biomass magazine - november 2009

INSIDE: STRATEGIC INVESTORS MAY BE KEY TO COMMERCIALIZATION

November 2009

www.BiomassMagazine.com

Biorefi nery Concept EvolvesWhy Shuttered Pulp and Paper Mills Make Perfect Sites for Biorefi neries

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4 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 11|2009

11 |2009 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 5

INSIDE NOVEMBER 2009 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 11

FEATURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24 SUPPLY U.S. Biomass Potential From Forests to the Plains Several states and regions are conducting studies to determine their biomass availability and the economic benefi ts the industry can provide. The information could be critical when vying for bioenergy projects.By Lisa Gibson

30 FINANCE Securing Strategic Investors Financing is key for biofuels developers facing the prospect of going commercial. Biomass Magazine takes a closer look at one company that has successfully partnered with industries that can provide downstream and upstream support.By Lisa Gibson

36 USE Clean Sweep A product called Nature’s Broom could give clay a run for its money when it comes to cleaning up oil, paint and other types of spills. This environmentally friendly product is made from agricultural and forest materials. By Anna Austin

42 BIOREFINERY A New Page Shuttered pulp and paper mills could be considered ready-made biorefi neries that could produce ethanol, green diesel or other biofuels and use woody biomass as well as other feedstocks. By Anna Austin

CONTRIBUTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48 ENVIRONMENT Removing Crop Residues Without Hurting SoilAgricultural tools already being used by farmers can help determine, based on soil type, weather conditions and other variables, how much residue can be removed from the ground before the soil is negatively impacted.By Peter J. Schubert

50 INNOVATION Biomass: New Feedstock for the Plastic IndustryProducing green propylene is becoming more economically attractive and will be even more so in the future, however, careful analysis of markets, geographic conditions and technologies is crucial to avoid economic losses.By Felipe Tavares and Aldemir Marreiros

SUPPLY | PAGE 24

DEPARTMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

06 Editor’s NoteBiomass Pellets on the BrainBy Rona Johnson

07 Advertiser Index

09 Legal Perspectives 11 Industry Events

12 Business Briefs

14 Industry News

55 BPA UpdateThe Promise of BCAPBy Bob Cleaves

57 EERC UpdateTorrefaction: Improving the Properties of Biomass FeedstocksBy Bruce Folkedahl

58 Marketplace


Biomass Pellets on the Brain

don’t normally have to dig out my long underwear until late November or early December, but the boiler in our offi ce building stubbornly refused to fi re up, so here it was the fi rst of October and I was dressed like it was the dead of winter. That doesn’t mean winter is here to stay; we could

still have some nice days even into November. This is the time of year when you just need to watch the weather so you can dress appropriately.

Fortunately, temperatures were mild in the mid- to low-40s; not so cold that we could see our breath, but cold enough to comfortably wear winter coats indoors. As I sat in a meeting, hunkered down in my sweater and blowing on my hands to keep warm, I couldn’t help thinking how much it was like sitting on a hillside in the crisp fall weather waiting for an unsuspecting deer to come by (sorry for the hunting metaphor but that’s the only time I actually sit outside when it’s cold).

The cold weather also had me thinking about biomass pellets and how nice it would be to have a little pellet stove in my offi ce, instead of an electric space heater. If we had pellet stoves in our offi ces, we wouldn’t have mini power-outages like we do when the boiler is on the fritz and too many space heaters are running to stave off the cold. I don’t know if we could replace our space heaters with more energy-saving devices but I wouldn’t want to be the one paying our electric bill from the fi rst week in October.

According to the Pellet Fuels Institute, there are more than 80 pellet mills in North America that produce about 1.1 million tons of fuel per year. I expect this number will increase as pellet and pellet stove manufacturers improve their products so they are more user friendly, especially for those of us who don’t want to go back to the days when wood was the only source of heat. Chopping down trees and hauling wood is not for everyone. Several pellet manufacturers have developed systems where they can deliver pellets to residences and businesses.

There are also several improvements being made to pellet stoves that would allow them to not only provide heat but also hot water and electricity, according to an article I read on treehug-ger.com. The article said this technology is about two years from being a reality.

I know many people here in North Dakota who would jump at the chance to generate their own heat and power. Heating homes here for six to eight months a year where temperatures can dip to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit results in some mighty high heating bills. Though we are a hardy lot, opening up January’s heat bill can bring tears to the eyes of even the strongest among us.

Let’s hope those two years go by quickly.

I

Rona JohnsonEditor

[email protected]

editor’sNOTE


advertiserINDEX

2010 International BIOMASS 56Conference & Expo

2010 International Fuel 52Ethanol Workshop & Expo

Agra Industries 44

BBI Engineering & Consulting 39

Buhler 35

Christianson & Associates PLLP 26

Continental Biomass Industries, Inc. 4

Detroit Stoker Company 45

ethanol-jobs.com 53

Ethanol Producer Magazine 54

Energy & Environmental Research Center 8

ETA Florence Renewable Energies 10

GEA Barr-Rosin Inc. 46

Indeck Power Equipment Co. 38

Laidig Systems Inc. 32

Larox Corp. 41

Mid-South Engineering Company 29

Novozymes 3

R.C. Costello & Associates Inc. 47

Roskamp Champion 33

Stoel Rives LLP 23

The Teaford Co. Inc. 27

West Salem Machinery 2

Yellow Springs Instruments 55

EDITORIAL

EDITOR Rona Johnson [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORSAnna Austin [email protected] Gibson [email protected]

COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann [email protected]

ART

ART DIRECTOR Jaci Satterlund [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERSElizabeth Slavens [email protected] Melquist [email protected]

PUBLISHING & SALES

PUBLISHER & CEO Mike Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDIA & EVENTS Joe Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENTTom Bryan [email protected]

SALES DIRECTOR Matthew Spoor [email protected]

SALES MANAGER, MEDIA & EVENTSHoward Brockhouse [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jeremy Hanson [email protected]

ACCOUNT MANAGERSChip Shereck [email protected] Steen [email protected] Brown [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry [email protected]

SUBSCRIBER ACQUISITION MANAGER Jason Smith [email protected]

Subscriptions Subscriptions to Bio-mass Magazine are $24.95 per year in the U.S; $39.95 in Canada and Mex-ico; and $49.95 outside North Amer-ica. Subscriptions can be completed online at www.BiomassMagazine.com or subscribe over the phone at (701) 746-8385.

Back Issues & Reprints Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more informa-tion, contact us at (701) 746-8385 or [email protected].

Advertising Biomass Magazine pro-vides 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 con-tact us at (701) 746-8385 or [email protected].

Letters to the Editor We welcome let-ters to the editor. Send to Biomass Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or e-mail to [email protected]. Please include your name, address and phone num-ber. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

Cert no. SCS-COC-00648


LEGALperspectives

ave you ever presented your ideas at a conference or tradeshow? Conferences can bring great exposure to your

company and its ideas, helping you get leads and sales. But, if not done care-fully, it could also cause some serious unintended consequences.

Jeopardizing Patent Rights

At conferences and tradeshows, people commonly present their ideas in a variety of ways—perhaps by describ-ing them in brochures, displaying them on poster boards, or informally chatting with another person. These activities can sometimes amount to a disclosure that jeopardizes your rights to profi t from those ideas. Being able to fi le and obtain a patent on those ideas is what gives you that right and the right to keep others from using your idea for their own ben-efi t.

Under U.S. patent law, once you make certain types of disclosures, you have one year from the date of disclo-sure to fi le a patent application on that idea. If you fail to do so, you will forever lose your patent rights to that idea. Also, while the U.S. provides this one-year grace period to fi le an application, most foreign countries do not. In those coun-tries, if you make certain disclosures any time and in any location before fi ling a patent application, you will lose your patent rights.

Protecting Patent RightsThe most prudent way to protect

your patent rights in all countries is to fi le a patent application on your idea be-fore attending a conference and making any type of disclosure. This will preserve your global patent rights and you can then freely present or market those ideas in any desired fashion.

If you are unable to fi le an applica-tion before attending a conference, you may be able to create a poster presenta-tion, product brochure or the like that alludes generally to the inventive subject matter without disclosing what the in-vention is. A good idea is to have your presentation materials reviewed by your patent counsel prior to presenting them to make sure that no inventions are dis-closed.

Does this seem like overkill to you? Well, think again. If you protect your idea, you get the following advantages, just to name a few:

You can exclude your competi-tors from practicing your invention. If a competitor practices your invention without your permission, you can sue that competitor for patent infringement and collect signifi cant damage awards and/or receive an injunction stopping the competitor.

Your patent can prevent or deter your competitors from entering a mar-ket, enabling you to obtain a legal mo-nopoly of that market.

You can use your patent as a busi-ness tool to attract investors and poten-tial customers to your company. Inves-tors often question whether a company’s technology is patented and potential customers often fi nd patented products or services more attractive.

You can use your patent as a rev-enue generator. If a competitor, busi-ness partner, or any third party wishes to practice your invention, you can require them to obtain a license to your patent rights in order to do so. A license enables you to collect royalties on the third par-ty’s practice of your invention.

If you don’t protect it, guess what? You get none of these rights and a com-petitor can use your idea for their own business and there would be nothing you can do to stop them. You will need to fi gure out a good balance between talk-ing about your idea to get people inter-ested in buying from you and not reveal-ing so much that they have no need to buy from you.

Todd Taylor is a shareholder in Fredrikson & Byron’s corporate, renewable energy, securities and emerging business groups. Reach him at [email protected] or (612) 492-7355. Kara Fairbairn is a shareholder and patent attorney at Fredrikson & Byron. Reach her at [email protected] or (612) 492-7144.

Beware of Jeopardizing Patent Rights at Conferences/TradeshowsBy Todd Taylor and Kara Fairbairn

Kara Fairbairnshareholder, Fredrikson & Byron

Todd Taylorshareholder, Fredrikson & Byron

H

Next Generation Biofuels Feedstocks USA

November 16-17, 2009 Le Meridien HotelSan Francisco Despite advancements in feedstock discovery and bioengineering conver-sion technology, feedstock development remains a key challenge. This conference will bring together regulatory offi cials, project developers, lead-ing research and development experts, and investors to address the key issues in developing next-generation biofuels as well as compare existing and next-generation feedstock development.www2.greenpowerconferences.co.uk/v8-12/Prospectus/ Index.php?sEventCode=BN0911US+44 (0)207 099 0600

Biofuels Environmental and Economic Sustainability Summit

November 16-18, 2009 Washington, D.C.This event was created for industry leaders and government offi cials to dis-cuss the major economic and legislative restraints and future strategies af-fecting the biofuels industry. Attendees will learn how to increase the fi nan-cial sustainability of their companies through debt restructuring, refi nancing and access to U.S. DOE and USDA loan guarantee programs; manage risk associated with high commodity and low oil prices through decreasing operational costs and deploying cost-effective technologies; decrease car-bon emissions by managing production and transportation processes; and evaluate the commercial viability of cellulosic ethanol with in-depth analysis of the supply chain and new start-up project costs. www.biofuelsindustrysummit.com/Event.aspx?id=209906(800) 882-8684

Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit

November 30-December 2, 2009 Westin Bayshore HotelVancouver, British ColumbiaThis year’s summit will focus on how to grow beyond oil in a way that offers sustainable economic, environmental and social growth for Canada. Dis-cussions will include the new Canada-U.S. clean energy dialogue, moving toward second-generation biofuels, low-carbon fuel standards, and pros-pects to strengthen the bioenergy economic outlook.(613) 594-5528www.crfs2009.com/

International Algae Congress

December 1-2, 2009 Hotel HafenHamburg, Germany This event will highlight and focus on biomass and biofuel microcrops pro-duction and productivity; processing and down streaming (separation, dry-ing, extraction, high value and byproducts); material balances; integrated systems; and the future potential of phototrophic aquaculture.www.algaecongress.com+31 (0)30 6981801

Pacifi c West Biomass Conference & Expo

January 11-13, 2010Hyatt Regency Sacramento, CaliforniaWith an exclusive focus on biomass utilization in California, Oregon, Wash-ington, Idaho and Nevada, this conference will connect current and future producers of biomass-derived electricity; industrial heat and power; and ad-vanced biofuels, with waste generators, aggregators, growers, municipal leaders, utilities, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, investors and policymakers.http://pacifi cwest.biomassconference.com(701) 746-8385

Energy From Biomass and Waste

January 26-27, 2010Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference CentreLondonInvestment in bioenergy is set to rise in the U.K. and this conference and exhibition will provide a meeting place for vendors, buyers, investors, mu-nicipal representatives, legislators and scientists from around the world.+49-2802-9484840www.ebw-uk.com/

Developing and Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels

February 9-11, 2010 LondonThis conference will provide the latest information on technological devel-opments and examine the prospects for bringing next-generation biofuels to market. The event will cover ground-breaking developments in cellulosic ethanol, synthetic biology, biomass to liquids, renewable diesel, algal biofu-els, waste to ethanol, biomass management and advanced biofuels, includ-ing biobutanol and biogasoline. +44 (0)207 017 7499www.agra-net.com/conferences

World Biofuels Markets

March 15-17, 2010 The RAI Exhibition and Congress CentreAmsterdam, The NetherlandsThis event will provide leaders of the biofuel fi eld an opportunity to meet new customers, suppliers and partners, and help drive innovation and busi-ness. More than 4,500 executives from 78 countries have attended this conference to date.+44 20 7099 0600www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/

industry events



Mascoma expands leadership team

Mascoma Corp. announced several management reconfi gurations, as the compa-ny moves into its commercial development phase. CEO Bruce A. Jamerson will transi-tion to the position of chairman of Mas-coma and of Frontier Renewable Resources LLC, Mascoma’s Michigan-based operating subsidiary. Frontier is majority-owned by Mascoma and is developing and fi nancing a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol produc-tion facility in Kinross, Mich. The company engaged Russell Reynolds Associates as it begins the process of recruiting a new CEO with experience in the biotechnology, fuels or chemicals processing industries, and scale-up of new processes. In the interim, the board

has appointed Jim Flatt, executive vice president of research and development and operations, to serve as acting president. BIO

business BRIEFSNexterra, Andritz to offer renewable energy solutions for wastewater treatment plants

Nexterra Systems Corp. and Andritz have formed a stra-tegic alliance to market drying solutions that are fueled by re-newable biomass energy. Andritz Separation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Andritz Group, is a global supplier of bio-solids dryers and separation equipment utilized extensively in the wastewater treatment market. Andritz also has an extensive product scope in gasifi cation technologies for biomass, but for large-scale energy and syngas production. Under the terms of the strategic alliance, Nexterra and Andritz will jointly market a suite of biosolids drying solutions that combine certain Nex-terra gasifi cation technologies with Andritz biosolids dryers. These solutions will enable municipal wastewater treatment fa-cilities to reduce fuel costs, eliminate dependence on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions. BIO

