Florida's Farm to Fuel Summit: A Californian's View

Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson hosted the 2nd Annual Florida Farm to Fuel Summit in St. Petersburg last week. A year in the making, it brought farmers, land owners, technologists, educators, and politicians together to talk about the status of biofuels developments taking root in the biggest biomass state in the U.S.

Looking over the roster of registrants, there were not too many Californians attending this sold out event despite its scope - exploring the many producers, programs, and technologies that are feeding the biofuels movement in Florida. That is a shame because there are many parallels between the two states - a fact highlighted two weeks ago when California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Florida Governor Charlie Crist jointly "raised the flag" for the fight against global warming at the Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change.

During the global climate change event, Crist signed a series of executive orders that in large measure mimic orders signed by the California governor on the opposite coast. The orders include efforts to mitigate state government emission of greenhouse gas, to substitute clean technologies for the production of electricity, and to significantly reduce vehicle tailpipe emissions.

"We will follow the great governor of California's example," Crist said. "He has set the lead."

A synergy can be expected from this cross-country axis that will help to accelerate national state government expansion of renewable energy legislation. It is expected to have profound impact on the rate of advanced research, implementation, and infrastructure development not only on the coasts, but everywhere in between.

So what did attendees of the Farm to Fuel Summit see?

Florida's level of commitment
I have been tracking Farm-to-Fuel since I read about Commissioner Bronson's organization in April, 2006 - prior to the first Farm to Fuel Summit. He has been a staunch proponent of the 25x'25 Initiative. Therefore it was no surprise that 25x'25 co-chairman Read Smith was one of the featured speakers at the opening of the summit (shown below driving the EPIC Formula One simulator).


The keynote address was delivered by Florida Governor Charles Crist who reaffirmed his administration's commitment to the Farm to Fuel program. He announced that he will be leaving on a trade mission to Brazil in November to understand more about their transition to biofuels and to seek collateral development of biorefineies and infrastructure. He then announced that a subsidiary of the largest power utility in the state, Florida Power & Light Energy, will be co-developing a citrus-to-ethanol plant in Florida.

Florida's Chief Financial Officer, the engaging Alex Sink (with me in the photo at right), reaffirmed the state government's commitment to insure that economic development funds are available to foster biofuel development. She was genuinely impressed by the size of the turnout and she invited attendees to see how her group is participating in a Florida Climate Change series of workshops.

Agriculture is the state's second largest industry. She asserted that "Farmers are the best stewards of our land because if we aren't good at it, our very livelihoods are at risk." She predicted that when the history of Florida is finally written, the impact of renewable fuel conversion will be as big as the introduction of citrus crops was.

Renewable Fuels Status Reports
A panel of speakers including Matt Hartwig, Communications Director of the Renewable Fuels Association, talked about ethanol and biodiesel feedstock-to-fuel programs. Matt cited the primary drivers for biofuel growth according to his organizations research - the environmentally-friendly profile, the sustained high price of gas and oil prices, and the expanding market for biofuels, including an anticipated jump in California blending percentage from 5.67% to 10%. RFA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and is actively lobbying Capital Hill for the Farm Bill and legislation favorable to farm to fuel development.

Robert White of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) talked about the hurdles to implementation of infrastructure (especially E85 pumps) in Florida and around the nation. He announced a campaign designed by EPIC specifically for this state called the Florida Needs Ethanol Campaign. The purpose is to give consumers the opportunity to learn more about ethanol and to register their desire for ethanol pumps with the fuel stations in their neighborhood.

David Shiflett of World Energy, a leading international biodiesel supplier, talked about the biodiesel industry in Florida. He had an interesting graph on logistics that equated the number of movements necessary to ship 10 million gallons of biofuel. It would require 2400 truck shipments, 500 rail cars, 25 barges, or 1 pipeline. Anticipating the demand on existing infrastructure means planning for huge increases in the future.

He also talked about the variability of biodiesel fuel based on the feedstock used to produce it. A student in the audience, seventh grader, Erin McCaskey (see separate article Student teaches biofuel professionals), could concur with this statement having produced five varieties in her award-winning science project to determine the calorimetric energy content of each. It is anticipated that the lack of consistent oil composition and emission standards will be an impediment to the widespread acceptance of biodiesel in many states.

In addition to recognizing Erin McCaskey, a person Commissioner Bronson referred to as "the oldest youngster to come to this meeting", Katzen International Inc. founder Dr. Ray Katzen (92), was honored for working on cellulosic ethanol technology starting in 1955 (see an excellent article by Ron Kotrba from BBI (who was also attending the Summit) titled The Project of a Lifetime). Ray established his "Project 20" - a campaign to produce 20 billion gallons of ethanol per year by the year 2020 - in 1990.

