities, was not used for energy. 
 
 "If you install this system at a commercial scale at a brewery, you can use this energy, this biogas, for your own process," he says. Between 4 and 5 liters of heating oil is required to produce 100 liters of beer. "If you use that residue coming from your process, you can substitute about 50 percent of this fossil energy," he says. The system is applicable at any brewery in the world, both companies say, but as with any new process there are barriers to its widespread implementation.
 
 
 Starting the First One
 
 "The main challenge is to convince the brewery to install biogas," Grasmug says. "In their minds, anaerobic digestion is always linked to agriculture." The beer production industry is old and in many cases conservative, he says, so it is difficult to persuade companies to make such a big change. 
 
 "The thing is, one brewery has to start, just like in any business," Grasmug says. That first brewery installation might be just around the corner at Heineken's Gösser Brewery in Austria. If all goes well, the system could be operational next year, although Grasmug says 1,000 things could hinder development. "They should become the showcase plant to install such a process," he says.
 
 But even after convincing breweries of the system's effectiveness, there's another obstacle. Spent grains can be sold to the agriculture industry as animal feed for anywhere from €7 to €15 ($9 to $18) per metric ton, creating Enbaferm's only competitor. Installing a biogas process does not always represent monetary gains for breweries as it might for other types of clients, but does help to build their reputations as green companies, Grasmug says. "It's more for marketing," he says. "A sign that they are doing something for environmental prevention; that they don't use fossil energy." 
 
 Several breweries have approached enbasys and ATRES with interest in Enbaferm, albeit with reservations. "They do come to us," Grasmug says. "They're interested in the technology, but they have a lot of fear because no plant worldwide is installed for that kind of feedstock."
 
 Breweries have three main feedstock streams: spent grains, the water used for cleaning in the process and yeast, according to Grasmug. About 70 percent of breweries around the globe have AD systems for the wastewater. "But worldwide, there are no plants producing biogas from the other two streams: spent grain and yeast," Grasmug explains. "Our technology fits perfect for these two streams." 
 
 Weihenstephan was satisfied with the outcome of the demonstration, and in fact, it's still installed there, Grasmug says, but site restraints pose a problem for commercial installation. The plant has expressed no interest in scaling up for that reason, along with the fact that it's government-owned and therefore is not suffering from financial stress, he says. In addition, the brewery is a relatively small operation. 
 
 
 Focus on Feasibility
 
 Enbaferm represents significant benefits to any brewery, Pesta says, ensuring stable treatment of residues and the possibility of producing energy for a cost savings, not to mention the benefit of using less fossil fuels. By digesting the residues, breweries are not at the mercy of volatile market prices for spent grains. 
 
 The companies have done between 10 and 15 feasibility studies, Pesta says, which evaluate each individual site, wastewater treatment and chemical oxygen demand. They also conduct a review of the infrastructure and income from spent grain sales, along with payments for wastewater. The return on investment for a biogas process depends partially on what the company pays for energy, he adds. "To see the feasibility or find out if it's an economically reliable system, you need to have already looked at the internities," Pesta says, listing biogas use, what kind of treatment the process will need at the back end and whether the operation would be cheaper with biogas. That framework makes up about 60 percent of the economic feasibility study and Pesta cautions that it's crucial to evaluate before installation. "It's really necessary to have a really great effort on the basic engineering and basic calculating," he says. "It takes a little bit more time and is a little more expensive than doing it the easy way, but at least you're saving a lot of money because when later you find out that it's not feasible or have a change in the facility, the more expensive it gets after." 
 
 "The most important thing is to provide them with the best conditions," Grasmug says. "What they need to be very effective." 
 
 The next demonstration of Enbaferm will be at a slaughterhouse, Grasmug says, and he expects positive results there, too. "The biogas facility as it was demonstrated in Weihenstephan is certainly a special technology and very interesting, but you can build this biogas plant anywhere," Pesta says.
 
 A brewery in Korea is contemplating installation of the process, according to Grasmug, and several others could be on the verge after seeing the Weihenstephan demonstration. "The idea of Weihenstephan was just to say, ‘OK, we have the technology and we can show feasible results with that kind of substrate,'" Pesta says.
 
 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.

Enbaferm is designed for spent grains, pictured here, and yeast from breweries. PHOTO: ENBASYS

1571-1286340925.jpg

Enbaferm can be used on brewery residues, as was demonstrated at Weihenstephan. PHOTO: ENBASYS

1572-1286340926.jpg

The demonstration at Weihenstephan operated for nine months. PHOTO: ENBASYS

1573-1286340926.jpg

Two European companies have an anaerobic digestion process they say works perfectly for brewery residues, but convincing a centuries-old industry to change its operations poses a problem in marketing and widely implementing the practice.

Proving the  Biobrewery Concept

With its bitterly cold winters and extremely dense population, it's no surprise that the Northeast U.S. leads the nation in electricity consumption. Heavily dependent on fossil fuels (nearly all of which are imported from other regions) for heat, power and transportation needs, renewable portfolio standard (RPS) implementation has been a no-brainer for Northeastern states. In fact, all nine states in the region have an RPS.
 
 With no national RPS, all state mandates have been designed and implemented differently, many of which have been increased, amended or extended in recent years. Though all have a common goal of embracing cleaner, natively produced energy, there is little parity amongst Northeastern state policies in terms of what is eligible for RPS credit, what kinds of materials are considered renewable biomass resources or acceptable conversion technologies and emissions limits. 
 
 For example, while Connecticut's statute clearly defines and encourages renewable sources of biomass including urban wood, wood waste, forest thinnings and municipal solid waste (MSW), Maine excludes MSW from its extended RPS and New York and Vermont ban it completely. Massachusetts, however, encourages MSW combustion yet has a suspension in place on woody biomass technologies. Connecticut allows cogeneration/combined-heat-and-power (CHP) facilities over 1 megawatt (MW) to receive credit, but Maine has scrapped it from the new portion of its RPS. 
 
 While some states in the Northeast may be attracting new project proposals with an RPS, they must be careful not to drive them away with frequent changes, extreme restrictions or inconsistent policies.
 
 Structuring and Amending Policies 
 
 Maine is in the lead with RPS implementation, which is fitting, as the Pine Tree State spends the most on energy per person in the country, yet is among the lowest in the U.S. for net electricity generation, according to the U.S. DOE. 
 
 The state originally set its RPS at 30 percent. In 2006, the goal was raised to 40 percent by 2017, adding restrictions on MSW and CHP while providing a 1.5 multiplier credit for community-based energy projects. Mitchell Tannenbaum, deputy general counsel of the Maine Public Utilities Commission, explains that the new provisions were decided upon by the legislature, as are most states' RPS policies, although there are a few exceptions. Out of the 29 states that have an RPS, New York and Arizona's were established through regulatory channels, and Colorado, Missouri and Washington's were ballot initiatives. 
 
 Though the Southeast is commonly touted as the country's vast forest resource, Maine actually possesses the highest wood and wood waste power generation capacity in the U.S., and is home to nine wood-fired power plants that, according to the Biomass Power Association, create $108 million a year in economic value and employ 1,000 people in direct operations, wood harvesting and other jobs. Maine's forest resources are carefully monitored through the use of biomass harvesting guidelines. Developed over several years and released in 2010 as a result of a collaborative effort of the Maine Forest Service, University of Maine and the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands, the guidelines serve to avoid negative impacts of biomass removal. 
 
 Like Maine, which Tannenbaum says is currently on track to meet its goals, many other states have made changes to their initial RPS targets and language over the years by increasing them, dividing existing and new renewable energy generation into different classes and adding restrictions. Most recently, Massachusetts has proposed changes to its RPS (15 percent by 2020) that may have resounding negative implications for woody biomass power development not just in Massachusetts, but in neighboring states as well. 
 
 In November, the state Department of Energy Resources suspended consideration of biomass plants utilizing wood under the RPS and commissioned a study to analyze the sustainability of woody biomass. The study was completed in June, and DOER is working to amend the RPS based on the study's results and additional stakeholder input (see page 18).
 
 Though amendments can often be good, ever-changing RPS policies and renewable energy credit (REC) price variability can be troublesome for developers. Since RPS policies created by a state legislature or regulatory authority are subject to legislative and regulatory changes such as those made in Maine, Massachusetts and elsewhere, uncertainty tends to deter financers of new (and always capital intensive) renewable energy projects. A few states have caught on, however, and have developed ways to prevent that. 
 
 To date, RPS implementation experience demonstrates that industry growth has been most successful in states such as Texas, where developers have been able to secure long-term contracts with creditworthy counterparties. In fact, several U.S. states require utilities to sign long-term power purchase contracts with eligible renewable energy developers, but it hasn't caught on in the Northeast, where renewable energy resources are typically most expensive.
 
 Rhode Island is an exception. The state now requires electric distribution companies to solicit proposals and enter into long-term contracts for capacity, energy, and attributes from new (not yet operational) renewable energy facilities. In New York, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority purchases generation from energy producers through auction, requests for proposals or standard offer contracts of varying lengths, through an RPS fund gathered from a surcharge on each kilowatt-hour sold by the state's investor-owned utilities. 
 
 Beyond the RPS, Northeast biomass energy/biofuel operations will be potentially impacted by additional programs and policies, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. 
 
 
 Other Policies, Programs and Pushes 
 
 All Northeast 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 cap-and-trade system. RGGI caps the overall level of CO2 emissions allowed from power plants-including those powered by biomass-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, thus allowing power producers to exclude those emissions from their GHG reduction obligations. It's up to each individual state, however, to form its own definition of what constitutes "sustainably harvested" biomass. Currently, New York is experiencing controversy in terms of what the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has defined as sustainably harvested biomass in its draft policy, compared with how it is defined in the state's RPS policy. One potentially problematic requirement is 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. This would place a large portion of the state's wood supply in the ineligible category, or cost owners of private forests that supply urban and other wood waste to spend upwards of $20,000 on land arrangements. 
 
 Aside from woody biomass and its varying definitions, the Northeast may have the potential to accommodate purpose-grown energy crops, and programs such as BCAP may help facilitate that. Maine currently has the second-most eligible material contracts, second only to Alabama. New Hampshire and New York each have more than 100 contracts.
 
 Dan Conable, director of the New York Biomass Energy Alliance and partner in consulting firm Cato Analytics LLC, believes embracing closed-loop supply chains in the Northeast may be the key to growth of the region's bioenergy industry. "With the sustainability of forest biomass under fire, particularly as a source of renewable electricity, biopower producers are taking another look at closed-loop systems," Conable says. "The question for biopower producers in the Northeast is whether the agricultural land base in this part of the country can support production of cropped biomass on a scale sufficient to support even a 25 MW power plant. I think that the answer is yes, but with some important qualifiers." Conable says he doesn't think BCAP is likely to be the "silver bullet" for cropped biomass that most mid- to large-scale bioenergy project developers seem to be waiting for though, even if the final version includes the tilt toward cropped biomass that many people have predicted.
 Further supporting evidence that some Northeastern states are adequate candidates for biomass crops, NYSERDA recently 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 the state. The road map also finds that New York-derived biomass could support four large-scale centralized lignocellulosic biorefineries (with capacity ranging from 90 MMgy to 354 MMgy) or up to 24 smaller capacity (60 MMgy) biorefineries.
 
 Aside from energy crops, there is a new push in the Northeast to adapt a renewable thermal energy policy. The Biomass Thermal Energy Council, Alliance for Green Heat, Maine Pellet Fuels Association, New York Biomass Energy Alliance, and Pellet Fuels Institute have recently made public a proposal that calls for 25 percent of all thermal energy requirements in the Northeast to be met with renewable energy resources by the year 2025. The groups are currently working to form a northeast regional biomass thermal policy action team with representation from seven states, to monitor and influence state and local legislation, regulation and other policy matters that will impact the advancement of the goal.
 
 The groups are using a study, "Heating the Northeast With Renewable Biomass: A Vision for 2025," as a basis of support for the proposal, which found that conversion to thermal biomass will displace more than 1.14 billion gallons of oil annually by 2025, representing more than 20 percent of all heating oil consumed in the Northeast, and by 2025 the Northeast would have more than $4.5 billion new dollars per year injected into the regional economy, according to the study.
 
 From varying state policies and definitions to pushes for woody biomass power, dedicated energy crops, MSW utilization and thermal energy, it seems the only consensus in the Northeast is that there is a desperate need for renewable, domestically produced energy. Though a federal RPS might provide some parity, it has been on the distant horizon for several years and passage in the near future doesn't look promising. So for now, it's every state for itself.
 
 
 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.

1574-1286340927.jpg

1575-1286340927.jpg

The Northeast U.S. with its massive demands for heat and electricity is cognizant of the need to adapt ambitious and smart renewable energy policies. Roles, definitions and perceptions of biomass energy, however, differ from state to state.

Incentivizing Renewable Energy in the US Northeast

Two years into a study looking at methods of combining a living cover crop between corn rows shows that yield can be maintained at high levels using environmentally friendly practices.
 
 Iowa State University researchers are testing between-row cover grasses as part of research looking at ways to reduce soil runoff and keep vital nutrients in the soils while crop residue, called stover, is removed from farm fields to produce biofuels.
 
 With U.S. government targets requiring a 30 percent displacement of petroleum consumption with fuels made from biomass by the year 2030, agronomy researchers are studying methods of harvesting more and more stover, which previously was left on the field.
 
 Targets will require removing 75 percent of stover to use as biomass in the production of biofuels.
 
 Removing stover can cause more water runoff and deplete soil of the organic material it needs to remain productive.
 
 One method of keeping the soil in place and replenished with organic matter is to plant grasses between the corn rows that would stay on the field year round.
 
 "We are looking at trying to grow corn in a perennial sod, so that we can protect the soil and provide these other environmental services at the same time," says Ken Moore, ISU professor of agronomy.
 
 Developing a cover crop system that allows nutrients, organic matter, water and carbon to remain in the soil is a great idea. But farmers won't do it if it reduces yields, Moore says.
 
 
 Promising Results
 
 The results so far have been encouraging.
 
 After the first two years of the study, researchers have already discovered a system that allows for removal of up to 95 percent of the corn stover, increases the amount of carbon kept in the soil, increases water use efficiency in corn and also maintains corn yield.
 
 One cropping system the team examined in 2009, for example, increased harvest from 11,867 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha) of corn grain using traditional production methods, to 12,768 kg/ha with the new system. All while improving the soil and harvesting almost all the stover.
 
 The researchers are quick to point out they are not ready to proclaim that they have uncovered the perfect system, but they are encouraged.
 
 "It's remarkable," says Jeremy Singer, assistant professor of agronomy and researcher at the USDA's National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa. "Even in two bizarre years-2008 was the year of the floods and 2009 had the coolest July on record-we harvested close to 100 percent of the corn stover and we're obtaining similar yields as the no-ground cover control, while increasing carbon additions to the soil."
 
 The team tested more than 36 different ground covers, mostly grasses; different tillage systems such as no-till and strip-till; 50 different corn hybrids; and several chemical treatments.
 
 One of the keys, according to the researchers, is finding a ground cover grass that is less active during the spring. This allows the corn to absorb needed water and sunlight at the beginning of the growing season without competing with the ground cover grass. 
 
 Later in the spring, as the corn creates a canopy over the shorter grasses, there is less competition for sunlight and nutrients as the corn becomes dominant.
 
 Having more than one species thrive on the same piece of ground is not a new idea, Moore says. Traditional prairies contained many different species of grasses and plants that complemented each other as they competed for water, sun and other inputs.
 
 "From an ecological perspective, it seems intuitive that we can do this," Moore says. "Nature does it all the time. The prairies that existed before farmers got here were complex plant communities that change with the season. And we have a succession of species which we are trying to set up here."
 
 Moore says one of the best features of the new systems is they are not that different from the way producers are currently farming.
 
 "We are not talking about changing the whole system," Moore says. "We are talking about changing the way we use what we already have. It's just how you do it to make it work better."
 
 
 Dan Kuester is communications specialist at Iowa State University News Service. Reach him at <a href="mailto:kuester@iastate.edu">kuester@iastate.edu</a>.

Planting cover crops between corn rows may be a solution to preventing erosion and preserving soil nutrients when corn stover is removed for use in biofuels production. PHOTO: DAN KUESTER, ISU

1576-1286340928.jpg

Singer, left, and Moore are developing a cover crop system that allows nutrients, organic matter, water and carbon to remain in the soil even after much of the crop residue is removed to produce biofuels. PHOTO: DAN KUESTER, ISU

1577-1286340928.jpg

Iowa State University researchers are developing environmentally friendly ways to reduce soil runoff and retain soil nutrients so crop yields aren't impacted when residue is removed for biofuels production.

Saving the Soil and Maintaining Corn Yields

Posted July 27, 2010, at 2:43 p.m. CST
 
 One of the biggest challenges facing landowners is how to incentivize hired loggers to cut and utilize the low-grade wood to ensure forest health and forest growth, according to Sarah la Cour, director of conservation and planning for W.D. Cowls Inc. Land Co. and member of the Massachusetts Forest Owners Association. La Cour was one of six speakers representing foresters, farmers and labor unions at a media briefing in Holyoke, Mass., July 27, concerned that the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) rulemaking process will be driven more by election-year politics than sound, peer-reviewed science. 
 
