Biomass Digest

Ohio energy credits prices could fall 86 percent by 2014

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:36:45 +0000

In Ohio, renewable energy credits (REC) are among the most expensive in the country at $35/MWh but those prices could fall into the single digits, as low as $5/MWh by 2014, when the recently approved project to switch two coal-fired burners to biomass at the Burger plant comes online. Ohio currently has 9.72MW of renewable energy installed but that will soon skyrocket thanks to wind power projects coming online and the 312MW expected from the Burger conversion.

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Verso Paper Mill adds biomass capacity in Maine

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:34:41 +0000

In Maine, the Verso Paper Mill is planning to upgrade its biomass boiler and install another steam turbine at its mill in Bucksport, a multi-million project that will eventually allow the plant to produce extra electricity for sale to the grid. The project is in the late stages of development but still requires approval of the company’s board before going forward. The company already received a $2 million state grant for the boiler refit and hopes to begin generating electricity for the combined project by early 2012.

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Taylor Biomass Energy signs REC agreement for 20.2MW biomass plant

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:32:46 +0000

In New York, Taylor Biomass Energy has signed an agreement with the New York Power Authority for the purchase of renewable energy credits and ‘other environmental attributes’—who will then re-sell them on to the New York Port Authority—from the company’s proposed 20.2MW biomass-fired power plant. The plant’s construction is set to begin in mid-November and production may begin as early as Oct. 2012.

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Metso converts coal-fired power in Poland to biomass

Jim Lane — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:29:42 +0000

In Poland, Metso will convert a coal-fired boiler to run on biomass at the Dalkia power plant in Łódź for $20.8 million. Electricity will be sold onto the national grid and heat will be used locally by buildings in the city of Łódź. The retrofit is expected to come online in December 2011.

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UK waste wood biomass gains permits

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:27:31 +0000

In the UK, planning permission has been granted for a 12MW gasification power plant in Lincolnshire that will use 140,000 metric tons of waste wood and biosolids from wastewater as a feedstock. Possibly the first of its kind to be approved in the UK, the project is a joint venture of Alternative Use Group and Alchemy Farms, both of the US. Wood is expected to come from old overhead line poles while biosolids will be sourced from nearby treatment works to the site in Boston.

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Rwanda co-op establishes biomass plant

Jim Lane — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:25:03 +0000

In Rwanda, a cooperative of widow and orphan garbage collectors have turned their recycling endeavor into a biomass briquette production business. The co-op founded by 45 members now employs 110 people, collects garbage from 3,000 families in the capital of Kigali and produces biomass briquettes for one-third the price of charcoal. About 495 families and 20 institutions now use the briquettes and the co-op is beginning to participate in major tenders to supply the local electricity market.

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Pell Energy proposes UK biomass plant

Jim Lane — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:21:50 +0000

In the UK, Peel Energy has announced the details of a proposed biomass power plant that replaces plans for an ethanol plant that had already received planning permission. The company says the plans changed because national legislation had changed that no longer made the ethanol facility viable.

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The BioEnergy Atlas debuts from NREL

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:20:08 +0000

In Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has unveiled its BioEnergy Atlas that allows users to layer related bioenergy data onto a single map to gather information on biomass feedstocks, biopower and biofuels potential, production and distribution. BioEnergy Atlas is an improvement over current tools in that it enables more timely and accurate analysis of the potential of given sites to be successful biomass producers.

Users of the tools can select and apply a multitude of geographic data layers including a variety of biomass feedstocks, existing biofuels, biopower and traditional power plants, alternative and traditional fueling stations and energy use statistics. The BioPower updated functionalities include query, analysis and state view. The query function allows users to access data behind the map and to select and download data from a selected region or single point on the map.

The analysis function offers common conversion factors that allow users to determine the potential biopower or biofuels production for selected feedstocks in a specific area. The state view function provides biofuels data from a single state including summaries of state energy use and fueling infrastructure and resources. The state view function is available in the BioFuels Atlas now, and a similar function, specific to biopower data, will be available in the BioPower tool later this year.

The BioEnergy Atlas is accessible at http://maps.nrel.gov/bioenergyatlas.

The Last Word: “This is a huge loss to the local economy.”

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:18:47 +0000

Seymour Crawford: Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan: “This is a huge loss to the local economy. The siting of such a plant in the Republic would have had a huge advantage for farmers in the Republic, especially all engaged in the poultry industry, through the disposal of waste and the recycling to create energy.”

American Wind Energy Association comments on Ohio’s Burger plant: “AWEA maintains that the REC market in Ohio would be devastated by the impact of the REC multiplier formula, as the large number of RECs created by the Burger facility would flood the market and depress prices.”

Iowa publishes biomass harvest, infrastructure, storage report

Meghan Sapp — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:48:14 +0000

In Iowa, the Council for Science and Technology has released a report outlining the infrastructure requirements needed to create biomass supply chains for energy. They conclude that the it is necessary to develop new methods and systems to routinely and reliably harvest, handle, store, and transport large quantities of bulky materials of varying characteristics.

“There is broad scientific consensus,” the report’s authors say, “that biomass crops and residues can replace fossil fuels, which should decrease the need to import petroleum and also decrease greenhouse gas emissions. To accomplish this, however, it is necessary to develop new methods and systems to routinely and reliably harvest, handle, store, and transport large quantities of bulky materials of varying characteristics.

GDownload the full report

“These needs contrast with the well-developed logistics, grading, and marketing systems for grain biofuel feedstocks and fossil fuels. There have been a number of research activities aimed at providing solutions to specific unit processes within the feedstock provision value chain. The case studies show that substantial efforts have been made toward the development of machines for harvesting and collecting agricultural biomass.”