When my oldest daughter graduated from college in 2005, she moved to Atlanta to begin work with the largest subprime lender in the Southern U.S. After completing a six-month training program, she was transferred to their Orlando office.&nbsp;
 In February of 2007, while in Orlando for a business meeting, my daughter and I went out to dinner. During small talk conversation, I asked her what she had worked on that day. She said she had worked on a $850,000 mortgage for a single lady and a second note that would cover her down payment. I asked her how much money this lady made, to which she replied, &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t verify income.&rdquo; With a shocked look on my face, I informed her that her business was going to &ldquo;crash and burn.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 It was no surprise when later that year, she called me in tears early one morning as her office had just been shut down, putting her out of work. Within a month of her office closure, the entire company closed and filed for bankruptcy putting more than 1,200 people out of work.
 I tell this story not to illustrate any ability on my part to predict the future but to illustrate an ability to grasp the obvious.
 The Issue
 What I am concerned about is the low level to which tree planting has dropped in the U.S. South. From the table of tree planting acres (see table on page 45) you can see that planting acres last winter were at the lowest level since 1969. If this trend continues, we may face shortages of pine pulpwood in the future.
 According to the folks at the Auburn University Nursery Co-op, these acres are an average of 97 percent pine. Most planting acreage of pine as hardwood is naturally regenerated unless it is old bottomland agricultural sites, which accounts for almost all of the hardwood planting.&nbsp;
 There has been some questioning of these acreage numbers. Each state has a different system for collecting their planting acreage numbers. I contributed to these numbers for several years and I can attest that some states do a good job of collecting data but I am not sure how others get their numbers.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Another indicator of this decline, however, can be found in seedling production numbers. In 2001, the largest seedling producer in the nation at that time, International Paper, said in its annual report that it shipped 425 million seedlings that year.&nbsp; In 2010, this same nursery group, now part of ArborGen Inc., reported that it shipped 218 million seedlings. This is a decline of 49 percent in seedlings shipped, which corresponds to the decline in planting acreage.&nbsp;
 Also supporting these numbers is my personal experience. In 2000, in my former position, I was responsible for the production and planting of 45 million seedlings. That same company will plant 18 million seedlings this year, a decline of 60 percent.
 There have also been a number of nursery closures across the South. While an exact number is difficult to determine, it has been estimated that at least 20 seedling nurseries have closed in the past 10 years. In addition, many of the nurseries in operation today have curtailed production over the past 10 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
 Where Did This Begin?
 We hear a lot about unintended consequences and our current situation has its origin in this as well. In the late &rsquo;80s our federal government executed one of the largest Conservation Reserve Programs ever attempted. This led to the largest amount of planting acreage ever carried out in the U.S. South. In 1988, more than 2.5 million acres were planted. This was more than double what was planted just one decade earlier in 1978. In total, the CRP added an estimated 3 million acres of additional pine plantations.
 During this period and on into the &rsquo;90s, pine pulpwood shortages, especially during periods of wet weather, were not uncommon and overcutting of pine timber growing stock was common.
 In January of 1995, as the timber sales forester for the second-largest timberland owner in Georgia, we sold a tract of pine pulpwood just outside of Waycross for more than $35 per ton. Adjusted for inflation, this price would now be more than $50 per ton, or more than $100 per dry ton on the stump. Delivered price in today&rsquo;s dollars would easily be more than $140 a dry ton. How many energy operations could pay this level of prices for their delivered feedstocks?
 The increase in planting acreage helped to push pulpwood prices to new lows starting in the late &rsquo;90s as these stands had to be thinned to continue CRP payments.&nbsp; There were cases of landowners in Georgia having to pay loggers to thin their CRP stands. This glut of pulpwood also coincided with major changes in timberland ownership as many integrated forest products companies disposed of their timberlands.
 Today many of these stands remain, as their high levels of small sawtimber make them difficult to sell in a market depressed by the downturn in housing.
 The Current State of Affairs
 At present, there are strong markets for pulpwood in many markets across the South.&nbsp; With the decrease in clean chips from sawmills due to the reduced operating hours, many pulp/paper mills are relying on roundwood to make up the shortage. To be able to supply this level of roundwood in a market with minimal need for sawtimber, many timberland owners have used thinning as their main form of harvest. This approach is creating larger inventories of sawtimber that are being carried forward for harvesting later and further reducing the demand for seedlings.&nbsp;
 Planting densities have continued to decrease across the South. Most timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) have decreased their seedlings planted per acre, with some reducing them to less than 300 seedlings per acre. They are also planting control mass pollinated and somatic embryogenesis (SE) seedlings. These high-priced seedlings are being grown strictly for the sawtimber market.
 While our government has maintained a CRP program in recent years, the program has changed its focus from timber production to ecosystem restoration. This has resulted in a planting regime that promotes planting longleaf at no more than 500 stems per acre.
 Accuracy of Forest Service FIA data
 New energy startups have relied on U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory &amp; Analysis data for site placement. Having reliable data on forest inventories and removals is important in light of the major capital investments in these facilities.
 John Morris, vice president of Foley Timber and Land Co., has examined FIA data in his recent report &ldquo;Florida&rsquo;s Pine Plantation Resource, Short of Sustainability.&rdquo;&nbsp; Morris examined the pine resource in Florida by looking at both the plantation and natural pine stands.&nbsp;
 He found that FIA data is not giving a current picture of removals from plantations. The FIA data uses an average of removals over a survey period of 12 years. Using this average FIA shows removals for 2007 of 14.9 million tons but a private source that tracks mill usage shows 2007 removals of 17.1 million tons. This is a difference of 2.8 million tons.
 He also found a discrepancy in the removals from plantations versus natural stands. FIA estimates that 55 percent of pine removals in 2007 were from plantations, again using the 12-year average. However, an analysis of current removals from the Master Logger survey shows that 2007 removals from pine plantations were actually 90 percent of removals.
 Based on his analysis, Morris estimates that Florida plantations were overharvested in 2007 by 3.8 million tons. He further forecast that this number would increase in the future as regeneration acreage continues to decline. Adding increased usage from bioenergy and biofuels operations &ldquo;will further negate sustainability.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 What Might the Future Hold?
 If the solid wood markets do not recover soon and planting acreage continues its decline, what will be the result? There are a number of possible scenarios.
 There would be a continued decline in sawtimber pricing while pulpwood pricing increases. In spot markets recently, we have seen pine pulpwood prices near those of small sawtimber and in one case exceeding it. This is especially prevalent during periods of wet ground conditions.
 The specifications that differentiate pulpwood from small sawtimber will probably change with the smallest of this sawtimber moving into pulpwood. We are already seeing this occur in some areas. The volumes of forest residue will increase, as we all know that larger trees have larger limbs and tops. In addition, the current push to low planting densities will increase the amount of residue hardwood that invades these pine stands. These are both pluses for users of forest residue.
 With the continued glut of sawtimber on the market, many in the forest products industry believe that we may see increased sales of timberlands by the TIMOs and REITs in an effort to prop up returns within these organizations. This could lead to further fragmentation of forestland ownership in the South.
 &nbsp;Additional dangers to forest plantation acreage may be in our current commodity pricing. With corn and cotton at all time highs, we may see acreage revert from timberland back to farmland.&nbsp; It is possible that we have seen the bottom of the pulp/paper mill closures in the South. In addition, almost all the new development in the energy markets is occurring in the pulpwood area. There have been no new developments in the solid wood markets.
 What Can Pine Pulpwood Users Do?
 All of the evidence points to a coming shortage of pine pulpwood. Users can wait until pricing and availability become a problem, or they can start to work on minimizing the impact. There are a number of approaches a user can implement to overcome this impending problem.&nbsp;
 The first and most important thing a new user of pine pulpwood can do is to assure that their due diligence is exhaustively complete on their potential feedstocks.&nbsp; Looking at more than one source of inventory numbers should be a necessity. If one is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars constructing an energy facility, then having a good understanding of the feedstocks now and in the future should be a requirement for construction and financing.
 One of the more dramatic approaches would be the purchase of timberland. Just as the integrated forest products companies owned timberland, energy facilities could do the same. The advantages of this approach are the ability to harvest whenever needed and stands can be planted and managed to maximize pulpwood production.&nbsp; However, a company would face the same tax implication that contributed to the sale of timberland by these integrated forest products companies.&nbsp;
&nbsp; A less costly approach would be to work with the major holders of timberland.&nbsp; Private landowners hold 71 percent of the timberland in the South, so working with these owners to supply feedstocks is key. In the &rsquo;80s and &rsquo;90s, many of the forest products companies had landowner assistance programs. These programs had many different forms but most included the right of first refusal on all timber sold by the landowner. These programs offered seedlings and planting assistance at no- or reduced-cost to the landowner.
 Providing seedlings to landowners has another benefit. Seedlings can be selected that maximize fiber production. Most tree improvement programs have focused on selecting trees for the production of sawtimber. Attempting to identify seedlings that maximize fiber production should be an objective of all pulpwood users.
 The Biomass Crop Assistance Program may be an aid in this. One would need an understanding of the species and management regimes that will work. However, future funding of this program is a real question.
 Energy grasses may be needed to fill the gaps that are sure to occur. These can give full productivity in as little as three years. Eucalyptus and fast-growing hardwoods may also work to fill the gap but they take a longer time, a minimum of seven years to begin harvest. Eucalyptus can only be used in the Deep South, usually defined as south of Interstate 10.
 If the landowner&rsquo;s objective were growing sawtimber, then promoting an intercropping approach would be beneficial. An example of this would be the planting of high-end seedlings such as mass control pollinated or SE on 20-foot rows and then planting between these rows with good quality open pollinated seedlings. This would give the landowner a harvestable crop of pulpwood in 10 to 14 years while still producing the sawtimber at a future time.
 Conclusion
 While we hear many economic development people referring to areas of the South as the Saudi Arabia of pine trees, this is not necessary the case. This future shortage will affect all users of pine pulpwood, the existing pulp/paper industry and the new energy start-ups. However, the pulp/paper industry can afford to pay more for feedstocks than the energy industry.
 All is not lost, however. Users of pine pulpwood can become proactive and begin to plan for the feedstock market changes. If not, they face increased cost or possibly shortages of pine pulpwood. The bright side is that forest residue users will see an increase in available feedstocks. Author: Dean McCraw President, McCraw Energy LLC <a href="mailto:dean.mccraw@mccrawenergy.com.">dean.mccraw@mccrawenergy.com. </a>

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Are we headed for a pine pulpwood shortage in the U.S. South?


Reading Between the Tree Rows 

Biomass is mankind&rsquo;s oldest and most reliable source of energy. It is comprised of biological material derived from living or recently living organisms. Even fossil fuels have their origin in ancient biomass. Until recently, man has been relegated to simply burning wood for cooking and to generate heat. Today&rsquo;s biomass is obtained from both plant and animal derived materials. It can be utilized for home heating, electrical generation and industrial applications. Most importantly, biomass is a renewable energy source.
 The use of biomass as a renewable fuel in North America has experienced an increase over the past several years. It amounts to just over 2 percent of North American production for home heating or electrical generation. This can be compared to the worldwide usage, which is just over 15 percent. Government mandates and material cost incentives have increased the demand for biomass to a level where many North American utility companies are now actively soliciting bids for the supply of raw materials to augment their primary solid fuels, which are mainly coal and petroleum coke. Those that are considering using biomass must be in close proximity to a long-term supply such as a forested area usually within 50 miles of the user. Beyond this range, the use of biomass becomes less cost effective as compared to other fuels due primarily to transportation costs. Exceptions are utilities or other users having water or rail access, accommodating the receipt of bulk quantities delivered via vessel or barge. Many engineering and construction firms are addressing the increased use of biomass by building material handling components into new and existing facilities for this particular material stream. Pelletized biomass is gaining popularity for home heating. There are several types of high-efficiency home heating units readily available to the general public that can accommodate biomass in various forms as the primary fuel. Fuel pellets for home use are typically sold in bags of 18 to 20 kilograms (40 to 44 pounds) thus transportation becomes less of an issue.
Quality control and laboratory analysis of the biomass material are essential to both the home heat generator and large industrial users. Combustion systems&mdash;whether they are the simple home heating appliances or the multimillion dollar power plant consuming hundreds of thousands of tons of material annually&mdash;are designed and built to exacting specifications which require a consistent fuel source. Users must know basic information about the quality in order to operate the combustion system at peak efficiency. Plant engineers require material quality information to accurately predict the energy content that will be yielded, maintain material handling systems needed for both the raw materials and the ash produced after combustion, and to determine the economics of using biomass. Biomass also may be used as a blend component with a primary fuel source for economic reasons, to comply with government mandates, and potentially receive tax credits.
 Testing Procedures
 Samples for quality control are collected in much the same fashion as other solid fuels. Regular and systematic increments of the material to be tested are collected over an agreed-upon lot size. This may be an hourly, daily, or weekly sample or over a fixed tonnage such as a barge or vessel load. Global standards organizations, such as the American Society for Testing and Materials, International Organization for Standardization and European Committee for Standardization (CEN), have developed exact procedures specifying the size and number of increments to be collected, the sample handling procedures and the sample preparation techniques.&nbsp;
 Prior to laboratory analysis, samples require special preparation. The first step is to dry the samples before further processing can take place. Raw wood chips, for example, can contain up to 50 percent moisture content; whereas, a pelletized product may have only 1 to 3 percent moisture. Samples are generally dried at just above ambient temperatures. After drying, the biomass sample requires preparation or grinding to a consistent size, creating a homogeneous product to be tested. This is accomplished by specialized mills, usually a knife mill consisting of fixed and rotating blades. The material is literally cut by the knives, creating a product which will have a nominal top size of approximately 20 mesh or roughly 1 millimeter. After grinding, the sample is mixed and then reduced in size by riffle dividers, much the same as coal or coke samples.&nbsp; Depending upon the tests required, 200 pounds of biomass may be prepared down to a simple, dry powder of a 100 gram size, which is delivered to the laboratory.
 The laboratory test equipment used for biomass is much the same as those used for other solid fuels analysis. The typical suite of testing includes moisture, ash, sulfur, calorific value and physical characteristics such as size distribution and pellet strength. Samples also may be tested for additional parameters such as ash fusion, temperature of ash, chlorine, fluorine and elemental oxides in the ash.
 Moisture content is a critical value for obvious reasons. Most buyers typically will not pay to buy the water. Contract pricing can be affected by water content. Premium penalties can be written into agreements. Material handling can also be affected by water content.
 Calorific value is probably the most important result. It gives the heat content of the biomass as a fuel and allows the user to affix a cost per Btu. Ash content of the material allows the user to anticipate the amount of inorganic material left over after the biomass is combusted.
 Ash fusion temperature is not a major issue in pure biomass as it is generally much lower than coal and other solid fuels. There are typically no fouling or slagging issues.
 Ash elemental oxides composition is determined from the material&rsquo;s ash and is important to know for disposal purposes.
 Sulfur content, while generally very low in biomass, is a critical emissions value.
 Chloride and fluorine content are regulated by the clean air initiative.&nbsp; High values can cause fouling and corrosion in boilers.
 Size distribution and pellet strength are critical traits for material handling systems. Pellet strength can predict material degradation during transportation and handling.
 Potential Problems
 Biomass, much like coal, will see consistency within a particular product family. Wood chips created from pine will all have similar ash, sulfur, and calorific value. Biomass in pellet form can have variations in product quality. This can be due to the manufacturer potentially blending in other forms or grades of biomass such as refuse-derived fuel. Often times the use of a binder is required to help the pellets retain their size and shape throughout manufacturing, transportation and handling phases. Depending on the binder used, this can have dramatic effects on the overall quality of the end product.
 Global standards organizations have developed specific procedures for the analysis of biomass. Most of these are simple variations of coal and petroleum coke standards that have been in use for many years; however, these address only the most basic analysis. Where no definitive biomass test procedures exist, it may be required to utilize a specific coal or coke test method, such as in the case of the fusion temperature of ash or trace metals content. As industry and homeowners increase the use of biomass as a primary or secondary fuel source, it is expected that ASTM, ISO, CEN and other governing standards agencies will introduce more specific procedures for testing biomass in its individual forms. These will all most certainly be fashioned after coal and coke standard methodologies in use today.
 Authors: Stan Houser Minerals and Biomass Specialist, Intertek (815) 221-5002 <a href="mailto:stan.houser@intertek.com">stan.houser@intertek.com</a> Scott Blakely Laboratory Technical Services Manager, Intertek (815) 221-5002 <a href="mailto:scott.blakely@intertek.com">scott.blakely@intertek.com</a>

Biomass standards are variations of coal and petroleum coke standards, but as the use of biomass increases governing standards agencies may have to come up with more specific procedures.

The Critical Analysis of Biomass

Although not a particularly pleasant or exciting process, anaerobic digestion is such an excellent way to use waste material to produce power, whether it&rsquo;s at a processing plant or on a farm in rural America.
 Despite its simplicity and obvious benefits, however, anaerobic digestion still hasn&rsquo;t caught on as rapidly as it should mainly because of its upfront capital costs and, in some places where it&rsquo;s needed most, running a digester just isn&rsquo;t as easy as it seems. It may seem obvious to many of us that livestock producers should just do it because it makes sense not just for them but also for their neighbors. But, again, it&rsquo;s not that easy.
 That&rsquo;s why I was excited to read Associate Editor Anna Austin&rsquo;s feature &ldquo;Dairy Diversification&rdquo; about a project to build digesters on five farms in Massachusetts as a way to supplement their income when the price of milk and other crops drop. The great thing about this project is that it involves a group of farmers getting together with a developer to form a company, and bringing in experts to construct the facilities and to operate them as well (see page 32).
 You see, most livestock operators get the anaerobic digestion thing and most like the idea, they just don&rsquo;t have the money or the time to do it. Whether the dairy operators will reap the anticipated benefits of these digesters remains to be seen, so we will be checking in on them periodically to see how it&rsquo;s working.
 Missouri will soon have its first operating on-farm anaerobic digestion facility on a cattle feedlot in the north central part of the state. The project has received a lot of help from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Anaerobic digestion proponents in the state are hoping this project will spur others. For more information about Missouri&rsquo;s biogas production potential see Associate Editor Lisa Gibson&rsquo;s feature &ldquo;Methanation in Missouri&rdquo; on page 38.
 Food processing facilities also hold great opportunities for anaerobic digesters, as has already been proven in Europe. To read about how the U.S. could follow their lead, see Austin&rsquo;s &ldquo;Industrial-Strength Waste to Energy&rdquo; feature on page 20.
 You can also read about a unique biodigester on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus in the &ldquo;Living, Learning Lab&rdquo; feature starting on page 26.

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Supporting Biogas Production Just Makes Sense

Remember that Frank Sinatra song &ldquo;Come Fly with Me?&rdquo; Well, that&rsquo;s what Biomass Power Association members did in June, descending on Washington, D.C., from points all around the nation. In June, the BPA held its annual Washington fly-in, where members of the biomass community traveled to the&nbsp; capitol to remind elected officials about the many ways that our industry benefits the nation&mdash;and, thus, why we should benefit from the same support that Congress provides other renewable energy sources.
 This particular fly-in was one of the most successful in memory. In dozens of meetings with members of Congress&mdash;both old and new friends&mdash;we made real progress toward setting forth our agenda. Boiler, commercial industrial solid waste incinerator and the nonhazardous secondary material rules continue to be on everyone&rsquo;s minds. We reported to Congress that in recent months, the U.S. EPA has made real progress in understanding our industry and listening to our concerns, chief among them being that classifying traditional biomass fuels as &ldquo;wastes&rdquo; will only create more financial burdens without any public health benefits.
 To correct these fundamental problems, we need the EPA to take a &ldquo;regulatory timeout&rdquo; and make sure that the rules avoid unintended consequences. We believe that can only happen through legislation. During our fly-in, H.R. 2250 or the EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, was introduced by Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine,&mdash;representing a state with many biomass facilities&mdash;captured the importance of the legislation and the need for the EPA to adopt a common sense regulation when he said, &ldquo;In much of rural America, and especially in Maine, any hope of economic recovery is dependent upon the preservation of the kinds of high-quality jobs that are supported by biomass, such as those in our forest products industry. With U.S. unemployment remaining stubbornly high, we must support regulations that strike a balance between environmental protection and job creation and retention.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 EPA regulations were not our only focus while in Washington. Working with Michael Brower, a longtime friend and advocate of biomass, we secured a meeting with Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., who is making a concerted effort to raise the importance of biomass in the overall national energy debate. Stay tuned for more exciting news on that effort in the near future.
 Our hill visits also encompassed tax parity. To date, biomass has received less than 2 percent of 1603 grants, and like hydro and waste to energy, our section 45 credits are 50 percent of the value of other renewables (and no credits for thermal), despite the fact that we produce 50 percent of the nation&rsquo;s renewable supply. That could change with tax parity legislation now before the House Ways and Means Committee. A special thanks to Reps. Wally Herger, R-Calif., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., for introducing H.R. 2286, or the Renewable Energy Parity Act, to ensure equal tax treatment for electricity produced from all renewable energy sources.
 There is a lot of positive momentum for biomass in Washington right now. With all eyes on the deficit, it appears that all other legislative business is taking a back seat. That said, to ensure that these efforts produce results, the BPA urges each of you to contact your members of Congress&mdash;either by phone, email or an in-person meeting while they are on August recess this month&mdash;and encourage them to join in supporting H.R. 2250 and H.R. 2286, and also reach out to Rep. Bass in support of his efforts. Author: Bob Cleaves President and CEO, Biomass Power Association <a href="http://www.USABiomass.org">www.USABiomass.org</a>

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BPA Hosts Successful Washington Fly-In 

Summertime is a natural opportunity to take stock of the year's biomass progress and project toward the fall months and heating season. Looking back, it&rsquo;s fair to assess the first half of 2011 as a time of growing recognition of biomass thermal energy. While biomass heating advocates may not be able to point to a single watershed legislative victory, there have been many smaller wins across the U.S. that are finally placing biomass thermal in the same conversation with other renewables.
 To begin, we can look to Washington, D.C., which is starting to take biomass thermal seriously. Aside from the regulatory deferrals and reconsideration of the U.S. EPA&rsquo;s Tailoring Rule and Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards, respectively, biomass thermal received an uncommon call-out and reflection on its merits. In March, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unveiled its Clean Energy Standard white paper, and one provision stood apart from all the others; in an energy policy dominated by electricity, the paper asked if energy such as biomass thermal should be incorporated into a national clean energy program. While it&rsquo;s true that a CES is unlikely to be passed this year or the next, the mention of biomass thermal will serve as the foundation for major energy bills in the future.
 In Vermont, several events are helping to promote biomass, whether it is to heat the capitol area or to warm the rest of the state. Gov. Peter Shumlin has led this effort, first with the extension of a residential credit for biomass heating appliances, and now interest in promoting biomass thermal in the state&rsquo;s Comprehensive Energy Plan. The Northeast Biomass Thermal Working Group mobilized residents to submit biomass heating recommendations before the comment period closed in mid-July. The CEP, when finalized, will serve as an integrated plan across all energy sectors for Vermont&rsquo;s energy future, and, thanks to their contributions, biomass thermal players are more likely to see recognition. Revisions to New Hampshire&rsquo;s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) have presented a similar opportunity to advance biomass heating in a program dominated by renewable electricity. When it was enacted in 2007, the New Hampshire legislature required the Public Utility Commission to review how well the RPS was meeting its public policy goals in 2011. That review is underway, and the PUC has accepted public comments on key questions, including whether to include incentives for thermal renewable energy. Again, efforts from the NEBTWG and the Biomass Thermal Energy Council helped rally and submit comments. The final report is due this fall.
 Massachusetts&rsquo;s turn toward biomass thermal is yet another example of progress across the nation. The state&rsquo;s RPS revisions on "woody biomass eligibility," though focused on incentives for electric generation, were sent through public comment and the legislature's governing committee. Again, numerous comments from biomass thermal companies&mdash;coordinated in part by the NEBTWG&mdash;recommended a thermal component be included. In response, the legislative committee recognized the need for thermal incentives, indicating that thermally led projects represent "the most efficient use of finite woody biomass resources." Nevertheless, the committee indicated that the current RPS program was designed to promote new renewable sources of electric generation and suggested an "alternative energy portfolio standard be developed to promote thermal biomass development.&rdquo; With this encouragement, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center issued a request for proposals to "characterize the opportunity for and the impacts of expanding adoption of renewable thermal technologies in the commonwealth of Massachusetts." An Opportunities and Impacts Study has to be completed by mid-September and an advisory on biomass thermal program opportunities by mid-October.
 How we measure and view the progress made thus far in 2011 will help guide our efforts into 2012. Escalating federal and state budget deficits may temporarily diminish legislators&rsquo; appetites for tax credits, but there are numerous measures available, that will place biomass thermal in policy conversations and state requirements equal to that of solar, wind, hydroelectric and biopower. Coordination between national groups such as the BTEC and regional and state organizations will capitalize and reinforce our advances at all levels, from rural communities to D.C. Author: Joseph Seymour Acting Executive Director, Biomass Thermal Energy Council (202) 596-3974 <a href="mailto:joseph.seymour@biomassthermal.org">joseph.seymour@biomassthermal.org</a> <a href="http://www.biomassthermal.org">www.biomassthermal.org</a>

