U.S. biologists are re-engineering a once-prevalent prairie grass as an energy crop to replace gasoline

Farming for fuel

Inside a locked greenhouse, prairie grasses rise as tall as a man, some literally propelled out of their gallon buckets on a snarl of roots.

"I've never seen a plant like this," said John Vogel, a Stanford-trained molecular biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture lab here. "The roots just keep growing and growing and growing."

It's switchgrass, if not exactly the wild, deep carpet of the American Great Plains that farmers plowed under to make way for the corn and wheat belts. What's growing in the USDA greenhouse in Albany is federal scientists' first stab at genetically re-engineering a grass as an energy crop.

It could take eight years or more for these grasses to be perfected and planted commercially. But if they reach that point, they will feed a new bioenergy industry worth billions of dollars, enjoying broad political support among automakers and environmentalists and competing with Big Oil to supply fuel and chemicals.

Years before President Bush made switchgrass the poster plant for weaning Americans off oil imports, scientists dreamed of wringing fuel out of cheap grass and identified switchgrass as ideal.

They saw this clumpy weed with a faint, rusty-orange glow as the nation's biggest feedstock for the industrial energy farm, capable of bolstering rural livelihoods and restoring the grasslands of the American prairie.

Given enough rain and a little fertilizer, a crop of switchgrass can last decades, every year reliably turning out tons and tons of plant mass that can be converted to hundreds of gallons of fuel in a process akin to making moonshine.

With more than a billion tons of plants and wastes from U.S. farms, forests and cities, scientists say the United States could distill at least a third of its transportation fuel at home, year in and year out, at prices below $1 per gallon.

Experts assembled by the U.S. Department of Energy concluded in a report this month that bio-fuels have the "potential to meet most, if not all, transportation fuel needs."

The bio-fuels industry already is soaring. Corn ethanol makers call it a "golden age," with a record 45 new bio-refineries built last year, boosted by 51-cent per gallon tax credits and demand for an oxygen-rich fuel additive to replace MTBE, banned by California and most other states.

But today's bio-fuels are derived from a small part of plants — the oils in seeds and beans for bio-diesel and the starch in corn kernels for ethanol — and they take almost as much fossil-fuel energy to produce as they replace. If all corn grown nationwide were converted to fuel, corn ethanol would supply only 15 percent of U.S. transportation fuel needs.

The answer, scientists say, is a vaster bio-fuels industry that uses whole plants. The catch is that no commercial-scale factory has been built in the United States capable of mining the rich energy locked inside the walls of plant cells.

Plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make long chains of sugars, called cellulose and hemicellulose that are the world's most abundant biological material. Raw feedstock can be found everywhere — in newsprint, in planks of wood, every plant, every fiber of a cotton skirt.

It can be chewed up, broken down and distilled into grain alcohol, dubbed the fuel of the future by Henry Ford, who selected ethanol to power his first Model T.

"The bulk of the (ethanol) capacity in the United States for the next few years is going to come from the starch world," said John Ferrell, head of the Department of Energy's Office of the Biomass Program. "But that's just the beginning of the story. The big story is the cellulosic world."

Kicking what the president calls an "addiction to oil" would mean collecting and processing plant materials and wastes on an unprecedented scale. Distilling it into enough bio-fuel to replacing a third of U.S. gasoline use would require 600 large bio-refineries scattered around the country, each fed by 162 square miles of forests and farm.

The first cellulosic ethanol plants are expected to be costly, about four times as expensive to build as a corn ethanol plant of the same output. Building 600 of them would take an investment estimated at $240 billion in the United States alone.

But if this bio-fuels revolution comes, it will be global and mostly rural. Some of the poorest nations, wrapped in a belt around the tropics, are poised to benefit the most, with fast growing seasons and plants rich in energy.

In the United States, more than 100 million acres of marginal farm and pasturelands could be turned over to switchgrass and other energy crops. That's an area roughly the size of California and more land than is now occupied by corn or soybeans, the nation's largest crops.

Most of the fodder for this new industry already is growing today and discarded or left to rot. The first bio-refineries will use crop leftovers, starting with wheat straw, as the Canadian firm Iogen plans to do in a plant slated for Idaho next year. The greatest mass is in corn stover or the stalks and leaves left after ears are harvested.

Those crop residues are expected to supply almost half of the feedstock for cellulosic ethanol for decades. Much of the remaining feedstocks are wastes from cities, pulp and paper mills, the timber industry and cattle feedlots.

A fourth of the feedstock would come from industrial energy farms, sown with switchgrass in the Midwest, poplar and eucalyptus trees in the Northwest and California's Central Valley, and a towering Chinese grass called Miscanthus gigantus in the Southeast.

The challenge is that the plants' cellulosic energy is encased and interlocked with a poorly understood substance called lignin that makes up about a quarter of the plant by weight and gives it rigidity, as well as resistance to water, rot and disease.