OPW appoints Whitaker managing director-Latin America

Fernando Whitaker has been appointed to the newly created position of managing director-Latin America for OPW, a Dover Co. Fernando joined OPW in October 2006 as managing director, OPW Brazil. Earlier this year he assumed management responsibili-ties for the joint operation of two Dover companies, OPW Fueling Components and OPW Fluid Transfer Group in Brazil. His re-sponsibilities have been expanded to include all Latin America mar-kets. Luis Barriga, OPW’s regional sales director for Latin America, will be responsible for sales of all OPW products made in the U.S. as well as those made in Brazil. His territory will include all Latin America markets with the exception of sales within Brazil. BIO

Morbark territory expands to Southern New England

Nortrax Northeast LLC, Morbark’s forestry and recycling dealer for the past two years, recently expanded its territory to include Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut (with the exception of Fairfi eld County). The expansion added three states to an established territory that includes Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Nortrax Northeast has been a steadfast Mor-bark dealer for 20 years. “We are pleased with the expansion of Nortrax Northeast and believe this will further enhance the level of service, support and availability of Morbark equipment in the northeastern United States,” said Michael Stanton, northeast re-gional assistant sales manager. BIO

Jamerson

Flatt

BinMaster names Cape Instruments as distributor BinMaster Level Controls of Lincoln, Neb., has appointed

Cape Instrument Services CC of Cape Town, South Africa, as distributor for the company’s SmartBob continuous level manage-ment system and point level controls throughout the country of South Africa. Cape Instruments will sell, install and service the BinMaster SmartBob cable-based inventory management system plus its rotary level indicators, capacitance probes, vibrating rods, diaphragm switches, and fl ow and dust detection products. BIO

Marsulex names Hull senior VP development, sales and marketing

Marsulex Inc. appointed Randy Hull as senior vice president, development, sales and marketing. Hull has extensive experience in the petroleum, energy and chemical industries, which are key targets for future growth of Marsulex’s industrial services. He worked for 16 years with BOC/Linde Gases, an international in-dustrial gases company, in a variety of increasingly senior posi-tions focused on business development, sales and marketing as well as the development and commercialization of new process technologies in the petroleum refi ning industry. Most recently, Hull was director, global refi ning/energy services business devel-opment at Praxair Inc. BIO

11|2009 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 13

Thomasson joins CHS team CHS Renewable Fuels Marketing has

hired Maxwell Thomasson as marketing manager. Thomasson will focus on con-necting ethanol producers and blenders for the renewable fuels marketing division of CHS Inc, a leading energy, grains and foods company. His career has included 15 years with BP as a trader in gasoline and deriva-

tives working in London, Chicago and Cleveland, and four years as a senior energy trader for Cargill Inc., where he directed pro-prietary trading of ethanol, gasoline and naphtha. BIO

Thomasson

business BRIEFS

CleanTech Biofuels announces new board members

CleanTech Biofuels Inc. announced that its stockholders have elected David Bransby and Jackson Nickerson to its board of directors. Bransby is a professor of energy crops and bio-energy in the department of agronomy and soils at Auburn University, where he has taught and conducted research since 1987. He has more than 30 years of experience in agronomic research, and has spent 22 years specializing in energy crop production and processing, a subject in which he is considered a preeminent international expert. Nickerson’s award-winning research spans a variety of topics in organization and strategy. He is internationally recognized as an expert on innovation and the effect of organizational structure on business performance, including the performance implications of outsourcing, cen-tralization versus decentralization and the use of teams. Cur-rently, Nickerson is Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis. BIO

Consense launches into the biomass sectorConsense has entered the biomass renewable energy sec-

tor, announcing Energy Power Resources Ltd. as its fi rst client. U.K.-based Consense, a division of marketing agency 2Cs, spe-cializes in community engagement and online consultation. Its expansion will help businesses developing biomass plants to in-volve more of the community in their proposals, with the team at Consense supporting them throughout the planning process, managing community, political and media relations. The team will use their in-depth knowledge of renewable energy com-munications to support biomass plant developers by running inclusive and auditable stakeholder and public consultation campaigns. BIO

Cusick joins Dickstein Shapiro law fi rmDickstein Shapiro welcomed Michael Cusick as a partner in

the fi rm’s energy practice. Cusick’s extensive transactional expe-rience includes advising issuers and underwriters on public and private U.S. and international offerings of securities, particularly in the public utility industry; counseling on restructuring and ac-quisition-related matters for regulated and competitive compa-nies; and complex purchase and sale transactions with regard to energy infrastructure facilities. His background will complement the fi rm’s energy practice and its team of 30-plus transactional attorneys who counsel on matters including the acquisition, sale, fi nancing, and structuring of energy companies and energy as-sets, among others. BIO

Ely Energy names new CEO Joe Ragosta has been named CEO of

Tulsa-Okla.-based Ely Energy. He assumes overall management, strategic and opera-tional responsibility for Ely Energy. Most recently, Ragosta was president of Oseco, a Halma Co., U.K., a manufacturer of prod-ucts for the pressure relief markets. Prior to Oseco, Ragosta was general manager and

senior vice president of Graver Technologies, Glasgow, Del., a manufacturer of water, chemical, pharmaceutical and food product purifi cation equipment. BIO

Nexterra appoints Wilkinson to management team

Jonathan Wilkinson has joined Nexterra’s management team as senior vice president, business development. Wilkinson will be re-sponsible for developing new markets and commercializing new applications of Nex-terra’s technologies. He joins Nexterra from Vancouver-based QuestAir Technologies,

where he was president and CEO. During his tenure, the company grew revenues almost 100-fold, established strategic relationships with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Hydrogen and successfully exe-cuted an initial public offering. He previously held roles at QuestAir as chief operating offi cer and as vice president business develop-ment. Prior to joining QuestAir, Wilkinson was a manager at Bain and Co., and has experience in the public sector as a constitutional negotiator, a federal-provincial relations specialist, and a special ad-visor to the Premier of Saskatchewan. BIO

Ragosta

Wilkinson


industry NEWS

Wales aluminum company proposes woody biomass power plant Anglesey Aluminum Metals Ltd., Holyhead, Wales, has submit-

ted an application for approval of a 299-megawatt biomass power plant to be located near, and possibly power, the company’s alumi-num smelter, according to Stephen Cox, biomass engineer with the company.

If approved, the plant would consume about 2.4 million tons of woody biomass, such as wood chips, pellets or agricultural resi-dues, per year, Cox said. He declined to release a cost estimate for the project, but said Anglesey Aluminum hopes to commence basic construction in early 2011 with a three-year construction period. Currently, the company is going through the appropriate planning applications and engineering feasibilities.

How the energy will be used is undetermined, Cox said, but it

could be used to power the company’s smelter or be sold to the grid. Anglesey currently relies on power from the Wylfa nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to close in 2010.

Along with the application under Section 36 of the Electric-ity Act, the company submitted an Environmental Statement to the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Consultations with na-tional and local organizations were held in June, and another public exhibition to present the fi ndings of the Environmental Impact As-sessment was scheduled for October, according to the company.

Angelsey is jointly owned by Rio Tinto Aluminum Ltd., Bris-bane, Australia, and Kaiser Aluminum, Foothill Ranch, Calif.

—Lisa Gibson

Viaspace to supply Giant King Grass for China power plant trialRenewable energy company Viaspace Inc. has signed a memo-

randum of understanding with Beijing, China-based biomass pow-er provider DP Cleantech Co. Ltd., to supply Giant King Grass for testing at a Cleantech power plant.

Viaspace acquired a worldwide license to grow and cultivate the fast-growing perennial plant in the fall of 2008. Originally de-veloped as feed for livestock, the grass can grow nearly 4 meters (13 feet) in 60 days and can be harvested four times a year, pro-ducing yields of up to 156 metric tons (172 tons) per acre. Giant King Grass has a life span of approximately seven years, and grows best in tropical and subtropical climates, or where temperatures are consistently above 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), ac-cording to Viaspace CEO Carl Kukkonen.

In October 2008, Viaspace planted more than 1 million Giant King Grass seedlings on 112 acres in the Guangdong Province in southern China, an area the size of California, according to Kuk-konen.

Cleantech subsidiary National Bio-Energy owns and oper-ates 19 dedicated biomass-fi red power plants throughout China. In May, the company conducted an independent test using Giant King Grass to determine whether the energy crop could be used as a feedstock in its plant boilers. The upcoming trial will further examine the grass’ effi ciency for use at one of the company’s exist-ing power plants.

“We’re working to schedule the test fi ring, but there’s nothing confi rmed yet,” Kukkonen said. He added that he recently visited one of National Bio-Energy’s biomass power plants in northern China, which runs on agricultural waste. “Giant King Grass has properties very similar to the corn straw that they are using cur-rently,” he told Biomass Magazine.

Viaspace will deliver at least 300 tons of biomass per day to supplement the upcoming trial. About 600 tons of Giant King Grass would be required daily, or 219,000 tons per year, to power a 30-megawatt plant, according to Viaspace.

Kukkonen said Viaspace is working on transporting the feed-stock for test fi ring.

Viaspace announced in early October its plans to produce pel-lets from Giant King Grass as an alternative to coal to reduce car-bon dioxide emissions from coal-fi red power plants in the U.S. and Europe.

—Anna Austin

Giant King Grass was planted here in China’s Guangdong Province in September.

PH

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: VIA

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EPA, NREL develop Web-based biopower mapping toolWith funding from the U.S. EPA’s Blue Skyways Collaborative, the

U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., has developed a Web-based, interactive geospatial application that al-lows users to view biomass resources, infrastructure and other relevant information, as well as query specifi c data and conduct initial screening analyses.

Users can select a location on the map, quantify the biomass re-sources available within a user-defi ned radius, and then estimate the total thermal energy or power that could be generated by recovering a specifi c portion of that biomass. While the tool is useful in refi ning the prospect-ing process of site identifi cation, it should not replace the need for an on-site biomass evaluation, according to Anelia Milbrandt, NREL senior energy resources analyst.

The tool took about a year to develop, and was made available in August. Biomass resource data are based on an assessment performed by NREL in 2005, which was updated prior to the release of the applica-tion. Infrastructure and other pertinent data were provided by the EPA, USDA and other agencies.

The impetus behind creating the biopower tool was the EPA’s de-sire to combine past biomass resource assessments and data into a user-friendly, interactive, and Web-accessible format rather than just in written reports or static maps, according to Mildbrandt. “There are maps of resources in the U.S. by county, or tables of data by county, but no way for people to get at the data behind the pictures,” she said.

Scott Haase, NREL project leader, described the tool as an interac-tive spatial application based on the Google Earth platform, but relevant to the biopower industry and many others. “One can place a point any-where on the map, select a radius of their choice, calculate the biomass resources in that radius, and it analyzes how much power you might be able to produce based on the availability of those resources and the ef-fi ciency of your conversion technology,” he said.

Feedstock data on the application include crop residue, forest resi-due, primary and secondary mill residue, urban wood waste, methane emissions from landfi lls, wastewater treatment and animal manure. Each layer is represented by a different color—for example, yellow to brown is crop residue, and different feedstocks or layers can be turned off or on for simultaneous viewing in an overlying format. It also possesses other layers such as power plants, alternative fueling stations, biodigesters and brownfi eld sites.

“We have a lot of ideas for future work, and have received some additional funds from the DOE to extend the tool to provide some ad-ditional functionality and new data sets,” Milbrandt said. “We’re heavily relying on feedback from users.”

NREL anticipates utilities, policymakers, the general public, and those working on fi nancing and project development will use the tool

as an initial screen to determine where there are large quantities of a certain type of feedstock, and to fi nd out the potential amount of elec-tricity or thermal energy that could be produced from that feedstock. “It doesn’t necessarily mean you can go to that area and secure all of that feedstock, because we don’t know what the current market situation is in that particular location,” Haase pointed out. The tool would, however, allow a project developer to narrow down many possible sites to a few based on the criteria entered into the application. The developer can then conduct detailed resource and market assessments in the most promising locations.

Depending on funding, NREL will continue to improve the tool. “Ideally, we’d like to add more layers, such as pellet mills, and we don’t have all the biomass power plants (only members of the Biomass Power Association),” Haase said. “Also, we don’t have all of the saw mills or pulp and paper mills with cogeneration plants; we don’t have a lot of smaller, stand-alone plants, or any of the thermal-only energy projects. For instance, NREL has a wood-fi red boiler that provides heat for our campus, and there are number of these systems around the country, but a single database for these projects does not exist. We’d like to put that layer in there for people that are looking at commercial-scale wood heat-ing projects in their region.”

Milbrandt said NREL also would like to compile generalized sum-maries for policymakers so they know the overall biopower potential of their states or legislative districts. “Hopefully, with additional funding, we could have that available next year,” she said.

To access the tool, go to http://rpm.nrel.gov/biopower/biopower/launch.

—Anna Austin

industry NEWS

The yellow to brown layers represent crop residue available for power applications in the U.S.

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industry NEWS

DOE explains NEPA intent, applicability to Loan Guarantee Program

The U.S. DOE hosted the second We-binar in a series being held with the intent to provide guidance for completing applications for the DOE Loan Guarantee Program, as amended by the American Recovery and Re-investment Act of 2009.

The fi rst Webinar, held Sept. 8, empha-sized key attributes that may positively infl u-ence a project’s fi nancial and technical evalu-ations during the Loan Guarantee Program application review process (See “DOE pro-vides loan guarantee application tips” at www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=3038&q=DOE provides).

The second Webinar was held Sept. 23 and explained the intent of the National En-vironmental Policy Act, its applicability to the Loan Guarantee Program, its most signifi cant concerns, and the type of data needed to sup-port the NEPA section of applications.

NEPA compliance division director Mat-thew McMillan said NEPA, which was signed into law Jan. 1, 1970, is viewed as the corner-stone of the environmental statute in the U.S., principally because it preceded most of them, including the U.S. EPA. “It requires that fed-eral agencies consider the environmental con-sequences of their actions when they are in the decision-making process,” he said. “It’s impor-tant to remember that NEPA is a procedural statute, so we have to be very cognizant of fol-lowing the procedural provisions of NEPA. Loan guarantees are considered major federal actions, thus they require NEPA review.”