A special preview was given to Fields of Fuel - a film by Josh Tickell, author of Biodiesel America.

Advancing the Science of Bioenergy
Dr. Lonnie Ingram from the University of Florida was on hand to make a presentation about his patented process for producing ethanol using enzymatic hydrolysis. He projected that Florida had enough biomass to satisfy a demand equivalent to the 8.6 billion gallons of gasoline consumed each year. His technology is the lynchpin to a plant being built in Jennings, LA that is being developed by Verenium Corp for the conversion of sugarcane bagasse to ethanol. His work was honored during lunch presentations and the University of Florida was presented with a royalty check by the corporation for wood construction waste conversion to ethanol at a plant in Osaka, Japan.

Dr. Ann Wilkie introduced the subject of waste-to-energy by talking about University of Florida research into anaerobic digestion for waste treatment. Her current program focuses on biogas generation from bioethanol and biodiesel by-products. Her notable quote "Fossil fuel is fossil thinking."

Dr. Adam Schubert of BP talked about his companies commitment to biofuel technology citing a half billion dollar investment in establishment of the Energy Biosciences Institute at UC/Berkeley. His company is also at work with Dupont on the production of biobutanol and other fuels capable of being blended at higher rates into gasoline without modifying vehicles.

Ryan Katofsky of Navigant Consulting Inc. (NCI) talked about thermochemical biorefinery processes used for breaking down the molecular bonds of feedstock into syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen molecules). As he put it "I am an engineer. We have a motto 'If it doesn't fit, hit it with a hammer. If it still doesn't fit, hit is with a bigger hammer." The syngas can be combusted or converted into biofuels. NCI worked with Princeton and Georgia Tech to craft a recently completed detailed evaluation of pulpmill biorefineries for TAPPI.

Business of Bioenergy
The subject of carbon credits was introduced by Todd Jones of AgCert, a company that produces and sells emission reduction offsets, primarily to the agricultural community. David Kolsrud of DAK Renewable Energy talked about building community based projects using the combined financial and biomass resources of numerous investors. Reggie Holt of Farm Credit of Central Florida got down to the brass tacks of financing biofuel plants and operations using a $100,000,000 Fuel Ethanol Facility as an example.

John Masiello leads a team for a Fortune 250 company called Progress Energy that is responsible for researching, developing and implementing the company's energy-efficiency and alternative-energy programs. He described the rapid growth in energy demand due to more electrified lifestyles and bigger homes. Here are a few of the projects he outlined that Progress Energy/Florida is involved in:

Energy efficiency programs are a key part of customer service operations of Progress Energy. They estimate that their programs have reduced demand by 1600MW. By 2014 they expect to grow the program to over 2500MW through conservation programs.

Progress Energy Florida is also purchasing from Ridge Generating Station near Auburndale, Florida. The 45MW plant is fueled by wood waste (66%), tires (30%) and landfill gas (4%).

One project is a contract that PE/F has with Biomass Investment Group on the utilization of E-Grass™ - a dedicated crop grown specifically for conversion into power. BIG's bio-based products are sold to power producers as an environmentally-friendly renewable fuel, and to the paper industry as a non-wood source of fiber. The finished plant will be capable of generating 130MW - roughly enough electricity to supply 83,000 homes while saving 20 million tons of carbon emissions.

Progress Energy/Florida has also announced a Request for Renewables program to attract developers interested in selling renewable energy to PE/F.

Biomass Resources/Feedstocks in Florida
It surprises many to learn that 10% of the biomass produced in the United States comes from Florida. Its soil, wet climate, sunshine, and strong farm and forestry industries makes it an ideal laboratory for biofuel industry development.

Two speakers gave presentations concerning the use of woody biomass for energy in Florida. Marian Marinescu of the University of Florida talked about the environmental, economic political, and social benefits of woody biomass utilization as a renewable feedstock for production of a range of biofuel output - focusing mainly on wood pellets, but also talking about syngas, charcoal, ethanol, methanol, bio-oils, and biodiesel. His points made a nice seque to Olaf Roed, President and CEO of Green Circle Bio Energy, Inc. whose company is building the "world's largest pellet plant in Jackson County, Florida" to begin production in December, 2007. He believes wood pellets could play a significant role in mitigating global warming. The pellets they produce will be used primarily by European power companies engaged in co-firing to reduce their use of coal.

