august 2012 biomass magazine

August 2012

Positioning Innovation

Researchers, Developers Share Their New

Equipment Want ListsPage 30

Plus:Biogas System Suppliers Exporting Today8

And:Can Wood Pellets Ease Energy Costs in the North? Page 24

www.biomassmagazine.com

W E C O N V E Y Q U A L I T Y

Phone: +1 - 770 - 226 - 95 78 · Fax: +1 - 770 - 953 - 48 44 · e-mail: [email protected] · www.aumund.com

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AUGUST 2012 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 3

BIOGASEnabling Exports to Benefi t BusinessU.S. Ex-Im Bank and Brazilian biogas ally in a waste-to-fuels landfi ll revitalization.By Erin Voegele

PELLETSNorthern ExposureBiomass thermal applications could reduce energy costs in remote, northern communities. By Anna Simet

EQUIPMENTBioenergy Equipment EssentialsResearchers and project veterans map out future technology needs. By Luke Geiver

POWERThe Cruciality of Combustion Technology The upsides and downfalls of biomass power generation options. By Brandon Bell

INSIDE¦

AUGUST 2012 | VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 8

FEATURES

CONTRIBUTION

DEPARTMENTS04 EDITOR’S NOTE

Biomass' Own Silver BuckshotBy Tim Portz

06 INDUSTRY EVENTS

07 POWER PLATFORMTax Incentives for Renewable Baseload PowerBy Bob Cleaves

08 THERMAL DYNAMICSThermal Energy can Reduce the Next Big FireBy Joseph Seymour & Rob Davis

09 LEGAL PERSPECTIVEEPA Uncertain of Biogenic Fuels’ RoleBy Todd Palmer and Anna Wildeman

10 FEEDSTOCK FOOTNOTESForget Not the FeedstockBy Todd Atkinson

12 BUSINESS BRIEFS

14 FIRED UP

41 MARKETPLACE

18

24

30

40

ADVERTISER INDEX¦

2012 Algae Biomass Summit 43

2012 National Advanced Biofuels 44Conference & Expo

2013 International Biomass Conference & Expo 39

Airofl ex Equipment 21

Algae Biomass Organization 11

B&W Mechanical Handling, Ltd. 2

BBI Consulting Services 42

Biomass Magazine 4

Buhler Inc. 28

Continental Biomass Industries, Inc. 12

CPM Roskamp Champion 6

Detroit Stoker Company 23

Dieffenbacher 17

Fagen Inc. 13

Fike Corporation 15

GEA Westfalia Separator 33

ICM, Inc. 29

KEITH Manufacturing Company 38

Pellet Mill Magazine 41

Pellets Forum 34

ProcessBarron 16

PRODESA 5

RUD Chain 32

Scheuch GmbH 27

Seedburo Equipment Company 35

ThermoEnergy Corporation 26

Twin Ports Testing 37

Vecoplan LLC 22

West Salem Machinery 20

Wolf Material Handling Systems 14

Biomass Magazine: (USPS No. 5336) August 2012, Vol. 6, Issue 8. Biomass Magazine is published monthly by BBI International. Principal Offi ce: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biomass Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.

18

August 2012

Positioning Innovation

Researchers, Developers Share Their New

Equipment Want Lists0

Plus:Biogas System Suppliers Exporting TodayPage 18

And:Can Wood Pellets Ease Energy Costs in the North? Page 24

www.biomassmagazine.com

ON THE COVER: Biomass-based boiler systems housed in confi ned containers and designed for small spaces are the new trend in biopower. PHOTO: MARCUS KAUFFMAN

4 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2012

Biomass’ Own Silver BuckshotAt the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual biomass conference earlier this summer in Wash-

ington, D.C., agency personnel opined about the various obstacles facing the biomass industry and limiting or slowing its growth trajectory. Acting Biomass Program Director Valerie Reed sug-gested that the cost of conversion technologies was the largest obstacle while Secretary of Energy Steven Chu suggested that ultimately a lack of market stability was the industry’s most signifi cant bottleneck. While a cynic might draw attention to this divergence in thought from within the same department, I think it is more likely due to the wide interpretation of what biomass-derived energy actually is.

Clearly, Reed held emerging advanced biofuels technologies in her mind when she made that remark. Anaerobic digesters, landfi ll gas capture and combustion operations, pellet stoves, district energy systems and biomass boilers for electric power production are all relatively mature and proven technologies that have been and are currently being deployed and operated worldwide.

At the same event, retired Vice Adm. of the Navy Dennis V. McGinn noted that the means to this country’s clean, secure and domestic energy goals lie not in one elusive silver bullet, but instead in a collection of solutions he referred to as “silver buckshot”.

While I have heard the buckshot metaphor before, it had never resonated to the degree that it did after I read this month’s issue of Biomass Magazine. Within just 10 pages, our coverage examines biomass utilization in one of the world’s most densely populated cities (Erin Voegele’s piece on a landfi ll gas project outside of Rio de Janeiro) and the potential for biomass-derived heat in some of the most remote reaches of the United States (Anna Simet’s exploration of the challenge to pro-vide thermal energy in rural Alaska). These projects are being explored and commissioned not in spite of conversion technologies that bear price tags that hamstring their development, but because of technologies that offer cost-effective energy capture and production solutions.

Of course Reed and Chu were both right with their assertion that our industry can and will benefi t from lower-cost conversion technologies and greater market stability. However, I identify most readily with Vice Adm. McGinn’s comments and know he would see the projects outlined in this issue of Biomass Magazine as testimony that some of the pellets in our industry’s own brand of “silver buckshot” are fi nding their mark.

TIM PORTZVICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT & EXECUTIVE [email protected]

¦EDITOR’S NOTE


EDITORIAL

PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEFTom Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT & EXECUTIVE EDITORTim Portz [email protected]

CONTRIBUTIONS EDITORAnna Simet [email protected]

FEATURES EDITORLuke Geiver [email protected]

NEWS EDITORErin Voegele [email protected]

COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann [email protected]

ARTART DIRECTOR

Jaci Satterlund [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERElizabeth Burslie [email protected]

PUBLISHING & SALESCHAIRMAN

Mike Bryan [email protected]

CEOJoe Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT, SALES & MARKETINGMatthew Spoor [email protected]

EXECUTIVE ACCOUNT MANAGERHoward Brockhouse [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jeremy Hanson [email protected]

ACCOUNT MANAGERSMarty Steen [email protected] Bob Brown [email protected]

Andrea Anderson [email protected] Austin [email protected]

CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry [email protected]

ADVERTISING COORDINATORMarla DeFoe [email protected]

SENIOR MARKETING MANAGERJohn Nelson [email protected]

Subscriptions Biomass Magazine is free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge of $49.95 for any country outside of the United States, Canada and Mexico. To subscribe, visit www.BiomassMagazine.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to Biomass Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to (701) 746-5367. Back Issues & Reprints Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at (701) 746-8385 or [email protected]. Advertising Biomass Magazine provides a specifi c topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To fi nd out more about Biomass Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at (701) 746-8385 or [email protected]. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Biomass Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email to [email protected]. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

TM

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling COPYRIGHT © 2012 by BBI International


Algae Biomass SummitSeptember 24-27, 2012Sheraton Denver Downtown HotelDenver, ColoradoAdvancing Technologies and Markets Derived from AlgaeOrganized by the Algal Biomass Organization and coproduced by BBI International, this event brings current and future producers of biobased products and energy together with algae crop growers, municipal leaders, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. Early bird registra-tion rates expire August 13.(866)746-8385www.algaebiomasssummit.org

National Advanced Biofuels Conference & ExpoNovember 27-29, 2012Hilton Americas - HoustonHouston, TexasNext Generation Fuels and ChemicalsProduced by BBI International, the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo is tailored for industry professionals engaged in producing, developing and deploying advanced biofuels, biobased platform chemicals, polymers and other renewable molecules that have the potential to meet or exceed the performance of petroleum-derived products(866)746-8385www.advancedbiofuelsconference.com

International Biomass Conference & ExpoApril 8-10, 2013Minneapolis Convention CenterMinneapolis, MinnesotaBuilding on InnovationOrganized by BBI International and produced by Biomass Magazine, the International Biomass Conference & Expo program will include 30-plus panels and more than 100 speakers, including 90 technical presentations on topics ranging from anaerobic digestion and gas-ifi cation to pyrolysis and combined heat and power. This dynamic event unites industry professionals from all sectors of the world’s in-terconnected biomass utilization industries—biobased power, ther-mal energy, fuels and chemicals. (866)746-8385www.biomassconference.com

¦INDUSTRY EVENTS

International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & ExpoJune 10-13, 2013America’s CenterSt. Louis, MissouriWhere Producers MeetNow in its 29th year, the FEW provides the global ethanol industry with cutting-edge content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-to-business environment. The FEW is the largest, longest-running ethanol conference in the world—and the only event powered by Ethanol Producer Magazine.(866)746-8385www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

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Washington, D.C., is busy with debate over the proposed extension of the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC), a benefi t currently available almost exclusively to wind power, but it could easily benefi t baseload renewable sources like biomass.