Lignins "are very hard to look at. They look a lot like glass," said Christian Tobias, a USDA research molecular biologist at Albany whose work concentrates on understanding switchgrass and its genetics.

In a bio-refinery, lignin also produces substances that retard the breakdown of celluloses into simpler sugars. Scientists don't know efficient ways to break lignin down, nor do they understand the thousands of genetic instructions for making the cell wall.

Somehow, despite a green revolution that squeezed huge yield gains out of food crops and despite the decoding of the genetic recipe for several plants, science still lacks the details of how plants build themselves.

"We're starting this whole industry that rivals the oil industry on the basis of this material that we know vanishingly little about," said Vogel.

The toughness of plant cell walls makes ethanol made of whole plants about twice as expensive as ethanol made from corn starch — about $2.35 versus $1 to $1.20 per gallon. Cellulosic ethanol remains economic as long as oil prices stay above $40 a barrel. But scientists and engineers are looking for ways to double the efficiency.

"No miracles are required, unlike say fusion where you need breakthroughs," said Chris Somerville, head of the Carnegie Institution Department of Plant Biology at Stanford University and an adviser on bio-fuels to the Energy Department. "Everything is about improving things by a factor of two. And there are many places where we can get two-fold improvements."

Laboratories such as the Energy Department's Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, Calif., are decoding the DNA of plant-devouring fungi from the forest and jungle to find enzymes better able to break biomass down.

For now, a fungus found eating away at soldiers' bandages in World War II called jungle rot supplies the enzymes for making ethanol. Other scientists are tinkering with bacteria and yeast used to ferment the sugars into fuel.

But some of the biggest gains are expected in the plants, either through breeding or the more controversial practice of genetic modification. Most energy crops are nearly wild or, like switchgrass, have been bred for pasture.

"It's nothing like what has been done on a lot of other cultivated crops. In comparison, there's been almost no breeding work done," said Kenneth Vogel, a USDA geneticist and agronomist at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln who has been working with switchgrass as an energy crop since 1990.

Mendel Biotechnology in Hayward, Calif., founded by Somerville and other pioneering plant biologists, is breeding and genetically engineering Miscanthus giganthus for energy use.

As early as 2008, Ceres Inc., a Thousand Oaks, Calif.,-based plant biotechnology firm, plans to market switchgrass bred for high biomass, about twice the tons per acre of corn. The company also is working on transgenic switchgrass.

At the USDA's Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Tobias and Vogel are collecting what they believe will be the world's largest genetic library for switchgrass. They've started subtly inserting changes in the genes to produce thicker cell walls or less lignin or lignin that's easier to break down.

Some changes aren't so subtle.

In one project with Edenspace Systems Corp., a Northern Virginia firm, the USDA scientists are helping to insert a kind of genetic Trojan horse into switchgrass so that the plant grows the enzymes that would take apart its own cellulose when triggered by the heat of a bio-refinery.

Scientists at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., cobbled the Trojan horse together out of genes from a fungus and heat-loving bacteria taken from a Yellowstone National Park hot spring.

If transgenic energy crops are planted, scientist say they will make the plants sterile or use some other method of "gene containment" to prevent contamination of wild switchgrass.

Somerville spends much of his time figuring out how to turn plants into fuel for a growing global population while not adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Unlike row crops like corn and soybeans, the grasses and trees considered ideal as energy crops are perennials. Their roots systems can be huge, with as much growth in switchgrass taking place underground as above. That suggests they can remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere and store it underground but also that they do well at holding soil together.

Some, like switchgrass, draw nutrients back down into the roots at the end of the growing season and don't need much fertilizer. They won't have to be tilled, and if planted in land with enough rain won't require irrigation.

For the farmer, the lower level of effort and input means energy crops like switchgrass and Miscanthus can pay three to five times as much per acre as corn.

"It's fundamentally like growing hay," said Stanford's Somerville. "It's not new technology."

Those factors also mean energy crops could be grown on marginal soils, without crowding out food crops, and grown more sustainably than many food crops, Somerville said.

"We're going to see a lot of change in the next 10 years," he said. Farming for fuel "is going to be quite a different game."

Šogad audzis kurināmās koksnes eksports

Šogad audzis kurināmās koksnes eksports
Rīga, 21.jūl., LETA. Šā gada pirmajos četros mēnešos no Latvijas eksportētas 899 000 tonnu kurināmās koksnes, kas ir par 45,6% vairāk nekā attiecīgajā laika periodā pērn, kad eksportētas 617 500 tonnu koksnes, aģentūru LETA informēja Zemkopības ministrijas Meža departamentā.

Eksportētās kurināmās koksnes vērtība bija 21,3 miljoni latu, kas ir par 7,5% vairāk nekā 2005.gada pirmajos četros mēnešos, kad eksportēta kurināmā koksne 19,8 miljonu latu vērtībā.