James Wimberly of Biomass Investment Group Inc. (BIG) talked about his company's development and marketing of E-Grass™, the feedstock referred to earlier by John Masiello of Progress Energy. He said that E-grass can produce 30 tons of biomass/acre/year - compared with the oft-cited switchgrass which harvests about 8 tons. Their contract with PE/F is for 130MW of electricity using a fast pyrolysis process to produce a combustion turbine fuel that will power an Integrated Pyrolysis Combined Cycle (IPCC) electricity generation system.

The other two presenters of the panel talked about producing biodiesel from new feedstock resources. David Jarrett of Xenerga, Inc. talked about the potential of Jatropha. Fred Tennant of PetroAlgae gave a presentation about the worldwide demand for diesel (currently 200 billion gallons/year) and how his company planned to employ microalgae to "grow oil" using a water intensive process.

Renewable Energy Technology Grants Program
The final panel of the conference (excluding discussions by state and national Florida politicians and commissioners) focused on the status of the Florida Renewable Energy Technology Grants Program:

The Florida Legislature appropriated $15 million for the grant program, with at least $5 million to support bioenergy projects and $10 million for projects that generate or utilize other renewable energy resources, including hydrogen, biomass, solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, ocean energy, waste heat and hydroelectric power.

Dr. George Philippidis of Florida International University discussed a joint program undertaken by his Applied Research Center and Florida Crystals Corporation (FCC). Their work will focus on producing cellulosic ethanol from sugar cane bagasse.

Craig Evans, a consultant for ALICO Inc., reported on the status of his company's project for producing cellulosic ethanol from the waste generated from their diverse agricultural and mining operations. Kevin Bouffard of The Ledger wrote a May 2006 interview of Craig, former President of Stewardship America, about citrus waste and the potential of thermochemical conversion technology using the BRI process for converting blended biomass waste into ethanol and electricity. In a state with as many forms of biomass as Florida, the universal blending feedstock attributes of the technology seem very appropriate.

David Stewart of Citrus Energy LLC is developing a technology for converting citrus waste into ethanol. According to a joint announcement with FPL Energy this week:

The cellulosic ethanol plant will be owned and operated by FPL Energy and is expected to produce four million gallons of ethanol per year. It will be located on the grounds of a local Florida citrus processor (near Juno Beach, FL).

FPL Energy said that ethanol from citrus peel could result in a new Florida industry producing over 60 million gallons of fuel per year, which could replace about one percent of Florida's annual gasoline consumption

Alan Banks of Losonoco, Inc. talked about his company's plan to recommission an existing 1st generation corn ethanol production facility in Barstow Florida and co-locating a 2nd generation gasification plant that uses biomass from yard waste, citrus residues and sugar bagasse to produce a total of approximately 25m gallons of ethanol per year.


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In short, there a tremendous amount of synergy possible between the technological and entrepreneurial resources of California and the farm and forestry feedstock industries in Florida. Farm to Fuels is a terrific effort by Commissioner Charles Bronson's office to communicate and organize the renewable fuels industry in Florida.

technorati BIOstock, biomass, agriculture, forestry

Range Fuels will break ground this summer

Being "firstest with the mostest" is extremely important when it comes to brand identification and capital marketability of any emerging technology. The significance of being awarded a construction permit out front of the other five D.O.E. grant cellulosic ethanol developers is a milestone that demonstrates corporate determination, operational integrity, local support, and negotiating skills. It will be interesting to see how soon the other developers begin breaking ground.

The thermochemical route to biomass conversion does appear to be more flexible in its acceptance of variable and blended feedstock. Using heat instead of enzymes to break molecular bonds not only saves the price of enzymes but dramatically reduces the need for water - not an insignificant issue, particularly in the face of mounting concern about global warming's impact on water resources.

Emissions control technologies have advanced greatly in the past two decades, particularly when attached to closed cycle pyrolytic or gasification systems. Their fundamental purpose is to use the bulk of the emissions (syngas) as a raw material for conversion to biofuels and green chemicals.

Below is the complete press release from Range Fuels today:

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Range Fuels awarded permit to construct the nation’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant
Independence Day marks the start of our country’s independence from fossil fuels

Palo Alto, CA. and Broomfield, CO – July 2, 2007 –Range Fuels announced today that the company was awarded a construction permit from the state of Georgia to build the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States. Ground breaking will take place this summer in Treutlen County, Georgia for a 100-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant that will use wood waste from Georgia’s forests as its feedstock. Phase 1 of the plant is scheduled to complete construction in 2008 with a production capacity of 20 million gallons a year.

