Federal goals and incentives are laying a launch pad for renewable hydrogen, aiming at a five-fold increase from current capacity, but biogenic hydrogen could be left on the ground if some environmental advocates succeed in getting restrictive rules.&nbsp; The Biden administration’s goal is to expand clean hydrogen production from today’s nominal levels to 10 million metric tons per annum (MMTpa) by 2030 and 50 MMTpa by 2050, backed by serious money. The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $7 billion to build regional clean hydrogen hubs and the Inflation Reduction Act includes a production tax credit worth between sixty cents for carbon intensity (CI) between 2.5 and 4 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen (kgCO2e/kgH2), up to a maximum of $3/kg for a CI lower than 0.45 kg CO2e/kg. The details of how CI will be measured and what will be eligible are yet to be determined. A debate is raging right now about how restrictive those rules should be.&nbsp;&nbsp; Biogenic supporters point out that biogas, particularly dairy manure, could support carbon negative hydrogen. The U.S. DOE reports pyrolysis, though less than 1% of current U.S. production, produces hydrogen with carbon intensities (CI) in a range of 1.5-3.5. kgCO2e/kg H2. That category appears to include other forms of biogenic hydrogen.&nbsp; Currently, industry annually produces about 10 million metric tons per in the U.S. and 90 million metric tons globally, mostly at oil refineries to be used in refining, ammonia-based fertilizer and other large-scale chemical production. Using natural gas as the feedstock, hydrogen production generates about 100 million metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) each year, according to the DOE’s draft “National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap.” The DOE projects the use of clean hydrogen can enable a 40-90% reduction in GHG emissions by displacing incumbent fossil fuels. Defining exactly what “clean hydrogen” means is one of the tasks ahead. The DOE’s document “Clean Hydrogen Pathway to Commercial Liftoff” lays out the vision further. Hydrogen can help fuel difficult-to-decarbonize sectors in industry, chemicals, heavy duty transportation, aviation and marine applications. The document covers the challenges and opportunities in building infrastructure and markets applicable to all production methods, but when it comes to discussing production hurdles, the focus is entirely on electrolysis. “Biogas has been sort of a footnote,” says Gabriel Olson, director of carbon strategy and policy at BayoTech, adding that it is significant that biogenic sources of hydrogen are explicitly named in federal incentives, even though only given a nod in DOE documents.&nbsp; Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, BayoTech provides gas storage and transportation equipment, supplying about 80% of the California on-road hydrogen transport market, Olson says. This summer, the company is commissioning its first commercial, modular small-scale hydrogen production unit just west of St. Louis at Wentzville, Missouri. The facility will produce 350 tons per year for local industrial gas suppliers, fleet operators and fuel cell equipment manufacturers in a 300-mile radius. Siting its plant on the Ranken Technical College Campus, BayoTech is collaborating with the college to educate and certify skilled workers, developing curriculum on hydrogen manufacturing, plant operations and maintenance, as well as dispensing, fueling and transportation.&nbsp; BayoTech’s scaled-down steam methane reactor (SMR) builds on technology first developed by Sandia National Laboratory to efficiently miniaturize the massive oil refinery SMR units. Putting production close to the end user minimizes transportation and storage costs, Olson says. “What we were seeing even before the tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act is an emerging need for hydrogen for a variety of end uses. They’re smaller customers, but typically they don’t have access to a reliable and cost-effective supply of hydrogen.”&nbsp;&nbsp; There are not many suppliers of hydrogen, Olson says, so the large players effectively have a monopoly, which is reflected in unfavorable contracts and retail prices as high as $30/kg. “We see that as an opportunity,” Olson says. “We see the ability to be more attractive on pricing and contract terms, and to be more flexible.”&nbsp; He lists chip manufacturers, pharmaceuticals and a variety of food products as near-term markets as well as future, larger markets in fueling heavy-duty trucks and power generation, particularly in back-up generators.&nbsp; While BayoTech’s modular SMR units could be colocated with a biogas producer at a wastewater treatment facility, landfill or livestock anaerobic digester, Olson expects the units will more likely be sited closer to the hydrogen users. In order to produce carbon neutral hydrogen, BayoTech will utilize book-and-claim accounting, contracting the environmental assets of biogas produced elsewhere and applying those credits to the hydrogen produced at their facilities, which use locally supplied pipeline natural gas.&nbsp; Policy Uncertainties Two factors could impact the economics of leveraging biogas as a feedstock to create low-carbon hydrogen—the fate of book-and-claim accounting and the framework of the federal production tax credits. “Dairy biogas is considered to be deeply negative with a CI score of negative 300,” Olson says. “That’s great, because you can use that negative carbon intensity to offset your carbon emissions and reach carbon neutrality cost effectively. But the environmental folks in the debate around the production tax credit say ‘That’s not accurate, not fair. Don’t give negative value to biogas, it should be zero at best. ’ ”&nbsp; Another potential landmine is efforts to disallow book-and-claim. “There’s a debate in California and Colorado that you can’t use biogas from out of state if you want their incentives,” he says. “Some are looking to restrict book-and-claim to only allow local, or even onsite use of biogas.” On top of those two concerns is uncertainty about how the carbon intensity of hydrogen will be determined for the new federal incentives and the specifics of the eligibility rules. Katrina Fritz, executive director the California Hydrogen Business Council, concurs the debate around federal rules is critically important. “The two packages of incentives at the federal level, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, have different carbon intensity requirements. The IRS still has to issue guidance, and there’s a hot debate on how strict will it be with hydrogen.”&nbsp; Some groups are advocating stricter rules than any other resource or technology, she says. “There’s no requirement that the grid be 100% renewable when you charge your electric vehicle. Some want a requirement that only hydrogen produced from electrolyzers using wind or solar is allowed, which would totally exclude biomass.”&nbsp; The business council advocates for inclusive policies that allow the use of biomass and waste to generate hydrogen, and for equal treatment for biogenic hydrogen in any mandates, she says. “It’s been determined by numerous studies and research to be necessary as a decarbonization pathway, and it’s included in the climate change scoping update from 2022 by the California Air Resources Board as a necessary pathway.”&nbsp; California’s Hydrogen Expansion California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard has been a major driver behind the state becoming the nation’s, and indeed the world’s, leading market for hydrogen. Almost 16,000 cars and 66 buses traverse the state’s roads, with another 103 buses on order. The state has 58 hydrogen fueling stations for cars today, with 37 proposed or under construction. For light- duty vehicles, adding hydrogen fueling can be as simple as adding a pump to existing gas stations. “The footprint is much smaller to put in one pump than to have charging stations for an hour or two,” she says. The infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks is beginning to develop as well, with three stations in service and another nine funded. That is expected to pick up pace as fleet operators plan for the state’s goal of reaching 100% zero emission vehicles by 2035. They’re going to test both batteries and hydrogen, Fritz says, adding that hydrogen offers some advantages. In addition to a longer range for fuel cell vehicles and much shorter time requirement for refueling with hydrogen, there’s an infrastructure hurdle to overcome for batteries. Charging a fleet of 20 or 30 heavy-duty trucks requires not only upgrading a facility’s electrical system, but often the substation providing the power. The queues for getting that work done are five or 10 years long, Fritz says. “Today, you can get the hydrogen infrastructure built in one year.” California hopes to boost its growing hydrogen sector with the aid of a DOE hydrogen hub grant. The infrastructure act allocated $7 billion to support six to eight hydrogen hubs across the nation. “California has a huge coalition of organizations, companies, the California university system and the governor’s office,” Fritz says. California’s $1.6 billion proposal seeks to demonstrate several production systems, including renewables, as well as delivery and end uses. The competition will be stiff, as Fritz reports 33 full proposals were submitted to the DOE. “There will be a very extensive review process,” she adds. “If you’re awarding more than $1 billion to a project, you want to make sure those projects are going to succeed, that they’re going to move the market.” Building Out California’s Biogenic Hydrogen Sector The following sampling of biogenic hydrogen projects under development in California demonstrates the multiple approaches being developed to utilize the state’s bountiful biogas, biomass and waste streams. Yosemite Clean Energy. Yosemite Clean Energy received two $500,000 grants from the California Department of Conservation for its forest biomass to carbon-negative fuels projects. Announced in January, the first grant supports Yosemite’s flagship project in Oroville, California, to produce 24 tons of hydrogen per day.&nbsp; The second grant will support preliminary engineering for Yosemite’s Tuolumne County hydrogen project. Using Austrian firm Repute’s technology, Yosemite gasifies woody biomass into syngas, which is then processed into hydrogen and renewable natural gas. Both gasification and reforming technologies are proven, commercialized processes. In its news release announcing the Oroville project, Yosemite describes its business model as a democratization of clean energy with partial ownership by farmers and forest landowners, who in return will provide wood waste gathered at the end of an orchard’s lifecycle or through sustainable forest management.&nbsp;&nbsp; Raven SR. Also in January, Wyoming-headquartered Raven SR Inc. announced a collaboration with Chevron New Energies and Hyzon Motors to commercialize a green waste-to-hydrogen production facility at Richmond, California. To produce the hydrogen, the project is expected to divert up to 99 wet tons of green and food waste per day from a landfill into Raven’s noncombustion steam/CO2 reforming process, producing up to 2,400 tons annually of renewable hydrogen. Chevron plans to market its share of hydrogen in northern California. Hyzon, a global supplier of fuel cell electric commercial vehicles, plans to develop a hydrogen fueling hub in Richmond.&nbsp; &nbsp; The Raven SR technology is a noncombustion thermal, chemical reductive process that converts organic waste and landfill gas to hydrogen and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels. In describing its technology, Raven says it is unlike other hydrogen production technologies in that its steam/CO2 reformation does not require fresh water as a feedstock and uses less than half the energy of electrolysis. The process is more efficient than conventional hydrogen production and can deliver fuel with low to negative carbon intensity. Additionally, Raven SR’s goal is to generate as much of its own power onsite as possible to reduce reliance on or be independent of the grid. Its modular design provides a scalable means to locally produce renewable hydrogen and synthetic liquid fuels from local waste. SGH2 Energy. SGH2 Energy is partnering with the city of Lancaster, California, to process 40,000 tons of mixed waste to generate 12,000 kg of hydrogen per day, or 3.8 million kg (3,800 tons) per year. The company will use its patented Solana Plasma Enhanced Gasfication technology to convert waste “from paper to plastics, tires to textiles” into green hydrogen. The process uses a plasma-enhanced thermal catalytic conversion process optimized with oxygen-enriched gas. In the gasification island’s catalyst-bed chamber, plasma forces generate high temperatures that disintegrate the feedstock without ash. The syngas goes through a pressure swing absorber system resulting in pure hydrogen. In February, the company received the final approval from the Lancaster Planning Commission, getting the green light for the engineering, procurement and construction phase of the project. The approval also clears the company to receive a $3 million grant award from the state.&nbsp;&nbsp; FuelCell Energy. FuelCell Energy expects to bring its Trigeneration Direct Fuel Cell Power Plant online this fall at the Toyota Logistics Services facility in the Port of Long Beach, California. In its 2022 annual report, the company described the project as “the first fuel cell project in the world to produce electricity, hydrogen and water from direct renewable biogas. To our knowledge, this will be the only distributed hydrogen platform in the world with a 20-year off take agreement with an investment-grade counterparty.”&nbsp; Biogas sourced from agricultural waste will be utilized by the Trigen facility to produce 1.2 tons of hydrogen, supporting 10,000 Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicles processed at the port annually, and a fleet of 20 or more Class 8 fuel cell electric trucks. Trigen will also generate 2.3 MW of renewable electricity, more than what the port facility requires. Byproduct water generated by the system will supplement municipal water for the onsite car wash. Author: Susanne Retka Schill Biomass Magazine freelance writer

2023-07-10 - High Hopes for Hydrogen (Biomass Magazine)

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Primary resource areas for renewable hydrogen production and conversion in California  

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Construction of BayoTechâ€™s first hydrogen hub is underway. Located in Wentzville, Missouri, the facility will produce 350 tons per year of low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen for local industrial gas suppliers, fleet operators, fuel cell equipment manufa

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Multiple new projects promise to expand biogenic hydrogen production, but only if unhindered by rules favoring electrolyzers.

High Hopes for Hydrogen

Fire and explosion protection are key in any industry with dust, and the biomass industry is no exception. The wide variety of fire prevention and mitigation tools available to producers are constantly evolving. Eric Peterson, CEO of Fagus GreCon Inc. in the U.S. and Canada, explains that there are three components needed to start a fire. First, there must be oxygen present; second, there must be a fuel source&mdash;generally this tends to be the product needing protection&mdash;and finally, an ignition source. &ldquo;What our equipment is designed to do is detect that ignition source and extinguish it,&rdquo; Peterson says. Fagus GreCon Fagus GreCon has two recently developed technologies that are utilizing advanced intelligence to improve accuracy. The first of these technologies is the DLD 1/9 Spark Detector, which was released last year. Peterson explains that while past spark detectors operated solely in fully lit or completely dark environments, this new spark detector has the ability to adjust to ambient light. While old detectors set up in air ducts might go off due to a hole in the duct letting in light, this detector is able to recognize a new environment and avoid potential false alarms. &ldquo;Not only do we want to detect, [but also] we don&rsquo;t want to detect things that may not actually be sparks,&rdquo; Peterson says. GreCon&rsquo;s additional new technology, the Intelligent Extinguishment Module, is set to release in Q4 2022. Peterson explains that the module is integrated into the extinguishment system and communicates with the command console, letting it know when the extinguishment system needs maintenance. The module can also be installed with a heating device in colder climates to allow for a &ldquo;built-in temperature, cross-monitoring system&rdquo; to help the extinguishment system avoid freezing in the winter. &ldquo;This will tell them that they have some wear on their nozzles or valves that&rsquo;ll need to be replaced, so it&rsquo;ll communicate that to the console, providing operators with notices like &lsquo;Hey, you&rsquo;re not getting the right water pressure,&rsquo; or &lsquo;Your nozzle needs to be replaced, it&rsquo;s a little worn and not spraying appropriately,&rsquo;&rdquo; Peterson says. Both of these technologies require access to electricity, and the extinguishment system requires water access for installation. The number of spark detectors needed per application varies depending on each customer&rsquo;s needs. Peterson outlines several of the statistics related to industrial fires and what causes them. There are over 30,000 industrial and manufacturing fires every year in the U.S. and Canada, he explains, and many of those are started due to dust. The ignition source varies depending on the industry, which is why flame detectors or high temperature detectors are key to catching the situation before anything starts on fire. Problem spots in plants often include the dust collector, grinders, dryers and silos. &ldquo;Obviously, when you&rsquo;re collecting dust ... there&rsquo;s a lot of ignition material that can catch on fire,&rdquo; Peterson says. &ldquo;So, making sure you&rsquo;re protecting that is also important.&rdquo; FLAMEX New technology from special hazard fire protection company, FLAMEX Inc. gives clients the ability to protect areas where a sprinkler system may not be an option. The company&rsquo;s MX One Fire Protection Turbine has the ability to spray 1,000 gallons of water per minute at an 80-meter distance. The turbine can also cover the area in a fine spray at 500 gallons per minute. Ed Pridgen, FLAMEX vice president, explains that this technology can either be stationary, placed on a stand in an area the client would like to protect, or mounted on a trailer or fire truck, ready to be driven to the scene. The MX One also has the capacity to be linked to a flame detector and automated. &ldquo;We can automatically operate, so if a detector were to pick up a fire, we send a signal to the control panel, open up the deluge valve that would deliver the water to the base of it, and at that point, a signal would also be sent to the control panel of the MX One, telling it what position the MX One needs to be in and what type of spray scenario it needs to have,&rdquo; Pridgen says. The price for a stand-alone MX One turbine with remote control ranges from $140,000 to $160,000. If a client wants to automate the unit utilizing flame detectors and a control panel, it will add $40,000 to $50,000. The turbine is effective anywhere from an industrial setting or outdoor lumber yard to a rail yard or airport, and, if needed, can lay down a layer of foam instead of spraying water, Pridgen explains. The turbine has a 360-degree protection area, with an upward tilt of 43 degrees and a downward tilt of 19 degrees. The number of turbines needed by a client depends on the asset they are trying to protect. &ldquo;For example, let&rsquo;s say you have a large building the size of a football field and you position the MX One at a common point, covering the building with flame detectors,&rdquo; Pridgen says. &ldquo;And say in section one, [the] flame detector goes into alarm. The MX One will actually align itself to protect that particular coordinate of the building, and if the fire spreads, then the actual single MX One can oscillate between the two points and protect the entire building.&rdquo; Pridgen describes the installation requirements for the technology. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s requires a six-inch line, a water supply line to the connection point of the MX One if this is a stationary unit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s a mobile unit, then the minimum requirements are either three two-and-a-half-inch fire hoses connected to a fire hydrant, or a single four-inch fire hose connected to a fire hydrant. So, that&rsquo;s the water supply side. The electrical supply side is 480 volts, three-phase at 60 amps.&rdquo; CV Technology CV Technology is a manufacturer of explosion protection equipment including explosion vents, isolation, suppression and prevention systems. Its recently patented Interceptor QV, a clean air isolation device, gives operators an opportunity to protect low-dust air flow areas from explosions. &ldquo;A prime example is the clean air exhaust from the dust collector, so it&rsquo;s pretty common in facilities that they want to return the air back to buildings or occupied areas for energy savings,&rdquo; says Jason Krbec, sales and engineering manager at CV Technology. He calls it a &ldquo;set it and forget it&rdquo; device that keeps any dust collector explosions from propagating down the airline into the area to which the clean air is returning. The QV Interceptor is unique in that it is the first device on the market to utilize flameless technology to isolate an explosion passively, according to Krbec. He explains that the technology uses a flame arresting medium&mdash;in this case, a stainless-steel mesh cartridge&mdash;that allows air to pass through without obstruction, but absorbs the energy and contains the heat from any flames. The device is set up inside the pipeline, and unlike many other explosion isolation devices, it does not have a minimum distance requirement since its presence is static in the pipeline. Once bolted inline, the QV Interceptor works on demand, with no external electrical requirements. The device also has some optional features and benefits, such as a sensor that can send the control panel a notification when it has been exposed to a flame, and a dust monitor to notify operators when the stainless-steel mesh needs to be cleaned, a task that can be accomplished in-house. &ldquo;The desire is to have a passive device that can go in the clean air exhaust, and that&rsquo;s where the thought came from,&rdquo; Krbec says. &ldquo;We wanted to come up with a better solution that&rsquo;s not as intrusive, and could be more cost-effective and economical for our clients.&rdquo; There are two primary benefits of installing an Interceptor QV in a biomass facility, Krbec explains. One is reduced down time due to the fact that the technology requires little maintenance, and the other is that the technology is 30 to 40% less expensive than traditional explosion isolation technologies. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll just say combustible dust is a growing issue, especially in biomass where they&rsquo;re handling wood materials or biochar,&rdquo; Krbec adds. &ldquo;As materials get finer and finer in powders, they become easier to ignite and have increased combustibility characteristics. Explosion protection is dual-purpose: on the one side it protects your employees, on the other side it protects your process. So, there are two reasons as to why it becomes really critical.&rdquo; Author: Katie Schroeder kschroeder@bbiinternational.com www.biomassmagazine.com