The NEPA review considers environ-mental effects from projects associated with applications received for loan guarantees. “What we do is integrate the NEPA process with the loan guarantee process, so we have

environmental information as required in the part II application environmental report.”

There are various levels of NEPA review that a project could require, depending on a variety of factors, according to McMillan. The most rigorous level is an environmental impact statement (EIS), he said, which is for projects presumed to have signifi cant environmental effects. “In NEPA context, it is defi ned in the environmental quality regulations in terms of the context and intensity of the effects, and the regulations provide a variety of factors to look at when trying to assess that intensity,” McMillan said. There are 10 factors includ-ing impact to resource areas such as wetlands, threats to endangered species and cultural re-sources.

Environmental controversy also needs to be considered when deciding whether an EIS is required. “Not just the ‘not in my backyard’ kind of controversy, but more along the lines of where there is disagreement on the poten-tial for and severity of effects,” McMillan said.

The next level of NEPA review is an en-vironmental assessment (EA), which can be done at any time for any reason for agency planning purposes, but in this case is done to determine whether the potential impacts to biological, physical resources and sociocultural resources require an EIS. “If it is determined that the environmental effects are not signifi -cant, that process ends with the fi nding of no signifi cant impact,” McMillan said.

The last level of NEPA review is a cat-egorical exclusion, which excludes the need to prepare either an EA or EIS, according to McMillan. “It’s for categories of actions that the agency has determined has no signifi cant effect either individually or cumulatively. In

terms of applicability to the Loan Guarantee Program, it applies to things such as re-equip-ping or retooling existing facilities, or energy effi ciency upgrades,” he said. “One thing that’s important to remember: the real beauty of the NEPA process, from the standpoint of the Loan Guarantee Program, is the infl uence it can have on the applicant’s decision-making process. Normally we consider the infl uence that NEPA has on the federal decision-making process, but in our experience we’ve seen it has more applicability to the applicants and how they design their projects, and that is where we really benefi t from the NEPA process.”

McMillan also discussed meetings that might be required for a project during the NEPA process, which may include consulta-tions with American Indian and Alaskan Na-tive Tribes, State Historic Preservation offi cers, or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Part I applications should include a de-tailed description of the proposed action, site information, and enough details to clarify/as-sess the scope and nature of the project, and whether it needs an EA or EIS, McMillan said. Part II applications determine the level of NEPA review required, but also contains enough information to prepare the NEPA document associated with the level required. “This should include detailed information on potential environmental impacts—the facility’s location, description and any status relative to legislation or permitting that would have a bearing on the project itself,” McMillan said. “In general, an applicant, in preparation for the environmental report that goes into the ap-plication, may or may not need the assistance of an environmental consulting fi rm, but cer-tainly would if they were to prepare an EA and most defi nitely an EIS.

The DOE begins the formal NEPA pro-cess when the applicant submits a part II ap-plication. “This is when technical and fi nancial eligibility have been determined, and they have received a letter from the department indicat-ing they’re invited to negotiate the terms and


Ontario launches Biomass Innovation Centre

industry NEWS

Nipissing University’s Biomass Innova-tion Centre on its North Bay, Ontario, Canada, campus will provide resources and education about biomass heating and energy to building professionals, engineers and researchers to help develop an infrastructure for the industry.

The organization focuses on biomass for space heating, particularly wood pellets, according to Bob Carpenter, director of the school of business and economics, which de-veloped the center. The campus is in a heav-ily forested region, making woody biomass its most logical resource, Carpenter said. “There’s a lot of wood that is harvested that is waste,” he said. “It’s estimated that 100 million metric tons (110 million tons) of wood is available in

forests now. It’s good for forests to have some of that slash removed.” Not only does extrac-tion of biomass improve forest health, he said, but it would allow the replacement of im-ported oil with locally produced products. In addition, wood pellet production could create at least 600 jobs in the region under the right circumstances, according to the university.

The Biomass Innovation Centre is the title of the organization, Carpenter said, not a building. It’s currently composed of three people and has three goals: convert fi ve build-ings—municipalities, schools, universities or hospitals—to biomass heating from natural gas or petroleum; displace 500,000 liters (132,000 gallons) of fossil fuel wherever possible; and

increase awareness of biomass heating and en-ergy systems by 25 percent.

The organization was funded initially by Ontario’s Community Go Green Fund, but is looking into other funding options to allow for the inclusion of labs and other amenities, according to Carpenter. The organization will host a conference, Harnessing Biomass: From the Forest to the Market, on Oct. 22 and 23 to address extraction of woody biomass for pellet production and partnership formation within the industry, among other topics. The organization expected to launch its Web site, www.biomassinnovation.ca, in late October.

—Lisa Gibson

conditions of a loan agreement,” McMillan said. “At that point, we begin the formal NEPA review process, and we will notify the state that we are entering into that process, and what level of NEPA review is going to be re-quired,” McMillan said.

A key consideration when preparing an application and designing a project should be environmental impact and related require-ments. “One of the real values of the NEPA

process is in assisting the applicant’s decision-making process and informing them of the pitfalls of some project decisions. For example, where to site a facility,” McMillan said. “The use of an existing facility is highly encouraged, as is the use of a brownfi eld site. Greenfi eld sites tend to require a lot more environmental review than other sites. We’d like to see very well thought out proposals, such that mitiga-tion isn’t required to address environmental

effects after the proposal has been submitted. We’d like to see all mitigation integrated into the proposed action so that it comes as part of the proposal, as opposed to being mitigation.”

To learn more about the U.S. DOE Loan Guarantee Program, visit www.lgprogram.energy.gov/.

—Anna Austin

Laidlaw, Homeland form Homeland Laidlaw EnergyLaidlaw Biopower LLC, an affi liate of

Laidlaw Energy Group Inc., and Homeland Renewable Energy LLC have teamed up to form Homeland Laidlaw Energy LLC. The new company already has four biomass energy plants in development in Northeastern U.S.

The fi rst project could be a 65-megawatt plant in Berlin, N.H., at the former Burgess Pulp Mill. Fully converted, the plant will run on 700,000 tons of wood chips per year, ac-cording to Laidlaw. The locations and details, including timelines, of the other three plants HLE will develop have not been released.

Homeland has agreed to make an equi-ty investment in the joint venture to provide capital for development as well as proceeds to

Laidlaw for the contribution of several of the company’s development projects to the HLE portfolio. Rupert Fraser, president and CEO of Homeland Renewable Energy, declined to disclose the amount of the investment. Both companies will inject projects into HLE, but will continue operations separately, as well.

“We are very pleased to be working with the Laidlaw people,” Fraser said. Laidlaw brings a pipeline for projects to the joint ven-ture, while Homeland brings a management team, he said. Homeland’s projects are in the southeast, dealing mainly with poultry litter, Fraser said. The joint venture expands the market opportunities and locations available to the company.

Homeland Chairman Jack Clarke will serve as chairman of the board for HLE, while Fraser and Homeland Chief Operating Offi cer Carl Strickler will serve on the board as corporate offi cers, according to the com-panies. Laidlaw President and CEO Michael Bartoszek will serve as president and CEO of HLE, while Laidlaw vice presidents Louis Bravakis and Raymond Kusche will serve on the board.

HLE headquarters will be in New York City, with offi ces in Pennsylvania, New Hamp-shire, Vermont, Maine and London.

—Lisa Gibson


industry NEWSChemrec granted $70 million to build biorefi nery at Swedish pulp mill

Swedish biofuel company Chemrec AB has been awarded $70 mil-lion from the Swedish Energy Board for the construction of a commer-cial-scale renewable fuel biorefi nery at Örnsködsvik, Sweden.

The grant, which will be the largest government grant ever made in Europe for a next-generation biofuel plant, must now be approved by the EU directorate general for completion, according to the state aid rules.

The proposed 40 MMgy plant will be integrated into Domsjö Fabriker’s pulp mill, and utilize a black liquor (byproduct of pulp pro-duction) gasifi cation process to produce what Chemrec calls BioDME (dimethyl ether) and BioMethanol. Chemrec employs an entrained-fl ow, high-temperature technology that achieves full char conversion in one step, producing a synthesis gas that can be converted into second-gen-eration renewable motor fuel.

Extensive front-end engineering and design work will now be done to provide a solid foundation for a fi nal decision on project procure-ment, which is currently scheduled for fall 2010.

A project prefeasibility study has already been conducted, during which black liquor from Domsjö Fabriker was gasifi ed at Smurfi t Kap-pa’s pulp mill in Piteå, Sweden. Results from the testing were positive, according to Chemrec.

The company is active beyond the Örnsködsvik project, having recently broke ground at the Piteå site to construct another demonstra-tion plant, which the company expects to be operational in mid-2010. Additionally, company subsidiary Chemrec USA is currently pursuing similar opportunities with pulp mills in the U.S.

In the July 2009 issue of Biomass Magazine, Chemrec CEO Rich-ard LeBlanc authored an article detailing the benefi ts of black liquor gasifi cation. The article can be seen at www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2818.

—Anna Austin

A rendering of Domsjö Fabriker’s pulp mill shows what the integrated biorefi nery will look like when it’s completed.

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Researchers evaluate Maryland’s sweet sorghum-to-ethanol potentialA study to determine whether sweet sorghum is a viable crop on

the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland is in its fi rst year, and might lead to the construction of an ethanol plant on the peninsula.

Researchers from Salisbury University’s Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology collaborated with researchers from the Uni-versity of Delaware, the University of Maryland at College Park, local farmers and the Lower Eastern Shore Research & Education Center for the three-year study. They established a one-acre plot of eight different types of sorghum on the Wicomico County farm, according to Chris-topher Briand, associate professor of biological sciences at Salisbury University.

Jeff Brenner of Solar Fruits Biofuels LLC initiated the study to determine if an ethanol plant on the peninsula could be sustainable, Briand said. The Maryland Grain Producers Association provided the funding for the fi rst year and collaborators are looking for funding sources to continue in the second and third years, he said.

Meanwhile, the researchers are harvesting the crop, planted in May. “When we harvest each variety, we’re harvesting approximately three-meter lengths,” Briand said. One trial is irrigated and the other is not, he added. During harvesting, the stalks are counted and the biomass is weighed; the heads are removed; the seeds are collected and weighed;

the juice is extracted and measured by volume and weight; and the sugar content is evaluated, Briand said. “What we’re really looking for are vari-eties that grow well in the local conditions and produce lots of juice, i.e. have high sugar content,” Briand said.

“We also look at the fi eld,” said Samuel Geleta, also an associate professor of biological sciences at SU. How the crops behave in the fi eld is important in evaluating their potential, he said, such as whether they stand erect allowing for easy harvesting by machinery.

Sweet sorghum was chosen because alternative crops for ethanol production aren’t as favorable for the region. Sugarcane doesn’t grow well so far north, Geleta said, and corn competes with food crops and poultry feed. “Sweet sorghum is generally not used for that and we can grow it with less water and on marginal land so it will not compete with corn production,” he said. In addition, corn-to-ethanol conversion is a lengthy process. Sweet sorghum juice, once extracted, can be fermented directly into ethanol, he said. “It kind of simplifi es the process.” Other states have experimented with sweet sorghum, along with India and China, but it is not commonly grown in the Delmarva Peninsula region, Geleta added.

—Lisa Gibson


industry NEWS

Partnership means patented technology can produce food, fuel

Foundation promotes UW-Madison clean technology inventions

The partnership between Colorado-based PureVision Technol-ogy Inc. a renewable technology developer, and Australian microbi-ology company Microbiogen means PureVision’s fractionation tech-nology can produce biofuel and protein products simultaneously in biorefi neries, according to the company.

PureVision’s patented fractionation process separates cellulosic biomass into three streams inside one pressurized reaction chamber, according to the company. The extraction technique removes and recovers the hemicellulose and lignin in two liquid fractions, leav-ing a solid fraction containing relatively pure cellulose or fi ber. The process can be done in a single step, or several, depending on the desired product. “Once you have your three streams broken down, you take the sugars and ferment them into alcohols and biofuels,” said Ed Lehrburger, founder and president of PureVision.

The fractionation process can produce Microbiogen’s nonge-netically modifi ed yeast organism, which will be utilized in the fer-mentation process, and also has the ability to clean the waste stream generated by it. Once fermentation is complete, the organism can

be sold as a high-protein byproduct. “You can use yeast as a supple-ment to animal feed, fi sh food or human food,” Lehrburger said.

The fractionation process is not commercialized yet, but oper-ating on a one-half-ton-per-day pilot scale, according to Lehrburger. The company is working on a 20-ton-per-day facility, as well, and hopes to have its fi rst commercial biorefi nery in 2012. “We don’t know if this will expedite the process, but it will roll out a commer-cialization strategy,” he said of the partnership.

Biomass feedstocks used in the process include corn stalks, corncobs, wheat straw, bagasse, soft woods and triticale straw. The use of the yeast organism increases the effi ciency of the process by using what has been regarded as waste biomass, along with the food part of the crop, for the production of both fuel and protein, ac-cording to PureVision. It also addresses concerns about the use of food crops for biofuels production, and offers a packaged solution to biorefi nery developers, Lehrburger said.

—Lisa Gibson

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have teamed up to promote the renewable energy technologies invented at the University of Wis-consin-Madison.

The effort includes the new cleantech technology section on the WARF Web site: www.warf.org. It features summaries of 46 technologies developed by the university, some in collaboration with the GLBRC, including technologies for biofuels production, low energy processes, natural resource conservation, remediation, solar technologies and waste and pollution reduction.

“By making these technologies more visible, we will be better able to support the efforts of the GLBRC and UW-Madison to de-velop innovative and sustainable sources of energy,” Michael Falk, WARF’s general counsel, said in a statement.

One of the university’s inventions spun off into a start-up com-pany, Virent Energy Systems Inc. The company has attracted inves-tors such as Honda and Cargill Inc., and has a strategic investment partnership with Royal Dutch Shell plc, according to the university. The technology is an aqueous phase reforming (APR) process that generates hydrogen from sugar. Virent has enhanced the process since it started in 2002 to create a process called BioForming, which combines APR with other catalytic technologies, such as catalytic

hydrotreating or condensation, to produce renewable liquid fuels, fuel gases and other chemicals, according to the company. The pro-cess uses feedstocks such as glucose and sucrose, glycerol, starches, polymers of glucose contained in cellulose, and C5 and C6 sugars, according to the company. Feedstock options include traditional food crops and nonfood sources.

“We’re working with Royal Dutch Shell to commercialize pro-duction of biogasoline,” said Mary Blanchard, director of marketing for Virent. The company plans to build a 1 MMgy to 2 MMgy com-mercial demonstration plant, followed by a 100 MMgy commercial plant, expected to be operational in 2015, according to Blanchard.

