Boardman biofuel plant gets $25M federal grant December 11, 2009

ZeaChem Inc. on Friday said it has been awarded a $25 million federal stimulus grant it will put toward its cellulosic ethanol plant under construction in Boardman.

Lakewood, Colo.-based ZeaChem announced last month that it had started construction on the 250,000-gallon-capacity plant, which will be capable of converting organic material such as forest waste and wood pulp into fuel.

The company’s core technology, which will result in a chemical called ethyl acetate, will be online by 2010. The $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will be used to build and integrate additional components that will enable final production of cellulosic ethanol.

ZeaChem was one of 19 organizations to be selected for a total of $564 million in stimulus grants targeted for advanced biorefinery projects.

The roughly $34 million biorefinery will use poplar trees as its principal feedstock. The trees will be supplied by GreenWood Resources Inc., a Portland company that operates a 17,000-acre tree farm near Boardman. If successful, the company hopes to expand the Boardman plant to commercial-scale production in the range of 25 million to 50 million gallons of fuel annually.

Portland Business Journal – http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/11/30/daily55.html

“Green jobs” likely in Idaho, perhaps driven by more hydro power, state agency says November 20, 2009

Renewable energy is one place the state could make job gains, said the Idaho Department of Commerce.

In 2008, the U.S. Energy Information Agency ranked Idaho seventh nationally in its renewable energy generating capacity, and an Idaho Department of Labor analysis found energy sector employers paying $2.6 billion to over 49,000 workers, 12 percent of total wages and 7.5 percent of total jobs.

A $1.25 million federal grant awarded earlier this week to the Department of Labor will be used to develop detailed information on the current and future potential of jobs in the state’s power and energy industry, and in particular jobs in the area of efficient and renewable energy, also known as “green jobs.”

The Energy Information Agency profile of Idaho identifies its vast hydropower resources — the sixth largest in the nation — as the source of nearly all the state’s renewable energy capacity. Wind and wood or wood waste accounted for less than 7 percent combined.

But researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have identified 6,700 additional hydropower sites that could potentially produce another 2,100 megawatts of electricity. That would boost Idaho’s hydro capacity by another 22 percent.

Wind remains the most likely alternative resource for development. In 2004, the federal energy agency found no notable wind generation in Idaho. Idaho has 146 megawatts of wind power operating in Idaho according to the Idaho Strategic Energy Alliance Wind Task Force report.

Of that total, 64.5 megawatts, is being generated by the Wolverine Farm in southeastern Idaho”s Bingham County. Recent wind mapping indicates Idaho has about 18,000 megawatts of generation potential, the 13th highest in the United States. The southeastern part of the state has been identified as having several locations with nearby transmission lines that could support viable wind farms. Most developers require a wind classification of three or higher, and of the 75 sites in Idaho at that rating a third are in the southeast.

The natural hot springs in southeastern Idaho account for the Northwest’s first geothermal electric plant near Raft River. Operated by U.S. Geothermal Inc., it produces about 13 megawatts of electricity with a maximum capacity estimated at 110 megawatts.

Generating costs are relatively high, but technological improvements offer prospects of developing one or more of the other 24 geothermal sites in Idaho identified for the Governor‚s Geothermal Task Force in 2007.

Recently the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation announced plans for a 100-megawatt geothermal plant near Preston.

Biomass — wood products, cellulosic feedstock and byproducts from grain crops — is being evaluated throughout the state to include gases containing carbon from decomposing landfill material. But timber and grain are the focus.

Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman – http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/981073.html

Commercial Wood-to-Biofuel facility planned for Boardman, Ore. November 18, 2009

A Colorado company that has developed a process to convert wood to fuel is starting construction of what will eventually be a commercial-scale production plant.

Lakewood-based ZeaChem Inc. is working with Hazen Research of Golden to build the first units of its biofuels refinery. ZeaChem President and CEO Jim Imbler says the company will transfer the modular units to Boardman, Ore., where it will eventually run a commercial refinery.

ZeaChem plans to start production at a demonstration facility in Oregon by the end of next year.

ZeaChem uses a bacteria to break down the cellulose in wood to make fuel. Imbler says the process, unlike traditional fermentation with yeast, produces little carbon dioxide.

The company raised $34 million earlier this year to help build a refinery.

Gazette Times – http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_93ef17d1-e18f-5221-bcff-81a2a2c6de18.html

Biomass meeting draws a crowd in Wallace, ID November 11, 2009

With oil supplies dwindling, carbon footprints expanding and ice caps shrinking, countries around the globe are seeking cleaner, more renewable energy sources.Here in the United States, growing environmental concerns are a hot topic in Washington, D.C. — where “going green” has become a ubiquitous political catch-phrase. Locally, the welfare of Panhandle ecosystems is a top priority for the Forest Service, Idaho Fish and Game, IDEQ, area firefighting districts and other groups.

Keeping with the worldwide environmental trend, authorities from various organizations gathered at the Wallace Inn Thursday and Friday for the Forest Restoration and Biomass Roundtable. Attendees filled a large conference room, listening quietly as Shoshone County Commissioners Vince Rinaldi, Jon Cantamessa and Vern Hanson began the proceedings.

The commissioners touched on a primary goal of the roundtable: To discuss the potential for building a biomass facility somewhere in the county.

“Our basis of operation is the health, safety and welfare of our population,” Rinaldi explained. “We have a project in mind; we are very concerned with our WUI (Wildland Urban Interface) in Shoshone County. You need to listen to the people we’ve assembled. We really believe they have something to say.”

The proposed facility would utilize biomass as a primary fuel, churning out roughly 6-20 megawatts of electricity. A combination of organic forest materials like slash, small treetops, brush and grasses, biomass is a fuel that burns quite cleanly, is almost entirely renewable and can be obtained in large quantities. A plant in Shoshone County would reduce autumn smoke from burning slash piles, and, by eliminating large quantities of combustible biomass, would also reduce the risk of a 1910-type fire disaster.

From environmental and engineering standpoints, biomass facilities make a lot of sense. But before a plant is constructed, various cause-and-effect relationships must be considered, including the economic and ecological impact of such a facility. And of course, as with any large-scale project, cost is a deciding factor.

That’s why the commissioners invited several panels of foresters, biologists and engineers, all with wide-ranging knowledge in many different fields of study. The first topic was the ecological conditions of Shoshone County, with presentations by Carol Randal and Von Helmuth of the Forest Service, county fire risk expert Henry Nipp and IDFG personnel Jim Hayden and Ryan Hardy.

Randal went over the makeup of area forests — what kind of trees are growing where, what size logs, the prevalence of diseases, etc. Nipp discussed fire remediation and mitigation tactics within Shoshone County’s WUI, while Hayden and Hardy spoke of the game and fish that call the county home.

The second panel began with Randy Swick, district ranger for the Coeur d’ Alene ranger district, who noted that just one pile of slash could cover one household’s entire electric bill for one month. He added that biomass can be found in many places throughout Shoshone County; rehabilitation stands, 1910 fire areas and logging sites were three examples given. Swick also highlighted the Coordinated Resource Operating Protocol (CROP), which will be utilized by the Forest Service to ascertain just how much biomass is available.

Bob Helmer, of the Idaho Department of Lands, discussed the potential biomass availability on state lands — saying the challenge will be collecting material that supports energy markets but does not penalize existing industries. Next up was Mike James from McKinstry Essential, whose company has been contracted with Shoshone County to conduct a feasibility study for the facility. He delved into the option of utilizing municipal solid waste as a biomass feeder (which, he said, would be much better than the current solution of piling waste in a landfill).

Entering the afternoon session, Chad Davis of Sustainable Northwest presented the economic benefits of wood-to-energy technology, while Dr. Harriet Ammann (Amman Toxicology Consulting, LLC) and Wayne Kraft (Washington Department of Ecology) spoke on emissions technology, regulations and options.

The workshop adjourned following an overview from Rinaldi and James; it recommenced Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., focused on moving forward with the potential project. A committee called the Core Planning Group was organized.

“[The group’s] primary function was just to bring some structure to this project,” Cantamessa said. “We thought that the session was very successful from what we were hoping for when we organized it.”

Rinaldi commented on the general mood of the roundtable, which drew in more attendees than the commissioners had been expecting.

“The thought was: This makes sense, we hope it works,” he said. “From the economic development standpoint, that part of it is a no-brainer.”

Considering the roundtable altogether, every facet of the two-day meeting was a small part of the big picture. A biomass facility would make Shoshone County “greener” and open the door for sustainable energy. It would create new jobs (both during construction and after), eliminate fire-prone logging slash and ostensibly provide a better solution for municipal solid waste. And it would also affect the ecology of the region, hopefully improving the health of the county’s forests.