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Legislative Support for Biomass  Thermal Continues to Build

Over the past year, I have been in interesting meetings with a variety of national and international leaders of energy businesses and federal institutions regarding biomass- and fossil-based energy. The Energy &amp; Environmental Research Center has a long legacy of working both in fossil energy and renewable energy. In the early formative years, between the 1950s and the 1980s, the focus was primarily on coal. As I see it right now, there is a real struggle to determine where biomass&rsquo;s place is in the energy scheme worldwide.
 A simple yet germane assessment of biomass use in the world is that most of Europe has renewable energy mandates and carbon trading that has driven significant biomass use. North America has some state- or province-driven renewable portfolio standards that have stimulated some biomass use. South America is just now beginning to formulate federal mandates for biomass energy use. Most of Asia and Australia have been so busy trying to deal with expanded coal and gas use that biomass has generally been just an after-thought.
 The real drivers for biomass utilization continue to be competitive costs, reduction in carbon emissions and, to a lesser degree, the need to dispose of unwanted or hazardous waste. With respect to cost, the United States is a good example of power generators needing to see biomass as cost-competitive with coal or gas. State renewable portfolio standards have incentivized some biomass energy production in smaller 10- to 50-megawatt (MW) power plants, but cofiring of biomass in utility boilers greater than 100 MW is virtually a nonfactor in U.S. power generation.
 With respect to greenhouse gas reduction as a driver for biomass energy, we must look to Europe. Within the context of long-term planning, European electricity production is undergoing a significant transition. Europe desperately wants to reduce carbon emissions, but in such a way that capital costs will not bankrupt European financial systems. Europe has opened a significant door to biomass-derived energy over the past 15 years with renewable energy mandates and salable carbon credits. Many European countries have renewable energy mandates of 20 percent total electricity. Coupled with payments for abated or traded carbon, biomass can, in some cases, be economically shipped over vast ocean expanses to Europe as wood pellets. This is occurring with some European countries that are constrained with respect to nonfood biomass supply.
 All that said, biomass may still find some struggles for expansion in Europe. What I&rsquo;ve learned from our European clients and friends is that if overall carbon abatement is the goal for the next 50 to 100 years, many more gigatons of carbon will be kept from the environment by building more efficient supercritical coal boilers with carbon capture and storage, rather than burning 20 to 30 percent biomass across all European utilities. This scenario alarms some people, but it is a scenario that actually plays out, not only for much lower carbon emissions but, surprisingly, for much lower cost. At least with the United States, the bottom line, as we have all surmised over and over again, is that biomass will continue to be of great interest to augment fossil energy production. However, significant advances in biomass power generation are still waiting in the wings for drivers such as carbon regulations, carbon trading, renewable portfolios or economic incentives. Author: Chris Zygarlicke Deputy Associate Director for Research, &nbsp;Energy &amp; Environmental Research Center (701) 777-5123 <a href="mailto:czygarlicke@undeerc.org">czygarlicke@undeerc.org</a>

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Significant Biomass Power Generation: Still Waiting in the Wings

Inadequate waste management leading to contaminated water supplies and human and cattle disease is a constant threat to the health, quality of life and productivity of people in developing countries. Rural populations also suffer from many pulmonary diseases as a result of poor indoor air quality due to heating and cooking without proper ventilation. Further, most of the developing world survives on subsistence farming and animal husbandry, both of which create significant organic waste.
This organic waste is typically burned for cooking or heating. Burning unprocessed organic waste is inefficient, yet cooking and heating are the most energy intensive activities in developing countries. Small-scale, rural anaerobic digesters offer both a source of energy and a sanitary method of waste disposal which can help control disease. Digesters can improve rural sanitation, reduce labor (collecting fuel wood), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve respiratory health and increase agricultural productivity through improvements in soil quality.&nbsp;
 Biogas is the result of the decomposition of organic waste under anaerobic conditions. In addition to methane gas, the decomposition process produces a slurry byproduct composed of phosphorus and nitrogen, which is typically used as a fertilizer. The process is relatively simple and is not as technologically intensive as ethanol and biodiesel production, which require more resources, advanced technology and investment, making it particularly suited for developing countries where organic wastes are abundant.
 A small-scale anaerobic digester can be made from a variety of common materials. Digesters are most economical when located near the feedstock source, which serves to control transportation costs and inefficiencies. The decomposition process typically takes between six and 25 days, depending on the feedstock and size of the digester. A small-scale household digester has a useful life of approximately 20 years, takes about one week to build and costs between $100 and $1,700, with the expectation that the digester pay for itself within four to five years. Biogas burns like liquefied petroleum gas, which means a digester&rsquo;s output can be connected to a stove or a light with a gauze mantle. A small-scale, household digester can run on the waste from one or two cows, five to eight pigs or four humans. This size digester would typically produce sufficient energy for cooking and some lighting (in addition to improved air quality and sanitary waste management, both of which significantly impact health in developing countries).
 Developing countries face significant health concerns resulting from the contamination of hand-dug wells from surface sources. Using an anaerobic digester, communities can locate toilet facilities in or next to a house because such facilities are odorless and do not attract insects. Developing countries utilize dried animal waste as a cheap energy source for cooking and heating, but burning animal waste is uneconomical and releases toxic emissions which cause pulmonary disease such as tuberculosis and lung cancer. At the same time, crop residues are often burned in an effort to reduce the cost of storage and handling, even though the result is reduced soil quality. Ineffective waste management systems lead to illness and disease. For example, it is estimated that worldwide there are nearly 80 million cases of dysentery, of which approximately 700,000 are fatal. A digester can kill the dysentery bacteria in 30 hours.
 Effective implementation of rural digesters requires a focus on farmer and community education. For example, many rural farmers do not realize that crop residue and animal waste can produce more energy after it is processed by a digester than by traditional drying methods. Further, costs or initial construction and lack of government support are barriers to the establishment of digesters in certain areas. Efficient utilization of digesters also requires interagency cooperation between utilities, municipalities and local agriculture. Countries such as China (with 50 million households using biogas) and India (4 million) have been particularly effective in establishing biogas as an energy source. Other countries, such as the U.S. with its low natural gas prices, have not been as successful. Authors: Kate Bechen Attorney, Michael Best &amp; Friedrich LLP (414) 225-4956 <a href="mailto:klbechen@michaelbest.com">klbechen@michaelbest.com</a> Jordan Hemaidan Partner, Michael Best &amp; Friedrich LLP (608) 283-4431 <a href="mailto:jjhemaidan@michaelbest.com">jjhemaidan@michaelbest.com</a>

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AD: Promoting Health and Quality  of Life in Developing Countries

Recast Energy closes initial equity raise, acquires generation portfolio from former Intrinergy Recast Energy LLC announced it has closed its initial round of equity private placement, conducted by Cary Street Partners. Recast Energy commenced operations in October, when it acquired the renewable energy generation operations, personnel, and related project development pipeline from IN Group Companies LLC, formerly known as Intrinergy LLC. Intrinergy was founded in 2004 to build, own and operate renewable energy plants serving industrial clients. From 2004 to 2010, the company evolved into two distinct lines of business&mdash;biomass energy generation and biomass fuel aggregation and processing. In March 2010, the company spun-off its fuel supply business (now called Enviva LP), and in October it spun-off its energy generation business to Recast Energy. Recast Energy configures its energy facilities using proven technologies fueled with clean, cellulosic biomass such as energy crops and forestry/agricultural residuals, with the ability to integrate conventional fossil fuels such as natural gas to optimize overall system efficiency and reliability.&nbsp;
 Hydro-Thermal receives export award Hydro-Thermal Corp. received the Wisconsin Governor&rsquo;s Export Award at the 47th Annual Wisconsin International Trade Conference held in May in Milwaukee. According to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, this achievement is based on &ldquo;criteria including the degree of export-related growth; innovative techniques and approaches that resulted in the company&rsquo;s success; and demonstration of extra effort in capturing worldwide markets.&rdquo; Accepting the award from Gov. Scott Walker was Gary Bymers, Hydro-Thermal&rsquo;s international director. Earlier this year, Hydro-Thermal was also recognized as one of the top Wisconsin manufacturers by the Wisconsin Manufacturers&rsquo; &amp; Commerce, the accounting firm Baker &amp; Tilly, and the law firm Michael Best &amp; Friedrich LLP, as the grand award winner of the Manufacturer of the Year 2010 in the small business category.
 Ze-gen names Robertson CEO and Prendergast CFO Ze-gen announced the promotion of David Robertson to chief operating officer and Mark Prendergast to chief financial officer, replacing Neal Isaacson, who has served in this role since August 2009. Robertson joined Ze-gen in April 2010 as the vice president of technology, overseeing the company&rsquo;s technology department and commercialization efforts. In his new role, he will lead the operations and technology development at Ze-gen as the company seeks to commercialize its technology. Prendergast has served as vice president, controller, managing Ze-gen&rsquo;s corporate accounting activities. Prendergast will now oversee Ze-gen&rsquo;s accounting activities as well as lead the company&rsquo;s strategic financial planning.
 Martin Engineering India acquires Clean Cat Conveyors Martin Engineering has taken another step in its expansion into India with the acquisition of an Indian manufacturer of conveyor components and systems, Clean Cat Conveyors Pvt. Ltd., of Goa. The acquisition of Clean Cat Conveyors follows closely on the heels of Martin Engineering&rsquo;s announcement in February of the opening of a business unit, Martin Engineering Co. India Pvt. Ltd., in Pune, India. Martin Engineering India&rsquo;s managing director Jibananda &ldquo;JS&rdquo; Samal, formerly of Larsen &amp; Toubro Ltd., will lead combined operations. The acquisition was finalized April 5; purchase price was not disclosed. Clean Cat Conveyors is a manufacturer and supplier of steel conveyor idlers, belt cleaners, vulcanizing machines, sealing and skirtboard systems and other conveyor accessories. The Clean Cat Conveyors facility in Goa will operate as a branch of the Martin Engineering India operation, and continue to offer products through its existing sales channels.
 BDI-BioEnergy makes management board changes The supervisory board of BDI-BioEnergy International AG has appointed Markus Dielacher and Edgar Ahn as new members of the management board. Both have been with the company for many years and have in-depth sales and technical experience. Dagmar Heiden-Gasteiner will remain in charge of the commercial operations of BDI-BioEnergy International AG as chief financial officer. Dielacher, who has been chief operating officer of BDI-BioEnergy International AG since 2008, and his team will be responsible for the engineering and project management operations. Ahn and his team will be responsible for the sales and marketing and research and development operations. The founders of BDI-BioEnergy International, Wilhelm Hammer, CEO, and Helmut G&ouml;ssler, chief technology officer, will be leaving the management board for personal reasons and will continue to be associated with the company as shareholders and consultants.
 &nbsp; DP Cleantech makes advances in straw-fired technology DP CleanTech has recently sold three more straw-fired power plants in China, increasing its market dominance in the region. DP CleanTech&rsquo;s success in China has driven further improvements to its core product and the company has plans to release a new straw boiler to meet the increasing demand. To date, DP CleanTech has completed 27 biomass power plants in China and has another 24 under development. The latest three boilers were sold to China Everbright International. The projects will be delivered in Linyi, Laiyang and Shuyang in Eastern China. The boilers have been designed specifically to convert Chinese soft straw into high-temperature, high-pressure steam. Each biomass power plant will deliver 30 megawatts of electricity to the China state grid.
 Ziemba joins Michael Best Leah Hurtgen Ziemba has joined Michael Best &amp; Friedrich LLP as an associate in its Madison, Wis., office. Ziemba will join the firm&rsquo;s Energy and Sustainability Industry Team, focusing her practice on the siting and permitting of new development, including agricultural and energy projects, and counseling clients on environmental matters. Ziemba has experience in environmental/natural resource law involving air, water, solid and hazardous waste. She has counseled project developers and utilities regarding permitting and environmental concerns related to nuclear power plants and energy, wind and biogas developments. Ziemba has assisted clients regarding greenhouse gas emission regulation, carbon credits and renewable portfolio standards, and regularly handles environmental matters arising under federal and state law.
 TransGlobal Assets to expand biomass system TransGlobal Assets Inc.&rsquo;s joint venture partner, Helios Inc. of India, has made engineering advancements to its biomass unit design, allowing the system to use virtually all forms of waste generated by humans and animals, and convert it into saleable electricity and byproducts. The advancements position TransGlobal Assets to supply a completely portable and modular all-waste management solution for commercial-scale use. By engineering the system to process a wider variety of waste inputs, the company can expand its business beyond landfill clean-up and management to a broader range of commercial industries that also generate and manage high volumes of waste, including medical waste, commercial poultry, swine and livestock production, human sewage, wood, plastic, glass, metal and rubber refuse (including tires), yard and garden debris and more.
 Nothmann appointed to biomass advisory committee David Nothmann, ArborGen Inc.&rsquo;s vice president of business and product development, has been named by the U.S. secretaries of energy and agriculture to serve on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. Jointly administered by U.S. DOE and USDA, the committee includes volunteers from industry, academia, nonprofit and local government entities. Nothmann&rsquo;s appointment is until Nov. 30, 2013. As a committee member, he will advise the Biomass Research and Development Board, which coordinates research and development activities related to biofuels. The committee offers expertise on strategic planning and the technical aspects of the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, which is directed to address feedstock development, biofuels and biobased products development and biofuels development analysis. The committee will aid the DOE and USDA in building a sustainable biomass energy industry.
 SDSU VP appointed to national biomass team South Dakota State University Vice President for Research Kevin Kephart has been appointed to the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee because of his expertise in biobased fuels and products. The U.S. secretaries of energy and agriculture jointly appointed Kephart to the committee. Kephart will serve through November 2013. The biomass committee&rsquo;s role is to offer advice and council to the two federal agencies to help meet important goals in federal legislation intended to improve national energy security. Biobased products are industrial products such as chemicals, materials and polymers produced from biomass. The definition in the federal legislation also includes commercial or industrial products, including animal feed and electric power.

David Robertson is chief operating officer at Ze-Gen and will lead the company's operations and technology development.

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Leah Hurtgen Ziemba will focus on siting and permitting new development and counseling clients on environmental matters.

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ArborGen's David Nothmann has been tapped to serve on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. 

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Kevin Kephart's expertise in biobased fuels and products led to his appointment on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee.  


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Business Briefs

Dealing with project opponents has become a staple of biomass project development in the U.S., and a plan at the University of Montana in Missoula is no exception. The school&rsquo;s combined-heat-and-power (CHP) biomass gasification plant will reduce its carbon footprint by about 22 percent, or about 11,000 tons per year, but the Missoula County Air Quality Advisory Council doesn&rsquo;t appear to be satisfied.
 The citizen group advises the more powerful county Air Pollution Control Board, which has the authority to set regulations and would hear any appeals to the project&rsquo;s air permit that was granted in June, but is subject to administrative appeals. The council urged the board to take whatever measures are possible to prevent or control air pollution. The board, however, denied a request to discuss the project, citing its responsibility to remain impartial should the project come before it in the appellate process. &ldquo;The advisory council wanted the pollution control board to oppose the project,&rdquo; says Tom Javins, university associate director for utilities and project manager. &ldquo;But the Air Pollution Control Board cannot issue an opinion not backed by law or regulations.&rdquo;
 In a letter, the council outlined three specific concerns: twice the production of nitrogen oxide compared with natural gas; the area&rsquo;s already high particulate matter (PM) emissions; and the project undermining efforts Missoula citizens have made to improve air quality by complying with restrictions on wood-burning home appliances.
 &ldquo;Their role is to improve the air quality in the Missoula County area,&rdquo; Javins says of the advisory council. &ldquo;So any change that doesn&rsquo;t improve air quality, they don&rsquo;t want to see.&rdquo; But the dispersion models clearly show that while stack emissions will be larger in some areas than that of natural gas boilers, the effects to people on the ground are far less, he emphasizes. &ldquo;There are two sides to the story and they, by and large, are only looking at one side.&rdquo;
 The $16 million plant will employ a Nexterra Systems Corp. gasifier and will consume about 15,500 bone dry tons per year of woody biomass. It&rsquo;s expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2013, producing 700 kilowatts of power and 34,000 pounds of heat per hour. In addition, the university will incorporate the gasification system into the curriculum for the College of Technology&rsquo;s energy technician and forestry programs.
 The university is undeterred by the opposition and Javins is confident the project will move ahead as planned. &ldquo;In addition to the air permitting process, we&rsquo;re doing an environmental assessment under the Montana Environmental Policy Act,&rdquo; he says, adding that the advisory council&rsquo;s comments will be considered. &ldquo;If there are any significant impacts that we can mitigate in the design, we will do that.&rdquo;
The project is already designed to employ a noncatalytic nitrogen oxide reduction system and electrostatic precipitator to reduce PM, and Javins says the project would have met permitting requirements without either. &ldquo;So we&rsquo;re putting our best foot forward to have as clean a system as possible for the air shed in Missoula,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The appeals will probably not find much ground to stand on.&rdquo;
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

BIOMASS 101: The University of Montana in Missoula plans to build a CHP biomass gasification plant that will reduce its carbon footprint by about 22 percent.

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The University of Montana in Missoula will forge through opposition of its biomass gasifier, confident in its benefits. 

University of Montana on a Mission

The Construction Materials Recycling Association and the National Solid Wastes Management Association have developed new standards for construction and demolition (C&amp;D) wood debris to promote it as a fuel source.
 The specifications will be a starting point in negotiations between potential buyers and sellers of C&amp;D wood fuel, and will aid governmental regulators and legislators to better understand workable and proven specifications for the materials.
 Dan Costello, CMRA material standards committee chair and president of Costello Dismantling, says wood is a primary material generated at C&amp;D sites. &ldquo;In fact, we estimate that it can make up 30 percent of these materials,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The specs will help standardize wood chips processed at C&amp;D processing facilities and expand markets for biomass fuel.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 The specifications are based on industry experience, permit requirements for boilers using C&amp;D wood as a fuel stock and regulatory requirements governing its use. The groups say that the specifications, which provide a guide of differing grades of C&amp;D wood product, are needed to ensure the fuel is suitable to be burned in a particular combustion system.
 The U.S. EPA reports that comprehensive information on the quantity of C&amp;D materials combusted for energy recovery is currently unavailable. However, a combustor survey database developed by the agency for the 2009 proposal of the Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incinerator standards and the Industrial Boilers Maximum Achievable Control Technology standards indicates that the sources surveyed annually combust 4.7 million tons of material characterized as C&amp;D debris and 6.5 million tons of secondary wood material per year that may be C&amp;D debris.
 C&amp;D waste is not lacking in the U.S. According to the EPA, in 2003 about 33 million to 40 million tons of C&amp;D wood debris was generated, and only about half was of acceptable size, quality and condition to be refurbished. While some states such as California, Maine, Michigan and Florida allow the combustion of C&amp;D wood with proper emission control technologies, others including New Hampshire ban its use as a fuel product, do not allow it to be eligible for renewable energy credits or limit the amount that can be used at facilities. The CMRA is fighting New Hampshire&rsquo;s ban and is developing a life-cycle analysis for the use of C&amp;D wood as a fuel product, which will determine whether it is better to use it as a fuel or to landfill it.
 Using C&amp;D waste as a fuel also saves money, according to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, which estimates that C&amp;D woody debris costs $10 to $20 less per ton to process as fuel than to send to a landfill.
&mdash;Anna Austin

MOUNTAINS OF MATERIAL: The CMRA and NSWMA have developed new standards for construction and demolition wood debris so the material can safely and efficiently be used as a fuel source. 

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New construction and demolition wood fuel specs are designed to aid buyers, sellers and regulators.

ABCs of C&D 

The U.S. EPA will maintain its proposal to defer biomass from the Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule for three years while it further studies the science and policy of regulating biomass energy.
 The final version of the Tailoring Rule regulated biomass, or biogenic emissions, in the same manner as fossil fuels. It went into effect Jan. 2, but in response to multiple comments warning of its detrimental effects, the EPA announced the three-year deferment for biomass, with a final rulemaking to be made in July.
 In the final deferment rule, the EPA says it will conduct a detailed examination of the science associated with biogenic CO2 emissions from stationary sources. The EPA will then send the study to the Science Advisory Board for peer review.
 David Tenny, president of the National Alliance of Forest Owners, says that forest owners are pleased that the EPA has finalized the rule, and that the original Tailoring Rule was flawed.
 Tenny says that as the review commences, it is important that the EPA and key agencies, such as the USDA and the U.S. DOE, conduct a review free of arbitrary assumptions or parameters that skew well-settled science. &ldquo;For instance, the review should recognize that the forest carbon cycle is a dynamic, ongoing process that occurs across broad landscapes without a specific start and end date. Arbitrarily limiting areas and time frames when accounting for biomass carbon emissions, inevitably skews the forest carbon picture.&rdquo;
 The final biogenic emissions deferment rule can be seen at www.epa.gov/nsr.
&mdash;Anna Austin

EPA finalizes its decision to defer biomass emissions regulation for three years. 

Tailoring the Tailoring Rule  

Mt. Vernon, Wash.-based Farm Power is busy at work developing what will become its third operating multifarm anaerobic digestion project in the Pacific Northwest. While the region is the company&rsquo;s current focus, founder Kevin Maas believes there is potential for these types of digester projects in other regions across the U.S., and that they can help dairy farmers stay profitable.
 Maas, a native to rural Mt. Vernon, says seeing dairy farms struggle and disappear over the years as a result of increasing economic challenges has been tough to watch. Maas and his brother started the company believing that it was one way to help farmers get involved in digester projects and prove that they are not only valuable to the farmers themselves, but the surrounding communities as well.
 Projects have already been completed in Rexville, Wash., near Mount Vernon and near Lynden, Wash. For the latest project in the works at Enumclaw,&nbsp; Wash., Farm Power has collaborated with three family farms&mdash;Ritter Dairy, Wallin Dairy and the DeGroot Brothers Dairy, which house a total of 1,200 cows. The Ritter farm will host the digester, which will be linked by pipe to the DeGroot farm across the road. The Wallin Dairy will deliver its manure by truck. Maas says that while piping manure is the ideal scenario, it doesn&rsquo;t always work because sometimes there are private property or major roadways in the way.
 While none of the small-sized dairy farms can support digesters by themselves, collaborating allows the economics of the project to work, Maas says. And, the surrounding communities are positively affected as well. &ldquo;The community has supported this project because everyone will benefit from it,&rdquo; Maas says. &ldquo;It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect the area&rsquo;s sensitive rivers and streams and provide nutrient management and low-cost bedding for local farmers.&rdquo;
 Maas estimates that each farmer will save about $100 per cow per year on bedding costs. And, they don&rsquo;t have to worry about coming up with the capital costs&mdash;usually around $3 million&mdash; to build the digester, he says. According to Farm Power&rsquo;s business model, the company pays for the project construction costs and will own and operate the digesters, as well as sell the generated electricity to local power utilities. Farm Power is also working with NativeEnergy Inc., which helped provide financing for the project and will work to sell carbon reductions resulting from the digester.
 Soon, Maas adds, Farm Power will expand its reach to dairy farms beyond Washington, as it is currently in permitting phases for two additional projects near Tillamook, Ore.
&mdash;Anna Austin

DAIRY SUPPORT: Farm Power is building multifarm digesters in Washington to help dairy farmers stay profitable, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the area's waterways.  

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Multifarm digester projects are benefitting Pacific Northwest dairy farmers.