Industry leaders claim that failure to extend the “placed-in-service date,” a deadline by which a facil-ity must begin providing power if they are to receive the credit, would be harmful to U.S. turbine manu-facturing facilities and stall the growth of the U.S. renewable energy fl eet. Opponents claim that the credit is nothing more than a handout to a mature technology that should be able to stand on its own two feet after decades of support.

Although wind-powered electricity generation facilities were made eligible for the PTC back in 1992, the entire renewable energy market—includ-ing wind—is still largely unstable. The fact of the matter is that until the country develops a national renewable energy standard (RES), government support such as the PTC is necessary for virtually all forms of renewable energy. That being said, it is important that we understand Section 45, and ask ‘is Section 45 working and for whom?’

First, we must look at one of the most promi-nent recipients of PTC: wind power. We know that in recent years, federal tax incentives have spurred tremendous growth of wind power. Since 2007, the U.S. wind capacity has more than tripled in size, and the PTC is the driving force behind the rapid growth of the industry. These credits allow wind investors to build and expand the considerable infra-structure needed to capture large-scale power from wind. However, wind powered facilities are incapa-ble of providing predictable baseload power, espe-cially during critical high demand times. Predictable baseload power is necessary for U.S. communities, especially as they endure these hot summer days.

It is important that we consider baseload energy sources such as geothermal, biomass or waste en-ergy. These sources can provide predictable power to the energy grid regardless of severe weather or other uncontrollable circumstances. However, in

comparison with the wind industry boom, there has been meager growth in these sectors since 2007. Overall, these sources have grown by about 10 per-cent. While they technically qualify for Section 45 credits, it is very diffi cult for baseload energy devel-opers to take advantage of them. Due to the longer lead-time required to complete facility construction for these energy sources, combined with the very short congressional extensions of the placed-in-service deadline, the incentive power of Section 45 PTCs remains just out of their grasp.

For as long as the U.S. works to decrease its fos-sil fuel dependency without a federal RES, federal energy tax policy decisions will continue to have a major infl uence on renewable energy development. For example, if tax policy continues to disfavor baseload renewable energy resources, periods of high energy demand could cause areas that rely heavily on intermittent energy sources to resort to fossil fuels peaking facilities, or worse, to lose power altogether.

There is an easy solution that would allow for continued support of wind and solar power while ensuring that baseload sources are able to grow. By adjusting the section 45 placed-in-service date to allow more baseload power facilities to qualify, Congress could enhance the incentive value of the renewable incentives to baseload power developers, stimulating additional build-out and signifi cantly broadening the portfolio of generation available to the grid.

In the coming months, Congress is expected to look at extending Section 45 credits. While con-sidering this legislation, Congress should enact the changes necessary to make Section 45 accessible to baseload developers. The government has the potential to better support biomass, geothermal and waste energy.

Author: Bob CleavesPresident and CEO, Biomass Power Association

[email protected]

Tax Incentives for Renewable Baseload Power

POWER PLATFORM¦

BY BOB CLEAVES

High Park. Waldo Canyon. Shingle. Those are three of the reported 29,151 U.S. forest fi res that have burned nearly 2.4 million acres from January 2012 through Independence Day, according to the National Interagency Forest Center. The increasing number and size of our nation’s wildfi res indicates that our forests need further, more effective man-agement, and there is agreement that fuels reduc-tion, fi re hazard mitigation within the Wildland Urban Interface, and restoration should occur in larger volumes and more rapidly. When forests are better managed, the surrounding communities and biomass markets mutually benefi t.

Eastern Arizona’s 2011 Wallow Fire demon-strated the undeniable value of fuels reduction measures. Witnesses on the scene and a report from the U.S. Forest Service attest to how these treatments saved communities from destruction, and enabled fi refi ghters to gain control of wild-fi res. In one picture, the fuels treatment line clearly separates charred destruction from intact trees and homes.

However, not any treatment will do. A plan must be carefully agreed upon by scientists, forest-ers, and other stakeholders. When such a fuels reduction and treatment plan is instituted, there are multiple benefi ts to the affected forestland, community and regional economy. These include reduced fi re hazards, safer communities, more resil-ient forests, improved watersheds and wildlife habi-tat, improved recreation opportunities, additional and sustainable source of biomass, as well as access to local resources for wood product manufacturing and energy production.

If fuel treatments are so valuable, why aren’t they more widely employed? The reason is a combination of the high cost of fuels reduction and the low value of the residuals removal. While conventional wood products industries can access

the higher-value wood, the majority of the removed materials consist of small trees unsuitable for those products. This challenge provides biomass market opportunities. In rural locations with high fos-sil fuel costs, these residues can be and are used to produce energy fuels such as chips, pellets or cordwood for thermal and electrical energy, as well as biofuels for transportation.

Forest restoration efforts like those in the White Mountain Stewardship Project area can be funded in part by markets for low-value residual materials. And, when residues go toward high-effi ciency end uses such as thermal energy, the resource becomes more valuable and can receive a higher price. The obvious—but overlooked—benefi ts from heating with local biomass include affordable heat for homes, schools, hospitals and communities, new and permanent local jobs from forest utilization, and reduced export of local wealth while importing energy and forest products. Simply stated, biomass thermal applications mean more money for forest restoration efforts and more self-sustaining rural communities.

BTEC encourages the ongoing management of our nation’s forests through appropriate forest prescriptions and utilization of residues. Together, these efforts benefi t the forest, forest communities and our nation’s energy portfolio. Thermal energy is an effi cient solution for achieving this forest work and provides solutions that our rural commu-nities so desperately need: economic and physical security.

Authors: Joseph SeymourExecutive Director, Biomass Thermal Energy Council

www.biomassthermal.org Rob Davis

President, Forest Energy Corp.

Thermal Energy can Reduce the Next Big Fire

¦THERMAL DYNAMICS

BY JOSEPH SEYMOUR & ROB DAVIS


Recent air permitting actions highlight the U.S. EPA’s struggle—and continued uncertainty—in determining the most appropriate Best Available Control Technology emission limits for bioenergy facilities. The agency actions described further below suggest that EPA will not con-sider the use of biogenic fuel, in and of itself, as suffi cient to meet a source’s BACT obligations for the control of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Rather, bioenergy facil-ities are expected to consider the use of additional GHG control equipment or more energy-effi cient technologies, such as combined-cycle turbines or combined heat and power (CHP) to limit GHG emissions. This development could unintentionally hinder the development of bioen-ergy facilities by adding more costs and regulatory uncer-tainty.

By way of background, EPA requires larger sources of GHG emissions to obtain preconstruction prevention of signifi cant deterioration (PSD) permits.These PSD per-mits must contain emission limits that are developed on a case-by-case basis to refl ect the emission rates that can be achieved by employing the best available control technol-ogy. In November 2010, EPA released its PSD and Title V Permitting Guidance for Greenhouse Gases, in an effort to assist states in developing BACT limits for GHG emis-sions. This guidance acknowledged that various federal and state policies are specifi cally designed to facilitate and expand the use of biogenic fuels—biomass and biogas—as a way to reduce ambient GHG emission concentrations and thereby address climate change. To that end, the EPA guidance suggested that state permitting authorities con-sider the use of “certain types of biomass by themselves” as satisfying BACT obligations for controlling GHG emis-sions.

In March 2012, EPA released a second policy docu-ment entitled Guidance for Determining Best Available Control Technology for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emis-sions from Bio-Energy Production. This second guidance provided illustrations of how a state might support a con-clusion that the combustion of biogenic fuels, without any other emission control techniques, was suffi cient to sat-isfy BACT emission control requirements for GHG emis-sions. With these two guidance documents in place, EPA appeared to be signaling that the use of biomass as a fuel would in and of itself meet BACT obligations.