 The briefing came in response to public meetings held in the area by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources regarding the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences biomass study results and potential policy changes in light of its findings. The DOER will use study results to determine whether biomass power will qualify for the state's RPS, but some in the biomass and forestry industries are concerned the process is being rushed without proper evaluation. Without RPS qualification, plants lose a key portion of revenue, making biomass power uneconomic.
 	
 The study findings, however, have been misrepresented in mainstream media to imply that biomass energy is dirtier than coal. Those incorrect reports prompted clarification letters from Manomet and plenty of noise in the biomass industry. The study, "Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study," actually found a complex debt-then-dividend carbon accounting model for biomass, saying burning biomass releases more carbon initially per unit of energy, but that carbon debt is paid off as the forest re-grows and depending on a variety of factors. The study can be seen in its entirety at <a href="http://www.manomet.org">www.manomet.org</a>. 
 	
 Following the June 10 release of the findings, a public comment period was opened, to be closed July 9. Two days before that comment period was up, however, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sent a <a href="http://www.mass.gov/Eoeea/docs/eea/biomass/070710_biomass_sustainablity_carbon_regs_letter.pdf">letter</a> to the DOER, requesting swift policy change in light of the findings, which unfortunately studied only forest biomass, not wood waste, residues and other feedstocks the plants will actually use. Biomass Power Association President Bob Cleaves assures that when that wood is taken into account, biomass power is undoubtedly carbon neutral. The study itself even acknowledges that waste wood is favorable to fossil fuels in all technologies and warrants further analysis. "The media and the state took a couple pieces out of the study and said [biomass is] worse than coal," la Cour told Biomass Magazine after the briefing.
 	
 In the letter to the DOER, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles wrote, "In light of the Manomet study, we have a deeper understanding that the greenhouse gas impacts of biomass energy are far more complicated than the conventional view that electricity from power plants using biomass harvested from New England biomass forests is carbon neutral. The findings of the Manomet study have changed the policy landscape for biomass energy production derived from wood fuels." The letter goes on to propose several changes including the definition of biomass and the enactment of efficiency standards, which Cleaves said has not been done to date in the U.S. Bowles requests final standards be drafted by Oct. 31 of this year and final regulations be put in place by Dec. 31. 
 
 Unjustified, Reactionary Restrictions
 	
 "Enacting scientifically unjustified and reactionary restrictions on the sale of and markets for low-grade wood on private forested land, will make private forests unaffordable and more importantly, ecologically unhealthy," la Cour said in her statement Tuesday. "We know biomass energy markets can help our forests' health and improve our rural economies, while producing low-carbon renewable energy." 
 
 La Cour and her fellow speakers: Wayne Lehman Jr., organizer and field representative for Laborers Union Local 596; Jim Kelly, president of the Massachusetts Association of Professional Foresters; Brad Mitchell, director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation; Ken Lynds, president of the Massachusetts Wood Producers Association; and Gregory Cox, of the Massachusetts Forest Landowners Association, addressed the press Tuesday about job creation, ecosystem benefits for low-grade waste wood and other issues related to biomass energy from wood. "Our concern is additional restrictions on how we regulate our forests," la Cour said of foresters. "The biggest issue is keeping ourselves viable." She added that while the byproduct from forests currently has no market, it would keep more loggers in business. "We believe that biomass will help, not harm Massachusetts private forest resources," la Cour said. She went on to say that the idea that landowners will suddenly clear cut or in any way over-cut their forests to produce biomass fuel "defies logic and basic economics."
 	
 The media event grew from Citizens for a Clean Economy, a campaign to educate voters of the negative impacts of a ballot initiative that would have unreasonably limited biomass power plant emissions. The group pushing for the initiative has taken it off the table in light of the Manomet study findings and subsequent actions. 
 	
 A June 18 press release from the Forest Landowners Association reads, "The Forest Landowners Association questioned the DOER's conclusions and cautioned against public policy decisions being made on the basis of agency's narrow interpretations of the Manomet study." It's not the only agency to get tangled in the fray, as the BPA, American Council on Renewable Energy, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement Inc., and others weighed in via press releases, letters to the Commonwealth or DOER, or both. A letter to the Commonwealth from the British Consulate General's Office directs the agency to a <a href="http://www.europeanclimate.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=42 ">European Union study </a> also released June 10, that found most types of biomass energy applications reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 55 percent to 98 percent compared with fossil fuels, even when transported long distances. 
 
 The idea of Tuesday's event was to ask the DOER and Commonwealth to take a step back and allow more time to draft such important regulations. "Regulations are a big deal," la Cour emphasized. "People are going to disagree on this, but let's take a little time."4005

MA farmers, foresters urge caution in drafting RPS

Posted July 27, 2010, at 4:09 p.m. CST
 
 The first-ever <a href="http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_85/pn10_85.aspx">Annual Energy Statement </a> of the U.K.'s Department of Energy and Climate Change includes grandfathering biomass under its Renewables Obligation, which governs what technologies receive renewable obligation certificates (ROCs). The lack of dedicated biomass grandfathering has been a point of contention for some biomass developers in the U.K. who say acquiring funding for projects is difficult when no set level of income exists to assure investors.
 	
 The statement was released in June and presents an overview of the DECC's energy policy, laying out plans for future actions. "We are taking immediate action to exploit the potential of bio-electricity and energy from waste, by grandfathering support under the Renewables Obligation for electricity from dedicated biomass, energy from waste, anaerobic digestion and advanced conversion technologies, such as pyrolysis and gasification," the document reads. "We will publish in the autumn a joint industry/Government action plan to deliver a huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion."
 	
 The measure provides certainty investors want, according to a statement by DECC secretary Chris Huhne. Support will be fixed for 20 years, subject to the end date of the RO. In the same document, the DECC proposes a jump from the current target of 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 30 percent by 2020. 
 	
 U.K. electricity-generation giant Drax Power Ltd. plans to build three 290-megawatt (MW) dedicated biomass power plants in the U.K. that will run on a mix of forest and agricultural residues and energy crops. Drax has been known in recent months for making the loudest and most noise about the policies. The company hopes to begin construction in early 2011 on one of its three dedicated biomass plants. Sites include: the Port of Immingham; North Yorkshire, England, on the site of the company's existing coal-fired, 4,000 MW Drax Power Station; and another location not yet disclosed, according to Melanie Wedgbury, head of external affairs for Drax. 
 	
 "We welcome the recognition, by the government, of the importance of biomass to meeting the UK's renewable energy target," a spokesman for the company said. "Drax has long believed that biomass could and should make a significant contribution to both reducing carbon emissions and increasing electricity generation from renewables. Specifically, we welcome recognition of the need to grandfather dedicated biomass to encourage investment, which rightly reflects the long-term nature of this capital investment. Further, we accept that the industry is best placed to hedge against the fuel risk and believe that this is preferable to hedging against regulatory risk." 
 	
 The spokesman goes on to say, however, that the company is concerned there will still be a period of uncertainty for dedicated biomass plants, which would not be accredited or ready to begin generating until after April 2013, when current RO regulations expire and new ones are implemented. The DECC reviews the RO banding, categorized by technology, every four years. The next review begins in October with changes implemented April 2013. "We trust that the DECC will take the opportunity to address this issue early in the review," the Drax spokesman said. 
 	
 RO banding allows for 20-year grandfathering of all other technologies. Grandfathering for biomass support was not incorporated when the RO was banded in 2008 because, unlike other renewable technologies, a large portion of the generators' costs are ongoing fuel costs, according to the DECC.

UK's DECC to grandfather dedicated biomass

Posted July 29, 2010, at 12:23 p.m. CST
 
 After a summer filled with delays, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., finally unveiled the Senate's attempt at an energy bill July 27, to the disappointment of many in the biofuels industry. The 409-page bill, titled the "Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010," is notably focused more on oil drilling restrictions and the BP oil spill than on energy independence. A strategy to reduce oil consumption is not introduced until halfway through the bill and is focused solely on natural gas and electric batteries as the preferred methods of reducing U.S. oil dependence. 
 
 The bill proposes to establish a vehicle and infrastructure development program for the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel "in order to achieve the maximum feasible reduction in domestic oil use." The bill offers rebates to consumers for the purchase of "qualified alternative fuel vehicles," which is defined as being vehicles that use compressed or liquid natural gas, and would also offer rebates to consumers who convert conventionally fueled vehicles to operate on natural gas. 
 
 Additionally, the bill would establish a plug-in electric drive vehicle deployment program to assist in the "rapid deployment" of plug-in electric drive vehicles. Phase I of the program would last for three years, beginning on the date funding is first provided to selected "deployment communities." One of the goals of the program is to deploy 400,000 plug-in electric vehicles within those communities during the three-year timeframe. 
 
 Ethanol industry leaders said the bill was a missed opportunity to offer support for domestic biofuels and some dismissed the bill as being nothing more than a political maneuver. 
 
 "Instead of spending taxpayer money on unproven technologies, policy-makers should invest in the infrastructure that would allow for the expansion of the only renewable energy source that is displacing significant volumes of foreign oil today: ethanol," Poet CEO Jeff Broin said in a statement. 
 
 Growth Energy, which recently introduced a plan to establish a build-out of the infrastructure needed to increase ethanol use in the U.S., expressed frustration at its plan being omitted from the Senate bill. "By omitting these measures from the bill, the Senate is maintaining our addiction to foreign oil rather than investing in a home-grown fuel that has been proven to be cleaner and more economically beneficial to our country," CEO Tom Buis said. "We will be working with members of Congress to offer amendments to accomplish the policy goals that should have been adopted years ago to secure our nation's energy independence." 
 
 During a press conference to discuss the bill, Reid and other Democratic leaders blamed Republicans for the bill's lack of comprehensive coverage but defended its potential to create jobs and reduce oil dependency. 
 
 "While the GOP stands in the way of a comprehensive energy package, we must move forward to create jobs and hold BP accountable," said, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. "This bill will help protect our environment and invest in the development of alternative energy jobs and technology. I am committed to passing this legislation because it will create good-paying clean energy jobs and lead the way for more comprehensive energy reforms." 
 
 Reid said the bill will create jobs and save consumers money through energy efficiency incentives, but admitted the bill lacks details. "This bill does not address every issue of importance to our nation's energy challenges, and we have to continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses," he said in a statement. "But this is a good bill that deserves bipartisan support, and continues us along the path toward a clean energy future." 
 
 Matt Hartwig, communications director for the Renewable Fuels Association, expressed skepticism about the bill's chance of passing Congress this year and said the RFA is focused on identifying bills with the best chances of being passed, and will attach ethanol-related amendments to those bills. He acknowledged the Senate's need to act on the oil spill, but said the opportunity for comprehensive energy legislation was missed in the process. "You can't have a discussion about the energy future of the nation without including everything that's on the menu, and right now biofuels are the game when it comes to displacing imported oil," he said. "If we can replace the need to drill with biofuels or other renewable, then you don't have to worry about who's at fault for that blowout preventer. You're not drilling in a mile of water to begin with." 
 
 SOURCE: ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

Senate energy bill ignores biofuels

Posted July 29, 2010, at 2:23 p.m. CST
 
 Inbicon is demonstrating its cellulosic ethanol from straw process in Kalundborg, Denmark with its Inbicon Biomass Refinery technology. The 1.4 MMgy project is a springboard for the company's 20 MM gy design and the focal point of a presentation by Tom Corle, founder of the G-Team, which is marketing Inbicon's biomass refinery, during a panel at Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo Aug. 4-6 in Boston.
 	
 The panel, Export Markets and Their Influence on Northeast Biomass Supply Streams, has three confirmed speakers discussing the impact of export markets and Europe's growing biomass demand on the northeast's biomass supply and position in the market. 
 	
 Besides cellulosic ethanol, Inbicon's process produces a clean lignin biofuel that can be used without expensive purification treatment to replace fossil fuel in a co-located facility, Corle said. "For the panel discussion, I'd like to show why burning clean lignin on-site isn't the only sustainable business plan that can work for American biomass refineries," he said. "Just as American ethanol and DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles) are being profitably exported, so can a clean lignin that's ready to use without risk of boiler scaling." 
 	
 Because Denmark's political system is stable, it is not subject to the policy fluctuations and uncertainties of the U.S., he said. "So it is possible to make long-range business plans and anticipate reasonable stable market conditions." The predictability gives U.S. developers of biomass refineries an attractive export option for their lignin long term, Corle said. 
 	
 Inbicon is demonstrating in Denmark that when integrated with a power plant, its biorefinery can increase efficiency to 71 percent. When integrated with a U.S. power station, other synergies result. Waste streams from the power plant are used to cook the straw in the biomass refinery, shrinking the heat and power demand and increasing efficiency of the power station to as high as 50-plus percent, Corle said. 
 	
 "My goal for the presentation is to demonstrate that biomass refineries can play a vital role in revitalizing agriculture in the Northeast by giving the farmer a huge and profitable market for harvest residue and dedicated energy crops," Corle said. "Beyond that, the construction and operation of biomass refineries in the Northeast will give the region a very healthy economic boost while providing clean, renewable energy to replace fossil fuels and imported oil; and, perhaps, give the region a highly-valuable export." 
 	
 Fellow panelist Anne Rahikainen, director of bioenergy services for RISI, will discuss the size of the woody biomass market in Europe, focusing on pellets. "Europe is the largest market for pellets currently, and a significant trade is developing between Europe and North America in this commodity," she said. Europe's demand for pellets is expected to grow significantly over the next five to 10 years because of investments in renewable electricity production in major Western European markets. "The demand growth will exceed the region's own production capabilities, so North America's role as an exporter of pellets will increase in the future," she said.
 	
 Besides the size of the market, Rahikainen will also identify Europe's key markets and underlying drivers in comparison with North America, explaining the difference in development between the regions. 
 	
 "If there are any manufacturers of pellets or traders of biomass in the audience, they will be interested in learning more about the development of a key export market and potential opportunities it represents for them," Rahikainen said, citing the large-scale pellet plants in the southern U.S. poised for export to Europe. She will discuss whether the same opportunity exists in the Northeast and whether North American markets will develop as Europe's have. 
 
 For more information or to register, go to <a href="http://ne.biomassconference.com">http://ne.biomassconference.com</a>.

Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo panel highlights export markets

Posted July 30, 2010, at 9:35 a.m. CST
 
 USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager recently helped Genera Energy leadership break ground on Tennessee's Biomass Innovation Park, a one-of-a-kind campus that integrates and optimizes the entire biomass supply chain.
 
 The Biomass Innovation Park will provide harvesting, handling, storage, densification, pre-processing and transportation for multiple feedstocks including switchgrass. Located adjacent to the Genera/DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol demonstration-scale biorefinery in Vonore, Tenn., on 21 acres, the campus will serve as the foundation for all biomass feedstock used to create biofuels, biochemicals, bioproducts, biomaterials, biopower and bioenergy.
 
 The campus is being designed by Michael Brady Architects of Knoxville, Tenn., and constructed by J&S Construction of Cookeville, Tenn.
 
 "This facility will integrate biomass receiving, storage, separation, preprocessing and compaction. It will initially process up to 50,000 tons of switchgrass but is designed to handle a wide range of energy crops and other biomass feedstocks," said Genera President and CEO Kelly Tiller. "We will also have energy crop R&D demonstration plots on-site, as well as some demonstration scale novel conversion processes and technology.
 
 Genera currently has more than 6,000 acres of switchgrass growing in nine counties within 50 miles of the Vonore biorefinery. Switchgrass is being grown by farmers under contract with Genera to produce the crop for cellulosic ethanol. This switchgrass will be processed at the Biomass Innovation Park.
 
 "The Biomass Innovation Park will be a unique and valuable asset in answering many of the questions farmers, biorefineries, and the entire bioenergy industry are asking about sufficient, sustainable, scalable, cost effective supply chains for energy crops;" Tiller said.
 
 USDA's Tonsager was joined at the ground breaking by University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Chancellor and Genera board member Joseph DiPietro; DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock Development Director Kyle Althoff; and Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation President Lacy Upchurch. Additional Genera board members participating included: DeRoyal Industries CEO Pete DeBusk; University of Tennessee Executive Vice President David Millhorn; and former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Dan Wheeler.
 
 The Biomass Innovation Park will also be the site for a $5 million U.S. DOE-funded high-tonnage switchgrass bulk handling system and will provide strategic partnership opportunities and serve as a template for regional biomass depots.
 
 The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010, in time to store and process switchgrass following the fall harvest. The Biomass Innovation Park is designed to accommodate future expansion and introduce new technologies and equipment for processing biomass to meet the specifications of biorefineries and other downstream conversion processes.
 
 The Biomass Innovation Park will include two storage silos; an equipment shed; bale storage; office buildings; truck scales for feedstock receiving; pre-engineered biomass processing buildings; and energy crop demonstration plots for switchgrass and other crops grown for bioenergy.
 
 SOURCE: GENERA ENERGY

Genera breaks ground on Biomass Innovation Park

The New England Wood Pellet plant in Jaffrey, N.H., is ringed by trees and sits on a lot piled high with bags of wood pellets, ready for sale to the company's residential customer base. 
 	
 <img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/852010_8_56_11_AM.gif" alt="nbc10.tours" border="0" align="right"/>The site was one of two tour locations during Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo Aug. 4-6 in Boston. Nearly 40 tour participants were able to observe facility operations and witness how pellets are manufactured. The company has been making pellets for 19 years, according to Steve Walker, president and CEO, and designs and manufacturers much of its own equipment. 
 	