UW-Madison leads the GLBRC in close partnership with Mich-igan State University with a goal to remove the technological bottle-necks that prevent effi cient conversion of plant biomass to biofuel, according to UW-Madison. The GLBRC is one of three research centers set up by the U.S. DOE to develop a new generation of bio-fuels. The other members of the GLBRC are Iowa State University, Illinois State University and the University of Toledo, along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacifi c Northwest National Laboratory and Lucigen Corp., according to UW-Madison.

—Lisa Gibson


industry NEWSAlgae-fueled car completes cross-country tour, gears up for another

The Algaeus, a vehicle that runs on algae-based fuel, recently fi n-ished a cross-country trip to promote the fi lm “FUEL,” and now will be featured on a national college educational tour.

The car, based on a 2008 Toyota Prius with an added battery pack, a plug and an advanced energy management system, fi nished its 10-day tour from San Francisco to New York City on Sept. 18. The unmodi-fi ed engine got an average 147 miles per gallon (mpg) city in plug-in electric hybrid mode (PHEV) and 52 mpg highway in hybrid mode, according to Sapphire Energy, the company that made the fuel blend.

The fuel is a blend of 5 percent algae and 95 percent fossil fuel, according to Tim Zenk, vice president of corporate affairs for Sap-phire, and is a drop-in replacement for existing transportation fuels, from refi ning, to distribution and the pump. The company grows its al-gae in pond systems with sunlight, carbon dioxide, nutrients and non-potable or saltwater in the desert. Sapphire uses its proprietary process to harvest the algae and extract the green crude from the biomass. The crude is then refi ned into gas, diesel and jet fuel, Zenk said.

The tour was sponsored by the Veggie Van Organization and in-cluded a press conference on Capitol Hill. The college tour will also include the Veggie Van Organization, an interactive classroom retrofi t “Green Energy Bus” and the “FUEL” team. “FUEL” was intended to inspire green energy solutions and was directed by Josh Tickell, found-er and co-director of the Veggie Van Organization.

Sapphire Energy is in the research and development phase, but plans to have a demonstration plant built within three years and be commercially operational by 2018, according to Zenk. The company’s goal is to produce 1 billion gallons per year by 2025, he added.

“The Algaeus is a fantastic test platform that demonstrates not

only Sapphire Energy’s abilities to take algae and produce hydrocarbon replacements, but also plug-in hybrid technology,” Zenk said. “If we are going to get our economy, our environment and our planet on the road to sustainability, we need to explore and employ all green energy technologies.”

Through the success of the Algaeus, Sapphire Energy hopes to further educate people about clean solutions like algae-based green crude and address the energy security and climate crisis, according to Zenk. “The Algaeus tour gets us one step closer to moving from ponds to the pump with a renewable fuel that doesn’t require changes to our vehicles, refi neries or distribution systems,” he said.

—Lisa Gibson

Wiki identifi es issues in establishing algae-to-biofuel businessesThe Law of Algae wiki, launched at the end of August, serves as a

guide to establishing an algae-to-biofuel project, highlighting legal and business issues a developer would face. Wikis are Web sites that allow for easy creation and editing from site users.

Stoel Rives LLP published the work, fully available on the wiki, and has done several other “Law of ” books, such as “The Law of Wind” and “The Law of Building Green.” This is, however, the fi rst time the law fi rm has published a book via a wiki. The format allows for con-tinuous updates and changes. “So the document is always fresh,” said Mark Hanson, partner at the fi rm. “Algae in particular seem to be sus-ceptible to a lot of change.” The fi rm will launch wikis for some of its past books, he added, and will stick with this format for future works.

Different considerations come along with different projects from the development perspective, so the books pinpoint specifi c issues that are common and apply to specifi c types of projects, Hanson said. “The ‘Law of ’ books are intended to highlight various resources and issues as they move forward in their projects,” he said.

Algae are the most recent focus area because of the increasingly

high interest in its biofuel production capabilities. “There are lots of new investments and tremendous efforts in the commercialization of algae to biofuel,” Hanson said. Unlike other commodities, such as corn, it does not compete with food production and is not subject to fl uctuating prices. It also is an easily controlled feedstock, as it only requires sunlight, water, a harvesting strategy and a process for oil ex-traction, he added.

The wiki outlines elements of projects such as fi nancing, intel-lectual property issues, technology issues and contracts, among others. It has attracted quite a bit of interest in its fi rst month, Hanson said, as site visitors are appreciative of the new wiki format and the wide array of topics it addresses.

The fi rms’ attorneys compile the “Law of ” works, Hanson said, drawing from their experience and expertise, which put them in a good position to identify issues developers will need to be aware of. Check out the Law of Algae at www.lawofalgae.com.

—Lisa Gibson

The Algaeus fi nished a cross-country trip on algae-blended fuel.

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As interest in alternative fuel sources grows, international stan-dards for solid biofuels, including wood pellets, forest and agricultural waste, are crucial in moving ahead. The International Organization for Standardization, created in Sweden, is hoping to publish a set of stan-dards developed by its 27 member countries in 2011. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers held a Webinar Sept. 11 to discuss the importance of standards and how to get involved in the development process.

Each country participating in ISO gets one vote and has its own technical committee with designated working groups. Consensus is reached at the national level.

Standards are needed to create a level playing fi eld for solid biofu-els, according to Lars Sjoberg, international secretariat for ISO Techni-cal Group 238 in Sweden. He compared it to a soccer game between two different countries. “Without international standards, it’s hard for the referee to make his calls,” he said. “It’s very important to have common rules and methods.”

Standards are needed to ensure ongoing customer satisfaction, according to the Biomass Thermal Energy Council. “We need con-sumers to trust the fuels and that’s why we feel standards are impor-tant,” said Jon Strimling, BTEC CEO.

Chris Wiberg, chief operating offi cer of Wisconsin-based Twin Ports Testing and member of Pellet Fuels Institute, agreed and dis-cussed the standards PFI has approved. The fi rst round of standards was developed in 1995, but issues such as a lack of clearly defi ned testing and measurement methods warranted a new set. PFI devel-oped those new standards between July 2005 and July 2008. They can be viewed at www.pelletheat.org. Wiberg said PFI’s standards can be incorporated into currently proposed ISO standards, or included as a separate work item.

Standards are necessary for the University of Wisconsin to con-vert its power plant to biomass, slated to occur by 2013, according

to Richard Straub, chairperson of UW’s biological systems engineer-ing department. The university will need standards that defi ne value and properties of feedstock, he said, along with handling and logistics standards.

The ASTM International Committee on E48 Biotechnology has developed 36 international standards, according to ASTM E84 man-ager Brynn Murphy. Of 110 total members, 25 are international, she said, and unlike ISO, each member gets a vote, not each country. The Biomass Conversion subcommittee has developed 14 standards and has one working item, she added.

ISO’s 27 members include countries in North and South Amer-ica, Europe and Asia, Sjoberg said. “Unfortunately, there are some more countries we’d like to participate,” he said. “Hopefully in the near future, we can have them in the committee.” ISO has already developed standards pertaining to terminology, sampling, ash content, determination of particle size distribution and of minor and major elements, among others.

The organization has plenty of research participants, but is look-ing for more from the industry, Sjoberg said. “It’s very important to have broad participation.” The American National Standards Institute is the ISO member for the U.S. Its Web site, www.ansi.org, includes information on ISO.

The ISO held its fi rst meeting in 2008; another plenary will be held in Bellevue, Wash., Oct. 16, with working group meetings Oct. 14 and 15. ASABE administers U.S. positions for ISO/TC 238 and nine other ISO technical committees. The committee is open to new par-ticipants and is looking for widespread representation from the indus-try. To get involved with the U.S. committee or to attend the October meetings, contact Scott Cedarquist, ASABE director of standards, at (269) 932-7031.

—Lisa Gibson

industry NEWS

ISO looks for help to develop international solid biofuels standards

Scotland’s Tullis Russell to use biomass for heat, powerThe signing of a multimillion pound deal brings a paper mill in

Scotland closer to using biomass for heat and power. A contract es-tablished between Tullis Russell Papermakers Ltd. and RWE NPow-er means a 50-megawatt biomass power plant will supply energy for Tullis Russell’s mill in Markinch, Fife, Scotland.

The plant will replace an existing coal-fi red power plant, owned by RWE NPower Renewables, whose parent company, RWE Innogy, will provide 200 million pounds ($31.7 million) for the project. That supplements the 8.1 million pounds ($12.8 million) in support from the Scottish government, according to RWE NPower. NPower Co-gen, whose parent company is RWE NPower, will build and operate the facility.

Construction on the plant will begin immediately, according to the company, and it will be operational in 2012. The plant will re-duce Tullis Russell’s carbon footprint by more than 70 percent, using 400,000 metric tons (441,000 tons) of virgin and used wood from lo-cal and national companies, according to CEO Chris Parr. The proj-ect also will provide 400 jobs during construction, 50 permanent jobs in operation and more than 500 jobs at Tullis Russell, according to RWE. The plant will reduce carbon emissions by 250,000 metric tons and generate 6 percent of Scotland’s renewable energy target.

Seventeen megawatts of power will be supplied directly to the paper mill and the remaining will be sold to the grid.

—Lisa Gibson


industry NEWS

Biochar technology bill introduced in SenateSen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is co-sponsoring a bill with Sens. John

Tester, D-Mont., Max Baucus, D-Mont., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Tom Udall, D-N.M., that would promote the implementation of bio-char production technologies using excess plant biomass on public land.

Titled the Water Effi ciency via Carbon Harvest and Restoration Act of 2009, (WECHAR), the bill would establish U.S. Department of Interior and USDA loan guarantee programs to develop biochar demonstration projects, including mobile and fi xed biochar produc-tion units.

The purposes of the act are listed as restoring the natural hydrol-ogy of Western landscapes by removing water-intensive plant species, reducing dangerous forest and rangeland fuel loads, developing tech-nologies to convert undesirable invasive plant species to useful materi-als and to develop markets for those materials, and to provide tech-nologies to land managers to continue those processes into the future.

The bill states that the pine bark beetle has killed thousands of acres of standing forests in the Western U.S., thus creating a hazardous buildup of dead tree biomass that is a serious fi re threat, and that nu-merous expert reports have brought attention to the negative impacts

caused by invasive weed species, including the consumption of water in areas with diminishing supplies.

Upon passage, the bill would call for the director of the U.S. Geo-logical Survey to conduct resource assessments to collect and synthe-size interagency and state data to quantify the amount of invasive plant species and excess biomass in the form of dangerous fuel loads on public land that can be used for feedstock; the estimated carbon con-tent in that feedstock; the estimated potential biochar and bioenergy which could be generated from that feedstock; and the potential water savings resulting from removal of invasive plant species and excess biomass on public lands, by watershed.

The secretary would then provide loan guarantees to an applicant, if the biochar production units produced by the applicant will be dedi-cated primarily to contract restoration work with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service or U.S. Forest Service, utilizing the specifi ed biomass feedstocks.

To view a copy of the bill, go to http://washingtonwatch.com/bills/history/111_SN_1713.html.

—Anna Austin

Senators reveal Clean Energy Jobs and American Power ActSens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., have un-

veiled the fi rst draft of legislation that requires emissions be reduced to 97 percent of 2005 levels by 2012, 80 percent by 2020, and 17 percent by 2050, through implementation of a Pollution Reduction and Invest-ment system.

In the House, the bill was titled the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and is now the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

The PRI system detailed in the act is based on the bipartisan plan that reduced acid rain in the 1990s, and would establish a market-based system to meet the reduction targets. The system would apply only to the largest polluters in the country—initially, around 7,500 facilities, which account for nearly three-quarters of U.S. carbon pollution, or facilities emitting more than 25,000 tons of carbon pollution annually. According to the draft, more than 98 percent of American businesses (offi ce buildings, apartments, homes, shopping malls) and all farmers would not be covered by the PRI system.

Instead of using a “command and control” model in which the government instructs companies where and how to reduce pollution, major polluters will be required to turn in one carbon credit, which the draft describes as “a voucher for the right to pollute one ton of car-bon.” The vouchers can be bought or sold to provide fl exibility in how

pollution is reduced. Therefore, those that cannot quickly or affordably reduce emissions can buy vouchers. Companies who are able may sell their vouchers to those that need them.

The PRI system would also limit the total number of vouchers available in a given year, lowering the number each year.

Other provisions of the bill include but are not limited to:A new federal program that encourages investment in low-

carbon power generationGrants to cities and states that embrace clean energy, and sub-

stantial investments to reward cities and states for investing in renew-able energy, energy effi cient retrofi ts and building upgrades

Signifi cant new investments in cutting-edge research and devel-opment funding for renewable energy resources

Support for energy intensive, trade-exposed industries such as chemicals to ensure U.S. manufacturing remains competitive in the new energy economy.

Rebates for low and moderate income consumers on energy bills to help offset any increased costs

To access the bill in full, go to http://kerry.senate.gov/cleanenergyjobsandamericanpower/pdf/bill.pdf.

—Anna Austin


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U.S. BIOMASS POTENTIALFROM FORESTSTO THE PLAINSStudies to evaluate the potential of biomass are being conducted in several states as people begin to realize its economic benefi ts. One study takes a unique approach by going straight to businesses, organizations and farmers to create a supply chain and industry infrastructure before engaging state government.

By Lisa Gibson


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everal studies and research proj-ects are ongoing in individual states across the country, evaluat-ing not only the availability of bio-

mass, but also the biomass-based products that best suit each state’s economy.

The market for biomass products is growing but getting into those markets will take careful planning and evaluation to determine which types of biomass are vi-able to grow, harvest and extract in specifi c locations, followed by which products can be manufactured from that biomass and how.

“We’ve got some good macrowork across the U.S.,” says Peter Nelson, direc-tor of Business Development for Mem-phis Bioworks Foundation’s BioDimen-sions and director of AgBioworks. He cites “Biomass as a Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Sup-ply,” a study that quantifi es the bioenergy potential of the entire nation, and a similar project ongoing in the southeast. The Bil-lion Ton study, which was conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. DOE and USDA, found that there is more than 1.3 billion dry tons per year of biomass potential in the U.S. “What that didn’t do was look at all the nuances, dif-

ferences and competitive advantages with-in specifi c small regions that currently do business together,” Nelson says.