However, on March 15, 2012, EPA Region V provid-ed comments on a draft PSD permit that had been issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for fi ve new combustion turbines that were proposed to burn biogas. In the draft permit determination, WDNR con-cluded that the proposed facility’s GHG BACT require-ments were satisfi ed by the turbines burning biogas and using good combustion practices. Yet, in its March 2012 letter, EPA asked WDNR to explain why it did not require the permittee to evaluate the feasibility of reconfi guring the project to utilize combined-cycle turbines or CHP to meet GHG BACT requirements, both of which utilize thermal energy in a more effi cient manner and thereby lower overall GHG emissions. Implicit in EPA’s comment is that the permittee’s proposed use of biogas, in and of it-self, was not suffi cient to satisfy the source’s GHG BACT obligations.

In a letter dated May 25, 2012, WDNR rejected EPA’s comment, reasoning that combined-cycle and CHP tech-nology cannot be implemented at the proposed facility due to the lack of available space. WDNR’s response avoids the broader policy issue of whether regulators have the au-thority to force a permit applicant to utilize ancillary GHG emission reduction techniques on bioenergy facilities, or whether they can force a project developer to switch its chosen power generation technology from simple-cycle to combined-cycle or CHP. It remains to be seen whether EPA or others challenge the WDNR’s decision.

The renewable energy industry—particularly biomass and biogas project developers—should closely scrutinize PSD permits currently being issued to bioenergy facilities, as they can provide insight into costs associated with bio-genic fuel uses. Permits requiring the utilization of com-bined-cycle or CHP technology will add additional regu-latory burden and expense which could make bioenergy facilities less competitive.

Authors: Anna WildemanAttorney, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

(608) [email protected]

Todd Palmer Attorney, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

(608) 283-4432 [email protected]

EPA Uncertain of Biogenic Fuels’ Role

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE¦

BY TODD PALMER AND ANNA WILDEMAN


There are no short-term solutions to fuel prices. That’s why fi ve years ago the leadership of the 110th Congress began long-term invest-ments by enacting the Renewable Fuels Standard II, which requires 36 billion gallons of biofuels in our national pool by 2022.

With 140 billion gallons of gasoline used each year, biofuels give Americans more choices at the pump, injecting competition into a petroleum marketplace known for squeezing household wal-lets and corporate spreadsheets. Already there are more than 14 billion gallons of corn starch etha-nol with more on the way.

But ethanol had a 30-year head start. Half of today’s volumes were reached by 2007, and etha-nol is made with distillation principles used since the dawn of time, from a crop cultivated by man-kind for 10,000 years.

Because the RFS caps ethanol at 15 billion gallons, we’ve got 10 years to make another 20 bil-lion gallons, but we can’t use corn starch. Therein lies the challenge.

Despite billions of dollars invested in re-search and development, whitepapers and confer-ences, capital grants and construction loans for next-generation biofuels, little by comparison has been invested in actually growing the crops in the fi eld, in the quantities we need, in time for when we’ll need it.

America has the capacity to grow these crops—the U.S. DOE’s Billion Ton Study says so. It’s also why the 110th Congress created the Biomass Crop Assistance Program in the 2008 Farm Bill. To date, Agriculture Secretary Tom

Vilsack has set aside $65 million for producers to grow crops like sterile miscanthus, poplar, cam-elina, switchgrass and willow on more than 60,000 acres—and that’s only the beginning of what we need to grow so that plenty of nonfood feed-stocks will exist for new biorefi neries to use.

It won’t be fl awless at fi rst. For farmers willing to take the risk, we must have their back. Grow-ing successful yields of unconventional cultivars is a complex equation of economics, behavior, weather, markets and timing. Many energy crops are perennial and take several seasons to mature for harvest, plus trial and error to get it right. There’s no millennium of experience. There are no major trade associations, no widespread best practices, nor plentiful data to create crop insur-ance, prepare faultless business plans, or calculate farm loans.

Pull the plug on BCAP, and there never will be. We’ll begin again, in the 2017 Farm Bill, in time for the 2019 crop year, from precisely the same point as today. We’ll never cross the canyon on gas prices this decade because the crops won’t be grown and the bridge won’t be built.

BCAP could create 700,000 jobs by 2022. These aren’t shovel-ready jobs; they’re plow-ready. So let’s keep growing the crops, because when it comes to biofuels, the feedstocks are the sine qua non―without them, there is nothing.

Author: Todd AtkinsonSenior Energy Advisor,

USDA Undersecretary of Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. 202-720-2797

[email protected]

Forget Not the FeedstockBY TODD ATKINSON

¦FEEDSTOCK FOOTNOTES

www.algaebiomass.org | [email protected] | (877) 531-5512

In addition to creating most of the planet’s oxygen, algae are now creating tremendous opportunities in

markets for sustainable fuel, food and other products.

If you are in the algae business, or plan to be, there is no better place than the Algae Biomass Organization to gain access to new markets, a voice on policy, and new

connections for business opportunities.

AlgaeThe first wonder of the world


Kompetch expands distribution networkKomptech USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Komptech Group, has added Foreman Equipment Ltd. as an authorized Komptech equipment distributor for the Canadian markets of British Columbia and Yukon. Foreman Equipment will offer local sales, parts and service support for the complete Komptech product line at its locations throughout British Columbia. Komptech is an international supplier of machinery and systems for the mechanical and mechanical-biological treatment of solid waste and the treatment of biomass as

a renewable energy source. Komptech’s product line features a wide range of shredding, composing and separation equipment.

Mitsubishi subsidiary supplies biomass boiler to pulp maker

CBC Industrias Pesadas S.A., a Brazil-ian subsidiary of Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is supplying a high-capacity, high-performance, biomass-fi red boiler to Suzano Papel e Celulose, Brazil’s largest pulp maker. The boiler will be in-stalled at Suzano’s plant in Mucuri, Behia, where it will provide heat and power for pulp production. The boiler supplied to Suzano has an evaporation capacity of 120 tons of steam per hour and will feature CBC’s propriety bubbling fl uidized bed technology. The boiler is scheduled for delivery in early 2014.

Sapphire Energy adds members to advisory board

Sapphire Energy Inc. has named new members to its Scientifi c Advisory Board. The new board members will play an active role in advising the company as it refi nes its developmental process and technolo-gies for making algae-based crude oil. New members include Leroy Hood, president and co-founder of the Institute for Sys-tems Biology in Seattle; Roger Y. Tsien, investigator of the Howard Hughes Medi-cal Center and professor of pharmacology and chemistry and biochemistry at the Uni-versity of California, San Diego; Matthew Croughan, George B. and Joy Rathmann professor and director and founder of the Amgen Bioprocessing Center at Keck Graduate Institute; and H. Scott Fogler, Ame and Catherine Vennema professor of chemical engeineering and Arthur F.

PEOPLE, PRODUCTS & PARTNERSHIPSBusiness Briefs

Thurnau professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Clean World Partners wins grant for biogas project

The California Energy Commission has selected Clean World Energy Part-ners LLC to receive a $6 million grant to support the expansion of a biogas and bioenergy project. The initial scope of the project called for Clean World Partners’ Organic Waste Recycling Center at the Sacramento-based South Area Trans-fer Station to convert 25 tons of food waste per day into biogas in a high solids anaerobic digestion system. The grant will allow the facility to expand to take in 100 tons per day. The project broke ground on June 7. The fi rst phase is scheduled to be complete this summer, with the expansion complete by early next year.

Elevance wins EPA awardElevance Renewable Sciences Inc., a

producer of high-performance, renewable specialty chemicals, has been named a re-cipient of the U.S. EPA’s 2012 Presidential Green Chemistry Award for its work using metathesis catalysis to convert renewable oils into biobased chemicals. The award recognizes and promotes innovative chem-ical technologies that prevent pollution and have broad applicability in industry. Elevance’s technology uses Nobel Prize-winning innovations in metathesis catalysis, which consumes signifi cantly less energy than petrochemical technologies while

reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent. Elevance is building an 180,000 metric ton biorefi nery in Indonesia with Wilmar International and is repurposing a 280,000 metric ton biodiesel plant in Natchez, Miss.

BUSINESS BRIEFS¦

SHARE YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS: To be included in the Busi-ness Briefs, send information (including photos and logos, if available) to Industry Briefs, Biomass Power Magazine, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You may also email information to [email protected]. Please include your name and telephone number in all cor-respondence.