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Fagus GreCon is set to release its Intelligent Extinguishment Module later this year.

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The core feature of CV Technologyâ€™s Interceptor-QV is the stainless-steel mesh cartridge, which is based on the flameless Quench Tubes the company has been applying for over 25 years.

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The Flamex MX One Fire Protection Turbine system has a 360-degree operating range and enables the highly precise, targeted use of water mist from up to 80 meters distance.

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Experts from FLAMEX, Fagus GreCon and CV Technology share some new and improved technologies for fire and explosion prevention and mitigation.

Arming the Industry

Denmark-based Orsted A/S is planning to establish carbon capture at its wood chip-fired Asaes Power Station in Kalundborg in Zealand, Denmark, and the Avedore Power Station&rsquo;s straw-fired boiler in the Greater Copenhagen area. The technology and logistics for handling and storing carbon from the two combined-heat-and-power plants are in place, Orsted reported, and if financial support is obtained from the current tender for carbon capture and storage, the company can be ready to capture and store 400,000 metric tons of carbon as early as 2025.
Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. broke ground on Ozu Biomass Power Plant in early June, a 50-MW, wood pellet-fueled facility under development in Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. JAPEX is working with Maeda Corp., Yonden Business Co. Inc., and Shinko Denso Co. to develop the project. Electricity produced at the facility will be sold to Shikoku Electric Power Transmission &amp; Distribution Co. Inc. under the country&rsquo;s feed-in tariff system for renewable energy. The facility will be fueled by imported wood pellets. Full-scale operations are expected to require the use of approximately 200,000 metric tons of wood pellets annually. Commercial operations are currently expected to begin in August 2024. The U.S. Industrial Pellet Association on June 28 welcomed continued support for sustainable sourcing of &ldquo;primary woody biomass&rdquo; by the EU Council&rsquo;s General Approach for revising the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII).&nbsp; Amendments to the directive that would declassify primary woody biomass as renewable energy were proposed by the European Parliament&rsquo;s Environment Committee in May, but failed to gain momentum after the Transport, Regional Development, Agriculture and Development Committees all voted to continue the use of primary woody biomass, and they are now joined by the 27 member states of the EU. While the European Commission and Council do not support declassifying primary biomass, parliament has yet to establish its position on the matter. USIPA expects a plenary vote in early fall, paving the way for interinstitutional negotiations among all three branches of the EU government to begin by the end of the year. FutureMetrics LLC published a white paper focused on how inflation could impact the industrial wood pellet industry, particularly costs associated with feedstock harvesting, pellet production and transportation. The paper, authored by FutureMetrics President William Strauss, discusses how diesel fuel prices impact the cost of harvest operations and transporting raw material to the pellet mill. It also illustrates how inflationary pressures related to raw materials, labor, electricity and other expenses could impact the operating costs for a typical 500,000-metric-ton-per-year pellet plant. The paper explains that mills that can utilize rail shipping to transport wood pellets from factory to port are likely to feel less significant impacts. Facilities that ship wood pellets to port via truck are much more likely to be negatively impacted by the high price of diesel fuel, particularly for facilities that must transport wood pellets relatively long distances. In addition, the paper analyzes the impact of inflation on costs to load pellets onto a ship and transport them to Europe. Enviva Inc., the world&rsquo;s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, held a ceremonial gathering at its newly opened terminal at the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, on June 15 to commemorate the first shipment of sustainably sourced biomass to international power and heat producers, with a majority of the port&rsquo;s future shipments slated for Japan. Approximately 18,000 metric tons of wood pellets produced at Enviva&rsquo;s newest plant in Lucedale, Mississippi, were loaded onto the UBC Sacramento at the Port of Pascagoula, destined for the ports of Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, and Fort-de-France, Martinique. Through collaboration with the Jackson County Port Authority, Enviva now owns and operates the deep-water marine terminal in the Bayou Casotte Harbor. It serves as the shipment point for pellets manufactured throughout the Gulf region, via Enviva&rsquo;s newly opened Lucedale, Mississippi, plant and forthcoming plants in Epes, Alabama, and Bond, Mississippi. Since 2019, Enviva has invested over $60 million to build the terminal at the Port of Pascagoula, which can receive product by rail, barge and truck, as well as support Panamax-sized vessels. The facility currently has two wood pellet storage domes, each with 45,000 metric tons of storage capacity. The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the June edition of its Monthly Densified Biomass Fuel Report, which contains data for March. The EIA collected data from 80 operating manufacturers of densified biomass fuel to complete the report. Collectively, respondents purchased 1.72 million tons of raw biomass feedstock in March and produced approximately 920,000 tons of densified biomass fuel, with sales reaching 880,000 tons. Domestic sales of densified biomass fuel in March 2022 totaled 70,000 tons and averaged $196.95 per ton, with production at 140,682 tons and inventory at 249,000 tons. Exports in March 2022 were 810,000 tons and averaged $183.84 per ton, with production at 779,786 tons and inventories reaching 347,147 tons. The next edition was due to be released July 20. CHAR Technologies Ltd. announced the City of Saint-F&eacute;licien, Qu&eacute;bec, has received CA$2.8 million in government funding to support the company&rsquo;s waste heat recovery system at the forest biomass cogeneration plant in Saint-F&eacute;licien. The waste heat recovery system is a first step in a larger, staged approach toward CHAR&rsquo;s proposed and proprietary high-temperature pyrolysis system. The project would produce both biocarbon and renewable natural gas. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering Ltd. has launched full-scale operation of a compact CO2 capture system ordered in November 2021 by Taihei Dengyo Kaisha Ltd. It is the first system of its kind to go into commercial operation, according to MHIENG. The compact CO2 capture system was installed at a 7-MW biomass power plant operated by Taihei Dengyo in Seifu Shinto, a suburb of Hiroshima City, Japan. The system has the capacity to capture 0.3 metric tons per day and is based on a highly versatile, standardized design that requires an installation space of five meters long and two meters wide. CO2 captured from the plant&rsquo;s flue gas will be used for growing vegetables in on-site greenhouses. The biomass power plant where the system was installed was delivered by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power IDS Ltd. in October 2019. As a next step, MHIENG will perform a demonstration test of operational support services for the plant, using a proprietary remote monitoring system.

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Pellet & Power News Roundup 

On an early June morning in Minnesota, the sun is barely visible through a blurry haze that shrouds the landscape from the ground up. 1,300 miles to the east, New York City’s skyscrapers are engulfed in an eerie curtain of smoke, and even those who aren’t particularly sensitive to air quality are cautioned of the outdoors. Such has been the case for weeks, likely with much more in store. The cause, in this case, is not one derived within the states themselves—or even the country—as the rampant, uncontrolled wildfires all across Canada are wreaking havoc on the air across a significant portion of the U.S. From the Midwest to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, some states are recording their worst-ever air quality.&nbsp; But the U.S. is no stranger to unprecedented wildfires. The western part of the country continues to break records with each consecutive wildfire season, heightening the concerns of those in the area, as well as foresters, firefighters, environmentalists and other stakeholders. While there is no silver bullet, aside from climate change mitigation strategies, forest management—thinning and disposal of high-hazard material wherever possible—is a leading solution. To Brian O’Connor, president of Palm City, Florida-based Air Burners Inc., it is perception—or rather, misperception—that is perhaps the biggest challenge in the increasing deployment of the company’s technology—air curtain burners. In particular, the impression that they are polluting incinerators. Nevertheless, the units, which have been studied and tested at length by the U.S. EPA, are steadily gaining traction—for example, many of his units have been purchased and are used by Cal Fire, which is using them for hazardous fuel reduction activities. “Wildfire mitigation today is a big deal,” O’Connor says. “Our machines get sold to many fire agencies in additional to Cal Fire—in high fire danger areas in Nevada, Arizona and other places in the western U.S., and even Australia. It’s a matter of cleaning the brush out and eliminating it in the machine. And because it’s clean wood waste, you’re left with pure carbon ash and biochar that’s turned back into the soil. There is no hauling or grinding. You can put root balls in there, logs, branches—if it fits, it goes.”&nbsp; Trial, Error and Success&nbsp; Backing up to the beginning, as for how O’Connor came to own Air Burners—and ultimately leading it to success—it was very much a case of curiosity and passion. “Air Burners was doing welding for a company I owned at the time, about 35 years ago, and I learned they had a really cool environmental idea, but just couldn’t sell any of the machines. The inventor had just gotten things rolling with a rental fleet, but unfortunately passed away. The company then bumbled along mostly doing fabrication jobs, but eventually went bankrupt. The largest creditor hung onto the company for several years, but didn’t know what to do with it, and as I got to know them through some subcontract manufacturing, I began to understand what the machine was, and why they couldn’t sell it.”&nbsp; O’Connor describes himself as somewhat of an environmentalist, and the purpose of the Air Burner technology—reducing smoke and particulate matter from burning—hit home, as a person with asthma. An engineer by trade, O’Connor began to do research on the air curtain concept. “I found it very interesting, and I offered to buy the company,” he explains. “It was mostly tooling, welding and fabrication equipment, but I put on my engineer hat to understand this whole concept and how it works. I spent about a year building test machines and doing a variety of tests, trying to get this concept down.”&nbsp; The first full machine that O’Connor built—it didn’t work very well, he admits. “But I got a better understanding of the air curtain and what it’s supposed to do—how it’s supposed to trap particulate matter—so ultimately, I came up with a design that did work, and really well. In fact, that very first machine that was modified several times, it has been 26 years and it’s still in use today.” The principle of the air curtain is relatively simple. Clean wood waste such as logs or slash is loaded into a firebox and an accelerant is used to ignite the wood. As the smoke rises off and the wood burns naturally, smoke particles rise up on the hot gasses and encounter the air curtain, which acts like a lid, trapping the smoke and causing it to reburn. “Once the particles are small enough in the reburning process, they can escape through the air curtain and off into the environment,” O’Connor says. “But now, it’s reduced so much that it doesn’t bother anybody. That’s the whole purpose of an air curtain—to create a secondary burn chamber and eliminate the smoke, and it does it very well.” The better the machine is operated, the better the control is for the air curtain, and the further emissions are reduced, according to O’Connor. He says the machines burn wood waste about 40 times faster than opening burning. “From an economic standpoint, it’s the fastest way to get rid of your wood waste,” he says. “Most of what we do are the fireboxes, which are self-contained. To run it incorrectly is to overload it, or pile wood waste above the manifold that’s creating the air curtain, because then it gets dispersed in many different directions and doesn’t do its job. An operator will soon learn it burns much slower then.”&nbsp; While there are misconceptions of the systems being a form of incineration, O’Connor emphasizes that they are not. “There are no gas jets, no secondary hydrocarbon fuels that support combustion—we only use clean wood waste, and it has to burn naturally,” he says. “You light it as you would an open burn with a drip torch, and then once it’s burning, you just add wood. As it burns down you add more, and at the end of the day, you rake out the ash and the biochar, and life is grand.” O’Connor says the machines have been tested extensively all across the world, including by the U.S. EPA. “We were really honored to be asked to join them in a cooperative research and development agreement, or a CRADA, and we were a partner for seven years. We did a lot of testing with them and a lot of interesting projects.”&nbsp; Air Burners has a machine on every continent aside from Antarctica, and resultingly has a library of data. &nbsp; In-Woods Innovation&nbsp; Currently, wildfire mitigation is one of Air Burners’ biggest markets. “We have a variety of machines, and all are self-contained and portable,” O’Connor says. “They arrive on-site and ready to do the job. You can drag them around, and they’re easy to take care of.”&nbsp;&nbsp; One major advantage of the machines is that they don’t require any chipping, grinding or preprocessing of the biomass, so long as it fits.&nbsp; There are many different Air Burner machines under five lines—the Power Series, FireBox, Roll-Off FireBox, Boss Series and Trench Burner—with the same core concept. The CharBoss, a smaller model in the BossSeries line, was designed in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. Based on the Air Burners BurnBoss design, this machine was further developed with an internal system to automatically produce biochar from the waste materials. “Their [Forest Service] goal was to recycle the biochar back to the forest floor, but we do have some customers that use the bigger machines and manually rake out the biochar and sell it,” O’Connor says, adding that a customer in Florida had been selling biochar for approximately $125 per cubic yard, producing around 10 cubic yards per day. “So, he was making over $1,000 a day on biochar, and on top of that, getting paid to eliminate the waste.”&nbsp; The FireBox and BossSeries lines are popular, but the right fit all depends on the customer’s intentions. “We have customers in California that have a fleet of the BurnBosses and TrackBosses, and they deploy them across the mountain ranges,” O’Connor says. “They have workforces that come out and handload the machines. The BurnBox is ideal to move from pile to pile to eliminate them, rather than move all the piles to one particular site.”&nbsp; The standard FireBox allows customers options in terms of capacity, requiring as little as three to four tons per hour, but can process up to 13 or 14 tons an hour. “It’s tough sometimes when people look at our elimination numbers—they’re used to grinders—and they might say their grinder does 50 tons an hour,” O’Connor says. “But they’re putting 10 tons in and getting 10 tons out. If you put 10 tons into our machines, you get a couple pounds of ash out. We’re eliminating it, and that’s a big difference.” As for what Air Burners is most excited about, O’Connor says its Power Series is it. As it name suggests, the machines do just that—generate electricity. “From the beginning, I have always thought that we need to make power—there’s just too much potential energy than to simply burn the material,” he says. But that idea turned out to be rather complicated. “It wasn’t a simple problem,” O’Connor says, mostly because when looking at portability, there were no good options for generators in the 100- to 300-kilowatt range. After a number of years, Air Burners connected with Atlanta, Georgia-based ElectraTherm, which is owned by BITZER. The company manufacturers an organic Rankine cycle generator that Air Burners uses exclusively.&nbsp; “They have the most installed power of anybody in ORCs, and they’re focused on the smaller sizes,” O’Connor says. But another issue was that these ORCs weren’t able to work offgrid. “That was another technical problem, but they can now, as we have developed a little microgrid,” O’Connor says. “Our BioCharger has four components—a cooling module, a firebox module, a power module and a battery storage module.”&nbsp; Air Burners has also partnered with Volvo, which is assisting with knowledge and technical expertise on battery-powered machinery, and Rolls Royce, which builds the chargeable batteries for the system. “All day long, you run your battery-powered excavators, forklifts, loaders, etcetera, eliminating waste,” O’Connor explains. “In doing this, you’re making electricity and storing it in the battery storage module. At night, you plug in your battery-operated machinery, and they recharge.” He adds that this system is particularly helpful in places like California, which, as of next year, is banning the sale of new small gas engines—even chainsaws. “So here is the opportunity to eliminate this waste, which there is no use for, turn it into energy on-site, and put the energy into powering the machines. It’s a really cool thing.” Building Out On a final note, O’Connor says he believes the air curtain burners are turning the notion that biomass energy is expensive on its head. “You’re getting paid to eliminate waste and generate electricity that can be used on-site with the BioCharger, or sent into the grid, with our on-grid PGFireBox System,” he says. While it seems like a no-brainer, he believes the technology is still fairly misunderstood. “People look at us and think that since we’re burning things, it can’t be good,” he adds. “I think the biggest issue is understanding what our machines actually do—they are a pollution control device. And to the skeptics, we say come look at it.” &nbsp; Author: Anna Simet asimet@bbiinternational.com

2023-07-05 - Behind The Curtain (Biomass Magazine)

The Air Burners FireBoxes arrive fully assembled and ready for use. They are built on a steel skid base, allowing users to drag them around the work site. The burn chamber is lined with Air Burnersâ€™ proprietary thermal ceramic panels, which contain

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Pallet and wood debris disposal, reduction of landfill wood waste, or even post-disaster cleanup are additional uses for air curtain burners.