But a facility is still a long way off, and a lot of mapping, plotting and planning needs to take place before the blueprints are drawn up. The commissioners said more meetings will be scheduled as the project takes shape; stay tuned for new developments.

NICK ROTUNNO, Shoshone News Press – http://www.shoshonenewspress.com/articles/2009/11/10/breaking_news/doc4af9a24b2f9fa609211864.txt

Activists say Eugene biomass plant will release too much pollution November 9, 2009

The Oregon Toxics Alliance is appealing the issuance of a pollution permit to a new Eugene-area biomass plant, saying the wood-fired power plant will release a host of pollutants and 234,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Seneca Sustainable Energy received an air permit last month from the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency. The alliance filed the appeal Friday, arguing that the permit doesn’t require enough pollution control or monitoring.

The company, an offshoot of Eugene-based Seneca Sawmill, would burn forest residue and bark, sawdust and shavings from mill operations at the plant to generate 18.8 megawatts of electricity a year and provide heat for the mill’s drying kilns.

The drying kilns have been heated with natural gas, which releases 3,500 tons of carbon a year, Seneca says. The company notes that many conservation groups and regulators see biomass as carbon neutral, since it burns renewable resources — namely, trees.

But the toxics alliance questions the sustainability of the plant. In addition to carbon releases, the plant would be Eugene’s largest source of styrene, acetaldehyde and naphthalene, all carcinogens, the alliance says. It would burn 32 tons of wood an hour, the alliance says.

Seneca plans to open the $45 million plant next year on six acres at its Highway 99 site north of Eugene.

By Scott Learn, The Oregonian - http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/11/activists_say_eugene_biomass_p.html

Power from Nothing: Northwest’s 20-year energy plan stresses conservation October 26, 2009

The Bonneville Power Administration paid Woody Guthrie $266.66 to write 26 songs in 30 days in 1941 to promote what the BPA was selling, hydroelectricity. The songs celebrated the Columbia River, Grand Coulee Dam and “electricity runnin’ all around, cheaper than rainwater.” One of Guthrie’s best, Roll on, Columbia, Roll on, became Washington’s official folk song.

If Guthrie hired on today, he might warble about efficient washing machines, compact fluorescent bulbs and ductless heat pumps. Roll on, conservation measures, roll on.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council, created by Congress in 1980 when the region was suffering from ill-fated investments in unneeded nuclear plants, will soon adopt a plan intended to guide energy development in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana for the next 20 years.

In Guthrie’s day, electricity was not only as cheap as rainwater, but as plentiful as well. Today, power generation is suppose to be easy on the environment, too. With the dam-building era over and the climate-change epoch beginning, the power council says conservation will be the No. 1 way the region will keep up with the demand for electricity.

According to a draft of the 20-year plan, conservation measures will not only cost a fraction of new power plants, it will reduce the release of greenhouse gases.

Besides conservation, the council says the region can meet its energy needs with more wind turbines and natural gas-fired power plants, though the council doesn’t rule out emerging forms of green energy and even the re-emergence of nuclear plants.

Environmental groups praise the council’s emphasis on conservation and wind power.

“This is the best plan they’ve ever put out,” Northwest Energy Coalition spokesman Marc Krasnowsky, whose organization nevertheless complains the council didn’t take a strong enough stand against coal plants, the electricity sector’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.

The council estimates that between 2010 and 2030, the four-state region will need enough new electricity to power five cities the size of Seattle. Four of those cities, according to the council, could be energized by simply using less electricity to run everything from traffic lights to irrigation systems.

By conservation, the council does not mean turning down the thermostat and putting on a sweater. Energy savings will come as businesses and homes gradually switch to energy-stingy lights, appliances, electronics, motors, pumps, fans, etc. “There is nothing pie-in-the-sky here,” council spokesman John Harrison said. “We’re not assuming any unusual consumer behavior.”

Regionwide, according to the council, the greatest savings will come in homes. In Guthrie’s day, aluminum smelters drove up the demand for electricity. Now, lifestyles push up consumption. Televisions per household (2.73) outnumber people (2.6). Nursing homes and assisted-living centers will become massive users of electricity as baby boomers age. An increasing number of air conditioners will make the region’s summertime use of power nearly as high as in the winter.

In industry-heavy Cowlitz County, though, energy savings primarily will come from 27 industrial customers, which consume three-quarters of the electricity supplied by Cowlitz PUD.

Over the next decade, the PUD hopes to do its part and conserve enough electricity for 13,000 households. Some 80 percent of the savings are expected to come in the industrial sector, PUD energy conservation manager Jim Wellcome said.

“We’re going to have to look more to industries. We can’t get the kind of numbers we’re looking at just from the residential and commercial sectors. Not even close,” he said. “That’s the difference between our utility and other utilities.”

The PUD already spends $2 million a year to reward ratepayers who take energy-saving measures such as insulating attics, installing weather-tight windows and buying efficient appliances. The utility plans to approximately double the amount it spends on incentives to help industries pay for energy-saving projects and to give rebates to industries that cut energy consumption.

“They need these incentives because they’re businesses concerned about the bottom line,” Wellcome said.

The PUD says ratepayers will benefit by subsidies to businesses because lower industrial consumption will hold down residential rates. “It’s cheaper to conserve than to build a plant to generate power,” PUD spokesman Dave Andrew said.

Conservation will become all the more important to PUD and it’s customers in 2011. That’s when BPA will limit the amount of low-cost federal hydropower it will sell utilities such as Cowlitz PUD. The more customers conserve, the less the PUD will have to shop around for expensive non-BPA power, Andrew said.

Even if utilities meet conservation goals, however, the Northwest still will need new sources of electricity.

In assessing where that electricity will come from, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council concluded that it’s unlikely more coal plants will be built in the region unless greenhouse gases can be permanently stored underground rather than released into the air. So far, the technology is unproven on a large scale.

Critics complain the council should be bolder in charting how the region can retire its existing coal plants.

“It’s become clear we have to reduce carbon emissions and holding them steady is not enough,” Krasnowsky said. “There’s no way to do it without dealing with coal.”

Coal plants emit 85 percent of the carbon dioxide from the region’s energy generators while supplying 18 percent of the electricity.

In comments to the council, Kennecott Energy, which operates coal mines in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado, argued the coal industry is becoming less damaging to the environment and that there is no cheaper or more reliable source of energy than coal. Coal should play a greater role in the Northwest, according to Kennecott.

The council’s power plan, however, observes that even the cleanest new coal plants can’t meet carbon-emission limits set by Washington, Oregon and Montana.

Washington’s law scuttled plans to build a coal plant in Kalama. Before that happened, the plant’s proponent, Energy Northwest, distanced itself from coal by saying the plant would probably use primarily petroleum coke, a byproduct from refining oil that actually emits more carbon, sulfur and metals than coal.

Harrison, the council spokesman, said the council has no authority to regulate coal plants, but it foresees the possibility that a carbon tax or federal cap on emissions will curtail output from those plants and help states meet their goals to roll back carbon emissions.

“I think we can assume there will be some control of carbon emissions,” he said.

Main sources of Northwest energy in the next 20 years

Conservation

Conservation measures, such as installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, will meet 85 percent of the Northwest’s demand for more electricity over the next 20 years.

Wind

Laws mandating investments in renewable energy guarantee wind farms will continue to sprout in the Northwest.

Natural gas

The region may need to build more natural gas-fired plants to reduce the use of coal and pick up the slack when calm weather cuts the output of wind turbines.

Green energy

Small-scale renewable energy plants, such as ones that burn wood debris, could supplement and back up wind turbines.

Coal

It’s unlikely more coal-fired power plants will be built unless technology can be perfected that will allow carbon emissions to be stored permanently underground instead of released into the air.

Nuclear

The Trojan cooling tower (above) was imploded in 2006, and only one Northwest nuclear plant remains. A new-generation of nuclear plants could be a source of energy that doesn’t contribute to climate change.

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity supplies nearly half of the energy used in the Northwest. Additional large hydro projects appear unlikely, but there could be new small-scale development.

Rates

BPA hearing on new transmission line is Thursday

Higher natural gas prices, carbon taxes on coal plants and mandates to invest in renewable energy likely will gradually push electric rates up.

The Bonneville Power Administration is holding a public meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Mark Morris High School to discuss a proposed new transmission line extending from Castle Rock to Troutdale, Ore.

