2007-12-17

Jauna bioetanola rūpnīca ASV ar ražošanas jaudu 47 milj.l gadā

"Colusa Biomass Energy Corporation is located in the heart of the Sacramento Valley's rice producing area, where it finds its initial feedstock. The company will produce ethanol, silica/sodium oxide and lignin from waste rice straw, waste rice hulls and other cellulosics.
The biorefinery will consume approximately 130,000 tons of waste biomass annually, producing 12.5 million gallons (47.3 million liters) of ethanol and 16,800 tons of silica/sodium oxide, commercial carbon dioxide, and a high energy lignin fuel that will be used internally in the plant to reduce the cost of natural gas.
This proprietary design will incorporate the most current developments in systems for the refining of ethanol from agricultural harvest residues such as straw and agricultural wastes. By using harvest waste, nothing is taken from the food supply. When this production model is implemented in the United States, agricultural residues and wastes will be available for refining ethanol to meet the needs of worldwide transportation. - Tom Bowers, Colusa Biomass CEO
BBI International is a company committed to providing the most thorough feasibility studies in the business. Its team of engineers and market specialists has an intimate understanding of bioenergy and agricultural processing research and analysis, through decades of hands on experience. Ethanol and biodiesel projects are at the core of its workload and expertise. BBI International clients include future producers, existing producers, state and federal agencies, and independent research groups.The company has a US patent on a bioconversion technique that can use cellulose to produce ethanol; the starting materials for its process are rice straw and rice hulls, and in the future corn stover and cobs, wheat straw and husks, wood chips from forest slashing, and sawdust from saw mills.
Using 2003 farm data from the US Department of Agriculture and taking into consideration the availability of these cellulose based materials, it has been conservatively estimated that over 1.0 trillion gallons of ethanol could be produced per year from U.S. biomass. This would reduce the importation of the country's oil by an estimated 75%.
Colusa's membrane technology differs from traditional spiral wound membrane systems. A spiral wound membrane, both RO and UF, increases the surface area of the membrane winding a membrane/separator system into the shape of a star. Due to the membrane/separator proximities spiral wound membranes are 'plugged' by particulate matter in the feed liquid.
The Colusa system instead places the membrane directly in contact with the feed liquid and pumping this feed liquid at a high flow rate. This flow rate acts to 'sweep' the membrane and prevents 'plugging'. The niche that Colusa Biomass Energy Corporation's system can fill is its ability to filter thixotropic (viscous) Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids. For example, its ulrafiltration system can take tomato juice (Newtonian liquid) and by removing the water, produce tomato paste (non-Newtonian liquid.)
The ultrafiltration can be cast to do a total rejection of 5,000 to 20,000 molecular weight molecules. Large molecules like lignin, enzymes, bacteria, lactose, colloidal matter, fine suspended particulate matter, and proteins will not pass through the membrane."

Oriģināls

2007-12-13

ASV pieņemts likums par automašīnu energoefektivitātes paaugstināšanu

" The US House of Representatives has voted through a Bill that seeks radical changes in the way energy is utilised. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, for the first time in 32 years, raise the bar for vehicle fuel efficiency in the US to be achieved by 2022 by 40 per cent to 35 miles per gallon (mpg) for both cars and light trucks including sport utility vehicles. The current standard is 27.5 mpg for passenger automobiles and 20.7 mpg for light trucks.
While this is not enough, it is a beginning. The policy is expected to help American consumers save an average of $700 to $1,000 a year. The law also calls for increasing the production of renewable fuels by five times by 2022. It calls for the generation of ethanol to be raised to 36 billion gallons a year and recommends ethanol to be produced from multiple feedstock including agricultural and forest residue apart from corn. The Bill also sets efficiency standards for electric appliances like light bulbs, washing machines etc. It aims to phase out incandescent bulbs gradually.
India must take a cue from this legislation. Oil accounts for a third of India's import bill and this country is one of the 10 largest oil consuming nations in the world. Nearly 70 per cent of our oil is imported, a factor that becomes painful when oil prices are ruling at record highs and are only set to increase. If the supply side presents a grim picture, it should also be remembered that the share of the transport sector in total energy demand is growing all the time. As in other parts of the world, the Indian transport sector accounts for 25 per cent of total commercial energy consumed, a share that could rise to 30 per cent by, say, 2030. Automobile manufacturers have demonstrated that India is a huge market for small cars. Despite passenger car sales rising by 100 per cent in the last five years alone, India does not have any mandatory fuel efficiency norms in place. The automobile boom entails phenomenal increase in petroleum consumption.
With oil prices touching record highs, the framing and enforcement of the norms must be fast-tracked. Fuel-guzzling vehicles must be taxed heavier than others. The money raised must be utilised to fund research in efficient fuel technologies. Implementation of the norms will directly result in reducing our dependence on imports as well as cut down on pollution. The National Integrated Energy Policy estimates that if vehicle efficiency is improved by 50 per cent, the country stands to save 86 million tons of oil worth over $30 billion at current prices by 2031. The introduction of hybrid and flexible fuel models by Indian and multinational vehicle manufacturers must be encouraged."

Oriģināls

Vēl viens rakstiņš par videi nedraudzīgo biodegvielu

"Anne Petermann, Co-Director of the Global Justice Ecology Project, is in Bali for the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She believes that the biofuel boom, even ‘second generation’ fuels, are adding to the pressure on the environment, resulting in further deforestation, increased chemical use and loss of ecosystems - in the name of profit. Petermann explains:
‘Indigenous peoples and non-governmental organizations have come to Bali, Indonesia for the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC hoping to infuse some common sense into an otherwise obscene process that prioritises corporate profit over human rights, forest protection or even meaningful action to halt global warming.
Many of these groups took to the streets on 8 December in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia for the international day of action against climate change. . .They were joined by groups all over the world in demanding that real and immediate action be taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by the scientist-recommended 60-80 per cent that is needed to stop further warming of the planet.
Corporations, on the other hand, are moving ahead with schemes to use rising public concern about global warming as a means to accelerate profit-making. One of the most prominent of these schemes is large-scale production of biofuels. In the past 2 years, a corporate biofuels feeding frenzy has begun.
Food for Fuel
Dramatic rises in the price of important food sources such as corn, however, have raised concerns about the human cost of producing fuel from food. One study revealed that the amount of grain required to fill the tank of a single sport utility vehicle or SUV could feed one person for an entire year. Other studies have exposed the poor energy return of biofuel crops, some of which require more total energy to produce than is derived from the fuel that is created. These serious problems with biofuels have led groups to re-name them ‘agro fuels’ which reflects the corporate emphasis of large-scale monocultures of crops as biofuel feedstocks.
The public backlash against food-based fuel has led to industry and governments focusing more investment into so-called ‘second generation’ agrofuels that are manufactured out of inedible cellulose-based feedstocks such as corn stalks, trees or switchgrass.
Industry argues that because these feedstocks are not edible, their use ends the fears of agrofuels competing with food. However, as the demand for biofuels increases and the price for the feedstocks climbs higher, agribusiness and farmers will shift their agricultural production into those crops with higher profit returns—whether they are crops of switchgrass or eucalyptus. Biofuel crops will continue to compete with food crops for available land. Further concerns have been raised about switchgrass due to its invasive nature—conservationists fear that widespread use of switchgrass will lead to its escape into native ecosystems and the displacement of indigenous plants and wildlife.
Use of corn stalks for ethanol is posed as a win-win. The corn is harvested and the corn stalks used to produce ethanol—no competition for food. These corn crop residues, however, are critical to the soil structure. Stripping every last bit of plant from the land leaves nothing for the soil. This in turn requires more chemical inputs for future crops, with many of the chemical inputs—fertilizers and pesticides—being petroleum-based.
Others are researching production of ethanol from wood, including development of trees specifically genetically engineered to produce agrofuels.
Deforestation contributes roughly 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually and it does not take a genius to understand that manufacturing fuel from wood is not a great strategy if reducing deforestation is one of your goals. Ironically, however, that is exactly what is occurring at the UN climate change convention in Bali. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries, known as REDD, is on the top of the agenda at this year’s Conference of the Parties. At the same time, agrofuels are being heavily promoted there.
Existing agrofuel monoculture plantations of soy and oil palm have already been documented as destroying important forests. Oil palm expansion in Indonesia has already caused massive destruction of the nation’s peat forests—which are critical carbon sinks. The logging and burning of these peat forests has in fact contributed to Indonesia being the world’s third largest emitter of carbon. Brazil was actually experiencing a drop in deforestation before the biofuels boom. But now soy expansion in Brazil, partly for biodiesel, has greatly accelerated deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
The new emphasis on cellulosic ethanol from wood threatens to massively increase the logging of the world’s remaining native forests with tremendous repercussions for forest-dependent peoples and biodiversity.
In the US, the Southeast region of the country has become the world’s leading supplier of pulp for paper, with one in five forested acres converted to loblolly pine plantations. The rising prominence of biofuels, however, has companies looking at these same pine plantations to feed future cellulosic ethanol mills. The US State of Georgia has stated that they want to be the ‘biofuels Saudi Arabia’ using their pine plantations as the feedstock.
The diversion of this timber from paper pulp to biofuels, without an attendant drop in paper consumption, will push demand for paper pulp elsewhere resulting in accelerated conversion of native forests into monoculture tree plantations, as well as increased legal and illegal logging of forests. Once again, indigenous communities find themselves threatened by the extraction of resources for Northern consumption.
Not Natural
Industry’s other scheme for cellulosic ethanol from wood involves genetically engineering trees to make them more easily digested into ethanol. These ‘low lignin’ trees, however, come with a high price. Genetic engineering is a revolutionary technology, and the use of it on a being as complex and long-lived as a tree is a risky endeavor. There is no way to know the long term consequences. The commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) trees into the environment will inevitably result in the escape of GE tree seeds or pollen into native ecosystems up to hundreds of kilometers away. Escaped GE trees can then go on to contaminate more trees and ecosystems in an endless and irreversible cycle. In the case of GE low-lignin trees, known impacts include a reduced ability to sequester carbon in the soils and, when they die, more rapid decomposition and carbon release. Development of huge plantations of GE low-lignin trees, therefore, is clearly not a great strategy for reducing carbon emissions. The impacts on biodiversity or local communities is largely unknown.
Because these trees are low in lignin, which is the structural part of a tree that protects it against disease, insects, and environmental stresses like cold and wind, low-lignin trees may also be engineered for traits such as disease or insect resistance, which greatly magnifies the harmful impacts these trees have on native biodiversity and ecosystems.
To conclude, second-generation agrofuels do not solve the problems posed by current agrofuel technologies. In fact, they continue to compete with food, they accelerate deforestation and displacement of forest-dependent communities, and they threaten to open a Pandora’s Box of potential impacts in the form of genetically engineered trees.
The first and most obvious step in solving the global warming crisis is a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at their source in the industrialized countries of the North. Deforestation and conversion of forests to plantations must be halted, accompanied by a dramatic drop in consumption of wood-based products.
Additionally, the application of appropriate technologies on a small, local, sustainable scale is critical. The solution to global warming will come in thousands of different forms, specific to various cultures and regions. This is the message of the peoples from around the world who came to Bali, Indonesia to fight for action on global warming."

