Biomass
This section features articles that deal with the use of biomass as a renewable energy resource. Read these articles to learn exactly what biomass is and how it works as a source of energy.
SAIC, Carlyle Group Team Up on 37.5-MW Biomass Project in Connecticut
Jan 10th
SAIC, Carlyle Group team up on 37.5-MW biomass project in Connecticut
Science Applications International Corp. and Carlyle Energy Mezzanine Opportunities Group have entered into an agreement to build the Plainfield Renewable Energy biomass project in Plainfield, Connecticut. The project, located on a 27-acre site, will cost $225 million.
Under a fixed-price, date certain contract, SAIC will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. Owned by a subsidiary of Enova Energy Group, the biomass plant will employ Best Available Control Technology to control emissions.
The biomass facility will generate 37.5 MW of clean energy to power the equivalent of 37,000 homes. The project will consume wood readily available from various sources such as construction and demolition (C&D) debris, recycled wood pallets, and land clearing materials. Connecticut Light & Power will purchase power from the plant based on a 15-year off-take agreement. Construction is expected to be completed in December 2013.
ABB gets $50M order to improve transmission lines in Texas for more wind power
ABB has received a more than $50 million order from Electric Transmission Texas LLC to provide electrical equipment that will improve reliability, strengthen the existing transmission grid and facilitate the integration of wind power. The project, to be completed by 2013, is part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones program. ETT is a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
Sunvalley Solar to install 88-kW solar system in California
Sunvalley Solar Inc. has been awarded a contract by Hans Enterprise Ltd. to install an 88-kW solar system in Anaheim, California. The solar system will generate up to 126,224 kWh of electrical power annually using three hundred and seventy eight 235 watt high efficiency solar panels. The approximate value for the contract is in excess of $486,000. Installations are expected to start by the middle of 2012.
Duke Energy awards energy efficiency grants to Austin Schools
Duke Energy’s philanthropic arm, Duke Energy Foundation, has awarded grants totaling $40,000 to help two Austin schools improve energy efficiency and provide job training.
St. Gabriel’s Catholic School will apply its $20,000 grant toward the cost of a new state-of-the-art Incenergy Energy Management System that automates heating, ventilation, and air conditioning operation, boosts efficiency, reduces power use and cuts costs. San Juan Diego Catholic High School will use its $20,000 Duke Energy Foundation grant to enhance its Corporate Work Study Program that provides students with weekly opportunities to build valuable skills in corporate work settings in the Austin area.
Laidlaw Energy Group Acquires 12.5-MW Calif. Biomass Facility
Nov 10th
Laidlaw Energy Group acquires 12.5-MW Calif. biomass facility
Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. has completed the acquisition of a 12.5-MW biomass-energy power plant inSusanville,California, by acquiring all of the equity interest of Henri Susanville LLC for cash and stock consideration.
The sellers were Renegy Susanville LLC, which is owned by Renegy Inc. Renegy is an entity controlled by SkyMall Founder and CEO Robert M. Worsley and Nature Energies Inc., which is owned by Hanalei Renewables.
NRG Energy, SunPower break ground on 250-MW California Valley Solar Ranch
NRG Energy Inc. and SunPower Corp. have broke ground on the 250-MWCaliforniaValley Solar Ranch.
Once completed, CVSR will power a yearly average of 100,000 homes with clean, renewable solar energy, sold to PG&E through 25-year power purchase agreements. NRG Energy is the sole owner of the project, which is expected to begin partial operations by early 2012, with the balance of the project coming online later in 2012 and 2013.
SunPower will complete the project’s design and construction, working with Bechtel, which is providing balance of plant engineering and procurement services and construction services. NRG Energy and SunPower will jointly operate and maintain CVSR for two years, after which NRG assumes sole responsibility.
Renewable Energy Systems Canada completes 99-MW wind farm in Ontario
RES Americas affiliate Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. has completed the 99-MW GreenwichWind Energy Project on the northern shoreof Lake Superiorin Ontario. The wind project is a limited partnership that is jointly owned by Enbridge and RES Canada. RES Canada developed the project and then constructed the project under contract to the partnership.