Šogad eksportētas 74 200 tonnas malkas, kas ir par 15,9% vairāk nekā pērn, šķeldas eksports pieauga par 70,3% - eksportētas 657 500 tonnas, bet zāģskaidu un citu koksnes atlikumu eksports sarucis par 0,1% - eksportētas 167 300 tonnas produkcijas.

Jau ziņots, ka meža nozare atkopusies no pērnā gada janvāra vētras radītajām sekām koksnes tirgū. Pērn daudzos ārvalstu tirgos, īpaši Skandināvijā, bija produkcijas piesātinājums.

Latvijas Mežizstrādātāju savienības prezidents Andrejs Cunskis aģentūru LETA iepriekš informēja, ka kurināmās koksnes eksporta samazinājums pērn skaidrojams ar strauju pieprasījuma kritumu Skandināvijas valstīs, kas līdz šim bija galvenais noieta tirgus.

LETA jau ziņoja, ka pagājušā gadā no Latvijas eksportētas 2,07 miljoni tonnu kurināmās koksnes, kas ir par 3,5% mazāk nekā gadu iepriekš, kad eksportētas 2,15 miljoni tonnu koksnes.

Eksportētās kurināmās koksnes vērtība bija 61,2 miljoni latu, kas ir par 10,8% vairāk nekā 2004.gadā, kad eksportēta kurināmā koksne 55,16 miljona latu vērtībā.

Three weeks left to apply for an energy crop establishment grant un UK

Three weeks left to apply for an energy crop establishment grant
12/07/2006 09:00:00
Farmers Weekly

Landowners interested in applying for an Energy Crops Scheme establishment grant have until 31 July 2006 to submit their application, according to the Rural Development Service (RDS).

The scheme closes at the end of this year, but with many applications taking up to four months to complete, due to the need for environmental assessments to be carried out, the July deadline has been set, explains the RDS's Trevor Mansfield.

"To receive funding under the current arrangements, landowners need to submit their applications, together with supporting documentation, in time for approval to be granted during the current programme."

Energy crops are likely to feature in the next Rural Development Programme, which runs from 2007 to 2013, but this is still subject to European Commission approval, he says.

Miscanthus and short-rotation coppice are the two main energy crops in the UK, although the miscanthus area is about five to 10 times greater compared with SRC.

"Four of the largest electricity generators in the UK have now indicated their intentions to use large quantities of miscanthus cane," adds Bical's Mike Carver.

"Current orders held by Bical to supply these contracts require over 500,000t of cane per year to be delivered to the power companies."

Under the existing Energy Crops Scheme, a grant of £920/ha is available to help growers fund miscanthus planting and with all the power contracts being index linked, the crop can regularly produce net margins of £130-200/ha, he claims.

Miscanthus is a perennial grass planted from rhizomes in the spring and can be grown on a wide range of soil types, Dr Carver says.

Some weed control will be required in the first and possibly second year, but after that no further inputs are required.

"The rhizomes lie in the soil about four to five inches below the surface with small roots going deeper to seek water and nutrients.

The shallow rooting does not damage drainage systems and if for any reason the crop needs to be removed, it is a simple job using a glyphosate-based product and the field can be returned to arable production within weeks."

Typically, miscanthus is harvested from late March to early May using standard forage harvesting equipment and because it is cut at 15-20% moisture, no drying is required, he says.

Yields of 10-18t/ha are possible and crops should remain productive for 20-30 years.

Growers considering applying for an ECS Establishment Grant are advised to contact their local RDS office as soon as possible.
See www.defra.gov.uk/rds

Energy project passes milestone to keep on burning

Energy project passes milestone to keep on burning

A MAJOR Tees Valley renewable energy project has passed a significant milestone.

A massive boiler furnace has been lifted into place at the £60m Wilton 10 power station construction site at the Wilton International complex, near Redcar, east Cleveland.

Wilton 10 is a wood-burning, or biomass, power station which emits less carbon dioxide than traditional gas or coal-fired stations.
continued...

At a height of 30m and weighing more than 185 tonnes, the operation to lift the boiler unit into a space, with just 12 inches of clearance on either side, took months to plan but just an hour to complete.

Work was carried out by a team from the station's owners, SembCorp Utilities UK, in conjunction with the boiler construction team from Foster Wheeler and its subcontractors.

Tony Lewis, Wilton 10 project director, said: "It was a technically challenging job carried out safely and successfully by a team from several companies working together in partnership."

The project - to build a 30MW power station fuelled by a variety of sources of wood - is beginning to take shape, and is now more than halfway through construction.

It is expected to be operational by next summer.

When operational, Wilton 10 will require about 300,000 tonnes of wood as its fuel every year.

About 40 per cent of this will be recycled wood, with the remaining 60 per cent being sourced in equal proportions from forestry management schemes in the north, sawmills and specially grown energy crops in the form of short rotation coppice grown throughout the region.