Cow Power in the Northwest 

Although the U.S. EPA had already announced in February that it would allow a reconsideration period for certain aspects of the Maximum Achievable Control Technology rules, on June 24 the agency released a deadline for that reconsideration of October. Subsequently, final standards must be issued by April.
 The final MACT rules were released in February, but EPA announced at that time it would have a reconsideration period in light of the overwhelming number of comments received pertaining to the April 2010 proposed rules, and the court&rsquo;s denial of an extension for the EPA to issue the final rules. The agency had asked for either a six-or 15-month extension past its January final deadline, the latter allowing for a complete reproposal and another comment period. Instead, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit allowed just one month.
 After the final standards were issued in February, multiple industry groups petitioned the agency to delay the effective date of standards for major source boiler and commercial industrial solid waste incinerators. In May, the EPA temporarily suspended those standards, but not standards for area source boilers. &ldquo;The stay will remain in place until the proceedings for judicial review of these rules are completed or EPA completes its reconsideration of the standards, whichever is earlier,&rdquo; an EPA spokesperson says.
 If the reconsideration illuminates new issues, the EPA can make changes. The biomass power industry has had more than one contention with the rules, both proposed and final. While the final rules do eliminate numerical emission standards for some types of area source boilers, they decrease numeric emission standards in other areas, making them harder to comply with. In addition, the definition of solid waste is still concerning for some biomass developers, as falling under that category would mean much stricter standards.
 The rules have been a controversial topic since their initial proposal and especially after the final was released. Elsewhere, legislators in the House and Senate are working on bills that would allow the EPA more time to develop meaningful and effective rules.
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

The EPA has released its timeline for the MACT reconsideration period.

Moving MACT Along

Every day, about 3,300 tons of post-source separated municipal solid waste is collected from Los Angeles city residents. While most is landfilled, about 1 percent is turned into electricity at the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility in Long Beach, Calif., a 36-megawatt waste-to-energy (WtE) plant operated by Covanta Energy Corp.
 In order to further reduce the amount of waste landfilled and keep up with increasing energy demands, Los Angeles is planning to build an additional WtE plant. It is part of a broader, long-term plan the city has adopted, calling for it to construct six more WtE plants in each of its waste sheds over the next 20 years.
 Although it&rsquo;s still early in the planning process, one item can be checked off the city&rsquo;s to-do list, and that is selecting a technology provider for the first facility. The city recently announced it has begun contract negotiations with Rye, N.Y.-based Green Conversion Systems to design and build the plant. The decision was made after a great deal of research, as the city has been conducting an extensive search to evaluate different waste conversion technologies for the past four years, reviewing 13 different proposals. Evaluated vendors have offered a variety of solutions including pyrolysis, gasification, plasma arc, anaerobic digestion and Green Conversion Systems&rsquo; Advanced Thermal Recycling (ATR) system.
 Based on the GCS technology, the new facility would be capable of processing nearly 1,100 tons per day of post-recycled residential waste using a two-step system of preprocessing and advanced thermal recycling. During preprocessing, all waste entering the facility is sorted to remove recyclable materials such as plastics, metals and paper. The nonrecyclable waste is then sent to the ATR system, which converts 99 percent of it into electricity&mdash;enough to power more than 6,000 homes&mdash;and marketable byproducts.
 The ATR technology has been commonly used in Europe for the past two decades. During the summer of 2008, a Los Angeles city delegation visited several reference sites in Europe to evaluate and determine the applicability of the technology, according to the L.A. Department of Public Works.
 GCS will now come back to the city with a proposal, says L.A. Department of Public Works Public Affairs Director Cora Jackson-Fossett. A site for the facility has not yet been determined, she adds, and likely won&rsquo;t be for a year or two. Where it will be located will be based on an external community input process. &ldquo;We have a very involved, environmentally conscious community here,&rdquo; she says.
&mdash;Anna Austin

Los Angeles will build a new waste-to-energy plant to mitigate its trash load.

A Demand to Expand 

In northern Maine, the winters are cold and long, the population is sparse and there are a lot of open spaces. Those three factors, among several others, make a good case for biomass in Maine&rsquo;s St. John Valley.
 Located on the northern tip of Maine, the region has a history of using biomass, particularly wood products such as cut firewood, according to University of Maine-Fort Kent researcher Brian Kermath, director of the university&rsquo;s Center for Rural Sustainable Development. &ldquo;Nobody really knows what percentage of domestic heat it represents, but it&rsquo;s significant,&rdquo; he says.
 The region doesn&rsquo;t have any natural gas so it&rsquo;s reliant on fuel oil, prices of which are high and have spiked a few times in the past couple of years. &ldquo;This is an area where the population is declining and the housing stock is fairly old and inefficient, so energy costs eat up a significant percentage of people&rsquo;s incomes,&rdquo; Kermath says.
 That&rsquo;s where the real incentives for biomass heat come in. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a logical way to go,&rdquo; Kermath says. &ldquo;I had been looking at the region wondering what a sustainably harvested biomass industry might look like here, and my initial thought was that we would need to look at a scenario in which the entire region meets its heating needs with locally sourced biomass, and then what might be left over could be exported out of the region.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Last year, a grant opportunity came up through the National Science Foundation&rsquo;s federally funded Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, and the University of Maine&rsquo;s Sustainability Solutions Initiative was awarded funding. &ldquo;They (SSI) are putting out increments of money each year to partners and we are one of them,&rdquo; Kermath explains. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re just finishing up the first year right now, which was a planning phase with a smaller amount of money, and we&rsquo;ll be submitting the year two grant proposal in the next week [July 18] or so. We have to apply for continued funding each year.&rdquo;
 The basic idea, Kermath says, is to assess the potential to generate biomass from forest and agriculture, and to look at the theoretical maximum demand locally. &ldquo;And in subsequent years, what the realistic scenario might be for those willing to produce biomass and those who are willing to switch over to biomass from oil or whatever they&rsquo;re using,&rdquo; he adds.
 The four-year study will involve collecting agricultural yield data, aerial photographs of forestlands to evaluate standing biomass, and forest modeling to look at regeneration and residuals. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll get fairly complex as we get into the real sources; whether we will cut whole trees or simply rely on residues,&rdquo; Kermath says.&nbsp;
 Currently, there are five other people on Kermath&rsquo;s team, all working in different areas. The team hopes the study&rsquo;s results will have meaningful consequences, and provide useful information for decision makers in the region.
&mdash;Anna Austin

A study in northern Maine will evaluate St. John Valley's biomass potential.

Studying Biomass up North  

A second biomass power proposal has emerged in Klamath Falls, Ore., following the announcement that Iberdrola Renewables will amend its power plant proposal for the community from natural gas to biomass feedstock.
 Klamath Falls Bioenergy has completed its application for site certification (ASC) with the Oregon Department of Energy for the Klamath Falls Bioenergy Facility, according to the company and its parent Northwest Energy Systems Co. LLC. &ldquo;This is a major step forward,&rdquo; says Bob Jones, CEO of Klamath Falls Bioenergy. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s more work to do, but this is a major milestone on the road to approval.&rdquo; The 37-megawatt power plant will burn woody biomass on a 106-acre site southwest of the 20,000-person city of Klamath Falls on Highway 66, according to Klamath Falls Bioenergy. The facility will consume about 960 tons of wood per day, sourced through a contract with local landowner JWTR LLC. &ldquo;They are a significant landowner and have several hundred thousand acres,&rdquo; says Richard Milne, public affairs spokesperson for the project.
 Subsequent steps in the development process include a draft proposed order by the state DOE containing its findings and recommendations to the state&rsquo;s Energy Facility Siting Council, which will make the final decision on project approval. Depending on the time needed to make those decisions and the length of any possible appeals, construction could begin late this year, according to Klamath Falls Bioenergy.
 Iberdrola&rsquo;s Klamath Falls-area biomass plant will also burn woody material to produce 35 megawatts of power, but has no feedstock contracts in place. The company already has a natural gas combined-heat-and-power plant in the area and will build its biomass facility next to it. No timeline for construction or operation is in place yet for the facility.&nbsp;
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE: Iberdrola will build a biomass power plant next to its existing natural gas CHP facility. 

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A small Oregon town is the site for two biomass power proposals.

Oregon's Biomass Oasis

A wood pellet plant under development in eastern Ontario is taking full advantage of its large, flat rooftop by leasing it to a company that will use it as the site for a 500-kilowatt solar energy system. BioSila Corp. purchased the facility, a former sawmill, in October of 2010, says Brian Gard, BioSila director of strategic planning. On-site demolition and removal of old equipment is nearly complete, and the company expects a March 2012 start-up.
 The solar project is a way to rake in some extra revenue, according to Gard. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a really big, white roof and is in good shape, but there wasn&rsquo;t much we could do with it,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also facing the right direction, a southwest angle, so it makes sense to put solar panels on it.&rdquo;
 The plant is surrounded by more than 16 acres of land that is currently unusable, he adds, so the company also looked at ground-mounted solar. That idea was ditched, however, when it was discovered that there were power line capacity issues. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d have to run power line extensions,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We evaluated putting four rankine turbines on the property for 4 megawatts of power, but we would have had to spend an additional $7 million to $7.5 million to run lines up to the local dam to the switch center, as well as buy a step-up transformer and boot, so it just didn&rsquo;t make sense.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 BioSila is still working on plans to incorporate a 10-megawatt cogeneration facility at the site, and has a 20-year contract in place with Atlantic Wind &amp; Solar (AWSL) to lease the roof space. The solar energy system will generate enough electricity to power about 100 homes, and AWSL will sell the power to the Ontario Power Authority as part of the province&rsquo;s feed-in tariff program.
 Under the roof, BioSila will produce about 54,000 tons of wood pellets during its first year. Initially, the company indicated that it planned to produce around 250,000 tons of biomass pellets, but it doesn&rsquo;t currently have the raw material allocation. &ldquo;When we bought the property, we were under the impression that we would acquire a 125,000-acre crown allocation, and we made another request to the government for an additional allocation of 125,000 acres,&rdquo; Gard says. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t get it, so we&rsquo;ve gone private and hope to be able to go up to about 75,000 tons the second year.&rdquo;
 As for sales, Gard says the company is in negotiations with a U.S. company to purchase about 90 percent of BioSila&rsquo;s product. &ldquo;The balance might be domestic, but we&rsquo;re looking at about 90 percent wholesale market, 10 percent distribution market,&rdquo; he says.
&mdash;Anna Austin

Pellet plant leases rooftop for solar energy system.

Strange Bedfellows 

Domestic biomass could provide up to 10 percent of the U.K.&rsquo;s energy needs by 2050, and coupling biomass power with carbon capture and storage (CCS) may be the single-most important element in creating a cost-effective and sustainable U.K. energy system. So says Akira Kirton, technology strategy manager for the Energy Technologies Institute.
 The institute, a public private partnership, is working with numerous partners on a multifaceted project that includes the exploration of cost-effectiveness, technology challenges and technology developments required for biomass power combined with CCS. The &pound;455,000 ($734,000) biomass CCS project will provide clarity on what further developments are required to better understand the option and what opportunities it could generate for the U.K. Any advancement would undoubtedly benefit other regions of the world, as well, satisfying emissions complaints and converting the carbon neutral source into one that achieves net reductions in carbon emissions.
 The project is expected to last up to eight months and will include four focus areas: a technology landscape review of biomass and CCS technologies working in multiple combinations with each other; a high-level engineering study on five to eight technology combinations of biomass with CCS, chosen from the first focus area; a modeling exercise for integration with the ETI&rsquo;s biomass value chain modeling project; and recommendations in terms of highlighting the benefits and risks of progressing this technology area and potential follow-up projects.
 Biomass technologies to be explored in combination with CCS systems include fixed grate, bubbling fluidized bed, circulating fluidized bed, dual fluidized bed, and entrained-flow gasification dedicated through to cofiring with coal, Kirton says. The CCS technologies span precombustion and oxy-firing, to post-combustion technologies such as solvent scrubbing, solid sorbents, ionic liquids, membrane separation, chemical looping and others. &ldquo;Clearly, not all combinations will naturally work together,&rdquo; Kirton says.
 Subsequently, the ETI is looking to develop one or two larger-scale technology demonstration projects in the $20 million range, Kirton says. &ldquo;At this stage, the feasibility projects have been set up to help provide the appropriate benefits case and shape to these projects, hence it is too early to suggest what form these shall take.&rdquo;
 The ETI has been tasked with developing mass-scale technologies that will help the U.K. meet its 2020 and 2050 targets. The region has set a goal of 15 percent renewable energy by 2020 and a carbon emission reduction of 80 percent by 2050. Besides biomass energy with CCS, the ETI&rsquo;s multifaceted, &pound;4.57 million research will also include an in-depth field trial to study ecosystem and sustainability in energy crop growth, and the exploration of key challenges in developing sustainable U.K. bioenergy supply chains for heat, power and transportation fuels production.
 All of the ETI&rsquo;s biomass research holds benefits to the global biomass industry, but it&rsquo;s hard to ignore the unbridled potential of coupling biomass power with CCS. &ldquo;In terms of the industry, the potential value of &lsquo;negative carbon&rsquo; in helping countries meet ambitious climate change targets could certainly be there,&rdquo; Kirton says. &ldquo;In order to deliver this, there would need to be an official mechanism put into place to value this.&rdquo;
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

Biomass power combined with carbon capture and storage could be the UK's most effective tool in meeting its renewables goals. 

Biomass Power with CCS

With 92 percent of its energy still coming from coal and ambitious European Union targets to reach, Poland is on the lookout for renewable energy opportunities. That translates to opportunities for biomass companies, and Vancouver-based Carbon Friendly Solutions Inc. is taking full advantage. The company has purchased 51 percent of pellet producer Carbiopel Eco Stream S.A., Poland, therefore acquiring Carbiopel&rsquo;s existing Polish pellet plants, projected to produce up to 20,000 metric tons (22,000 tons) in 2011 and 80,000 metric tons by the end of 2016.
 &ldquo;In Poland, they&rsquo;re looking to switch as much as they can to the clean sources, such as biomass for example,&rdquo; says Slawomir Smulewicz, vice president and director of Carbon Friendly Solutions. &ldquo;There are very rapidly growing markets in Poland.&rdquo; The EU has a 20 percent renewable energy by 2020 mandate, and Poland has its own renewable electricity goal of 15 percent by 2020.
 In 2008, energy production from renewable energy sources in Poland reached 228,277 terajoules and amounted to 7.7 percent of total primary energy production, according to the EU&rsquo;s 4biomass project. Solid biomass is clearly the dominant source, making up more than 86 percent of that renewable energy production. Electricity production from biomass, including cofiring, in 2008 amounted to almost 50 percent of total production from renewable sources.
 Carbon Friendly Solutions has been looking for a window into the Polish biomass market, Smulewicz says, even considering building a biomass plant of its own. &ldquo;Finally, we found a company which already has the existing [facilities].&rdquo;
 And not only does Carbiopel have the pellet plants, but it has a supply contract with GDF Suez Energia Polska S.A., which is developing a 190-megawatt biomass boiler in Poland slated for completion in 2012. &ldquo;They will need a lot of biomass,&rdquo; Smulewicz says. &ldquo;We would like to increase pellet production and be one of the major contractors for GDF Suez.&rdquo;
 Carbon Friendly Solutions would like to expand in Poland as well as out, including in other booming markets such as the Ukraine, Smulewicz says, where unused sunflower husks make excellent biomass feedstock. &ldquo;We want to be one of the major producers of biomass.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

The biomass market in Poland is growing rapidly and offers enormous opportunity.

Polish Potential 

While project developers in the U.S. and Canada work diligently to get their first biogas plants financed and permitted, Spanish-owned Ros Roca Group recently commissioned the largest food waste-to-power plant in Europe.
 The 5-megawatt (MW) facility is now operating and will take in about 120,000 tons of a mixture of solid and liquid commercial food waste every year from supermarkets, restaurants and food processing plants.
 Over its lifetime, it will use 2 million tons of waste, according to Ian Handley, vice president of Ros Roca&rsquo;s U.S. division. The plant was constructed for the largest waste management contractor in the U.K., Biffa Waste Services, which also built one of the first industrial-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in the country. Ros Roca's&nbsp; origins are in the manufacture of garbage trucks, which eventually led the company to enter the waste treatment market.
 Because food organics are typically heavily contaminated&mdash;up to 15 percent&mdash;the plant employs a sophisticated pretreatment process ahead of the AD, which involves crushing the material and then dumping it into a mixing tank to introduce water. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s then put through a screening process to strip out what we call the light fractions or plastics, and then into a grit trap to take out the heavy fractions,&rdquo; Handley explains. &ldquo;A lot of the smart stuff is actually done on the front-end, in preparation for insertion into the digester.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 The plant is in an urban area on the site of an existing landfill, and disproves the common assumption that these types of AD facilities must be sited far away from people and other businesses. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of misconception in the marketplace that these plants, because of odors, need to be well-removed from residential areas,&rdquo; Handley says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not true, as today&rsquo;s odor controls allow them to be built quite close.&rdquo;
 The landfill site is within 200 meters (656 feet) of a prime retail development area, he adds. &ldquo;Using this model, we&rsquo;re trying to illustrate what&rsquo;s possible in the U.S.; that you don&rsquo;t have to have something that&rsquo;s 50 or 60 miles away from a metrop
olitan area. You can build very close to the source of the feedstock.&rdquo;
 In the past eight years, Ros Roca has built 25 of these AD plants throughout Europe, and was recently contracted to build a 180,000-ton plant in India.
 Handley says while things are beginning to move in the U.S., it&rsquo;s at a much slower pace, and development is mostly in states where it is incentivized.
 Project Challenges
 From Handley&rsquo;s perspective, a country&rsquo;s energy incentives play the most significant role in successfully implementing industrial-scale AD projects. While Europe&rsquo;s incentives are enticing, the U.S. in general offers little. &ldquo;We actually see more scope [in the U.S.] for slightly smaller plants&mdash;about 50,000 tons&mdash;that use the biogas for gas injection into the grid or to produce biomethane to fuel vehicles. That&rsquo;s because electricity here is so cheap,&rdquo; Handley says.
 Daniel Rickenmann, CEO of W2E Organic Power, says the biggest hurdle in developing its project in South Carolina was determining where it fit in current regulations. &ldquo;Since we are really the first digester [of this kind] in the state, it&rsquo;s a new concept,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking in solid waste, but also composting and recycling. Fitting under just recycling would speed up the permitting process, but when you&rsquo;re bringing in food-related solid waste there are a lot more regulations.&rdquo;
 Anand Gangadharan, CEO of Novi Energy, which is developing a 3-MW community digester project in Fremont, Mich., says it took the company more than five years to develop the project under construction right now. &ldquo;The biggest [challenge] was financing, and making sure our equity partners all understood why this technology is proven, how it works, and that just because it is not popular in the U.S. does not mean that it isn&rsquo;t worth the investment,&rdquo; he says.
 Much like project financers, various state and local agencies have to be brought up to the learning curve as well. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t been done before, so there was a bit of education,&rdquo; Gangadharan says. He hopes that with the successful commissioning of this plant, financing and permitting will become a whole lot easier. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s taken us a long time to educate various financial intuitions, but we finally found one that supported this project,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;
 So what is the actual cost to build an AD plant? For an 80,000-ton plant, the capital cost&mdash;including planning and permitting&mdash;typically approaches $30 million, according to Handley. &ldquo;Once again, that depends on incentives, but that size of plant in the U.K., where incentives are very attractive, can get a seven-year payback with a 22 percent return on investment,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Over here, the American Biogas Council is trying to deliver those incentives to encourage further development of AD in the U.S. Permitting and financing are the biggest log jams, but financing often brings you back to incentives.&rdquo;
 Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest Power Inc., agrees that funding and incentives go hand-in-hand. Development is difficult in states that don&rsquo;t have renewable portfolio standards (RPS), he says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re up against the lowest-cost fossil fuel which is often coal, and it&rsquo;s difficult to compete with that.&rdquo;
 The good news is that more than half of U.S. states do have an RPS. While a few separate organics from waste, it is the exception to the rule, Sellew says. &ldquo;More than 95 percent of society-generated food waste ends up in the landfills or incinerators, so we need to build-out the collection/separation infrastructure as we&rsquo;ve done for the rest of the recycling industry. Many parts of the country already separate out cans, papers, newspapers, cardboard and yard waste, but food waste is still mixed in.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp; These two components allow the economics of AD projects to work. &ldquo;When we look at other countries such as Europe that have built-out this type of an industry, we see they&rsquo;ve used both of those things,&rdquo; Sellew says.&nbsp;
 U.S. Projects on the Build Harvest Power has two compost facilities in California and Pennsylvania, and is currently developing a 2.5-MW, two-stage batch, high-solids AD facility in Richmond, British Columbia, and a 5.5-MW low-solids AD project in London, Ontario. Sellew says he matches the technology&mdash;high solids or low solids&mdash;to the feedstocks available in a region. &ldquo;If you have a lot of yard waste, you have a stackable organic waste stream and you mix the food waste in,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t, it is more of a slurry and that is pumpable.&rdquo;
 Sellew expects the Richmond facility will be operating by the end of this year and the London facility to begin running in the first quarter of 2012.
 To get feedstock suppliers on board with a project, Sellew says it should be presented as a way for them to be cost competitive. &ldquo;If a company has a particular focus on corporate sustainability, then they&rsquo;ll be interested in making sure their organic wastes are dealt with in the appropriate manner,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Extracting the energy value, followed by utilization of the nutrient value in pelletized organic fertilizer or compost-based soil, are the best uses.&rdquo;
 If a developer can&rsquo;t get a handle on its feedstock source, then a project isn&rsquo;t going to work, according to Handley. &ldquo;Within the context of the U.S., things are really no different than anywhere in Europe,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Who has the waste is the prime focus of attention, and a lot of people are paying a gate fee to landfill it.&rdquo;
 Novi Energy chose Fremont, Mich., as the site for its flagship organic waste-to-power project because it is the headquarters of Gerber Baby Food, according to Gang- adharan. &ldquo;The area is also the fruit and vegetable belt of Michigan, and there are a substantial amount of food processing companies in the area,&rdquo; he says.
 While this project is a first for the company, Novi Energy has been in the consulting and project development business for nearly a decade. &ldquo;Five or six years ago we were in Michigan talking about energy efficiency improvements with some of our industrial clients when we came upon this opportunity,&rdquo; Gangadharan says. &ldquo;A lot of companies were essentially at the limits of their nutrient management plans, and they were all talking about how to further improve.&rdquo;
 High energy costs were another major topic at the time, so Novi came up with the plan to develop a community digester power project. &ldquo;We showed them that if we were to process these organic wastes into biogas and use it to produce steam or electricity, then it would kill two birds with one stone.&rdquo;
 The plan was based on a great deal of research, which included the evaluation of community digesters in Scandinavian countries, particularly Denmark. Novi found that they have a lot of appeal compared to single-waste digesters. &ldquo;We chose a technology that allows us to process these types of sophisticated waste, including pharmaceutical alcohols, biofuel industry waste and byproducts, various food manufacturing wastes including meat, dairy and fruit and vegetable products, cheese whey, ice cream waste and sugar syrup.&rdquo;
 Some of the feedstock contracts, including the one with Gerber, last 20 to 30 years, according to Gangadharan.
 Rather than contract waste haulers to bring feedstock to the digester, Novi has its own truck fleet and, because of the wide range of feedstocks involved, it takes biohazards management seriously. &ldquo;When one of our trucks goes to a farm to pick something up, unless the truck is going right back to the same farm, it is washed so that no hazards are spread from one facility to another,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The trucks are specially ordered and made; some have a unique coating on the bottom so mud and muck doesn&rsquo;t cling to it. We have a structured waste transfer in our plant so it&rsquo;s all done in negative air pressure, in closed facilities.&rdquo;
 The digester, which will begin to take up to 100,000 tons of organic waste each year by next summer, has a PPA in place for the 3 MW of power it will produce.
 In South Carolina, W2E Organics has partnered with Eisenmann Corp.&rsquo;s biogas division to build an AD plant that will take in pre- and post-consumer food waste and grease trap waste. Eisenmann has been involved in more than 90 similar installations across Europe, and this will be the company&rsquo;s first U.S. plant that will focus on this type of waste.
 Rickenmann says W2E is permitted to use 48,000 metric tons of waste and will build the project in two phases; the second phase will double its capacity. He notes that the plant will use only 7 percent of the organic waste available within a 20-mile radius of the facility.
 &nbsp;The 1.5 MW of electricity generated in phase one will be sold to power utility Santee Cooper under a long-term PPA.Contracts with waste haulers and feedstock providers are in order, and the fertilizer byproduct is nearly spoken for. &ldquo;We have several large farmers in South Carolina who have sent letters of intent to take our fertilizer product,&rdquo; Rickenmann says. &ldquo;A lot of them have been studying European farming models that use a lot of liquid organic fertilizer, these studies are showing they&rsquo;re getting higher yields and cutting back on&mdash;even being close to eliminating&mdash;the use of commercialized fertilizers.&rdquo;
 Rickenmann says that while this waste-abundant location worked out for the project, the incentives were not the greatest from a profit standpoint, and that includes selling the power at a good rate and collecting tipping fees. He looks at that in a positive light, however. &ldquo;The fact that we are going to be successful shows us that we can go pretty much anywhere else in the U.S. and make this work,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Though there are 152 digesters in the U.S., most are ag based. It&rsquo;s not a new concept&mdash;it&rsquo;s actually old&mdash;it&rsquo;s just a matter of adapting the technology to a different waste stream that has more energy potential. It&rsquo;s an exciting time, and I think we&rsquo;re going to see a lot more creativity out there.&rdquo;
 Author: Anna Austin Associate Editor, Biomass Power &amp; Thermal (701) 738-4968 <a href="mailto:aaustin@bbiinternational.com">aaustin@bbiinternational.com</a>

WASTE-TO-ENERGY EXPERTS: Ros Roca has built 25 anaerobic digestion plants in Europe and will be building a 180,000-ton plant in India. 