Oriģināls

2007-12-01

Izveidota Indijas un Japānas sadarbības grupa atjaunojamās enerģijas jomā

"India has set up a working group to coordinate activities with Japan in the field of new and renewable energy.
"A working group on new and renewable energy has been established under the India-Japan Energy Dialogue to coordinate cooperation activities in new and renewable energy," Junior Indian Minister for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar told Parliament Tuesday, Kazinform ciets UPI.
He said the first meeting of the working group was held June 28 in New Delhi wherein it was decided that both sides would explore ways to further cooperate in the field of new and renewable energy.
"New and renewable energy has been assuming increasing significance in recent times with the growing concern for the country's energy security and environment. Bulk of the energy needs of the common man comes from renewable energy resources, mainly agro and forest residues as well as animal wastes," he said.
He said more than 4 million family-sized biogas plants, 1.4 million solar photovoltaic systems for lighting and other applications, and solar thermal systems covering 2 million square meters had been added to the electricity grids. Besides, about 11,000 megawatts of power from renewables has been added to the electricity grids, he said.""

Oriģināls

Drusku par bioetanolu no cukurbietēm

"The first bioethanol plant in the UK is run by British Sugar in Wissington, Norfolk and is located alongside the world's largest beet sugar factory. The 70 million litres of bioethanol produced annually are produced from 110,000 tonnes of locally grown sugar beet.

Lord Rooker said:
“Climate change is the biggest challenge facing society today. But it is a challenge we can tackle by using the skills and innovation that are prevalent in the UK – this groundbreaking plant is a good example of this.
“Sustainable biofuels can play an important role in reducing our carbon footprint and I am pleased to see the UK is leading the way in promoting sustainable biofuel production.”
The first bioethanol plant in the UK is run by British Sugar in Wissington, Norfolk and is located alongside the world's largest beet sugar factory. The 70 million litres of bioethanol produced annually are produced from 110,000 tonnes of locally grown sugar beet.
The sugar factory's combined heat and power plant also provides energy for the bioethanol plant ensuring that bioethanol produced delivers 60% lifecycle carbon savings compared with ordinary petrol.
Notes to editors
1. The UK has a legally binding target under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The UK's Climate Change Bill proposes a legally binding requirement to reduce UK carbon dioxide emissions by 26-32% by 2020 and 60% by 2050. The UK is on course to achieve the Kyoto target.
2. Sustainable biofuels can make an important contribution to tackling climate change. At a 5% biofuel penetration, the UK would save around 0.7 – 0.8 million tonnes of carbon per annum, or about 0.4% of the UK’s total emissions. Looking forward, advances in technology could see biofuels achieving higher levels of carbon savings. If the EU targets for 2020 are met, carbon savings could approach 7 or 8% of emissions from road transport.
3. At the global level, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation ( FAO ) have predicted that biofuels may provide 25% of the world’s energy needs over the next 15 to 20 years.
4. The UK has a measured and balanced approach to biofuels and is leading the debate in the EU and internationally on the sustainability issues. Promoting biofuels, ( with appropriate environmental and social safeguards ) as part of a wider package of Government action to tackle climate change is the right way forward.
5. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation ( RTFO ) is due to deliver significant carbon savings by 2010. It includes a sophisticated reporting mechanism on greenhouse gas emissions and environmental and social criteria to encourage transport fuel suppliers to source sustainable, low carbon biofuels. The UK is a world leader in this area.
6. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation ( RTFO ) will be the equivalent of taking close to a million cars off the road, since the average car emits a little less than a tonne of carbon ( 3½ tonnes of CO2 ) per annum.
7. In 2008/9, the total package of support for biofuels under the RTFO will be up to 35 penceper litre ( made up of a duty incentive of 20 pence per litre, and a buy out price of 15 pence per litre for those who do not meet the target ). In 2009/10, the total combination of support will be up to 35 pence per litre. In 2010/11, it will be up to 30 pence per litre.
8. The Energy Crops Scheme 2007-13 will provide support for planting short rotation coppice and miscanthus for heat and power generation. The EU's annual €45/ha Energy Aid payment is available to farmers for energy crops grown on non set-aside land for heat, power and transport biofuels. Farmers can also receive the Single Payment for energy crops on set-aside or where the EU's €45 per hectare energy aid payment is claimed for crops on non set-aside land. Support for Research & Development is looking to double the output of energy crops by developing crops with maximised yield and resistance to fungal diseases and pests.
9. The environmental industries sector is a key growth area. It is already employing more than 400,000 people in 17,000 companies with an annual turnover of more than £20 billion.
10. In the short term and using current technologies, the UK could produce enough biofuels for around 2.5% of our road transport fuel needs without increasing pressures on the environment and also leaving land available for other bioenergy crops uses. In the longer term advances in technology that allow a wider range of feedstocks to be used, so called ‘second generation’ biofuels, should allow much greater biofuels penetration. A study for the Department for Transport estimated that the UK might be theoretically capable of supplying as much as one third of its transport fuel demands by 2050.
11. Analysis by the European Commission indicates that the EU biofuel target of 10% by 2020 is achievable without excessive impacts on food prices. This is partly because there is potential to increase production in response to additional demand. This includes the development of second generation biofuels which can use non-food feedstocks, including waste. The Government will monitor how markets are affected by growing biofuel demand and tailor its policy accordingly."

Oriģināls

Kārklu plantācijas un citas energokultūras pašnodrošinājumam ar enerģiju lauksaimniecībā

"IN this ‘decade of climate change’ food security was back on the agenda and farming’s response to climate change could contribute to energy security too, the NFU East Anglia’s regional conference was told.
Dr Jonathan Scurlock, NFU chief adviser on renewable energy and climate change, said climate change was more of an opportunity than a threat.
“We can deliver some of the solutions to adapting and mitigating climate change and with the $100 barrel of oil on the horizon we can deliver alternatives,” he said.
As individuals, farmers should be looking to invest in winter reservoirs and energy efficiency, such as on-site energy generation. Livestock farmers might also need to look at protecting animals from the extremes of weather, he said.
Perennial energy crops such as short rotation coppice willow could provide solid biomass fuel for power stations, local heat schemes and future transport fuels.
“We need 10 times the current amount of these crops just to get the market going. However, there is less flexibility in marketing – these crops cannot be diverted back to food uses like grain-based feedstocks.”
Farmers also had the opportunity to use small amounts of transport biofuels on their farms, as it was possible to produce 2,500 litres per year without registration or payment of fuel excise duty, which could be enough supply for one small commercial vehicle for a year, he said.
“We believe that we can be better than carbon neutral – we can be carbon negative in the future,” he said. “It is our aspiration that every farmer should have the opportunity to diversify and export energy services.”
Former Agriculture Minister John Gummer said it was important that, with rising prices, the public did not get the impression that farmers were making a fortune.
“We need to make sure that people understand the realities, the costs and inputs, particularly as input prices are up because of the increase in oil prices.
He stressed the importance of being part of the European Union. For agriculture, the EU was ‘utterly crucial’ he said. “It gives us a base of real strength which we will never have in Britain for all sorts of historical reasons.”
With the pressures of climate change and increasing world population the world was changing hugely, he said. “The challenge for farmers is how to meet that change and for politicians it is how we make it possible for farmers to make the changes more effectively.”
NFU director general Richard Macdonald said it was important to have sustainable markets – reasonable prices to be to afford to do what society wanted and make a profit.
“In order to do that we need to minimise regulatory burden.”
He said the ‘silver lining’ to the bluetongue and foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks had been that he and NFU president Peter Kendall had got to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown several times to talk about the importance of food production and food security.
Regional NFU director Pamela Forbes said outside the area people did not perceive East Anglia as being a livestock region but bluetongue had highlighted how many finishers there were there.
On prices, she added: “Rising commodity prices in general are difficult for the livestock sector so we need to put even more pressure on supermarkets to see a lift in their prices.
“If we can just get over the current nasty hurdles currently in our way there is great scope.”"

Oriģināls

Akmeņogļu patēriņa pieaugums visvairāk veicina CO2 emisijas pieaugumu

According to the IPCC Synthesis Report, the most important time-critical action needed to avert climate disasters concerns coal. A surge in global coal use in the last few years has converted a potential slowdown of CO2 emissions into a more rapid increase. A moratorium on coal-fuel electric power generation must begin in the West, which is responsible for three-quarters of climate change (via 75% of the present atmospheric CO2 excess, above the pre-industrial level).