 Participants saw trucks dumping the raw wood onto massive piles of sawdust, wood chips, and hunks of other wood. The supply, 20 percent soft wood and the rest hard wood, comes from forestry, sawmills, chipping contractors and secondary manufacturers that make products such as furniture. 
 	
 Some of the raw wood needs to be dried, so before being pelletized, it is fed into a screener that takes out the big chunks, as well as the fine ones because those can blow up and cause fires more easily, Walker said. Then, the wood pieces are pulverized to the size of a toothpick and dumped into a silo before finally being fed into the large, cylindrical, rotating dryer, which is powered by the woody biomass. "This is exactly the same as a clothes dryer," Walker joked, looking at the massive machinery. "A little bigger." The residence time for the wood in the dryer is between 1.5 and 2 minutes, he added. 
 	
 The dried wood, along with the wood that was dry enough to skip the drying process, is put in silos where it waits to be pelletized at temperatures up to 256 degrees Fahrenheit, Walker explained, picking up cooled pellets and passing them around. "They're pretty uncomfortable right when they first come out," he said. 
 	
 The pellets are poured into bags on a conveyor belt, piled on pallets, wrapped in plastic and stored on-site at the facility. The residential customer base is large, Walker said, but does fluctuate depending on oil prices. "The market here in the northeast has grown, but not nearly as fast as Europe," he said. There's an enormous overcapacity in the Northeast, he said and the market is much smaller than popularly perceived. "What we have to focus on is the customer," he said.
 	
 Tour guests were also granted a tour of the company's research and development facility, which it uses to design its own equipment, and research new designs.
 	
 Mount Wachusett Community College in northern Massachusetts was the other tour destination, a previously all-electric heated facility that now houses a state-of-the-art hydronic biomass-fired district heating system. 
 Powered by a Messersmith wood chip combustion boiler, the biomass system heats the college's entire campus, some 500,000 square feet of classrooms, libraries and laboratories, and has saved MWCC $300,000 in annual fuel costs since it was installed in 2002.
 
 MWCC Director of Maintenance and Mechanical Systems Bill Swift said three to five truckloads of hardwood wood chips are hauled to the plant per week to fuel the district energy system. Though mill wood chips-which Swift described as unusable slabs of wood cut from the sides of a debarked logs-are a more desirable fuel due to its consistency, the plant currently uses mostly chips derived from wood typically destined to be utilized as firewood, he said. "Since many sawmills have been closed in the state as a result of the lagging economy, mill chips aren't available to us." 
 
 Last year, the school paid about $54 per ton for mill chips and $58 per ton for the firewood chips, requiring about 1,400 tons of wood chips annually. Swift said he expected to pay the same figures next year, though he admitted concerns of eventual supply issues if multiple proposed projects in the state proceed, and if the economy does not improve. 
 
 When asked for advice to give those planning to install a similar biomass heating system, Swift had four tips to offer-don't run wires underneath the boiler, marry baghouse controls to boiler controls, find a very good controls company, and size the wood chip bin one-third bigger than originally thought to be needed.

Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo tours feature district heating, pelletizing

Biomass has made up 50 percent of the renewable energy in Massachusetts' renewable energy portfolio (RPS), according to Tom Walker, consultant for the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, but with the release of the Manomet study, "Massachusetts Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study," in June, woody biomass is under fire. 
 	
 <img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/852010_11_52_11_AM.jpg" alt="nbc10_panel1.1" border="0" align="right" />Walker was one of five speakers on the first plenary session panel at Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo Aug. 4-6 in Boston, Mass. Massachusetts' RPS is one of the leading in the nation, at 15 percent by 2020, and has been a great success, Walker said. He discussed the study results, methodology and implications for the state, emphasizing more than once that the results are not translational to other states, and all regions looking into biomass utilization for bioenergy should conduct their own studies.
 	
 Through a competitive solicitation, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources chose Manomet to conduct the study, determining forest biomass's impacts on greenhouse gases, forest and forest ecologies and sustainability. The study found a debt-then-dividend model where forest biomass releases more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels initially, but that debt is paid off as the forests re-grow, with growth rates depending on a number of other factors such as forest management. The feedstock taken into account in the study was strictly forest-derived, including logging residues, but not mill residues, tree and landscaping clearing, construction debris or other wastes. That has been one of a few points of contention in the biomass industry, as most plants would use such wastes. 
 	
 "I will say that the DOER and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs were very pleased with the sound technology, but we recognize its limits," said panel moderator Dwayne Breger, director of renewable and alternative energy development for DOER, citing the feedstock concerns and reiterating again that the study findings are specific to Massachusetts.
 	
 <img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/852010_11_54_08_AM.jpg" alt="nbc10_panel1.2" border="0" align="left"/>"I think there's been a lot of controversy in the press as far as how far-reaching our results are," Walker said. During the six-month study, the researchers, which included representatives from other agencies such as the Pinchot Institute and the Forest Guild, developed an integrated energy system forestry model with a baseline scenario of forest operations in Massachusetts similar to that in the recent past. "A key element that we've done is to explicitly take this business-as-usual scenario," he said. Forest biomass will be carbon neural if the forests grow back and people don't question that, Walker said. The question is when and what factors could affect it. 
 	
 "As you can see, carbon neutrality is not instantaneous," Walker said, showing a powerpoint slide with a chart of carbon dividend timelines of fossil fuels as compared with woody biomass. Dividends with replacement of coal-fired electric capacity begin at about 20 years, the study found. When biomass is replacing natural gas capacity, the carbon debt is still not paid off after 90 years. When using logging residues only, however, the debt is paid off much sooner. "For waste material, carbon recovery can be relatively rapid regardless of harvest or technology assumptions," he said, adding that when live trees are harvested, carbon recovery profiles are longer.
 	
 The DOER will use the study to refine its RPS regulations, and biomass energy has been suspended from inclusion, pending the results of the study. The EEA has requested new final rules be put in place by the end of this year.
 	
 Broader policy implications of the study include the fact that the baselines will be different in different regions; different sources of biomass have different greenhouse gas profiles; biomass technology choices matter toward recovery times; and forest management can either accelerate or decelerate carbon recovery.
 	
 But current emissions targets are more short-term focused and don't account for biogenic sources with payback periods, according to panelist Bob Perschel, northeast regional director of the Forest Guild and study contributor. "This is going to be a huge problem with the public," he said. 
 	
 Opposition has cropped up all over the country and some groups have taken the Manomet study results as confirmation of their viewpoints. Forest depletion is one of their concerns, but panelist Michael Goergen, executive vice president and CEO of the Society of American Foresters, told the crowd of about 290 attendees that the country has about the same amount of forests that it did 100 years ago. "We've maintained the same amount of forest despite an increase in population from 87 million to more than 300 million," he said, attributing that fact to certification, best management practices and other forestry maintenance factors. The U.S. currently has about 755 million acres of forestland.
 	
 Positive attributes of biomass include improving utilization and thus profitability and management options. "Robust markets are a very, very important part of maintaining those forests," Goergen said. The use of small-diameter material could replace some diminishing markets, maintaining healthy forests for longer rotations, he added. On the downside, though, high utilization of forest biomass could limit variability of habitats, although Goergen said he doesn't know if that would happen for sure.
 	
 Sustainability of forest biomass utilization depends on a number of factors including best management practices, habitat, site preparation and markets. "Markets keep forests forested," he said. "Biomass has the potential to keep these lands the way we want them."
 	
 Fellow panelist Dave Tenny, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Forest Owners, reiterated that point, saying viable markets are fundamental to forest conservation. Tenny shared a 2007 quote from the U.S. EPA that says carbon dioxide from biomass will not increase carbon dioxide in the air if it's done sustainably. Now, though, the EPA is leaning toward regulating biomass emissions like those of fossil fuels in its proposed Tailoring Rule. The result of that regulation would be uncertainty in the marketplace, he said. "You end up with regulation of the value chain in a way that it's never been regulated." In addition and also in disagreement with the 2007 EPA statement, the federal renewable fuels standard restricts the utilization of 90 percent of U.S. forests. 
 	
 "We are at a precipice in our country," Tenny said. "We're trying to decide as a country whether we're serious about renewable energy." In order for that portfolio to include biomass energy, the industry needs clear signals for investments to flow. "Right now, those signals are pretty muddy," he said.
 	
 In the discussion portion of the panel, Perschel made note of the fact that none of the other panelists challenged the figures in the Manomet study. He did, however, lay out some issues that need to be considered, including a hard definition of carbon neutrality. "Those protesters are saying we found that biomass is not carbon neutral, but we're up here saying it is," he said. Other issues he outlined include biomass's impact on RPS targets; its affect on climate events; and if it gives investors the best bang for their buck in comparison to other renewable sources.
 	
 Goergen raised an important concern near the end of the discussion that directly relates to the biomass opposition all over the country. "Are we really serious about renewable energy?" he questioned. "Every time I hear a project proposed, I hear a group that says, ‘Absolutely not.' But I hear that same group say we need to do something about climate change." He added that the country might not have the backbone to make the important decisions in policy and other areas. 
 	
 "There's a lot of talk but do we really have the will?" he asked, adding that he's concerned the country isn't willing to start the intensive forest management required to efficiently and sustainably use forest biomass as an energy source. "I hope I'm wrong," he said.

Conference plenary session addresses Manomet study

Posted August 5, 2010, at 7:39 p.m. CST
 
 A panel that outlined existing and proposed biomass projects in the Northeast drew the largest crowd of all four concurrent panels in its Thursday afternoon time slot at Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston. Almost 60 people listened to four panelists discuss their biomass endeavors, including the proposed conversion to woody biomass of a mill complex in Biddeford, Maine. 
 	
 <img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/852010_8_50_24_PM.jpg" alt="nbc10_anne" border="0" align="right"/>"This project can create low-cost heat, low-cost electricity and work," said speaker William Strauss, president and founder of FutureMetrics. The 24-building complex, built in the 1930s, has existing steam distribution systems and sits next to a refuse-derived-fuel-to-energy facility that is also discussing a switch to wood fuel with FutureMetrics. "The inside of these buildings are pristine and large," Strauss said of the mill complex.
 	
 The panel, From Drawing Board to Deployment: Real World Biomass Projects in the Northeast was part of the Industrial Heat and Power track, which included seven speakers on two panels. 
 	
 Eric Epner also discussed his real world biomass project, a greenhouse that generates energy with wood chips. "This has been operating for a full year and has real numbers behind it to demonstrate its success," he told attendees. The commercial greenhouse spans 18 acres, and the switch was made after the search for a less expensive fuel was conducted after oil prices rose. 
 	
 After one year of operating and 7,600 tons of wood chips burned, Epner said the project has seen numerous positive results: the boiler has performed extremely well; the final cost was $3.7 million; the equipment and facility easily passed air permitting testing; the greenhouse realized a savings of $1.5 million; the facility saw a carbon dioxide emissions reduction of 6,000 metric tons; and the simple payback including incentives is expected to take only 2.5 years. Major challenges of the conversion included fuel sourcing, funding, equipment selection and permitting, Epner said.
 	
 During the next panel in the same track, Export Markets and Their Influence on Northeast Biomass Supply Streams, Tom Corle, director of marketing for Inbicon, discussed his company's cellulosic ethanol plant in Kalundborg, Denmark, the first commercial plant of its kind. "I'm here to open up conversations," he said, adding that Denmark has excellent potential as an importer. The plant uses wheat straw pellets, which Corle said allow 10 percent higher efficiency than simply burning the biomass. Corle had spent two weeks prior to the conference in Washington, D.C., attempting to convince legislators of the importance of biomass and what he calls "the new ethanol." 
 	
 During the same panel, Anne Rahikainen, director of bioenergy services for RISI, discussed European biomass markets in relation to the U.S.'s, saying the key driver in Europe is policies that spur investment. "At current prices, economies alone would not support investment in biomass," she said. "It's the policies that drive things and not necessarily the economies." 
 	
 The EU has a renewable goal of 20 percent by 2020 and member nations also have their own targets, Rahikainen said. Those countries also have to develop national action plans to reach those goals. She and fellow panelist Pete Stewart, president and CEO of Forest2Market, mentioned the high biomass demand in the U.K. Stewart told the crowd that, to meet its goal of 20 percent renewables by 2020, the U.K. will need to import 12 million tons of pellets per year. If one-third of that were to come from the Eastern U.S., about 18 more pellet plants would be needed, he said.

Anne Rahikainen, director of bioenergy services for RISI, discussed European biomass markets in relation to U.S. markets at the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston. 

1600-1286340929.jpg

Industrial heat and power track addresses NE projects, export markets

Posted August 5, 2010, at 8:47 p.m. CST
 
 <img src="http://images.bbibiofuels.com/img/862010_8_31_15_AM.jpg" alt="nbc10_eusterman" border="0" align="right" />When it comes to building a biomass plant, whether that plant is going to produce fuel, chemicals or power, being able to secure a reliable affordable fuel supply could be the key to securing funding. That was one of the issues discussed Thursday during the Getting Started: Amassing Start-Up Capitol and Scrutinizing the Numbers panel at the Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston.
 
 J.D. Lindeberg, principal and chief financial officer of Resource Recycling Systems, said his firm does a lot of work analyzing the fuel supply for the development of primarily woody biomass facilities but also other kinds of facilities such as pellet plants. 
 
 Lindeberg explained how the firm does its work and why it's important to the project financing process, while providing some interesting insights into the biomass market. 
 
 There are three legs of the stool if you want to build a biomass plant: power purchase agreement, engineering to build or convert a plant, and the fuel supply, he said. "My own personal view is … that fuel supply is the most important thing." In that supply chain there are five basic steps that have to be priced out: production, processing, loading, transport and reclaim.
 
 "One way or another, if you are building a biomass-fueled power plant and you are going to go get money from somebody other than your friends and family, you are going to need to have to tell a story," he said. "You need to recognize that bankers are risk averse and they want to make absolutely sure they are not going to lose their shirts. They are going to want a very thorough exposition and analysis of all of the major risk factors. Are there technology problems? Are there supply problems? You need to be able to evaluate that over the course of the debt, which is most likely 20 years. You need to be able to evaluate what you think is going to happen in the future based on what you're seeing right now."
 
 Developers also need to remember that even though they paying a consultant to analyze the biomass supply, that consultant actually works for the bank. "The bank is the one who has to have the questions answered, and they have to have their name at the top of report because otherwise the fuel supply exercise becomes something that is too tainted by the developer's opinion and outcome."
 
 Lindeberg said he gets asked a lot if he can project biomass prices and that his firm recently found a relationship between the price of woody biomass and the price of diesel. "It turns out that the relationship to the price of fuel is related very closely to the diesel price and fundamentally about 75 percent of the overall cost of fuel is related to diesel itself," he said. "The good news is that the EIA (Energy Information Administration) projects diesel costs out over 25 years. … Once you have a starting point for the diesel price you can project out what you think is going to happen." 
 
 Lindeberg was joined by Sarah Hewitt, a partner with Blank Rome LLP, who discussed state and federal incentives, grants and other funding opportunities for biomass project developers. 
 
 "As everybody knows developers looking to build or rehab a biomass plant rely heavily on incentives, and there have been many of them since the stimulus bill was passed in 2009; there were some in place before then and there's a whole panoply of things to choose from," she said. "There are grants. There are guarantees. There are bonds. There are tax incentives and other programs at the federal level, and similar things at the state level." 
 Another incentive program being offered by the USDA is the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which panelist Greg Lynch, co-chair of the Renewable Energy Practice Group and managing partner with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, discussed in his presentation. "This program has enormous potential because it is directly targeted at expanding the supply of biomass for renewable energy," he said. Although the program was halted in February until new rules are established, Lynch hopes the new and improved program will be rolled out this fall. 
 
 The conference panel was moderated by John Eustermann, a principal with Stoel Rives, who provided his insight into project finance as well. "I think it goes without saying that right now debt markets are tight and people are sitting on cash, but projects are being done."

Conference panel focuses on project finance

Posted August 5, 2010, at 9:17 p.m. CST
 
 Biomass Magazine's Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston kicked off breakout sessions Thursday afternoon, offering nearly 300 attendees the opportunity to observe their choice of panels in four Northeast U.S.-specific tracks including electricity generation, industrial heat and power, biorefining and biomass power project development and finance. 
 
 Hosting eight industry professionals, the electricity generation track touched on issues involving the development of economic biomass supply chains to meet industrial-scale demands, as well as logistical and technical issues associated with biomass cofiring, retrofitting and repowering.
 
 Idaho National Laboratory's Christopher Wright discussed challenges related to interface boundaries between feedstock logistics on the production side and the conversion side of biomass power. "Thinking about solid feedstocks, the main objective is to turn them into something that is at commodity scale, and is infrastructure compatible," he said. "Something we grappled with early on was whether the industry will require new, fully innovative infrastructure to handle materials."
 
 There are many problems associated with that, Wright said, especially cost constraints. "Building an entirely new system to move and handle biomass would be much too capital intensive and constrained," he said. "Can we engineer biomass so that it looks or handles much like it was processed using infrastructure that we already use today, such as that for grain for instance? A prime example is what the pellet industry is building on today; if we can get the material into a dense form that is moveable and can be stored indefinitely, then we have a system that matches our ideal." 
 