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Brian Oâ€™Connor
President, Air Burners Inc.

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The patented CharBoss is a machine design that was developed through a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement between Air Burners and the U.S. Forest Service. Based on the Air Burners BurnBoss design, the machine was further developed to auto

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The portable BioCharger generates power to feed on-site charging stations, effectively closing the energy loop for operators to work off-grid and keep electric vehicles, forklifts, excavators, chainsaws and lights at the job site running. Air Burners

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Brian O'Connor led Air Burners from a fledgling business with a clever idea to a successful company with a brilliant technology. On an early June morning in Minnesota, the sun is barely visible through a blurry haze that shrouds the landscape from the ground up. 1,300 miles to the east, New York City’s skyscrapers are engulfed in an eerie curtain of smoke, and even those who aren’t particularly sensitive to air quality are cautioned of the outdoors. 

Behind The Curtain

It was nearly 20 years ago that Enviva was founded, and over the past couple of decades, the company has amassed a portfolio of 10 operating wood pellet plants with a production capacity of 6.2 million metric tons per year. Several more are in various stages of development, and the company also owns, operates and exports pellets out of deep-water marine terminals at the Port of Chesapeake, Virginia; the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina; and the Port of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Directly employing about 1,100, Enviva sells most of its wood pellets through long-term, take-or-pay off-take contracts customers in countries including the United Kingdom, the European Union and Japan. While Enviva’s roots are in helping transition fossil fuel heat and/or power plants to wood pellets, the company is finding additional niches in assisting hard-to-abate sectors including steel, cement, lime, chemicals and aviation.&nbsp; Biomass Magazine briefly caught up&nbsp;&nbsp; with Thomas Meth, cofounder, president and CEO of Enviva, about the company’s momentum.&nbsp;&nbsp; BMM: The wood pellets-to-heat-and/or-power space has been Enviva’s mainstay since its inception. What new and emerging markets are you expanding into to further global decarbonization efforts?&nbsp; Meth: Enviva is the largest producer of sustainably sourced wood pellets in the world. Historically, Enviva has primarily delivered our renewable, drop-in energy substitute for coal to power and heat generators across Europe and Japan. Today, we are seeing an ever-increasing demand for our product beyond heat and power, as the war in Ukraine continues and Russian gas becomes obsolete for much of the world. In the last one to two years alone, there has been growth in demand for our product across hard-to-abate industries, such as lime, steel, cement and asphalt, and their decision to take a close look at defossilizing their production facilities and supply chains.&nbsp; The potential applications for our product have dramatically increased and are more realistic today than ever before. With cellulosic biofuels from biomass being a notable part of the Renewable Fuel Standard, we see a path to utilizing the biomass industry’s existing or planned installed capacity to accelerate renewable liquid fuel production, most notably sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to meet the SAF Grand Challenge.&nbsp; We are seeing positive tailwinds across the following industries. • Power and Heating: We have active discussions to add European contracts as the late-stage offtakes roll off—approx. 2 million metric tons per year (MTPY). • SAF: Three contracts are already signed with companies in the U.S. and U.K., with continued discussions around 4 million MTPY potential ramping from 2027. In addition, we completed test deliveries to two major oil companies in Europe that are constructing biorefineries and coprocessing biobased feedstock in their existing refineries. • Aggregates (lime, cement and asphalt): We are having active discussions for approximately 2 million MTPY of potential, ramping up from 2025. • Methanol: Discussions are active, with approx. 1 million MTPY in potential starting in 2025-‘26; methanol-powered vessels have been ordered. • Metals and mining: We have ongoing discussions with an approx. 5 million MTPY of potential in 2027- ’28. • Carbon sequestration: Contracts are already signed, with additional discussions for an approx. 5 million MTPY potential starting in 2030. BMM: In the past, Enviva has labeled itself as a wood pellet producer and supplier—it seems you have expanded your self-description, particularly when it comes to the supply of SAF feedstocks. Can you explain?&nbsp; Meth: As it pertains to Enviva, we will supply wood biomass feedstock derived from the least merchantable, low-value wood from a traditional timber harvest, such as forest byproducts like tree tops, limbs and commercial thinnings. Depending on the customer’s contract, this may or may not be delivered in pellet form. Other variations could include wood chips and processed sawdust.&nbsp; BMM: What are some of the unique benefits (for renewable liquid fuels producers) of biomass as a feedstock?&nbsp; Meth: Biomass for renewable liquid fuels producers provides a clear path to reducing historical reliance on crude oil. As already proven in the power and heating industries, biomass as a feedstock has been demonstrated to reduce liquid fuel carbon emissions on a lifecycle basis and provides a sustainable and renewable resource for transportation fuels. Other key benefits include increased energy security through domestically sourced biomass and waste reduction through the use of agricultural waste, including forestry residue, contributing to a more circular economy.&nbsp; BMM: The U.S. EPA’s biointermediate provisions—which were released last year as a way to expand the feedstock pool for renewable fuels—will they impact the biomass sphere in any way? Meth: Yes, we saw it as a great sign of growth and opportunity for the U.S. market. Historically, Enviva’s business has been export-driven, with a limited domestic customer base. The EPA’s revised provisions provide a way for potential biomass customers to utilize biointermediates to meet their goals of reducing biofuel production costs and expand opportunities for more cost-effective cellulosic biofuels–like woody biomass.&nbsp; Recognizing the scaling up of SAF is critical to meeting the U.S.’s aggressive climate goals, the White House launched the SAF Grand Challenge, with goals to have 3 billion gallons of SAF produced in the U.S. by 2030 and augmenting to 35 billion gallons by 2050. Recently, we have been encouraged by the actions taken by Congress and the White House (i.e., $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill and the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act) about the potential for a significant domestic market in the near future. The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act into law amplifies the U.S. commitment to SAF by providing tax credits for every gallon of SAF produced based on lifecycle greenhouse gas emission reduction percentages. Further, the IRA extends and modifies the tax credit for the production of renewable energy from biomass and other technologies.&nbsp; Europe is pursuing similar policy initiatives such as ReFuelEU, with the European Parliament voting in support of draft rules to require SAF to account for at least 85% of European Union aviation fuel by 2050. Similarly, the United Kingdom announced the introduction of an SAF mandate, requiring at least 10% of jet fuel to be produced sustainably by 2030. BMM: What’s the most challenging component right now, when it comes to decarbonization via sustainable biomass?&nbsp; Meth: Like many other industries today, we must ensure industry’s operational cost position remains low in a world of inflationary pressures and higher interest rates. Simultaneously, we must continue to grow and scale sustainably to meet the ever-insatiable demand of our product as wood biomass continues to play an ever-important role in stabilizing and defossilizing power and heat generation across the globe.

2023-07-14 - Q&A: Finding New Niches (Biomass Magazine)

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Enviva is expanding into new markets, furthering its mission of decarbonization via sustainable woody biomass.

Q&A: Finding New Niches

The USDA on June 9 announced the U.S. Forest Service is investing a combined $43 million in 123 projects through the Community Wood Grants and Wood Innovations Grants programs, which promote innovation in wood products and renewable wood energy economies. Several Wood Innovations Grants support bioenergy projects. For wood pellets specifically, in Kentucky, Dunaway Timber Company was awarded $300,000 to support a wood pellet plant, and in Oregon, Wisewood Energy was awarded $699,161 to support an expansion of wood pellet and brick production to service the state’s bulk wood fuels market. The U.S. exported 720,209 metric tons (MT) of wood pellets in April, down from 909,787 MT exported the previous month, but up over 61,000 MT when compared to April 2022, according to data released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on June 7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The U.S. exported wood pellets to more than a dozen countries in April. The U.K. was the top destination for U.S. wood pellet exports at 348,724 MT, followed by the Netherlands at 228,318 MT and Japan at 106,706 MT. The value of U.S. wood pellet exports was $129.17 million in April, down from both $169.43 million in March and $145.41 million in April 2022. Total wood pellet exports for the first four months of the year reached 2.9 million MT at a value of $531.25 million, compared to 2.74 million MT exported during the same period of last year at a value of $458.1 million. Spain produced a record 768,000 metric tons (MT) of wood pellets in 2022, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network. Domestic consumption and exports were also up when compared to 2021. According to the report, Spain is among the top 10 producers of wood pellets in the European Union but has not been a top consumer of wood pellets. Domestic consumption, however, increased last year, primarily due to higher residential use and improved competitiveness against alternative energy sources. Biomass tax reductions and incentives to install biomass stoves and boilers also helped boost consumption, although incentives for biomass consumption are relatively low when compared to other EU member states. According to the report, Spain had 83 operational pellet plants last year, up from 75 in 2021. Total capacity is estimated at 2 million MT per year. Total pellet production in Spain is estimated at approximately 768,000 MT in 2022. In addition to wood, pellets are also produced from olive kernels, tree nutshells, and sunflower kernels, with total pellet production estimated at approximately 2 million MT last year. Spain is a net exporter of wood pellets, with exports largely exceeding imports. According to the report, expanding pellet demand in other EU member states, combined with a shortage of wood pellets to supply to the EU from Ukraine and Russia, as well as the impacts of measures against Russia, has triggered a steep increase in Spain’s pellet sales in EU countries. The report estimates that exports were at approximately 200,000 MT last year. Pellets imported into Spain largely come from neighboring Portugal, according to the report. Drax Group plc announced it has selected two sites in the U.S. to build new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECSS) projects. The company is also developing an option for a project to add BECCS to an existing pellet plant in Louisiana. Over the past two years, Drax said it has been progressing a number of work streams to develop options for BECCS, with a primary focus on North America. According to the company, it has continued to develop plans for a new-build BECCS power unit capable of producing c.2TWh of electricity from sustainable biomass and capturing c.3Mt of carbon annually. Two initial sites located in the U.S. South have been selected and are progressing to option, according to Drax. Drax estimates total investment would be approximately $2 billion per plant, with a final investment decision (FID) targeted for 2026. The facilities could be operational as soon as 2030. The new-build BECCS projects would enable a wider choice of biomass materials, including wood chips. Drax said it is also continuing to evaluate nine additional BECCS sites in North America. To support the development of North American BECCS projects, Drax has hired 80 employees in the U.S. and Canada and is working to establish a global BECCS headquarters in Houston, Texas. The proposed project to add BECCS capabilities to an existing pellet plant would have the capacity to capture more than 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year from the pelleting process. The project has a projected capital cost of $150 million, according to Drax. The company is targeting FID for the BECCS pellet project in 2024 or 2025, with commissioning expected to begin as soon as 2026. The Vermont House on May 11 voted 107 to 42 to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the Affordable Heat Act, which is designed to affordably reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) in the state’s thermal sector through efficiency, weatherization measures, electrification and decarbonization. The bill was introduced in January and was passed by both houses of the Vermont legislature this spring. Scott vetoed the legislation on May 5. He, in part, cited concerns over costs to consumers, particularly provisions of the bill that will raise the costs of fuel oil. The Vermont Senate voted 20 to 10 to override the veto on May 9, followed by the House. The new law establishes a Clean Heat Standard under which obligated parties are required to reduce GHGs attributable to the state’s thermal sector by retiring required amounts of clean heat credits to meet required GHG reductions of the thermal portion of Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act, which was enacted in 2020. The Affordable Heat Act lists advanced wood heating and sustainably sourced biofuels as two of several eligible clean heat measures that can be used to generate credits under the program. Aemetis Inc., a renewable natural gas and renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, announced June 5 that its Aemetis Biogas subsidiary generated federal D3 renewable identification numbers from the U.S. EPA under the Renewable Fuel Standard for the first time, and has filed to generate California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits for renewable natural gas (RNG) that was delivered to heavy transportation customers starting in late May 2023. The Aemetis Biogas project is managed by a recently installed Allen Bradley Decision Control System with artificial intelligence (AI) energy and process management capabilities.&nbsp; The integrated, on-site and remote management of the Aemetis Biogas network of dairy digesters supports the rapid addition of dairy digesters to the 40-mile Aemetis pipeline and biogas-to-RNG system with utility interconnect. The Aemetis Biogas network of dairy digesters in California’s Stanislaus and Merced counties, and the AI Decision Control System, are partially funded by more than $25 million in grants awarded by the California Department of Food &amp; Ag, California Energy Commission, and PG&amp;E. Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC announced five new anaerobic digestion dairy farm RNG projects in western Michigan, designed to convert animal waste to renewable fuels. Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC is a joint venture between Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corp., and Brightmark Fund Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Brightmark LLC. The Chevron-Brightmark renewable natural gas joint venture operates a nationwide system of RNG joint venture projects. The Castor Project, which processes manure from one large digester, is Brightmark and Chevron’s second-largest RNG project. Other Michigan projects in the joint venture include Meadow Rock, Red Arrow, Willow Point and SunRyz. Including these Michigan projects, the Chevron-Brightmark RNG joint venture has a total of 20 RNG projects across the country. West Biofuels LLC began construction of a 3-MW bioenergy plant in Burney, California, that will convert forest waste and sustainably sourced wood to renewable electricity, heat and biochar. The bioenergy facility is owned by Hat Creek Bioenergy LLC, developed in collaboration with West Biofuels LLC’s, engineering, procurement and construction management team and local partners, including Fall River Resource Conservation District. The biomass feedstock will be procured from local forest restoration projects resulting from five years of drought and the related resurgence of bark beetle infestation in fir and pine trees. The bioenergy facility’s capital budget is estimated at $25.7 million, and it is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2024. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., introduced the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill that aims to identify the standards required to meet the definition of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill would require the federal government to adopt the most up-to-date life cycle emissions models, including GREET or successor life-cycle analysis models to GREET. It would also prevent the federal government from picking winners and losers in the SAF market and clarifies that the U.S. government does not encourage the banning of agricultural feedstocks from being utilized as a viable source of SAF. Honeywell announced that bp selected Honeywell’s Ecofining technology to help support the production of SAF at five bp facilities across the globe. These facilities include Cherry Point refinery in Blaine, Washington; Rotterdam II refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands; Lingen refinery in Lower Saxony, Germany; Castellón de la Plana refinery in Castellón, Spain; and Kwinana Oil refinery in Kwinana, Australia. SAF produced from Honeywell’s Ecofining technology is certified for use according to international standards and be used as drop-in replacement without engine modifications, in blends of up to 50% The U.S. EPA on June 21 released its final Renewable Fuel Standard “set” rule, which includes a modest increase in biomass-based diesel renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2024 and 2025. The agency, however, elected not to finalize provisions of the proposed rule related to electric renewable identification numbers (eRINs). For 2023, the EPA has set the total renewable fuel RVO at 20.94 billion gallons, including the nested RVOs of 5.94 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, 2.82 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, and 840 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel. The agency originally proposed to set the 2023 renewable fuel RVO at 20.82 billion gallons, including the nested volumes of 5.82 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, 2.82 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, and 720 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel. The final 2023 RVO includes a supplemental RVO of 250 million gallons of renewable fuel that completes the EPA’s response to a court remand of the 2016 RFS rule. The final 2024 and 2025 RVOs include modest increases for biomass-based diesel but reduced RVOs for advanced biofuel and cellulosic biofuel. The EPA has set the 2024 RVO for renewable fuel at 21.54 billion gallons, including the nested volumes of 6.54 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, 3.04 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel and 1.09 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel. The proposed RVOs for 2024 were set at 21.87 billion gallons, 6.62 billion gallons, 2.89 billion gallons and 1.42 billion gallons, respectively. For 2025, the EPA has set the total renewable fuel RVO at 22.33 billion gallons, including 7.33 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, 3.35 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, and 1.38 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel. The respective proposed RVOs were 22.68 billion gallons, 7.43 billion gallons, 2.95 billion gallons, and 2.13 billion gallons. Within the final “set” rule, the EPA attributes reductions in cellulosic RVOs to its decision not to finalize eRIN provisions of the proposed rule that would have allowed electricity generated by eligible biogas-fueled facilities to participate in the RFS program. As proposed in December 2022, the eRIN provisions would have allowed electric vehicle (EV) manufactures to generate electric eRINs based on the light-duty electric vehicles they sell by establishing contracts with parties that produce electricity from qualifying biogas. Some representatives of the U.S. biogas and biofuel industries lobbied against this approach, arguing that biogas electricity producers are the parties that should generate eRINs—in line with how liquid biofuel producers generate renewable identification numbers (RINs) under the RFS. In the rule, the EPA indicates that stakeholder positions on the proposed rule’s eRIN provisions varied greatly, with some stakeholders strongly supportive of the proposed provisions, some who sought significant modifications to the program while remaining broadly supportive of eRINs conceptually, and others who opposed moving forward with any type of eRIN framework. “In light of the significant number of comments provided by stakeholders on EPA’s proposed eRIN approach, and the complexity of many of the topics raised in those comments, and the consent decree deadline on other portions of the rule, we are not finalizing the proposed revisions to the eRIN program at this time,” the EPA said in the final rule. “We have adjusted the final volume requirements for this rulemaking to reflect this decision.” “Given strong stakeholder interest in the proposed eRIN program and the range of potential benefits that the program could provide, EPA will continue to work on potential paths forward for the eRIN program,” the agency added.&nbsp; Within the rule, the EPA also addresses its decision to maintain its proposed 2023 RVO for biomass-based diesel and include only modest increases to the 2024 and 2025 biomass-based diesel RVOs. The rule cites U.S. Energy Information Administration data that projects U.S. renewable diesel production capacity could reach nearly 6 billion gallons by 2025, but cautions that some of those projects may not be completed, and the ones that are won’t necessarily produce renewable diesel in the 2023-‘25 timeframe addressed by the “set” rule. The EPA also discusses concerns over feedstock limitations that could result in renewable diesel and biodiesel facilities operating at below capacity, noting that competition for qualifying feedstocks could also reduce in reductions in biodiesel production if larger renewable diesel facilities are able to out-complete smaller biodiesel producers for feedstock. The EPA also points to the structure of the RFS program’s nested RVOs in justifying its decision.&nbsp; According to the agency, it believes that excess volumes of biomass-based diesel beyond the biomass-based diesel RVOs will be used to satisfy the advanced biofuel RVOs, within which the biomass-based diesel volume requirement is nested. “We also believe it is important to maintain space for other advanced biofuels to participate in the RFS program,” the EPA said in the rule. “Although the [biomass-based diesel] industry has matured over the past decade, the production of advanced biofuels other than biodiesel and renewable diesel continues to be relatively low and uncertain. Maintaining this space for other advanced biofuels can, in the long-term, facilitate increased commercialization and use of other advanced biofuels, which may have superior environmental benefits, avoid concerns with food prices and supply, and have lower costs relative to [biomass-based diesel]. Conversely, we do not think increasing the size of this space is necessary through 2025 given that only small quantities of these other advanced biofuels have been used in recent years relative to the space we have provided for them in those years.” The final rule also includes a variety of other regulatory changes that the EPA said aim to strengthen its implementation of the RFS program. This includes modification of regulatory provisions for biogas-derived renewable fuels to ensure that biogas is produced from renewable biomass and used as a transportation fuel and allow for the use of biogas as an biointermediate; enhancements to third-party oversight provisions, including engineering reviews, the RFS quality assurance program, and annual attest engagements; establishing a deadline for third-party engineering reviews for three-year registration updates; updating procedures for the apportionment of RINs when feedstocks qualifying for multiple D-codes are converted to biogas simultaneously in an anaerobic digester; revising the conversion factor in the formula for calculating the percentage standard for biomass-based diesel to reflect increasing production volumes of renewable diesel; flexibility for RIN generation; reiterating the prohibition on generating RINs not used in the covered location; flexibilities for the generation and maintenance of records for waste feedstock; clarifying the definition of fuel&nbsp; used in ocean-going vessels; modifications to the bonding requirements for foreign parties that participate in the RFS program; and other minor changes and technical corrections. In general, representatives of the U.S. biofuels industry are criticizing the final “set” rule, describing it as a missed opportunity and disappointment.