Plašāk

Koksnes gazifikācija Ugandas elektroapdāges attīstībai

"Walking along most streets in Kampala today, one is struck by the invariable whining sounds from small generators in merchandise shops- a reminder of the country's struggling economy and the fact that the energy sector is facing a severe shortage of electricity.
Early in 2006, the government said hydroelectricity production would be reduced in a bid to check the water outflow from Lake Victoria. Thus, from an operating capacity of 380MW, a mere 135 MW output was allowed to be produced.
Thermal generators have been installed to produce an extra 100MW and there are plans to construct more hydropower stations along the Nile apart from the already started Bujagali. The Ministry of Energy is concerned about energy saving techniques, as well as renewable energies. Among the latter is gasification of biomass.
There is urgent need to increase Uganda's electricity supply and more importantly reduce the country's dependence on the presently meager hydro electric power generation and on the expensive fossil fuels which power our thermo-plants.
To generate those 100 MW thermal we burn more than half a million litres of diesel per month.
Is it possible to get electricity by burning other fuels apart from fossil derived ones? Yes! We can burn biomass. A certain tea estate is already getting most of its power from burning eucalyptus wood in Fort Portal. Their system is a gasification one.
If one has well trained technical people and the fuel supply is available, a company could produce its own power without paying electricity bills or buying the now expensive diesel.
In an attempt to provide Uganda with such expertise in the fuel chain and gasification techniques, CREEC (Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation) has developed a programme to work with this pioneer and help other private sector players to join the renewable energy group.
Simply put, gasification is a conversion of solid fuels into a combustible gas. Wood-gas generators, called gasogene, were used to power motor vehicles in Europe during World War II fuel shortages.
Essentially, the process of biomass gasification converts the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin that constitute biomass into a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, water vapour and small amounts of more complex organic species.
The solution for Uganda, in the short term, is the simple gasification process to supply small scale electricity generation based on indigenous fuels. By proper design of the components of the system it should be possible to manufacture all the components of the gasifier in Uganda. Generators to be attached to the gasifier are standard products that are commercially available from many local suppliers.
Uganda has a high potential for energy biomass production, with large amounts of land that could be used to produce sustainable yields with Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) systems on steep slopes, degraded land or agricultural fallows. The SRC systems have dense tree or shrub plantations that are harvested at 1-4 year intervals. You never cut the tree but just trim it. These systems can contribute to soil conservation, biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
Nitrogen-fixing species, such as Acacia ssp or the native Sesbania sesban, enhance soil fertility over the long run and build up organic matter. Agricultural residues can also be an excellent alternative to using woody biomass because they are abundant and renewable and normally available for free. Examples of these are coffee and rice husks, maize cobs, saw dust, etc.
Gasification is worth looking into as an option for rural electrification. Gasifiers can be built in Uganda and the zero or negative value agricultural residues can replace diesel as fuel for those engines."

Oriģināls

2007-11-19

Interesants buklets par multifunkcionālu energokultūru izmantošanu

Citāts no bukleta ievada:
"The present report deals with such so-called multifunctional bioenergy systems. These are bioenergy systems which – through well-chosen localisation, design, management and system integration – offer extra environmental services that, in turn, create added value for the systems. Focusing on the case of multifunctional Salix production in Sweden, research projects funded by the Swedish Energy Agency have been accomplished with the purposes to:
  • Investigate which environmental services could be obtained from multifunctional bioenergy systems.
  • Estimate how much biomass could be produced in multifunctional bioenergy systems in Sweden, based on an inventory of demand for the environmental services that can be provided with such systems.
  • Estimate the economic value of the environmental services that can be offered with multifunctional bioenergy systems, as well as the production costs for biomass from such systems.
  • Identify market- and structure-determining barriers to different multifunctional bioenergy systems, and propose solutions that overcome barriers and strengthen present driving forces for increasing the production of bioenergy."
Buklets

Anglijā sākusi darboties jauna koksnes atlieku TEC ar jaudu 30 MWel.

"The UK's first large power plant to provide a market for lower grade waste wood officially opened yesterday in Middlesbrough, writes Caelia Quinault.
Energy minister Malcolm Wicks unveiled the £60 million Wilton 10 biomass plant on the Wilton International manufacturing site, hailing the facility as a "forerunner" of how the UK should produce energy in the future.
Developed by Sembcorp Utilities UK, the plant will process 300,000 tonnes of wood a year, including 80,000 tonnes of recycled wood and 80,000 tonnes of offcuts from sawmills. It will also process 80,000 tonnes of forestry products per annum such as tree tops and 55,000 tonnes of short rotation coppice willow.
The fuels are mixed together to create hot gases, which are then passed over water to produce steam which turns a turbine to create 30MW of electricity a year for power giant EON.
Opening the facility, Mr Wicks paid tribute to the carbon-neutral energy the plant would create - as the carbon emissions released by the plant would be balanced out by the carbon taken out of the atmosphere by the trees growing.
He said: "Biomass is a critical form of renewable energy and in the UK we want 20% of our electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020."
"This is a win-win situation in all sorts of ways and this is very much a forerunner.... we hope to see many more in the future."
Paul Gavens, executive vice president and managing director of Sembcorp Utilities UK said: "Sembcorp is proud to be at the forefront of this type of biomass power generation and we are committed to creating a greener future for our business."
To feed the Wilton 10 plant with recycled fuel, Sembcorp has a partnership with local firm UK Wood Recycling. The firm accepts all grades of non-hazardous wood such as kitchen units, pallets and doors from which it uses lower grade material to produce fuel.
This is cleaned and blended at UK Wood Recycling's bespoke facility on the Wilton International site which opened earlier this year (see letsrecycle.com story), before being sent to Wilton 10.
The company has already stockpiled 30,000 tonnes of material in anticipation of Wilton 10 opening and has received a lot of enquiries from firms eager to dispose of lower quality wood which currently had no other outlet than landfill.
Energy minister Malcolm Wicks (left) inspects wood fuel ready for the Wilton 10 power plant, with Sembcorp project director Tony Lewis
Energy minister Malcolm Wicks (left) inspects wood fuel ready for the Wilton 10 power plant, with Sembcorp project director Tony Lewis
UK Wood Recycling managing director Geoff Hadfield explained: "We have had a lot of enquiries for lower grade material and it opens up another outlet for it which is more viable than sending it to landfill."
Mr Hadfield added that sending waste wood to biomass would become increasingly important once the landfill tax escalator shot up by £8 a tonne in April 2008. "It is forward thinking," he said.
Barriers
Despite excitement over the new Wilton 10 plant, however, some concern was voiced about current barriers to building biomass plants elsewhere to help tackle the millions 7-8 million tonnes of waste wood sent to landfill in the UK each year.
Toby Beadle, of consultancy Urban Harvest UK, said that the perception of recovered wood as a waste created problems and needed agreement, following the failure of efforts by the Environment Agency to re-define the point at which it wood ceased to be a waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
He said: "We need a government funded project to develop standards and categories for wood to be adopted universally including by the EA and SEPA."
Nick Booth, vice president of Sembcorp Utilities UK, agreed that work was needed to stop recycled wood being classed as a waste as at present all plants which burned it had to be compliant with the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) which sets strict emissions controls.
He explained that the regulations provided a perverse incentive for generating electricity from waste material - no matter how clean the material was.
"Legislation sets targets even higher than coal fired power stations which actually make it tougher to use recycled wood instead of sending it to landfill," he explained.
CHP
Mr Booth added that Sembcorp had not been able to make the Wilton 10 facility a combined heat and power (CHP) plant -which is more energy efficient - because there was currently no financial incentive under the Renewables Obligation for producing renewable heat alongside electricity.
He said: "This plant is power only which is a bit of a travesty because the steam could be used on site."

Oriģināls

2007-11-08

Jauna celulozes tranporta kurināmā ražotne ASV

"Colorado-based Range Fuels plans to finish construction of the plant's first phase by the end of next year, and start producing 20 million gallons of ethanol per year in 2009. Every drop will come from trees, a big deal considering nearly all ethanol produced in the U.S. is now made from corn _ a valuable food source.
"When people think of biofuel and ethanol, they think of corn and Iowa. But we will be changing that," said Gov. Sonny Perdue, declaring he could "feel history in the making."
The Department of Energy chose the Range Fuels plant in Georgia as one of six projects to receive $385 million in federal funding aimed at jump-starting ethanol production from nontraditional, cellulose-based sources like wood chips, switchgrass and citrus peels. The Georgia plant expects to receive $76 million.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told a crowd of local residents gathered beneath a sprawling white tent that the plant, located 150 miles southeast of Atlanta, will launch "a new phase in our effort to make America more energy secure."
Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, the venture capitalist who is backing the Range Fuels plant, went a step further by saying America needs to "declare a war on oil." Cellulose-based ethanol, he said, "is the weapon we need."
"This is nothing less ... than to replace 100 percent of our oil," Khosla said. "It's not about playing around with five or ten percent."
Range Fuels will have plenty of raw material for its new plant nearby. Soperton is a hub of Georgia's timber industry that bills itself as the "Million Pine City" in a state with 24 million acres of forest.
The Soperton plant will use a chemical process that heats timber waste and mill residue and transforms it into a heavy synthesis gas. The gas, known as "syngas," is then refined into a liquid and turned into ethanol and methanol.
Eventually, Range Fuels plans to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol annually at the Soperton plant.
Mitch Mandich, CEO of Range Fuels, said the ethanol produced here will be more environmentally friendly that corn ethanol because it will rely largely on scrap wood leftover from timber harvests that would otherwise be left to burn or rot.
He also said it's more efficient to produce. The Broomfield, Colo., company's process for turning trees into biofuel uses 75 percent less water than it takes to produce corn ethanol, he said, and requires less energy overall.
Generous analysts say making four gallons of ethanol takes the energy equivalent of three gallons of it. Mandich says the Soperton plant will be able to produce 10 gallons of ethanol from wood using the energy equivalent of a single gallon.
"There's always a bit of butterflies when you start a new process, you're on the world stage," Mandich said. "But it gives you a conviction to even work harder, work smarter and succeed at it, because you know you're going to have a positive impact on the world."
The Range Fuels' plant won't be the last biofuel startup in Georgia. State marketers will begin using a new slogan _ "The Bioenergy Corridor" _ to draw alternative energy companies to Georgia, said Nathan McClure, chief forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission.
With timber prices sagging, the state hopes tree farmers can earn additional revenue by selling their otherwise unusable wood waste as fuel to alternative energy plants, McClure said.
"We're trying to establish an additional product out there to add to what landowners can receive," said McClure. "Sixty percent of Georgia's forests are owned by families and individuals, and they have to rely on something else for income."
Alternative fuel boosters have already lured a biodiesel plant to northwest Georgia with tax incentives. More plants in Camilla, Plains and Ellenwood are under construction.
An ethanol plant in Cordele using waste liquids _ from soft drinks to milk _ is expected to be running next month. The plant will also churn out water as a byproduct after extracting sugars and starch."