2011/07/13118843445241.jpg

FRONT-END HEAVY: Because food waste contains a lot of contaminants, the Ros Roca plant employs a sophisticated pretreatment process before the material can enter the digester.  

2011/07/13118844119949.jpg

MATCHMAKING: Harvest Power, which is developing an AD plant in Richmond, British Columbia, and in London, Ontario, matches the technology to the feedstocks available in a region. 

2011/07/13118844658109.jpg

While organic waste-to-biogas power technologies are common in Europe, they are first-of-a-kind in most U.S. states and need to prove themselves before they can become a trend.

Industrial-Strength Waste to Energy 

It&rsquo;s the first of its kind on this side of the globe; an opportunity to train university students for renewable energy careers; and a potentially&nbsp; lucrative source for scholarship funds. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's dry fermentation anaerobic digester is the whole package.
 In the midst of finishing touches and final construction details, the plant will be operational in late summer or early fall. Described as a warehouse with steel garage doors, it isn&rsquo;t a typical anaerobic digester. While the facility will employ the same biological process as tank digesters that are fed slurry, it will carry out its biological conversion on dryer, solid feedstock in enormous concrete chambers, hence the name &ldquo;dry fermentation anaerobic digester.&rdquo; It is the first commercial-scale system in the Americas, according to its developer BIOFerm Energy Systems.
 &ldquo;They look to me like they&rsquo;d be really fine parking garages for 18-wheel trucks,&rdquo; says Mike Lizotte, UW Oshkosh director of sustainability, describing the concrete chambers. Inside each of the chambers is a floor drain and overhead nozzles to help recirculate the fluids, collecting and reusing what&rsquo;s drained from the pile of feedstock on the floor, Lizotte explains. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s full of really great microbes and nutrients and that all recycles back,&rdquo; he says. Solid steel doors on the chambers keep detrimental oxygen from seeping in and corrupting the process.
 But unlike the doors, which Lizotte calls &ldquo;pretty fancy,&rdquo; handling systems for the operation are surprisingly simple, due entirely to the solid nature of the feedstock.
 Front-Loader Feeding
 No pumping mechanisms are required because the UW Oshkosh system will be fed by front-loaders, tasked with piling up the material inside the concrete chambers, directly after it&rsquo;s delivered by truck, according to BIOFerm application engineer Caroline Chappell. &ldquo;Instead of it being pumped through a series of tanks, it&rsquo;s pretty low tech,&rdquo; she says.
 The largest portion of the system&rsquo;s feedstock, at least in the first year of its 20-year operation, will come from supermarkets, Lizotte says. The food will be delivered unpackaged and will consist of meat, dairy, bakery waste, fruits, vegetables and other outdated or otherwise unsalable products. The next largest fraction will consist of yard waste collected from the 66,000-person city of Oshkosh, followed by winter bedding waste from a local dairy farm. Lizotte is quick to point out that the material from the farm will not include wet manure. Finally, about 5 percent of the anaerobic digester&rsquo;s feedstock will be food and yard waste from the university itself.
 &ldquo;One unique aspect of this system, because it&rsquo;s urban, is we promised the community we wouldn&rsquo;t store anything outdoors,&rdquo; Lizotte says. &ldquo;So we have to operate with on-time delivery.&rdquo; The plant will have a relatively small area for feedstock storage, but it will be strictly limited to use for yard waste and other feedstocks that come in dry and don&rsquo;t break down.
 That leads Lizotte to his next point: some material will inevitably be too wet for the process, and since this specific installation of BIOFerm&rsquo;s equipment includes no drying apparatus, the perfect balance can be tricky. &ldquo;One of the challenges is you can find rich feedstocks but they can be too wet and they break down, therefore you end up with a soup rather than a pile,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The idea is to just have something to mix it with [to maintain the system&rsquo;s integrity]. There&rsquo;s some art and science to making the right mix of feedstocks.&rdquo;
 The plant is designed to handle 8,000 tons of feedstock per year, Chappell says, and will produce 2.32 million kilowatt hours of power annually. In addition, the plant&rsquo;s combined-heat-and-power unit, developed by technology manufacturer 2G-Cenergy, will produce up to 7,900 million Btus of heat for at least one university building, and perhaps more down the line. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping for more heat customers, but heat is still a foreign idea to purchase,&rdquo; Lizotte says. While the hot water distribution system is not yet in place, it will definitely be a component of the project.
 As for the electricity, options are open but for now, 100 percent of the power generated will be sold to the grid through a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Wisconsin Public Service. The PPA, Lizotte says, was difficult to negotiate until WPS offered a biogas rate that was a little better than its standard rates. &ldquo;They sat down and said, &lsquo;This is the rate. Take it or leave it,&rsquo;&rdquo; he says.
 But debate over pricing swirled within the university, as well. Lizotte says the school was reluctant to lock in to one rate price for an entire decade in the face of so many ongoing changes. But as many project developers and owners learn, that signed output contract is crucial to getting monetary support. &ldquo;Having this agreement worked out in our favor when it came to going out and getting financing,&rdquo; he confirms.
 During a break from filling out financial paperwork for the project, Lizotte says the university is applying for $500,000 in U.S. DOE funds. In addition, the school will receive another $250,000 from the Wisconsin Focus on Energy program. Both funding sources, however, are reimbursement-based and therefore could not be used for the roughly $3.7 million construction. Enter: University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation.
 Supporting Students
 As current owner of the facility, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation has funded the construction through bond debt and loans, according to foundation President Arthur Rathjen. Once that debt is paid off, and Rathjen says he&rsquo;ll have a better idea of that timeframe in about 18 months, the foundation will funnel revenue earned to a useful and meaningful cause: student financial support. &ldquo;Through energy sales, we can not only cover the expenses of our bond debt and our yearly payment, but we also plan on spinning off income toward scholarships and financial aid help for the students,&rdquo; he says.
 The university has an ambitious energy independence goal, Rathjen says, and the AD plant was a prime opportunity for the foundation to partner with it and boost progress toward its core sustainability goals, while assisting its students. &ldquo;We had seen it as not just a chance to go ahead and help the university advance one of its goals or mission objectives, but also there was an opportunity to turn some of this income into a way to help students further their education.&rdquo;
 Although financial aid may be benefit enough, the plant will supplement the education offered at the school through the Living Learning Laboratory program for both faculty and students. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to be doing a lot of research around this, building some curriculum around teaching students how to run the digester,&rdquo; Chappell says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;ll be the future workforce.&rdquo;
 Two of the strongest programs at the university are microbiology and chemistry, Lizotte says, and students in both programs have the potential to glean knowledge about the plant and renewable energy from on-site experience. &ldquo;They got pretty excited about the opportunity this presents to do projects for these students and so the lab&rsquo;s pretty full this summer,&rdquo; he says, adding that projects include bench- and pilot-scale versions of the process that allow for testing feedstocks, looking at microbial communities, studying chemical amendments, and other aspects that could enhance the process. The plant will help the university give its students a future in working for firms geared toward renewable energy principles, Rathjen adds.
 In the future, Lizotte hopes the plant will be a training ground for similar operations, showing technicians how to run such facilities.
 A German History
 In the meantime, UW Oshkosh remains the only location in the Americas to have a commercial-scale model, Chappell says. The most common country for siting BIOFerm&rsquo;s facilities is Germany, she adds, attributable for the most part to electricity rates. &ldquo;In Germany, it&rsquo;s highly subsidized, so the payback looks a lot better,&rdquo; she explains. In addition, the U.S. does not have a developed infrastructure for source separated organics. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s preferable if the material is as free as it can be of contaminants,&rdquo; she says, adding that the feedstock delivered to the UW Oshkosh system will be presorted and completely usable.
 The university&rsquo;s application has garnered attention for the process, however, in a variety of sectors including composting operations and municipalities, Chappell says. BIOFerm hopes the successful operation of its first installation here will attract even more interest and opportunities to reduce waste while producing energy.
 The university is a perfect candidate for a premiere, she says, because of its sustainability and carbon reduction goals. &ldquo;The university is really focused on sustainability across the board in a lot of different aspects,&rdquo; Chappell says. There&rsquo;s no question that the school has a challenge ahead of it to become energy independent, he adds, and he and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Foundation are more than happy to play their role.
 The digester is a concrete example of the school&rsquo;s commitment to establishing itself as one of the greenest universities in the country, Rathjen says, adding that it goes beyond just aiming to be the strongest and greenest university, but represents an evolution. &ldquo;It demonstrates that if you&rsquo;re serious about renewable energy programs and sustainability, you need to make investments in that infrastructure that will change the way people think.&rdquo; Author: Lisa Gibson Associate Editor, Biomass Power &amp; Thermal (701) 738-4952 <a href="mailto:lgibson@bbiinternational.com">lgibson@bbiinternational.com</a>

2011/07/13118847299817.jpg

IN-DIGESTION: Guests who attended the UW Oshkosh AD facility dedication ceremony got to go inside the digester chamber.


2011/07/13118847852308.jpg

FILL 'ER UP: Front-loaders are used to fill the  digester chambers with organic material at the UW Oshkosh AD plant. 

2011/07/13118848115367.jpg

DIGESTER DEDICATION: A traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony kicked off the biodigester dedication ceremony and tour at UW Oshkosh. 

2011/07/13118848519772.jpg

Besides edging toward sustainability goals, a unique biodigester on the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus will also provide learning opportunities, and eventually financial assistance, for students. 

Living,  Learning Lab

In Massachusetts today, dairy farming circulates about $40 million through the state economy. While that is a hefty chunk of change, the number of dairy farms in the state has been rapidly declining. In the past 25 years, Massachusetts has experienced the closure of more than 600 dairy farms and is currently home to less than 200. Low farm milk prices combined with the rising costs of production and energy continue to force family farms out of business.
 Fourth-generation dairy farmer Peter Melnik of Deerfield, Mass., is determined to keep the family business profitable, and has joined a uniquely modeled project to build anaerobic digesters on five Massachusetts dairy farms. Along with his fellow dairy farmers, Melnik and long-time renewable energy consultant Bill Jorgensen have formed a new company, AGreen Energy LLC, and have partnered with biogas plant technology provider quasar energy and food waste management company Casella Waste Systems.
 &ldquo;One of the biggest challenges for dairy farmers in Massachusetts is that we have limited land resources, so as the cost of living and the cost of doing business increases, we have to find other income sources on our dairy farms so we can survive,&rdquo; Melnik says. He points out that the five farmers involved have diverse operations, but expanding to generate more income isn&rsquo;t as easy as it sounds. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not really possible to go from milking 500 cows and then buy the farm next to you to milk 1,000 instead,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There is too much development in the urban society where we live.&rdquo;
 Instead, most farmers will try to grow different crops so that when dairy prices aren&rsquo;t as profitable, they still have another source of income. Melnik says he and the other farmers involved looked at manure digestion as another income stream. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we have to deal with anyway,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;A positive cash flow and long-term benefits just made sense.&rdquo;
 Currently, Melnik is field-spreading the manure from his 250-head farm. While this limits the purchasing of fertilizer, the new project will generate an organic fertilizer that Melnik and the other farmers will use, and it will likely eliminate the need to buy any additional fertilizer. The partnership also has ensured each farm a fixed electricity cost for 10 years, a stable supply of animal bedding and free heat generated by the digester. Melnik and the other farmers are also investors in the project and will gain some income from the electricity that will be generated and sold to the grid. &ldquo;Once the digester is paid for, there should be a pretty good return on investment,&rdquo; he says.
 While AGreen Energy&rsquo;s first anaerobic digester at Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland is complete and operating, work on the digester at Melnik&rsquo;s Barway Farm should begin by September, with a four- to six-month development frame. The others involved are Barstow Long View Farm in Hadley, Hager Brothers Farm in Colrain and Rockwood Farm in Granville.&nbsp;
 Bill Jorgensen, who pulled together the pieces of the project puzzle and owns half of AGreen Energy, says the farmers involved were not selected at random; rather, they were specifically sought out as good potential candidates for involvement in the project.
 Developing the Project
 Jorgenson, who has owned an agribusiness and renewable energy consulting firm for the past 20 years, says the farmers involved in the AGreen Energy venture emerged out of a group that he put together using a list obtained from the Farm Credit Bank and a former Massachusetts commissioner of agriculture. &ldquo;I asked them for some names of dairy farmers who they thought would be innovative&mdash;regardless of age&mdash;who were also good operators and multigenerational farmers probably interested in passing their farms on to the next generation,&rdquo; Jorgenson says. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t random; it was a very specific plan.&rdquo;
 Once the farmers were onboard, the group worked to solve the issues that have kept other U.S. digester projects from succeeding. &ldquo;The main reason for failure was that once they were built the farmer was given the keys, and since they are modestly complex, when something went wrong they didn&rsquo;t know how to fix it,&rdquo; Jorgenson explains. &ldquo;Or, the farmer would be in the middle of harvest and had to worry about other things.&rdquo;
 To solve that problem, it was decided that the digesters would employ remote operating systems. &ldquo;When we evaluated technologies, if they said they didn&rsquo;t have process controls, we moved on,&rdquo; Jorgenson says.
 &nbsp;That&rsquo;s where Ohio-based quasar energy entered the picture. Quasar, the technology provider, designs and builds digesters, and also trains on-site operators, who are employees of Casella Waste Systems division New England Organics. &ldquo;By providing remote monitoring and maintenance, if there is a biological issue at one of the digesters, quasar will be able to solve the problem at its laboratory in Ohio,&rdquo; explains Caroline Henry, marketing manager for quaser.
 In fact, the company&rsquo;s engineers have developed an application that allows a plant manager to monitor a digester from an iPhone, according to Henry. She says the company won&rsquo;t build a project without monitoring agreements.
 One particular component that is monitored by quasar is the equalization or storage tank, a smaller tank into which the feedstock is pumped before the digestion process. &ldquo;Because some of the feedstocks we accept are higher solids content and some lower solids content, we need to make sure a healthy recipe goes into the digester,&rdquo; Henry says. &ldquo;The equalization tank mixes and equalizes a variety of waste streams accepted during a three-day period, so that there is a consistent feeding going into the main digester.&rdquo;
 Casella Waste Systems is responsible for procuring the feedstock from contracted companies, and making sure it&rsquo;s prepared to meet digester specifications. The company, which is also an investor in the venture, has several other roles, according to Jay Kilbourne, Casella director of business development. &ldquo;We provide day-to-day operations of the facilities,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We have an employee right there if there is ever a problem.&rdquo;
 Another role Casella plays, is to make sure that the feedstock complies with permits and regulations, mainly that it is separated from other waste and never comingled. &ldquo;We audit the plants and customers to verify there&rsquo;s a source separation system in place,&rdquo; Kilbourne says. &ldquo;What we take has to be a byproduct of whatever they do. For example, one customer makes mayonnaise and salad dressings and sometimes they&rsquo;ll have a product that just doesn&rsquo;t meet their standards, or they have fat and oil byproducts that are washed down from the equipment.&rdquo;
 When delivered to the digester via an 8,000-gallon tanker truck&mdash;usually about one to one-and-a-half tanker loads per day from customers two hours away or less&mdash;the feedstock slurry must be of the right thickness&mdash;not too rich or too thin&mdash;for the microbes. Since Casella currently does not have a blending facility, although a plan for one is in the works, Kilbourne points out that it is essential to select just the right byproducts from the right customers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite a trick,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The strategy of the whole venture is to diversify the materials we bring in over time, such as food scraps separated from the waste, but we&rsquo;ll need to be able to pulp and liquefy the scraps before they&rsquo;re delivered to the digester. We&rsquo;re moving toward opening an organics recycling facility where we can do that.&rdquo;
 While Casella, the dairy farmers/AGreen Energy and quasar are the obvious project pillars, Jorgenson points out that there was also involvement from outside parties to get the project off the ground.
 Strategic Planning
 &ldquo;As it happens, Massachusetts has a long-term plan for solid waste management and eventually wants to eliminate organic waste in landfills,&rdquo; Jorgenson says. &ldquo;So what the state wants to do and what we want to do is aligned.&rdquo;
 For optimal communication, all parties involved sat down with relevant state agencies and discussed how the venture would work, that&rsquo;s when they found out that current regulations wouldn&rsquo;t allow the project to happen. &ldquo;The regulations were written 25 or 30 years ago when digesters weren&rsquo;t a technology [in the state], so we asked if the regulations could be modified to permit the new technology, and they said yes. We found out what the issues and restrictions were, and were told that since we were composting, we wouldn&rsquo;t be considered a solid waste hauler. That brings us back to the tanker trucks, which aren&rsquo;t handling solid waste, but rather recycled material. This was the state teaching us; not us teaching the state.&rdquo;
 The in-depth planning process for Jordan Dairy Farm fast-tracked permitting for the farms that followed. While it took four years to get the first digester permitted, the process took only 60 days for the next two farms, Jorgenson says.
 Much like permitting, financing was another hurdle to clear, requiring cooperation amongst many different parties. &ldquo;We were fortunate that we had a group of people from the USDA and the state who helped,&rdquo; Jorgenson says. &ldquo;There are a series of incentives out there and we used all of them, including loan guarantees. The Farm Credit System has banked this project, and it&rsquo;s more or less 50 percent equity, 50 percent debt.&rdquo;
 In addition, some of the farmers&rsquo; equity contributions came in the form of nutrient management incentives that they were eligible for. In total, the cost for each digester project is from $2.5 to $3 million.
 Although the project is environmentally friendly, it is definitely a money-making venture. &ldquo;There are no two ways about it,&rdquo; Jorgenson says. He also believes this type of venture will be applicable in other regions, and is working with the dairy checkoff (a dairy producer funded program that is designed to increase sales of and demand for dairy products and ingredients) to be able to share information about how the project was implemented so farmers elsewhere can use it.
 &ldquo;Methane digestion has been difficult for farmers to get into on their own,&rdquo; Melnik says. &ldquo;This unique collaboration between farmers and industry experts lets us do what we do instead of us trying to go out and collect waste and run a digester. We&rsquo;re smaller family businesses that have to worry about milking cows and growing crops, and to have to manage a complex process like methane digestion&mdash;a $3 million project in our backyards&mdash;would be overwhelming. The partnership is a good balance.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 U.S. farmland is dwindling, Henry adds. &ldquo;For multigenerational farming families&nbsp; like the ones involved in AGreen, innovation and progressive thinking&mdash;as is required with a digester&mdash;is the means in which they can position themselves for continued growth and prosperity in a changing environment.&rdquo; Author: Anna Austin Associate Editor, Biomass Power &amp; Thermal (701) 738-4968 <a href="mailto:aaustin@bbiinternational.com">aaustin@bbiinternational.com</a>
&nbsp;
Jordan Dairy Farm Anaerobic Digester Quick Facts &bull; Construction of the Jordan Dairy Farm digester began in October 2010 and it began operating in April. &bull; The Jordan Dairy Farm plant generates enough biogas to produce 3.7 million kilowatts of electricity per year&mdash;enough power for about 300 homes. &bull; The Jordan Dairy Farm digester is the first plant of its kind in Massachusetts. &bull; Four major food companies&mdash;HP Hood &amp; Sons, Cabot Creamery, Kayem Foods and Cains Foods&mdash;have agreed to provide the farm with food scraps and byproducts instead of sending it to a landfill for disposal. &bull; All the equipment and services used to build the digester facility were made in the U.S., keeping manufacturing and construction jobs here. &bull; One cow produces enough electricity to power one average Massachusetts home and removes the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of two cars from the atmosphere.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Five Massachusetts dairy farms are involved in AGreen Energy's business plan and will build digesters on their farms.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY: Quaser will remotely monitor and maintain the digesters and train Casella Waste Systems' New England Organics employees to operate the systems.

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A five-farm digester venture in Massachusetts could be a game-changer for struggling dairy farmers. 