“We are thrilled to receive this permit and anticipate the construction of many plants throughout Georgia and the Southeast using wood waste to make ethanol,” said Mitch Mandich, CEO of Range Fuels. “With Independence Day on July 4, we are excited to begin the march toward independence from our country’s reliance on fossil fuel.”

“Cellulosic ethanol offers tremendous promise for not only the development of an alternative energy source, but also rural economic development for our state,” said Sonny Perdue, Governor of Georgia. “We look forward to the construction of this plant and are hopeful this is the first of many more to come.”

"The Department is pleased that the country is one step closer to making the widespread use of cellulosic ethanol a reality," U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. "This furthers the President's goal of deploying clean, renewable energy into the marketplace, and we are eager for the results of Range Fuels’ work, and the work of the other biorefinery grant recipients, to help increase energy security and enhance economic growth."

Range Fuels is at the forefront of new proprietary technology for producing cellulosic ethanol. While most domestic ethanol production requires corn as a feedstock, Range Fuels' proprietary process does not. The country’s ability to make corn ethanol is limited by the agricultural land available to grow it. The latest estimates predict that corn ethanol can only produce up to 15 billion gallons per year. On the other hand, the U.S. Department of Energy, in their joint report with the USDA, has identified over one billion tons of biomass annually that could be converted to biofuels, like ethanol. Range Fuels’ technology can transform all of this biomass, including wood chips, agricultural wastes, grasses, and cornstalks as well as hog manure, municipal garbage, sawdust and paper pulp into ethanol. The company has already successfully tested close to 30 types of biomass for producing ethanol.

The company’s technology completely eliminates enzymes which have been an expensive component of cellulosic ethanol production. Range Fuels’ thermo-chemical conversion process, the K2 system, uses a two step process to convert the biomass to synthesis gas, and then converts the gas to ethanol. In addition to the ability to process a broad range of potential biomass feedstock, the K2 system benefits from a modular design. Depending upon the quantity and availability of feedstock, the K2 system can scale from entry level systems to large configurations. This range of system size allows placement of the K2 near the biomass source reducing transportation costs, and will allow the most appropriate size system to be deployed.

The company selected Georgia for its first plant based upon the abundance of forest refuse and the renewable and sustainable forest industry. The state has demonstrated great stewardship of its forest lands and environmental sensitivity. The forests of Georgia can support up to 2 billion gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol production.

Range Fuels, with Governor Perdue, announced plans to build the plant on February 7 of this year. The company was subsequently selected to negotiate for up to $76M in a grant from the Department of Energy on February 28. These negotiations are still underway.

technorati BIOstock, biomass, cellulosic, forestry

U.S. paper & pulp industry assesses its bioenergy future

TAPPI, the leading association of the paper and pulp industry in America, held a special International Conference on Renewable Energy - 2007 on May 10-11, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Led by conference chair, Jim Frederick of Georgia Tech's Institute of Paper Science and Technology, the association organized a sterling line-up of technologists and decision-makers who will be the key stakeholders in bioenergy implementations at paper & pulp mills throughout North America during the next two decades.

This is an important topic for America because, unknown to most Americans, the forestry products industries have been the foremost producers of renewable energy - some 44% of the total - beating hydroelectric, ethanol, wind, and solar. As the the most experienced producers of bioenergy in the country, they have the most to win from a successful implentation of cellulosic ethanol conversion technology. However, it is difficult for management to ignore the inherent risks.

To set the tone for the conference, the keynote was presented by two principals involved in the recently announced alliance between oil and paper industry giants - Richard Zalesky of Chevron, VP of Biofuels and Hydrogen Business, and Denny Hunter, Weyerhaeuser VP of Technology.

Zalesky acknowledged his company's perspective that energy demand is growing so fast it is necessary to develop alternative, renewable biofuels processed from a variety different feedstocks. One point he made was that the expense to deploy one exploratory well used to find a deep water deposit of oil would pay for the deployment of several biorefineries. He also said that, under current economic conditions, it is government regulations that drive the development of renewable energy technologies - particularly Executive Orders like California's Low Carbon Fuels Standard.

