London, England—US biomass producer Zilkha Biomass expects its first large-scale commercial pellet plant to be operational by late 2013, the company has told Argus.

Zilkha acquired a 500,000 t/yr regular “white” pellet plant in Selma, Alabama, two years ago when the previous owners failed to make the business viable. Zilkha will adapt the plant to produce 275,000 t/yr of “Zilkha Black” pellets.

“We have about a year’s worth of work once the offtake agreements for the plant have been finalised,” Zilkha vice-president for business development Larry Weick told Argus. “So we are looking at a late-2013 start-up. The previous plant was not successful due to several factors, but Zilkha is confident that operating the plant at 275,000 t/yr, well below the original design capacity of 500,000 t/yr, will be economically viable.”

The company is looking to establish several plants, including projects which would export through Mobile, Alabama, and also projects in British Columbia, Canada.

“It makes more sense to have multiple plants that are shipping through the same ports,” Weick said. “Although we cannot confirm how many more plants we are looking at constructing, our Selma plant is the first in a series of 200,000-400,000 t/yr plants that we will construct in the future.”

Zilkha Black pellets are not torrefied, according to Weick, but are pre-processed according to a technology acquired by the company a few years ago.

“Although both routes can theoretically produce a dense, waterproof pellet, there is a pretty clear difference between Zilkha Black pellets and torrefied pellets,” Weick said. “Essentially torrefaction drives the process conditions so hard and so far that the final material is really charcoal, whereas we use a completely different approach and avoid that more destructive route. As a result, we can make a good, hard, low dust pellet that is waterproof without incorporating any additives in the pellet.”

Zilkha believes that pre-processed biomass either as Zilkha Black pellets or perhaps torrefied material will be the preferred biomass product once it is readily available, due to its reduced capital costs for conversion, its coal-like properties, the safety benefits due to less dust and the fact that it can be stored outside — despite the higher purchase price of the fuel, Weick said.

“Our first cargo was loaded in the rain, and the fuel was absolutely fine,” he said. “Black pellets are around 10pc cheaper all-in, even though the purchase price is higher.”

Beaumont, Texas—The region of East Texas once considered behind the “Pine Curtain” is now becoming the “wood basket.”

That “wood basket” describes a 75-mile radius from a wood-pellet mill to be built south of Woodville by a company called German Pellets.

The “basket” is a swath of East Texas timber country that provides the raw material with which to make wooden pellets, which are about the size of a dowel that might be used in furniture-making.

However, instead of joining legs to a table, the dowel-sized pellets are heading to the furnaces of electric power-generating plants in Europe. There, they will help replace coal.

German Pellets is making an investment of about $100 million at the former North American Procurement Co. plant about two miles south of Woodville, said Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette.

North American Procurement Co., or NAPCO, sold its shipping mill and acreage to German Pellets, which will demolish parts of the existing mill and build a pellet-making plant in its place. The pellets are produced from logged trees.

The new manufacturing plant and the existing timber activities that will support it amount to between 250 and 300 jobs, Blanchette said.

Tyler County Commissioners Court approved a 10-year tax abatement for the plant, offering a first-year abatement of 90 percent on improvements which goes down to 10 percent in the final year.

German Pellets still must secure applicable state permits to operate, which are expected at the earliest in February.

Peter Liebold, the Wismar, Germany-based company’s chief executive, said in a prepared statement that wood pellets are a “fuel of the future” and he expects European consumption to increase to between 15 million and 25 million metric tons per year by 2020. A metric ton is equal to 2,204 pounds. Current European consumption is 11 million metric tons.

The Woodville plant’s output is expected to be about 500,000 metric tons per year when production begins in 2013.

“The market for industrial-grade pellets will continue to experience especially strong growth due to coal-fired power plants switching from coal to pellets,” Liebold said.

Canada is Europe’s largest supplier at 1 million metric tons last year. However, Canada is expected to keep a larger percentage of its production for its own power generation, Liebold said.

German Pellets’ production in Woodville will be shipped through local ports, Liebold said.

A Houston-based company, Zilkha Biomass Fuels, is producing what it calls “black pellets” from a plant in Crockett. Zilkha shipped 6,000 metric tons of pellets from the Port of Beaumont to a customer in Europe in December as part of a test run, said Zilkha logistics coordinator Zoe Russell.

Zilkha said its patented process to make black pellets makes them waterproof, pre-drying them to reduce moisture content. Unlike white pellets, which can disintegrate on exposure to rain or snow, the black ones can be stored outdoors, the company contends.