The federal agency says it’s seeking to build the line between two new power substations to meet growing power demand along the Interstate 5 corridor.

The transmission system in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon is approaching capacity, according to the BPA.

For more information on the proposal, visit www.bpa.gov/go/i5

The Daily News – http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/10/25/top_story/doc4ae3a64bb9449039452097.txt

Montana Sawmills Set to Create Biomass Fuel October 18, 2009

Montana sawmills are working with Montana’s power company to create biomass fuel. Eight sawmills are partnering with NorthWestern Energy and the Montana Community Development Corporation. The goal is to create wood-fueled power across the state. It’s partially funded by a $125,000 grant from the State. The combined effort hopes to help address the pine beetle problem and diversify the State’s electric supply.

KECI (TV) – http://www.keci.com/Montana-Sawmills-Set-to-Create-Biomass-Fuel/5460581

2 Montana companies get funds for biomass studies September 19, 2009

Two Montana energy companies have been awarded a total of $425,000 in grants for biomass energy feasibility studies through the Montana Department of Commerce.á The Department has awarded $300,000 to Porter Bench Energy, LLC and $125,000 to NorthWestern Energy for the preparation of biomass feasibility studies focused on assessing the potential for the development of woody biomass generation plants in Montana.á

The potential for biomass power production in Montana is significant, according to the state agency. Timber waste has proven to be a valuable feedstock and new energy development could be a shot in the arm to a struggling timber industry.

The State of Montana is looking to the western part of the state as a potential location for private sector driven development of woody biomass energy generation plants. This will be a complement to ongoing projects that use alternative energy sources for power generation.

The Montana Reinvestment Act (HB 645), passed by the 61st Montana Legislature, appropriated $475,000 in funds for the Montana Department of Commerce to fund biomass project feasibility studies and other expenditures related to biomass.á The Montana Reinvestment Act implements the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (stimulus funding).

The grant to Porter Bench Energy, LLC will assist the company in advancing its mission to develop multiple biomass plants in Montana. PB Energy has completed an initial review of biomass power generation potential in Lincoln and Flathead Counties. With this grant, they will expand their research to include the entire Western part of Montana.

The grant to NorthWestern Energy will enable the company to assess the feasibility of constructing up to eight biomass electricity plants throughout its service territory in Montana, concentrating on an area from the Flathead Valley, through Missoula, Butte and Big Timber. NorthWestern could potentially purchase or construct up to 200 MW of biomass electricity through this region and will partner with state and federal agencies to facilitate this study.

The remaining $50,000 in grant funds will be awarded to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to continue existing biomass programs.

Big Sky Business Journal – http://www.bigskybusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=653:stimulus-grants-for-biomass-energy-feasibility-studies&catid=19:montanagovernment&Itemid=17

Wash. State lands commissioner wants to branch out to wind, biomass energy September 19, 2009

Lumber prices have fallen with the economic recession, but state lands commissioner Peter Goldmark said this week that there is still plenty of economic value in state forests — and much of it is untapped.

Biomass growing on 2.1 million acres of state forests could be burned to generate electricity or converted to a liquid fuel called methanol, he said. Further, he endorsed the careful expansion of the state’s burgeoning wind energy business to the west side of the Cascades — provided the massive towers won’t imperil wildlife.

He’s less concerned about spoiling views with blades spinning 400 feet off the ground.

“We’re going to have to make compromises to achieve our goal of energy independence,” Goldmark said during a meeting with The Columbian’s editorial board on Tuesday.

State officials have delayed the granting of a lease proposed near Naselle, where public utility consortium Energy Northwest has proposed building Southwest Washington’s first wind farm on Radar Ridge. The presence of a threatened seabird, the marbled murrelet, prompted the state to put the lease on hold.

“Radar Ridge is one of the worst places to site a wind project,” he said.

Goldmark, a Democrat who defeated two-term incumbent commissioner Doug Sutherland last fall, said he actually camped out on the site to get a better sense of early-morning murrelet activity.

He spotted few birds. That might not be so surprising, considering that murrelets have dwindled nearly to the point of extinction.

“We all want to site these things,” he said, referring to wind farms. “We have to do it in a manner that doesn’t cause a conflict with endangered species.”

To avoid wildlife conflicts in the future, Goldmark has directed the state Department of Natural Resources to work with state and federal wildlife management agencies. He anticipates the work will result in a map that steers developers toward areas with plenty of wind, few endangered critters and easy access to electrical transmission lines.

“Nobody wins in court,” he said.

Wind is not the only renewable energy resource on state lands, he said.

Goldmark will sort through 30 proposals for two biomass pilot projects on state lands, one on the east and one on the west side of the Cascades. Goldmark, an Okanogan County rancher who earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley, said he is especially intrigued by the possibility of turning logging slash into liquid fuel.

“I’m convinced that the technology exists,” he said. “Whether it’s commercially viable is another question.”

Although converting wood into liquid methanol is nothing new, it’s prohibitively expensive to transport logging slash, brush and dying trees out of remote forests to centralized plants. Instead, researchers at the University of Washington are working with a private-sector partner to develop truck-mounted mobile technology.

If it works, Goldmark said, the process could produce gallon of diesel fuel for every 25 pounds of dry pine or fir.

The Department of Natural Resources could play a major role in the development of mobile technology, he said. Because the state has such an ample supply of overstocked timber stands — especially on the east side of the Cascades, where insect infestations have raised the fire hazard — Goldmark said the state has no shortage of raw material. It’s preferable to convert it into fuel before it’s consumed in wildfires, he said.

“We can no longer stand by and watch our forests burn,” he said.

Erik Robinson, The Columbian – http://columbian.com/article/20090918/NEWS02/709189938/

Bids to be requested for Forks, Wash. biomass boiler in October September 19, 2009

Quillayute Valley School District wants to make the Forks area greener — at least in terms of saving energy.

The district in October will put out to bid its biomass boiler, which would heat half of the middle school and the entire new high school once it is completed.

The biomass boiler — which would use chipped wood waste as fuel — is to be partially paid for through a $1 million grant approved by the state Legislature. The district is seeking an additional $500,000 through the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Construction should begin in November and the project should be completed in time to heat Forks Middle School by the end of 2010, Superintendent Diana Reaume said.

“This has been such a journey,” she said. “And we have had so much help from the community, and my staff has been fantastic.”

The design resembles a brick tower that harkens back to old-fashioned plants, Reaume said.

“The idea is to symbolically represent history while combining with the new green concepts and incorporating as much energy-saving concepts as possible,” she said.

“There will also be a learning theme throughout the building to teach about the wave of the future with green energy conservation resources, as well as some of the history of the area.”

The 50-foot tower will feature information on green energy to teach students and community members about the process and windows will give an outside glimpse of what the boiler looks like on the inside.

Reaume said that, as the first biomass boiler of such size at a school, it would be considered an “icon for the state,” as well as allowing the school to retire a diesel tank and one of its propane tanks.

“I cautiously estimate that we could save between $75,000 and $90,000 a year,” Reaume said.

“The reason I’m cautious is that the cost of the market for the chips fluctuates a great deal, and as this is the wave of the future for energy savings, it could drive the price up.”

The wood chips would be delivered to the school a couple times a week, Reaume said.

She said she hoped that local mills could supply it, but that the wood chips would have to be bid upon just as with any other district fuel.

“We are very hopeful that they will be able to, though,” she said.

Emissions controls

The boiler will have a variety of emissions control devices, Reaume said.

“The emissions standards in Washington are much higher than almost any other state,” she said.

“We’ve been working very closely with [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to make sure we will meet those requirements.”

Reaume said that Bill Henderson, “our director of maintenance, has worked very hard to make sure everything on this will be working well.”

Rod Fleck, city attorney and planner for Forks, was instrumental in helping the school district acquire the original grant for the boiler, she said.

Paige Dickerson, Peninsula Daily News – http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090919/news/309199998

Boardman Ore. Poplar pulp may be converted to biofuel September 14, 2009

The poplar trees here grow 10 feet a year, transforming an irrigated stretch of desert near the Columbia River into a neatly pruned forest. For now, the trees provide lumber for cabinets and pulp for paper.

But in the years ahead, energy entrepreneurs hope the pulp from poplar can be turned into ethanol, helping resuscitate the Northwest’s floundering biofuels industry.

One of the first investments in this region will be near Boardman, where construction is scheduled to begin later this year on a demonstration plant that will produce about 1.2 million gallons a year of ethanol from poplar.

“We’ve raised $34 million and that’s enough to move us forward,” said Jim Imbler, chief executive officer of ZeaChem, the Colorado-based company that is building the plant.