2023-07-14 - Biomass News Roundup (Biomass Magazine)

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Biomass News Roundup

North American wood fiber pricing for the first half of 2022 highlighted regional nuance and variability. Meanwhile, the macroeconomic environment grapples with headwinds from inflation, consumer confidence, interest rate hikes, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Overall, demand for fiber remained strong, supporting the industry sentiment that North American forest products are well positioned for the near-term. For example, AF&amp;PA announced that total packaging papers and specialty packaging shipments increased 1% year to date through May, signaling robust demand within the pulp and paper sector. Trucking capacity issues were underscored by increasing fuel prices during the quarter. As one U.S. national firm with timber and mill assets in multiple regions reported, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s more about truckers than about loggers for us.&rdquo; Around the country, many fiber buyers and sellers indicated that fuel surcharges were implemented to ease the burden of high fuel prices. However, the use of surcharges was uneven across the continent. U.S. Northeast prices skyrocketed to a four-year high as delivered prices in the U.S. South were flat to negative. Part of the fiber price stability in the South links to increased supplies of residual chips. As firms continue to add and acquire capacity, most sawmill capacity increases in North America are happening in the U.S. South due to low log costs, ample timber supplies, and proximity to end markets. In total, firms announced 4.5 billion board feet (BBFT) in new capacity to come online by 2024, an increase of 17% in the region. This includes seven new sawmills and two reopenings (Figure 1). Most firms plan to add capacity by expanding existing infrastructure: 26 mill projects will add capacity to existing mills, making up 2.2 BBFT, or 50%, of the announced capacity. Forest industry firms based all over North America account for the new capital investment activity in the South. PotlatchDeltic in Waldo, Arkansas, and Westervelt in Moundville, Alabama, announced upgrades and expansions. DR Johnson announced the reopening of the mill in Prairie City, Oregon, this summer. Our team is also watching CLAW Forestry and their plans for a new 250 MMBF sawmill in Gloster, Mississippi, to startup in 2024, along with the news that Boise Cascade reached an agreement to acquire Coastal Forest Resources plywood mills in Havana, Florida and Chapman, Alabama. Roseburg broke ground on the Weldon, North Carolina sawmill in late May. This article includes data from the Forisk Wood Fiber Review, a quarterly publication tracking North America&rsquo;s major wood fiber markets, and the Forisk Research Quarterly, which includes forest industry forecasts and analysis by sector. Author: Brooks Mendell Forisk Consulting LLC 770-725-8477 bmendell@forisk.com

Source: Forisk North American Forest Industry Capacity Database

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Overall, demand for fiber in the first half of 2022 remained strong, supporting the industry sentiment that North American forest products are well positioned for the near-term.

North American Wood Fiber Pricing, Supplies and Sawmill Capex 

The importance of energy independence has been a topic of discussion for decades. Unfortunately, the conversation has too often been placed on the backburner as other issues divert our attention. The current geopolitical situation has once again put the need for domestic energy sources back in the forefront, however, and we must face this issue and act now. With Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and the rest of the world are witnessing firsthand the need to reduce reliance on other nations for energy. Investing in our own domestic sources is essential to making our economy and country more secure.&nbsp; And as we steer our focus toward domestic resources, we must also do so through a sustainable lens. Here&rsquo;s how to start. If you live in a town that creates waste (and every town does), then you have a continual source of organic material that could and should be converted into clean, domestic, renewable energy. As waste decomposes it emits methane, which is a naturally occurring, but potent and harmful greenhouse gas. Renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities capture this methane from existing garbage, inedible food, agricultural waste, animal manure and wastewater, and repurposes it as a clean energy source. Because RNG captures emissions from society&rsquo;s inevitable waste streams and redeems its energy value, it has the lowest lifecycle carbon intensity (CI) of any clean energy source available today. RNG uniquely takes a product that is negatively impacting the environment&mdash;waste&mdash;and creates a reliable energy resource that is fully compatible with our current infrastructure and appliances, serving an important role in the energy transition.&nbsp; RNG creates a circular economy by reusing local materials.&nbsp; Recycling organic waste in this fashion creates carbon-negative renewable energy that is at the heart of sustainability. Additionally, the use of local materials eliminates the exportation of pollution, addressing environmental justice concerns. RNG is a complement to other intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar because it is storable, dispatchable and can be utilized with other fuel, heat and power generation resources that provide reliable domestic energy. In addition to serving as a renewable fuel for medium and heavy-duty vehicles, and renewable heat for homes and businesses, RNG is a feedstock used in the production of renewable hydrogen, renewable electricity, sustainable aviation fuel and bunker fuel for marine applications. &nbsp; Distributed energy resources make communities more resilient, and every country, state, province, city and town have the resources to create RNG. With local energy, production pricing and regulations from other jurisdictions become less relevant. Utilizing energy that is produced and or delivered locally is almost always going to be better for the environment, economy and society. According to a 2021 United Nations report, methane emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030. Our waste and how we handle it has a large impact on emissions that greatly impact air quality and contribute to climate change. RNG is both an energy commodity and an environmental asset converted from an environmental liability. Resources with multisectoral environmental benefits such as RNG deserve our support and advocacy. RNG represents an opportunity to address inevitable waste streams, improve our nation&rsquo;s energy resilience, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and decarbonize the transportation sector in America. We need a diverse portfolio of solutions to make the transition to clean, domestic energy affordable, attainable and immediately actionable&mdash;RNG is an important component to get us there. Author: Lesley Dalton &nbsp;Director of Communications &amp; Marketing Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas lesley@rngcoalition.com

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RNG represents an opportunity to address inevitable waste streams, improve our nation's energy resilience, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and decarbonize the transportation sector in America.

Renewable Natural Gas and the Need for Clean Domestic Energy  

Although we cover a very broad range of bioenergy types in Biomass Magazine, a main pillar of this 15-year-old industry trade journal is wood-using technology, including heat, power and wood pellet production. As such, a crucial topic we focus on in one issue per year is fire and explosion prevention, protection and mitigation. Although the topic may seem a bit tired, the fact is that wood and wood dust are combustible by nature, and that isn&rsquo;t changing. But what companies in the general wood products space can potentially change are the number of incidents and the outcomes of those that do occur, with protection of employees, assets and the surrounding environment always being top of mind. Companies in the fire and explosion space are constantly evolving and improving technologies, and you&rsquo;ll find some examples in our page-10 feature, &ldquo;Arming the Industry,&rdquo; by Katie Schroeder. This is, of course, a very limited review of the advancements in fire and explosion protection, but also includes some good insight from the professionals she spoke with, who continue to see the need for education, adoption and evolution of applications. Says Jason Krbec, sales and engineering manager at CV Technology, &ldquo;&hellip;combustible dust is a growing issue, especially in biomass where they&rsquo;re handling wood materials or biochar &hellip; On one side [technology] protects your employees, and on the other side it protects your process. So, there are two reasons as to why it becomes really critical.&rdquo;&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll also find content on this topic in our page-26 contribution, &ldquo;Improving Early Warning Fire Detection: Thermal Imaging and the Internet of Things,&rdquo; as well as our page-30 spotlight article, &ldquo;Keys to Maximum Explosion Protection.&rdquo; The bonus theme of this issue is biogas and RNG. Lately, there has been quite the buzz about the production and sale of nutrient-rich digestate, as the prices of fertilizer have soared as a result of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Two contributions are focused on this topic: &ldquo;Drying Digestate,&rdquo; on page 30, and &ldquo;Unlocking Biofertilizer as an Additional Revenue Source,&rdquo; on page 28.&nbsp; We have also included a column authored by the RNG Coalition&rsquo;s Leslie Dalton, which includes some good industry talking points regarding the potential and value of RNG as a substitute for imported fossil fuels, and a spotlight article on page 32, which discusses a technology for tail gas flaring at RNG plants. Finally, we&rsquo;ll soon be getting to work on our Biomass Power &amp; Waste-to-Energy Map, North American Pellet Production Map and North American Renewable Natural Gas Map. We strive to independently verify all data, but if your facility is or will soon be under construction, is undergoing an expansion, has changed hands in the past year or isn&rsquo;t currently listed, please drop us a line to ensure our records are as up to date as possible. Author: Anna Simet Editor asimet@bbiinternational.com

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A crucial topic we focus on in one issue per year is fire and explosion prevention, protection and mitigation.

A Never-Ending Pursuit

Traditional biogas flare systems such as the John Zink Hamworthy Combustion ZTOF Enclosed Flare and the ZEF Elevated (Open) Flare have long been utilized to destroy the methane and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the gas that is produced by landfills and digesters. Through the combustion process, these compounds are converted into water vapor and carbon dioxide, which is better for the environment. Over the years, the biogas industry has evolved into capturing this energy for beneficial uses rather than simply flaring it off. More recently, these gas plants have started upgrading biogas to renewable natural gas (RNG).&nbsp; A variety of technologies are used in RNG plants to purify biogas by removing carbon dioxide and other contaminants, resulting in RNG that meets stringent pipeline specifications. The gases removed from biogas to produce the purified RNG product gas are commonly referred to as a tail gas stream. The tail gas stream is comprised of low-heating value gases (approximately 1% to 15% methane), which are not combustible on their own, but still present the potential to harm the environment if not properly destroyed. Sending the tail gas to a typical biogas flare system may require substantial amounts of supplemental fuel, which impacts operating costs. Therefore, it is important to minimize the overall supplemental fuel requirements. Aside from minimizing operating costs, reducing supplemental fuel consumption specifically for RNG projects can provide additional value by reducing the project&rsquo;s carbon intensity score.&nbsp; A recent project utilizing a JZHC ZBRID Hybrid Thermal Oxidizer instead of a traditional biogas flare resulted in a reduction of supplemental fuel by more than 50% to destroy the tail gas. The resulting reduction in supplemental fuel requirements has saved the operator an approximate *$250,000 per year by utilizing a ZBRID over a traditional biogas flare. These scenarios are where our clients realize the benefit of a ZBRID Hybrid Thermal Oxidizer. Designed specifically for the biogas industry, the ZBRID Hybrid Thermal Oxidizer utilizes a balanced approach to incorporating design innovations to minimize supplemental fuel while being a cost-effective alternative to traditional thermal oxidizers. This leads to substantial operational savings and reduction in capital expenditures. Specialty flare systems offer a valuable alternative to more traditional equipment, and each project application should be evaluated individually to ensure the right technology is selected. John Zink Hamworthy Combustion, a Koch Engineered Solutions company, has been a long-standing technology provider in the biogas industry with installations dating back to the 1970s. This includes elevated and enclosed biogas flares, as well as specialty equipment including gas conditioning equipment, ultra-low emission enclosed flares, high/low pressure flares, leachate evaporators and many others. *Site savings are estimates based on $5/MMBtu natural gas price and the plant operating continuously. Contact: Alex Bycroft Commercial Development Manager, RNG &amp; Biogas Systems Alex.Bycroft@KES.global

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A Unique Solution to Tail Gas Flaring for RNG Plants