The Crockett plant is capable of producing 40,000 metric tons per year, Russell said. If the company decides to expand to commercial scale, it could go to as much as 300,000 metric tons per year, she said.

One of the Port of Beaumont’s warehouses is filled with black pellets from Zilkha. The pellets have an earthy aroma, not as sharp as roasting coffee beans, but still noticeable. There isn’t any dust, but the pellets spill through crevices in the concrete walls of the bins where they are stored.

At a recent Port of Beaumont commissioners meeting, board member Henry Nix referred to a recent book titled “Back to Work” by Bill Clinton, in which the former president talks about the wood pellet business as an opportunity for American export and domestic jobs.

Nix is not alone in encouraging the wood pellet business. The Port of Port Arthur also is interested, said Orlando Ciramella, its director of trade development.

“We’re close to signing an agreement,” Ciramella said.

He said both ports can benefit because they are close to the source of timber and where pellet mills are being built.

“That makes it really feasible,” he said.

Chennai/Bangalore, India—To meet ever-increasing energy demand, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is looking at the possibility of generating 10,000 Mw of power in the next ten years from surplus biomass.

“The rising demand for energy on one hand and depletion of fossil fuels and increasing import of coal on the other, has made it necessary for us to look at dedicated plantation-based biomass power and energy as an alternative source,” MNRE Secretary Deepak Gupta told a national workshop on “Dedicated Plantation based Biomass Power and Energy” here today.

MNRE was exploring the possibility of generating 10,000 Mw of power in the next 10 years from surplus biomass, both agro and forest residues, he said. In addition, small megawatt biomass power plants could be set up for feeding power at the tail end of the grid (11 KV line).

These plants would ensure power to many villages. MNRE proposed to bring together stakeholders to formulate a strategy to provide sustainable and reliable energy solution at an affordable cost at the grassroot level in an integrated and environment-friendly manner, he said. Presently, biomass-based power plants are mainly based on surplus agro residues such as rice husk, cotton and arhar stock and other agro and forest residue and availability of biomass has been a major issue to operate the plants to full capacity.

The problem could be over come if these plants were linked with dedicated energy plantations on degraded or waste lands for supplementing the biomass fee stock demand. This would also help in reducing the need for transportation of biomass over long distances.

MNRE initiated a new scheme in 2009-10 to promote grid interactive biomass based projects (up to 2 MW) at the tail end of the grid, as they help in reducing T&D losses and stabilising grid voltages, besides offering many other socio-economic benefits in rural areas, including rural employment, he said.

MNRE Director MNRE D K Khare said the recent draft “National Mission Document on National Mission for Greening India” by the Ministry of Environment and Forest aimed at increasing forest-tree cover on 5 million hectares of forest/non-forest lands and improving the quality of forest cover on another 5 million hectares of degraded forest land.

He said recent efforts made by private developers in raising plantation of fast growing tree species such as bambusa balcooa (bema bamboo), melia dubia, paulownia have shown encouraging results by demonstrating a high yield of 40-60 tonnes per hectare per year in a rotation of 3-4 years. In view of this, plantation of bema bamboo — which yields about 40-50 tons per hectare — on 150-200 hectares of degraded/marginal forest/non-forest degraded land could provide sustainable supply feedstock for one megawatt plant, he said.

Bangalore, India—India is targeting to generate about 10,000 MW of energy from biomass over the next decade, Deepak Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said here on Tuesday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of National Workshop on Dedicated Plantation-Based Biomass Power and Energy. He said power shortage was a big problem in the country and with a question on the safety of nuclear energy, there was an urgent need to resort to other sources of energy.

He added that currently up to 70 per cent of the electricity and other energy generation in the country depends on imports. He said if something was not done, by 2030 around 90 per cent of our energy generation would depend on imports.

Gupta pointed out that India had under-utilised its potential to generate energy from biomass. He said India could generate around 16,000 megawatt from biomass but was producing only around 1,000 megawatt. He said wasteland could be used to raise dedicated and high-yielding plants for biomass generation.

AK Verma, MD, Karnataka State Forest Industries Corporation Limited, highlighted the importance of plantation, especially bamboo, to provide sustainable supply of feedstock for power generation.

Dr D K Khare, Director, MNRE, said absence of clear state policy, clarity in procedures, and getting clearance from the Government and Forest Department for the plantation land were another roadblocks.

The secretary to the MNRE said the ideas and recommendations put forth in the workshop would be taken up and forwarded to government for implementation if they were found feasible and genuine.