The Greenwich Wind Energy Project comprises 43 Siemens SWT-2.3-101MW wind turbines. The project was constructed by RES Canada under a fixed price, turnkey, engineering, procurement and construction agreement. Siemens will provide operations and maintenance services for the wind turbines under a five-year, fixed-price agreement. The project will deliver energy to the Ontario Power Authority under a Renewable Energy Supply III 20-year power purchase agreement.
Trina Solar obtains ISO 14064 verification statement from British Standards Institution
Trina Solar Ltd. has received the ISO 14064-1:2006 verification statement from British Standards Institution. The ISO 14064 verification reflects the significant efforts the company has made to establish a systematic methodology to quantify and report GHG-related information in accordance with ISO’s rigorous international requirements and principles of transparency, relevance, completeness, consistency and accuracy. The ISO verification provides a solid foundation and framework for Trina Solar to quantify, monitor and report GHG emissions.
China Completes First Biofuel Jet Test Flight
Nov 3rd
On 28 October Air China conducted its first trial flight of a passenger jet powered by a mix of biofuel and traditional aviation fuel.
The Jet A-1 biofuel kerosene used in the flight was derived from the seeds of tung trees, more commonly known as Japtropha.
Air China’s Boeing 747-400 landed safely at Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:30 a.m. after burning more than 10 tons of the biofuel, a 50-50 mixture of traditional Jet A-1 derived from oil and Jet A-1 processed from the japtropha seeds. The jatproha Jet A-1 is what’s known as a drop-in, simply being admixed in a 50-50 ratio with conventional Jet A-1, and requires no engine modifications.
Air China Vice President He Li said the composition and the burning efficiency of the biofuel admixture had been tested along with its impact on the Boeing 747′s four Pratt and Whitney JT9D high-bypass turbofan engines.
The Hydro-treated Renewable Jet Fuel (HRJ) used Honeywell/ Universal Oil Products’ process to produce the biofuel. According to Jennifer Holmgren , UOP’s former director for renewable energy and chemicals, UOP licenses the process “nonexclusively.” UOP said in a statement, “The flight is a result of a broader effort kicked-off in 2010 by China’s National Energy Administration and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to address the technical, economic and institutional factors required for the development of a new biofuels industry in China.”
Air China is the People’s Republic of China flag carrier and one of the country’s major airlines, the world’s tenth largest airline company according to fleet size, operating nine Boeing 747s scheduled to be phased out. Air China has already retired five Boeing 747s.
According to the International Energy Agency, China will lead the world in “demand growth” for jet fuel through 2012, reaching 5.6 percent. Total worldwide demand for Jet A-1 is forecast to reach 239.4 million gallons per day during the same period, compared 214.2 million gallons in 2007, a demand-growth rate of 2.3 percent. A 2007 422-page National Petroleum Council study, Facing the Hard Truths About Energy, reports that global demand for energy, including jet fuel – will grow by as much as 60 percent by 2030. It is China’s growing civilian air capacity that makes the test significant, as China Civil Aviation Administration official Zhang Hongying said following the test that the Jatropha-derived biofuel was now ready to be used for commercial flights.
The Air China test flight is the world’s sixth such demonstration flight using Jet A-1 derived from Jatropha.
The success was long in coming. PetroChina vice president Shen Diancheng remarked that it had taken PetroChina a decade to overcome the technical barriers of converting Jatropha oil into Jet A-1 aircraft, but now that tests have proven its viability, PetroChina expects to ramp up production to 60,000 tons of jatropha Jet A-1 annually by 2014.
China’s interest in developing biofuels for industrial use is growing rapidly. In late 2009 Boeing and China signed a biofuel agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese universities calling for research and development that potentially could support commercialization of Jatropha. China has been proactive in the biofuel area for a number of years, with Jatropha planted in 2007, and the plant – either wild or cultivated – can be found in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. Yunnan currently has 33,000 hectares under cultivation and the Xinhua news agency reports that the country will have 13 million hectares of biofuel plantations by 2020 that will produce 6 million tons of biodiesel annually.