Scientists hope plans to pump carbon dioxide into the ground can slow climate damage

Scientists hope plans to pump carbon dioxide into the ground can slow climate damage

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

By Mike Lafferty THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Pop a can of soda and the fizz tells you that you’ve just added a little more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

It’s something humans have been doing at an increasing rate ever since our first major technological advance — learning to start fires.

Carbon-dioxide releases got a bump when we discovered the energy in coal. And they jumped when we discovered oil, refined it into gasoline and began driving around the planet

Add carbon dioxide from poor farming practices and from cutting down huge swaths of forest, and it’s little wonder scientists say that CO2 is at its highest level in more than 600,000 years and global temperatures are on the rise.

As researchers try to figure out what to do, one idea is being tested — putting the carbon back where it came from.

At different sites, plans call to pump CO2 deep into the bedrock where it was once part of the coal and oil, and back into farm soils where it had accumulated for eons before the plow.

"This is something we need to do regardless. We have lost this carbon (to the atmosphere) and we need to put it back," said Rattan Lal, a global-warming researcher at the Ohio State University School of Natural Resources.

"Otherwise the system is not sustainable."

Dire warnings

The system Lal is referring to is Earth’s climate. Every year humans release nearly 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since 1800, levels of the greenhouse gas have increased more than 27 percent.

Current levels are being recorded at 380 parts per million. By 2050, carbon dioxide is expected to register between 450 and 550 ppm.

Global temperatures could increase between 2 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Scientists warn of a scary place called the "tipping point," beyond which the climate might change permanently, turning oceans acidic.

The signs, they say, are ominous. Well before the end of the century, the summer ice cap over the North Pole will be gone. Worldwide, glaciers are melting, the Antarctic ice sheet is breaking up, sea levels are rising, North American summers are hotter and hurricanes are stronger.

"We’re seeing the first wave of climate refugees from Katrina," said Earth Policy Institute President Lester Brown during a recent trip to Columbus.

As sea levels rise, residents of low-lying Pacific islands are being relocated. Eventually, much of Florida could disappear.

Local blame

Although the United States is home to only 4 percent of the Earth’s population, the United States produces 27 percent of its carbon dioxide.

And the U.S. Department of Energy estimates carbon-dioxide emissions from American electricity plants have increased 20 percent since 1993.

Ohio is a major contributor. The state’s 33 coal-fired electricity plants released 138 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2005. In total CO2 releases from all activities, only Texas and California produce more.

But the state is trying to do something about the problem. A high-tech movement is growing to pump the gas deep into bedrock.

Another plan calls for tying up carbon in farm soils and in trees. Together, these methods could remove billions of tons of human-generated carbon dioxide from the air.

The technology already is in place to start.

In the fall, scientists are to begin drilling a hole 7,000 feet deep into the sandstone bedrock beneath a power plant in the Ohio River town of Shadyside in Belmont County.

By early 2008, they hope to pump more than 10,000 tons of CO2 into the ground.

The four-year, $18.1 million project will replace only a tiny fraction of the carbon dioxide generated at FirstEnergy’s Burger plant, but it will be enough for scientists to learn whether the idea can work on a larger scale.

The idea is for layers of shale and salt above the sandstone to keep the carbon dioxide underground.

"Sandstone works really well because the spaces in the rock are interconnected," said Battelle geologist Philip Jagucki.

He said limestone works as well. And the gas can be stored in underground reservoirs of ancient salt water or in abandoned oil reservoirs.

"In those deep formations, the regional flow patterns are so slow," Jagucki said. "Once it’s there, it’s going to stay there."

The technology also is planned for FutureGen, a federally funded experimental, pollution-free plant that Ohio and several other states are hoping to provide land for.

Preliminary studies show the Ohio Valley can handle the challenge.

"Modeling indicates we can inject enormous amounts of CO2," said Jagucki.

First test

The test hole will capture only about 1 percent of the carbon dioxide created at the site.

If it works and power companies begin to bury CO2, consumers could see their electricity rates increase 30 percent to 50 percent, Jagucki said.

The Department of Energy’s "goal is to get it down to 10 percent of the cost of the energy production, hopefully less," he said.

The federal government is paying as much as $14.3 million of the experiment’s price. The state is contributing $750,000, and more than two dozen regional partners, from universities to trade associations, are paying the remainder.

"Burger is an older plant. The challenge is, can you retrofit existing plants to capture and sequester CO2?" said Mark Shanahan, executive director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority.

The test also is important to the state’s coal industry. Shanahan said regulations limiting carbon-dioxide emissions are probably inevitable.

"If Ohio doesn’t help set the pace, we could have the whole acid-rain debate again," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council.

The state, backed by the coal industry, lobbied Congress against acid-rain restrictions, especially putting scrubbers on power-plant stacks to remove sulfur from local coal. The regulations came anyway, and demand for Ohio coal dropped.

"Ohio said there’s no such thing as acid rain and the state’s coal industry continues to pay the price," Shaner said.

Down on the farm

Burying carbon dioxide from power plants is only part of a possible solution. Better farming practices and renewed forests also will be part of a plan to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, Jagucki said.