Shankar Gowda Patil, Chairman, KSFIC, K Krishan, President, Grameena Abhivrudhi Mandali, Bangalore, were also present.

A Montville Patch Article by Carrie Jacobson
March 23, 2011

The Montville NRG plant is planning to shift to biomass, according to documents released recently by the company.

The change means that the plant will be produce 40 megawatts of what the company describes as “clean, renewable power.”

The change also means that the plant will continue to operate, according to documents, will bring in increased property tax revenues, and, in the construction phase, will add roughly 75 jobs.

The fuel will be clean wood biomass, which should improve emissions from the site. The change will also allow NRG to get a top energy certification, the documents say.

Currently, the plant runs on natural gas and oil. The biomass program takes one of the plant’s steam-producing units and renovates it to run on wood.

While the change will reduce the output of the unit while it is operating on the biomass fuel, it will diversify the fuel source, and help contribute to the state’s goal of producing 20 percent of its power by renewable sources.

Dave Gaier of NRG said that the unit will be able to ramp up its output quickly when more power is needed, running on natural gas or oil.

Forty megawatts of power is enough to supply fuel to 30,000 homes, the company says. “By running on ultra-low sulfur liquid fuel or natural gas,” the documents say, “the project will still be able to generate its full (megawatts), enough to support over 65,000 homes.”

A-Power Energy Generation Systems has signed an agreement to develop the first phase of a biomass power generation plant in Shandong province, China.

As per the RMB125m ($19m) contract, the China-based company will develop the 12MW renewable energy project in Yangxin county.

Under the first phase, A-Power will act as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the power project.

Construction on the renewable energy project, which is owned by Yangxin County Jinyuan Biomass Thermal Power Generation, began on 18 March 2011 and is slated to be completed by the end of this year.

A-Power is a provider of distributed power generation systems in China and a manufacturer of wind turbines.

Following through on its promise made in January, the U.S. EPA has officially released its proposal to defer for three years the Tailoring Rule permitting requirements for carbon dioxide emissions from biogenic sources, including biomass.

The agency said the additional time will allow it to conduct a detailed analysis to determine how biogenic emissions should be treated under the agency’s air permitting program. EPA will seek advice from a number of experts including federal partners, states, scientists, and industry stakeholders. A 45-day comment period will open once the proposal is published to the federal register. Sources included in the proposal are those facilities that emit carbon dioxide from burning forest or agricultural products for energy, wastewater treatment, landfills and fermentation processes for ethanol production.

Until the EPA takes final action on the deferral, permitting authorities can deem biomass fuel the best available control technology for carbon dioxide emissions from large sources, it said.

Beginning Jan. 2, the Clean Air Act required large plants and factories planning to make major modifications or those build new facilities to obtain pre-construction permits addressing their GHG emissions. Emissions from small sources, such as farms and restaurants, are not covered by these permitting requirements.

The EPA first announced its intention to defer permitting requirements for biogenic sources Jan. 12, causing a flurry of excitement in the biomass industry. “EPA’s action will provide the agency with the time it needs to ensure that GHG policies properly account for the emissions and carbon sequestration associated with biomass,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “In many cases, energy produced from biomass will provide significant reductions of GHGs relative to fossil fuels. The USDA looks forward to working with EPA in ensuring that this administration’s policies use the best science and spur innovation and job creation in the renewable energy sector.”

Brian Patterson, associate and senior consultant with Golder Associates Inc., also weighed in. “With EPA’s commitment to defer regulation of greenhouse gases from biomass combustion in federal air quality permitting programs for at least three years, larger new and existing biomass combustion projects will avoid significant portions of those programs,” he said. “In most cases, this will reduce the capital and operating costs of these projects. However, state-specific permitting programs will also play a role in the ultimate project air quality requirements.”

A new report suggests that global reliance on biomass energy production is set to treble by the year 2050.

Research from the International Institute for Environment and Development finds that biomass fuel will be responsible for 30 per cent of global energy production by this date.

This is down to the swift advancement of new technology that can convert wood to liquid and gaseous fuel that can be converted to electricity.

Report co-author Sibel Korhaliller believes that biomass fuel is at the forefront of governments’ drive for the development of greener, sustainable fuel sources.

“Government should embrace and legalise biomass fuels as a source of energy and enact policies that make supply chains sustainable,” added fellow co-author Duncan Macqueen.

UK energy minister Chris Huhne has recently revealed that the government is committed to creating a framework that will support alternative energy production methods, such as biomass, through the Renewable Heat Incentive.