Dairy  Diversification

Hampton Feedlot Inc. in north central Missouri&rsquo;s Chariton County is developing the state&rsquo;s first electricity-generating, on-farm anaerobic digester. Surprising, considering Missouri is among the top five hog-producing states in the country, and has a typical cattle farm head count of around 5,000. Its roughly 200 hog operations alone are capable of producing 2.7 billion cubic feet of methane to generate 177,000 megawatt&nbsp; hours of electricity each year. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s ample ground [for energy production],&rdquo; says Christopher Chung, CEO of the Missouri Partnership, an organization devoted to promoting the state for business investment in certain targeted sectors, including energy solutions.
 Over the past year, the Missouri Partnership has focused a closer and more serious eye on biomass, biofuels and biogas opportunities in the state, biogas being the most recent. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve started looking at ways to position Missouri&rsquo;s wealth of assets to attract companies that generate energy using those systems,&rdquo; Chung says. &ldquo;We know we&rsquo;ve got hog farms. We know we are generating a lot of animal waste that can be successfully converted to energy, but who is it we need to reach out to? Where are the primary targets? Who is in a position where they are expanding biogas-to-energy generation facilities, and can we get in front of them to talk about Missouri?&rdquo;
 But finding business investors and equipment manufacturers is only half the battle. Chung adds that educating farmers about the opportunities under their feet is a vital piece of the puzzle. &ldquo;I think it was a while before farmers realized the potential for renewable energy generation through wind, for example, and realized they could be leasing out areas for wind turbines,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And I&rsquo;m sure the same learning curve exists for lots of other applications for renewable energy, including biogas.&rdquo;
 Biogas Grants
 The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is navigating that curve with its biogas program, and hasn&rsquo;t stopped there. The agency provided development funding through its Energize Missouri Renewable Energy Biogas Grants and awarded almost $500,000 each to two biogas projects. They were chosen in 2010 through an expert review process and will receive reimbursement payments from the department upon their completion and successful demonstration. The grant funds were dedicated to support agricultural or industrial projects that use anaerobic digestion-to-energy and landfill biogas-to-energy systems. Eligible projects in the running for the $2.25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds allocated to the grant opportunity included those that produce biopower, bioheat or other forms of bioenergy.
 Eight in-depth applications were submitted for the competitive grants and five were chosen, according Ming Xu, Missouri DNR biogas program manager and energy specialist for the state DNR&rsquo;s Division of Energy. Among the eight applicants considered were five landfill operations, one industrial wastewater project and just two on-farm digester projects. Although five were chosen, a project completion deadline of March 2012 weeded out three, leaving a farm digester and a landfill gas project the sole awardees. While at least one of the other projects&mdash;a $13 million digester on Johnson County Egg Farm&mdash;will still be developed with the help of the DNR, any progress made will be achieved sans a biogas program grant.
 Xu doesn&rsquo;t mask his enthusiasm when describing the remaining grant recipients. &ldquo;After they signed the agreement with us, they worked very diligently on their projects,&rdquo; he says. Investor-owned utility Kansas City Power &amp; Light Greater Missouri Operations Co. is in the process of installing a $6 million, 1.6 MW landfill gas-to-electricity plant in the St. Joseph city landfill in Buchanan County, northwest Missouri. The resulting power will be distributed to the utility&rsquo;s existing customers. The landfill gas collection and control system expansion aspects of the project are nearing completion, Xu says, and the genset is slated for installation this month. Just like its fellow grant recipient, Hampton Feedlot, the landfill project will receive $450,000 and is on track for completion in October or November.
 Although small, the Hampton Feedlot anaerobic digester does have the unique classification as the first farm digester-to-electricity project in the state of Missouri, even though it is not a typical farm, but a custom feedlot permitted for 5,200 head of cattle. Its 300 kilowatts will be used on-site, with the possibility of any excess sold to the grid, according to Terry Smith, independent consultant for the feedlot. &ldquo;DNR has been very good about helping us with this,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;They have an interest in seeing us accomplish what we&rsquo;re doing.&rdquo;
 The $4 million project&rsquo;s Induced Blanket Reactor digester, developed by equipment provider Andigen, is designed to create a rich concentration of digesting bacteria inside the tanks. The influent enters the lower part of the tank and gradually moves upward through the rich bacteria blanket where digestion and gas production occurs, according to Andigen. The size of the system is based on the amount of manure that will be used, Smith says, and Hampton will use six tanks. The giant white digester tanks have been set and construction of the surrounding structure is currently underway. The feedlot will collect about 52 pounds daily of manure and urine per head from the 2,400 cattle, narrowing collection exclusively to animals in feeding stalls with concrete slats. &ldquo;Right now, there&rsquo;s no way for us to capture the manure coming off the dirt lot,&rdquo; Smith says.
 The concrete floors will be scraped daily with a Bobcat and pumped to the digesters, according to Jimmy Daniels, secretary/treasurer for the feedlot. Currently, he adds, that waste is disposed of into a lagoon equipped with four irrigators. Expansion is most likely in the future for the 20-year project, pending its anticipated success. &ldquo;We are a group of out-of-the-box thinkers and plan on moving in new directions,&rdquo; he says.
 Those new directions include an assessment of the added use of substrates in the process. &ldquo;Right now, we&rsquo;re just evaluating our demand and trying to structure the use so we can sell as much electricity as possible,&rdquo; Smith says. With the addition of substrates to the digester&rsquo;s feedstock, the plant could double its output. &ldquo;The building will be ready for another genset whenever we decide to [install one],&rdquo; Daniels adds. &ldquo;We just have to slide one in.&rdquo;
 The family-owned feedlot began exploring similar renewable energy ideas about four years ago, initially focusing on ethanol production. Plans started and stopped, volleyed up and down, but Daniels and Smith agree that the DNR biogas grant program was a pivotal development in the project&rsquo;s potential. &ldquo;The grants definitely made it more feasible,&rdquo; Smith says. The project also received a grant and loan guarantee from the USDA, as well as tax credits from other agencies for current and future project plans, including a possible composting component. A grateful Smith made sure to acknowledge the partnership between Hampton and small-business assisting nonprofit Missouri Enterprise during work on the multiple-page application for the DNR grant. &ldquo;We submitted a lot of information,&rdquo; she says.
 Now that the deal is sealed, the project is finally a reality and fits in perfectly with the company&rsquo;s goals. &ldquo;We feel like the &lsquo;green&rsquo; will come back and we wanted to be out in front and try to do what we could do,&rdquo; Daniels says.
 Setting an Example
 Hampton Feedlot is indeed out in front, but could be joined in the near future if interest in anaerobic digestion picks up. Chung says plenty of incentives are in place that could spur development in the agricultural state. Like most states, Missouri tends to look at capital investment, and more importantly job creation, to advance its standing in a variety of sectors. With a countrywide emphasis on renewable energy, anaerobic digestion applications should be in a prime position to take advantage of that. &ldquo;As long as you&rsquo;re creating jobs and typically, as long as you&rsquo;re making some kind of significant capital investment somewhere in Missouri, you&rsquo;re likely to be eligible for things like tax credits,&rdquo; Chung says.&nbsp;
 It&rsquo;s important to provide money and incentives for biogas projects not only because of the potential Missouri holds, Smith says, but also to allow diversification of the state&rsquo;s portfolio as it strives to meet its 15 percent by 2021 renewable energy standard. &ldquo;Missouri is pretty blessed to have the ability to play in all areas of the renewable energy sector,&rdquo; Chung says. AD projects would be eligible for Missouri&rsquo;s renewable energy standards program and could create a shift away from the trend of Missouri utilities purchasing wind power from out of state to meet their goals.
 But there&rsquo;s one glaring problem: Missouri has incredibly low electricity rates, so power purchase agreements with investor-owned utilities will be hard to come by, Smith explains. The state has the eighth lowest commercial electrical rate in the nation.
 Still, interest in AD-to-electricity projects is picking up and installation of the first may be the biggest hurdle to clear. &ldquo;Over the past three years, we&rsquo;ve received inquiries from people expressing interest in digester projects, but there&rsquo;s a lot of risk to be the first one,&rdquo; Xu says. Hampton Feedlot is a typical size for such a project and a great model that, he hopes, others will follow.&nbsp; &ldquo;We hope we&rsquo;re a good example,&rdquo; Daniels says. Author: Lisa Gibson Associate Editor Biomass Power &amp; Thermal (701) 738-4952 <a href="mailto:lgibson@bbiinternational.com">lgibson@bbiinternational.com</a>

COW POWER: Hampton Feedlot will host Missouri's first on-farm, electricity-generating anaerobic digester.

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TOWERING TANKS: Six giant tanks at Hampton Feedlot will digest the manure from 2,400 cattle.


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Missouri has ample resources for a booming anaerobic digestion sector, but surprisingly few parties have taken advantage of the enormous opportunity. 

Methanation in Missouri

The amount of potential for the nascent biorefining sector within the pulp and paper industry could be scary. To start, look at what&rsquo;s already there: infrastructure, feedstock supply, onsite chemical engineers and above all, years of experience dealing with woody biomass. But it doesn&rsquo;t end there. Part of the potential is included in what is not at an existing facility, namely thermochemical process technology, designer bugs and job creation. For a startup looking to bring a technology to the world, coexisting, co-locating or even repurposing a mill site seems like a no-brainer. For a mill looking to diversify product, squeeze more out of existing assets, or even just to stay afloat, adding a biorefining component to the site seems like a perfect marriage. So where are all the happy couples?
The idea that a pulp and paper mill offers a biorefining developer an immediate ability to deploy that thermochemical process or designer bug while saving a struggling mill town with new jobs, new energy products and new hope, is a good one. It also goes without saying, there are no perfect marriages. And although partnerships like these seem to be scarce (there are roughly three current projects underway in the U.S.), there is still a scary amount of potential for pulp, paper and biorefining relationships, and with the right circumstances, almost perfect can be good enough. What Scary Means
There is a lot we already know about the pulp and paper industry. Earlier this year, Apple&rsquo;s CEO Steve Jobs took a health-related leave of absence, and some worried about the future of the media device supergiant. Three months later, Jobs made a surprise appearance for the unveiling of the IPad2. Since its release, Apple has reportedly sold out (roughly 500,000) of the device, and a survey by Piper Jaffray shows that of the second edition devices sold in 2011, 70 percent were purchased by new buyers. So what does all of that mean? For one, Apple might be unstoppable (even when its leader is ill), which we already knew. Also, traditional media, namely newsprint that the IPad and other devices like it are replacing, are becoming the new paper, which again, we already knew.
Stan Parton, who formed the Parton Group, a consulting firm for project developers with 35 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry, agrees that technological advancements of devices like the IPad have changed the landscape for some mill operations forever, but there are also other factors that have affected the pulp and paper industry that ultimately show the need for a change that might not be as obvious. &ldquo;What we are now beginning to see for the first time, when you take out tissue consumption, the U.S. per capita paper consumption is now declining.&rdquo; In an industry based on scale, which hinges on the size of a production line, the U.S., he says, has fallen behind. &ldquo;We are dealing with production lines of the newest, most modern facilities in other parts of the world that are two to three times [the capacity] compared to the systems that are in North America.&rdquo; In addition to larger production lines, the newest facilities can operate with a smaller number of operators due to more advanced control systems. Add in the higher labor costs in the U.S. and the fact that it is cheaper to tack on the freight costs and ship pulp from South America to the U.S., and the struggles in the industry become pretty clear.
These circumstances have forced some marginal mills, facilities that were never equipped with new technology, to shut down, explains Parton. But a marginal mill might not be what you think it would be. &ldquo;For example,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;International Paper shut down a mill in Virginia, a very technically advanced mill.&rdquo; That mill, he says, did receive technical upgrades, but because the company built a large pulp mill in South America, the mill in Virginia was shut down&mdash;coincidentally, both mills have the same installed capacity&mdash;showing that a mill might only be considered &ldquo;marginal&rdquo; as part of a larger corporate portfolio.
In Canada, the pulp and paper scene might be even bleaker than in the U.S. The Forest Products Association of Canada recently completed a study titled, &ldquo;The New Face of the Canadian Forest Industry: the Emerging Bio-Revolution.&rdquo; The point of the study, says Tom Browne, program manager of mechanical pulping and sustainability for FPInnovations, was to try and look at all of the proposed ways to better utilize woody biomass in Canada based on the decline of the pulp and paper industry. &ldquo;I think the Canadian industry is aware that it needs to do this,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The number of mill shuts in the last five years has made everybody sit up and notice. I think government at all levels think that this is not just the case of an industry that is whining about tough times, but an industry,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;that is in serious crisis.&rdquo; The government, he says, is not interested in finding ways to help the mills squeeze out another dollar in savings but, instead, the focus has been put on transformation. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of extending it to other products.&rdquo;
In addition to the decline in newsprint, Browne points to another area of decline that has affected those mills in Canada: the U.S. housing market. &ldquo;The Canadian lumber industry is also idled to a large extent because we typically sell lumber into the U.S. housing market,&rdquo; he says, adding, &ldquo;so a lot of our lumber mills are idle and we have to find new products.&rdquo;
All of these factors&mdash;labor costs, advanced operating systems, production lines that can produce 3,000 tons per day, reading devices that can store 3,000 books or more on a single device&mdash;reveal the broad trends of the industry. &ldquo;Some are positive, and some are negative, quite frankly,&rdquo; says Pete Stewart, president and CEO of Forest2Markets. Along with newsprint, which Stewart says is basically dying, there is also a negative trend for copy paper in both North America and other developed nations. But, there are some product segments like container board (cardboard) that are doing well, he adds. &ldquo;You hear that there is all kinds of talk that the pulp and paper industry is dying on the vine,&rdquo; something Steward notes is not true, but says, &ldquo;there is definitely a lot fewer mills remaining.&rdquo; In the end, there is a general decline in demand for paper.
For the biorefining industry, all of these elements may seem like a giant arrow with blinking lights pointing to a commercial site, and the same might even be said for pulp and paper facilities looking for a new revenue stream. Unfortunately, as Browne says, &ldquo;this is not the type of thing that is going to get turned around in a weekend.&rdquo; How Long to Turn Around? 
One of the hurdles blocking the development of biorefining projects is the pulp or paper products themselves. Doug Dudgeon, manager of process solutions for the Harris Group, says the difficulty is that the value of some products is still high and if you have markets for those products, a facility should still be selling into that market. &ldquo;That is why it has been hard for the pulp and paper industry to jump into this with both feet,&rdquo; Dudgeon says. Stewart notes that paper prices are at an all-time high right now, and Parton has a similar sentiment to Dudgeon on why more developments haven&rsquo;t taken root.
&ldquo;Generally, management is caught watching the goose that lays the golden egg instead of watching for new chicks to hatch,&rdquo; Parton says, adding that, in general, the pulp and paper industry is conservative.
It&rsquo;s not just the pulp-and-paper side that is holding up the development of more co-located biorefining projects. Within each likely class of options&mdash;a distressed or idled plant and an operating plant&mdash;there are progress blockers. &ldquo;If a plant has been shut down,&rdquo; Parton says, &ldquo;the owners didn&rsquo;t decide to just shut it down.&rdquo; Instead, he notes, that plant was most likely run without upgrades for as long as possible before it was actually idled. As Browne explains, a plant that has been completely shut down (especially in a Canadian winter) will present a number of challenges during any restart efforts.
For those mills already running, there are the technology issues that include starting with a process that actually works on a commercial scale, and finding a way to integrate it in a feasible manner. Add those issues to a number of others and it might sound like a combined biorefinery and pulp and paper mill may never happen in any other place than Wisconsin (Flambeau Rivers). The issues include: determining a role for the mill owners in the overall process and how a mill can handle more feedstock; dealing with existing environmental permitting issues; and competing with the 145 or so mills in the U.S. that are still making paper out of virgin fibers, as well as the mills in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast that have gone idle. Doug Machon, business development manager for NAES Corp., has news regarding any sort of timeline. &ldquo;This is a little bit of a good news/bad news answer. The good news,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;I do believe that the integration of biorefineries into existing plants makes a lot of sense. The bad news,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s going to be three to five years before policy, funding and economics converge to allow for significant momentum forward.&rdquo;
Even Parton, who adamantly hopes such projects will happen, questions whether a window of opportunity has passed. &ldquo;If you look at some of the companies in the industry, do they have the economic capacity to do this?&rdquo; he asks.
Dudgeon, like Stewart, says there is general interest by those in the biorefining sector to do this, &ldquo;more than just kicking the tires,&rdquo; and the Harris Group is &ldquo;bullish on this idea.&rdquo;
The truth about pulp, paper and the biorefining industry is that there is an opportunity for a new industry to partner with an old industry in some capacity, and both can play a role in a sustainable future. To get there, however, it&rsquo;s not as easy as following the blinking arrow created by a declining industry, or by recognizing that we don&rsquo;t find our next used car in the local classifieds but, instead, online. Whether a developer is looking to partner with an economically established facility or purchase a distressed or mothballed one, not every plant may be perfect, or ready, for such a project. But, as Dudgeon says, &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t have to be a big number. If it were 5 percent, it is still a lot for an industry in a nascent stage.&rdquo; Browne points to&nbsp; the FPAC report, which, he says, concluded that integrated facilities or projects are &ldquo;going to work a lot better than a bunch of standalone plants.&rdquo; Author: Luke Geiver Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 738-4944 <a href="mailto:lgeiver@bbiinternational.com">lgeiver@bbiinternational.com</a>

Why substantial progress hasn't been made—and why it will

The Scary Truth about Pulp and Paper

The philosophy behind biomass refining is simple: build a renewable, sustainable economy using domestically sourced biomaterial (ideally wastes) while leaving the smallest carbon footprint possible. But there are high-energy, nonbiomass wastes such as unrecycled or unrecyclable plastics, for instance, that are dumped in landfills to sit for thousands of years. It is at this tangential juncture where biomass refining and the waste-to-energy industry cross. There is a growing number of companies within the biorefining landscape, like Tigard, Ore.-based Agilyx Inc., that are utilizing &ldquo;unconventional&rdquo; waste feedstock streams, such as waste plastic in municipal solid waste (MSW), for the production of crude oil that can be further refined into fuels and other chemical intermediates.&nbsp;
Founded in 2004 under its former name Plas2Fuel, Agilyx employs what CEO Chris Ulum calls a &ldquo;distributed-manufacturing approach,&rdquo; whereby the company aims to deploy its modular conversion units at active municipal and industrial waste aggregation sites, such as material recycling facilities (MRFs), transfer stations and plastic recyclers. This, according to Ulum, eliminates costly shipping expenses associated with larger waste processing plants.
&ldquo;When you look at the municipal waste stream, between 12 and 13 percent of that consists of waste plastic,&rdquo; Ulum tells Biorefining Magazine. &ldquo;The whole idea was that we need to put the technology where the waste already resides rather than unnecessarily transporting the waste to the technology.&rdquo;
Agylix&rsquo;s waste plastic conversion technology is designed to handle the inherent heterogeneity and contamination found in mixed, waste plastic feedstocks. Ulum says there are no limitations to the plastic resin types the technology can process. Additionally, the plastic can be co-mingled and there&rsquo;s no need to clean the plastic of any contaminants prior to processing. Once the plastics enter the conversion vessels, the material is indirectly heated until converted into a liquid and eventually into a gas. With a series of controlled pressure and temperature adjustments, the gases are pulled through pipes into a central, condensing chamber. There, the gases cool off and contaminants are siphoned away. The synthetic crude oil that remains is transferred into tanks where they can be transported to oil refineries for further conversion into heating oil, diesel or gasoline. Additionally, Agilyx&rsquo;s technology has evolved to the point of attracting some of the largest waste aggregators, such as Waste Management Inc., in its latest $22 million Series B round in late March. With Waste Management, the investment was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp; Byers, another newcomer in the investment, and Total Energy Ventures International, an affiliate of oil and gas major Total S.A. Existing investors, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Saffron Hill Ventures, and Reference Capital also participated in the round.
Agilyx first deployed its commercial system in 2008 at a beta customer site where the company shipped its first 25,000 gallons of crude oil. It has since optimized its technology, demonstrating the viability of the plastic conversion technology at its showcase commercial facility in Portland. To date, the company has sold more than 120,000 gallons of crude oil from 1 million pounds of plastic that would otherwise have been landfilled or incinerated. According to Ulum, Agilyx is the lone waste plastic-to-oil producer in the world to have locked up long-term off-take arrangements with an oil refiner in the Pacific Northwest.
The technology is capable of recycling 20 tons of plastic per day and producing 4,500 gallons of crude oil a day from a typical eight-vessel system. On average, approximately nine pounds of mixed plastic can be converted into one gallon of ultra &ldquo;sweet&rdquo; synthetic crude oil, with a process energy ratio of about 7.3-to-1, meaning for every Btu input, 7.3 Btu of output are created in the form of hydrocarbon energy.&nbsp;
According to Ulum, Agilyx&rsquo;s novel conversion units are ideal for counties, municipalities or small townships that are looking for productive means of separating plastic waste streams from MSW or industrial waste debris into saleable crude oil.
&ldquo;One of the things that we think is a real virtue of our solution and our technology is that it&rsquo;s scalable&mdash;we don&rsquo;t sell a small, medium or large system,&rdquo; Ulum says, &ldquo;we sell a basic building block that then can be scaled to match the feedstock processing requirements for our clients. What that means is that we can have a solution that is good for not only large cities, but also small towns.&rdquo;
Agilyx estimates that waste plastic currently takes up to approximately 24 percent of the space in U.S. landfills. While the company may not become the panacea for eliminating all the waste plastic that currently stresses landfills, Ulum knows that his company and others have to start somewhere.
&ldquo;Plastics are still the most difficult waste stream to recycle when compared to paper, metal and glass,&rdquo; he says, adding that U.S. recycling rates stand at about 10 percent at present. &ldquo;Our technology addresses the other 90 percent and it provides a solution for the end-of-life of those plastics that&rsquo;s superior to landfilling, incineration or exportation.&rdquo;
Like Agilyx, Akron, Ohio-based Polyflow looks to attack a similar strategy by capitalizing on the abundant waste plastic streams for production of finished gasoline and diesel. Using conversion technology invented in the 1970s and advanced in 2002 by the Ohio Polymer Enterprise Development, a University of Akron initiative aimed at commercializing technologies developed by startup companies, Polyflow&rsquo;s technology can handle difficult-to-recycle waste polymer, such as tires or powdered paint waste, without the use of catalysts or gasification, and it operates at low temperatures and pressures, according to Joseph Hensel, director of technology and board member of Polyflow.
&ldquo;If you look at feedstocks available today, the one that has the highest availability is coal,&rdquo; Hensel says. &ldquo;The second is natural gas. The third is woody biomass. The fourth is polymer waste. Of those four, polymer waste has the highest Btu content. It&rsquo;s a good feedstock, it&rsquo;s readily available and it&rsquo;s being largely ignored as a resource.&rdquo;
In April, Polyflow received $1.6 million from The Ohio Third Frontier to advance the company&rsquo;s scale-up effort to build and operate a facility between Cleveland and Akron that&rsquo;s capable of handling 16,000 tons of waste polymers annually. Polyflow is collaborating with Youngstown State University, the City of Stow, Defense and Energy Systems, PolyOne and Chemstress Engineering, and was one of eight companies to receive funding. According to Hensel, the facility should be operational within a year. The company plans to open a larger plant capable of processing 150,000 tons of waste polymer annually within three years.
&ldquo;The 16,000-ton facility would only take 3 percent of the polymer feedstock in the Cleveland/Akron area,&rdquo; Hensel explains. &ldquo;The full 150,000 ton facility would take about 27 percent of the polymer waste in the area.&rdquo;
While waste plastics may be an attractive type of feedstock for some, others see opportunities in capitalizing on different forms of waste feedstocks to produce fuels and chemicals, such as food and beverage wastes, or using wastewater to grow algae. Branching Out
Statesville, N.C.-based Custom Environmental Technologies Inc.&rsquo;s core business may be wastewater treatment, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean it isn&rsquo;t interested in exploiting waste material that feed on sewer water or effluent discharged from food and beverage manufacturing plants by turning it into biofuels. Founder Ron Grayson says the company wanted to broaden its wastewater treatment solutions for its customers by capturing the most out of the wastes it treats by creating additional revenue, such as ethanol from food and beverage effluent or biodiesel from algal oil.
&ldquo;The world has changed when it comes to our company, because our company has always been geared to treating wastewater from manufacturing, such as the textile, pulp and paper or food and beverage plants,&rdquo; Grayson says. &ldquo;For us, going that route was a natural step.&rdquo;
The company has agreements in place with a few partners, both domestically and internationally, for projects that involve capturing sewage sludge for conversion into biodiesel or ethanol, and cultivating algae on wastewater where it can be harvested and extracted for biodiesel production, Grayson says.
&ldquo;We can use our technology at dairy farms, distilleries or sugar mills,&rdquo; Grayson says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s all kinds of industries we can go with. It&rsquo;s not just a sugar-based waste stream.&rdquo;
One of those projects in particular was originally announced in 2009 that involved the building of a 5 MMgy ethanol plant in Statesville using food processing waste. The project, a joint venture between CET and Maumee, Ohio-based Green Castle Energy Inc., is &ldquo;still going forward,&rdquo; Grayson says. Phase 1 of the project would use wastewater and sludge in fermentable starches and sugars in a standard ethanol process. Phase 2 would incorporate waste paper streams. CET would contribute its technology to precipitate biosolids out of food processing wastewater for the project. While he couldn&rsquo;t disclose further details regarding a timeframe on a groundbreaking, Grayson isn&rsquo;t banking on this single project to fulfill his company&rsquo;s biorefining strategy spun out of wastewater treatment routes.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll never have a shortage of waste feedstock streams in the industries we serve,&rdquo; Grayson says. &ldquo;You can count on that.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; Author: Bryan Sims Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 738-4974 <a href="mailto:bsims@bbiinternational.com">bsims@bbiinternational.com</a>

Sewer sludge, food and beverage wastes and plastics can provide abundant feedstock for biorefineries located onsite