Smart-farming techniques that tie up carbon are cheap. Sequestering carbon in the soil is a natural process, especially compared with drilling wells and storing CO2 in rocks, said OSU’s Lal.

Healthy topsoil contains decaying, carbon-rich organic matter that provides nutrients to plants. Growing crops, in turn, absorb carbon dioxide from the air through their leaves. The plant separates the carbon from the oxygen, incorporating the carbon in plant tissue and replenishing oxygen in the atmosphere.

Plowing, however, mixes the soil and introduces large amounts of oxygen in the air, which breaks down the organic matter, combining with carbon to create carbon dioxide.

Agriculture scientists have developed a way to farm without plowing. Called no-till, the practice leaves crop residues on the ground and in the ground. Carbon dioxide remains there as well.

No-till works, said Fairfield County farmer Roger Wolfe.

Wolfe has been growing grain this way since the 1970s. He noticed an improvement in the soil after the first couple of years.

"Some of our very best soils have degraded, but the loss has been hidden by the use of fertilizers," Wolfe said.

David Brandt socks away even more carbon by growing a cover crop and by spreading manure on many of his no-till acres near Carroll, Ohio.

"In our operation, no-till takes less labor. We have time to do other things," he said.

And the cover crop saves on rising nitrogen fertilizer costs.

But experts say for no-till to make a difference, millions of farmers would have to adopt its use.

About 5 percent of the world’s cropland is farmed using no-till methods, although the United States lags far behind other nations including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Chile.

If all Ohio farmland was no-till, 39 million tons of carbon dioxide could be removed from the air, according to a recent Ohio Environmental Council report.

Farming no-till worldwide would save about 1 billion tons of carbon annually, about oneseventh of the total carbon emitted from burning fossil fuels, Lal said.

Branching out

Halting tropical-forest clearing and replanting woodlands could offset another billion tons.

Because trees are about 20 percent carbon, forests and the organic matter in a forest floor tie up vast amounts of carbon.

More than 1 trillion tons of carbon are stored in the world’s forests, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. At the same time, forest destruction adds almost 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

Planting more trees, especially in the tropics, and reducing deforestation could make up for about 15 percent of world carbon emissions from fossil fuels over the next 50 years, some experts say.

But other researchers say that’s too much to expect.

A four-year experiment at Duke University suggests that 10 percent is more reasonable, according to William Schlesinger, who led the research.

One reason might be that forests that had suffered loss don’t rebound well and might not store as much carbon, according to Ohio State scientists.

"We’re living with the consequences of bad management practices from a hundred years ago," said OSU biologist Peter Curtis.

No accord

It’s unclear what the United States ultimately will do. Despite some efforts, the country still officially denies there is a problem with carbon dioxide.

The United States has yet to ratify the 1997 Kyoto climate accords that call for sharp reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions.

And any U.S. efforts likely will be dwarfed by rapid economic development and sharply rising energy use in developing nations.

For example, China adds one coal-fired power plant a week to satisfy its growing demand for electricity and will eventually be the world’s leading carbon-dioxide generator.

"China now consumes more basic commodities — grain, meat, coal, steel than the U.S.," said Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute.

"China’s paper consumption has doubled. There go the world’s forests."

With an economy increasing at 8 percent a year, by 2031, Chinese will have incomes allowing them to match the consumption of Americans. India is not far behind. The question is whether the Earth can stand two or even three or more consumptionbased countries. "There is no guarantee we’re going to make it through," Brown said.

Eiropas Komisija pieņem ES rīcības plānu mežsaimniecībā

Eiropas Komisija pieņem ES rīcības plānu mežsaimniecībā

2006.gada 15.jūnijs.

"Informāciju sagatavoja Eiropas Komisijas pārstāvniecības Latvijā Preses un informācijas nodaļa.

Šodien Eiropas Komisija ir apliecinājusi savu apņemšanos stiprināt noturīgu meža apsaimniekošanu, pieņemot ES rīcības plānu mežsaimniecībā. Rīcības plāns balstās uz pagājušā gada ziņojumu par ES mežu stratēģijas īstenošanu un Padomes secinājumiem šai sakarā. Rīcības plānā galvenā uzmanība pievērsta četriem pamatmērķiem: 1) uzlabot ilgtermiņa konkurētspēju; 2) uzlabot un aizsargāt vidi; 3) veicināt dzīves kvalitātes uzlabošanu un 4) veicināt koordināciju un saziņu. Eiropas Komisija ir ierosinājusi astoņpadsmit galvenos pasākumus, kas kopā ar dalībvalstīm ir jāīsteno piecos gados (2007.-2011.).