 Wright said Idaho National Laboratory is currently working on a mobile pilot-scale preprocessing unit for research and demonstration purposes. "It makes more sense to bring the unit to the biomass than the biomass to the unit," he said. "If you can handle and create a bulk material, you will save costs throughout your supply system very rapidly-you want to get that gain as early as possible." 
 
 Dan Conable, research partner for Cato Analytics LLC emphasized the need to recognize that farmers aren't the only landowners when looking for land to grow biomass crops on. "You need to find out who owns the land you're interested in and what they want to do with it," he said. "What reason do they own it for? Did they inherit it? Do they just live there? Take their interests into consideration." Conable said there is usually little pressure on the owner to grow something if they aren't already, and farmers will usually rent out their land if they will make just slightly more than what they are currently making off it themselves. 
 
 Once the land is rented or purchased, securing long-term feedstock supply agreements is key to a successful biomass crop operation, though it is usually challenging, according to Conable.
 
 Changing the focus to the mechanics and logistics of biomass power operations, Riley Power Inc.'s Curtis Schaaf discussed biomass conversion strategies for existing power plants and evaluation criteria. Schaaf said that Riley Power approaches biomass conversions in four steps that include evaluation of fuel sources, boiler types, emissions and plant arrangements. "One thing we really push for is fuel flexibility," he said. "It's a big part of these conversions or new biomass units-being able to burn multiple fuels gives you some economic flexibility." 
 
 Idaho Energy Product's Patrick Travis echoed Schaaf's sentiments. "Selection and identification of a biomass source is as critical as finding and selecting a boiler, and these are two tasks that should occur simultaneously," he said. "I call it a second first. When considering the fuel you are going to use, think outside the box and don't look for one specific source. Look for two, three, four or more. Our experience with projects doing biomass since the early 1970s is that the fuel you are using today may or probably won't be the same fuel you'll have available to you in five or 10 years. You have to have a boiler technology capable of switching to different fuels."
 
 Schaaf said the way Riley Power approaches boiler conversions, typically from coal to biomass, uses six phases so that fatal flaws can be discovered during an initial phase before too much time, effort and/or money is put into a problematic conversion.
 
 According to panelist Kyle Michael of Bluewater Enegy Solutions, if a facility is being purchased for a possible conversion, it is imperative to have a thorough condition assessment before the sale. "It would surprise you how many power plants are bought with minimal assessments," he said. "If you're buying a used car, you bring it in first to get looked at and make sure you don't need a new transmission, so it's critical to have this assessment. You're going to be spending money on the front end before you buy the plant, which is a hard pill to swallow, but it will very likely save you money in the end or prevent a poor decision to purchase a plant." 
 
 Michael said in one case, where a thorough assessment had not been done, a power plant's smokestack fell over not long after start-up. "The stack had corroded and nobody had looked at the smokestack and it just fell over, and it shut them down for awhile," he said.
 
 During such an assessment, a team goes through the plant and performs a complete system-by-system condition check on everything necessary including pumps, motors, valves and more. "If a plant has been shut down for years there's a good chance none of the rotating equipment has been maintained so you will have bearing problems," Michael said. "We'll look at all the transmitters-if you don't know you have to upgrade 50 $2,500 transmitters going into the project, you're going to have a big bill in your hand that you may not be expecting."

Conference track evaluates biomass supply chains, power conversions

Posted August 10, 2010, at 8:47 a.m. CST
 
 The Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo in Boston Aug. 4-6 featured an afternoon of biorefining panels that covered biomass conversion approaches and feedstock challenges. The first panel, "Cutting-Edge Conversion Approaches: Breakthroughs in Biorefining," was comprised of executives of leading biorefining-and in one case, petro-plastic recycling-companies. 
 
 Stephen Fitzpatrick, CEO of Biofine Technology LLC, discussed the Biofine process to convert virtually any biomass feedstock that contains cellulose to four main intermediate products: levulinic acid, formic acid, furfural and ligneous char. 
 
 The process utilizes a tubular reactor and the first stage of the process only lasts 15 seconds, and then the second stage lasts about 15 minutes, where dilute sulfuric acid is added and the reactor warms to 200 degrees Centigrade. He said the process yields levulinic acid at about 50 percent by mass, adding that the char produced can provide all the power for the process. 
 
 Levulinic acid can be used to make a wide variety of chemicals or fuels. Today it's mostly made in China, Fitzpatrick said, and it sells for about $3 a kilogram. About 4 million pounds of levulinic acid is sold annually, and is mainly used in food additives and perfume. Levulinic acid made from biomass can be used as a platform chemical to make a variety of renewable hydrocarbons, ketals and 2-Methyl Tetrahydrofuran. Biofine Technology is targeting 50 cents a pound for levulinic acid, and Fitzpatrick said production costs will be much less than that. Also, formic acid now runs about 50 cents a pound but Fitzpatrick said his company will be aiming at selling it for 25 cents a pound. "It could replace urea" for NOx-reducing aftertreatment systems in new diesels. 
 	
 Regarding advanced biofuels, Biofine Technology is targeting production of ethyl levulinate as the "basis for advanced biofuel." He said it's a beneficial additive to methyl ester biodiesel, which can be used to reduce viscosity and double its shelf life. He said the ASTM approval process has already been initiated, and the National Oilheat Research Alliance is funding research for use as a heating oil additive, and Brookhaven National Labs is also conducting studies on ethyl levulinate for additive applications. Fitzpatrick heralded the co-location strategy for the Biofine process. "It plugs beautifully into pulp and paper mills," he said. 
 
 While recycling plastic waste may not fit in with conventional definitions of "biomass," recycling dirty, mixed, colored and No. 7 (nondesignated) plastics is part of a larger effort to reduce and reuse precious nonrenewable resources. Joseph Hensel, director of technology development for Polyflow Corp., said plastics get in the way of municipal solid waste (MSW) use and talked about Polyflow's process to turn waste plastics into fuels and chemicals. "Thirty-eight percent of all energy use is crude oil-based, 10 percent of which is used to create plastic and rubber," Hensel said, adding that this equates to $30 billion dollars a year spent to produce plastics and rubber.
 
 Over the past two and a half years, the Polyflow pilot plant in Akron, Ohio, has converted 7 tons of plastic waste into one-third gasoline, one-third diesel fuel and one-third chemical intermediates. "The process can take all types of contaminants," he said, and uses no catalyst, no gasification, and works at low temperatures and pressures. "It's a short conversion directly to fuels." Hensel said 65 percent of all plastic is films, not hard plastic, "and no one recycles this," he said. 
 	
 Hensel said when dirty contaminated plastic streams are used the yield is 67 to 72 percent; when clean streams are used, yield is 78 to 83 percent. "It's lighter and sweeter than West Texas Intermediate," the benchmark used for crude oil quality and pricing. "It's consistent even with feedstock variation," he said. The process produces about 13 percent char, which will be landfilled due to the fact that all the contaminants reside there, and 17 percent off-gas that's used to power the process. 
 
 The patent on the process was issued two years ago, and patents are pending in 11 countries. Hensel's vision is to position these small chemical plants near municipalities to utilize waste plastic streams picked out of MSW. The company's next step is to build a larger demo plant. He also said waste plastic costs about $20 a ton whereas crude oil runs $400 a ton. "This is an end-of-life solution," he said, for waste plastic. 
 
 The chief technology officer and senior vice president for Qteros Inc., Kevin Gray, said his company, whose technology is based on the clostridium phytoferme microorganism for production of cellulosic ethanol and chemicals, is going out for series C financing now and hopes to close on it in the next few months. "We're a capital-light company," he said, adding that Qteros will pilot the biomass fermentation process and then license it to others. 
 	
 The other biorefining panel was titled, "Working out the Kinks: Addressing Feedstock Logistics in the Northeast." Randy Hill, CEO and president of Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, discussed development work on his company's advanced biomass trailer, which was originally designed for drying peanuts. It's a trailer like what would be hauled by a semi-tractor, but has baffling on the floor and a place to hook up a dryer. He spoke of research on the trailer conducted at many different universities, including the University of Idaho, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University and Texas Tech. What's really needed, he said, is better air flow in the trailer than what's been demonstrated thus far, to dry a load of 25 to 30 tons in two to three hours at a total cost of $50. He said since biomass is valued at much less money per ton than peanuts, it is critical to bring the cost down through increased air flow via optimal design in trailer flooring and baffling. 
 
 David Dowler, the extension director at Penn State Cooperative Extension, discussed camelina planting and processing research that was initiated through an inquiry from in-state producer, Hero BX. With funding from the Sun Grant Initiative, and with partner Ernst Conservation Seed and Hero BX, the extension planted 600 acres of camelina in spring of 2008. Dowler said it the crop took 90 days to grow, which is fast compared with other regional crops, and provides an opportunity for double cropping. Some lessons learned by Dowler and crew include it's a good idea to kill existing weeds in the field before planting. He said farmers could plant camelina early but doing so is not really that helpful. Also, drilling the tiny seeds into the soil is more effective than broadcasting them onto the ground. Dowler also said about three pounds of seed per acre are all that's needed to plant, but the crop didn't take very well on wet, cold soils. Yields of 1,000 to 1,500 pounds, or 20 bushels, per acre were achieved. He said cover crops are essential to hold nitrogen in the soil and to prevent runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. They planted camelina and clover in same filed and it worked well, using no commercial fertilizers on the 600 acres. The extension is investigating growing corn in the next rotation without adding additional fertilizer to examine how well the system works in retaining nitrogen in the soil. 
 
 Maurice Hladik, president Biomass4Energy, forewarned the crowd that meeting the advanced biofuel portions of RFS2 will require a daunting amount of biomass. "We'll need to develop a wheat-sized industry in the next 12 years," he said. "And farmers aren't planting biomass crops ‘til there's a biorefinery nearby with steel in the ground." 	He said after initial planting of an energy crop, farmers can expect to wait 2½ years before getting the first full harvest, and up to six years before anyone can expect to see large commercial acreage on individual farms. He said for oil companies, shareholders determine value through proven reserves. "Perennial crops are proven reserves," he said. These projects need strong commercial backing, too, Hladik said, adding that there's more information available on growing mint than there is on growing biomass. What's needed is funding for trial plots to be established. He said the value from that would be the knowledge, not necessarily the biomass grown. "There are too many unknowns," Hladik said. "What land is available? ... Most don't even know."

Biorefining in Boston

Posted August 10, 2010, at 9:08 a.m. CST
 
 At this year's American Coalition for Ethanol Conference & Trade Show, two speakers gave particularly strong arguments for chipping away at the power and monopoly of Big Oil. It just so happens that Anne Korin, co-author of "Turning Oil into Salt", and Marc Rauch, executive vice president and co-publisher of The Auto Channel, have polar opposite ideas on how to accomplish that. 
 
 ACE's 23rd annual conference was held in Kansas City Aug. 2-5. In all about 350 people gathered for the event, which included Korin as keynote speaker on Aug. 4 and Rauch as the last speaker of the event on Aug. 5. 
 
 Korin is slight woman with passionate ideas about fuel choice and the danger of relying on what she called an oil cartel. "We are at the mercy of countries that hate us," she said. 
 
 She made an aggressive case for supporting the Open Fuel Standard. If passed, the law would require mandated amounts of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) warranted to operate on gasoline, ethanol and methanol or biodiesel. Vehicles can run on ethanol or methanol with only a slight tweak, she said. Korin rallied hard that the ethanol industry band should together with other alternative fuels, not just pushing for ethanol FFVs, adding that in 20 years or so, FFVs could also be hybrid vehicles, providing further consumer choice. 
 
 Laws mandating FFVs have not gone anywhere, Korin asserted, because legislators coming from states outside the Corn Belt have no reason to support ethanol FFVs. If, however, methanol were added to the mix, FFVs would suddenly become much more attractive to legislators from coal and natural gas states. While most methanol is made from coal, China makes a large amount of it from natural gas. If the producers and supporters of corn, natural gas and coal were to join together to ask lawmakers to mandate FFVs, that would be a nearly unbeatable coalition, she said. "It's very, very hard to argue against that political clout," she said. "It's very, very hard to argue against people that say, we want an open and competitive market." 
 
 Korin also scoffed at politicians' hesitation at passing mandates for FFVs. Didn't Congress cooperate long enough to mandate the transition from analog to digital television broadcasts? That's an encroachment on a much more trivial part of our lives than fuel choice, she said. It's not enough for politicians to make speeches about their commitment to energy independence. If the U.S. doesn't move to an open market, there will be another crisis when there is another spike in oil prices. "We're going to have three-digit oil again," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind." 
 
 Explaining the title of her book, Korin told audience members that salt was once a commodity with the importance of oil. Wars were fought over salt, as it was the only available method of preserving food. The word salary comes from the word salt, she said, as soldiers were once paid in salt. She then asked the audience if the U.S. imports any salt. What are the world's largest salt-producing countries? No one answered, because, she said, we don't care. Salt does not have the same status it once did. "That's what energy independence is," she said, adding that if there were an open market and fuel choice, oil would someday become the equivalent of salt. 
 
 Rauch opened his talk by contrasting his beliefs with what Korin told ACE attendees. Some say there is no single bullet solution for replacing petroleum, no one alternative fuel that is better than the others. "We disagree," he said. "We think that there is one solution that can be used immediately-ethanol." 
 
 Big Oil uses a strategy of divide and conquer to keep ethanol from succeeding. Big Oil buys politicians, buys votes and buys media spokespeople, he said. They do this using misconceptions and outright lies. Some of the lies he listed off are that ethanol requires high subsidies to succeed, damages engines, provides low power and is less energy dense and that FFVs are insignificant. "The lies are so pervasive, so well spread that many people in the alternative energy space and the ethanol camp believe some or all of them," he said. 
 
 On the issue of subsidies, Rauch pointed out that oil has enjoyed high subsidies for years. It's unrealistic, he said, to think that ethanol would survive without subsidies in a few years. Everything big that has ever been accomplished-the railroads, highways, the Hoover Dam-has relied on heavy government support. 
 
 Rauch's favorite lie, he said, was that ethanol damages engines. Ethanol burns cooler than gas and doesn't damage engines, it cleans them. He told multiple stories of drivers using high blends of ethanol in vehicles that are not FFVs, with the same performance and reduced emissions. "All modern cars can use ethanol," he said. "They may not be able to use 99 percent ethanol but they can use ethanol." Although car companies are not marketing them as FFVs, Rauch asserted that many companies are producing what are essentially FFVs, year 1990 and beyond. More than 100 million cars on the road today can use high blends of ethanol, he said. 
 
 As for the argument that ethanol provides less power, he said an adjustment in thinking needs to happen. People need to start thinking in terms of cost per mile, not miles per gallon. He also pointed to a Switzer Performance HP vehicle that the company customized for a customer that wanted more horsepower. To reach 900 horsepower, the company made it an E85 vehicle. When Rauch asked if there was ever concern about damaging the engine, the company responded that if it thought ethanol damaged engines it would not put it in a $300,000 car. "Why in God's name would you not use ethanol," the man told Rauch. "If we could get E99 we would use E99." 
 
 SOURCE: ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

ACE speakers answer Big Oil, ethanol critics

Posted August 30, 2010, at 11:50 a.m. CST 
 
 LanzaTech NZ Ltd., a New Zealand-based producer of fuels from waste gas, has successfully produced a building block used to make polymers, plastics and hydrocarbon fuels. The 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) product can be used in gasoline blendstocks, fuel additives, synthetic rubbers, plastic polymers, coatings, sealants and adhesives. More importantly, Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech said, "Collectively, these chemicals represent a growing market of over $40 billion per year." 
 
 Conventional production methods for both polymers and plastics typically require the cracking of petroleum or fermentation of sugars, but LanzaTech's process uses low-value gas feedstock from steel mills, oil refineries, coal manufacturers or landfill waste and reformed natural gas. Along with a microbial catalyst that can co-produce both 2,3-BD and ethanol, Holmgren said the robust catalyst combined with the non-petroleum, non-food feedstock, allows LanzaTech to produce the products at a commercial rate.
 
 "We are producing 2,3-BD at both our lab and pilot facilities in Parnell, New Zealand and also our pilot plant at the Bluescope (NZ Steel) mill in Glenbrook," said Holmgren. "We have extracted 2,3-BD from our fermentation broth at both and we will be demonstrating our process on a larger scale at our demonstration plant in Shanghai, China in the second half of 2011."
 
 For the chemical and polymer industries, Holmgren said the commercial availability of competitively priced, non-petroleum derived basic petrochemicals will be very significant, as they provide a means to make end-products with lower carbon intensity that will sequester carbon over the product's lifecycle. "Our technology is particularly relevant to companies, and indeed countries, that are currently exposed to international crude oil and naphtha pricing, as our process allows them to effectively decouple chemical cost from these feedstocks," she added. 
 
 Converting the 2,3-BD into other basic chemicals involves "straight forward and well-understood thermochemical processes such as catalytic dehydration and reductive elimination," Holmgren said, and LanzaTech is already identifying and developing ways to integrate those processes into its waste-gas process to maximize energy efficiency.

LanzaTech produces chemical building blocks

Posted August 10, 2010, at 9:12 a.m. CST
 
 Energy crop seed developer Ceres Inc. has formed a Brazilian subsidiary to focus on expanding sweet sorghum as an ethanol feedstock in that region. Ceres Sementes do Brasil Ltda. will be based in Sao Paulo and will be led temporarily by Ceres Chief Financial Officer Paul Kuc. 
 