In August, Memphis Bioworks, in col-laboration with Batelle Technology Part-nership Practice, released fi ndings from a study that collaborators believe took a revolutionary approach. Instead of rely-ing on politicians and state government offi cials, the study involved businesses, organizations and universities in a fi ve-state, 98-county region. “Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta” includes participation from Arkan-sas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee; a total of 56,000 square miles. “The diffi culty cannot be overstated,” Nel-son says of building the collaboration. “It is almost impossible to get multiple states working together without starting with state governors.”

A business-based approach sets up a framework for the region’s “bio-economy,” says Loretta Daniel, director of the Re-gional Biomass Innovation Center at Mur-ray State University in Murray, Ky., and a member of the study’s 23-person steering team. “The businesses, entrepreneurs and farmers on the ground are the ones who are going to make this happen,” she says. Lawmakers are integral, as well, she adds,

because they will help develop policies for implementation. “You can have all that in place, but if you don’t have those people on the ground, it’s not going to happen,” she says.

A major purpose of the research is to build a regional network to work together on federal funding requests, support viable regional projects, invest public and private funds wisely, and strengthen competencies, Nelson says. “Half the exercise was get-ting the right players together and building long-term relationships, and half of it was the actual study that gives us at least some short-term ideas on what to do,” he says.

Nelson says location-specifi c studies are important for four reasons: to build regional strengths and understand weak-nesses; to align public and private resourc-es; incentivize local supply chains to drive the industry; and understand that biomass is a fl exible resource and will be used dif-ferently in different regions.

Incentivizing local supply chains be-fore investing in technologies is vital, he says, although it might go against the rec-ommendations of most economists. The Delta region’s approach is almost the op-posite of the U.S. DOE’s method, which is to invest large amounts of money in the commercialization of technologies, he

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says. “We said ‘We’re not going to develop technology,’” Nelson explains. “What we can do is grow crops; interface with local industrial infrastructures.”

Once those supply chains and farmer networks are developed, it will be easier to deal with big technology providers when the time comes, he adds. This unique strat-egy is designed to answer possible ques-tions, such as how to engage with farmers and what to grow, from businesses look-ing into bioprocessing.

Findings and FundingThe study determined that the fi ve-

state region can adequately supply an $8 billion biofuels and biobased products in-dustry without affecting the food and feed supply chain. The transformation to that bio-economy will create more than 25,000 jobs in the next 10 years and more than 50,000 in the next 20 years. It will also open up markets that will increase biodiversity in the region, leading to reduced use of synthetic fertilizers, agricultural chemicals and water, while increasing options for lo-cal farmers, the study concludes.

Researchers separated potential bio-mass sources into four categories: oil-seeds, such as soybeans, canola, sunfl ow-ers and algae; starches and sugars, such

Missouri11 counties

Arkansas30 counties

Kentucky8 counties

Tennessee21 counties

Mississippi28 counties

SOURCE: MEMPHIS BIOWORKS FOUNDATION

The colored area shows the region that was evaluated in the “Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta” study.


as barley, grain sorghum, sweet sorghum and sugar beets; lignocellulosics, such as wood, switchgrass and cotton; and niche crops, such as agricultural fi bers and smaller acreage crops. The region already produces lignocellulosic, sugar, starch and oilseed feedstocks in substantial quanti-ties, according to the report. Its common topography, variety of productive soil types, high levels of surface and ground-water availability, favorable climate and comparatively long growing season make the region agriculturally diverse and pro-ductive, it adds.

Potential products from those four feedstock categories include chemical in-termediates and specialties, specialty oil products, ethanol and next-generation fu-els, and biofi bers and other biobased ma-terials, according to the study.

Sweet sorghum is the preferred near-term sugar crop for the region and grow-ers on average can produce more than 10 dry tons of biomass per acre, according to the study. The estimated sustainable us-able quantity of lignocellulosic biomass is 59 million tons per year, with the potential to produce 4.7 billion gallons of ethanol annually. Because it’s so abundant, ligno-cellulosic biomass processing is the key technology and industry for the region’s biobased economy, researchers conclud-ed.

Now completed and released, the study has been a few years in the mak-ing. Interviews with stakeholders began in 2006, followed by the formation of the steering committee in 2007, Nelson says. A statement of work was drafted and initial funding was acquired from Mem-phisED and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture in 2007. Batelle and other consultants were hired, followed by the fi eldwork and compilation of results, he says.

The project cost about $750,000, pro-vided by 10 major funders across the fi ve states, 20 corporate sponsors and 29 non-profi ts or education institutions, Nelson says. “Most people don’t like to fund stud-ies unless the group has a proven track

record to turn the study into results,” he says, adding that Memphis Bioworks has turned studies into economic opportuni-ties in the past. “This made it easier to raise money for a study because we had already been successful,” he explains.

Some researchers have been able to attain funding for biomass studies through state and private sources, but the DOE has programs that can provide fi nancial assistance, too. Every state receives annual State Energy Planning funding, according to DOE Biomass Program manager Valri Lightner. State energy offi ces develop and implement policy through program mea-sures, and nearly every state energy offi ce has a mandate from its legislature to in-clude renewable energy in the state plan, she adds.

With the Mississippi Delta study now completed, it’s up to the individual states to launch initiatives appropriate for their regions aimed at enhancing existing op-portunities and expanding their roles in the regional bio-economy. The executive summary and full report are available at www.agbioworks.org, along with updates on the progress of the individual states’ plans.

Washington’s Woody Biomass Wherewithal

Washington State ranks at the top of the nation in forest woody biomass availability, with a potential 11.26 million dry tons per year, according to “Wood to Energy in Washington: Imperatives, Op-portunities, and Obstacles to Progress,” released in June of 2009. The study, con-ducted by the University of Washington’s School of Forest Resources, concluded that biomass would be better used to manufacture transportation fuel than to generate electricity. The state currently imports 100 percent of its transportation fuels from other states or other countries, according to Larry Mason, co-author of the study and project coordinator of For-est Resources’ Rural Technology Initiative. “Whereas Washington is 100 percent self-suffi cient relative to electricity,” he says.

According to the report, woody bio-mass has three key advantages that should be considered in policymaking: sustain-ability, energy independence and climate change mitigation. It also found that con-version from woody biomass to liquid fuels will require large biorefi nery capac-ity designed to utilize dispersed biomass resources for maximized energy outputs, and that co-location with pulp and paper mills represents the greatest opportunity for success.

The $200,000 report was commis-sioned and funded by the Washington State Legislature. A barrier to implemen-tation of the recommendations is that the state has no department of energy, Ma-son says. “So there is not really an effec-tive lead agency to move quickly,” he adds. Forming a lead state agency is one of the recommendations the fi ve researchers make in their report, along with priori-tizing objectives and the development of large-scale biofuels projects as opposed to small-scale projects, which the study deems ineffi cient. The entire report is available at www.ruraltech.org/pubs/re-ports/2009/wood_to_energy/index.asp.

Biomass from Grass in North Dakota

Situated squarely in the Great Plains, western and central North Dakota isn’t covered in dense forests, so it is turning to what it does possess: grass. An ongoing study being conducted by the North Da-kota State University Central Grasslands Resource and Extension Center will deter-mine the potential for biomass from grass over the next eight years. With two years of data already collected, the researchers will continue evaluating production, car-bon sequestration, economics and longev-ity of perennial forages for the manufac-turing of biofuels and some small-scale electricity generation.

For study purposes, several 15-by-30-foot plots were seeded with the same 10 treatments at fi ve locations: Hettinger, Minot, Williston, Streeter and Carrington. All plots are dryland, except for one irri-

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gated plot near Williston. The project will determine the biomass yield and select chemical composition of perennial her-baceous crops; determine the optimum harvest dates for maximum biomass yield and maintenance of the stands; compare annual and biennial harvest for total bio-mass yield and maintenance of the stands; evaluate carbon sequestration and storage of the crops; and evaluate their economic feasibility with competing crops in the surrounding area, according to the re-search center.

Grasses used in the study include switchgrass, wheat grass, wild rye, blue stem and combinations of grasses. Fund-ing is funneled through the Natural Re-sources Trust from state and federal agencies, according to Paul Nyren, cen-ter director. The total cost of the proj-ect, including lab work and analysis, is about $1 million, he adds. So far, the best yields have been harvested from sunburst switchgrass in the irrigated plot—5.75 tons per acre in 2007 and 7.28 in 2008. But the conclusions are diffi cult to de-scribe at this point, according to Nyren. “The question is: What is this worth as a biofuels crop?” he asks. Studies show that to be economically feasible, biomass needs to be worth $75 per ton. “We have to ask: What are companies going to be willing to pay?”

Harvest totals and other study details are available at www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/streeter/.

Woody Biomass in MaineResearch conducted by the Univer-

sity of Maine seeks to determine the best products to manufacture using the state’s abundant woody biomass supply. Re-searchers have worked on several studies since 2006 and have four more years of funding to determine how to simultane-ously make bioproducts and building and paper products; how different portions of trees will affect the amount, quality and cost of bioproduct production; if ad-vanced scientifi c tools exploring the mo-lecular structure of woody materials can

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develop new processes and bioproducts; and if cellulose nanofi bers can be used to improve coatings and plastics, according to the university.

“The idea is to make multiple products so you have a portfolio that addresses dif-ferent markets,” says Hemant Pendse, pro-fessor and chair of the university’s chemi-cal and biological engineering department.

The research is funded through federal grants and the Maine Economic Improve-ment Fund, Pendse says, adding that the costs of the different projects vary widely. One project that converts a pulp mill to a biofuel and chemical facility could cost more than $60 million, he cites.

The study results will help small busi-nesses, forest landowners and the forest products industry identify opportunities to enter the biofuels and biochemicals mar-kets, Pendse says.

Coordination and CollaborationMost states have conducted biomass

resource assessments of some kind, Light-ner says, which the DOE promotes. The agency also encourages states to coordi-nate with each other on biomass develop-ment to benefi t from scaling opportunities and comparative advantages.

Nelson agrees and says getting the business community engaged is the best advice he can give to agencies looking into conducting similar studies. “This industry is very much in its infancy,” he says, adding that it will take a decade or two to replace a massive amount of petroleum. To take off, it needs collaboration, an understand-ing of farmers and farm production, exist-ing assets and a methodic strategy, he says. BIO

Lisa Gibson is a Biomass Magazine as-sociate editor. Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 738-4952.


FINANCE

Research and development companies in the biofuels industry are striving to acquire capital and interest from experienced industry giants to put their technologies on the fast track to commercialization. Terrabon was able to attract strategic investors—Waste Management and Valero—and is ready to start scaling up its waste to biofuel technology.

By Lisa Gibson

SECURING STRA TEGIC INVESTORS


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n today’s renewable energy markets, ideas abound but implementation doesn’t come easily without money, and scaling up is expensive and time-

consuming. Investors and partners can make the

transition simpler for research and develop-ment companies, especially if those partners bring years of experience, good reputations and industry expertise. Texas-based Terrabon LLC seems to have found the right partners to help commercialize its waste-to-biofuel technology: Waste Management Inc. and Valero Energy Corp. Both are prominent in their industries. Valero is North America’s largest petroleum refi ner and marketer, with 16 refi neries and seven ethanol plants. Waste Management is a leader in providing envi-ronmentally friendly waste disposal systems, including 367 collection operations, 16 waste-to-energy plants and 111 landfi ll gas projects, among others.

“The biggest impact is that we are now the fi rst fully integrated biofuels company with upstream and downstream partners that have a North American footprint,” says Ter-rabon CEO Gary Luce. “This technology al-lows those two industries to link up and bet-ter use their sustainable model of converting organic waste to produce biofuels.” Waste Management acts as the upstream partner, securing waste feedstock for the system while

Valero serves as the downstream partner, helping to distribute and sell the biofuel.

The ProcessTerrabon licensed its MixAlco technol-

ogy from Texas A&M in 1995. “We’ve added a whole bunch of [intellectual property] to the original license over that time,” Luce says. “It wasn’t all ready to go then. They were just beginning to research.” The process con-verts waste material such as municipal solid waste (MSW), sewage sludge, forest product residues and energy crops into chemicals and secondary alcohols. Those elements can be further refi ned to renewable gasoline through the traditional petrochemical refi ning pro-cess.

Terrabon is also working on commer-cializing its other two processes: Advanced Vapor-Compression Evaporation (AdVE), which desalinates brackish and salt water to create potable water; and SoluPro, which converts protein-bearing waste material into animal feed or commercial adhesives. “These other two technologies actually birthed out of the biofuels process,” Luce says. Waste Management and Valero have invested in the entire company, meaning their dollars will go toward commercialization of those technolo-gies, too. “MixAlco is their primary interest, but they have access to all the technologies,” Luce says.

The MixAlco process consists of a lime pretreatment followed by fermentation by microorganisms, producing a mixture of car-boxylic acids, such as acetic, propionic or bu-tyric acids. Calcium carbonate is added to neu-tralize the acids and form their corresponding carboxylate salts, such as calcium acetate, pro-pionate and butyrate, according to Terrabon. The next step can produce either ketones or carboxylic acids. The salts can be dewatered, concentrated, dried and thermally converted to ketones such as acetone, which can be hy-drogenated to produce secondary alcohols such as isopropanol, propanol and butanol; or the carboxylic acids can be recovered from the fermentation solution by reacting with tertiary amines to form tertiary amine carboxylates and calcium carbonate that are then cracked to regenerate the tertiary amine and produce the carboxylic acids. The tertiary amine and calci-um carbonate are recycled within the process, so no chemicals are consumed, according to Terrabon. The resulting carboxylic acids such as the ketones, can be hydrogenated to form primary alcohols such as ethanol. Those pri-mary or secondary alcohols can then be oli-gomerized to produce gasoline, diesel or jet fuel, according to the company.

The product is a drop-in fuel, similar to others on the market and ready to be blended for use, Luce says. “You can blend it and stick it in a pipeline and move it on down the ex-

INDUSTRY

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isting infrastructure,” he says. “It doesn’t have issues that other oxygenated fuels like ethanol have where you have to splash blend it right before you go to the retail station because of water and corrosion issues.”

The PartnershipStrategic partnerships similar to this one

provide a winning scenario for all involved, according to John Eustermann, a partner

with law fi rm Stoel Rives LLP. “It’s a bril-liant approach,” he says. An upstream/down-stream model is a goal for most companies. “You want to bring in a strategic investor,” he says. “Not just an investor. Not only are they bringing their checkbook, but they’re bring-ing other intellectual capital to the table that will assist Terrabon in ramping up its model. That’s what you want to look for when you’re a young company.”