The push to develop poplar ethanol comes at a dismal time for the Northwest biofuels industry.

Just a few years back, the industry attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from investors and legislative support from politicians eager to see the region’s farm and forest economies bolstered by a new push into energy production. But the first three large-scale biofuel plants launched in the region ended up importing energy crops from outside.

Today they all are floundering, knocked down by last year’s run-up in crop prices and an implosion in oil prices as the recession took hold.

Imperium’s biodiesel plant in Aberdeen, built to use Canadian canola, is idle. A Clatskanie, Ore., plant that tried to make money converting Midwestern corn into ethanol opened in the summer of 2008, then shut down in January.

A second corn-ethanol plant near Boardman still operates. But the plant is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization as its parent company, Pacific Ethanol, struggles to pay off debts.

The biofuels industry also is under assault from critics who question the ethics and environmental wisdom of diverting food crops such as corn into fuel. They question whether the thirst for material to produce biofuels is spurring a global expansion of agriculture, with wide-ranging repercussions on water, forests cleared for crops and soil fertility.

“There is a finite amount of land on this earth … adding additional land-use demands for agriculture has consequences, and that is undeniable,” said Kate McMahon, who represents Friends of the Earth.

Despite the controversy, the U.S. ethanol industry — bolstered by federal and state subsidies — has still mustered impressive growth.

Largely corn-based ethanol production hit 9 billion gallons in 2008, nearly double the output from just two years earlier. Much of the ethanol is produced in the Midwest grain-belt states.

That fuel represented — by volume — about 6 percent to 7 percent of total gasoline consumption.

Many entrepreneurs are banking that the federal government’s involvement will drive a dramatic expansion of the biofuels industry — and help make poplar ethanol commercially feasible.

A federal mandate requires the production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels by 2022. The law calls for some 15 billion gallons of that fuel to come from wood, wheat straw, corncobs or other cellulosic materials rather than foods such as corn or sugar cane. That’s spurring research and development efforts.

But breaking down cellulosic material and turning it into fuel is a more complicated and costly undertaking than converting starch or sugar crops to ethanol.

To date there still are no commercial-scale cellulose-to-ethanol plants operating in North America. Most of the plants are in a pilot or demonstration stage, and, like the ZeaChem project near Boardman, still under development.

One oil-industry skeptic likened the quest to produce ethanol from cellulose to the search for the Holy Grail.

“But remember, they never found the Holy Grail,” said John Felmy, an economist for the American Petroleum Institute at a 2007 conference of the Renewable Fuels Association.

ZeaChem, formed in 2002, is using a technology that harnesses the same bacteria used by termites as they feast on wood.

The bacteria break down the cellulose into acetic acid and then eventually into ethanol or another, more valuable chemical — ethyl acetate. Ethyl acetate is used as a solvent in varnishes and lacquers.

ZeaChem researchers say that this process allows a more complete conversion of cellulose to ethanol, offering a fuel yield more than fivefold greater than an acre of corn and considerably more than other cellulosic technologies.

HAL BERNTON, SEATTLE TIMES – http://www.tri-cityherald.com/business/story/715171.html

Biomass conference at Univ. of Montana Sept. 22-24 September 9, 2009

The Plum Creek Conference on Forests and Energy: The Economic and Ecological Implications of Biomass Utilization from Rocky Mountain Forests will take place at The University of Montana Sept. 22-24.

The conference features lectures by experts in ecology and economics and individuals currently involved in the field of biomass use. All conference lecture events are free and open to the public.

The goal of the conference is to identify the areas of agreement and gaps in knowledge with respect to the sustained use of forests to supply energy needs for people. It also will address the broad impacts of a changing global climate.

Topics that will be discussed are: how forests can be managed to provide a sustainable supply of energy; the ecological implications of using woody biomass; and the economic feasibility of utilizing biomass for energy in the Rocky Mountain region.

Following is the schedule of the conference lecture events, which will take place in the University Center Theater:

Lecture: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22 — Speakers: Elaine Oneil, research scientist at the University of Washington and the executive director of the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, and Robert Rummer, project leader of Forest Operations Research to Achieve Sustainable Management.

Lecture: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23 — Speakers: Andrea Colnes, policy and development director, Biomass Energy Resource Center, Montpelier, Vt., and Daniel deB. Richter Jr., professor of soils and forest ecology, University Program in Ecology, Southern Center for Sustainable Forests, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, N.C.

7-9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 — Interactive panel discussion. Panel members are conference speakers Colnes, Oneil, Richter and Rummer.

For more information, go online to http://www.cfc.umt.edu/plumcreekconf, call Laurel Aroner at 406-243-5245 or e-mail laurel [dot] aroner [at] umontana [dot] edu

Laurel Aroner, Clark Fork Chronicle - http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20090909162745640

Looking for a biofuels breakthrough in Boardman, Ore. September 5, 2009

On paper, making fuel from plant materials looks like a simple five-step process.

You start with a bundle of twigs. Separate the cellulose, add enzymes, then let the brew ferment. A couple of chemical processes later, you’re powering a car with a product that quite literally grows on trees.

In reality, large-scale ethanol production has only rarely been able to compete with the cost of a barrel of oil. And with the recent recession, the dream of cheap, renewable fuel seems even further from reach.

But former oil executive Jim Imbler, who now heads a Colorado biofuels company called ZeaChem Inc., thinks he might have found the key to profitability in Oregon.

And it lies in Boardman, home to one of the nation’s largest hybrid poplar tree farms, grown by Portland-based GreenWood Resources.

“We’ve done the math, and we can compete with $40- to $50-a-barrel crude oil,” said Imbler, based in Lakewood, Colo. “We’re really excited to get going in Oregon.” Backed by $40 million in venture capital, ZeaChem plans to build a demonstration plant in Boardman that will convert Oregon hybrid poplar trees, grass and agricultural waste into ethanol.

Using an innovative technology, the biorefinery could mean a breakthrough for the biofuels industry, on a quest to meet federal mandates for alternative fuels.

Experts believe cellulose, found in nearly every plant, tree and bush, may be the future for abundant, affordable ethanol. And Oregon, with its vast tree farms, forests and farmlands, is poised to be a field of dreams for the industry, recently criticized for relying too heavily on corn, pitting food resources against fuel.

“Corn is a very energy intensive crop,” said Rick Wallace, the state’s biofuels coordinator. “Biomass has a smaller carbon footprint, and we have a lot of it here. There are a lot of benefits for Oregon if we can develop these technologies.”

By the end of the year, ZeaChem plans to break ground on a five-acre site owned by the Port of Morrow. It hopes its tests, using eastern Oregon wheat straw and trimmings from the Umatilla National Forest, will eventually lead to a commercial plant that pumps out up to 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.

But like many biofuels entrepeneurs on a sprint to the next generation, ZeaChem is gambling on the unknown. Across the Northwest, corn ethanol plants that attracted millions of dollars in public and private investment now stand idle.

By all accounts, ZeaChem’s technology looks promising.

“(Their technology) has a very big potential,” Wallace said. “But can it be done at a commercial level economically? We don’t know these answers yet. If they do, it’s a real benefit to Oregon. “

Links to Oregon
Dozens, if not hundreds, of companies are racing toward cellulosic ethanol production, which must meet a federal mandate of 16 billion gallons by 2022.

ZeaChem’s secret weapon: a bacterium found in the guts of termites. The bacterium, acetogen, ferments cellulose into acetic acid, which can eventually be turned into ethanol.

The company’s demonstration plant, unlike some other technologies, will use a variety of plant materials, producing about 1.5 million gallons of ethanol a year.

“We can feed softwood trees, hardwood trees, corn cobs,” Imbler said. “If you think about a termite, it doesn’t really care. Our vision is to become a technological skunkworks.”

ZeaChem, with 30 employees and a lab in California, says its patented process offers higher yields at lower cost, with a lower carbon footprint than other methods. The bacterium can also be used to make another, more valuable chemical, ethyl acetate, a solvent in varnishes and lacquers. It enables the development of other lines of business, turning plant material into solvents for paints or chemicals used in plastics.

“We believe ZeaChem is the leading advanced biofuel company,” said Paul Batcheller, a partner in South Dakota-based PrairieGold Venture Partners, a major investor in ZeaChem. “One thing is that their yields translates to a huge economic advantage. I think Oregon has a great advantage in terms of feedstock and marketing the project.”

Oregon offers fertile ground for the company’s giant leap. For starters, the state may provide a financial sweetner: ZeaChem has applied for the state’s Business Energy Tax Credits, which would be worth about $6.5 million.