But commercial Jatropha production has its bottlenecks. While Jatropha grows wild in tropical regions and can be cultivated on land not suitable for crops, it produces a lot more on cropland, suggesting that if it becomes popular, airlines will have to be careful that it is not squeezing out crop production. Initial field tests of Jatropha cultivation suggest that high oil yields require that the plant receive water, nutrients, and soil conditions that are comparable to many food crops.
A substantial drawback to Jatropha is that it is currently harvested manually and commercial producers have found that the plant is more labor intensive than originally thought, especially for harvesting.
Despite these setbacks, commercial Jatropha production is underway or being established abroad. Abundant Biofuels Corporation, which is headquartered in California, has jatropha cultivation projects underway in the Philippines, Columbia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. D1 Oils plc of London, United Kingdom, has announced large projects in India, Malawi, and Zambia. A number of companies are reported to have recently acquired rights to cultivate jatropha in Ghana. The central and some state governments of India are promoting Jatropha production on tens of millions of acres, although these efforts have been criticized for potential adverse impacts on forested areas, biodiversity, and food production. Early yields in India have been below expectations.
Accordingly, commercial firms growing Jatproha and airlines worldwide will be watching events in China with great interest. Fuel and oil comprise 25 percent of airlines’ operating costs and when the price of jet fuel rises one cent, it increases the global cost of aviation $195 million.
Given the fiscal resources available in China, it therefore seems most likely that Jatropha commercial aviation biofuel production will arise their first, if sufficient land not impacting the nation’s food production can be found.
Perhaps in the future, the East will not be so red as green.
Written by. Dr. John C.K. Daly for OilPrice.com. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, Dr. John C.K. Daly. For more information on oil prices and other commodity related topics please visit www.oilprice.com
Source: http://oilprice.com/
China is Interested in Biofuels – Why Not the West?
Sep 15th
China, arguably the world’s most influential and dynamic economy, is beginning to eye renewable as a partial solution to its voracious and growing energy needs. If Beijing determines that biofuels represent the future, expect to see the current modest western investment field to change dramatically.
As yet, China’s involvement is modest. According to a PetroChina company official, the firm intends to increase its production of biofuels by 2015 to 1.1 million tons and import and additional 470,000 tons. PetroChina, a traditional hydrocarbon company, is clearly thinking outside the box to increase its alternative energy portfolio.
According to PetroChina’s Petrochemical Research Institute deputy chief engineer Fu Xingguo, China is looking at generating 933,000 tons annually of fuel ethanol and 165,000 tons of biodiesel.
According to Fu, China is looking to import biofuel from countries such as Brazil, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, which will then be blended with regular hydrocarbon-derived traditional fuels and sold to southern Chinese provinces.
Looking towards the future, Fu added that some PetroChina Jet A-1 civilian aviation biofuel will be used in a test flight next month, but gave no further details, such as the feedstock used to produce the fuel.
Finally, Fu noted that China has around 1.52 million tons of fuel ethanol capacity, which mainly use grains as feedstocks.
In those accustomed to reading between the lines, Petrochemical Research Institute deputy chief engineer’s last comment is the most significant.
Grains as feedstocks.
The United States now devours approximately one-third of its corn output to produce ethanol, thanks in large part to a bloated bureaucracy and an influential farm lobby sucking down subsidies.
China has no such luxury to shift agricultural land from food production to renewables, as its arable land is needed to support the appetites of approximately 1.3 billion people.
Chinese indigenous production of domestic biofuel will accordingly remain marginal at best.
That said, should China determine that renewable biofuels are an important future component of the country’s diversified energy portfolio, the fiscal resources that it could throw at the issue would completely transform global biofuel production, particularly in the Third World.
A number of issues are blunting the introduction of increased biofuel production in developed countries.
First and foremost is that no one has yet figured out how to produce biofuel on an industrial scale that could compete with oil prices, even at $100 a barrel. Like solar and its kilowatt issues, biofuels at present remain a more expensive option.