Investors need to bring something above and beyond the dollar sign to maxi-mize the benefi t to companies in which they invest, Eustermann adds. “You don’t want to be an investment vehicle where the third party is simply looking for a return,” he says. “They’ve got to bring a little something extra to the table.”

Rick Kment, biofuels industry analyst for DTN, agrees and thinks strategic invest-ing trends will grow in the coming months. “You need to focus on companies that share the same core competency or are in the same industry,” he says, adding that both Waste Management and Valero have signifi cant ties to Terrabon’s core focus areas. “I think we will see a signifi cant move in the industry to magnify and utilize the strengths of each company.”

In the past few years, companies have focused more on sustainability and trying to survive in diffi cult fi nancial times, Kment says. “This is probably the fi rst wave of in-vestments from industries moving out of the scaling-back mode.” Investment expectations also have changed during fi nancial setbacks, he adds. “The overall devaluation of a lot of these companies has brought asking prices for investments lower than they were two years ago,” he says.

“When you look at the overall percent-age of investment that these large companies

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Terrabon’s Advanced Biofuels Research facility in Bryan, Texas, uses sorghum as the primary feedstock for producing organic salts and ketones. The ketones will be converted into gasoline at the company’s pilot plant in College Station, Texas.

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are putting into small companies, I think it’s a small scope compared to their overall size,” Kment adds. “But at the same time, it really is a shot in the arm for some of these development companies that are able to ac-cess and gain the partnership.”

Waste Management and Valero benefi t from the partnership in that they are posi-tioning themselves to have access to the product and be part of the industry with-out having to start from scratch building an idea, Kment adds. Smaller companies pen-etrate the market and large companies can save time and money by investing in those already-developed technologies, Euster-mann adds. “It’s a portal of entry into that space that they may otherwise not have been attracted to,” he says. It’s not uncommon for large companies to invest in smaller ones, he adds, but the upstream/downstream model is not easily achieved.

Valero has made two investments in the company, the fi rst in April, but has not dis-closed the amounts, according to Bill Day,

executive director of media relations for Valero. “We’ve done some investments in cellulosic ethanol; we’ve done some invest-ments with biodiesel,” he says. “This one is more of a synthetic gasoline so it gives us some diversity.” Valero has invested in Qte-ros, a company that uses a microbe to pro-duce cellulosic ethanol; Solix, which produces biodiesel from algae; and Zeachem, another cellulosic ethanol developer, Day says. Terra-bon’s Texas location was also a contributing factor in Valero’s decision to invest, Day says, as Valero also calls the state home. “We’re very interested in what the next generation of fuels will be in this country,” he says. “We realize that renewable fuels are going to have a place in that so our investment in companies like Terrabon moves it forward.”

Waste Management announced in Au-gust that it would invest in Terrabon, also, which brings benefi ts to the other partners. “Anything that helps Terrabon advance its technology and produce the fuels is going to help our investment payoff,” Day says. “We’re

glad Waste Management has become part of the team, as well.”

In fact, the announcement that Valero would invest in Terrabon helped attract at-tention from Waste Management and even-tually spurred an investment and partnership, according to Tim Cesarek, managing director of organic growth for Waste Management. The company would not disclose the amount it invested but the transaction fi ts well into the company’s goal to double its renewable energy portfolio, he said. “We believe we have a core capability in and around the logistics of collec-tion, hauling and recycling of waste materials,” Cesarek says in explaining what the company brings to the partnership. The industry giant has also recently invested in S4 Energy Solu-tions and its plasma gasifi cation technology that converts MSW into synthetic gas. “Frank-ly, we see S4 as being complementary to Ter-rabon,” Cesarek says. Terrabon represents the company’s fi rst investment in a direct conver-sion from organics to gasoline, he says. Waste Management is also working on a conversion of landfi ll gas to fuels and chemicals.

“The beauty of the partnership is we bring waste on an effi cient basis to the venture, Valero brings the ability to market the product and Terrabon brings the technology to convert the waste to the product,” he says. “It’s a pretty nice opportunity.”

FINANCE

‘The beauty of the partnership is we bring waste on an effi cient basis to the venture, Valero brings the ability to market the product and Terrabon brings the technology to convert the waste to the product. It’s a pretty nice opportunity.’

Tim Cesarek, managing director of organic growth, Waste Management

This schematic illustrates the MixAlco process, followed by conventional petrochemical technology. SOURCE: TERRABON


The Right FitWith so many research and development

companies on the cusp of commercialization, it seems a daunting task just to get noticed. “I think part of it was we were at a lot of techni-cal conferences that they also attended and I think we just found the fi t,” Luce says. “We fi nally built a management team around us.”

Eustermann says some companies at-tract attention through public relations cam-paigns, whereas others just have a solid tech-nology that gains attention on its own. Those proven technologies start to appear more in the mainstream media, where they can ac-quire third-party investors to help advance them, he adds. “There’s a lot of capital out there being deployed in the waste-to-energy space,” he says. “If your idea is good enough, money will fi nd you.”

“A lot of it has to do with networking,” Kment adds. “A lot of it has to do with com-patible technologies.”

The Next StepConstruction on a MixAlco demonstra-

tion plant will begin in 2010 on Valero’s prop-erty in Port Arthur, Texas. It will consume 55 dry tons of waste per day and will be built next to Valero’s existing petroleum refi nery. In addition, the three partners are working to pinpoint other locations that would provide wins for all of them, according to Luce.

Terrabon has two revenue models. One is build-to-operate and the other is to license to developers who pass the review process so they can build and operate their own systems, according to Luce. Terrabon’s target custom-ers are refi ners and chemical producers. “One of the reasons we’re building and operat-ing on the MixAlco is that right now we’re the natural owners because we’ve been with the technology for so long,” he says. “Once the technology gets out into the market and people understand it, we’ll probably step back and do our primary focus, which is to license the technology.” Terrabon is in a position to best demonstrate the technology, he adds, while maintaining quality control and cred-ibility. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve part-nered with Waste Management and Valero: to go out and deploy this technology together

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and then show how it can be successful and then other people can come in behind us,” Luce says.

The same revenue models will be used for AdVE and SoluPro, but commercialization will be slower. An AdVE demonstration plant is being constructed in Laredo, Texas, and ex-pected to be operational in the fi rst quarter of 2010, Luce says. SoluPro doesn’t have a large market and time milestones developed by Tex-as A&M are several years out. “So it’s not at the top of our list right now,” Luce says.

The alignment of the three companies to commercialize Terrabon’s technologies is a natural convergence, Eustermann says, and not at all a surprise. “No one is ever going to say we have too much energy and I think ev-eryone agrees that we have too much waste,” he says. “You can see in this instance, it’s really a nice deal for all of them.” BIO

Lisa Gibson is a Biomass Magazine as-sociate editor. Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 738-4952.


USE


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Clean Sweep Biomass-based absorbent is tough on oil and paint spills but easy on the environment. Nature’s Broom sweeping compound is made with recycled agricultural and forest materials and it’s a USDA BioPreferred product.

By Anna Austin


lthough biomass is typically associated with power, fuel and chemical applications, it also has a natural ability to sop up oil spills on highways, antifreeze on driveways and spilled paint.

Nature’s Broom, a company based in Hollandale, Miss., uses waste agricultural and forestry materials to produce a 97 per-cent biobased liquid spill absorbent that meets the USDA’s BioPre-ferred program product qualifi cations. The company markets the product as an economical and environmental alternative to clay, which is commonly used to clean up liquid spills. One of its most attractive characteristics is that after it’s used it can be swept up and easily disposed of, used as fuel source or left to bioremediate.

Nature Takes its CourseNature’s Broom, a granular substance with a consistency simi-

lar to a fi ne mulch or sawdust, contains a high level of bacteria generating enzymes that break down petroleum hydrocarbons. The bacteria use the starches stored in the wood fi bers as a starter food source, and begin multiplying when moisture content and tempera-ture allow. Enzymes produced by the bacteria break down the pe-troleum hydrocarbons into nontoxic compounds.

Mississippi State University performed a nine-week study to test Nature’s Broom’s ability to stimulate the degradation of pe-troleum products in used motor oil. According to MSU, the total

petroleum hydrocarbon analysis showed that there was a 76 per-cent degradation of the motor oil, and bacteria counts showed an exponential increase in degradation in all samples throughout the test period.

The bioremediation process, which looks as if the spill has basically disintegrated when completed, typically takes about 12 weeks, depending on moisture content and temperature. Nature’s

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Waste agricultural and forestry materials are used as a base to make Nature’s Broom.

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Broom doesn’t need time to absorb because, upon contact, it en-capsulates liquids such as motor oil into tiny balls that can be eas-ily swept away—not just the top layer of the spill as with many absorbent products on the market. Traditional means of cleaning up motor oil spills in a machine shop involve the use of clay-based material such as cat litter, which needs time to fully absorb the liquid.

Through a review of analytical data, the Mississippi Depart-ment of Environmental Quality has determined that Nature’s Broom is suitable for disposal in landfi lls, even when mixed with liquid materials such as motor oil.

Because considerably less of the material is needed to clean up spills as compared with clay, Nature’s Broom Executive Vice President Boyd Eifl ing says even though it costs more than clay, it is still a more cost-effective option for cleaning up spills.

Running the NumbersAs with many products, the cheapest option is often the most

appealing to the consumer. However, if much more of the prod-

uct is needed to achieve the desired result, cheaper isn’t always better. Consumers don’t always take the time to do the math in-volved in determining which option is giving them the best value, so Eifl ing does it for them. “If you’re looking at a two-gallon spill, it takes approximately 33 pounds of clay to [clean that up],” Eifl ing says. “It takes about 6.8 pounds of our product. [Another way to put] it is that a 20-pound bag of Nature’s Broom will do what a 100-pound bag of clay will do. So if a 40-pound bag of clay costs $6 and a 20-pound bag of Nature’s Broom is about $10, that’s a $1.50 savings per spill.”

Disposal costs are also cheaper than for clay, according to Ei-fl ing. “Some customers have to pay special waste disposal fees for used motor oil that can be as high as 17 to 20 cents per pound,” he says. “That factored in, there’s about a 60 percent savings—it adds up considerably, depending on disposal costs. Using clay, you’re looking at throwing away an additional 80 pounds of product. Clay costs less because you get more per bag, but performance-wise, you have to use a lot more.”

In some states, used oil absorbents are considered hazardous waste—and because it takes 26 more pounds of clay to absorb two gallons of oil than Nature’s Broom, 4.85 times more hazardous material drums are required, according to the company, so a gov-ernment or business would pay an additional $770.00 to $1,325.00 in disposal costs when it uses clay as an absorbent.

Nature’s Broom has been tested by USDA using the ASTM method D 6686, which determined the product has 97 percent biobased content.


Current customers of Nature’s Broom, which was recently featured on talk show host Jay Leno’s television show, include automotive repair shops, homeowners, environmental contrac-tors who are called in to respond to spills, the Transportation Security Administration and other government organizations.

BioPreferred Product Designation The environment-friendly qualities of Nature’s Broom

also give it an advantage over clay when it comes to govern-ment purchases.

On Jan. 24, 2007, President George W. Bush signed Exec-utive Order 13423 requiring federal agencies acquiring goods and services to use “sustainable environmental practices, in-cluding acquisition of biobased, environmentally preferable, energy-effi cient, water-effi cient, and recycled-content prod-ucts …”

Nature’s Broom qualifi es for the government’s BioPre-ferred program, which was designed to boost the use of re-newable, environmentally safe biobased products, generate green jobs and open up new markets for farmers, manufactur-ers and vendors. Any executive agency or any independent es-tablishment in the legislative or judicial branch of government is required to participate in the Biopreferred program, which was fi rst introduced in the 2002 Farm Bill and expanded in the 2008 Farm Bill to increase the purchase and use of biobased products.

As defi ned by the Farm Bill, biobased products are those determined by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to be com-mercial or industrial goods, other than food or feed, composed in whole or in signifi cant part of biological products, forestry materials, or renewable domestic agricultural materials, includ-ing plant, animal or marine materials.

Nature’s Broom has been tested by USDA using the ASTM method D 6686, which determined the product has 97 percent biobased content. ASTM method D 6686 is similar to radio-carbon dating, and compares how much of a decaying carbon isotope remains in a sample with how much would be in the same sample if it were made entirely of recently grown ma-

USE

‘A lot of people have looked at many alternatives to clean up chemical spills for a lower cost solution that is more effi cient and environmentally responsible. The biomass industry offers these qualities, and readily, in a lot of products. Building awareness of this and the capabilities that nature has is important.

Boyd Eifl ing, executive vice president, Nature’s Broom

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Nature’s Broom contains a high level of bacteria generating enzymes that break down petroleum hydrocarbons.


terials. That percentage is recognized as the product’s biobased content.

A qualifying biobased product, such as Nature’s Broom, must also undergo a Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability evaluation, where manufacturers are asked to fi ll out a confi dential questionnaire concerning how their products are manufactured. The questionnaire asks for details such as how much energy is used and what kinds of wastes are generated dur-ing production. Once the questionnaire is completed, BEES then calculates the effect the products have on human health and on the environment. The BEES evaluation also includes a life-cycle cost-analysis of products so that manufacturers have an idea of their product’s likely long-term economic performance.

Products that qualify currently may not use a BioPreferred or USDA logo on any product or informational sheet, but the USDA announced it is working on a labeling program that will provide a mechanism for companies to use a BioPreferred label.

Earth-Friendly Energy Option

Beyond the BioPreferred program, Nature’s Broom has even more environmentally sound characteristics. For example, retrieval of the material doesn’t require earth-destructive pro-cesses such as those involved in manufacturing clay, where heavy equipment is used to strip off the top layer of earth to get to the thin seam of clay and kilns use high amounts of fossil fuel to dry it.

Eifl ing says the waste agricultural and forestry materials used as the raw material base to make the absorbent usually arrive in a shredded state, ready for use and don’t require much additional preparation. “Usually, we just blend the product with the binding agents (typically soybean oil) and then package it,” he says.

After use, Nature’s Broom can be used as a biofuel in waste-to-energy applications, in some instances. A chemical analysis performed by MSU concluded that one pound of the product can generate more than 8,600 Btus. Eifl ing said it can be effec-tively used in solid waste boilers, which some customers are do-ing. “As long as it’s a hydrocarbon source, it’s very effi cient,” he says.

“We like cradle-to-cradle approaches to problems,” Eifl ing says. “A lot of people have looked at many alternatives to clean up chemical spills for a lower cost solution that is more effi cient and environmentally responsible, the biomass industry offers these qualities, and readily, in a lot of products. Building aware-ness of this and the capabilities that nature has is important.” BIO

Anna Austin is a Biomass Magazine associate editor. Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 738-4968.