Another key reason for locating in Oregon: proximity to GreenWood Resources, which owns the 26,000-acre hybrid poplar tree farm in Boardman. The company also owns 6,000 acres near Clatskanie and accounts for 90 percent of the state’s poplar production.

“We love hybrid poplar because its the best deal we can find now,” Imbler said. “If you have something that can grow cheaper, faster, we’re all for it. But I think the hybrid poplar is hard to beat.”

When it comes to growing trees fast and inexpensively, GreenWood Resources is a well-known expert. Its poplars, through traditional breeding methods, can grow 10 to 15 feet each year. The company’s partnership will provide a steady feedstock near the test plant.

“They’re going to need feedstock 24-7 once they get to the commercial level,” said Jake Eaton, GreenWood’s managing director of global acquisitions and resource planning. “We can optimize high yields and produce a low-cost dedicated feedstock.”

Studies show hybrid poplar is a fairly efficient feedstock for cellulosic ethanol. The partnership allows GreenWood to develop trees for a growing market in cellulosic-based chemicals and ethanol.

“From what we can see, they have the best technology out there,” Eaton said.
Recession and risks But making fuel out of plants is not the hard part. After all, scientists over the past year have turned coffee grounds into biodiesel and watermelon rinds into ethanol. Big oil companies are investing billions of dollars into growing algae.

The challenge is to build a commercial plant, which will take lots of plant material and money.

ZeaChem’s project comes at a turbulent time for nation’s ethanol industry, shaken by bankruptcies and failures over the past year. Along with other agricultural industries, biofuels rode the rollercoaster commodities market to its heights last year, only to have prices collapse with the recession.

The fallout from the credit crisis delivered a double punch, freezing access to credit and private capital for new research and construction. Then early this year, oil prices fell, making it difficult for ethanol producers to compete at the pump. So far, all commercial ethanol plants in the U.S. use corn.

“A number of plants misread the commodity markets,” says John Urbanchuk, a Pennsylvania-based expert in agriculture and biofuels with LECG LLC, a global consulting firm. “A lot of people thought that corn prices were going to continue to climb, and they were unable to cover their commodity positions.”

A wave of bankruptices and closures has followed, leaving idle corn ethanol plants and stalled projects across the Northwest.

Cascade Grain LLC, built a $200 million ethanol plant in Clatskanie last year and filed for bankruptcy protection in January. The plant ran for just six months before it was shut down.

In Longview, Wash., Northwest Renewables broke ground on a $100 million corn ethanol plant three years ago. Last week, the company announced the project, on hold for some time, would become a biomass plant with an uncertain timeline.

In Boardman, Pacific Ethanol’s plant continues to pump out 40 million gallons a year, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. The plant uses mostly corn from the Midwest, said company spokesman Paul Koehler.

Now, however, the prospects might be getting brighter for ethanol. Oil prices have increased, and corn and natural gas prices, the two largest costs in the industry, have fallen.

“The outlook today is brighter than six or seven months ago,” Urbanchuk said. “The profitibility picture looks better.”

The long-term prognosis for the industry is for steady growth, mostly due to government environmental policies that ensure demand for ethanol, in particular, cellulosic ethanol. Unlike corn, biomass holds the promise of greater efficiency, and it doesn’t compete for food resources.

For 2009, federal mandates require production of 11 billion gallons of biofuel, of which 100 million gallons which must come from no-corn feedstock. By 2022, cellulosic ethanol must make up nearly half of the government’s required 36 billion gallons of biofuels.

“The industry responded quickly to demand, and now we’re seeing demand and supply move into balance,” said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Washington-DC- based Renewable Fuels Association. “But there’s so much more growth that’s projected, those closed facilities may once again fire up as the economics of the industry improve.”
Implications for Oregon
In Oregon, the push for renewable fuel and energy has big economic implications. Many parties now eye Oregon’s forests for biomass, from wood pellet manufacturers to utility companies. And many others, from foresters to timber fellers to environmentalists, are pinning their hopes on a new, green market for Oregon wood.

Biofuel projects will likely bring new jobs into rural areas hard hit by years of mill closures. And they will put the state on the map in a growing industry.

“We don’t have the corn or the soy the Midwest does,” said Wallace, who works with different state departments in developing biofuels. “We need to get into (cellulosic) biofuels, if we’re going to play. I think we’re going to see more projects like this.”

In Boardman, ZeaChem’s project will create 75 construction jobs and 20 full-time jobs once the plant is running. If the company builds a commercial plant, dozens more jobs could be added.

“We’re excited about that potential,” said Gary Neal, general manager of the Port of Morrow. “There’s going to be a great utilization of the products and biproducts of the region, good paying jobs. We just see lots of pluses, and it’s good for the environment.”

Beyond jobs, developing local sources of fuel will mean more money stays in the state, Wallace said. In 2008, Oregonians spent $8 billion fueling up their cars and trucks. While some of that money goes toward taxes, most of the money spent on transportation fuels goes out of state.

Ultimately, finding uses for the state’s biomass will be good for the forests, said Mike Cloughesy, director of forestry for the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. The state has about 4.25 million acres capable of providing biomass by forest thinning projects, which would prevent wildfires.

“There is more than enough material to go around,” McCloughesy said. “Anything that makes more markets for biomass creates more opportunities for active forest management.”

Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/09/a_looking_for_a_biofuels_break.html

Company plans biomass power project in Longview, Wash. August 28, 2009

A company that had planned to build an ethanol manufacturing plant in Longview now wants to build a facility that would burn wood waste to produce electricity.

Vancouver, Wash.-based Northwest Renewable estimates the $72.5 million biomass plant will create up to 400 construction jobs and up to 70 permanent positions. The Daily News of Longview reports that the company hopes to start construction next year. It says the proposed 24-megawatt plant would burn wood chips and other waste to generate steam, which would then drive a turbine to make electricity.

Northwest Renewable originally planned to make corn-based ethanol at the Longview site, starting in June 2008. But poor economic conditions in the alternative fuels industry kept the 31-acre site idle.

The Daily News – http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=11009793

Washington’s woody debris shows promise for clean fuels, report says August 21, 2009

A University of Washington report says woody biomass may be the state’s best opportunity to develop biofuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The report by the UW School of Forest Resources say woody biomass is the most abundant and sustainable state resource that can be converted into liquid fuels to replace gasoline and diesel.

Woody biomass is the residue left after tree harvesting, forest thinning or the manufacturing of wood products.

The report says 11 million dry tons of forest biomass could be available for energy production. That’s about two-thirds of what’s available annually in the state.

The Washington Legislature had asked researchers to look into the potential of wood as a renewable energy source.

The Oregonian – http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/08/washingtons_biomass_shows_prom.html

La Pine, Ore. Biomass Power Plant Planned August 19, 2009

Deschutes County Commissioners in late June approved the siting to construct a biomass power plant in La Pine.  St. Helens-based, Biogreen Sustainable Energy will build and operate the proposed 18-megawatt electricity plant powered by a steam turbine.  The plant will be fueled by woody biomass, or hogg fuel ground-up from mill waste, small timber, slash and construction waste.  Construction reportedly begins in four months, for completion in 18 months.

http://naturalresourcereport.com/2009/08/timber-update-mill-closes-field-burn-ban-new-forest-caucus/

Oregon company to turn dairy waste into biofuel May 13, 2009

An Oregon business hopes to become the first company to turn dairy and wood waste into a renewable biofuel called butanol.

Diesel Brewing of Salem plans to burn either dairy or wood waste to create liquid butanol through a process called gasification.

Butanol is a form of alcohol that could completely replace gasoline rather than be blended with it, like ethanol.

CEO Jeff Raines and his business partners are planning to open a pilot plant in Salem by the end of the year.

The test plant would use from about half a ton to one ton of wood and dairy waste per day. If the process proves workable, Raines and his team hope to build commercial-scale plants that use 100 tons of waste per day and produce a couple million gallons of butanol per year.

The Associated Press - http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-14/1242226675139880.xml&storylist=orlocal

Bioelectricity More Efficient than Ethanol for Transportation, Study Shows May 10, 2009

In a new study published online yesterday in the journal Science, researchers led by Elliott Campbell of the University of California, Merced modeled entire fuel systems all the way from crop cultivation to vehicle propulsion, comparing cumulative greenhouse-gas emissions for both biofuels and bioelectricity. They found that the bioelectric pathway came out ahead of both corn ethanol and advanced cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass.