 According to Richard Hamilton, Ceres president and CEO, sweet sorghum offers the Brazilian ethanol industry opportunity for growth and increased profitability. "We believe that new sweet sorghum hybrids will be the lowest-cost source of fermentable sugars in many places, and at times of the year when mills are under-utilized or idle," he said. 
 
 Sweet sorghum is already being grown in that area of Brazil, but at a very small scale and not as a biofuel feedstock, said Ceres corporate communications manager Gary Koppenjan. He said the company has received "a great deal of interest" from Brazilian ethanol industry members, who see the crop's potential to extend the sugarcane season and as a possible rotation crop with sugarcane. Ceres is conducting large-scale growing trials in the area and is working with ethanol mills, technology providers and equipment companies to facilitate the introduction of sweet sorghum at area mills. Koppenjan declined to release acreage numbers or specific details regarding which ethanol mills are prospecting sweet sorghum as a feedstock. 
 
 Ceres is also conducting sweet sorghum growing trials in the U.S. and has received interest from potential users of the crop in the Gulf Coast region, according to Koppenjan. California-based Amyris Biotechnologies Inc. is collaborating with Ceres to commercialize renewable diesel from sweet sorghum and has targeted potential partners in Hawaii, California, Alabama or Florida. 
 
 SOURCE: ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

Ceres expands operations to Brazil

Posted August 11, 2010, at 1:55 p.m. CST
 
 U.K.-based MGT Power Ltd has begun securing a feedstock supply for its 300-megawatt Tees Renewable Energy Plant, signing a non-binding, long-term memorandum of understanding with Brazilian pulp and paper producer Suzano e Celulose S.A.
 
 The two companies are working toward developing a formal contract for the agreement, but MGT declined to release information on how long Suzano will supply pellets for the facility and the amount it will supply. The MOU is backed by an $800 million investment by Suzano, which will develop three projects in Northeast Brazil for the production of 3 million metric tons of eucalyptus pellets per year. The resulting electricity at Tees REP is expected to deliver more than an 88 percent carbon dioxide reduction compared with fossil fuels, according to MGT.
 
 Tees REP will be constructed in Teesside, England, and is expected to be completed and operational in 2014. Suzano will supply a significant portion of the clean wood fuel for the facility, but MGT is also looking elsewhere, including local sources. The company is limited, however, to 200,000 metric tons per year of road deliveries to avoid impacts on local roads, according to an MGT spokesman. The company will seek to diversify suppliers and geographies to ensure a reliable supply, he added. 
 
 Suzano was chosen as a supplier because it is among the largest integrated pulp and paper companies in the world, according to MGT. It will give project lenders comfort as Suzano is a well-established, publicly-traded company with sustainability credentials. Wood pellets from Brazil benefit not only from the country's sunny conditions, but also from the advanced forestry technology developed by Brazilian universities to increase yields in poor soils, the spokesman said. 
 
 MGT Power also is developing a 300 MW facility in Tyneside, England, but a supply for that facility has not been established as it is in very early stages of development, according to the company.

MGT signs MOU for biomass supply

Posted August 11, 2010, at 3:10 p.m. CST
 
 Nippon Paper Industries USA in Port Angeles, Wash., will replace its existing biomass/oil boiler with a more efficient biomass boiler that will supply steam for the paper mill and 20 megawatts of power for the local grid. 
 
 The mill has a $71 million budget for the project and plans to apply for federal funding after completing the permitting process, according to mill manager Harold Norlund. The old boiler is burning biomass, but no longer will after installation of the new boiler, he said, adding that the old equipment will not be demolished, but might instead be used as a backup, pending permitting. "It's nice to have it for emergencies," Norlund said.
 
 The wood fuel for the boiler will continue to be residuals from local forestry operations, although more will be needed. Nippon does not own any land, but is surrounded by state Department of Natural Resources land, along with private timber operations. Norlund said the company anticipates securing a supply within a 75-mile radius including two local sawmills. 
 
 The company hopes to begin construction this fall and implement the system, including the steam turbine generator, in mid-2012. "We're actually considering selling 100 percent of the electricity to the grid," Norlund said. "Some public utility districts are looking for renewable energy that fits their portfolios." Washington has a renewable portfolio standard of 15 percent by 2020 and Nippon is in discussions with some utilities along the coast for the sale of the electricity. 
 
 The system will bring a number of benefits to the mill, including reduced oil costs and requirements, and an overall cost benefit. The fuel handling system will also be upgraded from fuel-guzzling machinery to conveyor belts, Norlund said, representing further fuel and oil savings. But the upgrade will allow benefits for locals, as well. "We believe this could create up to 20 forest harvesting jobs," he said. 
 
 The mill currently has about 200 employees and makes paper used for telephone books, newsprint and other custom purposes.

WA paper mill to install biomass boiler

Posted August 12, 2010, at 12:18 p.m. CST
 
 Although it will not solve climate change entirely, biochar has the potential to mitigate up to a tenth of current greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.
 
 The extensive research paper, which has been in the works for several years, centered on the carbon sequestration capabilities of biochar was published this week in Nature Communication, and co-author James Amonette hopes it will have great influence on those in the scientific community who doubt biochar's climate mitigation potential. 
 
 Biochar is produced via a process called pyrolysis, where biomass is burned without or under low oxygen conditions so it doesn't combust. The result is a charcoal-like substance that can also be used to enhance soil conditions. 
 
 Amonette, a soil scientist at the U.S. DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said he has wanted to conduct a solid biochar study for the past several years and finally got started in 2009 after discussions with study co-author Dominic Woolf of Swansea University in Wales. "We are extremely concerned about climate change and ways to mitigate it, and independently arrived at the conclusion that biochar is something that nobody has done a real thorough study on," he said. "We'd done some quick calculations, but nobody knew whether the numbers would be at 90 gigatons or 1 gigaton of carbon per year." 
 
 Amonette and fellow researchers calculated that when taking into consideration all biomass resources presently available, biochar has the potential to sequester one to two gigatons of carbon per year. "We really need in the area of 15 gigatons per year carbon equivalent, so It's not the panacea, but at the same time it's a significant player and that was the goal of this paper, to make a solid case for biochar that the scientific community could understand and accept because a lot of people are really turned off by the hype." 
 
 The most difficult component of the study, according to Amonette, was determining the amount of biomass sustainably available. "We relied heavily on some work done earlier, but basically we had to sort out how much is already being used for various purposes, how much is being left, and how much we can take off the soil/land without soil erosion," he said.
 
 A surprising determination of the resource analysis was that a significant amount of biomass is already spoken for in one way or another, Amonette said. "There's not a lot of it just lying around. We were very careful , getting back to the sustainability issues, not to consider breaking natural ground and converting it to biomass plantations because that was absolutely not the right way to go; the carbon debt from doing that is very large." 
 
 Following the sustainable biomass assessment, the researchers began a comparison of the available material being used as a soil additive opposed to generating bioenergy out of it, in order to determine tradeoffs between the two. "Initially, we just came up with a single number-that on average, biochar is 20 percent more effective in mitigating climate change that bioenergy," Amonette said. "We then did a second analysis that proved-depending on the fertility of the soil to which the biochar was applied and on the power source or type of fossil energy being offset-in some instances, bioenergy was a better option for climate mitigation. 
 
 What is the better use for the biomass, however, varies greatly from one scenario to the next. "Instead of competing though, they can work together to solve this problem. Bioenergy is still a very good way to go, but it's not going to solve the problem by itself. It has the same limitations that biochar does."
 
 For more information about the "Sustainable Biochar to Mitigate Global Climate Change" study and other recent biochar developments, see the September 2010 issue of Biomass Magazine.

Biochar research yields significant results

Posted August 16, 2010, at 2:10 p.m. CST
 
 The U.S. DOE is giving renewable energy projects six more weeks to apply for loan guarantees by extending its application deadline for the July 2009 energy efficiency, renewable energy and advanced transmission and distribution technologies solicitation, to Oct. 5. 
 
 The newly-created Round 8, Part I of the application stage is intended to give companies additional time to develop and submit Part I applications to apply for a loan guarantee under Section 1705, provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
 
 The Part II application deadline remains Dec. 31. The Aug. 24 application deadline for Round 7 remains the same.
 
 "The Department is committed to bringing as many commercial renewable projects online as possible to help us meet our clean energy goals and generate more jobs," said energy secretary Steven Chu. "By extending the time applicants can file, we will be able to support additional projects that diversify the country's clean energy mix and strengthen our economy."
 
 Despite the decision by the DOE to extend the deadline for renewable energy applications, contention has been voiced within renewable energy circles over concerns regarding Congress' decision to shave $1.5 billion off the $26.1 billion DOE funding pool for renewable energy projects to cover teacher salaries and Medicaid. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill (H.R. 1586), and the Senate passed an identical version on Aug. 5, after which the legislation was signed into law by President Barack Obama. 
 
 In August 2009, Congress dipped into the DOE's renewable energy loan guarantee program by taking out $2 billion to supplement the "Cash for Clunkers" program to help stimulate new auto sales. In all, the $3.5 billion amounts to more than half of the $6 billion appropriated by statute for renewable energy loan guarantees enacted in the recovery act. However, Congress has yet to repay the money despite repeated promises from lawmakers and the White House. 
 
 Before the bill's passing, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reassured the renewable energy industry that Congress would eventually restore the $1.5 billion rescinded from the DOE Loan Guarantee Program. According to Reid, the funding was a small piece of $20 billion in DOE stimulus funds the department has been slow to dole out, which includes $13 billion for state energy programs and the $6 billion for the renewable energy loan guarantee program. 
 
 Renewable energy organizations from various sectors vehemently opposed the rescission as they wrote a letter on the eve of the vote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging the House to drop the proposed cut. Leaders from the Solar Energy Industries Association, the American Wind Energy Association, Geothermal Energy Association, National Hydropower Association and the Biomass Power Association all signed the letter. The groups also included a two-year extension of a treasury grant program that's set to expire this year.
 
 "This reduction in funding severely limits the DOE's ability to support the suite of renewable resources through the loan guarantee program," the letter stated. "The proposed cut makes it likely that manufacturers of commercial renewable technologies will not be able to take advantage of the DOE Loan Guarantee Program," the letter continued.
 
 According to the SEIA, there are currently 81 renewable energy project applications totaling $31 billion in lending authority already in the DOE loan guarantee pipeline. Since $2.5 billion remains in the program, the DOE is expected to be able to fund project applications totaling $25 billion. Consequently, according to the SEIA, the program is already oversubscribed.

Loan guarantee application deadline extended

Posted August 16, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. CST
 
 Englewood, Colo.-based isobutanol technology developer Gevo Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire a 22 MMgy corn-based ethanol plant owned and operated by Agri-Energy LLC near Luverne, Minn. The transaction-worth $20.7 million-is expected to be finalized within the next month. Gevo will immediately begin retrofitting the plant to produce commercial batches of isobutanol.
 
 "This transaction is another important step in achieving our goal of bringing commercial volumes of renewable isobutanol to the market as soon as possible," said Patrick Gruber, Gevo's CEO. "The Luverne plant is a very well run facility with a strong operating team. It is a great place to begin our commercialization effort. We expect the facility will be the first among many and want it to be a model project for the future."
 
 Shortly after Gevo announced that it would acquire the Agri-Energy ethanol plant, the company filed an S-1 document to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission to raise $150 million by going public on the stock market. In its S-1 filing, Gevo indicated that it's looking to raise money on the stock market in part to avoid the weak project financing conditions. 
 
 Gevo has developed a proprietary fermentation process designed to fit into existing ethanol production plants. Coined GIFT (Gevo Integration Fermentation Technology), the technology platform consists of two components: a yeast biocatalyst and a separations technology unit that bolts onto existing ethanol plants to produce isobutanol from grain crops such as corn, wheat, sorghum, barley, and sugarcane, as well as non food-based cellulosic inputs. 
 
 "GIFT is designed to allow relatively low capital expenditure retrofits of existing ethanol facilities, enabling a rapid and cost-efficient route to isobutanol production from the fermentation of renewable feedstocks," Gevo said in its S-1 filing. "We expect that the combination of our efficient proprietary technology, our marketing focus on providing substitutes for the raw materials of well-known and widely used products and our relatively low capital investment retrofit approach will mitigate many of the historical issues associated with the commercialization of renewable chemicals and fuels." 
 
 Commercial batches of isobutanol at the Agri-Energy plant are expected to begin by the first quarter of 2012. During most of the retrofit process, the facility will continue to produce ethanol. Agri-Energy will not be shut down during the retrofit, which will take about two years to install. The plant's capacity will be reduced from 22 MMgy of ethanol to 18 MMgy of isobutanol, but the higher energy content of isobutanol will make up for the 4-million-gallon capacity reduction in its current configuration. Gevo estimates project capital costs at approximately $17 million to retrofit the facility. 
 
 "Since its founding in 1998, Agri-Energy has been dedicated to advancing the technology and best practices of the ethanol industry," said Agri-Energy founding member and Co-op Coordinator David Kolsrud. "We believe isobutanol can be sold into many markets and has product attributes that make it a compelling product for current ethanol producers."
 
 Gevo formed an exclusive alliance with leading process technology provider and designer ICM Inc. to deploy its technology platform via retrofit of current and future ethanol plants. Previously, Gevo and ICM successfully demonstrated production of isobutanol at commercial levels at its 1 MMgy ethanol facility in St. Joseph, Missouri. 
 
 "We believe that our exclusive alliance with ICM will enhance our ability to rapidly deploy our technology on a commercial scale at these facilities," Gevo said in its S-1 filing. "We plan to acquire access to additional production capacity to enable us to produce and sell over 500 million gallons of isobutanol in 2014."
 
 Isobutanol is a naturally-occurring, four-carbon alcohol that can be used directly as a solvent and converted to isobutylene, the raw material for plastics and fibers. Gevo believes its isobutanol will provide a viable rout to the renewable production of rubber, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Isobutanol can also be used directly as a gasoline blendstock.

Gevo acquires ethanol plant, files IPO

Posted August 17, 2010, at 11:40 a.m. CST 
 
 Big dreams are coming true in California, just ask biobutanol developer Cobalt Technologies. After signing a partnership agreement with the global engineering and project manager Fluor Corp., the Mountain View-based company now has the chance to move that advanced biofuel dream from its small-scale testing facility to large-scale commercialization. The two companies decided to partner during a re-engineering exercise of Cobalt's technology, performed by Fluor, that reduced Cobalt's energy costs by 40 percent and capital costs by 25 percent 
 
 As part of the agreement, Fluor will provide engineering consulting services to help Cobalt commercialize its production technology including "rigorous design and engineering to assure the system works once it is built," Wilson said. The Texas-based engineering company can also manage construction while potentially provide access to business partners and project finance. "Most of the technical and economic challenges we face are not biology related," said Rick Wilson, CEO of Cobalt, but instead are related to process engineering. "Our partnership gives us access to a huge range of world experts in process engineering, and we have used them extensively in developing and improving our technology."
 
 Fluor is not the first big name to work with or support the California company. In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Cobalt's facility, telling the crowd in attendance that "Cobalt shows us that what is good for the environment can also be good for the economy." John Hopkins, group executive of business development for Fluor seems to agree with the Governor. "We have examined many different Biofuels technologies, and are choosing to work with those companies that we believe have the greatest potential to be commercialized economically," he said. "We believe Cobalt's technology has great potential and are looking forward to helping them scale up rapidly." 
 
 Part of the potential exists in the buzz word "capital light," which Wilson uses to describe the company. "For us that means co-location, putting our plants next to an ongoing business to take advantage of what is already there including feedstock handling, tanks, electricity, steam and buildings." Wilson noted pulp mills, corn ethanol plants using cobs and biomass cogeneration facilities as possible suitors. 
 
 Cobalt's butanol technology, which ferments both C5 and C6 sugars from biomass fifteen times faster than typical processes due to its bioreactor technology, also gains "geographic reach" through the new partnership, according to Wilson. "We are building a global business, and we can now execute a project anywhere in the world." Along with other investors, Pinnacle Ventures, Vantage Point Venture Partners, Burrill and Co., Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, Life Science Partners, @Ventures and Harris & Harris, "Flour gives us global access to relationships in refining," Wilson said. 
 
 In two years, Wilson expects those relationships to pay off. "Expect us to have an operating demonstration unit, which will be the first profitable biorefinery." By 2012, he also said several facilities will be using Cobalt's technology. The reach of the company doesn't end however, with biobutanol. "Expect us to be not only in the butanol chemical business, but potentially chemical derivatives and jet fuel."

Cobalt Technologies goes global

Posted August 17, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. CST
 
 On August 13 the U.S. EPA published its proposed Inventory Update Reporting Modifications rule in the <a target="_blank" href="http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-19830.pdf" rel="external">Federal Register</a>, beginning a 60-day public comment period. The proposed rule aims to amend the reporting requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory Update Reporting fuel, which requires manufacturers and importers of certain chemical substances to report information about the manufacturing, import, processing and use of chemical substances listed on the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/pubs/invntory.htm#files" rel="external">TSCA Inventory of Chemical Substances</a>. The proposed rule applies to both bio-based and fossil-based chemical producers and importers. According to the EPA, information gathered through the proposed rule would allow the agency to better identify and, where appropriate, take steps to manage the risks associated with chemical substances. 
 