BiomassNews

An economic anal-ysis of Purdue Univer-sity’s H2Bioil technol-ogy demonstrates that it could produce biofuels that are economi-cally competitive with petroleum-based fuels when oil prices are as low as $103 per barrel. The thermo-chemical technology involves the rapid heating of biomass in the presence of pressurized hydrogen followed by catalytic conversion into gasoline-like molecules. The addition of hydrogen into the gas stream enables more of the carbon contained within the bio-mass feedstock to be converted into fuel, increasing yields when compared

to a standard fast pyrolysis process. The economic analysis has shown that when hydrogen used in the process is sourced from natural gas or coal, or generated from water using nuclear power, the resulting biofuel is cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels. The price of the resulting fuel increases when wind or solar energy is used to generate hydrogen from water.

The USDA, U.S. DOE and U.S. Navy are engaging in a multifaceted plan to expedite develop-ment of the advanced drop-in biofuel industry that includes more than $130 million in new funding opportunities. As part of the effort, the DOE an-nounced a $20 million in funding for earlier-stage research and development projects to support pilot- and demonstration-scale biorefi neries that will convert a variety of nonfood biomass feedstocks, waste-based materials and algae into biofuels that meet military fuel specifi cations. An addition $12 million in DOE funding will support up to eight projects that focus on synthetic biological process-ing. The strategy parallels a two-phase program spearheaded by the Navy. The fi rst phase makes $30 million available in matching funds, with the second offering $70 million from the Defense Production Act to move into actual production. The USDA will use Commodity Credit Corp. resources to ensure fuel purchased from the biorefi neries will be cost-competitive.

H2Bioil biofuel price based on current hydrogen extraction costsBiofuel price per barrel $103-$116$150 $200

Hydrogen sourceNatural gas, coal, nuclear powerWind powerSolar power

H2Bioil technology is cost-competitive with oil Federal entities collaborate on biofuels

BIOMASSNEWS¦

New Hampshire is the fi rst state to grant full credit to renewable thermal projects under a renewable portfolio standard (RPS). The state’s RPS requires electricity provid-ers to deliver 23.8 percent renewable electricity to customers by 2025, and grants renewable energy credits (RECs) on a four-category classifi cation system. Under a new state law, thermal renewable is granted RECs up to $29 per megawatt-hour of usable thermal energy produced by qualifying proj-ects. Some examples of qualifying projects include wood or wood pellet boilers heating commercial or institutional buildings. Washington, D.C., and 28 states have developed RPS programs, but only eight currently have limited thermal provisions, which are generally narrowly restricted. More states, such as Vermont, Maryland and Massachusetts, are con-sidering expanding their RPS programs to include thermal.

Myriant Corp. closed a $25 million private bond placement in June for the construction of its fl agship commercial biobased succinic acid plant in Lake Providence, La. The placement utilized the USDA’s Business and Industry Rural Develop-ment Loan Guarantee program. Myriant is the fi rst biochemical company to receive funding through the program, which is designed to improve the eco-nomic and environmental climate in rural communi-ties by supporting the development of high-quality local industry. According to Myriant, $15 million of the $25 million in bonds sold are guaranteed by the USDA under the B&I program. Once complete, Myriant’s facility will produce 30 million pounds of biobased succinic acid per year, and will create 40 to 50 direct highly-skilled jobs along with approxi-mately 250 construction jobs. Succinic acid is used to manufacture a variety of products, including polymers, fi bers, surfactants, detergents and fl avors The Lake Providence facility is scheduled to begin operations during the fi rst quarter of 2013. Myriant is also planning a 140 million pound capacity expan-sion in the U.S.

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ISOLATION

New Hampshire grants RPS credit to biomass thermal

Myriant wins $25 million USDA loan guarantee

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¦BIOMASSNEWS

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Gasifi cation technology designed by Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Enginuity Energy could be destined for France after two French agriculture offi cials toured the company’s headquarters and witnessed Enginuity Energy’s Ecoremedy technology convert poultry lit-ter and other waste products into renewable power. The process features advanced conveyor systems, an automated touchscreen control interface and a four-stage gasifi cation process. An Ecoremedy pilot plant has been in operation since 2008 at a Tyson Foods Georgia facility, where the gasifi cation technology converts more than 500 tons of poultry litter into 110 pounds per square inch of process steam. Enginu-ity Energy has partnered with Cyclone Power Technologies to build a small-scale modular unit and is in talks to form partnerships in Australia, Northern Ireland, Maryland, West Virginia and regions in the U.S.

A report issued by FutureMetrics LLC fi nds that the price of natural gas is expected to be higher than that of wood pellet fuel within the next three to eight years. The report, titled “An Analysis of the Future of Natural Gas Prices and Wood Pellet Prices: Natural gas will become more costly than wood pellets,” projects that cheap natural gas prices will end before 2020 due to rapidly increasing global demand in the transportation and power sectors and other market factors. Domestic natural gas producers are interested in exporting natural gas, in much the same way crude oil is shipped today, the report says, which could increase prices. The analysis also notes that exporting infl uences also have the potential to impact pellet prices, but that cur-rent economics show that wood pellets generate more profi t when used domestically, which is likely to mitigate interest in exporting the fuel.

French officials visit Enginuity Energy

Natural gas prices could exceed wood pellet prices soon

BIOMASSNEWS¦

A community outreach program spear-headed by Weston Solutions, an environmental consulting company, has brought a proposed bio-mass combined-heat-and-power (CHP) project one step closer to reality in Springfi eld, Vermont. Dan Ingold, Weston Solutions’ senior technical director, has spent nearly three months stationed at the site of the proposed North Springfi eld Sustainable Energy Project site, answering ques-tions from local citizens and city offi cials for several hours twice a week. Over the course of 10 weeks, more than 100 people have visited the site. As a result of the outreach effort, local sup-port for the project has improved greatly. Public concerns focused primarily on the impact the project would have on water availability. Those concerns have been addressed by altering the project plans to use a dry cooling system. The fa-cility is expected to begin operations in mid-2014.

The USDA has announced two new Biomass Crop Assistance Program areas, and the expansion of one existing project area through a $9.6 million round of funding. In New York, ReEnergy Holding LLC will enroll 3,500 acres in a fast-growing shrub willow that will help the biomass power developer generate 100 MW of power. Chemtex International, a division of Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi , has been awarded approximately $4 million to develop 4,000 acres of miscanthus and switch-grass in North Carolina. The energy crop project areas will be spread throughout 11 counties, with the resulting crops used, in part, to feed a 20 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant that will produce onsite biogas for power. Finally, an existing project area in northeast Arkansas will expand giant miscanthus grown throughout three counties to nearly 8,000 acres.

Biomass plant benefits from community outreach

BCAP funding awarded to 3 project areasProject Area 1Project Area 2Project Area 3Project Area 4Project Area 5Project Area 6Project Area 7Project Area 8Project Area 9Project Area 10Project Area 11

Kansas, Missouri ArkansasMissouriMissouriOhio, Pennsylvania Oregon, Washington Kansas, OklahomaCalifornia, Washington, MontanaOregon New YorkNorth Carolina

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¦BIOGAS

EQUIPMENT EXPORTS: FirmGreen shipped the fi nal load of equipment for the Novo Gramacho project to Brazil in May.PHOTO: FIRMGREEN INC.


BIOGAS¦

A biogas opportunity at a shuttered Brazilian landfi ll reveals U.S. Ex-Im Bank’s potential, and how U.S. equipment providers can expand into the global marketplace. BY ERIN VOEGELE

Enabling Exports to Benefi t Business


One of the world’s largest solid-waste landfi lls is located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The

Jardim Gramacho landfi ll, a 140-acre site, received approximately 7,000 tons of garbage per day before the Brazilian government took action to close it in June, just weeks before the country host-ed the Rio+20 United Nations Confer-ence on Sustainable Development. The downtime of the site will be short-lived, however. After nearly 35 years of opera-tion as a solid-waste landfi ll, the site has attracted a new international collabora-tion of Brazilian developers and U.S.-based equipment suppliers. The new leadership team, with some help from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, has a new vision: biogas produc-tion.

Brazilian developer Gás Verde S.A. will own and operate the plant, now re-ferred to as the Novo Gramacho biogas project. The project will feature technol-ogy and equipment supplied by California-based FirmGreen Inc. The Export-Import Bank of the United States has supplied Gás Verde with a 12-year, $48.6 million loan to help fi nance the project.