Proper selection and expert installation of explosion protection equipment is critical to asset and personnel protection. However, the pursuit of safety should never end there, as system reliability is largely dependent on maintenance and repair, according to Jeramy Slaunwhite, explosion safety engineer at REMBE Inc. As for how often a plant should undergo inspection or maintenance to ensure equipment performs as required, the official guiding standard should begin with manufacturer&rsquo;s recommendations, Slaunwhite says. &ldquo;For passive systems such as explosion vents, a minimum annual visual inspection for leaks, bolt tightness and damage is recommended. For equipment with moving parts such as isolation flap valves, it&rsquo;s a good idea to inspect new installations monthly for wear and product buildup. After a couple inspections, the intervals could go to three and then six months&mdash;provided no issues are found&mdash;and then a minimum deeper, annual inspection to check seals and locking mechanisms.&rdquo; &nbsp;With every inspection and maintenance activity, Slaunwhite notes, the date and findings should be documented to build a continuous maintenance and condition profile. &ldquo;This is also beneficial in the case of an incident, to prove diligence and reliability of the protection systems,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp;&nbsp; Accessibility can prove critical to maintenance and inspections, according to Slaunwhite &ldquo;In many industrial environments, the expression &lsquo;Out of sight, out of mind,&rsquo; is very relevant with respect to limited maintenance resources,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;When planning protection equipment installations, it is beneficial to consider accessibility. This can be strategically locating equipment, or at least within sight and reach with a mobile lift. Explosion vents used with vent ducts are often completely hidden; an access door in the duct can provide easy access to perform maintenance inspections.&rdquo; The notion that fires are somewhat routine in wood processing facilities builds a level of complacency around explosions, from Slaunwhite&rsquo;s perspective. &ldquo;In wood processing and handling, the amount of fine dust in the material stream and accumulations in the handling systems can widely vary over time, seasonally or based on material conditions,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This can result in downplayed sense of awareness for the possibility of larger explosions and explosion propagation between connected equipment.&rdquo; &nbsp;A comprehensive explosion safety concept should consider all operating conditions and scenarios, Slaunwhite says, including abnormal and upset conditions, as it is often during these times that serious events occur. REMBE is a strong advocate for both prevention and protection, Slaunwhite emphasizes. &ldquo;As such, we&rsquo;re continuing to expand on our early fire detection technology, including the REMBE HOTSPOT, smart infrared thermography designed for harsh industrial environments, and the REMBE GSME gas detection sensors for the precursors of combustion to react before a flame is present,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;We want to help customers be proactive to identify and manage hotspots, embers and upset thermal events before a flame is present, but also realize that prevention is rarely 100% reliable, so protection strategies are also needed to manage the amplified consequences of explosions.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Proper selection and expert installation of explosion protection equipment is critical to asset and personnel protection

Keys to Maximum Explosion Protection

Anaerobic digestion is an increasingly popular way to dispose of animal and food waste. The big advantage is obvious: the ability to generate a gaseous biofuel that can offset natural gas usage. But, many people operating anaerobic digesters inadvertently leave money on the table by failing to understand that the process generates not just one profitable product, but two. The bugs that turn organic material into methane in a digester never close the deal completely, leaving behind a digestate residue full of organic materials that they couldn&rsquo;t process. The digestate contains a good deal of water in addition to those organics. Many facilities treat this material as a waste, often sending it to landfills where operators will charge tipping fees of anywhere from $40 to $70 per ton, depending on location. The traditional justification for treating the digestate as a waste is that while the organic material may indeed have some sort of theoretical value, the presence of pathogens and its high moisture content make it impractical to capitalize on its value. Yet, there is another way&mdash;a profitable way&mdash;to handle digestate and turn it into a second profit center. Proper treatment can turn the digestate into a salable product that can be used as a fertilizer or a solid biofuel. There are certain tricks to process digestate effectively, but the challenges have been overcome and many operators are happily making money selling what they used to throw away.&nbsp; The key is proper drying, which accomplishes two important goals. First, it drives off most of the water, reducing the moisture content of the digestate. The digestate could have as much as 70% moisture content coming in and is dried to about 10%. The water content adds no value to the end product, so why not get rid of as much of it as possible? Second, provided the drying temperature is high enough, the product qualifies as a Class A fertilizer under applicable USDA standards. One company that is an active supplier of rotary dryers in this kind of service is Uzelac Industries of Greendale, Wisconsin. Uzelac shared some of the financial details of a typical installation. One particular project involved a dryer to process digestate from the anaerobic digestion of poultry manure. The system was designed to process a little over 30,000 tons per year and to operate on a one shift, five-day-per-week schedule. At an installed capital cost of about $4 million and operating costs of about $400,000 year, the system will generate over 19,000 tons of fertilizer that can be sold at a net cost of $145 per ton. Doing the math, that leads to a calculated simple return on investment of about 1.7 years, a figure that ought to make most lenders quite comfortable. Add-on controls for particulate matter and volatile organic compounds are sometimes necessary, depending on location of a processing system and the characteristics of the waste stream. However, since these systems are often associated with agricultural operations and environmental regulations in rural areas that are typically less stringent than they are in big cities, add-on control requirements frequently do not come into play. Whether or not add-on controls are necessary, permitting with the regulatory authority is almost always required before the system can be installed. One may think of this kind of post-processing as a form of recycling, which is always a good thing. The bonus for the operator is that it&rsquo;s a form of recycling that is good for the planet and the pocketbook. &nbsp; Contact: Rich Trzupek Principal Consultant. Trinity Consultants, Inc. rtrzupek@trinityconsultants.com

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There are certain tricks to process digestate effectively, but the challenges have been overcome and many operators are happily making money selling what they used to throw away.  

Drying Digestate

Global supply chain disruptions continue to wreak havoc on the price of conventional chemical fertilizers, including the raw materials used for fertilizer production such as ammonia, nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, potash and sulphates. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has exacerbated matters, driving prices up even further. It is no wonder farmers are looking beyond traditional sources to fertilize crops. Such alternatives include biofertilizers, like those produced from the digestate byproduct left over from the anaerobic digestion of livestock waste and other organic materials. The market for biofertilizer is expected to nearly double over the next decade, reaching over $4 billion in total revenues on a compound annual growth rate ranging from 11 to 15% For developers of renewable natural gas (RNG) projects, demand for digestate may be another source of revenue, as long as the rights to the digestate are clearly defined in the developers&rsquo; agreement with the feedstock suppliers. Biofertilizers are substances containing micro-organisms that add nutrients to crops through nitrogen and phosphorus fixation, and assist in restoring the soil&rsquo;s natural nutrient cycle. Biofertilizers are also more climate friendly, as their use reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Use of biofertilizers such as those produced from livestock waste digestate may also provide farmers with additional revenue from the generation and sale of carbon credits. Voluntary Carbon Markets for Farmers With large corporations seeking to reduce their carbon footprints and achieve net zero carbon emissions, demand has increased for carbon credits that allow such corporations to offset some of their emissions. Each carbon credit represents one ton of CO2 that was not released into the atmosphere. Farmers can generate these carbon credits by voluntarily participating in a carbon market and by instituting certain approved farming practices to reduce the farm&rsquo;s carbon emissions. These practices may include planting cover crops, reducing tillage to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil, and substituting synthetic fertilizers with organic matter soil amendments to reduce volatility and nitrous oxide emissions. Some of the voluntary carbon markets currently available to farmers include Indigo Carbon, Gradable Carbon, Nori Carbon Removal Marketplace, Nutrien Carbon Program and TruCarbon. Each market has specific requirements for farmers to generate a carbon credit. Once the credit is generated under the terms of the specific carbon market, the farmer is able to sell the credit.&nbsp; Understanding the voluntary carbon market may assist biofertilizer producers in marketing their product and maximizing its value. For RNG developers considering producing biofertilizer from digestate, this extra incentive for farmers should increase the value of biofertilizer production. RNG projects may therefore result in both the creation of green energy and a commercially viable, environmentally superior source of fertilizer. Title to Digestate, Environmental Incentives Just because an RNG project produces a valuable byproduct does not necessarily mean the RNG developer has the right to retain and utilize the digestate in whatever way it sees fit. Feedstock supply agreements should clearly indicate which party has title to the digestate, because the farmer may have interest in using dried fiber as bedding for cows or to otherwise utilize digestate as fertilizer on crops, which may conflict with a developer&rsquo;s desire to process and commercialize the digestate into biofertilizer. The parties are, of course, free to agree to any arrangement that makes sense, including splitting the resulting digestate or entering into a joint venture to process and commercialize it into biofertilizer. In the event a portion of the resulting digestate is returned to the farmer for use as a fertilizer, the parties should also make sure the rights to certain environmental incentives are transferred to the farmer with the digestate. As previously noted, farmers may have an interest in generating carbon credits by substituting some or all of their synthetic fertilizer with the digestate biofertilizer. And because feedstock supply agreements often assign all right and title to the feedstock and all environmental incentives associated with the feedstock (including the resulting digestate) to the RNG developer, the parties will want to make it clear that the farmer retains title to any environmental incentives resulting from the farmer&rsquo;s use of the digestate on row crops. Proper equipment and adequate funding must also be obtained to process the digestate into a usable form (for example, processing into pellets or granules for sale and easy storage). The entire process includes dewatering of the digestate into an ideal dry matter content, composting and granulation. Specialized equipment is necessary at each stage of the process.&nbsp; With proper planning, alignment with farmers on title to digestate and environmental incentives, documentation of such title in commercial agreements, and an adequate source of funding, RNG developers can generate additional revenue by processing the digestate byproduct left over from the anaerobic digestion process into saleable biofertilizer, at a time when the price of fertilizer is skyrocketing and demand from farmers continues to rise. Author: Chris Peterson Attorney, Husch Blackwell LLP Chris.peterson@huschblackwell.com 417-268-4057

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When considering opportunities to produce and sell digestate, 
there are legal Issues for renewable natural gas project developers to consider.

Unlocking Biofertilizer as Additional Revenue Source

Biomass is commonly stored in bulk outdoor piles near the power generation facility. These mounds of material are especially prone to self-heating as they naturally decompose. The decomposition process is accelerated as moisture is introduced from rain and humidity, generating even more heat. As most biomass materials are good insulators, the internal pile heat generated is not allowed to escape and cool, thus increasing temperatures and spreading to a larger internal area. Eventually, the material begins to smolder. Smoldering and flameless fires are more easily ignited than flaming fires and more challenging to extinguish. Early detection is critical if a bulk biomass pile fire is to be avoided. Unfortunately, detecting early stage fire formation within a bulk pile fire is difficult. For example, a pile&rsquo;s surface temperature may be ambient while the internal temperature could be more than 200 degrees Celcius. Traditional methods using linear heat detection cable can be used, but are susceptible to damage during material transport and are generally not recommended. Spot measurements are also used but do not detect gradient effects. Monitoring the temperature trends over time is generally more helpful in detecting the early onset of heating, when mitigation measures can be deployed before the situation becomes dangerous. &nbsp; Infrared (IR) Cameras for Early Fire Detection IR cameras operate on the heat transfer principle of radiation. The infrared camera has a focal plane array of detector elements that sense infrared light from object surfaces. The radiation captured by the infrared camera detector is digitized, converted to data and displayed as a viewable image. Calibrated IR cameras can report temperature measurements from specific spots, lines and areas on live or recorded images. IR cameras are the first to alert before a fire develops. They &ldquo;see&rdquo; a warming up of material early in the fire development process before forming smoke particles or flames. These warming materials appear as hot spots in a thermal image and are quantified with regions of interest (ROIs) like spots, lines or areas that report temperature values. Applying multiple ROIs to an image and setting temperature thresholds per ROI allows monitoring and alarming at multiple locations within the camera&rsquo;s field of view. When the threshold condition of an ROI is satisfied, alarms trigger notifications to the appropriate personnel.&nbsp;&nbsp; What is IoT (Internet of Things)? The internet of things (IoT) refers to interconnected sensors, instruments and other devices networked into software applications that use predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). These connected networks create systems that monitor, collect, exchange, analyze and deliver valuable insights into a system or process. IoT revolutionizes automation by using cloud computing to simplify integration and enhance process control. &nbsp; Thermal Imaging and IoT Early Fire Detection Fire safety for biomass storage is an area that realizes the benefits of thermal imaging when combined with IoT. By connecting infrared cameras that alert at the earliest stages of development, potential fires can more readily be detected and prevented. Safety alerts are sent to hundreds of people quickly and effectively with IoT. Communication options include voice calls, texts and emails to targeted recipients to establish quick and effective awareness. Another advantage is scalability. Facility managers can connect multiple locations to a central monitoring and alarming dashboard. Understanding the situation at all facilities improves the oversight and management of multiple systems from a single control point. IoT EFD systems can improve emergency planning by using algorithms and analytics to help prepare better emergency and evacuation plans quickly. For example, analytics can consider factors such as the number of people in the facility, facility maps, location of the fire and the rate at which the fire is spreading to develop better evacuation plans. Analytics-based evacuation plans can prevent congestion by guiding workers to different locations for optimum evacuation routing. IoT early fire detection (EFD) systems are less expensive to install and maintain than traditional detection systems. As the EFD application resides in the cloud, there is no need for a dedicated facility computer server. Any potential for operating system software conflicts is eliminated, as access to the application only requires an internet connection. Users access the EFD system anywhere and anytime with any internet-connected device. And with the appropriate credentials, control and alarm settings can be modified remotely to optimize performance. Another key advantage to a cloud-based EFD system is the ability to share dashboards and map views. For example, sharing a live map view with first responders allows for scene assessment before arriving on-site, saving time and optimizing safety. These maps identify the alarm sensor location, monitored area, alarm conditions, facility entry and exit points. IR Camera IoT Early Fire Detection IR Camera IoT EFD systems for biomass monitoring can integrate multiple detection technologies to track temperatures and detect smoke particles at critical locations. The most common detection sensors for biomass monitoring EFD include: infrared cameras for quantitative and qualitative monitoring of hot spots; visible cameras for identification of smoke or flame; and aspirating smoke detectors for detection of smoke particles.&nbsp; Correct sensor selection and placement for biomass monitoring are critical to ensure optimum detection performance. For example, infrared cameras require a direct line of sight to the area of interest to provide detection. Critical areas obscured from the camera&rsquo;s field of view could be monitored by smoke detectors, thereby augmenting the camera&rsquo;s detection. For outdoor or high airflow installations, infrared sensors are best for detection, as dilution effects may limit the performance of smoke detectors.&nbsp; Another critical consideration for biomass EFD is the early warning notification to individuals responsible for material handling. Before EFD, material handlers unknowingly spread hot materials, increasing the size of the fire hazard. With EFD and early alert notifications, informed heavy machine operators can avoid problem spots and prevent spreading potential fire hazards. Conclusion It is important to note that IR camera IoT EFD systems do not replace existing detection and response protocols. Instead, the system functions as an early warning system, detecting areas in the facility where ignition may occur. New detection methods for heat, smoke and fire are continually developing. Many new detection devices include wireless capabilities that make integrating IoT EFD a straightforward exercise. Beyond alarms and notifications, IoT EFD systems can provide automation controls like initiating and directing an extinguishing system. Because IoT EFD systems leverage cloud computing, they require less hardware with a reduced installation burden. Available communication technology can be added to existing detectors, making retrofitting existing systems easy. By warning earlier on the pathway to ignition, managers of facilities that store biomass can avert costly and potentially life-threatening fires before they are permitted to start and spread. Author: David C. Bursell MoviTHERM, Vice President of Business Development www.movitherm.com info@movitherm.com

Biomass pile thermal image with area regions of interest

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A sample map view display from an IoT early fire detection application

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By warning earlier on the pathway to ignition, managers of facilities that store biomass can avert costly and potentially life-threatening fires before they are permitted to start and spread. 