 The proposed rule recently published by the EPA would enhance the information that must be reported by chemical manufacturers and importers and would increase the frequency of reporting from every five years to every four years. The proposed rule would also require that data be submitted electronically, which the EPA said will help the agency expedite the process of making the reported information publically available. In addition, the proposed rule would limit the information that can be treated as confidential. 
 
 According to a fact sheet published by the EPA, the proposed IUR rule would help the agency achieve four primary goals. First, it would tailor the information collected from chemical manufacturers and importers to better meet the agency's information needs. Second, it would increase the EPA's ability to provide the public with access to the reported information. Third, it would allow the agency to obtain new and updated information related to potential exposure to a subset of chemical substances listed on the TSCA Inventory. Finally, the proposed rule would help improve the usefulness of the information that is reported. 
 
 Those potentially affected by the proposed role include entities that manufacture or import 25,000 pounds or more of chemical substances and mixtures listed on the TSCA Inventory. According to the EPA, chemical users and processors who manufacture byproduct chemical substances could also be affected by the proposed rule. 
 
 The next reporting period for the IUP rule is currently scheduled for June 1- Sept. 30, 2011. According to the EPA, the agency expects to finalize modifications to the chemical information reporting rule in time for this reporting period, and will make electronic reporting software and guidance materials available before the start of that submission period. 
 
 "Enhanced reporting on the production and use of chemicals will help give the American people greater access to information on the chemicals to which their children and families are exposed every day," said Steve Owens, EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. "The proposal being announced today will allow the agency to more effectively and expeditiously identify and address potential chemical risks and improve the information available to the public on chemicals most commonly used in commerce."
 
 More information in the proposed rule can be found at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.epa.gov.iur" rel="external">www.epa.gov.iur</a>. Public comments can be submitted under docket EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0187 at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.regulations.gov" rel="external">www.regulations.gov</a>.

EPA proposes chemical reporting rule update

Posted August 17, 2010, at 2:51 p.m. CST
 
 Several utilities are in discussions with Nebraska-based Next Step Biofuels Inc., interested in cofiring the company's corn stover PowerPellets with coal. The corn stover pellets are attractive because they pulverize and process like coal, and ship and store like grain, according to Will Gardenswartz, Next Step Biofuels spokesman. 
 	
 Nebraska utility Omaha Public Power District will test burn 2,200 tons of the PowerPellets, which will replace 5 percent of the coal usage in one of five boilers, and is the furthest along in supply negotiations with Next Step, Gardenswartz said. If all goes well, a contract could be in place by mid-October. 
 	
 Next Step harvests the corn stover with its own equipment from farms within a 50-mile radius. "The economic radius of corn stover pellets is pretty small," he said. "You'll ruin the economics of the business if you're going 100 miles." The stover is baled and brought to the pellet plant as needed. The equipment used is pretty standard, Gardenswartz said, but proprietary steps are required to rid the harvested stover of pebbles, dirt and other impurities that can harm the boilers or make extra work for operators. "There is an art to it," he said.
 	
 The pellets can be transported more easily than the corn stover, allowing for distances of 100 to 150 miles before economics become a problem. Next Step is looking into developing contracts with utilities outside of Nebraska, as well. 
 	
 One pellet plant needs about 180,000 tons of stover, which equates to between 50,000 and 70,000 acres of farmland. Next Step harvests about one-half to two-thirds of the corn stover on a given field, but the amount is determined by an agronomic study of each field. "You have to be very smart about leaving the right amount of stover in the field," Gardenswartz said. But as corn yields increase, so does the amount of residue left behind and leaving too much can hinder next year's crops. "There's more of everything," he said. "There's more biomass on the land. That's a good trend for us."
 	
 On average, wood has a higher energy content than corn stover at 8,000 Btu compared with 7,000 to 7,500, but PowerPellets bring other advantages to the table, Gardenswartz said. Since corn stover pellets pulverize just like coal, the largest investments a utility would need to make would be for storage and conveyors to feed the pellets into the boilers. 
 	
 Gardenswartz declined to release a cost figure for the PowerPellets, as negotiations are still underway with OPPD.

Utilities interested in corn stover pellets

Posted August 31, 2010, at 10:26 a.m. CST
 
 Many stakeholders in the biomass industry maintain that state-mandated renewable portfolio standards (RPS) would spur development in the Southeast U.S., with its rich woody biomass resources and port access for export. 
 	
 During Biomass Magazine's Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show November 2-4 in Atlanta, panelist Anna Wildeman, attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich LLC, will discuss whether RPSs would actually serve that purpose. Her presentation, Would Biomass Markets in the Southeast States Benefit from State-Mandated RPS Programs?, will be one of four on the panel titled Creating a Policy Friendly Environment for Biomass Heat and Power in the Southeast. 
 	
 "That is a loaded question," she said. "And is precisely why my presentation is titled with a question mark." Studies and surveys have attempted to assess the effectiveness of state RPS programs on renewable energy generation generally, but conclusions have been inconsistent. "Some studies conclude that state RPS programs only serve special interests and completely fail to promote renewable energy generation," she said. "Others conclude the exact opposite." 
 	
 There are elements of a state RPS program that if crafted properly, can promote the use of renewable energy sources on a statewide and regional basis, Wildeman said. But there are without a doubt drawbacks to a state-by-state approach such as legal challenges to RPS programs ongoing in several states. "The risk/threat of litigation creates market uncertainty and could be a barrier to market development," Wildeman said. "Some commentators argue that a federal RPS is the solution, although there are downsides to that approach as well." 
 	
 Wildeman expects there may be some controversy after her presentation over the effectiveness of RPSs generally and the balanced costs to industry. It's a particularly important topic for this regional event because of the dearth of RPSs in the Southeast. "Approximately 30 states currently have RPSs in place, but if you look at a map of the United States, the Southeast region stands out with none. 
 	
 "As leaders in the biomass industry, it will be up to us to make biomass market development a priority for policy makers and legislators as they draft RPSs," she said.
 	
 Also speaking on the panel is Amanda Bilek, energy policy specialist for the Great Plains Institute and author of <a href="http://www.gpisd.net/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B5422A1D9-878B-46C7-ACDE-EBFB00A9BA4E%7D">"Spotlight on Biogas: Policies for Utilization and Deployment in the Midwest"</a>, a study that, as its name suggests, evaluates current, proposed, and necessary policies that would push a market for biogas energy in the Midwest U.S. Bilek will touch on the study findings in her presentation, Biomass to Biogas, but will also discuss opportunities for biogas applications all over the U.S. and specifically in the Southeast. The Midwest has an enormous agricultural sector and therefore a prime market for such installations, but municipal solid waste and wastewater treatment plants represent urban doorways into the industry all over the country. 
 	
 Also speaking on the panel is Al Weed, chairman of grass roots nonprofit corporation Public Policy Virginia, who will be discussing scale and sustainability in the Southeast. Art Samberg, senior consultant for Golder Associates, will deliver the panel's final presentation titled Do EPA's new air quality regulations apply to me? This policy panel will be informative and will delve into lesser-discussed aspects of policy topics in the biomass world. 
 	
 For more information on the conference, go to <a href="http://se.biomassconference.com">http://se.biomassconference.com</a>.

Biomass conference panel will address regional policy strengths, weaknesses

Posted August 17, 2010, at 4:45 p.m. CST 
 
 Two U.S.-based developers of algal biofuels technology have reached funding milestones, one by filing to go public, and the other by securing more than $50 million in financing.
 
 Florida-based algae biofuel developer PetroAlgae Inc. filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its initial public offering (IPO) of common stock. The IPO intends to raise up to $200 million in an offering led by underwriters Goldman Sachs, UBS Investment Bank, Citi, Piper Jaffray, Cowen & Co and Baird. 
 
 PetroAlgae, which currently trades on the over-the-counter (OTC) Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol PALG, operates a two-hectare demonstration facility in Florida where the company said in its S-1 filing that it grows algae-or "micro crops"-in bioreactors that draw carbon dioxide and sunlight four times faster than under natural conditions. According to PetroAlgae, the company can produce between 10,000 to 14,000 gallons of algal oil per year at demonstration scale. The company intends to license its technology to interested oil companies, independent refiners and power companies looking to expand or replace their output stream by including both algae-based biofuel and protein.
 
 "Because our technology is principally embodied in the software and processes that control light exposure, the hardware in our systems is comprised almost entirely of commercially available off-the-shelf equipment that is already widely used in the agriculture industry," the company stated in its S-1. "This significantly reduces the scaling risk for prospective customer licensees."
 
 Meanwhile, San Francisco, Calif.-based algal biotechnology developer Solazyme Inc. raised $52 million in a Series D financing round. Braemar Energy Ventures and new investor Morgan Stanley led the round with all major existing investors from previous rounds participating, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Roda Group, Harris and Harris Group, VantagePoint Venture Partners and Zygote Ventures. Existing strategic investors CTTV Investments LLC, the venture capital arm of Chevron Technology Ventures LLC and San-Ei Gen, a major Japanese manufacturer and distributor of food ingredients, also reinvested in the company.
 
 Solazyme utilizes a microbial fermentation pathway to produce algal oil that can be converted to an array of end products such as biodiesel, jet fuel and bio-crude oil, in addition to biochemicals for surfactants, lubricants and polymers. Solazyme's algal oil can also be refined into other oleochemicals aimed to serve the nutritional and health and wellness markets. Its bio-oil is produced by feeding algae with nonfood biomass and a selection of cellulosic products and low-grade waste glycerol. 
 
 "Our technology and commercialization plans are progressing rapidly," said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme. "The strong support from our current investors in the Series D is indicative of our ability to exceed milestones, including the production of renewable oil for multiple applications at large scale."

PetroAlgae files IPO, Solazyme gains funding

Posted August 17, 2010, at 5:29 p.m. CST
 
 The University of British Columbia will soon be home to the first installation of a new biomass combined heat and power (CHP) system developed by Nexterra Systems Corp. and GE's Jenbacher gas engine division. 
 
 The city of Vancouver and local companies will supply tree trimmings and other urban wood waste diverted from the city landfill as fuel for the plant. The 2-megawatt (MW) system will require about 12,500 bone-dry tons of wood waste, according to Darcy Quinn, Nexterra business development manager. 
 
 The CHP system combines Nexterra's gasification and syngas conditioning technologies with a GE high-efficiency Jenbacher gas engine. Though Nexterra has several other biomass gasification system installations around the world, Quinn said this is the first demonstration of this particular application in North America. "The difference between this system and the others we have is that it sends the syngas directly into an internal combustion engine to produce the power, as opposed to just steam," he said. The electricity produced by the system will be distributed throughout the UBC campus to meet some of the college's power needs; waste heat will be recovered from the engine to produce enough steam to replace about 15 percent of UBC's current natural gas requirements. Additionally, UBC will see a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4,000 metric tons per year. 
 
 The system at UBC is on the small end of what Nexterra believes is the sweet spot for sizing these particular systems, according to Quinn, as that range is expected to be within 2 to 10 MW. Compared to conventional biomass power system electrical efficiencies of about 18 to 21 percent, this CHP system has demonstrated a 26 to 30 percent electrical efficiency, he said.
 
 Other partners in the project include the province of B.C., the Canadian government, the city of Vancouver, FPInnovations, BC Bioenergy Network and Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
 
 Quinn said the installation at UBC should be completed in the third or fourth quarter of 2011.

Nexterra debuts new biomass CHP system

Posted August 18, 2010, at 12:30 p.m. CST
 
 BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. has changed its name to BlueFire Renewables Inc. According to the company, the new name and rebranding more clearly illustrates its capability to produce a variety of biofuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, bio jet fuel and drop-in fuels. BlueFire Renewables will continue to trade under the ticker symbol BRFE.OB. 
 
 While BlueFire is focusing on ethanol production in the short-term, the company's President and CEO Arnold Klann noted that BlueFire's technology is ultimately a sugar production process. "What we do is take any type of cellulosic material and break it down into its constituent components using concentrated acid hydrolysis," he said, resulting in 5-carbon and 6-carbon sugars. Once the sugars are recovered from cellulosic feedstock by BlueFire's technology, they can be converted into a variety of fuels using third-party back-end technologies. "Our technology, because we have that intermediate step of pure sugars, can produce other chemicals besides just ethanol," Klann said. "That's what makes our technology unique and different from most others." 
 
 BlueFire is currently in the process of developing two facilities, a 3.9 MMgy plant in Lancaster, Calif., and a 19 MMgy plant in Fulton, Miss. According to Klann, the Fulton plant will be dedicated to cellulosic ethanol production. The California facility will also initially produce ethanol. "However, Lancaster was designed…to be able to add on other companies' technologies on the back-end to produce other fuels as a commercial demonstration project," Klann said. "Overtime, I see that [facility] evolving from ethanol production to biodiesel or some other product." 
 
 According to Klann, the flexibility offered by BlueFire's technology is advantageous. "Because our technology is a sugar producer for all intents and purposes-a cellulosic sugar producer-we can adapt very quickly to the marketplace," he said. "It really reduces the risks of the company…because we have the adaptability to go into other markets and other products." 
 
 While the U.S. has a strong market demand for ethanol, that is not the case in many other parts of the world. "With our ability to produce other fuels, it opens up the worldwide market for us," Klann said. "It allows us to build plants in other countries and supply products that would work in their existing fuel infrastructure."

BlueFire rebrands, changes name

Posted August 18, 2010, at 2:40 p.m. CST
 
 North Carolina is a step ahead of the U.S. federal government in making the installation of clean and efficient combined-heat-and-power (CHP) systems more economically feasible through a CHP or cogeneration investment tax credit recently signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue. 
 
 House Bill 1829 made several changes to North Carolina's renewable energy investment tax credit, which was previously only available to solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable electricity production technologies. Beginning in August, businesses that install a CHP system can receive a tax credit from the state equal to 35 percent of the cost of the equipment, construction, and installation, up to a maximum of $2.5 million. CHP systems for use in places other than at businesses are eligible for a tax credit of up to $10,500. 
 
 The new policy skates ahead of similar pending federal legislation introduced in March by House Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y. On a federal level, CHP systems are already eligible for a 10 percent federal business energy investment tax credit. The <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR04751:@@@D&summ2=m&">Innovative Energy Systems Act of 2010 </a>(H.R. 4751) proposes the removal of the current tax credit limitation to small projects, as the 10 percent credit only applies to the first 15 megawatts (MW) of a project and is limited to 50 MW in size. The bill would apply the tax credit to a project's first 25 MW, as well as provide a 30 percent credit for recycled energy and CHP with efficiencies above 70 percent.
 
 According to the U.S. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, while the traditional method of separately producing usable heat and power has a typical combined efficiency of 45 percent, CHP systems can operate at efficiency levels as high as 80 percent. 
 
 H.R. 4751 is popular with many business, labor, environmental and government organizations, who in April sent a letter to Congress urging for the adaptation of the bill. Referencing a report released by the EERE in 2008, the letter states that if the U.S. adopted high-deployment policies to achieve 20 percent of generation capacity from CHP by 2030, it could save an estimated 5.3 quadrillion Btu of fuel annually, or the equivalent of nearly half the total energy currently consumed by U.S. households.
 
 While the fate of H.R. 4751 remains uncertain, North Carolina may just see a CHP boom. The state currently has a CHP installation capacity of about 1,482 MW at 45 sites, according to the U.S. DOE's Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. Keith McAllister, director of the Southeast Clean Energy Application Center, said that ICF International, which tracks information for Energy Information Administration, estimates that the tax credit will increase the amount of CHP in the state by 103 MW in the near future. "I wouldn't say that CHP has seen a lot of activity in the state, but the interest level has been definitely rising over the past few years, particularly for biomass fueled projects," he said. "The passage of this bill which allows CHP fueled from any source to get the tax credit should bring the bigger players to the table. There are still barriers to the market place, but having these organizations interest should help to remove those barriers as well."

NC passes CHP investment tax credit law

Posted August 18, 2010, at 4:30 p.m. CST
 
 Compact Contractors of America LLC, a Utah-based company developing dry algae aviation fuels, recently announced it has sold samples of its powdered algae-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. According to Robert Fulton, CCA's chief technologist and founder, the laboratory will conduct testing and evaluation on the fuel for use as a solid propellant for aviation rocket use. 
 
 CCA's technology involves drying biobased feedstock at a specific temperature over a specific period of time, said Fulton. "We use a spray dryer [which is] commercial technology that is currently available," he continued. "I discovered…that under certain conditions you can actually draw the oils to the surface of the cells while you are removing the moisture from [the feedstock]." The resulting powdered fuel is very conducive to simultaneous combustion, Fulton said, meaning that the sugars, plant material, cellulose and proteins all tend to fire at once. "It does not caramelize and it does not gel, which makes it a good jet fuel," he continued. 
 
 While CCA's research is currently focused on using algae as a primary feedstock, Fulton said that there potential to use other feedstocks, such as camelina in the future. While the process can utilize a wide variety of algae strains, Fulton noted that the oil content of the feedstock affects the grade of the fuel. While high-grade fuels are needed for aviation use, Fulton said lower grades may be used to fuel stationary applications on the ground, such as turbine engines that produce electricity. 
 