Paziņojumu iesniedza lauksaimniecības un lauku attīstības komisāre Marianna Fišere Bēla, piedalījās arī uzņēmējdarbības un rūpniecības komisārs Ginters Ferhoigens, vides komisārs Stavros Dimas, enerģētikas komisārs Andris Piebalgs un zinātnes un pētniecības komisārs Janezs Potočniks. Paziņojumam ir pievienots sīki izstrādāts ziņojums par mežu un mežsaimniecības stāvokli Eiropas Savienībā un par to, kā norit ES rīcības plāna mežsaimniecībā sagatavošana.

'Šis rīcības plāns ir paredzēts, lai dotu lielāku ieguldījumu noturīgā mežu apsaimniekošanā. Mēs vēlamies saglabāt un stiprināt Eiropas mežu daudzfunkcionalitāti, atbalstot labāku un stabilāku preču un pakalpojumu nodrošināšanu iedzīvotājiem', teica komisāre Fišere Bēla.

Ņemot vērā Padomes 1998. gada 15. decembra rezolūciju par Eiropas Savienības mežsaimniecības stratēģiju, rīcības plānā paredzēta sistēma ar mežu saistītām darbībām ES mērogā un dalībvalstu līmenī. To var izmantot arī, koordinējot ES pasākumus un dalībvalstu mežsaimniecības politiku. Apzinoties dažādos dabas, sociālos, ekonomikas un kultūras apstākļus un atšķirīgos īpašumtiesību veidus Eiropas Savienībā, rīcības plānā dažādiem mežu veidi"

Atkritumu poligonu ierīkošanas, poligonu un izgāztuvju apsaimniekošanas un slēgšanas kārtība, un prasības poligonu un izgāztuvju rekultivācijai

13.jūnijā, Ministru Kabineta sēdē tika akceptēts Vides ministrija sagatavotais MK noteikumu projekts „Atkritumu poligonu ierīkošanas, poligonu un izgāztuvju apsaimniekošanas un slēgšanas kārtība, un prasības poligonu un izgāztuvju rekultivācijai”.
Vides ministrijas izstrādātais MK noteikumu projekts paredz noteikt augstākas izvirzāmās prasības administratīvo procedūru veikšanai. Tādā veidā tiks nodrošināta efektīvāka valsts iestāžu kontrole un sabiedrības līdzdalība. Līdzīgi tiek precizētas poligonu būvniecībai izvirzāmās prasības, it īpaši attiecībā uz tehniski ekonomisko pamatojumu sagatavošanu un poligonu tehniskajiem parametriem.
Tāpat noteikumu projekts paredz noteikt atkritumu pieņemšanas kritērijus dažāda veida atkritumu pieņemšanai atkritumu poligonos un izgāztuvēs, tajā skaitā nosakot robežvērtības dažādu bīstamu vielu saturam atkritumos, kā arī izmantojamās mērījumu metodes.
MK noteikumu projekts definē, kādā veidā tiks slēgtas sadzīves atkritumu izgāztuves vai poligoni, nosaka kādas prasības ir jāievēro, sagatavojot attiecīgos rekultivācijas projektus.
Ar šī noteikumu projekta stāšanos spēkā par spēku zaudējušiem tiks atzīti MK 2002.gada 3.janvāra noteikumi Nr.15 “ Noteikumi par prasībām atkritumu poligonu ierīkošanai, kā arī atkritumu poligonu un izgāztuvju apsaimniekošanai, slēgšanai un rekultivācijai ”

New York State to Pursue Cellulosic Ethanol and Energy Crops

New York State to Pursue Cellulosic Ethanol and Energy Crops

The governor also announced that the state is supporting the development of dedicated crops for the biomass energy industry. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets awarded grants of $22,385 for Dutchess County Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell University to try growing a 15-acre crop of switchgrass, and $60,000 for the State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry to develop its first commercial willow plantation. The willow plantation will be located near a wood-burning power plant in Lyonsdale, about 40 miles north of Utica, and managed in cooperation with the power plant. Lyonsdale Biomass is a 19-megawatt power plant that also supplies steam to a nearby paper plant, and is partly owned by Catalyst Renewables. The willow plantation could provide fuel for the power plant or for a cellulosic ethanol facility. In addition, the state awarded a grant of $60,000 to Northern Biodiesel in Ontario, about 10 miles east of Rochester, to develop a rapeseed market for the biodiesel industry. See the Department of Agriculture and Markets press release and the Catalyst Renewables Web site .

Bio-energy: dream or nightmare for biodiversity?

08-06-2006

Bio-energy is a term used to describe energy derived from organic materials—living plants and plant components. Crops grown for bio-energy include traditional crops such as wheat and oilseed rape, but also dedicated energy crops, like short-rotation willow-coppice, unusual grasses and forestry products.

The production of bio-energy is gathering more and more attention as a feasible way of reducing dependence on imported oil and gas and is even being hailed as one of the potential key weapons in the battle against global warming.

As the European Commission brings bio-energy into the spotlight with a view to promoting its production in Europe, BirdLife International has been exploring the issue in depth, to discover what growth in the 'new industry' could really mean for the environment and birds.