The revamped facility will convert raw methane produced in the landfi ll into clean, usable biogas. Once complete, FirmGreen says the project will capture and treat 20,000 normal cubic meters per hour (nM3/hr) of landfi ll gas, resulting in 9,000 nM3/hr of fuel-grade, biobased methane. The resulting gas will be transferred via pipeline to a refi nery owned by Brazil’s national oil and gas company, Petrobras S.A.

In addition to reducing passive landfi ll emissions, the biogas project will allow the Petrobras refi nery to replace approximately 10 percent of the fossil-based natural gas it consumes with the fuel-grade biogas pro-duced at the Novo Gramacho site. The project is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 million metric tons per year.

According to FirmGreen CEO Steve Wilburn, his company has been working with Gás Verde for three years to develop the project. The biogas plant is scheduled to be operational during the second half of this year, most likely in late fall, he adds.

¦BIOGAS

PREPARING FOR TRANSPORT: FirmGreen prepares equipment for shipment from its operations in Dublin, Ohio to Brazil.

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FirmGreen’s ContributionsFirmGreen has been working in the biogas space since 2004, when

the company acquired patents and proprietary technology related to biogas production. The company has also developed several of its own patents over time, Wilburn says.

FirmGreen has developed several biogas demonstration projects, one of which received a U.S. EPA Project of the Year award in 2009, as well as awards from the U.S. DOE and the Solid Waste Association of North America. The company has since scaled up to commercial-scale applications.

The contract for the Novo Gramacho project was announced in May 2010. According to Wilburn, Gás Verde completed extensive vet-ting of FirmGreen’s technology prior to fi nalizing the agreement. “They followed us very closely and we shared our data results from [our dem-onstration] projects in the U.S.,” Wilburn says. Despite steep competi-tion from other biogas developers, FirmGreen’s technology won out. Wilburn attributes his company’s selection to the fact that FirmGreen’s technology is reliable, robust and capable of producing a biobased drop-in replacement for fossil-based natural gas.

FirmGreen’s proprietary biogas cleaning equipment is one of the company’s technologies being installed as part of the Novo Grama-cho project. According to Wilburn, the project will include a cleaning technique that uses CO2 to purify raw biogas. “In our process, we use a CO2 wash, where we take the carbon dioxide and partially liquefy it in a column,” he says. “The CO2 washes down the column by gravity fl ow and, meets the uprising [raw biogas], and washes contaminants out, leav-ing a very pure stream of methane, the balance of CO2, nitrogen and oxygen—all with the volatile organic compounds removed.”

When compared to pressure swing adsorption (PSA) techniques for gas purifi cation, Wilburn says a primary benefi t of FirmGreen’s pro-cess is that it doesn’t produce waste absorbent material that needs to be disposed of in a hazardous waste landfi ll. “We don’t have to do that,” he says. “We are a closed loop system. Within the United States [we gener-

ally don’t] require EPA permits from an air quality standpoint, because we meet or exceed all of the EPA standards.”

Wilburn also notes the carbon dioxide wash technique is most ap-propriate for projects that aim to produce high-quality biogas fuels, such as those used in transportation or refi ning applications. “We also use PSA if a high-quality fuel is not required,” he continues. For example, PSA technology would suffi ciently purify biogas to a quality appropriate for use in some electrical generation and fuel cell applications.

The Nova Gramacho project will also feature FirmGreen’s pat-ented VerdeControls operating software. The package was designed to control large manufacturing facilities, such as automotive assembly line operations, Wilburn says. With the software, FirmGreen is able to con-trol every motor, device, valve or other piece of equipment found at a project site. The software can also generate management reports and maintenance logs, implement inventory control activities, and perform a wide range of other tasks. When installed at electrical generation sites, it is also designed to work with utility software for the smart grid. While the VerdeControls system might not be appropriate for smaller biogas applications, the software will be an important component of the Nova Gramacho project. The package will allow Gás Verde to remote monitor the plant and produce sophisticated management reports that will help manage costs to keep the operation economical. It will also integrate and control plant operations, including onsite power production.

Once fully operational, the equipment will capture 90 percent of the raw methane that normally goes to the landfi ll fl are. “In the case of CO2, only 12 percent would go to the existing fl are, so we are sequester-ing the balance of that in the form of liquid CO2,” Wilburn says. That component of the project is expected to be operational next spring.

Gás Verde intends to generate carbon credits with the sequestered carbon dioxide. “It is also possible that carbon dioxide could be used to create energy value in the future,” Wilburn says. FirmGreen is developing a patented process to use liquid carbon dioxide as a media to cool data centers, which are extremely energy intensive operations, he continues.

BIOGAS¦


The Nova Gramacho biogas site will also feature other renewable energy production meth-ods, including 2 MW of solar power generation. In addition, power generation equipment will take a portion of the tail gas that would normally be fl ared, for use to produce electricity. Together, the two electrical generation techniques are expected to produce 7 MW of energy, which will be used to offset the load of the biogas plant.

Multi-nation Economic DevelopmentTo complete the project, FirmGreen is work-

ing with nearly 70 U.S. subcontractors. Overall, the company estimates the project has generated 165 direct jobs and supported the continuance of numerous other positions. The Novo Gramacho biogas project was a good fi t for Ex-Im Bank's fi nancing because the strong job creation is in ac-cord with the bank's mission to support employ-ment in the United States.

The bank is an agency of the U.S. govern-ment that was established in 1934 to fi nance export sales of U.S. goods and services, says Craig O’Connor, director of Ex-Im Bank’s offi ce of renewable energy and environmental exports. O’Connor’s offi ce was es-tablished in 2008 to increase support for environmentally benefi cial ex-ports. Obviously, that includes renewable energy, he says. Ex-Im Bank's

fi nancing is provided in accord with the arrangement on offi cial export credit of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment, which includes biogas as a renewable-energy source.

The Ex-Im Bank provides direct loans and loan guarantees to creditworthy foreign buyers for the purchase of U.S. goods, technology,

¦BIOGAS

BRAZILIAN BIOGAS: Once complete, the Novo Gramacho project will produce 9,000 normal cubic meters per hour of fuel-grade biogas.

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equipment or services. The Bank also provides export credit insurance that enables U.S. exporters to offer fi nancing to their international cus-tomers, and provides working capital guarantees to support the working capital needs of U.S. exporters. According to O’Connor, the bank is able to offer loan guarantees in either U.S. dollars or foreign currencies. “In terms of our environmental exports enhancement, we are able to offer the maximum allowable OECD terms of up to 18 years for renewable energy,” he says. “We are able to support local costs—in-country costs—of up to 30 percent of the U.S. export contract. We are also able to capi-talize the interest during construction.”

“Our mission isn’t to make a profi t,” O’Connor says. “But, we do look for a reasonable assurance of repayment.” In the case of the Nova Gramacho project, the Ex-Im Bank awarded Gás Verde with fi xed rate U.S. dollar fi nancing. “They decided to go with a direct loan,” O’Connor continues, that features a fi xed interest rate of 2.21 percent and a 12-year repayment period. “We also charge a one time, fl at, country-exposure fee that can be fi nanced as part of the loan package,” he says. “The all-in cost was very attractive, and that enabled this project to really reach com-mercial viability.”

O’Connor notes that renewable energy projects are capital intensive and generally require longer repayment term loans at attractive interest rates to be economically viable. “We’re not here to compete with the private sector, but really to supplement the private sector and provide long-term lending where private sector lending might not be available,” O’Connor stresses. The hope is that private sector lenders might be more willing to take on these types of projects once they see success with Ex-Im Bank fi nancing, he adds.

The bank also brings private sector lending into a project. Accord-ing to O’Connor, loan guarantees are an effective way to do this. “The Ex-Im Bank can provide loan guarantees that represent the full faith and credit of the U.S. government for loans that commercial banks would make to fi nance these projects,” he says. “That means that [commercial banks] can basically preserve their capital. It enables them to offer longer terms at lower rates than they otherwise would.”

O’Connor describes the Ex-Im Bank as one of the best-kept se-crets in international renewable energy project fi nancing. “I think there is no question that with the Ex-Im Bank, foreign customers will get the most cost-effective source of fi nancing for U.S. business services in the world, period,” he says. As a result of the banks direct loan and loan guar-antee products, more foreign project developers should fi nd it feasible to employ U.S. technology and equipment providers.