Improving Early Warning Fire Detection: Thermal Imaging and the Internet of Things

Humans have burned solid biomass, or plant-based materials, since the discovery of fire. Fast-forward to today, gas and oil are now the go-to fuel sources, contributing to increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. In the midst of current efforts to reduce carbon emissions, many are turning to biomass again as a potential solution to minimize the global human carbon footprint. This article explores how automated solutions, particularly systems that use solenoid soot-blowing valves immerged in a pressurized tank, can overcome these issues, improving the soot-cleaning blowing process compared to standalone valve solutions. Biomass as a Sustainable Fuel Source Biomass is a sustainable, carbon-neutral fuel since burning the plant-based waste only releases the carbon that was captured during the plant&rsquo;s life cycle&mdash;carbon that would have been released via biodegradation anyway. This fact is a crucial difference between biomass fuel and hydrocarbon fuels like natural gas and oil, which are now being burned and released into the atmosphere in high quantities after being underground for millions of years. A sustainable source of biomass is agricultural waste. Crop harvests generate significant volumes of plant material, such as stalks and stems, that are not used in the food industry and discarded as waste. Eventually, this waste biodegrades and releases all the carbon the plant absorbed in its lifetime back into the atmosphere. This plant waste can be processed into feedstock for biomass pellets, which can be used as the main fuel for a boiler or steam generator for comfort heating, industrial processes or electric power generation. Despite these benefits, using biomass as fuel requires understanding the carbon cycle. Cutting down every tree for biomass supply would result in deforestation, for example, throwing off the carbon balance and creating many additional problems. For every plant that is burned, a new one must grow in order to keep the balance. In short, although biomass is a sustainable fuel source that can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of heating industries, we must use it wisely. The Challenges of Burning Biomass Using biomass instead of conventional fuels like coal, diesel and natural gas is challenging. One obstacle to overcome is modifying burning equipment to accommodate solid fuels. Another problem, particularly in biomass-fueled boilers, is soot and dust buildup. More problematic than the soot produced by conventional fuels, this soot is &ldquo;stickier&rdquo; because it forms as a solid residue with a high moisture content. Soot accumulates in the fire tubes, reduces heat transfer and decreases boiler and heating equipment performance over time, thus increasing costs, lowering efficiency and causing the same amount of fuel to produce less heat. One soot removal method is to simply stop the boiler, wait for it to cool and then manually clean each tube with a long brush. Unfortunately, this option takes time and typically requires a downtime period of one or two days, halting plant processes, raising costs and hindering production throughput. For industrial applications with high heat output requirements, however, this cleaning process can be a necessary evil each month. Automated Solutions to Clean Biomass Soot A more efficient solution is to clean the fire tubes with compressed air, a method that requires installing special solenoid valves for dust and soot blowing. These valves are designed to create a high peak pressure and provide an optimal flow factor to blow the soot out of the system. Valves are connected to a compressed air system and, when opened, pulse air into the tubes.This method automates the cleaning process: operators no longer have to clean each tube, preventing downtime. Instead, a programmable logic controller (PLC) handles the cleaning by orchestrating the solenoid valves. However, keep in mind that not all solutions will perform the same way when it comes to automation. Typically, when implementing a biomass cleaning system in the field, standalone solenoid valves must be strategically installed at optimal positions, allowing the most tubes to be cleaned. But this method has some limits, requiring you to connect each valve to the compressed air system. The connection layout also limits the pulse pressure. Fortunately, a more practical, powerful solution exists. Solenoid soot-blowing valves, immerged in a pressurized aluminum tank, are also available and capable of containing a high amount of compressed air at-the-ready for the valves. After the solenoid valve receives an electric signal, it quickly opens and delivers a higher peak of air pressure to the orifices connected to the boilers, creating a blast of air and cleaning the tubes better and more efficiently than standalone valves. These tank assemblies can be customized, allowing the orifices at the bottom of the tank to match the boiler&rsquo;s door or wall orifices, facilitating soot-blowing system installation. Standalone valve solutions can usually be replaced with a tank solution with smaller and less immerged valves. In some cases, biomass boiler manufacturers can replace standalone 1.5-inch size valves (DN40) with a tank containing one-inch immerged valves (DN40), achieving higher performance levels and significantly reducing air consumption and installation costs. Author: Asa&euml;l Hervet-Binois Combustion Product Marketing Manager, Emerson asael.hervet-binois@emerson.com www.emersonautomationexperts.com

An example of a solution provided by Emerson to equip an 8-MW (27 MMBtu) biomass boiler. 
It consists of ASCO Series 355 tanks with immerged ASCO Series 353 valves. 

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Connection to the boilerâ€™s orifices at the bottom of the ASCO Series 355 tanks with ASCO Series 353 valves 

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Despite its environmental benefits, one significant challenge that comes with biomass combustion is soot and dust buildup

Efficient Cleaning of Sustainable Biomass Boilers

High supply chain and energy costs, lingering pandemic effects and Russia&rsquo;s attack on the Ukraine continues to have profound impacts across the globe. In the context of the wood pellet industry, it has led to a projected shortfall of pellet fuel in the United Kingdom and other European countries. While stakeholders there look elsewhere to secure additional supply, it may have some U.S. producers investigating the potential option of sending product overseas, as a below-average heating season has left an above-average stock of inventory. Although select, large producers may be able to seize the opportunity to send product to Europe, there are a slate of hurdles involved for others, according to Todd Bush, CM Biomass, Head of North America. &ldquo;There are lots of difficulties in getting pellets into Europe,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t just for selling into the premium market, but for industrial as well,&rdquo; Bush says. Broadly speaking, the shortfall is largely a ripple effect of the Sustainable Biomass Partnership revoking certification from Russian volumes&mdash;meaning industrial players cannot take any from Russian manufacturers&mdash;as well as the country&rsquo;s disqualification from the United Kingdom&rsquo;s ENplus program. &ldquo;In order to get RHI incentives in the U.K., you must have that certification,&rdquo; Bush explains. &ldquo;So, lots of materials coming from Russia are no longer applicable, and this will lead to a shortfall in the coming 12-month period. While some of that volume might be some replaced from Portugal, no matter what, we will see a displacement effect. Approximately 1.5 million tons have been removed from the market with the exclusion of Russia.&rdquo; As for what this means for producers in the U.S. and Canada, where many came off of the heating season with higher-than-average amounts of inventory and have not traditionally accessed the European market, it really comes down to the price of pellets. &ldquo;It has increased in Europe dramatically,&rdquo; Bush says. &ldquo;For U.S. producers selling into the domestic market, right now, [in Europe] the range of prices are where they usually are at the height of the season in a normal year. So, it does open up opportunities.&rdquo; However, that does not mean that it is simple, by any stretch of the imagination. &ldquo;If you look at much of the stock left over from the winter in the U.S., it is in 40-lb bags on non-heat-treated pallets, with U.S. writing, not labeled for European sale,&rdquo; Bush says. &ldquo;Even if you can get them to Europe, to make it legal, you&rsquo;ll have to swap out the pallet, as you cannot import non-heat-treated pallets to Europe. You can sell that product in bags with U.S writing and without the ENplus certification, but this all leads to a discount. You&rsquo;re not going to get the same price as a 15-kilogram ENplus bag of pellets. No matter what, it&rsquo;s going to be at a discount.&rdquo; If a producer is able to aggregate volumes to send over in a bulk container, it may be bagged in European bags and split among different consumers, Bush says, but it still will play into a discount not being ENplus certified. &ldquo;But not as much as a 40-lb, U.S.-labeled bag,&rdquo; he says. However, Bush notes, container prices are soaring, and containers themselves are difficult to acquire. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re lucky if you can even get a container,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The ports are congested, the trade lanes are full, and it&rsquo;s not like you can tap into that market easily. If you look at aggregating a minimum of 10,000 tons to make it anywhere near cost-effective&mdash;realistically, it&rsquo;s more like 25,000 tons and maybe aggregating with another producer so you can sell directly to storage&mdash;that isn&rsquo;t possible without SBP certification.&rdquo; All of these are stages, he notes, that a producer could navigate through if they really desired to break into the European market. &ldquo;You may initially do bags at a big discount, then later in a bulk container once you aggregate, at a slightly less discount, then maybe get ENplus certified to really put into place a lesser discount, and way in the future, maybe get SBP certified and play in the industrial markets as well as the premium.&rdquo; Getting ENplus certified is a large, fixed cost for pellets, with a small variable cost, Bush says. &ldquo;If pellets go into the industrial market, then producers don&rsquo;t need to pay the per-ton fee for ENplus certification, which is about 15 euros per ton.&rdquo; He says CM Biomass owns a few pellet plants&mdash;one of which is in Texas and is ENplus certified&mdash;but approximately 99% of its production goes into the industrial market. &ldquo;So, we don&rsquo;t have to pay the ENplus fee on that,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But another U.S. producer, if they send 10% of their volume into the industrial market and 90% into the premium market, they have to pay that certification fee on all of their production. For good reason, U.S. producers have not traditionally gotten ENplus certified. The idea is to try to get them [U.S. producers] to adopt ENplus like CANplus in Canada, but the Pellet Fuels Institute has already established a standards program in the U.S. Both sides have what they view as relevant arguments.&rdquo; Despite the challenges that some producers will face, there will be creative mobilization of pellet volumes that haven&rsquo;t traditionally gone into the European market, in Bush&rsquo;s opinion. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking some out of St. Lawrence, and there are some out of the East Coast and Canada already, but a lot of these are supply chains that we had in the past, and were kind of reactivated. That&rsquo;s easy for us to do because we&rsquo;re a trader that does 3.5 million tons per year and we know how, but it&rsquo;s difficult for some to figure out how to get product to Europe. They should choose a trusted partner who can handle that part of it for them.&rdquo; &nbsp;As CM Biomass is also an active buyer, Bush says there is price gouging occurring. &ldquo;We can probably pay you what you would get paid in a normal, good winter or a little less, but you&rsquo;re not going to get rich off of 5,000 tons of pellets going overseas,&rdquo; he says. Conversely, Bush he says, supply chains costs are extremely high, so higher pricing at plants is reflecting that, even with high pellet fuel prices in Europe. The Russia/Ukraine conflict has led to high pellet prices for multiple reasons, mainly because the shortage of pellets and other fuels going into Europe and high electricity prices. Therefore, nontraditional export avenues for domestic futures in the U.S. and Canada will likely open up, but it will be complicated, Bush concludes. &ldquo;So, how does a guy whose never done export figure out how to load an ocean-going vessel, the world around demurrage, freight costs, bunker fuel and all that? It is like entering a different world. They&rsquo;re very good at trucks, but this is very different.&rdquo; While getting rid of some excess inventory may be alluring, smaller producers will likely want to hold onto inventory, according to William Strauss, president of consulting firm FutureMetrics Inc. He defines small producers as regional mills supplying heating pellet markets, typically making 120,000 tons per year or less. &ldquo;As far as U.S. [heating] pellet producers stepping up, it is possible if the users in the EU area ignore the need for ENplus certification for heating pellets,&rdquo; Strauss says. &ldquo;But many smaller U.S. heating pellet producers do not even use the PFI mark, so there are challenges with certification of quality.&rdquo; Certifications aside, Strauss says FutureMetrics sees demand for heating pellets in the U.S. increasing substantially.&nbsp; &ldquo;High heating oil and propane prices are driving demand for new pellet stoves and boilers,&rdquo; he tells Biomass Magazine. &ldquo;Installers we know are very busy.&nbsp; For lower-income people, with food prices where they are, this coming winter will be tough decisions on food versus heating oil or propane.&nbsp; So, it is my opinion that aggregating slack capacity for many small producers is not feasible for economic, logistical, and security of domestic pellet supply reasons.&rdquo; As for industrial pellets, users would have to overlook lack of SBP certification, Strauss says, but that is unlikely to happen, as industrial pellets are used to lower CO2 emissions in the power generations sector and need the credentials showing they are sourced sustainably. Global Markets As for the volume removed from the industrial market, Russian, Ukraine and Belarus collectively exported nearly 3.4 million metric tons (MT) of wood pellets in 2021, according to FutureMetrics Inc. data. &ldquo;Much of that will not be exported in 2022,&rdquo; Strauss says. Russia exported more than 870,000 MT to Denmark alone last year, where Orsted, the country&rsquo;s largest energy company, operates three combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants that use wood pellets as fuel. This includes the Studstrup CHP plant, one of the largest biomass-fueled power stations in the world. In late April, Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told the Financial Times that due to the global shortage of wood pellets, a result of Russian&rsquo;s invasion of the Ukraine and global supply chain challenges, the company was likely to use coal instead later in the year. &ldquo;However much we hate it, we are very likely going to see a temporary increase in our coal use, compared to the trajectory that we have been in,&rdquo; Nipper told the Financial Times. &ldquo;Biomass is hard to get right now because everyone is looking for fuel.&rdquo; Other large-scale, pellet-using utilities including Drax, Orsted, EPH and others have shifted to or are still working on plans to alleviate any shortfalls caused by ceasing use of Russian volumes in the midst of a tight market, a condition already present prior to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, for a number of reasons. &ldquo;Fundamentally, growth in global pellet manufacturing and supply capacity has failed to keep pace with demand growth,&rdquo; says Fiona Matthews, biomass consultant at Hawkins Wright. &ldquo;Furthermore, planned new capacity has been delayed due to construction and COVID-related issues.&rdquo; According to Hawkins Wright data, from 2020-&rsquo;21, global industrial pellet demand grew by 18.4%, with production only growing 8.4%. That is in comparison with 2019-&rsquo;20, when demand grew by 8.8% and production was nearly matched, at 8.7%.&nbsp; &ldquo;Additionally, the build-to-suit model for large industrial mills (i.e., lack of merchant capacity) means that the market has been heavily reliant on Russia for spot volumes, which have now disappeared,&rdquo; Matthew says. Though it is estimated current biomass spot market prices are around $300 per metric ton, there is such a lack of spot volume that trading data is largely nonexistent. Finally, Matthews adds, the sudden shift in energy market fundamentals&mdash;high fossil fuel prices&mdash;has created incremental demand for pellets, exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance. Rocketing energy prices have prompted more households in Europe to switch to pellet heating, and an additional demand of around 2.5 million tons is expected for 2022, reports proPellets Austria. In Austria&mdash;and largely representative of those across Europe&mdash;pellet prices are at a record level, increasing more than 53% compared to a year prior with no signs of relief in the near future. The organization reported that, in order to ensure the supply of pellets in the long term, the Austrian pellet industry is currently building 11 new pellet plants, as well as demanding a stockpiling obligation, speedy adoption of the Renewable Heat Act and an action plan to mobilize thinning residue. &ldquo;The international energy markets are in a state of upheaval, not least due to Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine, and this is also affecting the domestic pellet market,&rdquo; says Christian Rakos, managing director of proPellets Austria and president of the World Bioenergy Association, in statements released in May. &ldquo;The pellet industry is investing hundreds of millions of euros so that the supply is secured in the long term, but we also need the support of the relevant political decision-makers.&rdquo; A June survey completed by proPellets Austria resulted in an average price of bulk wood pellets was up 66% compared to last year. However, despite that increase, they still offer an 82.7% price advantage compared to extra light heating oil and 18.3% compared to natural gas. As for bagged pellets, they are up 52.8% compared to last year. In a blog on its website, Scotland pellet manufacturer Puffin Wood Fuels recently provided its pellet users a snapshot to the challenges it has been facing, after keeping prices static for the past couple of years. Producers across the globe will likely find commonalities with these hurdles&mdash;the 25,000-metric-ton-per-year producer reports that energy and power prices have tripled, packaging manufacturing has doubled, haulage and fuel prices are up 40% in 2022, pallet prices have doubled, and due to the banning of red diesel in manufacturing (a U.K. law that went into effect in April) fuel bills have increased 200%. Mark Lebus, chairman of the UK Pellet Council, tells Biomass Magazine the U.K. has been facing an immediate 200,000-ton shortfall in the domestic heating market and that new supply chain avenues are being explored. He notes that one of the main challenges right now is storage, as shipping volumes are higher than normal. With extremely tight markets, supply chain bottlenecks, inflation and ripple effects of the ongoing war, strategy, creativity and flexibility will be required from pellet supply chain stakeholders. As for whether global pellet supply is forecast to become closer to being able to satisfy demand, it likely won&rsquo;t be in the near future, according to Matthews.&nbsp; &ldquo;Economic forces will have an effect over time&mdash;high prices are a strong driver of new pellet mill investments,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;But we are not yet seeing sufficient new supply capacity at an advanced stage in the project pipeline to fully address the imbalance.&rdquo;&nbsp; ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ports, Cargo &amp; Congestion U.S. port congestion has been front and center for the container sector for well over a year, and while North American ports still remain heavily congested, there are small signs of improvement, according to Eleanor Hadland, senior analyst of ports and terminals at Drewry. In a mid-June webcast update, Hadland said that on the West Coast, the average call duration (terminal time, pre-berth waiting, etc.) peaked at over seven days in October 2021, more than 300% higher than average in 2019. On the East Coast, it peaked just above three days, 161% higher than the 2019 average. Port volumes have risen steeply from mid-2020, remaining high, she said. Meanwhile, European terminal time peaked at 1.4 days in Dec. 2021, 0.6 days higher than 2019 average, much less congested than the U.S. As for how chaotic the container currently market is, for the past two years, the dominant driver of freight rates, and subsequently carrier profits, has been container system inefficiencies, disruptions and port congestion. &ldquo;These factors are now embedded into the market and have renegaded other supply, demand and cost factors into the margin, Hadland said. &ldquo;Ultimately, carriers&rsquo; ability to charge customers extremely high freight rates will be dictated by the longevity of the line supply chain bottleneck, which sadly remains highly unpredictable. For as long as these chronic inefficiencies continue, the market will continue to be strapped.&rdquo; Hadland added that some carriers have said port congestion will start to ease in the second half of 2022, but nobody has actually predicted when it will end. &ldquo;There will probably be another 12 months of lengthy delays and high freight rates&hellip;we do expect gradual improvements before then.&rdquo; ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Author: Anna Simet asimet@bbiinteriational.com 701-738-4961

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Top 10 States for Russian Pellet Imports, 2021 (Metric Tons)

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Coming off a season with inventory levels the highest they have been in several years, an impending pellet shortfall in Europe has some U.S. heating pellet producers eyeing a challenging opportunity. 