Oriģināls

2007-11-04

Raksts par to. ka ilgtspējīga transporta biodegvielas politika nevar balstīties uz pārtikas ražošanā izmantojamiem kultūraugiem

"For the U.S. to have a long-term future in ethanol, it can't come from corn, sugar cane or any other food-based crop. Researchers, politicians and farmers are all starting to agree that we either won't grow enough of it or can't afford not to eat it.

While Brazil made its ethanol niche in sugar cane, the next evolutionary step is cellulosic technology — breaking down everything from pulpy cane fiber called bagasse, corn scraps, or almost any nonfood crop into its most basic sugars, and then into fuel.

This will be what makes or breaks ethanol in Louisiana. Drawing on scraps from the state's two largest agricultural sectors, sugar cane and forestry, it could add a new avenue of profit for farmers and mills eager to diversify.

"Whether it's from bagasse or forest residue, I think Louisiana is going to be capable of being more of an aggressive player in biofuels in the future," said Brian Jennings, executive director of the American Coalition for Ethanol. "You could help supply a clean-burning alternative to supplement your oil capabilities."

A race for the recipe

The key to cellulosic taking off in the U.S. is making the process efficient enough to be cheaper than gasoline.

The Department of Energy wants to bring down the overall cost of making cellulosic ethanol to $1.07 a gallon by 2012. That's not even half what it costs now to make, but is less than the current $1.50 cost to make a gallon of corn-based ethanol.

Unlike cane where sugar is ready to go, plant matter is made up of cellulose and hemicellulose, which breaks down into sugars with the help of enzymes.

A handful of companies in the U.S. are racing to engineer an enzyme that eats cellulose and poops alcohol (and carbon dioxide) faster and cheaper than anyone else's.

Forty minutes west of Lafayette in Jennings, a company named Verenium is leading the pack.

Based in Massachusetts, Verenium built a small-scale plant in Jennings in 2006, and began quietly cooking about two tons of local crop waste per day into ethanol. It's one of a few pilot plants in the U.S. acting like chemistry labs for cellulosic ethanol.

In February, Verenium broke ground on a 1.4 million gallon per-year demonstration plant right next to the pilot site. It would be the first cellulosic plant of its size in the U.S., and Verenium officials boast they're at least one year ahead of anyone else in the game.

This new plant should be built in March and start running later next year, but is still just the second of three phases, meant to help Verenium perfect the process on their way to building a commercial-scale plant.

That could make 25 million to 30 million gallons of ethanol per year from biomass as far away as New Iberia, if it were built in Jennings. Sites in Florida and Texas are also being considered for the large, third-phase plant.

"If we built here, this would be the only site with pilot, demonstration and commercial plants all together," said Mark Eichenseer, Verenium's vice president of operations. "It would be a unique place with full teaching potential."

Brazil wants cellulosic

A cellulosic breakthrough is just as important for Brazil's ethanol future as in the U.S., helping limit farming's encroachment on the country's pristine savanna and rainforest lands.

Environmentalists are concerned for both if cane acreage doubles as expected in the next decade. Sugar cane won't move into these areas because the climate's not right, but it could push cattle farmers north into the Amazon.

Researchers are learning how to break Brazil's 128 million tons of cane bagasse per year down into fuel. Sugar mills there, and most in the U.S., burn their bagasse to generate steam and power but do it in an outdated, inefficient way. A lot of the value in that biomass is lost in the process that could be made into more ethanol.

Ivo Fouto's new company, Biocel, is trying to make that process a seamless addition to existing sugar mills.

Biocel's goal is an addition to the mill where bagasse would be diverted, go through a cellulosic breakdown, and the sweet liquid result would circle back to the mill's ethanol refining-end. The same could be done in any Louisiana mill, he said.

"What we want to do is get more value on the same planted area, because more and more the cost of the land is getting higher," Fouto said. "The alternative is going to new frontiers to make new mills and cane, but to do that you need more infrastructure costs. So, the best alternative is to maximize the amount of product you get out of the same planted area."

In some ways bagasse is the fastest track to cellulosic success. It's a feedstock that comes out of the milling process power-washed and clean, requiring a simpler enzyme than corn-field scraps or other dirty crops fresh from the field, which Fouto said may need stronger enzymes and more time to break down.

Cellulosic support needed

Ethanol demand pushed U.S. corn growers to plant more than double the acreage in 2007 of five years ago. But even if the entire corn crop was turned into ethanol it would replace just 12 percent to 15 percent of gasoline consumption, while squeezing the food supply and threatening areas like the Gulf of Mexico, where fertilizer runoff down the Mississippi River is contributing to a dead zone.

The U.S. can sustainably produce 1.3 billion tons per year of cellulosic biomass, using corn and cane leftovers while planting new energy crops like switchgrass on poor soil, according to a 2005 report from the Department of Energy and USDA. It would be enough biomass to replace 30 percent or more of current petroleum needs, and last year the DOE published a "research roadmap" to get it done by 2030.

The new U.S. Energy Bill could give cellulosic technology the government-backing it needs to attract more investment. A Senate bill version would boost the U.S. renewable fuels mandate from 7.5 billion gallons annually by 2012 to 36 billion gallons by 2022 — 21 billion of which would have to be from cellulosic sources.

"In 2005, the Energy Bill sent a necessary signal to the marketplace that we're committed to producing fuel ethanol from corn. This bill would do much the same thing, but for cellulosic," said Matt Hartwig, spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association. "You're providing confidence in the marketplace that a market will be there, giving companies today investing hundreds of millions into this research the firm footing that they need to move forward."

The federal investment is risky but worth the payoff, Hartwig said. The cellulosic process would raise ethanol yields from sugar cane by about one-third an acre, and could do the same for corn, generating more profit for farmers and making ethanol cheaper for consumers.

State in prime position

If an ethanol company focused its cellulosic plant in Louisiana, they'd have access to a buffet of feedstock.

"We can grow a lot," said Mark Zappi, dean of UL's College of Engineering, who heads an alternative energy development program that partners with other universities. "Timber, corn, soy, cane, switchgrass, manure and wastes from it all. Even cracked rice, a secondary product for animal feed, could be used."

Verenium spoke to about 20 Vermilion Parish farmers in late September about growing new crops like "energy" cane in the next two years to provide biomass for the Jennings plant. LSU AgCenter has bred three types of new energy cane that is mostly plant fiber, with just 3 percent sugar inside compared to 20 percent to 30 percent in normal cane.

Verenium wants 1,500 acres of biomass crops planted in 2008 and 15,000 acres in 2009 to support its current demonstration plant, and see if farmers can plant enough to support a larger commercial plant in southwest Louisiana.

Farmers may profit $150 to $200 per acre on an energy crop. The company is considering contracts where they'd even harvest and transport the crop for the farmers.

Those profits are still low, said Howard Cormier, county agent for LSU AgCenter. Energy crops now must compete for farmers' attention with the skyrocketing price of soybeans, in demand for food and biodiesel.

Some farmers can pick up a new crop tomorrow and grow it if the price is right. It's not as easy for Louisiana's sugarcane farmers. Cane's a multiyear commitment, and their harvest equipment doesn't work on just any crop."

Oriģināls

Pārskats par biodegvielu ražošanas perspektīvām saistībā ar klimata izmaiņām

Pats pārskats ir šeit.
Un interesants kritisks raksts par to ir šeit.
Abus vajadzētu uztvert kritiski.

2007-10-22

Ugandā savs šķidrais biokurināmais no lauksaimniecības atliekām saimniecības vajadzībām

"A local investor is planning to set up a plant which will use foodstuff like maize, cassava and sugarcane to manufacture oil and gel for lighting and cooking respectively.
The investor, who currently imports the biofuels (synthetic oil and gel) from their South African-based parent company Liquifier Pty Limited, hopes to set up the plant in east and western Uganda, by the end of June next year.
INVESTOR: Mr Musoke, and below is the mild steel

According to the General Manager of Liquifier Uganda limited, Mr Michael Musoke, the plan is to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere through reduced deforestation and consequent charcoal burning.

"Plans are underway to set up a local manufacturing (biofuel manufacturing) plant in Uganda. It will be the only Gel manufacturing plant in Uganda, the East and Central African region,"Musoke told Sunday Monitor.

"There is a lot of garden surplus in Uganda, which we shall use," Musoke adds, to justify where the feedstock (crops to be used to produce the fuels) will come. He says since their operations will depend mainly on farm produce "we shall also support the farming sector by offering them more seeds to plant, provide farm inputs and provide the necessary advisory services".

Liquifier Uganda limited became operational in Uganda two years ago but its products were only launched last month.
Today, their products with a brand name Liquifier have found their way in most super markets in Kampala.

Among their products are synthetic oil, which burns in specially designed lamps (liquilamp) made of durable, hard plastic, which does not get destroyed when used for lighting.

The Liquilamp, which takes half a litter of synthetic oil, goes for Shs26,000 giving 60 hours of burning or lighting. According to Musoke, the synthetic oil has been mixed with a chemical called citronella, which is a mosquito repellant.

"When you use the liquilamp, you can also be sure you are well protected from mosquitoes and malaria,"he says of the Liquifier product. Other products are gel, which comes with specially designed stoves, made of mild steel.

A litre of gel, which burns in the stove, goes for Shs3,600. A five-litre gel pack goes for 18,000 and according to Musoke, it burns for a period of three to four weeks for light cooking.

A double plate stove goes for Shs55,000 while a single plate stove goes for Shs 42,000.
The gel is packed in consumer friendly quantities ranging from one litre to 200 litre drums, which caters for big institutions like schools, hotels, restaurants, and hospitals.