USE


BIOREFINERY

The idea of transforming distressed pulp and paper mills into integrated biorefi neries has evolved. Closed mills are now viewed as ready-made sites for biorefi neries utilizingalternative feedstocks and producing fuels beyond ethanol.

By Anna Austin

A New Page


BIOREFINERY


or the past two years, Biomass Magazine has produced annual features exploring the concept of converting pulp and paper mills

into biorefi neries as one way to ease the in-dustry’s fi nancial turmoil. While they con-tinue to make paper as a primary product, the concept of mills utilizing their waste streams to produce other value-added chemicals and fuels, particularly ethanol, once seemed quite promising.

Initial momentum for the idea has faded, however, since the economic down-turn, and even though some projects are receiving U.S. DOE funding, little progress has been made, and some of those projects have been modifi ed or have even ceased to exist. An explosion of projects to develop stand-alone biomass power plant propos-als across the U.S. has some pulp and paper mills and industry/environmental groups speculating that competition for materials will become stiff, prices will rise and re-source sustainability may be a problem.

Instead of focusing on co-locating biorefi neries at paper mills for added value, many who are still pursuing the concept are emphasizing the benefi ts of the pre-existing infrastructure, convenient location and trained employees of recently decom-missioned mills—which may or may not continue to make paper, but either way serve as a perfect location for fuel, power and chemical production.

A Mill’s Real Value“The biorefi nery co-located at a paper

mill concept assumes there are waste ma-terials from the paper process that are cur-rently unused and suitable for conversion to fuel, chemicals, steam or electric power,” says Kris Plamann, business development manager for Kaukauna, Wis.-based Baisch Engineering, which serves the pulp and pa-per, biofuels and biomass industries. “Un-fortunately, the modern paper mill is quite adept at recycling and waste utilization. Bark and waste wood are burned in the bark boiler to make steam and electricity. Waste paper (referred to by the industry as broke) is reused to make new paper; lignin

and part of the hemi-cellulose is dissolved and burned in the recovery boiler, again making steam and electricity and recov-ering valuable chemi-cals to recycle in the pulping process.”

The capital ex-penditure for a co-located biorefi nery is sometimes dependent on the sale of steam to the biorefi nery, Plamann says. If the pa-per mill shuts down, a signifi cant part of the justifi cation for the biorefi nery is no longer viable and the project fails. That doesn’t mean that the concept of locating a biorefi nery at the site of a paper mills is a fl awed concept, however. “A paper mill site might be just about perfect as the right lo-cation for a biorefi nery—after the mill has shut down,” Plamann points out. “Don’t think co-located biorefi nery; think ready-made biorefi nery site.”

Plamann says the real value of the mill isn’t combining the biorefi nery with the paper mill, or even producing fuel such as ethanol. “The value is in having power, rail, highways, wastewaster treatment, steam, compressed air, space in the wood yard, trained employees, and everything else al-ready there,” she says. “It may well be that the most valuable site is one where the mill has just recently shut down.”

Gary Bosar, Baisch project manager, agrees. “Frankly, this [concept] hasn’t been pushed hard enough,” he says. “The big-gest advantage that mills have is the infra-structure that already exists.”

At the same time, the idea of produc-ing fuel for added value shouldn’t be dis-counted, and some projects have shifted toward fuels other than ethanol, such as green diesel. “Specialty mills often face the problem of reusing colored broke, espe-cially deep colors,” Plamann says. “Broke is 80 percent pure cellulosic material, and when used as an alternate fuel feedstock, it would probably result in nearly 100 percent yields.”

FBIOREFINERY

Kris Plamannbusiness development manager,Baisch Engineering


BIOREFINERY

Everyone is concentrating on wood as the feedstock, because that’s what a mill uses, Plamann says. “However, if we think in terms of cheaper alternatives such as waste paper, paper mill sludge, corn stover, switchgrass and tree trimmings, and use the existing mill facilities to handle them, we could eliminate lots of costs and make them competitive.”

Exploring alternative feedstocks will be essential for some projects to get a green light, especially the ones located in areas where other projects require woody biomass. In some states such as Wiscon-sin—which is the No.1 papermaking state in the U.S.—competition for woody bio-mass may be heating up.

Competitor or Companion? While residents in communities where

a large chunk of the population work at failing mills might view biorefi neries as an economic savior, when built separately, some paper industry groups view them as a nuisance.

Recently, North American paper-maker Domtar Corp. announced it may host We Energies’ $250 million cogenera-

tion biomass power plant at its paper mill in Rothschild, Wis. We Energies estimates the biomass power plant would require approximately 500,000 tons of material per year, consisting of recycled mill waste (bark and sludge residues) from the paper-making process, and waste wood from area forest operations and saw mills.

At the same time, Xcel Energy sub-sidiary Northern States Power Co. has pro-posed to fully convert its Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland, Wis., (see “A Colossal Conversion” in the August issue) from coal to 100 percent biomass. Once the conver-sion is done, the entire plant—including the existing boilers—would require about 450,000 tons of biomass per year. Because the two towns are less than 150 miles apart, the close proximity of the projects has prompted concerns.

The Wisconsin Paper Council is urg-ing the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to disallow the conversion of the Ashland plant because they believe it might negatively impact wood supply, costs, and have resulting impacts on the current and future forest products in the region. The council is also afraid Northern States

Biorefinery Requirements: Space for storage of feedstock Buildings to house biofuel processLarge tanksA number of small- to medium-sized tank, pumps and agitatorsHigh-voltage electric power to siteFresh waterBoilers for signifi cant steam generationSelf-generated electric powerWastewater treatmentAir and water permitsTrained workforceCapable managementOutside service producers

SOURCE: BAISCH ENGINEERING


BIOREFINERY

Power will decide to purchase pulpwood for incineration. In its original application the utility said it would not burn pulpwood, but later revealed it would, if necessary.

If the PSCW does approve the propos-al, the paper council is recommending the power plant only be allowed to utilize cer-tain types of wood specifi ed in the original proposal, join a third-party forest certifi ca-tion program to ensure compliance, and be subject to a rate ceiling on electricity pro-duced from biomass. Wisconsin legislation currently requires that 10 percent of the state’s electricity be generated from renew-able sources by 2015, or enough to supply the needs of 850,000 homes per year.

Biorefi nery Project Update Yet another project in northern Wiscon-

sin, which is nearly completed, is Flambeau River Papers LLC at Park Falls. The Flam-beau River paper mill operated for more than 110 years. In 2006, the owner fi led for bankruptcy leaving 300 people unemployed in a community of fewer than 3,000.

Since then, the new owner William Johnson has reopened the mill with the aid of several state and federal grants and loans, including $30 million from the U.S. DOE

for the construction of a renewable diesel biorefi nery.

Flambeau River Biofuels was originally proposed as a cellulosic ethanol facility co-located with the paper mill, but the project became uneconomical because of rising steel prices, and the properties of the dis-solved pulp that the company planned to use as feedstock were not equal to compa-rable softwood craft pulp.

The facility is now gearing up to turn biomass resources such as forest residuals and agricultural wastes into synthesis gas, and utilize the Fischer-Tropsch process to generate about 6 MMgy of transportation fuel. The company currently has a pilot plant in Durham, N.C.

“The technology belongs to our tech-nology supplier TRI (ThermoChem Recov-ery International Inc.) and is located at the SRI (Southern Research Institute) north of Durham, N.C.,” says Bill Byrne, president of Flambeau River Biofuels. “SRI is operat-ing the pilot plant on our behalf.”

Until recently, Flambeau expected an April groundbreaking. “With some recent pilot plant delays, we now anticipate an Au-gust 2010 ground breaking,” Byrne tells Bio-mass Magazine.

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The gasifi er at Flambeau River Biofuels’ pilot plant in Durham, N.C.


BIOREFINERY

Although the Flambeau River project seems to be heading toward success, some mills have been unable to contend with ris-ing energy and fuel costs.

Red Shield and RSE Pulp & Chemi-cal LLC was also granted $30 million from the DOE to reopen its pulp and paper mill in Old Town, Maine, and construct a 2.2 MMgy cellulosic ethanol facility at the site. Cash ran out too early—the grant funds could not yet be used—and RSE was forced to fi le for bankruptcy. Luckily, the mill gained yet another chance when it was bought by Patriarch Partners LLC, which re-opened and renamed it Old Town Fuel and Fibers. Instead of making ethanol, the plan now is to produce 1.5 MMgy of biobutanol, but production is still a few years away.

Outside of the U.S., Chemrec Inc., a biomass-to-energy company based in Swe-den, is evaluating possible sites in Georgia to develop black liquor gasifi cation biorefi n-eries at pulp and paper mills. The company says its BioDME process completely alters the pulp mill competitive position by add-ing 30 percent to 50 percent to revenue, and is feasible for implementation at mills pro-ducing as little as 500 tons of black liquor solids per day. At capacity, an ideal Chem-

rec biorefi nery would generate 8 MMgy of green fuel.

The technology has been in develop-ment for several years, and the company operates a pilot plant in Pitea, Sweden.

Whether a biorefi nery is located on the site of a former mill, co-located to help with rising fuel and electric costs, or located miles away and considered a competitor, one thing is certain—there is a limited supply of feed-stock. Some ventures will need to look at al-ternatives to woody biomass, and regulators must keep a watchful eye on the concentra-tion of projects within a given area.

With the renewable fuels standard and state renewable electricity mandates, these types of projects will be essential in meeting future renewable energy goals. Until then, the developing biomass industry and the evolving pulp and paper industry will learn from trial and error, and continue to mold the pieces of the puzzle together to one day create an effi cient work of art. BIO

Anna Austin is a Biomass Magazine as-sociate editor. Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 738-4968.

The idea of converting pulp and paper mills into biorefi neries is evolving as the real value of these facilities is being evaluated.

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CONTRIBUTION

ENVIRONMENT By Peter J. Schubert

Removing Crop Residues Without Hurting SoilMost experts agree 30 percent of agricultural residues can be removed without harming the soil. However, the removal of biomass such as corn stover or wheat straw from farm fi elds should be based on soil type, slope and prevailing weather conditions. Farmers can assess this using software tools that factor in these variables, and provide recommendations.

ith today’s tech-nology, at least 30 percent of agri-cultural residues

can be removed for power, fu-els and chemicals to displace fossil fuels, without hurting soil. Above ground, nongrain plant matter can be converted to ener-gy, fuels and fertilizer. Presently, nearly all U.S. consumption of these commodities is derived from fossil fuels, predominantly from foreign sources. Several

important benefi ts are realized when biomass (specifi cally li-gnocellulosic, or nonfood, or-ganic material) is used instead of fossil fuels as a feedstock for the manufacture of these high-volume products:

First, emissions of greenhouse gases and other environmental pollution (e.g., heavy metals, sulfur, etc.) can be greatly reduced.

Second, a greater do-mestic proportion of energy

sources provide enhanced en-ergy security for our country.

Third, a smaller fraction of our national wealth is sent to foreign regimes, many of which are hostile to U.S. interests.

Fourth, with emerg-ing technologies for alternative methods to produce energy, fu-els and chemicals, the econom-ics of farm operations becomes both less expensive and less volatile, thereby reducing price pressures on food.

Agricultural residue, the organic matter left over after grain harvesting, has the po-tential to replace a large frac-tion of our petroleum and coal use, making this a signifi cant national benefi t. However, ag-ricultural residues also serve a useful function in farm soils, so it is important to under-stand the impact of removing some of these residues. This monograph provides a brief introduction to this impact.

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

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For more information, a list of references is included.

Soil: Benefi ts of Organic Matter

Soil (also called earth) is a porous aggregate of minerals and organic matter, including solids, liquids and gases. On farmland, agricultural residues contribute to a soil’s productiv-ity—the ability to grow food. Ag residues, such as corn sto-ver (the stalks, husks, cobs and leaves) or wheat straw, contrib-ute to healthy soil in several ways: residue on top of the soil reduces erosion from raindrop impact and wind shear, affects radiation balance (sunlight in, infrared emissions out) and af-fects moisture evaporation rate; the physical presence within the bulk of the soil affects wa-ter infi ltration and retention, aeration, penetration resistance (to roots and to worms) and tilth (how easily a plow cuts through); and chemicals from the breakdown of organic mat-ter affects acid/base balance (pH level), nutrient availability and cycling, ion exchange ca-pacity, and micronutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.

Agriculture residue is not entirely benign. Too much residue is a detriment to no-till farming in several ways: it is harder to plant through; it insulates the ground, and can delay planting; and the thicker

mat tends to inhibit early plant growth, possibly reducing yields. In conventional farming, when residue is tilled under in the fall, agricultural residue can decompose to form methane, a greenhouse gas 22 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Ag residue has other uses, such as animal bedding or feed extend-er, so there is farm equipment dedicated to collecting, baling and transporting bales of corn stover and wheat straw.

Agricultural Residues Removal

Complete removal of ag-ricultural residues is harmful to soils. No removal also has deleterious effects. Somewhere there is a happy medium be-tween the national imperatives to displace fossil fuels and the farmer’s need to maintain healthy, productive soil. For-tunately, this issue has been studied in depth for at least 30 years. A summary of the fi nd-ings of the nine references at the bottom of this monograph is presented below.

Considering above-ground material, the highest removal rate recommended is 70 per-cent. Many sources cite 50 per-cent, but nearly all agree that 30 percent of agricultural resi-dues can be removed without harm to soil quality. These are general guidelines, but a more accurate and specifi c removal

rate depends on soil type (clay, sand, silt), slope and prevailing weather conditions. An indi-vidual farmer can make a sci-entifi c assessment of a suitable removal rate (determined by settings on harvesting equip-ment) using software tools such as Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation, Version 2, which factor in all these variables, and provide a recommendation.

SummaryAgricultural residues can

be partially removed without hurting soil. Software tools already being used by farmers allow them to make accurate decisions based on their farm soil. This happy circumstance allows the U.S. to meet its na-tional imperatives while in-creasing revenues for the farm-er, without harm to the food supply. BIO

Peter J. Schubert, Ph.D., P.E. is the senior director for space, energy and education research at Packer Engineer-ing Inc., Naperville, Ill. Reach him at [email protected] or (800) 323-0114.

References1. Graham, R.L., et. al.,

“Current and potential U.S. corn stover supplies,” Agron. J., 2007, No. 99:1-11

2. Larsen, et. al., “Ef-fects of tillage and crop resi-due removal on erosion, runoff, and plant nutrients,” J. Soil and Water Conservation, Special Publication No. 25, Soil Con-servation Society of America, Anakeny, Iowa, 1979.