A Columbia Daily Tribune Article by Jacob Barker
March 4, 2011

MFA Oil Biomass LLC isn’t waiting to sign up customers to burn the grass it plans to establish in Mid-Missouri and other areas as a dedicated energy crop.

The partnership formed by Columbia-based MFA Oil and Ohio-based Aloterra Energy is in discussions to sell the city of Columbia 200 tons to 300 tons of Miscanthus giganteus from a grow site it has near Wichita, Kan.

Assistant Water and Light Director Ryan Williams said the department is working to purchase some of the new biomass crop for a “test burn” to see how it interacts with the boilers in the city’s power plant.

MFA and Aloterra announced their partnership at a Feb. 15 news conference in Jefferson City and said they hoped to grow 50,000 acres of the plant on each of three sites — one in Mid-Missouri, one in southwest Missouri and one in northeast Arkansas.

However, the company’s plans are largely dependent on securing federal funding through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, or BCAP, to offset the costs farmers would incur planting the perennial grass, which takes three years to produce a harvest.

Although the partnership still is waiting for its grant application to be approved, discussions are moving forward with the city, said Scott Coye-Huhn, director of business development at Aloterra Energy.

Columbia’s renewable energy ordinance, passed in November 2004, requires 5 percent of its retail energy sales to come from renewable sources by the end of 2012. By 2023, 15 percent must come from renewable sources. At the end of 2009, 4.3 percent of the city’s energy portfolio came from renewables, according to a report from the Water and Light Department.

The city already burns some wood waste biomass at its power plant, which accounted for 0.5 percent of its energy sales in 2009. Jim Windsor, Water and Light’s manager of rates and fiscal planning, said the city pays about $35 a ton for the biomass it uses now. Early estimates for the Miscanthus crop indicate it would cost $60 to $70 per ton, said Marilyn Starke, the Finance Department’s purchasing agent. Windsor pointed out that if a fuel source produces more energy per ton, a higher cost per ton doesn’t translate into a higher overall cost.

But before the city can give the Miscanthus a test burn at the power plant, it has to competitively bid the contract for MFA’s biofuel. Finding other companies that sell Miscanthus giganteus, though, has been a challenge.

“We have not officially issued a bid at this point,” Starke said. “Water and Light is doing some checking because we believe the product may be a sole source.”

When a department can’t find multiple companies offering a product it wants to buy, it has to claim the product is a “sole source,” Starke said. That requires research and documentation from the department, and then Starke said she looks into it on her own.

Coye-Huhn said there are only a few fields in the country that can produce and sell Miscanthus.

“There’s not many of us,” he said. “I could count on one hand how many of us could actually supply Miscanthus for a test burn.”

Even so, Columbia isn’t the only end-user looking to get its hands on some of Aloterra’s Miscanthus. “We have other contracts that we’ve signed with large-scale aggregators that have specifically asked us not to be named,” Coye-Huhn said.

The biggest question right now is the BCAP funding. The U.S. House budget calls for slashing the program’s funding to $112 million a year. Coye-Huhn said that should provide the $13 million the company needs in the first year. The company is ready to distribute the grass, but if approval doesn’t come through in the next few weeks, MFA Oil Biomass could miss the planting window, he said. “We can’t start pulling millions of these out of the ground and find out we didn’t get the funding,” Coye-Huhn said. “We’ve got to wait.”

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has unveiled the Oregon Forest Products Energy Project, a program that will help fund biomass cogeneration projects at existing forest product companies within the state.

Part of a combined effort by the Oregon Department of Energy and Department of Forestry, Business Oregon and Energy Trust of Oregon, the first phase of the program will pay 65 percent of the cost of in-depth feasibility and engineering studies for six to 12 projects, all which must be completed by the end of October. Applications will be accepted from forest products firms such as sawmills, panel plants, engineered wood projects plants and other large users of thermal energy, but not pulp and paper producers, consulting firms, biomass harvest operations, logging, transportation, equipment manufacturers, education and research organizations and institutions, or industry and trade associations.

Projects that are determined feasible will move on to the next phase of the program, which will provide technical and financial support during the project development phase including detailed design and engineering, permitting, business plan development, interconnection, and other pre-construction activities. The final phase will consist of project and long-term financing.

An overlying goal of the program is to produce a project development guide that includes lessons learned and a set of policy recommendations to further the development of woody biomass energy projects.

To download a request for grant application, go to http://orpin.oregon.gov/open.dll/welcome.