Secondly, particularly in the United States, the biofuel market has been captured by the ethanol lobby, which provides farmers not only with subsidies, but crop insurance as well.
Last but hardly least is the fact that no single potential biofuel feedstock has emerged as a clear winner, although camelina seems to moving increasingly into first place.
That said, even in the U.S., a slow groundswell of support for renewable biofuel production is emerging, with both the Carlyle Group and Goldman Sachs selectively investing in various projects. Neither firm is overly adventurous in risk-taking, which indicates that eventually biofuels will receive the funding which it currently lacks.
Should China exercise its immense fiscal clout, particularly in the developing world where it has spent decades cultivating governments and contacts, the picture could change quickly. A major focus of Chinese investment over the past decade has been Africa, and if Beijing decides that biofuel is the way to go to diversify is energy portfolio, given the land constraints within China itself, expect to see a major drive to produce renweables on the Dark Continent.
Furthermore, expect to see China completely ignore environmentalists’ concerns about shifting land from food production to biofuel.
Amongst China’s many economic accomplishments, an overriding signal concern for human rights, either in China or in the countries it invests in, is notable by its absence.
Written by. Dr. John C.K. Daly for OilPrice.com. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, Dr. John C.K. Daly. For more information on oil prices and other commodity related topics please visit www.oilprice.com
Energy In the Living!
Jun 9th
There is energy in the sun, wind, water, earth’s interior, and the animals and vegetation that cling to its surface.
Less sexy and most likely discussed over low voices is energy from us. This is not to recommend hooking us up with electrodes and connecting ourselves to the grid. But below the surface, energy lies in our behavior and activities. This is not to say a change in behavior is warranted but the strain we put on all that sustains us deserves serious consideration and alleviation.
In context to this discussion, our lifestyle produces waste or better known as garbage. To the aid of burgeoning environmental problems, the scientific community has developed technologies that can convert waste into energy. In the strictest sense, waste-to-energy refers to any waste treatment that creates energy in the form of heat, electricity or a combustible fuel commodity (methane, methanol, ethanol, diesel, or synthetic fuels, etc.) from a waste source that would have been disposed of in a landfill.
As terminology has great impact on perception and swaying public opinion, it’s suggested that the phrase “Behavioral Energy Source,” a more elegant and socially correct term, be used in place of the word garbage and solid waste. Technocrats to city managers may be more comfortable attending and reporting on a Behavioral Energy conference than one titled “waste-to-energy”, with the provision that the event is energy rather than psychologically oriented.
The business of waste management is far from new. In “The History of Waste,” Roberta Crowell Barbalace, indicates that the science of garbology uncovered four basic means of dealing with trash as far back as 6,500 BC: dumping, burning, recycling, and waste minimization (see the following chart).
| A Timeline of Trash | ||
| Date | Location | Notes |
| 6,500 BC | North America | Archeological studies shows a clan of Native Americans in what is now Colorado produced an average of 5.3 pounds of waste a day. |
| 500 BC | Athens Greece | First municipal dump in western world organized. Regulations required waste to be dumped at least a mile from the city limits. |
| New Testament of Bible | Jerusalem Palestine | The Valley of Gehenna also called Sheoal in the New Testament of the Bible “Though I descent into Sheol, thou art there.” Sheoal was apparently a dump outside of the city of that periodically burned. It became synonymous with “hell.” |
| 1388 | England | English Parliament bars waste dispersal in public waterways and ditches. |
| 1400 | Paris France | Garbage piles so high outside of Paris gates that it interferes with city defense. |
| 1690 | Philadelphia | Rittenhouse Mill, Philadelphia makes paper from recycled fibers (waste paper and rags). |
| 1842 | England | A report links disease to filthy environmental conditions – “age of sanitation” begins. |
| 1874 | Nottingham England | A new technology called “the Destructor” provided the first systematic incineration of refuse in Nottingham, England. Until this time, much of the burning was accidental, a result of methane production. |
| 1885 | Governor’s Island NY | The first garbage incinerator was built in USA (on Governor’s Island in NY) |