For hotels that have long been using spirit for warming foodstuffs during the buffet method of serving, Musoke says the gel is a better option as it burns longer.
Musoke describes the products as smokeless, odourless, highly portable, leaves minimal residue after use and produces twice as much energy, compared to gas and paraffin.

"It's also none poisonous and can be used as anti-septic on the skin," he says.
"Research on our products found Liquifier is a better alternative compared to other products (such as gas and paraffin)," he adds.

Biofuels are gaining firm ground in Uganda with many companies and individuals opting to convert arable land to enable production of the feedstock used to manufacture fuel from the crops.

Last year, Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd (Scoul) requested the government to provide 7,100 hectares of land from within Mabira Central Forest Reserve to enable it expand it’s sugar production from the current 50,000 tonnes to 100,000 tones per annum, in line with their plans to increase sugar production and produce power alcohol.

In her cabinet paper which appeared in the New Vison, the Minister of Water and Environment Ms Maria Mutagamba said if Scoul was given part of the forest reserve, it would produce power alcohol, which can be mixed with petrol to the extent of 10-15percent, to diversify energy production.

Mutagamba said Scoul would produce additional 10-12 MW of electricity which can be supplied to UGMA, cable and to the national grid. But Scoul is not the only company intending to produce biofuel.

In an earlier interview, the executive director of Oil Palm Uganda Limited Mr Kodey Rao, said if additional land was given to his company in Bugala Island, Kalangala District, more palms would be planted and also used to manufacture biofuel.

However, biofuel critics warn governments against adapting biofuels at face value, saying converting land for green fuel production will increase food shortage and soar food prices and, above all, threaten fragile ecosystems like wetlands and forests.

According to the website http://www.swissinfo.org, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Jean Ziegler was reportedly demanding an international five-year ban on conversion of land for the production of biofuels,to combat soaring food prices.

According to the website, a study commissioned by the Swiss authorities in May, concluded that biofuels might not be the panacea for the world's fossil-fuel woes. Such fuels, touted as an ecologically friendly source of energy, might be more harmful for the environment than their fossil counterparts, it said.

According to the authors, while it was true that biofuels might emit less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels when consumed, producing them is generally more stressful on the environment.

Growing and processing crops for energy purposes or feedstock can have the heaviest environmental impact, as soil quality can be affected adversely, for example through fertiliser overuse, the swissinfo reported."

Oriģināls

2007-10-14

Vēl viens kritisks raksts par ASV plāniem ražot bioetanolu no kukurūzas un to saistību ar pārtikas trūkumu jaunattīstības valstīs

"While obesity is a major health problem in the United States, and a growing problem in other developed countries, 854 million people throughout the world are hungry, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization. The FAO defines hunger as a person not getting enough food every day to sustain themselves.

Ten million children under the age of 5 die each year from hunger, according to an article in the Lancet, a major medical journal. Three billion people out of the 6 billion in the world face premature death due to lack of nutrition or potable water, according to the FAO; 2.4 billion people have to cook with wood or other biological products and 1.6 billion have no access to electricity.

In the past year, the problem of hunger—especially in the least developed areas of the world like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—has grown sharper because the price of corn has shot up, more than doubling in the past 12 months and the price of wheat has reached a ten-year high. The world has less than 60 days of corn stockpiled, the lowest level in decades, and the stock of wheat is at a 25-year low.

The reason for this increase is the policy recently adopted by the Bush administration to produce a major amount of ethanol from corn. Ethanol can be used as a substitute for fuels produced from petroleum.

In the developed countries, not much corn is consumed directly. Instead, it is used as feed to produce milk and dairy products, eggs, meat (beef, chicken, pork), cereals, peanut butter, soft drinks and snacks.

But in countries like Mexico and South Africa, with a significant level of economic development—certainly not at the level of the U.S. or Western Europe, but nonetheless substantial—corn meal is a staple.

Mexico came close to food rebellions earlier this year, when the price of corn meal rose by 400 percent. Thousands of angry workers came out in the streets all over the country, waving corncobs. These workers were used to spending up to a third of their income on corn meal to make tortillas and were even used to fluctuations in corn prices—but a 400 percent increase was catastrophic.

Mexico is the fourth-largest producer of corn in the world and under NAFTA it can import supposedly cheap corn from the U.S. Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón cobbled together a “voluntary” price control plan, enforced by angry consumers.

Prices of white corn meal in South Africa have risen by 186 percent in the last two years, due to poor harvests throughout much of southern Africa and the demand-driven world price, which has been pushed higher by the demand for ethanol produced by corn in the U.S. The number of people the U.N. calls “food insecure,” particularly in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and southern Mozambique, has gone from 3.1 million in 2006 to 6.1 million this year.
Imperialists use corn as weapon

In an article entitled “Foodstuff as Imperial Weapon: Bio-fuels and Global Hunger,” Cuban President Fidel Castro pointed out, “The sinister idea of turning foodstuffs into fuel was definitely established as the economic strategy of the U.S. foreign policy on Monday, March 26th last.” Fidel Castro quoted an Associated Press dispatch about George Bush’s meeting with car company executives in which the U.S. president called on the industry to modify engines to run on ethanol in order to reduce “reliance on imported oil.”

In this dispatch, Bush said he was going to call on Congress to mandate the production of 35 billion gallons of ethanol by 2017, which Fidel Castro points out is a phenomenal amount that “will happen after a great number of investments, which could only be afforded by the most powerful companies whose operations are based on the consumption of electricity and fuel.”

Bush has claimed that the shift to ethanol might help clean up the environment. Analysts argue, however, that the carbon released into the atmosphere by the energy required to produce this amount of ethanol and the huge amount of fertilizers needed to grow the corn would most likely be higher than the carbon released by using oil.

The costs involved in substituting ethanol for oil will be very high, but there also might be vast profits, something that drives capitalists ever onward. Politically, the U.S. ruling class would very much like to reduce its and the world’s dependence on oil from countries like Venezuela and Iran.

Brazil is one of the world’s major producers of ethanol. It uses the waste from sugar production, a substance called bagasse, to create ethanol. About 30 percent of the automotive fuel in Brazil is ethanol. Brazil’s ethanol producers just announced that they intend to invest $9 billion to increase production. Environmental activists in Brazil point out that this investment will require clearing a major amount of Brazil’s Amazon rain forest.

A number of African countries—including Benin, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal, led by Ghana—have been testing producing biofuel from jatropha, a weed that is widely used to protect fields from livestock, which don’t like its taste or feel. The seeds of jatropha contain oil, which has been used for a long time to produce soap. But researchers have found that it is much cheaper to produce biodiesel from jatropha than from corn or soy beans. And burning jatropha-derived biodiesel produces one-fifth the carbon of burning petroleum-derived diesel. The residue left after oil production can even be used as fertilizer and to produce soap.

Since it is a perennial weed, jatropha grows well in very poor, arid conditions without fertilizer or irrigation. Its roots, lying close to the surface, stabilize the soil and for this reason it currently is planted on earthen dams and dikes.

Mali, an extremely poor, landlocked African country, hopes to eventually power all of the country’s 12,000 villages with affordable, renewable energy sources derived from jatropha, which is widely used as a hedge by Malian farmers. Aboubacar Samake, head of the jatropha program at the government-funded National Centre for Solar and Renewable Energy, told Reuters, “As things stand, a snake can bite someone in a village and they have to go to [the capital] Bamako to get a vaccine.” With power, local clinics can keep vaccines refrigerated.

India gave the Economic Community of Western African States $250 million to investigate exporting biodiesel. Mali, however, is not going to start producing jatropha for export until it has met the needs of its own people for energy.

“They came to explain the project to us and said that if we grow jatropha it can produce oil to make the machine work,” Daouda Doumbia, an elder in the Malian village of Simiji told Reuters. Simiji was recently outfitted with a biodiesel generator. “I grow groundnuts, and this activity can go alongside it as a partner crop,” he explained.

Ghana, which is trying to develop jatropha cultivation, has found that producing the oil is profitable for local farmers if they can get it to market.

The real problem Africa and technologically underdeveloped regions of the world have is poverty. They don’t have the money to develop, feed and educate and care for their populations. And the whole thrust of the energy policies of the U.S. and Western Europe is to force the countries which they have kept impoverished to solve the world’s economic and ecological problems, to the detriment of the oppressed."