Navigating the Turbulence of Global Trade

When passive explosion venting is needed inside a pellet or woody biomass-using facility—or in areas where conventional venting is unsafe—there is a reliable, maintenance-free solution that is easily installed on a variety of hazard-prone equipment. Through the combination of standard explosion panels and flameless venting, protection can be greatly enhanced.&nbsp; Flameless Venting Flameless venting, invented by REMBE in the 1990s, is a two-part explosion venting system consisting of a rupture panel and flame arrestor. The rupture panel functions like a conventional deflagration vent panel that opens under the internal pressure rise of a protected vessel. The flame arrestor is a matrix of stainless steel mesh that allows the vented fireball and gases to pass through to the exterior, but not before removing the flame. This is accomplished through heat transfer from the burning fireball to the layered network of steel mesh. The high surface area of the mesh rapidly absorbs the fireball heat energy below the flash point, allowing only gases to exhaust. The mesh also serves as a retention barrier for unburnt dust expelled from the vented vessel, which would otherwise continue to fuel a propagating fireball. Flameless vents effectively control the external hazards resultant from conventional explosion vents, including fireballs and potential vent panel and unburnt material projection. It is important to note that a complete explosion protection strategy must also include isolation to prevent an explosion from propagating to other interconnected equipment and areas. As for applicability, typical equipment with explosion hazards often located inside plants include covered conveyers, dryer systems, hammer mills, bins, sifters and even silos, cyclones and baghouses located in occupied areas. For example, when wood is pulverized in roller mills that are usually inside buildings, it can pose challenges when trying to properly protect these mills. Conventional venting concepts are based on free and open venting devices, such as explosion vent panels. This forces operators, architects and engineers to consider spacing, location and sufficient ducting to vent to the outside. With the advent of the flameless venting technology by REMBE, indoor venting is available to solve this problem. Flameless vents can be installed on the air inlet to the mill and on the product discharge section of the mill. This explosion venting technology eliminates the need to create changes such as moving mills closer to exterior walls and breaking through those walls.&nbsp; &nbsp; Conclusion Flameless venting is extremely advantageous in the wood industry, especially in biomass, pellets and panel board processing involving significant handling and manipulation of fine, dry wood material. It offers a safe, reliable explosion protection solution with virtually no maintenance, is easy to install, and can be applied to new equipment or retrofit on site. A protected process could be back online within hours following an explosion without expensive, time-consuming technician startup required by some other explosion protection systems.

2023-07-08 - SPOTLIGHT REMBE - The Many Facets of Flameless Venting (Biomass Magazine)

SPOTLIGHT REMBE - The Many Facets of Flameless Venting

The ongoing paper and packaging slowdown reached into a third consecutive quarter and contributed to falling wood fiber prices across much of North America in Q2 2023. High inflation cooled consumer demand for goods, and paper mills are drawing down finished goods inventories to match current demand levels. The market still fears a recession could be in the future, so caution is dictating most operations.&nbsp; Through early 2023, paper mill closures across North America trimmed production capacity in response to the slowdown. According to the Wood Fiber Review, fiber prices in most regions trended down, unlike the wide range of regional differences just months ago. In this article, we focus on the U.S. North and West, with notes on Canada, which is experiencing historic and massively impactful wildfires. Pulpwood Price Drivers in the US North and West Historically high wood fiber prices in the Northwest and Northeast U.S. dipped over 10% for the quarter. In the U.S., only the Lake States reported higher softwood fiber prices, as western Canadian prices inched higher as well. Hardwood prices increased in both the Lake States and the U.S. Northwest. Fierce competition for fiber in the U.S. Northeast drove prices higher in 2022. The story flipped this quarter in rapid fashion, with loggers being put on quotas as mills slowed operations. Prices dropped as much as 32% this quarter in response, and fears renewed of additional logging capacity losses, the major constraint pushing prices higher last year. In the Lake States, prices continued higher as a lighter winter freeze pushed consumers to extend procurement distances in search of fiber.&nbsp; The pulp and paper slowdown impacted Northwest U.S. markets as well. Inventories swelled and prices dropped 10% or more for all products except hardwood logs. Poor markets resulted in several mill closures in the region, including tissue converting operations at two Cascade facilities in Oregon, and the idling of Packaging Corporation of America’s Wallula, Washington, facility. In the Pacific Northwest, poor pulp and paper markets coupled with high mill inventories are making it difficult for many suppliers to remain healthy. For fiber suppliers, diversification and flexibility in their businesses continue to be valuable. Softwood prices decreased across the board, with product mix (Douglas fir, hem-fir, and mixed softwood) prices dropping more than 15%. Prices in a few categories remain higher year-over-year. Notes on Canada: Smoke and Fire Western Canada is experiencing one of the worst wildfire seasons on record, making the outlook for the summer months more daunting. Mills in British Columbia and Alberta have taken downtime to ensure employees’ safety and protect assets. In addition, timber harvest levels in British Columbia continue to trend down, with numbers lower than 2009. In the region, softwood fiber prices rose less than 2% in Q2 2023. Fiber shortages remain challenging in Western Canada as sawmills announced new or extended outages and closures. For example, Conifex in Mackenzie, B.C., went down for four weeks beginning in early June. The unscheduled downtime will impact production capacity of about 16 million board feet.&nbsp; News from Eastern Canada blanketed North America as forest fires billowed smoke across the border, along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The rising number of uncontrolled fires have put added pressure on a market that is already starved for residual chips. This scarcity has pushed the cost of softwood residual chips higher.&nbsp; The estimation of Canadian forests burned by mid-June is 1% of the country’s forests, or about six times the amount that is managed in an average year. Unusually active and severe fires in Ontario and Quebec clouded skylines of major U.S. cities. Wildfires in Nova Scotia burned over 90 square miles of forest and forced thousands of evacuations.&nbsp; Our team at Forisk wishes everyone a safe and productive spring and summer. This article includes data from the Forisk Wood Fiber Review, a quarterly publication tracking North America’s major wood fiber markets Authors: Brooks Mendell&nbsp; bmendell@forisk.com&nbsp; Stephen Wright&nbsp; swright@forisk.com

2023-07-06 - Paper and Packaging Slowdown Impacts Wood Fiber Prices (Biomass Magazine)

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Paper and Packaging Slowdown Impacts Wood Fiber Prices

Currently, the biogas industry lacks a comprehensive accounting methodology that enables a standardized, stable market environment for carbon reduction and removal resulting from biogas projects. This will be especially valuable to market buyers engaged in voluntary carbon reduction activities. To solve this problem, the American Biogas Council has engaged EcoEngineers to plan, develop and publish an improved carbon accounting methodology. This new methodology will use frameworks from existing methodologies to measure the carbon intensity of all biogas projects and more diverse end uses, by the end of 2023. ABC and Eco hope this methodology will make it easier for biogas projects to quantify and market carbon benefits from renewable natural gas (RNG), biogas electricity and digestate. Demand for low-carbon and carbon-negative products has never been stronger. Carbon accounting, carbon reporting and verification, and product labeling are emerging as some of the biggest business disruptors of this century. Corporations across the spectrum are looking for ways to decarbonize, incorporate carbon reduction transparency and accountability into product strategies, supply chains and operations across their entire value chain, thus enabling competitive differentiation, growth and value creation.&nbsp; RNG, electricity from biogas, and digestate are low-carbon substitutes for natural gas, grid electricity and synthetic fertilizers, respectively. End users can claim carbon reductions by substituting fossil-derived fuel, electricity or nutrients with equivalent products derived from biogenic feedstocks. This claim is quantified by a lifecycle carbon analysis (LCA) and its resulting carbon intensity (CI) score, which, when compared to a business-as-usual baseline, quantifies the carbon reduction in metric tons (MT) of CO2 equivalent. These carbon reductions can then be sold on carbon trading platforms and markets, or used for internal carbon reduction goals. Using existing frameworks as a basis, such as the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard pathway for RNG and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, this improved methodology will develop a strong, science-based carbon accounting framework. The framework can be used to measure the carbon intensity of biogas projects more completely and more accurately, looking at lifecycle CI improvements from a broader array of feedstock baselines, biogas system designs, and a more diverse array of end uses and products, beyond what the current frameworks contemplate.&nbsp; Today’s Method Currently, California’s LCFS and its modified Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model are the standard used to represent the reduction in carbon footprint where specific feedstock-to-end-use pathways for RNG or biogas electricity for transportation are eligible to earn credits. However, the rules are somewhat arbitrary—for example, the California LCFS currently recognizes methane capture at dairies, but not at beef cattle lots or other types of manures.&nbsp; Another common framework includes private, voluntary carbon registries, mostly used today by landfill biogas systems. These are, again, for unique feedstock to end-use pathways allowed by specific rules of the registry. Other entities allow the sale of RNG without a CI label, but once again, limit it to an arbitrary list of permitted pathways and assumptions. LCA and CI scores for biogas are inconsistently valued and applied across regulatory and voluntary markets, opening the sector to unnecessary scrutiny. For example, environmental coalitions and some nongovernmental organizations have challenged the carbon reduction potential of biogas-based systems when combustion occurs at any scale, when agricultural lands are used for production, or when manure storage is involved. An improved lifecycle methodology, as undertaken by the Eco and ABC work, seeks to make the true carbon impact of those pieces of the pathway clear, consistent and transparent. The current patchwork of systems excludes valuable contributions to carbon reduction efforts, and in some cases, leaves biogas systems ineligible to participate in programs and markets.&nbsp; The Solution Eco has been hired by ABC to develop a methodology and associated protocols to measure, report and validate the carbon reduction and removal embodied in typical biogas systems, including those producing RNG, electricity and nonenergy products like digestate. To develop the methodology, we are providing multiple opportunities for stakeholders across the industry to engage and provide valuable feedback that will ultimately shape the final product. By combining a science-based approach with industry concerns and know-how, this improved methodology will cover the most common biogas projects and provide a clear roadmap to quantify and monetize the environmental benefits associated with energy and nutrient production. With the help of this methodology, biogas owners, developers and customers will be able to determine the CI of their specific biogas project and be more inclusive of feedstocks and project types not currently recognized by the LCFS for methane avoidance credits. In addition, the methodology will attempt to remain within the bounds of common greenhouse gas protocols. Since RNG, electricity from biogas, and digestate are prime candidates to take advantage of the global surge in demand for decarbonized products, this methodology should make it easier for biogas projects to engage with the growing voluntary carbon marketplace. It will create a more universal language for biogas systems and foster innovation within the sector as new technology, design and sustainable agricultural practices emerge as contributors to carbon reduction opportunities, leading to greater investment across the industry.&nbsp; Finally, to build confidence in and adoption of the resulting methodology, a strong carbon accounting framework, methodology, monitoring, reporting and verification plan is needed. Beyond biogas, this new methodology can act as a starting point for other sectors that may use biogas as an input to their products, advanced liquid biofuels or hydrogen, and can serve as a framework for developing similar methodologies in other industries. It will be game-changing. Author: Brad Pleima President, EcoEngineers www.ecoengineers.us.&nbsp; bpleima@ecoengineers.us

2023-07-07 - Overhauling Carbon Accounting (Biomass Magazine)

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Improved carbon accounting methodology for biogas projects will 
be a game-changer for the industry. 