“If managed sustainably, the use of biomass, biogas and biofuels could help us to cut greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ariel Brunner, Agriculture Policy Officer at BirdLife International, “However, without adequate regulation and a well developed EU policy on the industry, widespread and rapid uptake of growing crops for bio-energy production could have devastating impacts on the environment.”

Is it really green?

“The great appeal of bioenergy is that it is theoretically a renewable source of energy,” explained Brunner, “Crops can be converted to energy either by being processed into liquid fuel for the transport sector (biofuels) or by being burnt in power plants (biomass). With combustion, carbon dioxide (CO2) is released. Because they are derived from biological material, the carbon released on combustion comes from CO2 absorbed by plant material through the process of photosynthesis. Effectively, producing energy from biofuels or biomass could be seen as ‘recycling’ CO2.”

“However, this rosy picture is over-simplistic. Bioenergy production is never a neutral process when it comes to “greenhouse gases”. During production, processing and transportation of the crops there are many other inputs to consider. Fossil fuels are used to power tractors for working the land; fertilizers and pesticides are needed to grow the energy crops, one of the most potent greenhouse gases N2O, is released from fields that are intensively fertilized, and a lot of energy is needed to convert the crop into fuel. In fact, life-cycle analyses of bioenergy production have shown that with poor management methods, production can actually result in a net increase in the emission of greenhouse gases.”

Bioenergy crops could replace natural habitats

It is not only the carbon balance of bioenergy production that concerns BirdLife. With recent changes in European Agricultural policy, many farmers in Europe are turning to growing bioenergy crops to boost incomes and provide some new rural opportunities. All very important positive benefits for rural communities, but this should not be at the expense of habitats within the agricultural landscape which are important for nature.

A recent assessment of the overall status of birds in Europe by BirdLife International indicates that 43% of all bird species are now in trouble, and that the situation has worsened over the past ten years. Farmland birds in the EU-15 have fared particularly badly experiencing a decline of 32% between 1980 and 2002. Many common farmland birds such as Corn Bunting Milaria calandra, Yellowhammer Emberizia citrinella, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica and Tree Sparrow Passer montanus have already gone through a sharp or even catastrophic decline in the EU and this is due largely to the intensification of agriculture.

The current rapid expansion of energy crops in Europe often utilizes set-aside land, which had previously been withdrawn from production under the Common Agricultural Policy. Farmers were paid subsidy to provide set-aside land, and these pockets of natural land are currently vital for the survival of birds and other wildlife. In many areas of intensive agriculture, set-asides comprise virtually the only habitat left for many grassland-dependent species, such as the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax – in France this species is breeding almost exclusively on pockets of habitat provided by set-aside land. Farmers are already allowed to grow energy crops on set-aside land, and if further incentives are given to do this, Europe might lose hundreds of thousands of hectares of key wildlife habitat within a few years.

A serious global issue

Ariel Brunner points out the global implications of increasing use of bio-energy: “The rush to produce bio-energy crops is alarming for biodiversity outside Europe too. Some of the most promising crops for producing biofuels are oil palm and Soy, two rapidly expanding tropical monocultures which are amongst the chief causes of tropical deforestation. A huge surge in demand for biodiesel could drive even further the large scale clearing of forests in key biodiversity hotspots such as Indonesia or the Brazilian Cerrado.”

The Indonesian Government has just announced plans to clear three million hectares of forest to create palm oil plantations dedicated to biodiesel production. Losing such large areas of precious habitat will serve a death sentence to threatened bird species like the Sumatran Ground-cuckoo Carpococcyx viridis and also threatened mammal species such as the Orang-utan Pongo pygmaeus.

The EU sets the precedence for regulation of the industry

Bio-energy has been in the spotlight in the EU for the last few months. The European Commission is keen to promote its production and use. Not only does the Commission want to encourage the uptake of ‘greener energy production’ but also appease European farmers, in particular from the sugar sector; who have been affected by recent reforms of agricultural policies and will experience cuts in subsidies in certain sectors. The Commission published an Action Plan on the promotion of biomass use in energy production in December last year and more recently in February this year, it issued a strategy on the promotion of biofuels.

BirdLife has welcomed the Commission’s approach as a step forward in the fight against climate change, but has expressed serious concerns about the delivery ‘on the ground’. Both initial EU proposals acknowledge the threats posed by the development of the bioenergy industry to biodiversity but fail to outline a clear strategy to address them. BirdLife is asking the European Commission to set clear environmental standards to ensure that bio-energy production really does bring a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions while preventing harmful impacts on biodiversity. BirdLife wants an accreditation system that traces how bioenergy and biofuels have been produced and screens them against environmental standards. This however, is meeting with strong resistance from sections of the farm lobby.

Clairie Papazoglou , BirdLife’s Head of European Division, said: “We are concerned that the new proposals remain too generic to offer real guarantees that wildlife will not be harmed. The EU can ensure it doesn’t go this way by putting in place a strong system of safeguards. These proposals provide a step in the right direction, but only the bare bones of environmental protection are currently there.”