 One benefit of CCA's production process is that it is cheap. "We take algae in its harvested condition, i.e., right out of the water stream," Fulton said. "I can harvest from wild sources such as in lakes, or from open raceways or ponds. I can take it as it is harvested, meaning very low density-all the way down to 2 percent solids. Since I'm spraying it and then recovering the waste air, I am also able to pull the moisture out and return it to the source."
 
 Another benefit of the fuel, said Fulton, is that it's easy to transport and store. He also noted that the fuel has specific advantages for use at low temperatures and high altitudes. "Most other biofuels, especially those for aviation use, tend to gel," Fulton said. "They become nearly solid, whereas the powered fuel that I've created is even more fluid or viscous at low temperatures. In other words, it becomes better for use in a jet engine, although it is exquisite at room temperature and even relatively high temperatures."
 
 While jet engines themselves require no modification to utilize the dry biofuel, Fulton said changes to need to be made to the fuel delivery system. With the help of the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative, Fulton said CCA has teamed up with Pennsylvania State University researchers who have experience in working with powdered fuel delivery systems. 
 
 "USTAR is a state of Utah funded technology-based economic development initiative," said Michael O'Mallui, USTAR's director of marketing and communications. "One of our goals is to increase the collaboration between the private sector and our universities. This project is a great example of the success of that program." In addition to assisting CCA in partnering with Penn State Researchers, USTAR has also provided CCA with funding that has enabled the company to experiment with and catalog algae strains. "[We are] experimenting with algae …to find those that will be the best, the cheapest, and the easiest to process, while yielding the highest energy upon combustion," Fulton said. 
 
 According to Fulton, CCA is working to develop off-take agreements for its dry biofuel products. Once those agreements are in place, Fulton estimates it will take approximately 6 months to develop a commercial-scale production facility.

Utah company develops powdered biofuel

Posted August 19, 2010, at 10:55 a.m. CST 
 
 A biomass-to-liquids demonstration plant featuring a Fischer Tropsch (FT) microchannel reactor is now operating in Gussing, Austria. Compared to conventional units, the reactor is estimated to be four to eight times more productive. A joint-venture between the U.K.-based Oxford Catalysts Group and the Portuguese company SGC Energia, along with the help of U.S.-based Velocys Inc., the demonstration facility is using wood chips in "a range of operating conditions," according to Jeff McDaniel, business development director at Velocys. Those conditions include pressure, temperature and conversion levels "in order to fully establish and confirm operational boundaries and output. We will also test how the reactor performs over an extended time period to prove the catalyst stability," McDaniel said.
 
 The plant is currently producing 0.75 kilograms of FT liquids per liter of catalyst per hour. Made up of over 900 microchannels, the Gussing reactor has channel diameters in the millimeter range as opposed to conventional reactors using channels in the centimeter range. The smaller diameter channels dispel heat more quickly, allowing for the use of more active catalysts, boosting the conversion rates in the process. The combination of the FT catalyst developed by Oxford Catalysts and the reactor, developed by Velocys, has allowed the plant to show "conversion efficiencies in the range of 70 percent per pass," according to a statement by Oxford Catalysts, as opposed to typical conversion rates of "50 percent or less per pass." 
 
 In 2008, Velocys ran a 2 gallon-per-day microchannel demonstration unit for more than 4000 hours, and the results showed more than 1500 kilograms per cubic meter per hour (kg/m3/h), compared to 100 kg/m3/h for fixed bed reactors and 200 kg/m3/h for slurry-bed reactors. "Successful testing of our FT demonstration is an important step closer to validation of our technology," Roy Lipski, CEO of Oxford Catalysts Group said. 
 
 Along with the conversion efficiencies already seen at the plant, McDaniel said the benefits of their FT system allows for "numbering up." Instead of time consuming, costly structure changes within the plant, the Velocys reactor allows a facility to simply add another module when scaling up. The catalyst used in the process, an Organic Matrix Combustion, or OMX catalyst as Oxford Catalysts calls it, is characterized by crystallites that have a terraced surface to enhance activity. The OMX combines a metal salt with an organic compound, creating a process that stabilizes the catalyst for use in the reactor. 
 
 For the people of the southern Austria town, research and development in the renewable energy sector however, is nothing new. Since 2001 the town has remained energy self-sufficient through operation of a working biomass gasification plant and what McDaniel calls, "enthusiasm of the local technology community." Along with the established mood for energy efficiency in the Austrian community, McDaniel said the availability of woodchips for fuel, and the number of facilities made selecting the site beneficial for the biofuels project. Although the joint-venture group will continue testing the FT process, and they do have a site selected for another facility, they are not prepared to announce where or when.

FT demonstration plant opens in Austria

Posted August 19, 2010, at 10:58 a.m. CST
 	
 Washington-based Green Diamond Resource Co. has signed a long-term supply contract with Adage, a biopower joint venture between Areva and Duke Energy, for a proposed 55-megawatt woody biomass power plant in Mason County, Wash. 
 	
 Adage will be responsible for removing the residue left behind by Green Diamond harvesters under the supervision of Green Diamond, the largest private forest landowner in the immediate area around the plant. Currently, slash left behind is piled and burned to clear the way for replanting, which by law must be done within three years of harvesting. "When we go back in, there's no room to plant because there's all this slash on the ground," said Patti Case, public affairs manager for Green Diamond. "So we pile this residue and wait until fire season is past … and we burn it in the forest." The slash piles contain limbs and soft wood that isn't usable, along with defective and rotten pieces. The new agreement will save Green Diamond the cost of piling and burning the slash, Case said. 
 	
 The amount of residue Adage will harvest for its plant is confidential, according to Case. She also declined to disclose how many acres of Green Diamond's property will be harvested, but it will account for 15 to 20 percent of Adage's required supply. She did say, however, that Adage will have access to most of the company's land that can be affordably harvested for residue within a 50-mile radius of the proposed plant. 
 	
 Forest owners in the state of Washington are required to leave 17 to 20 percent of the residue behind to protect fish habitats, streams and upland wildlife, according to Case. "Washington state has arguably the toughest forest regulations in the world," she said. Forest owners are also required to reduce wildfire hazards next to roads. "Instead of piling and burning, they'll be taking that," Case said. 
 	
 Adage's plant symbolizes a $250 million investment in Mason County. It will be located in Shelton and is expected to create more than 400 jobs during construction and more than 100 during permanent operation, according to the company. Adage hopes to begin construction in early 2011, pending permit issuance, and will for the first time implement its partnership with John Deere. Earlier this year, the two companies announced an alliance to bring technology and process innovation to the fuel supply for woody biomass power plants. 
 
 Adage is also developing a biomass power project in Florida. The company faced effective, albeit small, citizen opposition at its proposed Gadsden County site of Gretna. After Gretna city officials announced in March they would defer decision on the plant for six months, the company suspended its air permit application. The city then answered back with a letter stating it considered the matter closed and would take no further action. Adage is still working to develop a plant in Hamilton County, Fla.

Adage secures biomass supply in Washington

Posted August 19, 2010, at 3:30 p.m. CST 
 
 Broomfield, Colo.-based cellulosic ethanol and biochemical company Range Fuels Inc. has successfully produced the first batches of cellulosic methanol at its facility near Soperton, Ga., using nonfood biomass. The Soperton plant is currently in its initial phase of development. 
 
 Though specific output volumes and rates of production weren't disclosed, President and CEO David Aldous said that production of its cellulosic methanol yielded promising results. "While sections of the plant have run above nameplate capacity and provided encouraging results, the total process has not yet come up to full design run rates," Aldous said. "This is typical for early runs on first-of-a-kind technology."
 
 To produce cellulosic methanol and ethanol, Range Fuels employs a two-step thermochemical pathway that uses appropriate amounts of heat, pressure and steam to convert nonfood biomass, such as woody biomass and grasses, into a synthesis gas--or syngas--composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. From there, the syngas is passed over a proprietary catalyst to produce mixed alcohols that are separated and processed to yield a variety of low-carbon biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol and methanol.
 
 According to the company, the cellulosic methanol produced from its first phase of operations has attracted buyers, but Aldous declined to disclose who those customers are. "We have buyers for the methanol as well as for the ethanol from the plant, but information on customers is confidential," he said. 
 
 Range Fuels intends to begin production of cellulosic ethanol during the third quarter of this year. The company initially plans to use woody biomass collected from nearby timber operations as feedstock. Plans are to integrate other types of renewable biomass feedstocks such as miscanthus and switchgrass as well. The company plans to expand the plant's capacity to 60 MMgy by summer 2011. The plant is permitted to produce a maximum nameplate capacity of 100 MMgy. 
 
 In addition to cellulosic methanol and ethanol products, Range Fuels intends to broaden its revenue stream by providing saleable byproducts such as biochar, which it sells as combustion fuel, according to Aldous. "We're also exploring its use in other higher-value applications such as carbon dioxide sequestration and in agricultural applications," he said. "The process also produces higher alcohols and we'll evaluate markets for these products as we continue operations."

Range Fuels produces cellulosic methanol

Posted August 20, 2010, at 11:38 a.m. CST
 
 Significant potential exists for biogas-related projects in the Midwest U.S. but current policy at the state and federal levels does not recognize the immense resource potential from biogas, according to "<a href="http://www.gpisd.net/vertical/Sites/%7B1510F0B9-E3E3-419B-AE3B-582B8097D492%7D/uploads/%7BB191AA5B-D5BC-488F-AEB9-B93126DACE20%7D.PDF">Spotlight on Biogas: Policies for Utilization and Deployment in the Midwest</a>," a recently-released Great Plains Institute study.
 	
 The report analyzes the current policy environment and examines policy reforms, along with new mechanisms that could spur development of biogas projects. These projects have potential across the country at landfills and wastewater treatment plants, but the Midwest has the advantage with its vast agricultural resources and agriculture-related processing industries, according to the study. "Without additional mechanisms and incentives geared toward diverse biogas utilizations and expanded ownership or management models, biogas development will struggle to grow and an opportunity will be missed to diversify our energy supply with a stable and versatile renewable energy resource," according to the study.
 	
 The policy discussion for the report, which included a group of 40 industry stakeholders, was split into five categories: existing policies that are best in class; existing policies that just need a tweak; proposed policies that need a push; promising new policies that need a champion; and other ideas. Not surprisingly, renewable portfolio standards are designated to the "just need a push" category and named as the prevailing policy of choice to drive renewable energy development. Feed-In Tariffs or Advanced Renewable Tariffs need a champion, according to the study, but designing them for individual states is complicated by existing federal law such as the Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1978 (PURPA) and the Federal Power Act of 1935. These policies only allow utilities to purchase power at avoided cost or at cost-based rates. 
 	
 State regulatory agencies and actions play an important role in facilitating biogas project development, the report adds. Permitting requirements can hinder development if the regulations are not clear or uniformly applied. A common theme expressed by a majority of the stakeholders is a desire for future policy to level the playing field between direct incentives and grants for biogas production that would produce electricity, renewable natural gas or other options. The fact that biogas can be used to generate electricity is well known, but it can also be used for combined-heat-and-power (CHP), natural gas replacement, vehicle fuel and chemical production. Expanding incentive program definitions to allow additional uses of biogas could spur additional project development, according to the report. 
 	
 "The right policy environment can provide a framework for project developers to determine the highest and best use for the biogas produced and not limit the technology applications for producing biogas or biogas utilization options," the report reads.
 	
 Both federal and state policies will be important for growth in a biogas industry, no matter which comes first. "I don't think they necessarily need to come in a certain order," said Amanda Bilek, GPI energy policy specialist and report author, adding that state policies can sometimes help push the federal government to get involved, too. "It's just important to start seeing involvement at some level." 
 	
 The recent formation of the American Biogas Council is extremely important to the industry and is a positive step in the direction of parity for biogas with wind, solar and other biomass resources, Bilek said. Expanded management and operations models also need to be explored before the biogas energy sector can effectively expand. 
 	
 While policy will help drive development, research is vital to ensure biogas projects increase efficiency and output over time, according to the study. Without laboratory and practical research, understanding of biogas technology and its effects will be limited. "We need a bit more research into co-digestion," Bilek cited as an example. "What can be mixed?" 
 	
 Biogas can be produced from organic feedstocks such as manure, crop residue, waste from food processing and wastewater treatment, fats, oils and greases. Europe has led the world in biogas project developments, with the greatest number of projects, but also with a drive in technology advancements. 
 	
 Bilek will discuss the study further, including a summary of the top points addressed by stakeholders and actions states can take to further biogas development, at Biomass Magazine's Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show in Atlanta, Ga., November 2-4. 
 	
 The development of biogas resources in the Midwest holds significant promise for agricultural producers, processing facilities and production industries, the report states. "The Midwest has a unique opportunity to develop biogas resources; the time is ripe, the technology is ready, and the possibilities are endless," the study reads. "It is time for biogas to step into the spotlight and become a part of our energy future

GPI study: Policy hinders Midwest biogas development

Posted August 23, 2010, at 3:36 p.m. CST
 
 The ball is finally rolling for a community dairy manure digester project in Dane County, Wis., that is the first of its kind in the state and has been in the works for more than five years.
 
 According to Gov. Jim Doyle's office, Dane County has 400 dairy farms that milk 50,000 cows and bring $700 million to the county each year along with 4,000 jobs.
 
 John Welch, Dane County recycling/project manager, said initially the county set up a manure management task force and passed some resolutions for conducting a digester feasibility study in 2005. "We did two feasibility studies, one at the 10,000-foot level and then one closer to the ground for that specific project," Welch said. "We then put out a request for proposals last summer, and in-depth planning began last October."
 
 Near the town of Waunakee, the facility will be centrally located between three participating family dairy farms, according to Welch. The manure will be transported to the digester via pipeline; the greatest distance is only about half of a mile. "Manure is pumped for about 20 minutes of every hour, so there's a very small receiving pit at each farm with only about a day's worth of storage," he explained. The digester will be a complete-mix mesophilic system, followed by solids separation with a centrifuge. 
 
 Groundbreaking for the facility, which is being developed by Clear Horizons LLC, was held in early August. When complete it will produce $2 million worth of electricity to power about 2,500 homes based on Dane County electricity usage, or roughly 2 megawatts. 
 
 Besides producing renewable energy, there were several other objectives in implementing this project from the county's standpoint, Welch said. These include improving water quality, helping to maintain and sustain the state's agriculture industry and to develop a project that will be economically viable. "This wasn't something we wanted to put money into every year to continue to function," he said, adding that the digester also will bring some new high-paying jobs to the area. 
 
 Welch said the last total cost estimate for the project was at $12.5 million. The state has chipped in to cover a portion of that, providing a $3.5 million grant because of an additional phosphorous removal component for water quality that is not typical in digester systems. "With that, we can capture 60 to 70 percent of the phosphorous in the manure," he said. 
 
 Meanwhile, Dane County is developing a second community digester project near the town of Middleton, for which the state will also provide a $3.5 million grant. Welch said county officials met with interested dairy farmers last week. "We're working really hard to get that one moving forward," he added.

Wisconsin county advances digester project

Posted August 23, 2010, at 3:50 p.m. CST
 
 The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences' biomass study should either be thrown out or expanded upon because its parameters are much too narrow to be useful in the real world, according to a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) submitted as a public comment on the study. Its writer, consulting forester Mike Leonard, goes on to outline major flaws in the study including the fact that it doesn't take into account much of the waste wood the proposed biomass power facilities in the state would use. 
 	
 The comment period on the controversial <a href="http://www.manomet.org/node/322">study</a>, as well as subsequent public meetings the DOER held to discuss it, is up and all <a href="http://mass.gov/energy/biomass">comments</a> are posted online. "Biomass Sustainability and Carbon Policy Study," conducted by the Manomet Center with the help of the Forest Guild, Pinchot Institute and others, found a complex debt-then-dividend model for woody biomass carbon impacts. The Massachusetts DOER will take the results into account as it crafts its new renewable energy policy, determining if woody biomass has a place in its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) regulations. If not, biomass will not receive renewable energy credits, making the resource uneconomic and effectively ending biomass power in the state. 
 	
 But the biomass industry, along with some supportive members of the public, has raised some important concerns with the analysis, including the feedstock taken into account. "First, it appears that the focus was on the harvesting and burning of whole tree chips as opposed to waste wood, such as tops, branches, etc.," one comment letter reads. "I think this skews the study and I hope it was not an intention from the start. I'm wondering what the Commonwealth bought." The study did take slash into account along with whole trees, but stopped short of analyzing a feedstock composed of only residues and slash. 
 	
 The same letter laments the <a href="http://www.mass.gov/Eoeea/docs/eea/biomass/070710_biomass_sustainablity_carbon_regs_letter.pdf">statement</a> released by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles that requests swift policy change in light of the findings, which he says changed the policy landscape for woody biomass energy production. That letter was sent to the DOER two days before the comment period was initially scheduled to end, and a month before it actually did. Bowles' letter indicates a lack of concern or consideration for the public comments, according to many biomass industry professionals. In his letter, Bowles requests final standards be drafted by Oct. 31 of this year and final regulations be put in place by Dec. 31 of this year. 
 	
 Another comment submitted by Leonard is directed at the behavior of boisterous anti-biomass groups at the public meetings held in July. "…the anti-biomass extremists didn't pay attention to the ground rules and began to cry about fictitious health risks and imaginary forest depletion," he wrote. 
 	