Overhauling Carbon Accounting

Often, dust and spillage issues can be deemed “minor inconveniences” or “the cost of doing business,” until they raise the cost of operation to such a level that they can no longer be overlooked. However, when a new plant begins production and these issues present themselves at the outset, it is best to address them early.&nbsp; This was the case for San Pedro BioEnergy (SPBE), a biomass power producer in the Dominican Republic.&nbsp; The conveyors carrying organic matter experienced so much fugitive dust and spillage that relatively new components were failing due to fouling. This caused excessive downtime and required excessive maintenance. The increased labor, expense of equipment replacement, and downtime for maintenance raised the cost of operation, rendering the situation unsustainable over the long term. &nbsp; Sustainable Power Production Having opened in 2017 in the province of San Pedro de Macorís, SPBE was the first renewable energy plant with biomass-based generation technology in the Dominican Republic. The power producer complies with the standards of the United Nations Global Compact. Its operations are aimed at significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions and promoting the Sustainable Development Goals of the Dominican government and global community. The biomass used by the plant consists of 90% sugarcane bagasse and 10% wood chips from construction and demolition (C&amp;D) recycled material. SPBE’s cogeneration unit has a 30.5-MW turbine and a high-efficiency boiler running on a production cycle of 335 days per year with a 30-day annual maintenance shutdown. The traveling grate boiler has a production capacity of 140 metric tons (154 tons) of steam per hour at 32 bar (464 PSI) of pressure.&nbsp; Along with providing power to the CAEI Sugar Factory—the provider of sugarcane bagasse—the plant distributes power to the National Interconnected Electrical System (SENI) which serves local communities, as well as several industrial customers. “Providing clean power allows us to directly employ over a thousand people and indirectly bring income to thousands of other contractors, partners and servicers,” says Ing. Luis Alberto Pantín González, general manager at SPBE. “With so many people depending on us, we take any outage in production and operations very seriously.” Clean Energy, Dirty Conveyors Operating a total of 30 conveyors, the main problem of fugitive dust and spillage were experienced at three critical transfer points leading from the mulcher to the incinerator. Two run horizontally from towers high above the ground and one is inverted at a 45-degree angle. Transporting mulch, the 72-inch-wide belts ran for 50 feet, then dropped the material 20-30 feet through unobstructed chutes directly onto impact idlers. Processed to between 1-100 mm (.04-4 in.) in size, the mulch became lighter and more prone to emit dust. The long, unobstructed drops through the chutes caused impacts that created turbulent air within loading zones that weren’t equipped to control airflow.&nbsp; One of the transfer points was only enclosed by a grated structure, offering no dust or spillage control at all.&nbsp; Two of the loading zones had enclosures with skirting, but the impact idlers created large gaps where high volumes of fugitive dust and fines escaped. “The dust was dense, and the spillage reached waist height in a matter of hours,” says Alfonso Granata Jr. of PeGran SA.&nbsp; “When we were invited to examine the issue, we pointed out some of the causes and offered solutions.” In its report, the inspection team identified several system design issues that contributed to the dust and spillage issues. One was that the inlet chutes were dropping material behind the loading zones onto the transitions from the tail pulley to the first troughed idler instead of directly onto the impact idlers. This caused the belts to slump, opening large gaps under the skirting where material could escape. Without support, this also caused uncentered loading. Spillage collected underneath the loading zones, piled up past the return belt lines and fouled the tail pullies. Another problem was induced and displaced air in the loading zones.&nbsp; Because of the unobstructed drop height, the impact created “splash” that resulted in dust and spillage being forcefully exhausted.&nbsp; Other issues included the lack of proper equipment to adequately control and contain material.&nbsp; For example, there were no wear liners on the enclosures, which left the polyurethane skirting to perform double duty, containing material and taking the brunt of the transfer force. This resulted in premature failure of the skirting, contributing to fugitive dust and spillage. Missing consistently across the three transition points were stilling zones (also known as settling zones) and dust collectors to mitigate air flow and control emissions. After the loading zones, dust that did not escape the chute accumulated on the inside walls of enclosures rather than settling back onto the cargo flow, posing a risk of fire or explosion from accidental sparking. Fugitive material was not just a problem at the transfer points, it was also an issue throughout the transit and discharge of cargo. Uneven loading made the cargo settle off center, causing the belts to drift. Once the belts reached the discharge zone, the existing belt cleaners did not adequately clear the material from the belts’ surface, allowing fines to cling to the belt and carry back, piling spillage along the belt path.&nbsp; Since these conveyors were located above other parts of the plant, the carryback would drop a long distance, allowing it to spread and collect on all surfaces throughout the plant. This required workers to regularly be taken from other tasks and assigned to clean the spillage. “Every other day, we assigned a four-person crew to the job of cleaning up around these areas, which took an entire shift,” Ing. Pantín says. “This raised the cost of labor, but without it, material would pile up, encapsulate the conveyor and make things worse. We were also struggling with dust fouling the bearings of idlers, pulleys and machinery, causing them to fail prematurely. Every time this happened, we had to shut down for maintenance, which affected power production.”&nbsp; Modern Transfer Point Design Reimagining the system meant rethinking every aspect from tail to head pulley.&nbsp; This began with doubling the length of the enclosures from 20 feet to 40 feet, and raising the height of each one a few centimeters. The chute enclosure is modular so that it can be modified in the future. The extra length and height allowed for more airflow control, dust control equipment, an external wear liner and room for the active dust to settle back into the cargo flow.&nbsp; Starting at the loading zones, the existing impact idlers created a bumpy belt path and gaps between the belt and skirting, allowing dust and fines to escape. Those were replaced by impact cradles and slider support cradles with smooth static bars down the length of the enclosure. The technicians installed 60-inch-wide impact cradles with medium-duty impact absorbing bars. The bars are reinforced by a steel support structure with a base of 50-durometer styrene-butadiene (SBR) rubber and a top layer of slick, ultra high molecular weight (UHMW) plastic. The benefit of bars over idlers is they provide an even belt plane for the skirting to properly seal the enclosure with no gaps. The placement of the units promoted centered loading to mitigate belt drift and less bumping through the settling zones to reduce dust production. Following the impact cradles, the slider cradles were set at a 35-degree trough angle. Offering belt support with a smooth transition, they have 62 durometer (shore D) UHMW polyethylene sidebars bars and 5.5-inch center support rollers set at the base between the bars, away from the belt edge to avoid fouling. The unique “box” design allows maintenance staff to turn the bars over for a second service life without disassembly of cradle components. The rugged steel assembly is attached to its frame on a track allowing a single worker to simply pull the cradle away from the frame to perform any service on sidebars or idlers from outside of the stringer. “In between each of the cradles are specialized troughed idlers,” Granata Jr. says.&nbsp; “The purpose is to ensure there are no gaps between the cradles where fugitive material can escape. These are also set on a track and pull out for easy service.”&nbsp; The modular enclosure chutes above the loading and settling zones are designed to offer operators options when making modifications to the design. The tail sections were capped with metal shields formed to the trough angle to prevent rollback. The enclosure exits were covered by flexible dust curtains made of thick, one-fourth-inch rubber strips to moderate air turbulence. Each section of the enclosure chutes can be economically swapped out for future changes or additions to the system. The enclosures lengthened and heightened the settling zones to control airflow. Above the transition between the loading zones and settling zones, holes were cut to accommodate dust bags that filter escaping air and capture airborne particles. Once the system is shut off, the collected dust falls from the bag back onto the conveyors. Beyond air circulation, another reason the enclosure chute height was raised was to allow for wear liners and dual-efficiency skirting. Along the enclosure, brackets were placed, and thick wear liner plates were installed to protect the chute wall from the punishing environment inside the loading and settling zones. Commonly, wear liners are welded to the inside of the chute, requiring chute entry and hot work to remove. The external wear liners are easily swapped out from the outside of the system, reducing labor and improving safety. The skirt seals are specially designed, one-piece polyurethane strips that stretch down the length of the chute and seal the enclosures to the belts, preventing the escape of fines and dust. Mounted on the outside of the chute walls for simple external maintenance, they float on the belts’ surface and self-adjust to maintain an effective seal without maintenance. When the bottom side is worn, the skirting strips can be flipped over, extending the operational life and reducing equipment costs.&nbsp;&nbsp; On the return side of the belt beneath the loading and settling zones, technicians installed V-plows and belt tracking systems. The plows are mounted with self-adjusting arms that hold the units in place as they glide lightly on the return side of the belts and deflect any fugitive material that could foul the tail pulleys. The belt tracking systems feature a roller set slightly above the return belt line. Two arms sense slight horizontal fluctuations in the belt line and adjust the rollers to compensate, ensuring the belts are centered on the tail pulleys. One of the biggest causes of spillage was carryback. Heavy-duty primary belt cleaners with metal tip blades were installed at the head pulleys. Due to periods of high humidity, installers fitted them with low-adhesion urethane blades specifically designed for sticky and tacky material. “The curved design conforms to the belt, and the tensioning system ensures continuous contact across the belt profile,” says Granata Jr.&nbsp; “The blades do an excellent job of drastically reducing the volume of carryback and the thick dust.”&nbsp; Retrofitting Conveyor Efficiency The installation at SPBE was conducted during a scheduled outage by a handful of local contractors under the supervision of experienced PeGran and Martin Engineering technicians. When the system was run and tested, it was immediately apparent that the new equipment drastically reduced the volume of fugitive spillage and dust around the transfer points and throughout the plant. “With only a few adjustments, the full-belt tests clearly showed that the system was much improved,” Granata Jr. observes.&nbsp; “Not only did this project reduce the spillage and dust, but it improved efficiency across several critical sections of the power plant’s throughput.” Two years following installation, the equipment runs as projected with no degradation in efficiency. Unscheduled downtime from dust getting into rolling components and fouling machinery has not been a problem since installation. This lowered the cost of operation and made production more sustainable.&nbsp; Managers at SPBE have noticed a significant decrease in expenditures for the replacement of idlers and other components. The spillage of fines no longer builds to excessive levels on equipment throughout the plant, so the cleanup schedule has been scaled back to once per week. These factors have reduced labor costs and maintenance schedules, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective operations. “Less dust and spillage have made the plant a more pleasant and safer place to work,” Ing. Pantín says.&nbsp; “We’re impressed with the quality of the equipment and the service we received from PeGran and Martin. It’s a lasting solution that’s increased uptime with significantly less maintenance.&nbsp; Greater production meant a faster return on investment, which has freed up the budget to make improvements to other parts of the plant.” Author: Shane Tighe Territory Manager, Martin Engineering www.martin-eng.com

2023-07-09 - Solving Serious Conveyor Dust and Spillage Issues (Biomass Magazine)

San Pedro BioEnergy has several interconnected conveyor systems that make up its intricate operation. 

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Carryback from insufficient belt cleaning caused spillage to drop along the length of the belt return. 

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A grated enclosure did not adequately contain spillage from pouring out of the transfer point.

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The support cradles and idlers in between each create a smooth and sealed beltline. 

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When faced with excessive amounts of dust and spillage from conveyor systems, operators logically focus on cleanup, maintenance and downtime mitigation to maintain production levels. 

Solving Serious Conveyor Dust and Spillage Issues

Ukraine expects biomethane to play a key role in reducing its reliance on natural gas imports in coming years, amid a broader wave of support for new renewable gas facilities across Europe. With energy security front of mind amid widespread geopolitical tension, policymakers across the globe would be wise to follow Ukraine&rsquo;s lead. Members of Ukrainian parliament recently announced that European Investment Bank funds will support construction of five new biomethane plants in 2023 and the same number in 2024, with new draft laws supporting more biogas capture and biomethane use also under consideration, in a press release issued in March.&nbsp; &ldquo;Hopefully, this is just the beginning,&rdquo; said Oleksandr Haydu, chairman of Ukraine&rsquo;s Committee on Agrarian and Land. &ldquo;Accordingly, we are ready to support our farmers in these initiatives [and] are working on draft laws.&rdquo; Russia&rsquo;s invasion into Ukraine in February 2022 spurred a tragic conflict that shows no sign of slowing more than one year later, despite more than 22,000 Ukrainian casualties to date, according to the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. But while Ukraine&rsquo;s soldiers continue to defend the sovereignty of its borders, its leaders must devise new ways to keep reliable, affordable and low-carbon energy flowing throughout the country. Besides the immense human toll, the war has pressured Ukraine&rsquo;s energy security, with the country reliant on European gas imports for roughly 16 billion cubic meters of gas in 2020, according to data from Ukraine&rsquo;s gas transmission pipeline operator. Biomethane&mdash;a renewable natural gas that provides a reliable, low-emissions fuel derived from the captured emissions of biological waste&mdash;is one tool at Ukraine&rsquo;s disposal to help end its reliance on foreign gas, Ukrainian lawmakers said in the March press release.&nbsp; &ldquo;Since Ukraine has the largest area of agricultural land in Europe, the potential for biomethane production is great,&rdquo; Ukraine&rsquo;s Haydu said. &ldquo;Production of biogas from agricultural products is a step toward energy independence of Ukraine.&rdquo; &nbsp; Europe on Board With Biomethane Ukraine is not the only European stakeholder embracing biomethane&mdash;commonly referred to as renewable natural gas (RNG) in North America. This March, the European Union recognized biomethane among the &ldquo;strategic net-zero technologies&rdquo; at the core of its Net-Zero Industry Act, an ambitious policy proposal intended to ensure that at least 40% of the EU&rsquo;s green energy manufacturing is located within the bloc&rsquo;s borders by 2030. That NZIA package supports the European Union&rsquo;s REPowerEU&rsquo;s action plan signed in 2022, which aims for a 12-fold increase in biomethane deployment within the EU by 2030. Here in the U.S., RNG is sometimes underappreciated as a solution for decarbonizing our society&mdash;perhaps because the very word &ldquo;gas&rdquo; is a nonstarter for a small but vocal contingent of advocacy groups. But how, then, should we view Ukraine and Brussels&rsquo; support for biomethane? Faced with the realities of war, geopolitical uncertainty and the urgency of the world&rsquo;s climate crisis, leaders across the Atlantic are rightfully leaning on RNG to power their societies and reduce emissions for generations to come.&nbsp; Still, more work is needed: the International Energy Agency recently estimated that 70 billion euros ($765.4 billion) of new investment is required to meet the EU&rsquo;s long-term goal for 35 billion cubic meters per year of production by 2030, with new government incentives also needed to further close the cost competitiveness gap between lower-emissions biomethane and fossil gas alternatives. U.S. and Canadian governments have historically supported RNG through public policies aimed at growing renewable and low-carbon clean fuels, decarbonizing our gas supply, and most recently, in the tax code through the Inflation Reduction Act. With nearly 300 RNG facilities online and 500 more in development stages, North America&rsquo;s domestic deployment of biomethane is off to a strong start. Still, these numbers are just scratching the surface of the need and opportunity presented by societal waste&mdash;an unavoidable and constant burden to which all communities contribute. RNG will not solve the climate crisis alone, but Europe&rsquo;s support for its growth underscores that a diverse portfolio of low-carbon solutions will be required to both limit climate warming and protect sovereign, democratic nations&mdash;including Ukraine&mdash;against energy supply shortfalls. In the words of Ukraine&rsquo;s Haydu: Hopefully, this is just the beginning. Author: Johannes Escudero Founder and CEO, RNG Coalition rngcoalition.com

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Johannes Escudero, founder and CEO of the RNG Coalition, dicusses Ukraine's plan to use biomethane to reduce its reliance on natural gas imports and encourages policymakers agross the globe to follow the country's lead. 

Ukraine, Europe Back  Biomethane—Shouldn't We?

As I skimmed the headlines this morning, I read that Canada is experiencing its worst fire season in modern history. Much of the U.S. has experienced some degree of smoke in the past few weeks as it moves out of Canada, and according to reports, a massive plume is on its way to parts of Europe. And the season has not even peaked. The statistics released by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center are staggering&mdash;so far, 17.8 million acres have burned, a new record. As to the question of what can be done to mitigate these wildfires, one of the underlining solutions is more dollars, efforts and support toward forest management. This brings me to our cover story and page-20 feature, &ldquo;Behind the Curtain,&rdquo; in which I discuss Air Burners&rsquo; air curtain technology with company President Brian O&rsquo;Connor. After buying the company decades ago, he spent many years tweaking and perfecting these systems (he calls them pollution control devices), which&mdash;in a nut shell&mdash;burn clean wood and ag waste, catch the smoke and particulate matter and burn it again, producing a very minute amount of ash, as well as biochar.&nbsp; And, a new product line allows for electricity production on-site, which can be used to power the machines being used, or plugged into the grid. One of the company&rsquo;s biggest markets, according to O&rsquo;Connor, is wildfire mitigation&mdash;in fact, Cal Fire owns about a dozen of them. &ldquo;They arrive on-site and ready to do the job,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You can drag them around, and they&rsquo;re easy to take care of.&rdquo;&nbsp; Though the technology has been tested and approved by the U.S. EPA and seemingly holds great potential, O&rsquo;Connor believes there are still some misperceptions about them. Shifting gears, our page-14 feature, &ldquo;High Hopes for Hydrogen,&rdquo; lays out federal strategy to renewable hydrogen deployment in the U.S., its potential and the challenges ahead. While this story just scratches the surface in terms of developments in the U.S., it will give you an idea of where things are at&mdash;or rather, where they need to be at in order to reach goals. As Retka Schill writes, a top concern is how the carbon intensity of hydrogen will be determined for the new federal incentives, and the specifics of the eligibility roles&mdash;specifically dairy biogas, as there is an ongoing debate regarding its carbon intensity score. On that note, be sure to check out our page-30 contribution, &ldquo;Overhauling Carbon Accounting,&rdquo; by EcoEngineers&rsquo; Brad Pleima. In the article, Pleima discusses an improved carbon accounting methodology in development by the company and the American Biogas Council. Pleima says the hope is that the methodology will make it easier for biogas projects to quantify and market carbon benefits from renewable natural gas, biogas electricity and digestate. Finally, later this summer we will be hard at work on a number of U.S. and Canada map projects (fuel pellet plants, biomass power and waste-to-energy facilities, RNG plants, as well as biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel operations). If something has changed at your plant in terms of production capacity, fuel, ownership, etcetera&mdash;or if you&rsquo;re building new&mdash;we greatly appreciate you letting us know. Author: Anna Simet Editor asimet@bbiinternational.com

Biomass Magazine Issue 3

Columns

North American Wood Fiber Pricing, Supplies and Sawmill Capex

Renewable Natural Gas and the Need for Clean Domestic Energy

A Never-Ending Pursuit

Ukraine, Europe Back Biomethane—Shouldn't We?

The Ever-Widening Impacts of Wildfires

Featured

High Hopes for Hydrogen

Arming the Industry

Behind The Curtain

Q&A: Finding New Niches

Navigating the Turbulence of Global Trade

Contributions

A Unique Solution to Tail Gas Flaring for RNG Plants

Keys to Maximum Explosion Protection

Drying Digestate

Unlocking Biofertilizer as Additional Revenue Source

Improving Early Warning Fire Detection: Thermal Imaging and the Internet of Things

Efficient Cleaning of Sustainable Biomass Boilers

SPOTLIGHT REMBE - The Many Facets of Flameless Venting

Paper and Packaging Slowdown Impacts Wood Fiber Prices

Overhauling Carbon Accounting

Solving Serious Conveyor Dust and Spillage Issues

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

Columns

North American Wood Fiber Pricing, Supplies and Sawmill Capex

Renewable Natural Gas and the Need for Clean Domestic Energy

A Never-Ending Pursuit

Ukraine, Europe Back Biomethane—Shouldn't We?

The Ever-Widening Impacts of Wildfires

Featured

High Hopes for Hydrogen

Arming the Industry

Behind The Curtain

Q&A: Finding New Niches

Navigating the Turbulence of Global Trade

Contributions

A Unique Solution to Tail Gas Flaring for RNG Plants

Keys to Maximum Explosion Protection

Drying Digestate

Unlocking Biofertilizer as Additional Revenue Source

Improving Early Warning Fire Detection: Thermal Imaging and the Internet of Things

Efficient Cleaning of Sustainable Biomass Boilers

SPOTLIGHT REMBE - The Many Facets of Flameless Venting

Paper and Packaging Slowdown Impacts Wood Fiber Prices

Overhauling Carbon Accounting

Solving Serious Conveyor Dust and Spillage Issues

Biomass Magazine Issue 3