“We expected that electricity would look better than corn ethanol, but it was surprising to see that this was also the case for the more advanced second-generation ethanols,” Campbell says. “In all cases, the electricity pathway uses a lot less land to achieve the same amount of transportation.”

The study suggests than electric vehicle powered by biomass will travel an average of 81% farther than an internal-combustion vehicle powered by cellulosic ethanol if both are produced from the same area of cropland.

The results also suggest that alternative bioenergy pathways have large differences in how efficiently they use the available land to achieve transportation and climate goals.

>>Listen to an interview with lead author Elliott Campbell from Science Podcast

Timothy B. Hurst, Gas 2.0 - http://gas2.org/2009/05/08/bioelectricity-more-efficient-than-ethanol-for-transportation-study-shows/

Idaho Energy Offers Many Prospects (Part I) May 9, 2009

A selling point of President Barack Obama’s historic campaign for the presidency was converting the national energy system from one reliant on fossil fuels to one that uses renewable resources, which he said would also create jobs.

Since Idaho does not produce fossil fuels, it is in a unique position to look to other sources. In 2005, 48 percent of Idaho’s electricity came from hydro-electric dams throughout the Northwest. It also has the second lowest electricity costs in the country.

Still, Idaho suffers from an energy deficit. Demand for electricity is growing faster than Idaho’s supply. Forty- five percent of Idaho’s energy was imported from out of state in 2003.

Some Idaho researchers are on the leading edge of alternative energy development. These technologies may provide the energy and economy that will fuel Idaho’s future.

From the forests

Jay O’Laughlin, a University of Idaho professor and chair of the Forestry Task Force of the Idaho Strategic Energy Alliance, proposes using waste wood from forests and sawmills to fuel boilers. These would provide steam heating to buildings and residences in Idaho’s communities. This potential energy source has been utilized in Idaho for decades.

Modern steam heating, such as the UI’s Steam Plant, can be used in a closed system with little water loss. It can also utilize reverse processes to cool buildings.

“I don’t call it wood waste,” he said. “What we have is a resource.”

O’Laughlin said burning wood as a source of energy will thin forests, helping to prevent forest fires, create a renewable energy source and create more jobs in the lumber industry.

“The best way to create new resources is to use what we have more efficiently,” he said. “This is the future — taking things we consider waste and using it for energy.”

Burning wood in a controlled manner would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Fewer pollutants are released when burned in a high temperature environment such as a boiler, he said.

“I call it ‘wood bio-energy,’” he said.

Although burning wood produces carbon dioxide, considered a greenhouse gas, O’Laughlin said it is part of a natural cycle that occurs when wood decays on the forest floor or was burned in a wildfire. In contrast, fossil fuels take carbon out of the earth and release it into the atmosphere, a process known as carbon sequestration.

“Carbon emissions are biogenic rather than entropic,” he said. “It’s part of the natural carbon cycle.”

The problem with a secondary product such as waste wood as an energy source is its dependency on the market whims of the primary commodity. Since the collapse of the housing market, demand for lumber has decreased, causing many lumber mills to close down or reduce operations.

“Lumber production is half what it was two years ago,” he said. “That’s a big hit.” Still, O’Laughlin expects the lumber industry in North Idaho to bounce back. “Wood is such a versatile material,” he said. “There will always be a need for it.”

O’Laughlin points out that although the industry is in a lull, that does not necessarily apply to the resource. “The trees are still out there and still growing,” he said. “The resource is still there.”

O’Laughlin said wood-fired boilers can also be used to create steam, which generates electricity, but using the steam for heat is more efficient. A hybrid system which uses both is optimal, he said.

Wood fuel will gain an economic advantage over coal if a tax is placed on carbon emissions, he said.

Coal power plants could combine wood to the coal they burn to reduce emissions and costs, O’Laughlin said. Up to 15 percent wood can be burned without any modifications to existing coal plants.

One of the challenges of collecting waste wood from the forest is the bulk and difficulty of transport, because most the mass of wood is air and water. O’Laughlin said one solution is to chip the wood or turn it into pellets for transport.

Wood can even be chemically broken down into bio-diesel, a process used by Russia during World War II. However, the process is not very efficient or economical, he said.

ISEA receives no state funding for expenses or wages. O’Laughlin said members pay their own expenses.

“We do it because we think it’s important,” he said.

From the sky

Turbine wind farms produce renewable electricity, which could be the next cash crop for Idaho, said Boise State University researcher Todd Haynes.

“Every kilowatt hour of electricity that we import, we’re sending money out of the state,” he said. “Every time we put up a wind farm, we’re keeping dollars at home.”

The U.S. Department of Energy Web site stated that wind power is the cleanest and most economical source of renewable energy. Idaho ranks 13th in the nation for wind power potential — as much as Washington and Oregon combined, Haynes said.

“A problem in Idaho is that we don’t live up to our potential,” he said, citing the need for development of wind farms and transmission infrastructure.

Haynes proposes developing wind farms to not only provide energy for use inside the state, but for export to neighboring states during times of high production.

“We should be taking advantage of wind when we have it,” he said. “Demand is growing rapidly in other states. They pay much more than Idaho … a lot of that is driven by policy.”

Due to government policies and taxes against non-renewable energy, some states in the Northwest pay more for renewable electricity. Exporting wind power has the potential to bring in economic revenue, he said.

“(Idaho residents) don’t sell potatoes to each other,” he said. “They sell them to other states.”

Even if Idaho doesn’t produce wind electricity, it can still benefit from the manufacturing and service of wind turbines and equipment, Haynes said.

Europe-based Nordic Wind Power Ltd. recently selected Pocatello as the location for its North America wind turbine manufacturing plant. Also, CPM Precision Machine Inc., stationed in Boise, manufactures the Blackhawk Vertical Axis Wind Turbine for individual home use.

Haynes said this type of manufacturing will create jobs for Idaho citizens.

Idaho’s location near fast growing wind energy states in the nation make it ideal for the production of wind generators, Haynes said.

Maintaining wind turbines and infrastructure can also provide jobs for Idaho graduates. Idaho State University is considering developing a wind technologies degree programs, Haynes said.

The main drawback of wind power is its intermittency due to the unpredictable nature of wind. This creates problems for power grid operators, because power grids cannot store electricity, they can only transmit it from a provider to a user.

Haynes compares operating a power grid to walking a tightrope — with electricity being produced on one side and electricity consumed on the other. He said with traditional generators, such as coal power plants, grid operators are able to keep at least one side of the equation stable and predictable. With wind energy, this is not possible.

To offset this, Haynes is developing processes to store wind energy and better forecast the behavior of winds.

To store wind energy, Haynes is looking to a method that involves using a wind turbine to compress air, which can be released later to turn a turbine a produce electricity. The problem with this technique is it traditionally uses underground caverns as a place to store the compressed air. This makes it location specific, and when compressed air is released, it comes out at a colder temperature, which hinders the efficiency of the generator. To offset this, natural gas is often burned to warm the generator.

Hayne’s model moves the storage of compressed air to above-ground tanks and uses the compressed air to push water through a turbine to prevent cooling.

“We can improve it by not making it site specific, and not using natural gas,” he said. “We think it is a practical solution.”

Other methods of wind-energy storage are also being looked at by researchers, such as fly wheels and batteries, he said.

“In every case, there’s a cost,” he said, citing monetary and energy costs. “Everybody is trying to see if they can come up with the best way to store wind power.”

Even with effective forecasting and storage of wind power, Haynes acknowledges that Idaho cannot be powered by wind generators alone, but as a supplemental power source that can stimulate the state’s economy.

“Wind power is the most competitive on an economic scale,” he said.

Reid Wright, Argonaut – http://www.uiargonaut.com/content/view/8078/48/

agreement allows more biomass harvest in Wallowa Co., Ore. April 17, 2009

One thousand acres of Wallowa-Whitman National Forest land will be available for potential biomass harvest. That is the agreement within the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) being signed by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), Wallowa Whitman National Forest Supervisor Steve Ellis, State Forester John Buckman, Wallowa County Biomass Group representative Nils Christoffersen and others April 6 during Walden’s Wallowa County visit.
The signing of the MOU will be held at 4 p.m. at Tomas Conference Center in Enterprise.

In addition to making those 1,000 acres available, the Forest Service will also commit to examining other options to provide woody biomass product, such as writing in stipulations on thinning contracts favorable to biomass harvest.

“This isn’t a hard contract,” cautions Christoffersen, “but it is a memorandum about our shared intent to build biomass industry in Wallowa County.”