Upstream Diversity

Research and development parks, innovation centers and small-business incubators have long been a part of the U.S. industrial landscape. These entities generally aim to offer support and resources to companies working to develop and scale-up innovative, game-changing technologies. While many have traditionally focused in areas such as life science and biomedical innovation, a new wave of facilities is being established specifically to support the bioindustrial sector.
In addition to state-of-the-art laboratories and research infrastructure, each entity can offer prospective tenants a wide range of unique benefits, from access to investors and downstream customers, to permitting assistance and highly trained employee pools.
Each center also has its own specialized area of focus. For example, the BioResearch &amp; Development Growth Park at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis is able to leverage a strong background in plant science research.
The BRDG Park was established as part of the original vision of the adjacent Danforth Center, according to Mark Gorski, park business development officer. The founders of the Danforth Center had a vision for an agriculturally focused plant science research park that could take advantage of some of the technologies being developed and discovered there, Gorski says. The BRDG Park essentially allows tenant companies access to core facilities at the Danforth Center, including the greenhouses, the growth chambers and the microscopy facilities. &ldquo;[Tenants] pay for the use of those facilities, but at a discounted rate,&rdquo; he says.
Construction on the BRDG Park began in 2008, and the grand opening took place in June 2009. &ldquo;The building was designed to support plant sciences and agricultural bioresearch in terms of infrastructure,&rdquo; Gorski says. &ldquo;We have a building that is built with specialized infrastructure to support wet lab and dry lab research. We have the infrastructure necessary to support startups and mature companies.&rdquo; This includes common equipment rooms, specialized lab suites and HVAC systems.
The center currently consists of one 110,000-square-foot building. &ldquo;We have approval from the local municipality for three buildings totaling 450,000 square-feet,&rdquo; Gorski says. &ldquo;We have a lot of room to grow, and we are planning to grow. I&rsquo;m sure that we are going to see significant growth from the biofuel and biorefining sectors as we grow the park.&rdquo; Approximately 10 tenants are currently located at the facility, with a couple more expected to establish operation there this summer.
In Ontario, a former Dow Chemical research facility has been taken over by the city of Sarnia and county of Lambton and renovated to create the Bioindustrial Innovation Center. The center is located at the Sarnia Lambton Campus of the University of Western Ontario Research Park. The university has been contracted to manage it as a research park.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve gone in and renovated the building and updated [systems] to handle steam and various waste management systems,&rdquo; says Murray McLaughlin, BIC&rsquo;s executive director.
Renovations were completed last fall and the grand opening was celebrated in October. The center features both lab space and pilot facilities. The pilot side can handle about three clients at a time, McLaughlin says, noting that six laboratory spaces are also available. The expectation is that bioindustrial companies will cycle through the center in six- to 18-month timeframes to complete pilot-scale work, he adds.
In contrast to the focus on plant science at BRDG Park, McLaughlin says BIC is focused primarily on supporting biochemical companies. There are significant benefits associated with positioning a research project at a location that already has basic infrastructure in place, he says. &ldquo;All our tenants need to do is install their pilot equipment and plug it in,&rdquo; McLaughlin says. &ldquo;They will save on their costs because we already have the ability to handle air flow, steam and the service side of it.&rdquo;
The labs are also outfitted with air control systems, fume hoods, benches, and other standard features. &ldquo;The companies need to put their own equipment into those labs,&rdquo; McLaughlin says, explaining that it would be impossible for BIC to anticipate the unique needs of each company.
Another small-business incubator recently established in Michigan is also located in a repurposed industrial facility. Michigan State University&rsquo;s Bioeconomy Institute is housed in a 138,000-square-foot building donated by Pfizer. The location features laboratories, an auditorium and a large pilot plant, says Paul Hunt, the institute&rsquo;s senior associate vice president of research and graduate studies. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s well-equipped for chemical research of all sorts,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The plant contains approximately 30 reactors ranging from 40 to 4,000 liters&hellip;It also contains centrifuges, driers, filters, condensers and other chemical apparatus.&rdquo;
The Bioeconomy Institute opened in March 2009 and focuses on three aspects of the bioeconomy: specialty chemicals, biomaterials and biofuels. The institute also houses a small-business incubator that is run under contract for MSU by Lakeshore Advantage. &ldquo;I think that the Bioeconomy Institute has been designed to provide startups with simultaneous access to academic experts on the science and engineering side, as well as plant facilities and production experts,&rdquo; Hunt says, noting that through a combination of scientific and production resources and business expertise, the institute is trying to cover all the bases for its tenants. Beyond Infrastructure
While the nuts and bolts offered by a research and development center in terms of infrastructure and equipment are vital, other benefits may ultimately prove more important to startups.
In addition to facilities it offers to tenants, the BRDG Park can offer invaluable finance networking opportunities. &ldquo;We really make it our business here at the BRDG Park to work closely with the investment community,&rdquo; Gorski says. &ldquo;One of the most important things that startups need is capital, financial resources.&rdquo; BRDG Park has a network of angel investors, venture capital firms, private equity firms, and corporate investors it works with on an ongoing basis, he says.
BIC can offer its tenants financial assistance through a slightly different mechanism. Within the group, it also has the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, McLaughlin says. The alliance is essentially an investment arm that will contribute small amounts of funding&mdash;up to $500,000&mdash;to companies that are moving from pilot- to demonstration-scale production. &ldquo;The purpose of that, of course, is to be a catalyst to help these companies move through the next phase after pilot, when they need to build the demonstration-scale unit,&rdquo; he says.
Access to legal expertise is another element available at the BRDG Park. One tenant at the site is a law firm that specializes in intellectual property. The firm, Global Patent Group, is perfectly suited for startups that have a technology and don&rsquo;t know how to value the IP, Gorski says. IP is the central key element of business for many biorefinery companies. &ldquo;They need help determining how to value it and how to negotiate with other vendors and customers, or other technology companies,&rdquo; he adds. While the legal services certainly aren&rsquo;t free, Gorski notes that the firm&rsquo;s fees are far less than similar firms based out of areas in New York or Chicago. There is also an obvious benefit to working with a law firm that has offices within walking distance to your research facility.
In addition, the BRDG Park is also home to the St. Louis Community College Plant Life Science program, which trains laboratory technicians. &ldquo;Startup companies know that they have talent to tap into right here&mdash;literally right here in the building&mdash;from which they can hire and source interns to help build their business.&rdquo;
In Ontario, BIC helps its tenants leverage the local petrochemical industry. &ldquo;Sarnia has a very large center around the oil and gas industry,&rdquo; McLaughlin says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably the largest industrial center for oil and gas in eastern Canada. We&rsquo;re well-networked back to the petroleum-based chemical stream, so we can help companies network and link up some future partners.&rdquo; The board members of the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance also feature a great deal of experience in manufacturing and the chemical sectors. &ldquo;They are well networked in the industry and can offer a lot of experience to the companies they work with,&rdquo; McLaughlin adds. Startup Experiences
Phycal Inc. is one company that has benefitted through involvement with the BRDG Park. The company was established in 2006 and is focused on the development of algae-based biofuels.
&ldquo;Our business is really helped out a lot by being in the BRDG Park,&rdquo; says Mark Abad, Phycal&rsquo;s senior scientist, noting that his company&rsquo;s work at the park focuses on the development of metabolically enhanced algae strains. &ldquo;A lot of it is based on basic cell biology and genetic engineering; taking advantage of known gene functions and incorporating them in traits to help produce those strains,&rdquo; he says.
Being located in the same building as St. Louis Community College&rsquo;s program has been especially beneficial, Abad says. &ldquo;What that provides us as a startup company is some stability. Not only do we borrow equipment from them when we have to, or they borrow expertise from us when they have to, but there are also interns available through their program. It&rsquo;s a good, symbiotic relationship.&rdquo; This includes the ability to contract with the college for certain research services, which typically involves tasks that Phycal requires infrequently and doesn&rsquo;t have the equipment on hand to complete. &ldquo;It gives us a lot more flexibility,&rdquo; Abad says. &ldquo;In a small operation you need to be flexible and quick.&rdquo;
While Phycal is focusing on cell biology, a cellulosic ethanol plant is leveraging the pilot facilities available at BIC. Woodland Biofuels Inc. is working to develop a pilot-scale operation at the center, which is expected to be operational by mid-2012.
&ldquo;The Bioindustrial Innovation Center is designed to house pilot and demonstration plants that use biomass as feedstocks,&rdquo; says Greg Nuttall, Woodland Biofuels&rsquo; president and CEO. &ldquo;In other words, it&rsquo;s designed for exactly what we are doing. We&rsquo;ve found it very helpful working with them. They&rsquo;ve done an excellent job.&rdquo;
Permitting is one area in which Nuttall says the staff of BIC has been especially helpful. &ldquo;Permitting can be a rather time-consuming, resource-consuming task,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Basically, they are handling it for us. We have to give them our information&mdash;what emissions we expect and so on&mdash;but they are dealing with all of the regulatory agencies on our behalf.&rdquo;
When considering establishing operations at a research and development park, Abad notes it&rsquo;s important to understand what your needs will be. &ldquo;Think hard about what you are going to need, and make sure you have access to expertise and equipment that is essential to your core business, and locate as close as you can to that expertise and equipment, and source of trained labor,&rdquo; he says.
Nuttall agrees that it&rsquo;s important to ensure a particular facility fits your needs. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s also about the people you are working with,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;In the case of the Bioindustrial Innovation Center, they&rsquo;ve got a great team there with a lot of expertise behind them, and a lot of experience. They&rsquo;ve been very helpful to us.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s also important to consider what each park is looking for regarding its tenants. &ldquo;We look for companies that have technology related to agriculture and the plant and life sciences,&rdquo; says Gorski. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re really looking for companies with exciting, new technology, and that have a sort of technology that will lead to successful commercialization.&rdquo; This includes strong financials.
McLaughlin says financials are also important to BIC. &ldquo;Obviously we need to see a technology that&rsquo;s been proven at the research level and is ready to go to the pilot-scale,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And, they&rsquo;ve got to have enough financing to help them through that.&rdquo; A strong development team, he adds, is also imperative. Author: Erin Voegele Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 540-6986 <a href="mailto:evoegele@bbiinternational.com">evoegele@bbiinternational.com</a>

R&D centers can offer important infrastructure and networking benefits to startups as they work toward commercialization

A Walk in the (Research) Park 

A company located in western Canada has received its sixth patent, this one for its Integrated bioRefinery, a trademarked name for its technology. &ldquo;The patent speaks for itself. It says we are unique and first of its kind and so we are happy to enjoy that protection,&rdquo; says Evan Chrapko, CEO of Highmark Renewables Research.
The Integrated bioRefinery starts with an anaerobic digester, which is then integrated with other bioproduction systems for ethanol, biodiesel or algae, plus other add-on options beyond that. One example of that is the recently expanded anaerobic digester in Vegreville, Alberta, a six-year-old biogas plant that will someday be linked with Growing Power Hairy Hill LP, a 40 MMly proposed wheat-to-ethanol plant. Highmark Renewables is also working with project developers in the U.S., South Africa, Mexico and China.
The patent is for the U.S. and South Africa and Highmark Renewables will continue seeking approval in additional countries, Chrapko says. It joins the family of inventions known as the Integrated Biomass Utilization System, or IMUS. Another ethanol-related patent is the company&rsquo;s enhanced Ethanol Fermentation patent. The Edmonton, Alberta, company got its start in 1999 as a technology company, he says. Since then it has added consulting, engineering, plant design and development partners to the list. Recently, the idea of starting up another consulting division has naturally evolved. &ldquo;We jokingly call it doctor digester,&rdquo; Chrapko says. &ldquo;We are being called up to help rescue digesters that are not working.&rdquo;
The anaerobic digester technology can utilize a variety of feedstocks from diverse sources, such as residential kitchen waste in cities with collection systems or slaughterhouse waste. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not limited to agricultural waste, we can do municipal, human sewage or essentially anything that is organic matter,&rdquo; he says. The result is a much-reduced carbon footprint. &ldquo;When your energy source is waste, it&rsquo;s pretty much a game changer on the outcome for how do you measure the grams of carbon equivalent per megajoule.&rdquo;
An important part of the company&rsquo;s work has been integrating the anaerobic digester with other bioproduction systems. It&rsquo;s not as easy as simply connecting the power source to say, the ethanol plant, and calling it good. &ldquo;You really have to pay a lot of attention to the heat and energy balances between the biogas and the ethanol plant,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud to say and pretty confident that we are the best in the world at economically putting those things together.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&mdash;Holly Jessen

Highmark Renewables patents unique version of common phrase 

Company Patents “Integrated bioRefinery” 

It&rsquo;s not uncommon for government officials to partner with bioenergy firms after they are out of office. Byron&nbsp; Dorgan, former U.S. Democratic Senator from North Dakota, joined Codexis as a member of the renewable chemical company&rsquo;s board of directors. Dorgan made the move after his term was over as did John Podesta, who joined Joule Unlimited, after his time as White House Chief of Staff ended. So what&rsquo;s the big deal with Cathy Zoi, former Under Secretary for the U.S. DOE, taking a similar path? For one, Zoi left while her term at the U.S. DOE was still intact. Two, she didn&rsquo;t just take a board position, Zoi joined up with a newly formed cleantech investment firm Silver Lake Kraftwerk (SLKW).
Zoi&rsquo;s move, while unfortunate for the DOE, might be one of the best examples of actions truly speaking louder than words. As a staunch supporter of the cleantech sector, Zoi is proving that her time at the DOE wasn&rsquo;t just about having a job. She will now have the opportunity to take her knowledge and passion for the cleantech industry and put it to good use&mdash;and one would think she saw something worth leaving for. Adam Grosser, SLKW&rsquo;s investment leader, says the firm has the opportunity to &ldquo;redefine the future of energy production,&rdquo; when it first formed. It appears like the SLKW fund is off to a good start by adding Zoi, and it can&rsquo;t hurt that the investment fund will be supported by billionaire George Soros.&nbsp;
&mdash;Luke Geiver

Cathy Zoi has parted ways with the U.S. DOE

When Quitting is Good for Cleantech

Analysis completed by Lux Research has determined that the stronger a company&rsquo;s commercial partnerships are, the stronger the company tends to perform overall. According to Mark B&uuml;nger, a Lux Research director and the report&rsquo;s lead author, financial backers and academic collaborators help many new biorefining companies get started. However, too many promising technologies never move beyond the development stage. &ldquo;Only multiple, active commercial relationships with other businesses will turn these technologies into mature processes and products that actually have a commercial and environmental impact, and a return for their investors,&rdquo; he says.
B&uuml;nger and his team used network graphs to study the relationships biorefining companies have formed, focusing in on those companies that are developing new technologies. &ldquo;A network graph is a way of representing connections in a group,&rdquo; he says, noting the method has a long history and has been used to study other industries. &ldquo;Any relationship is complex and very difficult to boil down to just a few factors,&rdquo; he continues. &ldquo;What we wanted to do is capture some of the most salient points; things like when the partnership started, what form the partnership took, some of the terms of the partnership&hellip;the duration of the partnership, but we also wanted to get some more qualitative or subjective impressions of what works and what doesn&rsquo;t, what are best practices and things like that.&rdquo;
The study ultimately uncovered how integral the formation of partnerships is to a company&rsquo;s success. &ldquo;To say they are critical would be an understatement,&rdquo; B&uuml;nger says.&nbsp; &ldquo;In a lot of ways the relationships between the entities are more important than what happens with each individual entity. [For example], if company X has a breakthrough, but they can&rsquo;t afford to scale up, or they can&rsquo;t get access to the technology they need downstream of that breakthrough, there are lots and lots of different ways that fantastic performance on a company level won&rsquo;t have any impact on the real world if it isn&rsquo;t helped along by partnerships.&rdquo;
One unique aspect of partnerships in the biorefining sector is that they are multidisciplinary, B&uuml;nger says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll see Ford and Pfizer both partnered with companies in this space,&rdquo; which is unique. You wouldn&rsquo;t see that in other industries, he continues.
The million dollar question is what makes some companies better at forming these relationships, B&uuml;nger says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just a function of the technology alone,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s very much a function of culture, and leadership.&rdquo; While some companies are very good at forming meaningful partnerships with other companies, others choose&mdash;for one reason or another&mdash;to hold their cards close to their chests, he adds. &ldquo;They think that&rsquo;s a good strategy because they are going to own whatever comes out of their invention, but more often than not they end up really hindering themselves by doing that,&rdquo; B&uuml;nger says.&nbsp;
&mdash;Erin Voegele

Research demonstrates the ability to form strong partnerships is integral to a company's success

Relationships Matter

Tom Richards is serious about bioenergy. As the initiator of Penn State&rsquo;s new renewable energy collaboration called the Bioenergy Bridge, Richards is also committed to making sure that the growth trajectory of bioenergy in the next couple of years becomes what he feels it should be. He&rsquo;s already worked with the Chesapeake Bay commission on projects including winter energy crop practices, perennial grass development and even woody biomass utilization, all of which happened well before he formed the Bionergy Bridge. Now, he has set out to &ldquo;pull together industry, other external stakeholders and a variety of different university researchers relating to the challenges of bioenergy.&rdquo;&nbsp; As for where he believes bioenergy should be, look at what he has done in his short time leading a bioenergy effort&mdash;one that includes 70-plus researchers and $15 million in funding.
The best part about Richards&rsquo; work, however, isn&rsquo;t about what he&rsquo;s already done, but about what he might do in the future. While the current total for members of the bridge is only four, the center (if one wants to call it that) is positioned to benefit a number of research areas. Members will have access to a biomass energy center, a center for lignocelluloses structure and function, shared fermentation equipment, a center for nanocellulosics and others. To this point, Richards says the pretreatment facility has generated the most interest. &ldquo;It is basically a user facility for something that is bigger than bench-scale but less than tons per day,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The facility is set up as a user facility for companies to come in and do their own work, or for us to get our own things done.&rdquo; People, he says, are starting to recognize that they have to test out their organisms and their processes with real materials.
Myriant Technologies has already visited the facility for testing purposes, and AdvanceBio Systems LLC recently installed a cellulosic pretreatment reactor. In addition to access to equipment like the pretreatment reactor, members will also be able to participate in bioenergy symposiums between faculty at PSU, other researchers and other companies that range in topic from winter energy crop development to catalysis. The hope, Richards says, is to create face-to-face interaction. &ldquo;We structured this to try and encourage that.&rdquo;
Part of the reason Richards points to as an inhibitor to bioenergy growth has to do with that interaction. &ldquo;Too often university people aren&rsquo;t interacting with industry people and finding out what they need,&rdquo; he says. And, &ldquo;there are also a lot of other stakeholders out there, including landowners, environmental organizations, state and local governments and federal regulatory agencies that don&rsquo;t always know what is going on.&rdquo;
Richards and his team have already worked with a company looking into torrefaction and a biodiesel producer using locally grown camelina. His partner at the Bioenergy Bridge, Dan Ciolkosz, is already forming a master&rsquo;s degree focused on renewable energy.
For an individual focused on the future of bioenergy, Richards seems to be on the right path, and his work so far might be enough to consider following him, even if it isn&rsquo;t. &ldquo;My philosophy is to bring these folks together, get them to interact, define some common challenges and shared opportunities, and then get to work.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&mdash;Luke Geiver

PSU bought equipment to bring industry professionals together

The Bioenergy Bridge

Imagin Molecular Corp. recently announced its shareholders have agreed to change the name of the company to The Plant Bottle Corp. The company, which formerly was involved in the medical imaging business, will now focus on introducing biodegradable plastic bottles to the food and beverage industry.
According to the company, all of its operations and investments in the imaging business will be transferred to Imagin Diagnostic Centres Inc., while plans to acquire and develop imaging centers in Canada will be reversed.
Under its new name, the company will work to develop and introduce a biodegradable plastic bottle and solicit beverage companies to convert from traditional polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic to its product. According to The Planet Bottle, its plastic is designed to oxo-biodegrade over a programmed period of 10 to 20 years. Traditional PET takes 500 years to degrade. The company also states that oxo-biodegradeable technology was developed by U.K.-based Wells Plastics, and that the technology works by oxidizing a polymer by the use of a prodegradant, which allows the carbon to be digested by microbes.&nbsp;
&mdash;Erin Voegele

Canadian bottler changes name, focus to biodegradable plastic bottles

Designed to Degrade

DuPont Automotive and the Society of Automotive Engineers have proof that the materials used in our vehicles matter, at least when fossil fuel reduction, fuel economy or emission levels are of concern. The two performed a joint survey asking 500 design engineers questions on the topics. Half of the participants were affiliated with the auto manufacturing industry, the other half with the supply base. To the question &ldquo;How important are materials to a product&rsquo;s success?&rdquo; the participants were given three choices: very important, important, or somewhat important. The participants answered the question for three time segments, 10 years ago, today and, in 10 years.
While only 19 percent of the survey participants answered that today a material is only &ldquo;important&rdquo; to a product&rsquo;s success, it revealed that 79 percent believe in 10 years a product&rsquo;s worth in terms of overall success is &ldquo;very important.&rdquo; The main driver that is influencing the change of importance in materials such as fibers, plastics, aluminum, ceramics and biobased materials, noted the survey, is linked to environmental regulations, according to 93 percent of respondents. To meet those regulations, 61 percent pointed to engine downsizing and power-boost technologies, while 28 percent pointed to lightweight structural materials. David Glasscock, DuPont&rsquo;s global automotive technology director, points out the urgent need for composites and plastics. If roughly 70 million lightweight vehicle engines used plastics instead of metal in under-hood applications, &ldquo;we could eliminate the need for 240 million gallons of fuel.&rdquo;
The challenge of making a more fuel-efficient vehicle that produces fewer emissions isn&rsquo;t only about the materials, according to the survey results; 52 percent of the respondents noted the importance of collaboration throughout the value chain as a path to create a successful, and profitable, vehicle. &ldquo;Clearly the engineers know how to make a fuel-efficient vehicle,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s making one that consumers can afford, and especially enjoy. That is the challenge.&rdquo;
But, even though the survey touched on a number of issues including how automakers will meet emerging regulations, vehicle systems that will benefit from innovations in material or even strategies to strengthen the automotive industry, there was no greater data set revealed through the survey than this: when asked about &ldquo;materials that were poised for growth,&rdquo; 41 percent of the respondents said biobased products were on the increase as of 2011, up 15 percent from 2008. Next year, who knows what a similar survey might reveal about the importance of biobased products to a vehicle&rsquo;s success. But we do know this without asking 500 people. There is roughly a 100 percent chance that reducing fossil fuel use, increasing fuel economy and concerns over emission levels will still play a role in the cars we drive. Without figuring the exact numbers, this would signal biobased materials are headed nowhere but up.&nbsp;
&mdash;Luke Geiver

DuPont's survey reveals the potential for biobased materials in autos—almost

When Numbers Don't Matter

As part of an effort to highlight USDA programs that promote greater use of biofuels, USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Judith Canales stopped by to check out the progress on the ICM Inc. cellulosic ethanol pilot and demonstration plant under construction in St. Joseph, Mo. The April 13 visit kicked off a series of workshops and events on renewable energy that will be held during the next two months.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke at the grand opening of the BioProcess Algae Phase II Grower Harvester TM Bioreactor. The algae project is located at the 65 MMgy Green Plains Renewable Energy ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.
USDA is showcasing projects while promoting its blender pump program. USDA&rsquo;s Rural Energy for America Program funding is available to help install E85 and blender pumps, with a goal of 10,000 blender pumps added during the next five years. &ldquo;Grants are available to provide fuel station owners with incentives to install flexible fuel pumps that offer Americans more renewable energy options,&rdquo; Canales says. &ldquo;I want to make certain that everyone is aware of the variety of assistance USDA Rural Development provides to help businesses create jobs and become more energy efficient.&rdquo;
USDA&rsquo;s visit in St. Joseph was successful for both sides, says Greg Krissek, ICM's director of government affairs. &ldquo;It was certainly an opportunity for Administrator Canales and the USDA rural development team to spread the word about their program and the same time it was gracious of them to be interested in learning a little bit about our pilot plant,&rdquo; he says.
For the overall success of the ethanol industry, progress must be made at both ends of the production and use spectrum, Krissek says. Installing E85 and blender pumps helps the industry move past the E10 regulatory cap on blending, in order to meet the growing requirements of the renewable fuel standard. The USDA&rsquo;s project to provide money for blender pump installation is a step in the right direction to giving the ethanol industry access to the marketplace. That, in turn, will help foster further development of cellulosic ethanol plants. &ldquo;Commercial investment and lending for facilities is only going to happen if those investors and lenders see a growing marketplace and growing use of the product,&rdquo; he says.
He adds that it&rsquo;s important that both first- and second-generation ethanol are successful&mdash;not just cellulosic ethanol. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve completed the first span of the bridge with the starch ethanol facilities that are across the country. We&rsquo;re looking at the next span of the bridge which is the cellulosic ethanol,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to get on the second span and throw the first span away.&rdquo;
The U.S. DOE awarded ICM $25 million for construction and operation of the 254,000 gallon a year pilot plant. The company is working to modify its existing dry fractionation corn-to-ethanol pilot plant located at LifeLine Foods LLC for ethanol production using four feedstocks: corn fiber, switchgrass, energy sorghum and corn stover. &ldquo;Construction should be completed by June first,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The second half of this year we&rsquo;ll begin operations.&rdquo;
ICM is partnering with LifeLine Foods on this project, which is a farmer-owned cooperative of more than 700 members. The company will contract with those farmers for its supply of feedstock within a 25-mile radius, or if necessary, a 50-mile radius. This growing season ICM only has a few contracts for feedstock and will conduct its first tests on mostly corn fiber from the LifeLine plant. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a small (feedtstock) program going on this year, it will start to ramp up next year,&rdquo; he says.
&mdash;Holly Jessen

USDA's Canales visits ICM's St. Joseph, Mo., cellulosic ethanol project

An Honored Visitor 

The Bioplastics Division of Teknor Apex Co. has announced that a clear impact modifier masterbatch for use with polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastics substantially increases the material&rsquo;s impact strength, while maintaining the clarity of the base resin.
According to Tenkor Apex, Terraloy 90000 Series masterbatches are formulated with Biostrength, an impact modifier from Arkema Inc., and carrier polymers consisting of NatureWorks LLC&rsquo;s Ingeo bioplastic. The company also notes that the Terraloy 90000 Series complies with the U.S. Food &amp; Drug Administration&rsquo;s requirements for food-contact applications at loading up to 20 percent.
&ldquo;Terraloy 90000 Series masterbatch increases the toughness and reduces the brittleness of PLA, expanding the value of this key bioplastic in a wide range of packaging applications where clarity is essential," says Edwin Tam, Teknor Apex&rsquo;s manager of new strategic initiatives. "As a custom compounder, Teknor Apex is prepared to tailor masterbatch formulations to customer needs by, for example, varying the grade of NatureWorks' Ingeo resin used as the carrier."
In fact, one series of testing found that Terraloy 90000 Series masterbatch increased impact strength by a respective 9 and 16 times when used at 5 and 10 percent loadings. At the same percentages, haze levels increase from 4.1 percent to 4.5 percent and 6.5 percent.&nbsp;
&mdash;Erin Voegele