| 1889 | Washington DC | Washington DC reported that we were running out of appropriate places for refuse (sound familiar?). |
| 1896 | United States | Waste reduction plants arrive in US. (for compressing organic wastes). Later closed because of noxious emissions. |
| 1898 | New York | NY has first rubbish sorting plant for recycling (are we reinventing the wheel?). |
| Turn of Century | By the turn of the century the garbage problem was seen as one of the greatest problems for local authorities. | |
| 1900 | “Piggeries” were developed to eat fresh or cooked garbage (In the mid-50′s an outbreak of vesicluar exenthama resulted in the destruction of 1,000s of pigs that had eaten raw garbage. Law passed requiring that garbage had to be cooked before it could be fed to swine). | |
| 1911 | New York City | NYC citizens were producing 4.6 pounds of refuse a day (remember the Native Americans from 6500 BC mentioned above?). |
| 1914 | United States | there were about 300 incinerators in the US for burning trash. |
| 1920′s | Landfills were becoming a popular way of reclaiming swamp land while getting rid of trash. | |
| 1954 | Olympia Washington | Olympia Washington pays for return of aluminum cans. |
| 1965 | United States | The first federal solid waste management laws were enacted. |
| 1968 | By 1968 companies began buy back recycling of containers. | |
| 1970 | United States | The first Earth Day was celebrated, the Environmental Protection Agency EPA created and the Resource Recovery Act enacted. |
| 1976 | United States | In 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was created emphasizing recycling and HW management. This was the result of two major events: the oil embargo and the discovery (or recognition) of Love Canal. |
| 1979 | United States | The EPA issued criteria prohibiting open dumping. |
| Today | ||
Source: “The History of Waste,” Roberta Crowell Barbalace
The use of Behavioral Energy Sources for power generation is surprisingly a relatively new science, given the obvious amount of heat and noxious gases produced by incineration. Incineration- the combustion of organic material- that goes back to 1874, lay dormant as a source of energy until about 20 years ago, when Sweden started using the energy generated from incineration.
Today, there is an emerging array of new and improved thermal and non-thermal waste-to-energy non-combustion conversion processes. The primary driver for advancing the technology is the need to reduce the generation of secondary and hazardous combustion byproducts such as particulates, heavy metals, trace dioxin and acid gas emissions, toxic fly ash and incinerator bottom ash. Once these byproducts are removed, higher combustion temperatures and improved efficiencies (amount of power produced from any given amount of Behavioral Energy Source), can be achieved with advanced boilers, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, and fuel cells.
These emerging technologies include:
Thermal
- Gasification (produces combustible gas, hydrogen, synthetic fuels)
- Thermal depolymerization (produces synthetic crude oil, which can be further refined)
- Pyrolysis (produces combustible tar/bio-oil and chars)
- Plasma arc gasification or plasma gasification process also known as PGP (produces rich syngas (synthetic gas) including hydrogen and carbon monoxide usable for fuel cells or generating electricity to drive the plasma arch, usable vitrified silicate and metal ingots, salt and sulphur)
Non-thermal:
- Anaerobic digestion (Biogas rich in methane)
- Fermentation production (examples are ethanol, lactic acid, hydrogen)
- Mechanical biological treatment + Anaerobic digestion
- MBT to Refuse derived fuel
The growth projections vary from EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2011 report, which projects stagnant growth of municipal solid waste to energy in the U.S. through 2035, to SBI Energy- a leading market research firm- which reported in their March 10, 2011 report, ’Thermal and Digestion Waste-to-Energy Technologies Worldwide‘ that:
- “….. Worldwide waste to energy market expansion expected through 2021; industry to reach $27 billion.”
- “….. waste to energy technologies — incineration, gasification, plasma gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion — provide a convenient solution to many of these waste management issues, that the market will grow at a rate of about 11% through 2021”
- ‘….. global market for waste-to-energy technologies has evidenced substantial growth over the last five years, increasing from $5 billion in 2006, to $7 billion in 2010 and was unaffected throughout the global economic downturn.”
- “….. growth trends are expected to continue for the industry, led by expansion in the U.S., European, Chinese, and Indian markets.”