Forest Biomass Availability and Logistics
A major contributor of information to the Billion-Ton Report, Dr. Bryce Stokes of the USDA Forest Service substantiated the finding that the land resources of the U.S. are capable of producing a sustainable supply of biomass to displace 30% or more of the nation's present petroleum consumption. One quarter of the amount could come from woody biomass resources. He admitted that the forestry projections are "very conservative, only based on forest wastes and fairly low estimations of utilization. They did not include forest crops - the agricultural analysis did include woody perennial crops."

What is the potential for tree farming in the U.S. to help supply fast growing, perennial woody biomass for biorefineries? Nathan Ramsey of ArboGen and Brian Stanton of Greenwood Resources made separate presentations about genomics and hybrid poplar feedstocks (an approach in practice in Europe). ArboGen is developing trees with improved quality and productivity characteristics that include faster growth rates, freezing tolerance, and modifications to wood composition. Stanton talked about the advantages and benefits of hybrid poplar plantations and the methodologies his company is working on for improving production economics.

Citing the Southeastern region as the nation’s woodpile, Jim Gan of Texas A&M spoke glowingly about it woody bioenergy potential. He concluded that policy decisions should be based on consideration of the entire value chain - including environmental and socioeconomic co-benefits. Tom Belin from Potlatch gave a peek at his company’s "100 Mile Biomass Study", which is examining the economics of a proposed pilot gasification/catalysis biorefinery as compared to a commercial higher volume biorefinery utilizing a 100-mi. radius of woody biomass grown in southern Arkansas.

Overview of Liquid Biofuel Technologies
Eric Larson of the Princeton Environmental Insitute teamed up with Michael Pacheco, current Director of the NREL National Bioenergy Center (but soon to be Chief Technology Officer for Archer Daniel Midland at the end of May) to provide an overview of a “continuum of options” for the production of cellulosic ethanol – using both biochemical and thermochemical processes. Their analyses led to a projection of how biorefining might be technologically integrated in the modern pulp mill facility.

Larson contributed the following observation based on a comparison of effective fuel yields - "A biorefinery integrated with a pulp mill effectively requires much less biomass per unit of liquid fuel produced vs. 'stand-alone' biofuel production. The reason is that black liquor (and some biomass) are charged against services provided to the mill (chemical recovery, process steam and power) - not against liquid fuel."

His concluding comments focused on how the P&P industry could get started: 1) energy-industries and the government to help manage the risk and bring in energy-industry competencies, 2) woody biomass gasification for IGCC-electricity and/or liquid fuels would be the most plausible first step, and 3) black liquid gasification (Weyerhaeuser New Bern model) would be another early technology to pursue.

Peter Axegård of STFI-Packforsk, the
leading R&D center in Scandinavia for forest products, described many ongoing European wood-based biorefinery research projects. Progress of many pilot programs are in the demonstration stage with some co-located with existing paper mills. In Europe there is no question that the forest-based sector plays a key role in a sustainable society.

Technology Sessions
Three technology sessions followed the introduction by Pacheco, Axegård, and Larson. The first one focused on the conversion of sugars to transportation fuels using biochemical technologies. The speakers included Art Ragauskas of Georgia Tech, Andrew Richard from Mascoma, and Michael Rushton of Lignol.

Session 2 took an indepth look at progress being made pursuing a thermochemical route. Fast pyrolysis, pyrolysis, and low and high temperature gasification were compared for their features and benefits using a variety of feedstock for the production of a variety of bioproducts. Jim Patel of Carbona focused his talk on biomass gasification technologies under development, including Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) and Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) applications. His company is developing expertise on feeding biomass into the gasifier as well a filtering for cleanup of solids.

Session 3 introduced information on current thermochemical project development. Thomas Meth is Executive VP of Sales & Marketing of Intrinergy, a company that builds, owns, and operates gasification equipment for industrial users. The company is commissioning its first woody biomass cold-gas facility in Ohio and building several more in Alabama.

Biomass Gas & Electric's Rick Jensen spoke about a 28MW gasification power project his company is developing for Georgia Power Company. It is located near a C&D landfill which provides primary fuel supplies. It also will utilize forest wood waste and road & land cleaning debris.

Where are we now?
Ben Thorp of the Biorefinery Deployment Collaborative gave a comprehensive overview of the many commerical biomass gasifiers in North America, a brief summary of the current pulp and paper biorefinery activities, and a side-by-side comparison of the six U.S. D.O.E. "Section 932" grant winners. He then made a persuasive appeal to the paper and pulp industry to begin now to capitalize biorefinery opportunites because they "may be the only way to avoid massive shutdown and loss of pulp and paper facilities in North America."