O’Connor adds that the Ex-Im Bank’s programs essentially support the creation and continuance of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in the U.S. “[The loans and loan guarantees] have a direct and tangible benefi t to U.S. employment and U.S. competitiveness,” he says. The Novo Grama-cho biogas project is a clear example of the sentiment O’Connor holds for the Ex-Im Bank’s ability, and for equipment providers and project developers based in the U.S. hoping to fi nd their own version of the Jardim Gramacho landfi ll biogas project.

Author: Erin VoegeleNews Editor, Biomass Magazine


BIOGAS¦

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¦PELLETS

DESPERATE COMMUNITIES: Places such as Canada’s eastern territory of Nunavut are in need of cheaper, more accessible heat sources. PHOTO: ALASKA DISPATCH


PELLETS¦

Many remote northern communities face energy challenges due to their location, weather and high fuel costs, but wood pellets offer an affordable source of reliable, on-demand heat. BY ANNA SIMET

Northern Exposure

Living in the Arctic—or close to it— isn’t for the weak-willed. Temperatures during the seven-month-plus win-ters can occasionally drop to 40 below zero, the sun’s

appearance is sporadic for months at a time, road access can be severely limited, and for most towns, the closest neighbor-ing community could be hundreds of miles away.

These are challenges that natives of northern communi-ties have learned to deal with, but rising fuel costs are prompt-ing them to fi nd alternatives to their traditionally-used fossil fuels and methods of accessing them. In rural Alaska, which Thomas Deerfi eld, CEO of Dalson Energy Inc., describes as a completely different state than southeast Alaska, com-munities are at a point where paying $400 per ton of pellets is now competitive with heating oil, the most commonly used heating fuel. “Outside of the Anchorage bowl, natural gas isn’t available,” Deerfi eld says. “All of the rest of Alaska uses heating oil for thermal purposes, backed up by wood.”


¦PELLETS

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A very limited road system throughout the Alaskan interior means most communities are located along rivers, and heating oil comes in once a year on barges. “There are big tank farms in most of these places, and there’s been an enormous amount of money put into these farms to upgrade them, because the old ones that were 20-30 years old were pretty decrepit,” Deerfi eld says.

Fuel shipments are made in the middle of the summer after spring run-off, and there’s a narrow window of time for delivery. “During spring run-off there’s too much ice and debris in the river, but it also has to be done before the river’s dropped too low in the summer, because then the barges can’t get through,” Deerfi eld ex-plains.

If the delivery window is missed, emergency shipments must be sent in at a high price. “Last January, it [a heating oil shortage]

Arctic Assistance The nonprofi t Arctic Energy Alliance completes

original research and surveys on energy in the North, including regular wood pellet testing on various types of pellets sold in the Northwest Territories to compare their heating value, ash and moisture content. It also offers an online fuel cost library that provides cur-rent costs of residential and commercial electricity, oil, propane, natural gas, pel-lets and other wood fuel. All information is free and available to the public.

On the Web: Check out AEA research at http://www.aea.nt.ca/research

FISHING FOR FUEL: One of the principal biomass harvest methods in the north is "river logging," or catching river-drift trees in the spring and summer. River loggers hook fl oating trees and drag them into shore, and as water levels drop, the logs dry out and are cut up for fi rewood.

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happened, and they had to send in a shipment in by Russian tanker, accompanied by a U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker.” That occurred in the town of Nome, Alaska, where 1.3 million gallons of diesel and gasoline were delivered after the last scheduled barge shipment of fuel supplies was cancelled due to bad weather. It took the delivery team an entire month to get there in the winter.

In the worst cases, the fuel has to be fl own in via cargo plane, which adds 50 cents to a dollar per gallon of fuel, according to Deer-fi eld.

The prospect of shipping pellets upriver faces some of the afore-mentioned challenges, but is cost competitive—potentially cheaper—if certain parameters are right. It hasn’t yet, however, been done to any great degree. “A few communities closer to the coast by rivers have gotten some pellet deliveries, and it’s an emerging market because of its cost-competitiveness, especially with Canadian pellet production [ex-panding],” Deerfi eld says, adding that it’s initially only a couple hundred dollars a ton, but roughly doubles that by the time it reaches the interior.

There is a commercial pellet mill in the interior near Fairbanks, but it’s only producing at one-third of its 30,000-ton annual capac-ity, according to Deerfi eld. “The market wasn’t developed very well before the mill was built,” he says. “There are some residential markets for pellet stoves, but very little for institutional or commercial thermal systems or community-scale pellet mills.”

While shipping residential pellet stove equipment may be cost prohibitive in far northern areas, other attractive options include building minisize pellet mills or community-scale biomass energy

PELLETS¦

HAULING HEAT: Arctic Green Energy delivers a load of pellets to the North Slave Correctional Facility, where it installed a biomass heating system.

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¦PELLETS

the accuracy of satellite and aerial maps of forestry resources in and near these com-munities. Certain factors are carefully evalu-ated in these towns when the potential of a biomass thermal project exists, the main two being availability of resources and whether there is an existing forest industry. “Gener-ally, the answer is not really,” Deerfi eld says. “There are a lot of these small, module mills that have been around for 30-40 years and people make house logs out of them, but that’s usually the extent of the timber or mill-ing industry.”

The vast majority of potential proj-ects in the north are thermal only, because electricity loads aren’t big enough in smaller communities. Most aren’t even 1 MW, often ranging from 300-500 kilowatts. “One place where we’re working on a feasibility study is the town of Tok, Alaska, for a combined-heat-and-power facility that is 2 to 4 MW scale,” Deerfi eld says. “The reason it might very well work there is because even though Tok is on the road system it’s not connected to any grid so all of its power comes from diesel and depending on a premium for that, they’re paying over $4 per gallon.”

That equates to about 50 cents per kilo-watt-hour (kWh), the highest price amongst towns along the Alaska road system. In some rural villages, it is nearly double that, up to 90 cents. “You turn on a light bulb and you can practically count the dimes being spent,” Deerfi eld jokes. And that’s largely because of the piping, refi ning and shipping rigma-role Alaskan oil goes through to get to these communities—which includes being shipped to California or Washington, back up to An-chorage and then to its destination from one of three main ports on the south side of Alaska.

In an effort to further develop the use of biomass-based power and thermal, Deerfi eld and a committee are working with the state to develop a biomass energy policy that would follow the model of what New Hampshire has done: add a thermal element to a renew-able portfolio standard. “We don’t have any biomass energy policy at all,” he says. “Alaska has been focused on oil, coal and gas forever; it’s what drives the economy here and the po-litical horsepower in the state.”

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systems in these towns, all of which could lower the cost in part by avoiding transporta-tion challenges.

Surveying PotentialThere are people who are interested

in those concepts, but almost everything in Alaska is state or federally funded, accord-ing to Deerfi eld, and very few renewable en-ergy projects are privately funded. “There’s a lot of interest in developing small pellet mills, but it’s been nothing more than talk for three or four years. That’s primarily be-

cause the state hasn’t stepped up to fund it, and no entrepreneurs are willing to do a cost share, which the state would likely be inclined to do.”

Along with a University of Alaska South-east researcher and a colleague from Dalson Energy, Deerfi eld recently embarked on a 100-mile boat trip to visit communities up and down the Kuskokwim and Yukon Riv-ers. The team is working on feasibility studies for biomass thermal energy systems in the communities of Galena, Koyukuk, Nulato and Kalthe, and on the trip were assessing


Though the state has had a renewable energy fund for the past several years, only about 10 percent has gone toward biomass projects, according to Deerfi eld. “There’s a surprising amount of solar, and that’s because in the winter there may be less sun but there is enough refl ection off the snow and ice to where you achieve greater returns than any-one expected.”

Though solar and wind are great addi-tion’s to Alaska’s energy portfolio, Deerfi eld points out that they aren’t energy sources for on-demand power. “Certainly not demand heat, and biomass is the only thing that will meet that need,” he says, predicting that with-in the next two years, the state will see many more small and community or regional-scale pellet and briquette mills, as well as the de-velopment of transportation corridors up and down the rivers to carry densifi ed wood products.

To the east of Alaska in Canada's North-west Territories, the use of wood pellets has, however, been growing steadily in both resi-dential and industrial applications. Green Arc-tic Energy, a company that serves Yellowknife and other communities in the Northwest Ter-ritories, got into the business early and has not only made a name for itself in the region, the company has provided a glimpse of how and why wood pellets make sense in Alaska.