In closing, society has found a solution it can’t live without. Not only does Behavioral Energy solve a major local issue but makes good business sense.
Written by Dr. Barry Stevens, an accomplished business developer and entrepreneur in technology-driven enterprises. He is the founder of TBD America Inc., a technology business development group. In this role, he is responsible for leading technology driven enterprises through ideation, development and commercialization. To read his first article on Behavioral Energy Sources, “The Garbage Rush Is On! – There is Gold (Energy) in Them There Dumps,” please visit: http://tinyurl.com/barry-stevens181
Biofuels About to Take Off- Just Not Yet
Jun 8th
Investors looking for the next big thing after a hydrocarbon economy have a panoply of options, from solar to wind, as well as biofuels. In terms of quickly ramping up production, biofuels clearly win the race but navigating the PR fluff and reality is not a simple thing.
The three main contenders for investor dollars are algae, jatropha and camelina. All have strengths and weaknesses, leaving investors to choose amongst them. Stripped of PR flummery, the only issue is where and when production can begin on a viable commercial scale. Investors who unravel the complexities of biofuel production and have cast-iron stomachs stand to profit; but biofuel production in the U.S, while having major players like Goldman Sachs and the Carlyle Group, are moving their chess pieces around a board already gamed by the major players.
While everyone agrees that biofuels are the future, investment is lagging. But the interest is there. Fuel and oil comprise 25 percent of civilian airlines’ operating costs. When the price of jet fuel rises one cent, it increases the global cost of aviation $195 million.
Camelina as an additive is a “drop in” fuel – engines need no modification, and a series of Pentagon tests over the last two years have proven its feasibility as something to add to a 50 percent JP-8 blend.
So why, no U.S. production?
The answers are both complex and simple.
First, new biofuels are up against the well established ethanol lobby.
Secondly, given renewables’ battle against the ethanol Goliath, there are yet no subsidies, crop insurance or any other incentives to bring farmers onboard to provide camelina feedstock, and farmers are hardly the most progressive green community.
Accordingly, U.S. companies such as Sustainable Oils face an uphill battle to sign up farmers, one by one.
But the technology exists, the product has been approved, most notably to fuel USAF C-17 Globemasters, as further Pentagon weapons testing continues.
Unfortunately for biofuel producers, the Pentagon only purchases fuel, and does not invest.
So, at the end of the day, the Pentagon role is passive – as for the civilian market, they are awaiting commercial volumes to be produced.
U.S. production to ramp up camelina derivatives is constrained by a lack of subsidies, crop insurance and record-high commodity prices for such alterrnatives as ethanol’s major feedstock, corn.
But camelina’s future as a civilian aircraft biofuel has been validated by the March announcement that a European consortium announced a project to produce Jet A-1 for civilian aircraft. European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Romanian state-owned airline Tarom and a consortium of partners announced plans to establish a bio-fuel production center in Romania to manufacture fuel for the airline industry.
An American company is also proposing to produce biofuel in Uzbekistan.
So, the question is- how ironclad are investors’ stomachs? The question is no longer if biofuel will be produced – only where and when. Given that it is ultimately an agricultural product, sharp investors may see their profits expand before the end of a growing season.
Written by Dr John C.K. Daly for OilPrice.com.
Source: http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Biofuels/Biofuels-About-to-Take-Off-Just-Not-Yet.html
Waste-to-Energy Conversion Market: It’s Large & Growing
Mar 10th
Waste-to-energy conversion (WTE) involves the processing of many different types of unusable wastestreams into heat, electricity, and other forms of energy. In 2008, the U.S. alone produced 250 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or 4.5 pounds per person per day, consisting of the componentsfound in Table 1.
Biomass Heating 101
Jan 2nd
Biomass heat is the use of natural, renewable, organic materials such as wood, agricultural residues, and municipal “biogenic” waste to produce space or process heat. Generating heat from biomass is a relatively clean and simple process, and is cost effective, especially in regions that have well-developed forest and wood products industries, since biomass heat is most easily generated from the waste wood. More >
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