Oriģināls

2007-10-07

Bioenerģija un granulu ražošana Kanādā

"Sometime down the road, possibly even in the near future, certain buildings in the downtown core of Prince George could be drawing heat from a communal system that relies on wood waste to heat a water loop. The loop would run through businesses and municipal facilities heated by hot water, such as the library and the soon-to-be-opened RCMP facility at the corner of Seventh and Quebec.
"Using community energy would likely be a more efficient way of providing heat for the downtown core buildings than using geothermal," civic facilities manager Greg Anderson said.
It also has the potential to improve air quality because a single boiler would be required for ignitions control. The downside is the cost of installing such a system - $8 million, to be exact - which is subject to a government grant program.
"If there's enough there to make the project a go, we could start construction as early as next year," utilities division manager Marco Fornari said.
"Once we put community energy through, any building that has hot water heating could then be run off the biomass," Anderson added. "Because you're using local wood waste to operate the facility, you've now taken yourself out of the equation of fluctuating energy prices for fossil fuel."
In terms of energy production, linking the words 'wood' and 'waste' is something akin to blasphemy because wood, mill residues and standing dead timber are some of the most common sources of biomass energy.
"We never use the word 'waste,'" said John Swaan, executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada. "We have wood residues, whether it's sawmill residues or roadside debris, or whole log standing dead. We've got municipal waste in whatever form, gas and solid. Effluent has a lot of gas for us to utilize if we wanted to.
"We've got the opportunity to launch a bioenergy economy because of the resource that we do have. It's more than just energy systems, it's a complete system. In Europe, for example, you see what they call CHP, which is combined heat and power, and that's effective, efficient use of using energy if you will, no matter what it is. But particularly bioenergy, or biomass, because you're not only generating one form of energy, you've got others coming out that you utilize for electricity, or heating homes. In this case, you're generating hot water so you can distribute that as a heating medium to heat more than just a facility, now you can heat all buildings and offices."
Swaan said Europeans are utilizing biomass because it's the "most sustainable green energy source" we have. The trouble in North America, he feels, is that people have not bought into the concept that biomass is carbon neutral.
"That's our biggest problem, Swaan said. "When we're utilizing it, we're burning it so we are generating CO2 (carbon dioxide). Some people have a difficult time wrapping their head around the carbon neutrality of that."
As mentioned, money is another problem of converting biomass into energy. But Swaan has a solution called a "carrot and stick approach" which would tax the offenders, namely gas, oil and coal.
"Anything that comes from beneath the ground needs to be taxed, and anything you utilize from above the ground needs to be rewarded. Period. That's one of the major issues that we need to get the economics in line."
Wood residue is the most abundant source of biomass, which is defined as organic material derived from plants. It represents the largest opportunity for electricity generation in the province, according to B.C. Hydro, which is planning a call for power in 2008 to utilize beetle kill wood and other wood fibre fuel sources.
"There's promise with added potential revenue from the dead and dying component. You could take stands that are uneconomic and make them economic once again," said Doug Routledge, vice-president of northern operations at the Council of Forest Industries.
"The pulp and paper industry, quite frankly, has been in the power and heat generation business since their inception in the '60s. They're really bioenergy plants as well as pulp and paper plants, and the reason is because huge amounts of heat and power are required to make pulp and paper, and the more they can generate themselves, the more they can reduce their need to buy it off the grid, for example, and buy natural gas."
Increasingly, he added, mills such as the Canfor-owned P.G. pulp mill have been putting into place their own co-generation facilities, which burn wood waste to heat oil which in turn heats the kilns.
"That's kind of the next generation of bioenergy, still within the forest industry, all built on residues," said Routledge, adding most residues are "fully committed to offset natural gas consumption." Meaning beehive burners are disappearing, although some still exist at operations such as Dunkley Lumber.
But again, using mill residues to power a co-gen plant is a costly proposition.
"The biggest challenge to producing power and heat from biomass is that because this province has relatively inexpensive power from hydro generation from big mega projects, the price that consumers in B.C. pay for power is relatively quite low," Routledge said. "To try and transport biomass into a plant and then generate heat and power, the biggest barrier is the transportation cost."
Roadside residues might offer a more attractive source of biomass energy, since tree tops, limbs and rotten logs are not being utilized.
"That stuff, which annually we have to burn off over the winter to keep the fire hazard down for future years, is going up in smoke right now and could represent the next available fibre supply for the bioenergy industry," said Routledge, who notes increasing power prices may soon be able to cover transportation costs of roadside fibre.
Standing dead timber in mountain pine beetle areas is another potential biomass source, although harvesting and reforestation costs make this option less viable.
"(But) Because these plants are being built with 20-year lives, it could eventually be that the price of power gets to a place that can support harvesting those standing dead trees," Routledge said.
Which means forest companies could become energy producers, either by themselves or in conjunction with an existing energy company.
"Existing industry could act as a conduit," Routledge said. "It's just a matter of leveraging the fact that the most cost-effective way of getting that roadside and standing fibre out is to enter these business relationships. We see a role here emerging very quickly for these business-to-business relationships to develop."
"Waste wood" is being used to produce flake board and pellets, the latter of which have become a key product of this region's forest sector. Eraser-size wood pellets are made from sawdust, shavings and wood fines left over after a tree has been processed. Pellets are used mostly to produce energy, but have other applications such as livestock bedding.
The majority of the 1.6 million tons of pellets expected to be produced in Canada this year will come from B.C.
"We're the largest exporter to Europe. We took the product to them 10 years ago. I was the one that was responsible for the very first shipment," said Swaan, who in 1994 founded Pellet Flame, a Prince George company which amalgamated with the Vancouver-based Pacific Bioenergy Corp. Since that time, pellets have gone from being a niche product to a "globally-traded commodity.
"Now there's companies all over North America," Swaan said.
There are several pellet plants in northern B.C., including Pacific Bioenergy, Pinnacle Pellet and Run of the River Power Inc. The latter, which recently purchased Western Biomass Power Corp., plans to build a series of wood-fired plants utilizing beetle-killed trees and logging/mill wastes.
"They're taking a very different approach to things," Routledge said. "They're potentially one of this new generation of stand-alone power plants that would enter into business relationships with companies for fibre."
Alterna Energy is a two-year-old Prince George company which is close to finishing construction of a research plant, also known as an enviro carbonizer, through which tests will be conducted with materials such as wood, rubber and plastics that will provide data on emissions and energy output.
"We will one day be selling power to B.C. Hydro but not necessarily with our research plant," Alterna president Leonard Legault said. "We are considering projects in B.C. and elsewhere."
Clearly, the biomass supply - and demand - is alive and well in this province. As Swaan says, "It's growing at us all the time."
But is this enough to make a community energy system in Prince George become a reality?
Routledge thinks so, but only if existing underground infrastructure can be used in conjunction with a pulp mill, as is the case in communities such as Golden and Revelstoke.
"It's going to be a bit of a hurdle for us to do the retrofitting," he said.
"If somebody has an industrial process that has waste heat, and they're located close to our potential sources, we would look at entering into some agreement to purchase that heat, rather than do a biomass plant ourselves," Fornari added. "It makes sense long-term. It provides stable energy sources, rather than the volatile gas and oil markets. They're not manufacturing more oil, as far as I know. They're just pulling it out of the ground. Eventually it's going to run out."
A community heating system has been in place in Revelstoke in southeast B.C. since 2005, when a multi-million dollar project was commissioned. Town leaders had originally hoped for a full-blown co-gen plant using wood waste from mills, but electricity rates did not warrant the scale of the project, which would have produced about 4.5 megawatts (MW) of power.
"What we do now is it's a heat-only project where we only burn about 10 per cent of the waste, and we generate steam," said Geoff Battersby, the town's former mayor who is a director of the Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation. "Downie Street Sawmills is the big sawmill in town. They signed a 20-year agreement to provide us with fuel for the plant, free. And they also provided a site for the plant, free, within the boundaries of their operations. And they signed an agreement to purchase steam energy for the dry kilns for 20 years as well. It's a 1.5 MW biomass boiler. About half the energy goes to produce steam for their dry kilns, and the rest is used to provide hot water to be pumped around the community to various large buildings."
These include the ice arena, high school, community centre, aquatic centre, a motel, and a bed and breakfast. The corporation hopes to hook up a few more buildings in the future.
The project required 1.6 kilometres of underground piping from the mill to the buildings. The pipe cost about $750 a metre, the price of which has since jumped substantially. The total project cost about $6 million, which they hope to pay off in about 20 years.
"It's a great system but it's certainly capital intensive on the front end," Battersby said. "Our pledge to the citizens when we did this project was that we would not incur any liability for the taxpayers, and not use the city's borrowing power, but use the project alone as a stand-alone thing."
The environmentally-friendly system runs on heat exchangers, which take up less space than boilers.
"But more importantly, the 20-year contract gives them certainty of what their prices are going to be, with the only escalation being annual CPI (Consumer Price Index), nothing tied to fossil fuel prices," Battersby said."

Oriģināls

ASV mežrūpniecībi nepieciešami jauni produkti ar augstu pievienoto vērtību - nedaudz par bioenerģiju