Leading the WayArctic Green Energy had been operat-

ing as a fi berglass company for 20 years when owner Bruce Elliot realized the cost of en-ergy was getting too high. “We were paying about $44,000 a year for heat, and for a small company, that’s just too much,” he says. Af-ter trying a number of different solutions that didn’t work out, Elliot contacted a nearby saw mill that was using a coal boiler for heat to see if he could initiate something similar at his company. “When I called, they asked me why I didn’t want to use wood pellets,” he says. “I bought a Canadian-made boiler and ran it for a year, but it wasn’t quite good enough be-cause the effi ciencies weren’t there and it was cheaply made,” he says.

Knowing he was on the right track, how-ever, Elliot purchased a better-quality, Aus-trian-made boiler, and things turned around

PELLETS¦

for the company. Soon after, it partnered up with the local jail to install a biomass heating system, which it has been operating and selling heat from for the past seven years. “We were basically one of the fi rst companies in North America to do this; the whole [pellet boiler] industry in the north has expanded from that original idea,” he says.

Now installing boilers, doing energy con-tracting and delivering pellets, Arctic Green Energy has put in a proposal to the govern-ment to convert some Northwest Territory communities to local biomass. “It’s very isolat-

ed up here,” he says. “For a lot of these com-munities, just shipping oil to generate power can cost $1.47 per kWh. We could take the money saved and create a new industry from it.” To further validate the economic sensibility of utilizing wood pellets for heat and power, Bruce adds that he isn’t on an environmental mission. “I’m not a tree hugger; pellets just make fi nancial sense.”

Author: Anna SimetContributions Editor, Biomass Magazine

[email protected](701) 751-2756


¦EQUIPMENT

TALKING SHOP: NREL’s Integrated Biorefi nery Research Facility hosts some of the nations's best bioenergy researchers to discuss new technology trends happening today. PHOTO: DENNIS SCHROEDER


EQUIPMENT¦

Top lab researchers and proven project developers speak about trends and needed tweaks to bioenergy hardware. BY LUKE GEIVER

Bioenergy Equipment Essentials

For most people, the word cool as it relates to devices conjures up images of a new cardboard-thin computer,

or the latest smartphone. For Mike Lilga, a research chemist on the Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory’s Chemical and Bio-logical Process Development Group, cool correlates more to the equipment his team custom designs and fabricates when the goods they need to convert biomass can't be, or haven't been, made by vendors in the advanced biofuels, biobased chemicals or other biomass-based industries.

The ability of researchers working in major facilities like Lilga at PNNL, or oth-ers in places such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, to produce that cool equipment and one-off technology might

benefi t individual projects and research. For the private sector, though, trying to understand what the best researchers know about bioenergy equipment and technol-ogy, unique hardware that never hits the market doesn’t mean much or allow suppli-ers and vendors to tweak or upgrade their existing offerings to match the best. Fortu-nately, Lilga and others are willing to share their perspectives on the technology and equipment in the biomass industry, giving their take on what works, where improve-ments can be made, and of course, what’s cool.

Lab Coat ConjecturesLilga’s work focuses on biomass con-

version. The team uses multiple reactor systems from the micro- and lab-scale to

¦EQUIPMENT

Phone: 800-553-7993 • [email protected]

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SHINEY AND NEW: Bioreactors that arrive with third party electrical certifi cation could speed up the bioenergy research process.

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Liquids to Value

It’s a fact. Cellulosic feedstocks allow biofuel producers to turn what was once considered waste into treasure. The key: processing techniques that maximize fuel yield from every ton of feedstock. For more than 30 years, decanters and separators from GEA Westfalia Separator have been used to produce ethanol and biodiesel. Our process know-how, combined with a complete range of machines, allows us to develop solutions for the toughest separation challenges.

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Unlocking the Treasure in Cellulose

near-pilot scale for biomass conversion and upgrading hydrocarbon fuel blend stock. In general, his work involves the use of continuous fl ow systems that are similar to those destined for commercial scale. With the reactors they typically use, he says, ef-fi cient biomass conversion is achieved by having reactors capable of both high pres-sure and high temperatures, features the majority of off-the-shelf equipment don’t have.

For equipment suppliers, Lilga has a few thoughts, or areas he wishes were ad-dressed. First, he would like to see electrical certifi cation of all equipment prior to arriv-al at the lab. “Electrical certifi cation is im-portant for any equipment going into our research facilities,” he says, “and third-party certifi cation on site can be costly and cause signifi cant schedule delays.” Next, he’d like to see equipment that comes with more baseline research. Equipment providers would help “if they could provide a set of calibration gas/liquid curves to help the re-searcher anticipate the order and response factor for most expected hydrocarbons and oxygenates,” he says.

And last, Lilga wants more equipment. “It would be nice if there was a laboratory scale compressor for compressing CO (or even other gases) to greater than psig and safely storing a reasonable amount of the gas at pressure inside a hood or walk-in en-closure,” he adds.

Robert Hettich, a staff researcher for the Chemical Sciences Division at ORNL, leads the lab’s efforts on proteome re-search, which focuses on characterizing the range of protein “machinery” that mi-crobes, in particular bacteria or yeast, use to solubilize cellulosic material. The main piece of equipment he uses is anything in the mass spectrometry class (tools to mea-sure the mass of a particle). For proteomics research, he says, mass spectrometry is the lynchpin technology. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) interfaced with tandem-mass spectrometers “has become the workhorse for bioenergy proteomics,” he says.

For that work-horse equipment to pro-vide the answers the team is looking for,

EQUIPMENT¦


Hettich says key features of the technology need to be present. The system needs to pro-vide a clear spatial separation of the protein mixtures the team is analyzing. The equip-ment needs to be able to do so by particle size, charge or hydrophobicity (tendency to avoid water) he says, “so that they are pre-sented…in a more simplistic fashion.” For that, the team uses an LTQ-Orbitrap-Velos MS (mass spectrometer instrumentation sys-tem) for high-mass accuracy and high-res-olution mass measurements, all he adds, to help the team see those super bugs used for bioenergy in “unambiguous identifi cations.”

In the mass spectrometry equipment world, Rettich sees vendors focused on im-proving speed of analysis and the perfor-mance of instrumentation by creating bet-ter methods of protein separations prior to mass spectrometry measurements. Reduced cost is another improvement his proteome team would like to see. “At present, high per-formance mass spectrometry instrumenta-tion is quite expensive.”

As for the “coolest” equipment his team has worked with, Rettich points to an experimental mass spectrometer set-up that lets his team view entire microbial communi-ties, allowing them to measure how microbes relate and even, compete with each other in natural environmental systems.

Completed Project PerspectiveSpecialized researchers aren’t the only

ones willing or able to comment on equip-ment and technology trends in a semi-non-biased fashion. Francois Guay, project man-ager for Bio-Methatec, a Canadian-based biogas systems provider is now an equip-ment provider pitching his company’s LIPP biogas technology, but that wasn’t always the case. Before Guay and his team formed their Montreal-based fi rm, they were sifting through all of the available biogas technol-ogy around the world in an effort to bring the best, via licensing, to North America. Eventually, his team decided on a German design that has more than 700 installations globally.

Although he would pitch his own brand of biogas technology over others, he does have a few thoughts on why over 700 biogas projects include his system. For

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Guay, his technology, like others, features automation controls that allow users to run the equipment more effi ciently. The bot-tom of the large digestion tanks also have a drain that allows for the disposal of larger particles that pass through the digester. “We never have to go into the digesters to remove the large particles,” he says. In addi-tion to the drain feature, many have chosen his system because it offers a gas storage tank at the top of the digester tank all in one unit.

Overall, in the biogas industry, he adds, most digestion systems are in little need of improvement, it is the accompanying pieces that need to be better-integrated with the digesters.

The idea of integration is something Marcus Kauffman, biomass resource spe-cialist for the Oregon Department of For-estry, can certainly speak to. In collaboration with the Oregon DOE, Kauffman helped perform fi ve biomass-based installations throughout the state, detailing through case studies what each installation revealed, in-cluding information about equipment and technology and how to fi t and integrate ev-erything from boilers to silos to wood chip facilities into places like Sisters High School, Blue Mountain Hospital and others.

In the biomass boiler industry, Kauff-man points out that although U.S.-based boiler providers are more than capable of distributing a reliable, effi cient boiler, the European offerings are still superior in quality and technology. From his perspec-tive gained from the installation projects, however, biomass power applications aren’t just about fi nding the right boiler technol-ogy, they are also about catering the ability of the equipment to, in essence, fi t inside the box.