 But in fulfilling most expectations, many comments submitted about the study and meetings push for the end to biomass power in Massachusetts and the immediate cessation of the handful of plants being developed now. "The state has to think of its citizens and their health and not allow biomass plants in Massachusetts," one comment reads. "The Manomet study used unreasonable assumptions to make forest burning biomass look ‘less bad' than it really is," it continues later. That argument can be found in several of the comments. 
 	
 One letter in what appears to be a child's handwriting reads, "I'm asking you to stop the biomass plant in Russell (Mass.). It is an awful thing with harmful chemicals. I'm so afraid that the chemicals might have a spill. That would kill people so fast that the rescue workers couldn't get there in time. The chemicals released into the air is frightening." Some even go so far as to personally attack heads of companies looking to develop in the state. 
 	
 A comment from Massachusetts Forest Watch says despite the study's flaws, the state of Massachusetts deserves congratulations for "courageously calling out the naked emperor on his fantastical claims that forest burning is carbon neutral." It continues, "This important shift may literally help the entire world step back from the suicidal notion of burning its forests for energy."
 	
 The comments on the site are listed separately for the study and for the public meetings. The policy-making process will begin this fall, according to a DOER spokeswoman.

Manomet comments illustrate polar viewpoints

Posted August 24, 2010, at 9:17 a.m. CST
 
 Enviva LP, a manufacturer of wood pellets and processed biomass in the United States and Europe, announced Aug. 24 the signing of a long-term wood pellet supply contract with Electrabel, a subsidiary of GDF Suez Group, one of the largest utilities in the world. 
 
 Under the contract, Enviva, a subsidiary of Intrinergy Holdings LP, will supply 480,000 metric tons of wood pellets annually to Electrabel's biomass power generating facilities in Belgium. Intrinergy is a portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings LLC's most recent renewable and alternative energy fund.
 
 "With demand for renewable fuel increasing worldwide, the U.S. biomass market is poised for tremendous growth. Enviva is excited to be at the nexus of this growth by matching U.S.-based resources with major power producers around the world," said Enviva Chairman and CEO John Keppler. "We are pleased that Electrabel has joined Enviva's growing base of utility customers committed to reducing CO2 emissions over the coming years." 
 Enviva will supply the wood pellets from its expanding manufacturing base of production facilities in the Southeastern U.S., home to some of the world's most abundant and most sustainably managed wood baskets. Enviva's environmental, safety and forestry staff are at the forefront of best practices in sustainable harvesting, and they ensure that all of the company's biomass resources are procured according to internationally recognized third party certification standards.
 
 SOURCE: ENVIVA LP

Enviva signs supply agreement with Electrabel

Posted August 24, 2010, at 11:08 a.m. CST
 
 New regulations proposed by the Manitoba government aim to improve air quality in the province while encouraging the use of natural biomass materials as fuel.
 
 Manitoba Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie made the announcement August 23, emphasizing that the new rules would help make the air cleaner and also streamline the approval process for new clean energy systems such as biomass, as a heat and power source to replace fossil fuels.
 
 Thermal treatment technologies included in the proposal are combustion, gasification and pyrolysis. Blaikie added that the proposed laws would make biomass-based systems more attractive to industry by putting in place a simpler and faster permit system.
 
 The regulations would also level the playing field for biomass thermal systems currently competing with fossil-fuel based incineration systems, by requiring additional air quality protection. 
 
 Manitoba Hydro Senior Bio Systems Engineer Dennis St. George agreed with Blaikie that the new incinerator rules will help promote the use of biomass and other wastes as fuels for heat and power generation in Manitoba." I'm also sure that customers who are currently relying on incineration to dispose of their waste materials will appreciate having Manitoba Hydro's Power Smart Bioenergy Optimization Program available to add value to their business," he said. 
 
 Manitoba Hydro, the fourth-largest utility in Canada and largest exporter of electricity to the U.S., , currently runs the Power Smart Bioenergy Optimization Program to provide financial incentives to customers that are interested in converting their raw forms of biomass-typically biomass already available on-site-to produce energy, displacing some or all of the energy purchased from Manitoba Hydro. "With the utility's capacity links to the U.S., we can then put this energy into the U.S. market where it offers better value," St. George said. 
 
 "Overall, every little push forward helps the biomass-to-energy sector move ahead," St. George said. "In general, the biomass-to-energy sector has not received the same attention as the other renewables like wind and solar. To date, there hasn't been an even playing field for biomass to energy and typically projects have relied solely on the project benefits to move ahead. Policy and markets are two key areas that influence the potential for biomass energy."
 
 The Manitoba government has posted the proposed regulations on its website for public comment until Sept. 30. They can be viewed at <a href="http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/eal/news.html">www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/eal/news.html</a>.

Manitoba proposed rules encourage biomass power

Posted August 24, 2010, at 4:13 p.m. CST
 
 Meeting current and looming emissions and air quality control requirements-on both state and federal levels-may prove to be a daunting challenge. The Southeast Biomass Conference & Expo being held Nov. 2-4 in Atlanta will cover the issues facing biomass electricity generation plants and projects in the Southeast and provide solutions to overcome them. 
 
 Angela Morrison Uhland, an attorney with Tallahassee, Fla.-based Hopping Green and Sams, will be one of the presenters in the panel session titled Understanding Your Emissions Liabilities and the Technological Options to Control Them. Her 20 years of experience working with Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permitting issues will be of great value as she discusses the issues that could arise in the permitting process, as well as what federal agencies could consider in a case-by-case Best Available Control Technology determination. 
 
 "In light of both EPA's greenhouse gas (GHG) assessments under the revised renewable fuel standard (RFS) and EPA's intent to regulate GHG emissions on a case-by-case basis under the PSD program beginning as early as January, this presentation will be very timely, and will provide information that is important to all existing and proposed biofuel and biopower facilities," Uhland said. "Without getting into the technical details of the RFS program, this presentation will provide a brief overview of EPA's findings regarding the impact on GHG emissions for the various types of biofuels and any production techniques that must be followed to meet the GHG emission threshold requirements."
 
 Uhland's presentation will provide a general overview of the PSD permitting program and potential implications for biopower and biofuel facilities if GHG emissions are regulated under the program. The initial set of fuel pathways will also be described, Uhland said, along with the process for petitioning the EPA to assess other fuel pathways, which will be important for newer feedstocks used in the Southeast.
 
 Presenting a new method of reducing fossil carbon emissions, Larry Felix, research and development manager at the Gas Technology Institute, will present information about a hydrothermal biomass pretreatment method that allows biomass to be combined, pelletized and/or briquetted with coal or coal fines to form a stable fuel for combustion or gasification. "The hydrothermal pre-treatment (HPT) of lignocellulosic biomass by hot compressed water is being investigated in several U.S. DOE–sponsored projects as a route for rapidly converting differing biomass feedstocks into homogeneous, soft biosolids, but with a much higher energy density than the parent feedstock," Felix said. "The resulting biosolid is higher in carbon content and lower in oxygen content than the parent biomass, and chemically resembles a lignite or subbituminous coal."
 
 Felix said his presentation will describe the HTP process as applied to woody and herbaceous feedstocks, with selected results for Southern loblolly pine, as well as the mass and composition of gaseous, aqueous and solid products. "Also, the effects of reaction conditions upon product yields and compositions will be discussed, and I will describe the extent of energy densification and possible options for use of these biofuels in cofiring and cogasification scenarios," he added. 
 
 Rich Grzanka of Anguil Environmental Systems Inc. will discuss new biomass boiler emission control technologies that will help comply with the upcoming Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) boiler rule. The panel will be moderated by Anna Austin, an associate editor at Biomass Magazine.
 
 A fourth presenter for the panel will soon be announced. 
 
 For more information about the Southeast Biomass Conference & Trade Show, visit <a href="http://se.biomassconference.com">http://se.biomassconference.com</a>.

Southeast biomass conference panel to explore emission liabilities, solutions

Posted August 25, 2010, at 3:27 p.m. CST
 
 If approved as is, the U.S. EPA's proposed Maximum Achievable Control Technology rules would drastically and unfairly increase emissions standards for biomass facilities across the country and could cause many plants to shut down, according to Bob Cleaves, CEO and president of the Biomass Power Association.
 
 The comment period on the proposed rules ended last week and the agency will review them and should have final rules by Dec. 16, according to an EPA spokeswoman. Cleaves held a media conference call Aug. 25 to discuss the negative aspects of the proposed change to the 2004 rule, which would classify many boilers currently considered multifuel boilers as incinerators, subjecting them to limits for five pollutants: mercury, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and dioxin. That change in classification would mean expensive alterations at virtually all the operating biomass power plants, Cleaves said. "What EPA is doing could potentially impact us greatly," he said.
 	
 The proposal creates an "über-boiler," Cleaves said, borrowing the best emissions standards from different kinds of boilers and rolling them together to create a "super boiler." "What we believe the EPA has done for each of these different emission parameters, [is] they have kind of taken the best of the best," he said. "We as an industry are quite concerned that no such boiler can achieve all of the emissions standards that EPA is proposing in their rules." Even if any boiler could achieve all the standards, it would cost the country billions to bring them all into compliance across all solid fuel combustion industries. "This would be a significant regulatory burden," Cleaves said. "We as an industry don't believe the country should be imposing additional regulatory burdens on matters that don't present threats to the public health or environment."
 	
 Cleaves submitted a lengthy comment to the EPA on the BPA's behalf. It addresses the Boiler MACT, the large source area MACT, and the Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators (CISWI) MACT. As far as CISWI, Cleaves argued that biomass power plants do not combust materials considered waste, as they are byproducts of other industries, and shouldn't have to comply. He argued that manganese and hydrogen chloride should not be regulated, as they do not pose a health threat. 
 	
 "We think that the right hand doesn't really know what the left hand is doing," Cleaves said. Recently, numerous federal initiatives have expressed support for biomass, but it's not reflected in the proposed MACT rules. "We all know that in order for the nation to meet its renewable energy standards, the biomass industry not only has to continue to thrive in its current form, but it has to grow significantly," Cleaves said. "We are very concerned that the rules EPA has proposed will hamper that growth and place in jeopardy the existing capacity of the industry to provide clean, renewable energy." 
 	
 Regulating for regulating's sake is undesirable in a country double dipping into a recession and with a double-digit unemployment rate, he added. The BPA is asking the EPA to exercise flexibility in its rules where there is not a public health threat; to take advantage of its ability to subcategorize units and provide facilities with the opportunity to meet the standards at reasonable costs; and to set emissions standards based on what real world best performing units actually can achieve. 
 	
 "From a broader policy perspective, we want EPA to be aware of the significant role biomass plays and in the final rule that's adopted by the EPA, we want the agency to be sensitive to the effects of that rule on both existing and growth potential of the industry to make sure that with these tough economic times, we create rules that deliver meaningful public health and environmental protection without causing economic dislocation and disruption," Cleaves said.

BPA outlines MACT negatives in submitted comment

Posted August 26, 2010, at 8:42 a.m. CST
 
 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent for the Advanced Trailer, a product of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP in Abilene, Texas. The Advanced Trailer is a semi-trailer that has a drying system that can dry, store and transport peanuts and other agricultural products. 
 
 "This patent comes at a great time of opportunity for Advanced Trailer, our intellectual property and the industries we serve," said Randy Hill, president and CEO of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP. "This will enable Advanced Trailer to further our presence in the peanut industry and agricultural crop drying. Advanced Trailer is now prepared to aggressively move forward as we expand and diversify into the renewable and bio-energy markets."
 
 In addition, Hill announced that his company has entered into a new financial agreement with Regions Bank in Atlanta, Ga. 
 
 "We are proud to provide financing for Advanced Trailer because we believe this product can revolutionize America," said Billy Cannon, president of Regions Bank. "We are investing heavily in the agricultural economy and we believe that Randy will now be able to take his Advanced Trailer and transform the biomass market as well." 
 
 APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP is best known for its trailers, which are used to procure (dry) agricultural products. Advanced Trailer has more than 3,000 drying trailers currently in service in all 10 U.S. peanut producing states. Recently Advanced Trailer has gained national recognition for its ongoing bioenergy research, using its trailers to remove moisture from wood biomass products. Over the past two years, Advanced Trailer has funded a number of both state university and private sector research for biomass-related projects. Currently, more than 100 power plants in the U.S. burn biomass to create energy. For more information about Advanced Trailer, visit www.advancedtrailer.com.
 
 SOURCE: APT ADVANCED TRAILER & EQUIPMENT LP

Advanced Trailer awarded U.S. patent

Posted August 26, 2010, at 3:31 p.m. CST
 
 Energy industry executives joined investors and policymakers near Houston Aug. 26 to take a firsthand look at energy grasses and research developments that are expected to push bioenergy to the forefront of renewable power and transportation fuels. 
 
 The bioenergy field day, hosted by Ceres Inc., provides a unique opportunity for industry leaders who may not be familiar with agricultural production to walk among towering energy grasses, share updates and see how improvements to biomass production are made through plant breeding and modern biology. This year's event included side-by-side crop comparisons, field demonstrations and presentations from Drax Power, Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol, General Motors, NRG Energy and The Nature Conservancy. 
 
 "We cannot de-carbonize the world's energy supply without biomass," Ceres president Richard Hamilton told more than 100 attendees from the U.S., Europe and South America. "The central question we face, then, is how to go about producing biopower and biofuels in the most scalable, efficient and sustainable way."
 
 Biomass is expected to be one of the largest sources for renewable electricity in the U.S. and Europe, according to projections by the U.S. Energy Information Agency and European Commission. Moreover, a 2009 Sandia National Labs study, using conservative yield and conversion assumptions, concluded that advanced biofuels made from plant fibers could produce 75 billion gallons of biofuel per year in the U.S.
 
 During the morning event at the company's 200-acre research center, Ceres highlighted the performance of low-carbon energy grasses as well as research that is expected to increase yields, make greater use of marginal lands and lower input requirements. One Ceres trait, for instance, could cut oil consumption in the U.S. by more than a billion barrels over a decade, and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by making grasses even more efficient at utilizing nitrogen fertilizers. 
 
 If managed in new ways, perennials such as switchgrass and miscanthus could even sequester more carbon than is emitted in the life cycle of processing and burning them. "We could actually start talking about removing C02 from the atmosphere rather than simply decreasing overall emissions-farming carbon at the same time as we produce energy," Hamilton noted.
 
 Ceres vice president of plant breeding and genomics, Jeff Gwyn, who led field tours at the event, said that low-input grasses will make the greatest sense in many locations, since they will outperform other sources of biomass on a per-acre/per-year basis, and can be readily improved. He expects yields of energy grasses to follow the trajectory of row crops. "There are dozens of paths to increase yield and lower inputs, and we are pursuing them and stacking them together in different ways," Gwyn said.
 
 Amid a breeding nursery, he described the process of improving new plants, "Whereas a farmer may grow one seed variety over a 1,000 acres, we may grow 1,000 varieties over one or two acres. And, when it comes to finding that one winner among thousands, thanks to genomics and other breeding technologies developed by Ceres, it's not a guessing game, but a straight-forward scientific process," Gwyn said. 
 
 SOURCE: CERES INC.

Ceres switchgrass breeder Charles Rodgers stands in front of a switchgrass diversity nursery. 

August 2010

Business Briefs

B&W to replace coal-fired boiler with biomass boiler on MU campus

Waste Management awards Think Green prize to Biogas & Electric

Hoffmann acquires Air-O-Flex truck dumpers

Rentech awards Fluor FEED contract for Rialto Project

ACORE hires senior VP of policy and government relations

Capstone Turbine adds Western Energy Systems as distributor

Bandit recognized by regional trade association

Recycled Energy acquires California biomass power plant

John Deere introduces E-Series to North America

ST51 Flow Meter approved for methane gas applications

Morbark adds 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper to line-up

BinMaster introduces dual timer capacitance probes

Business Briefs

Columns

Bullish on Biomass

Recent Studies: Taking Advantage of Opportunities to Educate Americans About Biomass

Small-Scale Success Stories

Collaboration Agreements-Agree Now or Fight Later

We're Small-Scale and Growing

Featured

A New Twist on Gasification

Proving the Biobrewery Concept

Incentivizing Renewable Energy in the US Northeast

The Resilient Community Producers

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Biodiesel Industry

Contributions

Saving the Soil and Maintaining Corn Yields

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

Business Briefs

B&W to replace coal-fired boiler with biomass boiler on MU campus

Waste Management awards Think Green prize to Biogas & Electric

Hoffmann acquires Air-O-Flex truck dumpers

Rentech awards Fluor FEED contract for Rialto Project

ACORE hires senior VP of policy and government relations

Capstone Turbine adds Western Energy Systems as distributor

Bandit recognized by regional trade association

Recycled Energy acquires California biomass power plant

John Deere introduces E-Series to North America

ST51 Flow Meter approved for methane gas applications

Morbark adds 25/36 Whole Tree Chipper to line-up

BinMaster introduces dual timer capacitance probes

Business Briefs

Columns

Bullish on Biomass

Recent Studies: Taking Advantage of Opportunities to Educate Americans About Biomass

Small-Scale Success Stories

Collaboration Agreements-Agree Now or Fight Later

We're Small-Scale and Growing

Featured

A New Twist on Gasification

Proving the Biobrewery Concept

Incentivizing Renewable Energy in the US Northeast

The Resilient Community Producers

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Biodiesel Industry

Contributions

Saving the Soil and Maintaining Corn Yields

August 2010