Making the Biorefinery a Reality
According to Richard Phillips of North Carolina State University there are five targets that must be met to achieve ethanol profitability:
1) The Ethanol Price> $2.50 per gallon,
2) The Capital Cost < $3 per Annual Gallon,
3) Wood Cost <$60 per bone dry ton (BDT),
4) Enzyme Cost <$.15 per gallon, and
5) ethanol yield> 75 gallons per BDT wood.

He echoed the conclusion of the Agenda 2020 Forest Products Industry Roadmap, "repurposing an existing kraft pulp mill as an initial approach has a greater chance of success (than a Greenfield plant)."

In short, the two day conference was well-conceived and well-executed. It is certainly time for the paper and pulp industry to take stock of its options and adjust to meet the demands of the future. The global leadership that it has lost in the production of pulp and paper could be recouped if it acts now to secure its position as a leader in bioenergy production. The key advantage it has is the current infrastructure and natural resources that already exist. Couple that with prudent investment in emerging technologies and government regulatory and incentive reform, and there is no reason why the roadmap laid out in the Agenda 2020 plan couldn't be a rebirth for American self-reliance as well.

technorati BIOstock, biomass, agriculture, forestry

Will dead trees revive forest industries?

Whether or not global warming is responsible for creating the dry conditions that are conducive to the proliferation of bark and pine beetle infestations, there have been devastating blights in recent years affecting trees and wildlife throughout parts of Canada and the U.S.

Who in Southern California can forget the fearsom "Old Fire" that claimed 993 homes in an area surrounding Big Bear Lake in November 2003? Mornings broke with the fear that the fire would reach the bark beetle infested dead trees that surrounded the famous resort area. According to a website produced by the San Bernardino County Museum, if it had "the dry trees would burn faster and hotter than living trees within any given stand. Standing dead trees can burn to a crown fire. Whether or not the crown fire of a dead tree will be transferred to the surrounding living trees depends on the proximity of the live trees to the dead trees and the other conditions at the time of the fire."

As it was, the breadth of the fire devasted the habitats of flora and fauna of great variety - including many endangered species. The sun was blotted out with the release of carbon gases and particulate matter ending decades of relatively heathful air quality.

Removal of dead trees must become a priority if we are to reduce the kindling-like potential of the problem. Thinning dense forests and removing overgrown underbrush will serve to mitigate the threat of forest fires. The waste wood - unusable as lumber - would make a suitable source of biostock for clean biomass-to-liquids and biomass-to-electricity conversion facilities that could provide economic financing for the important work at hand.

That is where the declining forestry industries of pulp, paper and wood manufacturing have an opportunity. They are the experts at using wood waste as feedstock for renewable electricity facilities. New technologies would improve on the old combustion Tomlinson boiler models. They could build gasification and pyrolysis facilities to capture the greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter. Some of the resulting syngas could be converted into biofuels, ethanol, and green chemicals to replace fossil fuels.

Here is a recent story from the Vancouver Sun showing that British Columbia is engaged in a RFP process to identify clean, wood-to-electricity solutions to fund the bark beetle infestation problem.

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Beetle-damaged pine forests eyed as electricity source
Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, March 09, 2007

The British Columbia government is looking to tap into the “enormous potential” of bioenergy through development of new wood-fired electricity generation projects in remote and hard-hit regions of the province.

Energy Minister Richard Neufeld and Forests Minister Rich Coleman announced today a “bioenergy call” assessing the potential of using wood fibre for power production.

The ministers envision development of northern B.C generating facilities fueled by beetle-killed pine and non-commercial and waste wood, helping the province achieve its stated goal of energy self-sufficiency by 2016.

Neufeld said there’s as much potential for power generation from wood fibre as a half-dozen major hydroelectric projects the size of the Site C dam proposed for the Peace River.

“Energy production is an innovative way to use mountain pine beetle-damaged timber,” Coleman said in a prepared statement. “It helps to recover the value of the dead wood and creates a viable energy opportunity.”
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One company that is providing a means for the clean conversion of wood waste to biofuels is Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation of Vancouver, British Columbia. Using emissions control fast pyrolysis technologies, they can convert dead wood into commercial grade BioOil for fueling industrial equipment and char which could be used to fertilize topsoil. They recently announced the commissioning of its biofuel plant in Guelph, Ontario, Canada that will use dry biomass as a feedstock.

Other contenders would include some of the many cellulosic ethanol technologies that are mentioned in the round-up published in the BIOconversion Blog.


technorati BIOblog, BIOstock, biomass, forestry, beetles