“We want to avoid the dream of ‘green energy’ being transformed into a nightmare for biodiversity.” Ariel Brunner said, “The EU has pledged to ensure that biofuels are sustainably produced and we shall be watching closely whether this declaration is followed by concrete action. Environmental protection must not be lost in the EU’s drive to promote biofuels.”

U.K. seeks to unlock the power of plants

LONDON, England (UPI) -- Viewed by U.S. President Bush as one of the key solutions to the United States` reliance on oil, the power of plants is capturing the imagination of the world`s industrialized nations as the scramble for sustainable sources of energy intensifies.

In Britain, the sight of fields of giant grass swaying in the breeze could soon become commonplace, as the government turns to crops as an energy source that could help tackle the effects of climate change.

Biomass products such as miscanthus -- also known as elephant grass -- and short rotation coppice willow are already helping to fuel power stations and heat public buildings such as schools and hospitals, accounting for around 1 percent of Britain`s electricity and heat generation.

But now ministers are looking to promote the energy possibilities of plants as they seek to increase the proportion of Britain`s supplies derived from renewable sources.

In late April, the government announced a 12-point plan to unlock the potential of biomass -- products from crops, trees and agricultural waste -- which it said was an important element of Britain`s energy future.

Measures included a capital grant scheme for biomass boilers; the establishment of a new Biomass Energy Center to provide expert information and advice, along with further grant support for biomass supply chains and a commitment to consider using biomass heating in government buildings.

'We are aiming for 10 percent of our electricity to come from renewable sources by 2010 and double that by 2020 so biomass will have an increasingly important role to play in the U.K.`s future energy mix,' Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said.

Lord Bach, minister for sustainable farming and food, said: 'There is enormous potential in biomass, to generate renewable energy, to help the environment and to provide another possible market for our farmers.

'We know that biomass is not the answer to every issue facing us but we should be getting much more from this valuable resource.'

A government task force concluded in November that using biomass for heating could reduce Britain`s carbon emissions by almost three million tons every year - a reduction the government says is equivalent to taking 3.25 million cars of the road

In May, fuel company Greenergy announced that it had started taking deliveries of SRC willow wood chips for a 30 megawatt biomass power station in northeast England. The plant, due to come on-line next year, will consume 55,000 wet tons of SRC wood chip annually, as well as 170,000 tons of forestry logs, sawmill chips and recycled timber. It is expected to provide enough power for approximately 30,000 homes.

Greenergy says biomass can not only contribute to tackling the climate change crisis, but could also bolster the struggling agricultural sector. British farmers saw an overall loss of income of 8.9 percent last year, following European Union cuts to agricultural subsidies. In the era of globalization, where domestic farmers increasingly find themselves unable to compete with cheap foreign imports, diversification through energy crops could provide at least part of the answer.

The company estimates that short rotation coppice alone could occupy five to 10 times its current area in Britain -- 3000 to 5000 hectares -- by 2010. Biomass plantations require less maintenance than traditional crops, offering farmers an ideal opportunity to boost their income while still retaining time for other ventures.

Willie McGhee, a biomass trader at Greenergy, said: 'Biomass will become an increasingly important market as demand rises: demand for supply of feedstock to the next generation of biomass power stations; demand for replacement feed stock at coal fired power stations and demand for biomass as a fossil fuel substitute for commercial and domestic heating.

'It is a market that creates new and sustainable opportunities for U.K. farmers and other suppliers of renewable or recycled wood stock whilst providing a U.K. grown alternative to oil, gas and coal.'

Britain is also turning to plants for cleaner transport fuels. Crops such as rapeseed produce oil that can be used to make biodiesel, while wheat can be used to produce bioethanol. While the fuels can be used in pure form in some vehicles, they are generally mixed with petrol or diesel.

From December 2005 to March 2006, Greenergy supplied 4.5 million gallons of bioethanol and biodiesel as part of standard fuel blends, sold predominately through supermarket forecourts or to fleet customers. The company said the emissions savings for the quarter were 41,226 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking more than 50,000 average family cars off the road for three months.

But there is a question mark over whether the public will support the changes in the British landscape resulting from increased cultivation of energy crops. The aversion of rural dwellers to anything that alters the appearance of the countryside is well-known, having proved a major obstacle to the erection of wind farms.

It is primarily in their unusual height that energy crops differ from conventional plantations. Miscanthus, a woody grass originally from Asia with very high growth rates, can grow to about 11.5 feet, while short rotation coppice, densely planted varieties of willow, or, less commonly, poplar, reaches a height of around 13 feet.

Angela Karp, deputy head of the plant and invertebrate ecology division at Rothamsted Research, said large scale land-use change from arable crops and grassland to energy crops would have wide implications on the appearance of the countryside.

But, she argued: 'It is clear that, if we are careful where they are grown, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Would we prefer more nuclear power stations or wind farms on the landscape?'