Increasing Strength

Novozymes partner Mossi &amp; Ghisolfi Group conducted the groundbreaking ceremony for a 13 MMgy multifeedstock cellulosic ethanol plant in Crescentino in northwestern Italy in April. Production is set for 2012. Novozymes, the world&rsquo;s largest producer of industrial enzymes, has collaborated closely with M&amp;G for the past couple of years and will supply the enzymes for the plant. Poul Ruben Andersen, marketing director bioenergy at Novozymes, says, &ldquo;Biofuel made from lignocellulosic biomass is no longer a distant pipe-dream. The technology is ready and plants will be built and run on commercial scale, offering a compelling alternative to conventional gasoline. M&amp;G&rsquo;s plant in Crescentino will be self-sufficient in power. Lignin, a coproduct extracted from biomass during the ethanol production process, is burned in an attached power plant that also feeds excess electricity back to the grid. The plant will employ approximately 100 people and generate many more jobs in the local community.&nbsp;
&mdash;Ron Kotrba

13 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant begins construction in Italy

An Italian Groundbreaking

Vital Products Inc. recently announced it has discovered a new chemical composition for its Bio Foam product, for use in packaging applications. &ldquo;Natural, renewable compositions in polymer chemistry have been the most discussed topic in the industry,&rdquo; says Vital Products CEO Michael Levine. &ldquo;Our discovery is significant from a chemical point of view and the markets perspective. We have formulated a composition that is 100 percent natural and renewable. This is a significant accomplishment and it further enhances our ability to meet our manufacturing cost model.&rdquo;
Days after it announced the new formulation for its Bio Foam, Vital Products stated the company&rsquo;s sales are expected to exceed $750,000 for the six-month period that ended Jan. 31. According to Levine, the company has already surpassed the volume of sales it had during its 2010 financial year and is well on its way to exceeding the $1 million sales estimate that was issued in late 2010.
The most recent documentation filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Vital Products Inc. has achieved revenue of $766,862 for the six months ending Jan. 31. Revenue listed from the same period of 2010 was only $27,862. According to the filing, the increase in revenue for the most recent six-month period is attributed primarily to a licensing agreement that has been signed with Den Packaging Corp. During the same six month periods of 2010-&rsquo;11, the company posted respective net losses of $469,447 and $138,013.
&mdash;Erin Voegele

A Canadian company develops a new biobased foam product

A Novel Formulation 

An assistant professor of horticulture at Virginia Tech has been awarded a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop and deploy rust-fungus-resistant genes and monitor the pathogen in switchgrass. It&rsquo;s the second monetary award his research into rust resistance has earned him.
Bingyu Zhao and his research colleagues at Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State University and Iowa State University discovered potential rust resistance genes in several switchgrass cultivars from their large germplasm. The researchers will now work to enhance their ability to genetically identify rust resistance genes and associate those genes with molecular markers. They will also develop a system for functional analysis of putative rust resistance genes in switchgrass, and analyze the DNA of the switchgrass rust pathogen to determine the structure and dynamics of rust populations across the country, according to Virginia Tech.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;A potential virus-induced, gene-silencing tool for quickly analyzing the function of rust resistance genes in switchgrass has been developed,&rdquo; Zhao says. As a complement to the natural gene, a novel strategy developed by a research team at Virginia Tech&rsquo;s Virginia Bioinformatics Institute will be tried to generate switchgrass cultivars with broad spectrum rust disease resistance, he adds. Generating those cultivars is the aim of the research, followed by their strategic deployment according to the rust pathogen population to ensure large-scale and sustainable biomass production, Zhao says.
In 2009, Zhao also received a $1 million Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation for his research on a disease-resistant gene in corn that will prevent bacteria from invading distantly related plant species. The award is the National Science Foundation&rsquo;s most prestigious for creative junior faculty.&nbsp;
&mdash;Lisa Gibson

Virginia Tech awarded grant for rust-resistant switchgrass gene work

Say No to Rust

If BP, Chevron or any other Big Oil company had done what Hunt Refining Co. out of Alabama just did by signing an off-take agreement to use renewable crude from Kior Inc., both Hunt Refining and Kior might be getting a lot more attention. Not that either company needs it, and not that Hunt Refining is small, but don&rsquo;t forget the role of medium-sized oil companies in the development of the biorefining industry. In an industry where an off-take agreement is nearly as important as the novel process to make a renewable product, Hunt Refining Co. might have just paved the way for the future success of Kior (which also received a loan guarantee at an astounding $1 billion to construct four plants). The plan is for Hunt Refining to purchase Kior&rsquo;s renewable fuel in the future.
The business of refining is only one area within an array of business ventures at Hunt. Hunt Energy Enterprises is &ldquo;interested in investing in,&rdquo; or partnering with energy entrepreneurs in conventional energy ventures as well as those in alternative cleantech sectors,&rdquo; the company states. At Hunt BioVentures, the focus for investment is on life-science companies such as MacroGenics, a company that works with immunotherapeutic products, or Myogen, a firm that specializes in drugs to prevent heart failure. As a criterion for Hunt Energy Enterprises&rsquo; investments, the company states, &ldquo;we are interested in application of technology that has the potential to disrupt the energy industry value chain.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&mdash;Luke Geiver

Oil companies of all sizes are important to the biorefining industry

Don't Forget about Medium Oil

The USDA recently sought proposals to study the feasibility of providing crop insurance to producers of corn stover, straw and woody biomass. Research efforts are also underway for energy cane, switchgrass and camelina.
&ldquo;USDA&rsquo;s Risk Management Agency is eager to provide risk management services for biofuel crops that are being grown on a sufficiently commercial scale that provides necessary production and market data to allow assessment of their viability for crop insurance,&rdquo; says Bill Murphy, RMA administrator. &ldquo;RMA-financed studies are underway now to determine which crops meet this criteria.&nbsp; Those studies should be ready this summer.&nbsp; Mitigating the risks inherent in agricultural production will encourage farmers to produce biofuel crops, providing additional alternative fuel sources for America.&rdquo;
According to Murphy, the ability to secure crop insurance is a prerequisite before most farmers can grow a new crop, largely because banks and lenders generally require crop insurance as collateral to approve operating loans for farmers. Without an operating loan, many farmers can&rsquo;t afford to plant their fields. Since crop insurance is generally required by lenders before a loan is approved, the situation has become a bit like the chicken and the egg scenario, Murphy continues. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a critical program to be developed to go along with this developing industry,&rdquo; he says.
The RMA has been looking into the issue for several years, and was specifically directed by the 2008 Farm Bill to look into the feasibility of developing crop insurance programs for biofuel feedstocks. Although efforts right now are focused on six specific crops, Murphy says other feedstocks will likely be addressed in the future.
There are two possible paths forward for the development of crop insurance programs for biofuel feedstocks, Murphy says. One is similar to programs developed for crops like corn. The other is modeled after a crop insurance program that has been developed specifically for areas like pasture and rangeland. Traditional crop insurance programs, such as the one for corn, allow growers to purchase insurance based on their own history of production. Crop insurance programs for rangeland and pasture, alternatively, don&rsquo;t rely on actual measurements of a crop&rsquo;s growth. Rather, the RMA uses a rainfall index or vegetative index to determine the amount of production on a piece of land.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the way we found that we could ensure these crops where there isn&rsquo;t really any history of production or harvest,&rdquo; Murphy says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been successful. Actually, growers like it quite a bit. We introduced this concept to growers in the biofuel industry, however, they wanted a standalone product [like corn insurance].&rdquo; One clear benefit of an insurance program based on the same concept as RMA&rsquo;s program for rangeland and pasture is that it could likely be developed more quickly.
There are several things the biorefining industry can do to assist the RMA in the development of insurance products for biofuel feedstocks. Most importantly, it can share production data with the RMA. &ldquo;As we move forward we&rsquo;ll need information like their contract data, how much production&mdash;if any, and how much they are paying for [feedstocks],&rdquo; Murphy says. &ldquo;I see us working closely with the industry and moving forward with it.&rdquo;
&mdash;Erin Voegele

The USDA's Risk Management Agency aims to provide crop insurance for advanced feedstocks

A New Assurance 

1. Bolingbrook, Ill.-based Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. has signed a formal collaborative agreement with Wayne, N.J.-based International Specialty Products Inc. to evaluate and introduce to the market novel renewable waxes and derivatives as biocide carriers for wood/plastic composite applications. Elevance and ISP have completed initial laboratory evaluations and have identified candidate waxes that are now moving into scale-up testing. Both companies expect to expand testing later this year with commercialization to begin by year&rsquo;s end. Elevance&rsquo;s renewable waxes are made from vegetable oils via its proprietary metathesis technology. According to Andy Shafer, executive vice president of sales and market development for Elevance, both companies had several discussions prior to the announced collaboration about how Elevance&rsquo;s renewable waxes could be utilized as carriers for ISP&rsquo;s biocides into plastic/wood applications. 2. A team of researchers at Kansas State University is studying the environmental and economic sustainability of algae biodiesel production. Results of the environmental portion of the evaluation, titled &ldquo;Sustainability of algae derived biodiesel: a mass balance approach,&rdquo; have been published in a peer-reviewed journal. A follow-up study will address economic stability. According to Peter Pfromm, a professor of chemical engineering at KSU, the team used a carbon mass balance to evaluate the environmental sustainability of algae biodiesel production. What Pfromm and his team ultimately determined is that algae biodiesel produced using CO2 sourced from fossil fuels, such as a coal-fired power plant, is not environmentally sustainable (regarding carbon) because the coal-derived CO2 is still eventually added to the atmosphere and is not sequestered. Algae biodiesel produced using renewable CO2, such as that produced at an ethanol plant, however, is nearly environmentally sustainable. &ldquo;The only nonsustainable [aspect] of the operation is making fertilizer to make the algae, which comes from natural gas.&rdquo; 3. The World Economic Forum has issued a report titled, &ldquo;The Green Investing 2011: Reducing the Cost of Financing,&rdquo; in conjunction with Bloomberg Clean Energy Finance, and numbers from the report show that clean energy investments are &ldquo;a vital component to sustained economic growth.&rdquo; In September, WEC issued a report that recognized a $295 billion potential for the biorefining industry by 2030, but the recent report focuses on investment trends happening today. Projects based on biomass, geothermal or wind can compete with fossil-based fuels in significant energy markets, the report says. One area that can help drive down the costs of producing renewable energy is continued support for R&amp;D, which in 2010 grew to a record level, reaching 24 percent at $35 billion in the U.S., from $28.6 billion in 2009. &ldquo;The fruits of this growing research pipeline will filter into the market over the coming years,&rdquo; the report explained. Also in 2010, the average amount of money invested by venture capitalists into cleantech firms reached $28 million, up $11 million from 2007. 4. Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have developed a process to convert chicken feathers into biobased plastic. The team, led by UNL professor of biological systems engineering Yiqi Yang, used a chemical modification process to transform poultry feathers into a biodegradable thermoplastic. The project has been underway for several years. While the team initially tried to use the feather-based plastic as is, they recently discovered that modifying the material on a molecular basis via a chemical process could broaden the range of applications for the resulting material. The process has been evaluated at the bench scale. Yang says his team is currently seeking funding and partnerships to allow testing to reach pilot scale. Rather than seeking grants, Yang says the team would prefer to collaborate with a member of the plastics industry. 5. Utah State University is home to a new bioenergy center. The University&rsquo;s Board of Trustees recently approved the USU Extension Center for Agronomic and Woody Biofuels. The center will provide the organizational structure to support current research and extensive activities related to using plants for food, feed, fiber and reclamation, known as agronomic science and technology. Research at the center will support crops and their conversion into biofuels, both within Utah and around the nation. According to Dallas Hanks, USU extension bioenergy agronomist and the center&rsquo;s director, the center will serve as the umbrella for four ongoing bioenergy research projects, including the FreeWays-to-Fuel project, the Utah Biomass Resources Group, the Urban Farming and Fuel project, and a Department of Defense-funded feedstock project. Additional research projects are expected to be developed under the center in the future. 6. Interjet and Airbus conducted the first jatropha-based biofuel test flight in Mexico recently. The Airbus 320 jet successfully flew from Mexico City&rsquo;s International Airport to Angel Albino Corzo of Tuxtla Gutierrez airport in the southern State of Chiapas. One of the aircraft&rsquo;s two engines was fueled with a 30 percent biojet blend. Hydroprocessed jatropha-based jet fuel used in the flight was manufactured by Honeywell&rsquo;s UOP. According to Honeywell, its Green Jet Fuel process technology was originally developed in 2007 under a contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to produce renewable military jet fuel for the U.S. military. Entities that provided jatropha feedstock for the test flight include the Chiapas state government, Bencafser S.A., and Energy JH S.A., and Globales Energia Renovables, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. 7. The Dow Chemical Co. and OPX Biotechnologies Inc. announced recently that the two companies are collaborating to develop an industrial-scale process for the production of biobased acrylic acid from renewable feedstocks. Dow and OPXBIO recently signed a joint development agreement to prove the technical and economic viability of an industrial-scale process to produce acrylic acid using a fermentable sugar (such as corn and/or cane sugar) feedstock with equal performance qualities as petroleum-based acrylic acid, creating a direct replacement option for the market. If collaborative research is successful, the companies will discuss commercialization opportunities that could bring biobased acrylic acid to market in three to five years. Dow will provide its expertise in industrial chemistry, process optimization and product development. OPXBIO, a company that uses biotechnology to convert renewable raw materials into biochemicals and fuels, will contribute its expertise in strain development and bioprocessing utilizing its trademarked EDGE (Efficiency Directed Genome Engineering) technology. The global petroleum-based acrylic acid market is $8 billion and growing 3 to 4 percent per year. Acrylic acid is a key chemical building block used in a wide range of consumer goods including paints, adhesives, diapers and detergents. 8. Researchers in Brazil are developing a process to extract nanocellulose fibers from biomass and use those fibers to reinforce plastics. The team, led by S&atilde;o Paulo State University professor Alcides Le&atilde;o, spoke about its research at 241st National Meeting &amp; Exposition of the American Chemical Society March 27. According to Le&atilde;o, the fibers used to reinforce the plastics are sourced from delicate fruits like bananas and pineapples, but are extremely strong. In fact, some of these nanocellulose fibers are nearly as stiff as Kevlar. However, unlike Kevlar and other traditional plastics, nanocellulose fibers are not sourced from petroleum. To extract the nanocellulose fibers from biomass, the research team placed leaves and stems from these plants into a pressure cooker-like device. After adding a proprietary mix of chemicals, the mixture is heated over several cycles. The result is a material that resembles talcum powder. While the process is described as costly, the researchers noted that just one pound of nanocellulose can produce 100 pounds of super-strong, lightweight plastic. 9. Neste Oil is serious about expanding the range of feedstocks used to produce its renewable diesel product, NexBTL. The company has received a loan totaling roughly $70 million for research and development from the Nordic Investment Bank. Of the money invested in R&amp;D in the past, 80 percent has gone into feedstock research. The company has recognized recent progress regarding woody biomass and algae oil research, and is also looking into jatropha oil, camelina oil, waste from fish processors and tall oil. Lars Peter Lindfors, senior vice president for Neste&rsquo;s technology and strategy division, says the loan shows the company&rsquo;s commitment to raw materials, and the that the additional funding will secure the continuation of cutting-edge R&amp;D and the future development of the NexBTL renewable diesel technology. The Singapore renewable diesel facility Neste opened this year uses mainly palm oil, but the company hopes to use more of the waste created during the process. Stearin, a byproduct of the palm oil production process will account for more than 20 percent of Neste&rsquo;s renewable input, palm fatty acid distillate will reach 5 to 10 percent, waste animal fats will total roughly 20 percent, and the rest will be rapeseed oil.
 Share your industry briefs: To be included in Business Briefs, send information (including photos and logos if available) to: Industry Briefs, Biorefining, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You may also fax information to (701) 746-8385, or e-mail it to <a href="mailto:rkotrba@bbiinternational.com">rkotrba@bbiinternational.com</a>. Please include your name and telephone number in all correspondence.

People, Partnerships & Deals

Co-location is not a novel concept. Since the dawn of human economic activity, we have recognized the convenience and efficiency of locating one economic activity in close proximity to a related activity. Today, the benefits of co-location can be measured quite clearly at the bottom line.
Examples of co-location are limitless: a smelter, refinery or other processing facility next to a mine, wellhead or hydroelectric facility; an ethanol or biodiesel plant on the site of a grain elevator or soy crush facility; chemical products operations a short pipe length away from a petroleum refinery. Any input to product relationship can suggest an opportunity for co-location.
While the concept is simple, establishing a successful co-location relationship can be quite complex. If the ownership of both the primary and secondary facilities is the same, the advantages of co-location can be realized readily. But, often the owners of co-located facilities are different, not only in their views of the economics of the relationship but also in their capabilities to establish and operate their respective facilities.&nbsp;
A simple co-location relationship might require only a contract for the supply of a feedstock or other input. The most complex could be documented with a master or joint venture agreement that spells out the major terms of the relationship and is supplemented by agreements for feedstocks, energy, utilities, transport, off-take, site ownership or lease, management, other services, labor, equity and debt finance, and government subsidies. In any case, the agreements will need to address the endgame: what happens when the agreement expires or is terminated, if the benefits of co-location cease or if one party is sold, goes bankrupt or dissolves.&nbsp;
This can be critical where two or more parties co-locate on a site owned by one party. The lease will need to deal with the term, renewals, rent or other payments, changes for market conditions, and ownership or disposition of plant and equipment upon termination. The rent could be $1 per year, market rate or variable depending on the success of the venture. The lessee would want both renewal rights at a predictable cost and termination rights with minimum liability. The site owner will have an interest in preserving the integrity of the property and assuming ownership of the fixed assets at termination.&nbsp;
Where the co-located facility is essentially in the business of commodity processing, the supply and off-take arrangements will be critical. Pricing on both ends could make or break the venture. One answer might be a tolling arrangement, where the co-located facility is paid a processing fee that is not tied to the market price of either the inputs or production. Where the downstream producer has a market for a product that is not so sensitive to price, it may take more market risk with respect to inputs.&nbsp;
Joint arrangements for utilities and transportation can be a major cost reduction benefit of co-location. Shared electric and natural gas sources and even a jointly owned power plant should be considered. Water source, recycling and disposal should be common. Road access and rail service should be shared. The agreements will need to identify which party will control these relationships and own the related real estate and fixed assets.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Co-location may also involve special management and labor sharing arrangements. Thus, management, employment and various operating services agreements may be used to reduce operating costs.&nbsp;
Financing sources, including equity and debt investors in either party to a co-location arrangement, will take a great interest in assuring the integrity and durability of whatever arrangement and agreements are made. Lenders particularly will look for assurances on the supply and off-take sides to support the viability of the facility or company being financed.
Risks and liabilities will need to be considered when co-locating facilities. An incident at one facility could damage the other. Indemnification and insurance will need to allocate risks and provide protection that is adequate in scope and amount.
Realizing the benefits of co-location will depend on sound planning and structuring. The parties will rely on engineering, operations, procurement, marketing, finance and legal resources to bring the project from conception to success. Outside advisors will bring expertise to the table to support each of these tasks.&nbsp; Author: Dean R. Edstrom Partner Attorney, Lindquist &amp; Vennum PLLP (612) 371-3955 <a href="mailto:dedstrom@lindquist.com">dedstrom@lindquist.com</a>

Co-location has its benefits, but it also has risks and liabilities 


Structuring a Successful Co-location Project

As the demand for nonfood-based biofuel feedstocks is rapidly growing, so is the sophistication of the commercial agricultural methods used for these types of plants. Jatropha farming is still in its infancy as genetics, agronomics and horticulture sciences are beginning to drive new varieties, more knowledge around the plant&rsquo;s nutritional requirements and more science-based&nbsp; processes for the care and custody of the plant. This is beginning to drive reliable and scalable results in jatropha farming. Early, less knowledgeable entrants are fading into the background and are being supplanted with a breed of experienced investors and operators keenly focused on building a solid foundation for industrial scale production.
So while Jatropha agriculture continues to be a new and exciting alternative energy source, and the world continues to watch its development closely, there are still many misnomers about where it should be grown, how to grow it and what resources the plant needs to achieve commercially productive yields. Unfortunately, &ldquo;sound bites&rdquo; still get circulated with very little credibility or scientific basis&mdash;such as recent unsupported statements about jatropha generating more greenhouse gases than it saves, or renewable energy projects that are based on deforestation.
The Center for Sustainable Energy Farming (www.cfsef.org) was created by Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc., one of the largest commercial jatropha farmers in the Americas, as a platform for multidisciplinary research into all aspects of energy farming. The center allows for collaborative research with other researchers and industry partners. The same collaborative research approach is common with other groups of perennial [tree] farmers, who have combined their efforts and resources to improve their product. The center&rsquo;s mission is to perform cutting-edge plant science research in genetics, breeding and horticulture, and further develop technologies to allow for the economic commercialization and sustainability of energy farms globally. In essence, the ability for countries to access a home-grown energy solution that does not drain limited resources in the process. The center has a Master Research Agreement with Penn State University, funded by industry partners, and is developing other technical collaborations and financial partnerships.
Anyone with a background in plant science or agriculture knows that plants do not grow effectively without proper resources. Balancing resources to end up with a sustainable long-term solution without harming the environment is the challenge. The focus must remain on balancing the three major areas&mdash;genetics, agronomics and horticulture practices&mdash;so the plant will grow with optimal productivity.&nbsp;
The direct correlation between improvements in sustainable farming, corporate social responsibility and the resulting social improvements to the community is being proven on commercial jatropha farms in Mexico today. Innovations made on operating farms have resulted in time and cost efficiencies, which, in turn, provides funds that can be allocated to social improvements, health care and immunizations for the farm workers and their families, breakfast programs for students, skilled labor training and education.&nbsp; In order to enhance these benefits, improvements in productivity and sustainability are essential. The center&rsquo;s goal is to triple jatropha yields within 10 years, increase the oil content from 33 to 45 percent, and increase the quality of the oils and other products produced&mdash;while minimizing inputs including pesticides and fertilizers.
We do not believe this is a genetic race to produce the &ldquo;super variety,&rdquo; but it is a race towards commercialization that will lend credibility, reliability and scalability to a plant variety that is working towards mass propagation. Even a super variety planted in inadequate soil and improperly cared for, will be unable to reach its potential and will create dissatisfied stakeholders. If the development focus is properly balanced, the species will go through a series of improvements to continually enhance the characteristics. History has shown this trend with every plant that has been commercialized, including corn. If you look at other commercial crops as a proxy for the possibility for [yield] improvement, not to mention reduction in inputs or resistance to pests and diseases, you will see improvements of 300 to 700 percent over the past 75 years. Jatropha is expected to be the first plant commercialized utilizing modern genomics. The improvements with applied science will accelerate its rapid improvement. Author: Richard Palmer CEO, Global Clean Energy Holdings (310) 641-4234 <a href="mailto:rpalmer@gceholdings.com">rpalmer@gceholdings.com</a>

Global Clean Energy Holdings teams up with Penn State to develop jatropha 

Energy Farming Methods Mature, Improve

10/25. What more appropriate place is there for a conference about an aquatic feedstock like algae than Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes? The 5th annual Algae Biomass Summit will take place October 25-27 at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis. This event unites industry professionals from all sectors of the world&rsquo;s algae utilization industries including financing, algal ecology, genetic systems, carbon partitioning, engineering and analysis, biofuels, animal feeds, fertilizers, bioplastics, supplements, foods and more.
Organized by the Algal Biomass Organization and coproduced by BBI International, this event brings current and future producers of biobased products and energy together with algae crop growers, municipal leaders, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. The event is considered a world-leading educational and networking junction for all algae industries.
Educational tracks at the event focus on biology, engineering, analysis, commercial activities, policy and financing; but education is only one of several reasons to go. The summit is where future and existing producers of algae products go to network with other industry suppliers and technology providers. It&rsquo;s where project developers converse with utility executives; where researchers and technology developers network with venture capitalists; and where Fortune 500 executives and influential policy makers sit side-by-side with project developers.
The event is the largest, fastest-growing algae conference of its kind. This year&rsquo;s event is expected to draw nearly 900 attendees and exceed the previous year&rsquo;s attendance by almost 20 percent. This growth is powered by the current strength of the industry and the positive outlook for future algae producers.
The summit will help you&mdash;algae industry stakeholders&mdash;identify and evaluate technical and economic solutions that fit your operation. Get your plane ticket, reserve your hotel room and register for the conference today.