"Paper, board and sawmills are struggling amid a slowdown in U.S. housing construction and excess capacity in the global papermaking industry.
Here’s some of the regional evidence:
  • In late August, Louisiana-Pacific curtailed production again at its oriented strand board (OSB) plant in Hayward, this time through October. The company said it also was indefinitely suspending OSB production at its Silsbee, TX mill. The Hayward mill was idled last November to reduce an inventory backlog.
  • Ainsworth Engineered has resumed some OSB production in Cook, but its Grand Rapids mill has been idled “temporarily” for a year. In mid-2006, Ainsworth permanently shut down half of the capacity at its OSB mill in Bemidji.
  • Symptomatic of a painful restructuring underway in the paper industry, a bankrupt mill in Park Falls reopened in mid-2006 under new ownership as Flambeau River Papers. Two other paper mills — Boise Cascade in International Falls and Stora Enso in Duluth — are operating amid ownership changes.
  • Meanwhile, Finnish owner UPM-Kymmene is sitting on permits it secured nearly two years ago for an additional paper machine at its UPM-Blandin Paper mill in Grand Rapids. The company has made no public statements for many months about the status of the “Blandin Thunderhawk” project.
Paper and board mills use energy-intensive manufacturing processes, and rising fuel costs are contributing to the financial stress. When the previous owner of the Park Falls mill closed its doors in early 2006, for example, natural gas and electric costs had caught up with labor as the No. 2 expense, trailing only wood procurement costs.
But rising oil prices, concerns about future supplies, and the role of fossil fuel emissions in climate change are adding up to the forest industry’s best untapped opportunity: producing fuels and industrial feedstocks from waste wood, or woody biomass. That conclusion is reinforced in a recent assessment by Shri Ramaswamy, PhD, chairman of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering in St. Paul and nonprofit Dovetail Partners in Minneapolis.
Their report was commissioned by the Blandin Foundation and Iron Range Resources, which jointly released it during a Sept. 21-22 conference they co-sponsored in Grand Rapids, “Seizing Opportunity: Forestry and the BioEconomy.”
Following ag’s footsteps
The potential payoff for the forestry industry is best represented by a U.S. agriculture sector that’s already producing biofuels from corn (ethanol) and soybeans (biodiesel). Minnesota’s ag sector is the nation’s No. 4 producer of ethanol, No. 8 in biodiesel. Wisconsin didn’t open its first biofuels plant until 2004, but is quickly catching up with about half the production capacity of Minnesota.
Record oil prices has spurred demand for these renewable fuels, pulling up corn and soybean prices to near-record levels.
Meanwhile, a vast array of industrial chemicals and feedstocks is derived from oil and natural gas, ranging from plastics and butyl rubber to synthetic fibers, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals.
A common theme resonated through the conference: To pursue these potential markets, a search for proven technologies to produce both industrial feedstocks and liquid fuels from forest biomass needs to kick into high gear.
“Biofuels are the hottest thing in business development today,” said conference keynoter and biofuels expert Robert Elde, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences. He told the audience bioscience is at a time of convergence, where wood fiber has great value as a genetic building block for new product development.
Industry, government and academic researchers need to align in multi-state Midwest partnerships to compete in the developing bioeconomy, he said. “We have to be more aggressive than we have been to date to be the pacemaker.”
A global survey
Elde said electric utilities and the U.S. forest industry need look no further for bio-fuels development potential than northern Europe and South America.
  • Brazil is the world leader, producing nearly all of its transportation fuels from renewable sources, principally sugar cane.
  • Stockholm’s public bus system operates on ethanol, and Sweden is meeting 20 percent of its overall energy needs from renewable sources.
  • Finland, also has met the 20 percent threshold and plans to be completely oil independent by 2025, a strategy relying heavily upon forest biomass product development. The chief executive at Finland-based UPM Kymmene, owner of the Grand Rapids mill, has stated the company intends to become a major producer of biodiesel from woody biomass.
While the U.S. ag sector is a frontline player on the renewable liquid fuels front, the forestry industry and the rest of the nation is barely in the game.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty acknowledged as much during the second day of the Grand Rapids conference. “This country has been asleep at the switch,” he said. “We’re one significant event away in Saudi Arabia from $100 per barrel oil . . . that’s $4 a gallon and it’s going to get worse. It’s not a choice to stay the same,” he said.
The Ramaswamy / Dovetail Partners study concludes the region’s paper mills are best-positioned in the wood industry for profitable biofuel and biochemical development in conjunction with their pulp and paper operations. Most already produce part of their process steam electricity and by burning their wood waste, and available technology can convert the “black liquor” byproduct of the paper pulping process into fuels. Some even have formal partnerships with their electric utilities to manage their “biomass” energy operations. One of those utilities, Minnesota Power, also is weighing a major biomass energy addition to its Laskin generating plant in Hoyt Lakes.
For financially-strapped loggers, a stable market for the waste wood they currently leave on the forest floor would add to their cash flow. It also would produce a better managed and more sustainable resource, said John “Jack” Rajala, of Deer-River based Rajala Cos., patriarch of one of the region’s best-known forestry families and an ardent advocate of sustainable management practices.
“Minnesota is backward with respect to full utilization of wood,” he said in an interview between sessions. “(Loggers and sawmill operators) are waiting for a better market for residue. For good forestry you have to get the residue out of the way.”
Flambeau River leads the way
Leading the way in this region on several of these fronts is Flambeau River Papers.
Its majority owner is William “Butch” Johnson, chief executive of Hayward-based Johnson Timber. The company operates three chipping mills and provided wood procurement services to the Park Falls mill before its bankruptcy, drawing from a logger network within a 150-mile radius. Johnson was a major creditor in the bankruptcy, and acquired the mill with silent minority investors.
They reopened the mill in July 2006 with a business plan to become energy independent and operate as a “biorefinery,” producing cellulosic ethanol, other biofuels and biochemicals from wood waste. The company’s $80 million grant request to the U.S. Department of Energy to help finance its $215 million plan was narrowly rejected this spring.
It’s since downsized that initiative with a planned $84 million, smaller scale demonstration plant. On Aug. 14 it submitted a new $30 million application to the federal agency for a new round of renewable energy grants to be awarded in early 2008, said William “Bill” Johnson, Flambeau River’s president.
The project essentially would add a “gasifier” to the mill’s No. 6 boiler — presently fired by wood waste, natural gas and coal — and build a gas-to-liquids plant on the backside of the gasifier, he said. Tail gases from the gasifier would be diverted to the paper mill, replacing the natural gas and coal presently used to fire the boiler, Johnson said.
The gasifier plan also would employ modified “Fischer Tropsch” technology to operate a gas-to-liquids plant that would produce up to 500 barrels per day of “biocrude,” a renewable input for oil refining. Murphy Oil executives, considering a major expansion of the company’s refinery in Superior, have submitted a letter supporting Flambeau River’s grant application, Johnson said.
The original technology was developed by two German scientists, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in the 1920s in petroleum-poor but coal-rich Germany to produce synthetic liquid fuels. Germany and Japan used the process to supplement their crude oil needs during World War II.
Johnson said a second phase expansion would follow a successful demonstration project.
Public policy considerations
One big concern in biofuel and biochemical development from the forestry resource is that the pursuit of an energy solution does not create environmental damage to the region’s soil and water resources. Ethanol production from corn, for instance, produces carbon dioxide, recognized as the most serious greenhouse gas contributor to global warming. The water-intensive process adds to the growing pressure on underground aquifers, competes with other ag crops and is driving up food costs.
At the same time, farmer-owned cooperatives have snared a major part of the growing market for ethanol and biodiesel, and a significant share of the profits are returning to those producers.
Conference organizers devoted several sessions to explore and avoid potential unintended consequences from badly-planned, forest-based bioeconomy development. Beyond a new industry that’s environmentally sustainable, policymakers want it to produce a diverse basket of value-added forest products with a fair share of the profits staying in the region.
James Hoolihan, president of the Blandin Foundation said that goal is at the heart of its four-year-old ‘Vital Forests / Vital Communities’ initiative. “Many regions already recognize the opportunities to transform the forest products industry so that it becomes both the and of diverse and sustainable products. We believe that’s an entirely obtainable goal that is well within our region’s reach.”

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2007-10-02

Dynamotive plāno uzbūvēt jaunu biodegvielas ražotni Argentīnā ar jaudu 200 t/dienā (15 MW)

"Vancouver-based Dynamotive Energy Systems (OTC: DYMTF) announced plans today to build two biofuel to electricity complexes in Argentina.
The company said it planned to invest $105 million in the two self contained facilities, located in the northeastern province of Corrientes.
"We are moving forward with these projects in Argentina because the need and the economics are compatible with our corporate growth goals, and they reflect how Latin America is helping to lead the biofuel revolution," said Andrew Kingston, CEO of Dynamotive.
"We look forward to developing future plants here and elsewhere in Argentina and South America," he said.
Dynamotive said each complex will be comprised of a 15.7 megawatt electricity generating station powered by the majority of the fuel output of two 200 ton per day modular plants.
The plants will produce biofuel from wood waste and residues from nearby forests and other biomass residue. The company said excess biofuel will be sold into commercial and industrial fuel markets.
"Dynamotive's proprietary fast-pyrolysis technology is a proven and cost-effective method of turning agricultural and forest residues into renewable fuel and electric power. Furthermore, we have pioneered our technology as a readily transportable series of modules that can create such biofuel-to-electricity complexes virtually anywhere in the world," said Kingston.
The company said development and construction of the complexes will be implemented jointly with Tecna, an Argentine engineering firm, with financing to be provided by a group of banks and other private sources.
Dynamotive said the plants are expected to be fully operational late next year."

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Biodegviela no kukurūzas

Pētījuma rezultāti par biodegvielas ražošanu no kukurūzas un citām (labākām atbilstoši pētījuma rezultātiem) izejvielām.

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Daudzgadīgo energokultūru atbalsta programma atsākusi darbību Lielbritānijā

"The new Energy Crops Scheme has opened for applications, although no grant agreements will be offered until the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 (RDPE) has been approved by the European Commission.
Defra says the scheme has opened for applications only to enable growers to begin the appraisal process, which can take three months, and plan for spring planting. No work may be undertaken in connection with any application until a funding offer is received and accepted by a grower.
The Energy Crops Scheme will provide funding for growers to establish the perennial energy crops miscanthus and short rotation coppice (SRC) of willow and other native or naturalised species to produce renewable energy.
Establishment grants are currently proposed at £1,000 per hectare for SRC and £800 per hectare for miscanthus, although these rates cannot be confirmed until the programme is approved by the European Commission and may be subject to downward revision."