3. McAloon, A., et. al., “Determining the cost of pro-

ducing ethanol from cornstarch and lignocellulosic feedstocks,” Tech Rep. NREL/TP-580-28893, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo., 2000.

4. Nelson, R.G., “Re-source assessment and remov-al analysis for corn stover and wheat straw in the Eastern and Midwestern United States—rainfall and wind-induced soil erosion metholodogy,” Biomass & Energy, 22 (2002) 349-363.

5. Perlack, R.D., et. al., “Biomass as feedstock for a bioenergy and bioproducts in-dustry: the technical feasibility of a billion-ton annual supply,” USDA and DOE, DOE/GO-102995-2135, April 2005.

6. Shinners, K.J., et. al., “Harvest and storage of wet and dry corn stover as a bio-mass feedstock,” American So-ciety of Agricultural Engineers Paper no. 03-6088, Am Soc. Ag. Engrs., St. Joseph, Mich., 2003.

7. Soil Quality Institute, “Interpreting the soil condition-ing index: a tool for measur-ing soil organic matter trends,” Technical note no. 16, April 2003.

8. Sokhansanj, S., et. al., “Development of the Integrat-ed Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics Model (IBSAL),” Oak Ridge National Labora-tory, March 2008, ORNL/TM-2006/57.

9. Wilhelm, W.W., et. al., “Crop and soil productiv-ity response to corn residue removal: a literature review,” Agron. J., Jan.-Feb. 2004, No. 1. 1-17.

ENVIRONMENT By Peter J. Schubert

Considering above-ground material, the highest removal rate recommended is 70 percent. Many sources cite 50 percent, but nearly all agree that 30 percent of agricultural residues can be removed without harm to soil quality.


CONTRIBUTION

INNOVATION By Felipe Tavares and Aldemir Marreiros

Biomass: New Feedstock for the Plastic IndustryImprovements in the technology and economics of green propylene manufacturing have attracted the attention of chemical companies.

everal technology routes are currently available to commercially manufac-ture “green propylene.”

In fact, we’re talking about a puzzle of independent technol-ogy parts, where proven and emerging technologies are adapt-ed to be part of a larger chemi-cal process chain. Figure 1 (page 51) illustrates some of the routes to “green propylene,” which can be divided into two groups: the biochemical platform and the thermochemical platform.

The biochemical platform-

based technologies use biomass-based sugars to ferment into ethanol (and alternatively to bu-tanol), a variety of materials can be used for fermentation, such as corn starch, sugarcane, sugar beet, etc. Selection of the most appropriate raw material often depends on the availability for large-scale production. Corn is the most common raw material in the U.S., however, sugarcane can be more cost-effective than corn in tropical countries such as Brazil, India, China, Thailand and Pakistan. The use of en-

zymes to convert biomass into ethanol is a mature and proven technology. Nonetheless, there is still potential in the use of en-zyme technology to further op-timize and improve the produc-tion of ethanol. On the other hand, fermentation to butanol needs some further development to get to a mature level.

Once alcohols are ob-tained—ethanol and butanol—they must be processed to olefi ns—ethylene and butene respectively—then combined in the metathesis step, where ethyl-ene and butene’s bonds are bro-ken and rearranged into propyl-ene. The metathesis reaction can be represented by:

Ethylene + Butene → 2 Propylene (C2H4) (C4H8) 2 x (C3H6)

Ethanol dehydration, bu-tanol dehydration, ethylene di-merization and metathesis are all commercially available tech-nologies, but are mostly used for applications other than manufac-turing green propylene.

Thermochemical technolo-gies can use heterogeneous ma-terial as feedstock, using heat to convert these carbon-rich materi-als into gas (called syngas) in the gasifi cation step, which is a crucial component of a thermochemi-cal technology platform. Several companies market different bio-mass gasifi cation technologies.

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

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The syngas obtained is then purifi ed so it can be trans-formed into products such as methanol and ethanol, which, in turn, will be further pro-cessed to propylene. The most common technology used to accomplish that last step is the methanol-to-propylene (MTP) technology, which is, along with the syngas-to-alcohol technol-ogy, commercially available. Some companies license the entire thermochemical chain in individual technology parts.

Process EconomicsThe study focused on tech-

nology units combined to pro-duce 440 million pounds a year (200,000 metric tons or 220,000 tons), which is a medium-to-small size propylene facility in the conventional petrochemical industry.

The economics shown in

Table 1 are for two different technology combinations. The study assigned a pre-crisis pro-pylene price of 68 cents per pound ($1,500 per metric ton), with no premium price, bio-mass delivered at $80 per dry metric ton, and ethanol at $525 per metric ton.

Although a 200,000 met-ric-ton-per-year plant might be economically attractive, a crucial issue here is biomass availability near the plant. For smaller plants, profi tability will depend on tax incentives or cus-tomers that are willing to pay a premium price for the green product. Finding this premium

price market can be the most important decision parameter when considering entering this market.

Sensitivity StudiesFigure 2 ( page 52) illustrates

the effect of important factors on the calculated return on in-vestment for both technology combinations.

Operating costs: As can be seen in Figure 2, the impacts of higher operating costs can be devastating to process profi t-ability. This is especially true for biochemical routes with no agri-cultural integration (one that buys ethanol from the market, for ex-

ample) in locations where ethanol can cost more than $525 per met-ric ton (which is already a low-cost ethanol, typical in Brazil).

Thermochemical routes are less affected than biochemical with regard to the raw material costs, once biomass has a lower share in the thermochemical process operating cost, but it also deserves careful attention. Conversely, lower operating costs can boost profi tability and give a competitive edge to a very attrac-tive level, as also shown in Figure 2.

Capital costs: Capital costs also have an important effect on process profi tability. There


Figure 1: Technology Routes to Green Propylene Production

Technology Route Operating Cost Capital investment Return on Investment1

Biochemical-Based 59 cents/pound $300 Millions 9% a yearThermochemical-Based 37 cents/pound $900 Millions 14% a year1Discounted cash fl ow rate of return

Table 1: Biochemical Versus Thermochemical Economics


is usually a technology trade-off between capital and operating costs. However, building facilities in countries where construction costs are lower can save a consid-erable amount of money with no loss of operating performance.

Premium price market: This is another factor that should not be neglected; the extra price that some customers would pay for a green product. In Europe and Japan, this is already happen-ing with some car manufacturers and cosmetic companies look-ing to introduce green propylene into their fi nal products, and they can pay up to 30 percent more for that. Figure 2 shows that a 15 percent increase in the propylene price would make the green pro-pylene business a good one when compared to other industrial businesses.

Technology Developments

Combined thermochemi-cal and biochemical: The focus of such technology development is the more complete use of the biomass to produce propylene: the sugar or starch would be fer-

mented to ethanol and the cellu-losic part (sugarcane bagasse or corn straw and leafs, for example) would be gasifi ed to syngas. Both ethanol and syngas would then be reacted together to produce propanol which, in turn, would be dehydrated to propylene.

Such a technology combina-tion is still under development, but it is promising, since less biomass would be required to

produce the same amount of the green plastic and that means less land, and lower capital and oper-ating costs.

Enzymatic development: Enzymatic methods require the application of sophisticated bio-technology for their develop-ment, but once developed they are relatively easy to produce and use with minimal energy and capital inputs. Some companies

are putting research and devel-opment efforts on enzymes that will be able to convert sugars into propanol directly, in a relatively simple technology that would make the manufacture of green propylene as easy as green ethyl-ene. Once confi rmed and mar-keted, such a process would bring the green propylene manufactur-ing to a new technology level.

Figure 3 shows such devel-opment routes schematically.

Final RemarksProducing green propylene

can be economically attractive today and will certainly be in the near future. It is necessary, however, for someone entering this market to make a careful analysis of its boundary condi-tions, especially for target market, geographic conditions, and tech-nology choices in order to avoid economic losses. BIO

Felipe Tavares is president and CEO of Intratec Solutions LLC, Houston, Texas. Reach him at [email protected] or (713) 821-1745. Aldemir Marreiros is a technical manager at Intratec


1Discounted cash fl ow rate of return

Figure 2: Biochemical versus Thermochemical Financial Impacts

Figure: 3 Development Routes


B P AUPDATE

The biomass industry is buzzing about BCAP—short for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program—a USDA program established as a re-sult of the 2008 Farm Bill. BCAP has the poten-tial to provide signifi cant and timely support for the biomass power industry, but without clear defi nitions and responsible oversight, the ben-efi ts of the program could fall victim to its own popularity.

In a nutshell, BCAP provides a matching payment from the USDA of up to $45 per dry ton of “eligible material” to the producer that delivers that material to a biomass power plant. To implement the program, USDA’s Farm Ser-vice Agency has issued a series of notices out-lining the mechanics of the program, and main-tains a helpful Web site, which can be found at www.USDA.gov.

The fear among many BPA members is that the USDA may be caught off guard in the midst of a “cash grab” by “producers of eligible ma-terial” deemed worthy of assistance. While the USDA’s continued support of clean, renewable biomass power is commendable, there are im-portant questions that the USDA must address before moving ahead.

BCAP has the potential of drawing partici-pants from a wide variety of industries that ex-tend far beyond biomass power. Other industries will likely be chomping at the bit to qualify as a producer of “eligible material” under BCAP.

As it stands, the criteria for allocating BCAP funding among the states, the amount of fuel BCAP is expected to cover, and the number of biomass power-generating facilities that are eli-gible are still unknown. For example, right now the impact of the pulp and paper industry claim-ing matching funds for generation of its own power used only in-house could dilute the fund-ing available by a factor of fi ve to 10 and virtu-ally eliminate signifi cant benefi ts to the biomass

power industry. Pellet producers and others climbing on would only make it worse.

Without clear guidelines as to what constitutes a “producer” that qualifi es for the program, the USDA may be setting itself up for an infl ux of applications. While generally, such enthusiasm would indicate success, the USDA should remain mindful that the unintend-ed consequences of spreading the wealth too thin could undermine the program’s initial goal of spurring investment in biomass power.

It remains to be seen whether the USDA has the fi nancial, and political, commitment to fund at the level envisioned by Congress. If demand for the matching payments greatly outweighs the supply of funds available and the true biomass producers are left out to dry, BCAP’s benefi t to the biomass power industry would be negligible. Instead of a targeted stimulus for biomass pow-er, the USDA would be forced to follow through on payouts to a smattering of industries in re-lated areas—resulting in little, if any, “biomass crop assistance.”

The USDA has issued a proposed rule, and BPA has intervened in that rulemaking. BPA is actively seeking clarifi cation on how biomass plants can benefi t fi nancially from the program, the level of funding available, and the mechanics around payment and documentation.

BPA will be following these developments closely, and continue to advocate for a program that brings tangible value to our members. Stay tuned. BIO

Bob Cleaves is president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association. To learn more about biomass power, please visit www.USABiomass.org.

The Promise of BCAP

Bob Cleavespresident and CEO, Biomass Power Association


EERCUPDATE

Interest in using biomass for power and fuels pro-duction has grown even during this economic down-turn because of its CO2 neutrality. For electricity pro-duction, biomass can be combusted or cocombusted with coal directly in a boiler or it can fi rst be upgraded via gasifi cation into a gaseous fuel and then be used to produce heat and power.

However, the different biomass fuels available are plagued by a large diversity in quality and quantity. One of the challenges for utilizing biomass for heat and power is its handling properties and feeding the fuel into a conversion process, whether it is combus-tion or gasifi cation.

Today there is a pressing need for better biomass-processing methods. Raw biomass has a relatively low-energy density, contains too much moisture, is too hygroscopic, can rot during storage, and is diffi cult to grind into small particles.1 As a result, these main properties need to be improved so that the biomass fuels can become marketable and competitive. To im-prove these properties, numerous pretreatments have been suggested by researchers in previous years, one of which is torrefaction.

Torrefaction includes the thermal treatment of raw biomass materials in the temperature range of 200 to 300 degrees Celsius (392 to 572 degrees Fahrenheit) under an inert atmosphere with the aim of partial de-composition. A charcoal-like fuel is the result.

This alters the chemical and physical structure of the biomass to make it easier to handle with exist-ing fuel-handling equipment. Torrefaction decreases the volume of biomass, increases its energy density, reduces the amount of volatiles, and increases fi xed carbon as well as ash content.

As a result, the grindability of the biomass im-proves signifi cantly, as does the energy value. In the 1980s, Pechiney, a French aluminum company, used torrefi ed wood as a replacement for charcoal to pro-duce metals from metal oxides. Work on related pro-cesses not directed to fuel and chemical products continues, especially in the Netherlands, France and Finland.

Torrefaction achieves an equilibrium moisture content of 3 percent, reduction of mass by 20 per-cent to 30 percent (primarily by release of water, car-

bon oxides and volatiles) while retaining 80 percent to 90 percent of the biomass’s original energy content.1

Torrefaction of biomass pro-vides renewable fuels that are rich in energy, low in moisture con-tent, resistant to moisture and amenable to direct cofi ring with coal at conventional pulverized fuel-fi red power plants.

Of course, there are always challenges, one is the availability of commercial equipment that will reduce the processing time, energy inputs and production costs for producing bulk torrefi ed bio-mass to acceptable levels.

Through the EERC’s Centers for Renewable En-ergy and Biomass Utilization, the torrefaction pre-treatment process for biomass is under development to improve its overall technical and economical vi-ability. Lab-scale proof using a variety of ag residues, such as wheat straw, switchgrass, olive residue, and distiller’s grains from corn ethanol processing, and North Dakota lignite has already been performed us-ing a lab-scale fi xed-bed reactor.

The EERC is working to demonstrate this tech-nology in a larger pilot-scale facility using a propri-etary fl uidized-bed torrefaction reactor technology developed in-house.

One goal of the project will be to signifi cantly increase the percentage of biomass energy above 30 percent in cocombustion applications in conventional pulverized coal-fi red boilers.

In the U.S., the viability of converting low-grade, low-density biomass begins with having a suitable feedstock. Torrefaction may be one answer to ensur-ing such a feedstock. BIO

Bruce Folkedahl is a senior research manager at the EERC. Reach him at [email protected] or (701) 777-5243.

Reference:1Lipinski, E.S.; Acate, J.R.; Reed, T.B. Enhanced Wood Fu-els Via Torrefaction. Prepr. Pap.—Am.Chem.Soc., Div. Fuel Chem. 2002, 47 (1), 408–410.

Torrefaction: Improving the Properties of Biomass Feedstocks

Bruce Folkedahlsenior researchmanager, EERC


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