The point of this exercise is to grease the wheels for potential business investors, according to County Commissioner Mike Hayward. “The challenge you have with biomass is that private investors will not spend the substantial amount of money it takes to develop the infrastructure to utilize the biomass unless they have a guaranteed raw materials supply,” he said. “Signing the MOU is a step in trying to make that supply more certain.”

It is an exercise with precedent.

Lake County signed an MOU about biomass production with public and private agencies last November. A 20-year MOU was signed by private lumber companies, Fremont-Winema National Forests, Lakeview District of the Bureau of Land Management, mill owner Collins Companies of Portland, Marubeni Sustainable Energy of San Diego, Calif., Lake County Resources Initiative (modeled on Wallowa Resources) and other agencies in Lake County moments after the November dedication a $6.6 million small-diameter mill in Lakeview. The mill processes small logs harvested from private and public lands. In addition, The Collins Companies of Portland, owner of the Lakeview sawmill, plans to erect a $20 million, 13-megawatt, biomass plant at the sawmill. The plant is expected to supply sufficient energy to power over 10,000 single-family homes.

Even only it’s only an MOU it gave Collins confidence in the business. “I don’t think the ink was even dry on the MOU and we stared working on the first 10-year contract,” said Walls. — a the 10-year stewadship contractonly guaranteed $100,000 worth of work. Environmental groups endorsing the biomass plant ad the sawmill gave them confidence.

Inspired by Lake County’s success and Wallowa County’s own successes with small-diameter wood harvest and biomass furnace construction, the Wallowa County Natural Resource Advisory Committee (NRAC) offered to facilitate the MOU process in Wallowa County. Meetings began in spring of 2008.

The MOU to be signed April 6 will “provide a framework for planning” according to Christofferson.
Private investors continue to show interest in establishing biomass-fueled businesses in Wallowa County, Hayward said. Locally, both Ant Flat Renewables and Community Smallwoods Solutions of Wallowa have continued their interest in and investigation of possible businesses related to biomass harvest and utilization.

Wallowa County Chieftain – http://www.wallowacountychieftain.info/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=61&ArticleID=18480&TM=53280.96

Wood: The Hot New Renewable Energy Source April 17, 2009

Renewable energy sources are catching on in the Northwest. Windmills have become a familiar sight along parts of the Oregon-Washington border. But the hot new form of renewable energy is actually the region’s oldest source of heat: wood.

It’s also known as biomass. Entrepreneurs and local governments are eyeing it as a potential fuel for new power plants in the Northwest. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

It’s a noisy climb to the roof of Avista Utilities’ wood waste burning plant near Kettle Falls, Washington. Avista is known primarily for hydropower. But 25 years ago it opened this facility in the middle of timber country, about 85 miles northwest of Spokane.

Greg Wiggins controls the plant in a room with lots of computer screens and video monitors. But he has brought us up here to show off the stunning view.

Greg Wiggins: “We’re nestled here right on Lake Roosevelt. Pristine country still. The beautiful mountains. You know it’s a neat place to raise a family. It’s kind of nice.”

Down below, Wiggins points to several piles of woody debris that will soon be ferried into the plant’s boiler. They call it hog fuel.

Greg Wiggins: “We’re burning roughly 1600 tons of hog fuel a day. So that would equate to two of these semi-truck loads an hour that we need to bring into the plant.”

On this cold day, white steam comes from the stack.

Greg Wiggins: “That is water vapor. You come here during the summer months and you won’t see anything.”

You don’t smell anything either.

Wiggins says the smoke from this giant woodstove gets captured. The ash that’s left after burning is hauled to a landfill a mile away.

Some consider this facility the granddaddy of what they hope will be a series of wood waste burners.

Recently, two energy companies, one from France, one from North Carolina, announced their joint interest in building one or even two large biomass plants in the Inland Northwest. They say the facilities would add to the region’s portfolio of  renewable energy and would bring jobs.

Several rural communities are eager to get in on the action. Karl Dye leads the economic development agency in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Karl Dye: “We’re looking at it from a community approach. You know, how can we better utilize the material that today is burnt out in the forest and put it to use for heat and energy?”

The interest in biomass extends down into eastern Oregon. The town of Baker City has applied for federal stimulus money to help finance a wood-fired power plant and pellet mill.

But there are serious questions to be answered before companies start building. You might be surprised at the most pressing one: is there enough wood in the Northwest to go around?

Ron Gray: “That’s what keeps me up at night actually is trying to figure out how to wood this facility.”

Ron Gray is the fuel manager at Avista’s Kettle Falls plant.

Ron Gray: “What we’re looking primarily is the sawmill waste. It’s the lowest value of the typical sawmill byproducts that somebody else can’t use.”

But with fewer sawmills operating, there isn’t much of that material available. Nor are there as many slash piles from logging operations. Gray says the competition for that material is already fierce.

The U.S. Forest Service, though, is trying to provide relief.

Gary Dickerson from the agency’s office in Missoula, Montana says the Forest Service is making available more of the sticks and branches left from timber harvests on federal land.

Gary Dickerson: “We’re now requiring a lot of that material to be cut and brought down to the landing right next to the road so that material can be put on a truck and be utilized for biomass material.”

The Forest Service is also moving toward allowing more small trees to be cut as part of thinning programs. The agency would rather have the wood burn in a controlled plant than fueling a huge wildfire.

The future of biomass in the Northwest depends in part on a federal study on how much downed wood might be available. The Forest Service is due to release its findings in late April. And many are eyeing that closely, including conservation groups. Barry Rosenberg from the Kootenai Environmental Alliance in Coeur d’Alene says he’s not against burning wood, but he has questions. He worries that once wood waste plants are up and going, the Forest Service will feel pressure to satisfy the demand for more fuel.

Barry Rosenberg: “Once they run out of readily available — quote — ’small trees’, then what are they going to do? Then I think they’re going to find excuses and reasons to cut larger trees and then take them and use them for this process.”

With so many unresolved issues, it’s not yet clear whether huge biomass plants like this one are feasible in the Inland Northwest. But wood burning is becoming more popular for smaller projects.

The University of Idaho heats much of its campus with a wood-fired boiler, so do several school districts in Idaho and Montana. Several other hospitals and at least one prison are considering doing the same.

That means the Northwest’s oldest form of energy will play a more prominent role in its green future.

BY DOUG NADVORNICK, Spokane Public Radio – http://news.opb.org/article/4675-wood-hot-new-renewable-energy-source/

OSU hosts biomass energy workshop in La Grande, Ore March 27, 2009

Union County’s Oregon State University extension service will host a forestry and agriculture biomass renewable energy workshop Thursday, April 9, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Agriculture Service Center conference room, 10507 N. McAlister Road in Island City. Participants will learn practical approaches and solutions regarding biomass incentives and current knowledge of the environmental effects of biomass removal.

To register and for more information, contact the Union County Extension Office at 963-1010.

http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=90650&TM=55196.14

Mont. bill to allow NF biomass towards ‘renewable fuel standard’ March 21, 2009

Sen. Jon Tester is backing bipartisan legislation that will strengthen renewable energy opportunities in Montana by allowing biomass material from National Forests to be counted toward the Renewable Fuel Standard.The 2007 Energy Bill does not officially define resources from National Forests as “renewable biomass.” Therefore, renewable energy producers have no incentive to use them toward the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be in use by 2022. So Tester teamed up with Senators John Thune, R-S.D., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to introduce legislation to fix the flawed definition.

The bill would:

* Allow pre-commercial waste (dead trees) and post-commercial waste (sawdust and wood chips) from National Forests to be considered “renewable biomass.”

* Allow dead trees to be removed from public lands to help cut wildland fire danger.

“Renewable resources that can be used to fuel our future shouldn’t be defined by imaginary boundaries,” Tester said. “We need to put all options on the table in order to make our country energy independent, and we need to responsibly use all the renewable resources we have at hand. This is a good, bipartisan bill that just makes common sense.”

“Forests can plan an important role in helping meet the country’s need for renewable energy,” said Rick Holley, president and chief executive officer of Plum Creek.

A 2005 U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture study said about 2 billion tons of treatable biomass on federal forestland is available for bioenergy production. A significant portion of this biomass could be sustainably removed on an annual basis, not counting post-commercial waste such as wood chips from paper mills.

The senators’ bipartisan legislation is S. 636.

Clark Fork Chronicle - http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20090320192257637

Update: Construction of 4 NW biomass plants may begin in 2010 March 19, 2009

Power plants that would burn mostly wood waste fit into the Northwest’s energy portfolio because they would complement another emerging energy source, wind power, an Energy Northwest representative says.