Algae Event in the Land of 10,000 Lakes

If ever Washington needed more convincing evidence that decisions, or a vote, made on Capitol Hill can change an entire industry, then it need look no further than the message delivered by the head of BP&rsquo;s alternative energy business, Katrina Landis, at last month&rsquo;s New Energy Finance Summit in New York. As she announced the company&rsquo;s plans to invest $2 billion in renewable energy projects this year, Landis didn&rsquo;t hesitate to reveal that some of those investments around the world were on indefinite hold because inconsistent government policies had created an economic nebula too dense for investors. Landis didn&rsquo;t mince words when relaying the realities of the advanced biofuels industry, pushing to commercialize our renewable technologies, when she said, &ldquo;there needs to be some incentive to make those bets with some surety that there is going to be some return in the future.&rdquo;
BP is just one example of the potential leadership position the U.S. has before it, as it could once again be an innovator the rest of the world could follow. Developing renewable energy alternatives is an inevitable part of our shared global future, and America should help lead the way.
The leadership opportunity is real, but will take a consistent commitment by Congress and the administration, avoiding the mercurial ups and downs of public opinion, to first successfully transform America&rsquo;s energy policy and create a template to follow. A critical part of that could prove to be the renewable fuel standard (RFS). Last month I testified before the Senate&rsquo;s Environment and Public Works Committee that RFS is the most important federal policy supporting development of a U.S. advanced biofuels industry. But Washington would be wise to not tinker with it by using it as a tool to pick winners and losers. Let the market play out and have RFS guide it.
Where RFS has shined, our tax policies have been the train light at the end of the tunnel barreling towards us.&nbsp; Advanced and cellulosic biofuels tax policy has been too inconsistent and doesn&rsquo;t provide parity, or the right form of tax options, to enable some to take advantage of current law. While other renewable sectors are afforded provisions such as a refundable investment tax credit, there&rsquo;s nothing for the advanced biofuels industry. Depending on your company&rsquo;s size and scale, a similar ITC option for our industry will prove essential to commercialization.
The tax code is also inconsistent in its rewards according to molecule, feedstock or process. We are seeing firsthand how it penalizes many producers such as algae, and other second-generation biofuels. A broader application is sorely needed. To add insult to injury, the current regulatory structure to govern gasoline and diesel integrates first-gen biofuels and must allow as many new molecules as possible into existing commercial distribution chains. While it must be thoughtful and continue to protect the environment and products currently in the chain, it must explore ways to allow fuels that can economically substitute for those made from imported oil.&nbsp;
The effort to enhance and expedite the deployment of commercial advanced and cellulosic plants shouldn&rsquo;t constrain all the various bidders. Rules mandating or excluding feedstocks economical today from use by second- or third-generation technology platforms should be harmonized with the intent of RFS to deliver as many gallons of renewable product. Currently many agencies try to filter their choices through lenses such as food vs. fuel or greenhouse gas reduction requirements. First, we should deploy and develop a wide range of technologies before trying to pick winners without regard to the price of their fuels. I can assure you that $20 ethanol from nonfood sources will have a hard time, even with a mandate, finding a buyer in this market.
By taking a small fraction of the more than $20 billion already invested in building first-generation biofuels plants, we can deploy our new technologies to those existing facilities to successfully commercialize and produce next-generation molecules that are more energy efficient and usable in today&rsquo;s vehicles. Many new platform technologies could, for small investments, redirect the assets and make fungible molecules. Candidly, these would have more market value. Trying to cram every gallon of ethanol into the gasoline pool has limited returns over the longer haul, and I suggest we broaden the range of products these plants can produce. Heaven forbid some of these plants make specialty chemicals at $6 or $8 a gallon without subsidy. In today&rsquo;s world, imagine the idea of a sustainable economic facility that no longer needs handouts from the federal government.&nbsp;
We see proof time after time that without consistency in public policies our industry is destined for a hamster wheel existence. In a year when budget policy is first on the agenda, it will provide a catalyst for rethinking the status quo. It would force a re-examination of many policies and programs of the past.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s decision time for the biofuels industry, whether it wants to continue supporting certain programs or change and enhance those that have not proven out. Programs such as the energy title of the last Farm Bill are not included in the current baseline federal budget and will require the industry to step up and politically support it, if it has any chance of moving forward. This provides us all an opportunity. Let&rsquo;s open our minds to new ideas, let&rsquo;s communicate across the various sectors and let&rsquo;s create a better conversation to deliver to consumers the best results for tax payer dollars spent. Author: Michael McAdams President, Advanced Biofuels Association (202) 469-5140 <a href="mailto:Michael.McAdams@hklaw.com">Michael.McAdams@hklaw.com</a>

Without it, the wheels spin but get us nowhere

Consistency is King

Waste plastic is clearly not biomass, but this material, which is typically landfilled, serves many of the same purposes as refined biomass&mdash;it reduces demand on and extends current supplies of petroleum, increases alternative energy options, and puts waste streams to good, productive use.
I bring up this topic here to explain why Biorefining Magazine will cover this issue from time to time. And it&rsquo;s not so far off our mission topic, really; MSW streams, considered &ldquo;biomass,&rdquo; often contain high percentages of plastics.
I don&rsquo;t think the idea is in conflict with encouraging people to recycle plastic either. Recyclable plastic has codes, one through six, but there is a lot of plastic that isn&rsquo;t coded and therefore cannot be easily recycled, and even coded plastic has to be clean, mixed with like plastics of the same color and more to be effectively recycled. In addition, there is a growing movement to make more of the plastic we use daily from biobased polymers. We cover this issue almost weekly, and certainly in every print magazine. But one aspect of bioplastics that is less talked about is how recyclable are the biomass-based plastics? What, if any, are the technical issues to be aware of?
This was one of several topics I discussed in April on The Biorefining Blog, my weekly blog on biorefiningmagazine.com. Some interesting comments were received, including one from Joseph Witherspoon, who posted feedback, saying, &ldquo;I am glad to see this issue discussed. Recycling and reusing has its place and purpose, however, even the recycled and reused plastic ultimately ends up in the landfill unless it is consumed. Converting [it] to fuel is a great way to consume and eliminate the plastic that would otherwise accumulate in a landfill. Additionally, converting plastic to fuel recovers and utilizes the available energy in the material. Watch for developing technologies that will convert plastics, any plastic, including chlorides, into high-quality fuels.&rdquo;
CEO of Houston-based Enhanced Biofuels, Roman Wolff, a regular on both of my weekly blogs (The Biorefining Blog and F.A.M.E. Forum on biodieselmagazine.com), has decades of experience in the refining sector. In response to my post, he said, &ldquo;Recyclable plastics tend to make better fuel than nonrecyclable plastic. Plastics with chlorine atoms (PVC and other derivatives of vinyl chloride monomer) should not be burned&mdash;think dioxins. Even good technologies will end up making hydrochloric acid and require clean-up steps. I am not saying don&rsquo;t do it, just do it right. Bioplastics will likely be a lot less recyclable than today&rsquo;s plastics (if done right), because they will be biodegradable&mdash;plastic bags will break down instead of killing dolphins or creating a trash island.&rdquo;
Author: Ron Kotrba Editor, Biorefining Magazine <a href="mailto:rkotrba@bbiinternational.com">rkotrba@bbiinternational.com</a>

The Unbiomass

Country singer Willie Nelson and his crew continued with their commitment to biodiesel at a recent tour stop in Colorado. RecycOil LLC and the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance teamed up to fuel Nelson&rsquo;s vehicles with biodiesel the morning his Country Throwdown tour stopped at Red Rocks Amphitheater. &ldquo;It is a terrific honor to fuel up Willie Nelson's tour as he is an artist that has fueled up country music fans across the USA,&rdquo; said RecycOil CEO Aaron Perry. &ldquo;His support of farmers and the biodiesel industry are testament to his commitment to rural communities and the production of sustainable, American-made biofuels.&rdquo;
 RecycOil recycles waste cooking oil from more than 1,600 restaurants, businesses and sporting and cultural venues located in Colorado and the southern region of Wyoming. The company not only supplies biodiesel producers with recycled oil feedstock, but also partners with fuel distributors to provide biodiesel to customers in Colorado.
 According to Tanner Watt, SBA associate director, the organization's goal is to connect biodiesel users with local biodiesel providers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about educating consumers and giving them options so they can make purchasing decisions that benefit their communities and the environment.&rdquo;
 Last year, the SBA introduced its Sustainability Report Card, which is aimed at summer music tours. Artists involved in the program this summer will use ABA tools to help source and evaluate biodiesel and biodiesel blends on their summer tours in order to purchase and use the most sustainably produced fuel in each market they visit.

Fueling a Legend: RecycOil fuels Willie Nelsonâ€™s tour bus during his Country Throwdown tour stop at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. 

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Willie Nelson's use of biodiesel draws publicity at Red Rocks

Fueling Support 

What do commerce, industry and waste trap grease have in common? Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are trying to find out. Through a research effort related to the Water, Energy and Soil Sustainability effort already happening at Manoa, (an effort funded in part by the U.S. DOE), lead researcher Michael J. Cooney will look at ways to treat waste trap grease into more useful products like biodiesel or soil enhancers.&nbsp;
 The team of collaborators from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and even the Shidler College of Business will also be joined in their efforts by Pacific Biodiesel Inc. &ldquo;Without a cost-effective way to treat waste trap grease,&rdquo; Cooney says, &ldquo;the local restaurant industry will be threatened, which would negatively impact both the visitor industry and the community.&rdquo;
 As it is now, most fats, oils and grease (FOG) cannot be disposed of in the regular sewer lines, but are instead collected by truck, shipped to a processing center, broken down into smaller fractions and eventually sent to waste-treatment facilities. But, much like tipping fees at landfill sites, the cost to dispose of the FOG is high, and in some cases the waste treatment facilities won&rsquo;t accept the shipment.
 Pacific Biodiesel specializes in production from used cooking oil and has experience in handling waste trap grease. Edward Zwick, general counsel for the company, says any potential licensing of a process or technology that comes from the efforts by everyone involved in the project, could be significant. Joining the collaboration is also another waste treatment specialist, RealGreen Power, a startup based in Hawaii that has developed an anaerobic bioreactor containing &ldquo;bionest&rdquo; structures that help to retain microbial content, which helps to maintain high digestion efficiency, according to the company. RealGreen Power&rsquo;s process can produce water suitable for irrigation, or potable water suitable for drinking.
 Pacific Biodiesel President Bob King says the partnership will be &ldquo;gratifying,&rdquo; and adds that he is also looking forward to helping RealGreen Power.

Hawaii researchers are taking on trap grease for use in biodiesel	

A New Waste Trap Technology for Licensing? 

A partnership between the NBB and the Universal Technical Institute has trained more than 300 diesel instructors on how biodiesel works with existing diesel technology. Those instructors then pass on the invaluable information to their students, helping to dispel myths about the fuel.&nbsp;
 &ldquo;I've found that students are very curious about biodiesel, but they come in with misinformation,&rdquo; says Jason Mosler, an instructor and technical team leader at UTI.&nbsp; &ldquo;They think that it's fryer grease, that you can make it in your backyard. When we can clear the air on those misconceptions and explain what commercial biodiesel really is, their eyes are opened.&rdquo;
 Providing accurate information to students ultimately helps ensure they will be equipped to answer future customers&rsquo; questions about the fuel. Moser says this is important because biodiesel is likely to be a part of any diesel technician&rsquo;s future.
 &ldquo;People listen to their automotive technicians, and if there is an information gap there, techs are not likely to recommend biodiesel to their customers,&rdquo; says Rachel Burton, who leads NBB's Biodiesel for Diesel Technicians program.

A National Biodiesel Board program educates future mechanics

Teaching Technicians 

The idea of sustainability isn&rsquo;t just for rural communities or energy-strapped areas. In Dubai, the police department has taken a lead-by-example approach and entered into the first phase of a project that will recycle the used cooking oil from within the department for use as biodiesel feedstock. The biodiesel produced via used cooking oil will then be put to use in buses used by the department. The Dubai police force has already won the Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport for its biodiesel agenda and for helping 25 percent of its employees commute by bus.
 The Dubai police force is a prime example of an organization that cares about sustainability. Its work to plant mangroves (in an area that later became a nature preserve), launching a marine pollution-sensing boat and a plan to plant 1 million trees, the police force shows that community scale co-ops, fleet sustainability standards and even law enforcement groups in a country where fossil fuel is the law, all are adopting a stance on renewable energy that serves the biodiesel industry well.

A few buses show a popular stance on a global scale

Dubai's Biodiesel Powered Buses

As someone who hails from Joplin, Mo., a town that was recently hit by one of the most destructive tornados in U.S. history, I have come to understand the value of insurance in a way that many, thankfully, never will.&nbsp; Along with inner strength, faith, hope, and courage, good insurance is a critical component for weathering devastating events like those recently experienced in my hometown.
 While the U.S. biodiesel industry hasn&rsquo;t lived through anything as vicious as the Joplin tornado, last year, we did survive the market equivalent of an F5-rated twister with the combined loss of the federal tax credit, renewable fuel standard, and major international markets.&nbsp; Along with those essential personal qualities that are helping Joplinites recover from their disaster, insurance, in the form of state policies, has also helped the biodiesel industry survive its own disaster.
 Last year was, of course, not great by any measure.&nbsp; But were it not for state policies, industry sales and production would have been at levels just north of 15 percent of their 2008 highs.&nbsp; With state policies in place, however, the industry produced at a rate a little over 40 percent of that high water mark&mdash;still not good, but much better than the alternative.
 One of my goals as NBB&rsquo;s director of state governmental affairs is to help our members establish a system of state programs around the country that are sturdy enough to survive even the strongest of storms.&nbsp; We aren&rsquo;t there yet, but we continue to move forward with more and better state policies each and every year.&nbsp; In 2010, for example, Connecticut and New York City passed sweeping Bioheat requirements.&nbsp; This year, Vermont passed a statewide Bioheat requirement.&nbsp; All told, nine states and two major municipalities have now passed biodiesel blend requirements.&nbsp; Once implemented, these policies will comprise a meaningful safety net for the industry.
 In addition, even during trying fiscal times, states continue to pass consumption incentives for biodiesel that increase market share for our product.&nbsp; This year, Iowa passed a 4.5-cent incentive for blends of biodiesel at or above five percent and New York State passed an incentive of up to 20 cents per gallon for B20 Bioheat blends.&nbsp; These policies, which join dozens of similar measures on the books in other states, provide a level of certainty for the biodiesel industry that markets will exist even in the absence of key federal policies.
 Ultimately, policymakers nearly everywhere realize that biodiesel is a great product.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s clean, it&rsquo;s renewable, and it&rsquo;s made in their own backyards.&nbsp; For these reasons, I believe we will continue to see state markets expand in the coming years through blend requirements, market-based incentives, and carbon reduction initiatives.&nbsp; And who knows, one day state policies may even overtake federal policies as the principal industry drivers.&nbsp; Until that time, however, we will continue growing state programs, the U.S. biodiesel industry&rsquo;s insurance policy. Shelby Neal, Director of State Governmental Affairs, National Biodiesel Board

Shelby Neal, Director of State Governmental Affairs, NBB

2011/07/13107464379014.jpg

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The Value of Insurance When Devastation Strikes

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. is the newest original equipment manufacturer to support B20. Isuzu recently announced that all of its new 2011 and forward model year diesel engines, including its four popular N-Series truck models and the new Isuzu Reach commercial van, are compatible with B20.
 Isuzu&rsquo;s B20 announcement marks the first Asian manufacturer to approve B20 in its U.S. market spec engines, and it commands an impressive 73&nbsp; to 75 percent market share of the low cab-forward, medium-duty truck market in the U.S.&nbsp;
 According to Brian Tabel, Isuzu commercial truck&rsquo;s retail marketing manager, Isuzu&rsquo;s announcement of B20 support came as the result of three key factors:&nbsp; growing consumer demand for the fuel, an extensive B20 research project by Isuzu engineers in the U.S. and Japan, and improved U.S. biodiesel fuel quality. He specifically noted the industry&rsquo;s efforts to secure a specification for B6 to B20 biodiesel blends, ASTM D7467, as a contributing factor to OEM acceptance.
 Tabel added, &ldquo;In looking for ways to lessen our environmental footprint while also improving fuel economy, we realized that our customers can much more easily afford a high fuel-efficiency, B20-compatible diesel vehicle running on biodiesel blends than some of the very expensive hybrid vehicles out there.&nbsp; Biodiesel just makes sense.&rdquo;
 Now more than 60 percent of manufacturers in the U.S. market approve the use of B20 or higher blends in at least some of their equipment.&nbsp; Much of that progress is attributable to the efforts of NBB&rsquo;s OEM Outreach &amp; Education Program, led by NBB Technical Director Steve Howell. During NBB&rsquo;s June membership meeting, Howell was presented with a &ldquo;B20 Vision Award&rdquo; plaque and recognized by the NBB Governing Board for his outstanding efforts to foster OEM support for B20 biodiesel blends.

Isuzu commercial trucks now powered by B20

It may be hard to believe but preparations have already begun for the 2012 National Biodiesel Conference &amp; Expo. This year&rsquo;s four-day event will be held at the Gaylord Palms Resort &amp; Convention Center, Orlando, Fla., Feb. 5-8.&nbsp;
 Exhibitor registration information will be coming soon along with sponsorship opportunities. Exhibitors are encouraged to take advantage of the early-bird pricing. Make sure you are a part of the largest biodiesel event in North America.
 As part of the annual conference, the National Biodiesel Board recognizes individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding difference in furthering biodiesel with the Eye on Biodiesel Awards. The awards honor industry leaders in six "I" categories:
 &bull; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Innovation: Goes to individual, organization or company with the best idea, new product, research results, invention or marketing strategy to further biodiesel.
 &bull;&nbsp; Inspiration: Presented to an individual who has gone above and beyond to create awareness.
 &bull;&nbsp; Industry Partnership: Presented to an organization that has worked cooperatively and proactively with NBB to further success of biodiesel.
 &bull;&nbsp; Influence: Goes to an organization or individual that has influenced public acceptance of biodiesel.
 &bull;&nbsp; Impact: Awarded for success in legislation, new markets, OEM outreach and other areas of impact on the industry.
 &bull;&nbsp; Initiative: Awarded for success in legislation, new markets, OEM outreach and other areas of impact on the industry.
 NBB will begin accepting nominations for the 2011 awards, which are due by Sept. 1.
 To submit a nomination, email Kaleb Little at klittle@biodiesel.org. Please include in your email: the person/company or organization you are nominating, which award you are nominating them for, the nominee's contact information, the reason for nomination, your name, and your phone/email.

The National Biodiesel Board is accepting nominations for the annual Eye on Biodiesel Awards. The deadline is Sept. 1. 

2011/07/13107468979634.jpg

Preparation begins for 2012 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo

The U.S. biodiesel industry will grow to support more than 74,000 jobs throughout the economy by 2015 while creating some $4 billion in household income, according to an economic study released by the National Biodiesel Board.
 The report also found that the biodiesel industry will grow to generate nearly $1.6 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues in 2015.&nbsp;
 &ldquo;It is critical to be able to quantify the economic and job creation impacts of the biodiesel industry,&rdquo; said Joe Jobe, NBB CEO. &ldquo;With Congress so focused on the economy, this study allows us to show exactly what the industry is and where we are headed.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 The study was conducted by Cardno ENTRIX, an international consulting firm that specializes in environment and natural resources economics.
 While the difficulties faced by the biodiesel industry in 2010 are well documented, the study shows a strong turn around in 2011 and beyond. Production jumped 69 percent in January of this year and has been steadily climbing since. The study predicts the industry will support more than 31,000 jobs in 2011, generate income of nearly $1.7 billion to be circulated throughout the economy, and create more than $3 billion in GDP. Under projected expansion by 2015, that economic impact would grow even further to supporting more than 74,000 jobs, $4 billion in income, and some $7.3 billion in GDP. Much of this turnaround has been attributed to the solid policy framework in place including the biodiesel tax incentive, EPA&rsquo;s renewable fuel standard, and biodiesel&rsquo;s designation as the first commercially available advanced biofuel in the United States.
 &ldquo;At a time when the federal government is looking for answers on how to jumpstart the economy, these numbers make clear that the federal policies supporting biodiesel are paying off,&rdquo; Jobe said.

NBB study finds biodiesel is bright spot in US economy 

August usually isn&rsquo;t the time of year for Bioheat and home heating to be top-of-mind subjects, but this summer the NBB Petroleum Outreach team has created a buzz around Bioheat with some new and exciting outreach initiatives.
 One of the best ways to reach consumers with the benefits of Bioheat is through their current heating oil company. That is why a comprehensive set of print materials was developed for Bioheat fuel dealers to alert consumers about the emergence of Bioheat in their area. Door hangers, statement stuffers, post cards, larger trifold brochures, Frequently Asked Questions, and Myth&rsquo;s and Facts brochures were all made available to Bioheat dealers.
 &ldquo;As the heating oil industry transitions to a Bioheat industry its important end users know why companies are making the change,&rdquo; said Paul Nazzaro, NBB Petroleum Liason and president of Advanced Fuel Solutions. &ldquo;This initiative makes it possible for Bioheat dealers to educate their customers with a consistent, focused message.&rdquo;
 Another unique marketing opportunity that the petroleum outreach team has taken advantage of to spread the news about Bioheat is a comprehensive campaign with an independent Massachusetts radio station, 92.5 The River. The program includes internet positioning, radio advertising, and a smart car with a full Bioheat wrap touring a number of Northeast area events, including an Aug. 18 appearance at the Boston Green Fest.&nbsp;
 &ldquo;This grassroots ad campaign has educated thousands of potential Bioheat users and has people asking, &lsquo;where can I get this great product?&rsquo;&rdquo; said Nazzaro. &ldquo;It is really pull-through marketing at its best.&rdquo;
 Another major project in the Bioheat consumer communication program is development of a New York Transit and New York Subway Bioheat marketing theme. Coordination between CBS Outdoor Media and the petroleum outreach team is underway to bring the Bioheat message to the forefront in New York City.

New Bioheat printed materials are available to fuel dealers by contacting Paul Nazzaro at (978) 664-5923. 

August 2011

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

People, Partnerships & Deals

Business Briefs

Columns

Supporting Biogas Production Just Makes Sense

BPA Hosts Successful Washington Fly-In

Legislative Support for Biomass Thermal Continues to Build

Significant Biomass Power Generation: Still Waiting in the Wings

AD: Promoting Health and Quality of Life in Developing Countries

Structuring a Successful Co-location Project

Energy Farming Methods Mature, Improve

Consistency is King

The Unbiomass

Optimizing for Better Economics

BQ-9000: A Community-Scale Perspective

Feel the Heat

Featured

Industrial-Strength Waste to Energy

Living, Learning Lab

Dairy Diversification

Methanation in Missouri

The Scary Truth about Pulp and Paper

Upstream Diversity

A Walk in the (Research) Park

Streamlining a Community-Scale Solution

Do Community Co-Ops Matter?

ASTM Approval

Contributions

Reading Between the Tree Rows

The Critical Analysis of Biomass

Defeating NIMBYism

Quick and Dirty Feedstock Characterization

August 2011.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

People, Partnerships & Deals

Business Briefs

Columns

Supporting Biogas Production Just Makes Sense

BPA Hosts Successful Washington Fly-In

Legislative Support for Biomass Thermal Continues to Build

Significant Biomass Power Generation: Still Waiting in the Wings

AD: Promoting Health and Quality of Life in Developing Countries

Structuring a Successful Co-location Project

Energy Farming Methods Mature, Improve

Consistency is King

The Unbiomass

Optimizing for Better Economics

BQ-9000: A Community-Scale Perspective

Feel the Heat

Featured

Industrial-Strength Waste to Energy

Living, Learning Lab

Dairy Diversification

Methanation in Missouri

The Scary Truth about Pulp and Paper

Upstream Diversity

A Walk in the (Research) Park

Streamlining a Community-Scale Solution

Do Community Co-Ops Matter?

ASTM Approval

Contributions

Reading Between the Tree Rows

The Critical Analysis of Biomass

Defeating NIMBYism

Quick and Dirty Feedstock Characterization

August 2011