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Plašāka informācija

Nedaudz par biodīzeļdegvielas mazumtirdzniecību ASV Sietlā

"A map of Seattle and its environs teems with pins — potential sites for the company's green-and-white biodiesel pumps. Most of the pins mark well-established gasoline stations that sell traditional petroleum-based fuels. By striking deals to sell biodiesel there, Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.
The invasion is about to begin, with the company's first two pumps opening in mid-October.
"We're not asking customers to radically change their behavior" in order to buy biodiesel, Propel founder Rob Elam said.
Biodiesel, which can be used in any diesel engine, has a following among environmentalists and well-informed car buffs. But it represents less than 1 percent of diesel consumption in the U.S., according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) numbers, and is used mostly by government fleets such as King County Metro.
The Seattle area has about a dozen distributors, mostly informal operations, although Safeway sells a 20 percent biodiesel blend at some of its locations.
Elam thinks it will take a healthy dose of marketing savvy — from fancy logos and flashy canopies to standardized automated-payment centers and consumer-loyalty programs — for biodiesel to succeed with mainstream consumers.
A strong retailing effort would crown the national push toward biofuels, which has gained momentum amid rising crude-oil prices and environmental concerns.
Government incentives have increased the possibility of profit, helping entrepreneurs attract investment; Propel recently raised $4.75 million from venture capitalists.
A budding supply infrastructure is also beginning to reach critical mass: Washington catapulted to third place in national biodiesel-production capacity with the construction of Imperium Renewables' Grays Harbor facility, the largest in the U.S.
Imperium backed Propel with loans at the time of its inception and provides biodiesel for its pumps. (Propel's temporary base, once located atop an alehouse in Magnolia, now is nestled at Imperium's offices south of downtown Seattle, pending a move to more permanent quarters near Fremont.)
Business or hobby?
Propel isn't the only one riding on this alternative-energy élan, though it's the most ambitious.
Ballard biodiesel pioneer Dan Freeman, who offers anti-war stickers and environmental books in the auto shop where he sells alternative fuel, just opened his second biodiesel location, at Espresso Express near the University District, with the aid of a federal grant. He, too, has a new logo "very similar to the organic- food label," said Freeman, who goes by "Dr. Dan."
But as traditional gasoline retailers know, selling fuel is a tough business, with low margins, intense competition and volatile prices. Biodiesel retailers face the added challenges of setting up new distribution networks, dealing with authorities unfamiliar with biodiesel, and marketing a product that currently costs 30 to 50 cents more per gallon than conventional diesel.
"I don't think it's a get-rich-quick plan," said Sean Aydlott, who sells biodiesel by appointment from his house in Bothell and makes enough to cover his costs; he calls it "more of a hobby."
Another obstacle is that diesel users, who can make the transition to biodiesel without making any changes to their vehicles, represent a small minority of the automobile fleet.
A self-sustaining, expanding biodiesel retail sector "seems like a longshot at this point," said Marie LaRiviere, a biodiesel expert at the EIA. "It is a limited percentage of the transportation market."
Coexisting with Big Oil
Despite biodiesel's niche status, Propel's Elam said there's enough fervor in Seattle to make the fuel a big business. In 2005, the company installed a test pump near University Village, followed by similar sites in South Seattle and Issaquah.
"Truth is, we were selling a ton of biodiesel," said Elam — about 20,000 gallons a month per site.
Propel's official push will begin with two selling points: in Ballard, at Bernie's Auto on Leary Way, and at a Shell station on Bothell Way in Kenmore. The company plans to open other pumps within six to 12 weeks in Factoria, Maple Valley, Mount Vernon, Poulsbo, Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood, Camano Island and Bremerton.
Elam believes the secret to success is to make biodiesel visible and convenient. His team has talked to more than 100 gas-station owners on the West Coast, seeking arrangements to install pumps. "Generally the response is very enthusiastic," Elam said. "We don't ask them to have any hassle."
But coexistence with Big Oil is challenging, because existing contracts between fuel dealers and oil companies forbid placing a biodiesel pump under the canopy that carries the station's brand. Propel must have its own canopy and pump, leasing the space from the gas-station owner.
Elam says a biodiesel pump will also attract more customers to a station's convenience store, which is where retailers make most of their profits. "We give them a new revenue stream and increased visibility," he said.
The company is also looking at nontraditional fueling sites such as auto shops, but getting permits is a chore.
Municipalities are unfamiliar with biodiesel, which is not as flammable as petroleum diesel and can be stored in surface tanks. For entrepreneurs, the amount of explaining and paperwork can be daunting. Propel's proposals for stations in Lake Forest Park, downtown Bellevue and Gig Harbor are "stalled in city permitting," according to Elam.
"It took a little understanding of what they were proposing to do," Seattle planning-department spokesman Alan Justad said. He added that alternative fuels are a priority for the city and that the approval for Propel's pump at Bernie's Auto in Ballard took eight weeks, a relatively short time by Seattle standards.
Propel executives say they can make a profit on the fuel by avoiding the high overhead costs that traditionally eat up most of retailers' revenue. The biodiesel selling points will be unmanned and centrally managed, Elam said. Government incentives — like a federal tax credit for building alternative-fuel infrastructure, and exemptions from certain local taxes — may help the company's bottom line.
"Starting to break even"
As biodiesel retailing becomes more businesslike, it's generating some tension. "Dr. Dan" Freeman, who says that after six years he is "starting to break even," resents Propel's incursion into Ballard with a pump a few blocks from his home base.
"I think there's a lot of market out there. Instead of taking advantage of that market, they're exploiting mine," he said.
But there may be enough market for everybody, if the fuel catches on. An anticipated fossil-fuel crunch may help tilt the balance in biodiesel's favor.
Although petroleum diesel is currently cheaper, many analysts think its price will only increase with time. Sharp spikes in price — such as those produced by political tension or hurricanes — drive people toward alternative fuels. "After the war started all we could do was answer the phone," Freeman said."

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Neliels raksts par diskusijām par bioenerģiju Lielbritānijā

"Organised by the Renewable Energy Association the conference brought together Britain’s leading clean energy specialists, who said a fragmentation of the renewable energy strategy in the UK was holding back the industry.
Three broad areas of energy use were discussed – for power generation, transport fuel and renewable heat. But while delegates agreed the first two are beginning to move in the right direction it was the poor progress in the development of renewable heat that attracted the most criticism.
According to Government figures, UK renewable heat from biomass is currently less than 1 per cent. It is argued this figure could grow to 6 per cent but only with appropriate Government backing and a change in public perception on things like wood-fuelled boilers.
Sir Ben Gill, former NFU president and now director at Countrywide Farmers, told delegates that using wood as a heat source is both efficient and effective and should be pursued as part of an integrated approach to reach national energy targets.
“People don’t recognise that using solid biomass technologies have moved on dramatically. Biomass use in residential and industrial heating with wood-fuelled boilers is simple and cheap.”
Modern wood boilers – using wood pellets, chips or logs – can produce heat on demand, similar to oil or gas systems and will reduce carbon emissions by about 90 percent compared to fossil fuels.
Notwithstanding imports, the coming years could provide an opportunity for farmers to supply fuel for these boilers which Mr Gill hopes will become commonplace.
He mentioned two fuels that could become a greater part of farmers’ armoury where diversification has become today’s farming watchword.
Typically, a short rotation coppice – densely planted and high-yielding willow or poplar – can be harvested on a two to five year cycle and can yield over 15 tonnes per hectare.
Miscanthus – a woody grass (pictured above) – can harvest as much as 20 tonnes per hectare. As climate change targets loom ever closer, it is expected that the agriculture industry will be further encouraged by the Government to grow such crops to aid renewable heat."

Oriģināls

2007-09-15

Kanādā jauna investīciju programma "nākošās paaudzes" biomasas kurināmā ražošanas demonstrējuma projektiem

The NextGen Biofuels Fund, with $500 million from Ottawa, "will jump-start the development and production of the next generation of renewable fuels in Canada," says James Stanford, chairman of the fund's manager, Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
"This fund will aim to take advantage of the abundance of suitable biomass materials available in Canada by funding large-scale demonstration facilities and encouraging the growth and retention of home-grown technologies and expertise in Canada," Stanford says.
It will pay up to 40 per cent of the costs of "first-of-kind large demonstration-scale facilities." The money is repayable over 10 years, based on the project's cash flow.
So-called next-generation renewable feedstocks include fast-growing grasses, agricultural residues and forest biomass, and Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a federal foundation which has more than $1 billion to fund green innovations, says Canada has abundant cellulose-based materials "which have an energy content that is significantly higher than conventional biofuel feedstocks."

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Francijā jauns pētījums ar mērķi virzīties uz Miscanthus giganteus audzēšanas komercializācijas pusi

Relatively unknown in Europe, Miscanthus giganteus is now in the European spotlight as a biofuel crop. It is high yielding, rich in lignocellulose and requires little agricultural inputs. Growing this crop on a large-scale in France will involve developing cropping systems that seek to optimise energy balances and minimise environmental impact. Several teams from the INRA - the French National Institute for Agricultural Research - have therefor joined forces with other research teams to combine the adaptation of crop management sequences with genetic improvement of the plant. INRA is Europe's largest agricultural science institute.
Miscanthus x giganteus is a perennial grass originally from Asia. It boasts two particularly interesting qualities for biofuel production: it produces a large amount of biomass and requires few inputs.
The exceptionally high yield of miscanthus is due to its "C4" carbon metabolism, which is similar to other plants of tropical origin such as sugarcane and sorghum. This type of metabolism means it can more efficiently capture carbon gas and transform it into organic material.
Moreover, miscanthus is a perennial plant, coming back every year based on rhizomes that it has developed underground. After being planted, it will produce crops for more than 15 years. The first year is delicate because it is the time during which the plant establishes its root system. Plant growth is slow and competition with weeds is steep. The use of herbicides allows the plant to establish itself satisfactorily. At the end of the first year, the crop is ground and returned to the soil, thus creating a surface bed that limits weed growth. In the following years, the crop grows quickly and does not require herbicides. Nor does miscanthus call for the use of fungicides or insecticides.
Optimal crop conditions are required for miscanthus to express its full potential. In 2006, INRA researchers set up experimental miscanthus plantations as part of the REGIX project ('Référentiel unifié, méthodes et expérimentations en vue d'une meilleure évaluation du gisement potentiel en ressources lignocellulosiques agricole et forestière pour la bioénergie en France', or 'unified references, methods and experiments to enable improved evaluation of potential agricultural and forestry lignocellulosic resources for bioenergy in France').
These trials began simultaneously with seven potentially attractive species for energy production. These included three "C4" species (miscanthus, switchgrass and sorghum, the first two of which are perennial), three annual "C3" species (triticale, alfalfa and fescue) and plantations of poplars as short-rotation coppice (SRC).
Researchers will measure the quantity and quality of the biomass with respect to each species and for varying crop conditions. INRA researchers from the Joint Research Unit for Fractionation of Agricultural Resources and Packaging (INRA, Université de Reims) will study the quality of the biomass for its transformation into fuel : depending on whether the conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol or wood is based on a biological or thermochemical method, the crucial parameters are (i) the content of minerals, such as silica or chlorine, that are undesirable in the thermochemical method, and (ii) the water content and lignin/cellulose ratio, which influence the fermentation yield in the biological method.
Ideally, miscanthus should be harvested in the months of February and March, when the leaves have fallen and restored nitrogen levels to the soil. It is, however, possible to harvest earlier in order to use the leaf biomass. In this case, it is necessary to carry out nitrogenous fertilisation in order to provide for the following year's needs. It is also important to consider the risks involved in soil compaction due to winter harvesting in moist soil. Researchers will analyse all these crop conditions and their consequences on long-term soil development, as well as the physical and organic state of the soil.
In addition to these studies, a project was initiated in 2007 to study the genetic variability of miscanthus for agriculturally valuable traits, including production of above-ground biomass, traits associated with flowering biology and physiology of nitrogen metabolism. The project titled "Picardie Espèces Ligno-cellulosiques" (lignocellulosic species in Picardy), involves the Joint Research Unit for Abiotic Stress and Differentiation of Cultivated Plants, INRA (Université de Lille, Université d’Amiens and UNISIGMA).

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