The majority of the installations uti-lized what Kauffman calls the most popular equipment package in the industry today, the boiler-in-the box. Viessman offers such a product, one that allows a user to contain the boiler and other equipment in a stan-dard shipping container-esque box. The strategy is currently popular because public project developers might not always have the space or the money to construct a sepa-rate biomass storage facility. With the box

setup, Kauffman says, many of the projects simply had to “pour a slab and lay it down.” If one compares the total cost of the box system versus a chip system, he adds, the chips building can account for nearly half of the total project costs.

In addition to equipment offerings that use a smaller footprint, Kauffman believes remote access to biomass-thermal systems is a must. Using remote access, a provider can have a fl eet of boilers spread throughout a region, and still maintain and service the units without training individuals for each site. Doing so, he said, will not only make installations more appealing, but it will cre-ate a more effi cient system.

The actual boilers may also benefi t from a precombustion chamber that essen-tially superheats biomass before it enters the main chamber, a practice he says, that will create a more effi cient burn rate.

In the end, although each researcher or industry expert has their own thoughts about specifi c equipment, technology or systematic approachs that work or can be improved, all note the need for one thing: fl exibility. Whether it’s a commercial-scale reactor, farm-based biogas cleanup process, or a district heating pellet storage facility, each expert notes that vendors and provid-ers need to provide equipment that is adapt-able, can be easily tweaked to match certain conditions or equipment packages. And, the hardware of tomorrow needs to offer higher pressure ratings while withstanding the higher temperatures needed for many of the bioenergy processes almost ready for roll-out.

Author: Luke GeiverFeatures Editor, Biomass Magazine


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CONTRIBUTION

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The Cruciality of Combustion Technology Proper selection of combustion technology is critical to biomass power. An expert reviews current options, along with pros and cons.BY BRANDON BELL

With increasing pressure from the U.S. EPA to reduce emissions from fossil fuel-fi red power plants, and states requiring an

increasing amount of renewable capacity, biomass power generation has evolved into a more viable power option. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Report released in November 2011, a total of 147 new biomass sources are ex-pected to be built between 2011 and 2013. Planned generating capacity additions for wood and other biomass sources are pre-

dicted to reach 377 MW by 2013, compared to 290 MW from coal and 224 MW from hydroelectric.

With these increases in biomass capac-ity, proper selection of combustion tech-nology is critical for plant performance and economics.

Stoker BoilersOne of the oldest forms of combus-

tion technology available, stoker fi ring has proven to be reliable and rugged under a wide range of fuels and operating condi-

tions. In a stoker boiler, fuel is introduced onto a grate where the combustion process occurs. This grate and the fuel feed system are the defi ning factors of a stoker boiler, with many variations being designed over the years. From fi xed hearths to traveling grates and now vibrating grates and mass feed to spreader stokers, each type has been developed to accommodate a multitude of fuels. Stoker-fi red boilers typically benefi t from low auxiliary power requirements and compared to other combustion technolo-gies, generally exhibit reduced capital ex-

The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect the views of Biomass Power & Thermal or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).


POWER¦

penditure costs. A major drawback to the stoker boiler, however, is an unfavorable emission profi le. Due to the design of a stoker, they have an inherent problem of generating high amounts of carbon mon-oxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOX).

Fluid Bed CombustorsAnother popular combustion technol-

ogy for biomass power generation is a fl uid bed combustor. In a fl uid bed combustor, an inert medium such as sand, commonly referred to as the bed, is heated to a tem-perature greater than the combustion tem-perature of the biomass fuel. Underneath the bed, high pressure combustion air is in-troduced at a rate that reduces the contact forces between particles created by gravity. As more combustion air is introduced and higher velocities are achieved, drag forces on the particles will counteract gravity. At this point, the particles are suspended in an upward stream, the bed increases in height, and due to the non-uniform formations, the bed exhibits liquid-like properties, or fl uidization.

There are two popular types of fl uid bed combustors used for biomass combus-tion. The fi rst is referred to as a Bubbling Fluidized Bed boiler. In a BFB boiler, the

velocity and volume of air in the bed in-creases to the point of bubble forma-tion below the bed. With the bed of the boiler fl uidized and the bubble forma-tions approaching the surface, the ap-pearance of a liquid boiling is observed. Air velocities are controlled such that suspended particles retain fl uid-like prop-erties without leaving the bed.

The second style of fl uid bed com-bustors is referred to as a circulating fl u-idized bed boiler. In a CFB boiler, the air velocities and volume are increased to even greater velocities than that of a BFB boiler to promote solid elutriation from the bed. To recover solids lost from elutriation, the gas stream passes through a solids separa-tion device after leaving the furnace. The collected solids are returned to the bed for reuse in the combustion process. This elutriation and return process gives the ap-

pearance of a constant stream of particles circulating in the boiler.

A major benefi t to a fl uid bed com-bustor is the ability to precisely control the bed temperature to inhibit the formation of thermal NOX. High turbulence also reduces the formation of carbon monox-ide. A fl uid bed combustor may also utilize a bed medium such as limestone in order to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. The bed is typically drained on a continuous basis to remove bed ash and foreign material in order to optimize performance. Fluid bed

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Wood and Wood Derived FuelOther Biomass SourcesTotal Biomass Capacity Additions

2011155128283

201248586571

2013206171377

Planned Generating Capacity Additions (MW)

Total BiomassCoalHydroelectricGeothermal

377290224185

Planned Generating Capacity Additions (MW) for 2013

SOURCE: U.S. EIA

SOURCE: U.S. EIA


combustors are also able to burn a wide range of fuels for the combustion process, however, all of these benefi ts are at the ex-pense of higher auxiliary loads and capital cost.

Suspension BoilersMore than 40 percent of the electricity

generated in the U.S. comes from the com-bustion of coal. By far, the most common coal combustion technique used by utilities is suspension fi ring. As states mandate more renewable energy sources, existing coal boiler operators are modifying their equip-ment to handle mixtures of biomass and coal. In suspension fi ring, fuel is ground to the consistency of fl our. This fi nely-sized material is conveyed pneumatically to a set of burners located in the furnace walls of the boiler, and once the fuel is introduced into the furnace, the combustion process takes place where solid particles are pass-ing through the high temperature region, or fl ame basket.

Cofi ring biomass in an existing coal unit can be attractive as the modifi cation and capital costs associated may be rela-tively modest. In most coal boilers, emis-sion control systems are typically already in place to clean up pollutants generated in the combustion process. Some drawbacks

to utilizing suspension fi ring of biomass are the limited range of fuels suitable for this application, and potential for unit de-rating. Additionally, fuel constituents—particularly chlorine—can accelerate boiler tube corro-sion and promote slag formation.

Gasifi cationGasifi cation has been used for pro-

ducing synthetic natural gas, or syngas, since the 1800s. In biomass gasifi cation, an organic solid feedstock is heated in a sub-stoichiometric environment to convert the solid feedstock into a combustible gas. This combustible gas is then burned either in a boiler to generate steam or in a recipro-cating engine or combustion turbine. The primary advantage of gasifi cation is the ability to achieve higher temperatures and thus greater thermal effi ciency than direct combustion of the biomass feedstock.

DigesterIn an anaerobic digester, biomass is

converted from a solid waste to a usable gas that is then used to produce power. Typi-cally this process occurs in three steps. The fi rst is the hydrolysis of biomass into usable molecules such as sugar. Next, the decom-posed matter converts into various organic acids, which are then converted into a meth-

ane gas. This methane gas is captured and combusted in a boiler to generate steam and produce power. A drawback to this process is its sensitivity to lower temperatures, and a key benefi t to a digester is that almost any biological material may be used to produce the methane gas. The feedstock’s digestibil-ity, however, will determine the amount of gas yielded.

Combustion technology selection de-pends on biomass fuel type, availability and selection, desired facility performance en-velope, and underlying project economics. For upcoming biomass power projects, se-lection will be critical for maximizing return while maintaining a low emission profi le. As environmental regulations evolve for fossil fuel power generation and utilities are man-dated to increase their renewables portfolio, biomass power generation will use existing combustion technologies while continuing to develop new methods to convert bio-mass into electricity.

Author: Brandon BellPrinciple Mechanical Engineer, KBR Power & Industrial

[email protected]

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