The 50-megawatt, wood-burning power plants would generate electricity at maximum power about 90 percent of the time, said Jack Baker, vice president of Energy Northwest’s energy and business services. In comparison, Baker said wind turbines average about 30 percent of their rated capacity.

The plants would burn wood waste — fallen trees, stripped limbs left over by timber companies, beetle-killed wood, smaller trees cut down by logging companies but not hauled away and even some construction materials. The heat produced would then power a steam turbine, creating electricity.

Each plant should create enough power for about 40,000 homes. It would first be marketed to Energy Northwest’s utility members, which include the Benton and Franklin PUDs and the city of Richland.

Baker said it would be considered renewable energy. “It makes the forest a lot healthier and reduces fire hazards,” he said.

The power plants would be close to carbon-neutral, Baker said, because most of the carbon dioxide emissions would be absorbed by surrounding trees.

It would cost about $100 to $140 to produce a megawatt-hour of electricity, he said. Energy Northwest CEO Vic Parrish said that without tax incentives, wind power costs about $90 per megawatt-hour.

“It’s totally comparable to a wind resource,” he said Monday.

Energy Northwest has partnered with ADAGE, a joint venture between AREVA and Duke Energy, to build several biomass-burning plants in the Northwest.

Baker said the company is planning to build five, but that number may change, depending on economic conditions and fuel availability.

Baker said sites are being considered in Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Once a location is found and permits are in hand, he hopes construction can begin in 2010 and the first plant online by late 2012 or early 2013.

Jani Gilbert, communications director for Eastern Washington with the state Department of Ecology, said a biomass-burning plant likely would need air and water quality permits, some of them before construction could begin.

The permitting process could last three to six months, she said, unless an EIS is needed, then it could take years.

Each plant would create about 400 construction jobs and about 100 permanent positions, 75 of which would be dedicated to gathering fuel, while 25 people would operate the plant. Between 80 and 100 truckloads of fuel would be needed daily and would be gathered within a 50-mile radius of each plant.

By Drew Foster, Tri-City Herald - http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/514732.html
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For more information on Energy Northwest’s proposed biomass plants click the following NW Renewable News links below:

http://nwrenewablenews.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/agreement-could-bring-biomass-power-plants-to-4-nw-states/

http://nwrenewablenews.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/energy-company-looks-for-biomass-location-in-idaho/

Energy company looks for biomass location in Idaho February 27, 2009

Areva Inc., a French-owned nuclear services company, is scouting north Idaho for possible locations for a plant to turn wood waste into electricity.

Areva Vice President Bob Poyser, whose company also wants to build a uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls, told The Associated Press that it is looking for as many as two possible biomass locations in north Idaho or Washington state.

He said Thursday the company is looking in “the forested parts of Idaho north of Boise, that’s all I can tell you.”

The plant, or plants, would be part of a venture outlined earlier this month to develop biomass power plants in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana.

Public utility consortium Energy Northwest and private energy company Adage, a joint venture of Areva and Duke Energy, announced their preliminary agreement Feb. 19.

Each plant would generate about 50 megawatts of electricity, or enough to supply 40,000 households.

Energy Northwest spokeswoman Rochelle Olson told The Associated Press the participants will use wood currently decaying on private lands as fuel. She said there will have to be enough fuel for a long-term contract.

Once the companies reach an agreement on supply sources, they will find nearby land for the biomass plant.

“The fuel use contracts will really drive where these plants are located,” Olson said.

Areva spokesman Jarrett Adams said the goal is to begin construction by 2010. Each plant would take two to three years to build. He said 400 jobs would be created by construction and there would be 100 permanent positions.

John Foster, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, said Areva’s interest in a biomass plant in Idaho is a sign of the state’s potential as a leader in renewable resources.

He said the state needs to have an improved forest management plan before it can be ready for biomass energy.

“We have to ensure a reliable supply of timber and from there the biomass facilities would go up quickly,” Foster said.

Foster said others, including the timber industry and a group in Priest River, have also expressed interest in a biomass plant.

In December, Areva filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, seeking to build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls. If the application is approved, construction on the facility would not be completed until 2017.

The company won tax breaks from the Idaho Legislature in 2008 before deciding to build in the state. The uranium enrichment plant would be a smaller version of its Georges Besse II centrifuge enrichment facility now under construction in France.

Poyser mentioned the proposed biomass plant while giving lawmakers an update on the uranium enrichment facility. The company plans public hearings if its application is approved by the NRC.

Poyser estimated the application would be approved in February 2011.

By SARAH D. WIRE – Associated Press – http://www.bellinghamherald.com/northwest/story/810544.html

EPA encourages using Contaminated Sites for Renewable Energy February 25, 2009

The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration estimates that the demand for renewable energy will grow by 31 percent over the next 25 years. During that same time period, renewable energy generation is expected to increase by 45 percent. One way to meet the energy needs of a growing population without encroaching on productive farmland is to turn current or previously contaminated sites into renewable energy hotspots.

To that end, the U.S. EPA has teamed with the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to identify nearly 10,000 contaminated lands and mining sites that hold potential for renewable energy development. To help developers, environmental managers, land managers and local, state and federal energy officials as well as private industry and communities track these sites, the agency has generated interactive maps using Google Earth, a virtual geographic information program. “The EPA is putting renewable energy production on the virtual map,” says EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. “Our new interactive Web site encourages states and energy companies to put previously contaminated properties back to work.”

The maps merge data collected by the EPA and NREL and screen the sites for criteria including: distance to electrical transmission lines, distance to roads, renewable energy potential and site acreage. Sites with the potential to host a biomass energy facility are broken down into two categories: a biopower facility, which is a site with cumulative biomass resources of 140,000 metric tons per year or greater within 50 miles, or a biorefinery facility, which is a site with cumulative crop residues of 333,000 metric tons per year or greater within 50 miles.

“The EPA looks for opportunities to encourage the cleanup of contaminated sites, recognizing that some contaminated properties have attributes that could make them attractive candidates for the siting of renewable energy production facilities,” explains EPA spokeswoman Latisha Petteway. “EPA partnered with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to identify candidate sites and make the information publicly accessible.”

To access the Google Earth tool, users can follow the step-by-step directions found at: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland/. Once Google Earth has been loaded on the computer and the Renewable Energy Interactive Map has been launched, a bright blue, virtual, 3D orb—i.e. the Earth—spins into view. The initial image is a satellite picture of North America.

Navigation tools can be used to zoom in from the continent view to street level. As the outline of the U.S. takes shape, dots peppered across the states are evident. Each circular label represents a contaminated site recognized by the EPA as a potential host for bioenergy, solar or wind power facilities. Zoom in even further, and the individual states become apparent. At this point, clicking on one of the yellow, purple, red, orange or gray circles pulls up all sorts of information about the site including: the site name and location, acreage, the current environmental status of the site, information about the renewable energy potential of the site, and links to additional details such as incentive sheets that describe the availability of federal and/or state monies for renewable energy generation and contaminated land redevelopment.

The color-coded dots identify the EPA program that manages the site. For instance: a yellow circle represents sites managed under the Abandoned Mine Lands program; purple is used for brownfield sites; red is used to label sites managed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; pink and gray signify federal and nonfederal Superfund sites respectively.

One of these gray dots is the Rose Township Dump in Oakland County, Michigan. The site is about 40 miles northwest of Detroit and one mile west of the town of Rose Center. It spans about 100 acres and consists of undeveloped rural land surrounded by wetlands, lakes and hardwood forest. The site originally served as farmland but in the 1960s it was abandoned and illegal dumping ensued. Over the next decade, an estimated 5,000 drums of liquid industrial waste were buried or deposited on the surface of the site. It is suspected that some of the waste, which included solvents, paints and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are organic compounds used in transformers, coolants, pesticides and sealants, was dumped directly onto the ground or into pits so the drums could be recycled. The waste leached through the surface soils to ultimately contaminate the subsurface soils and groundwater.

The cleanup process started in 1980 with the removal of more than 5,000 drums. In 1982, the site was placed on the National Priorities List, and over the next several years, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA initiated cleanup actions. Today, much of the contamination has been reduced to nondetectable levels, although groundwater continues to be monitored.

This site is one of thousands that the EPA has identified as a potential biopower or biorefinery site. As it happens, over the past three years, researchers from Michigan State University have been proving the concept. With funding and acreage provided by Chrysler LLC, Kurt Thelen, associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at MSU has been growing bioenergy crops on the Rose Township Dump site.

“Our main objective was to prove that you can logistically and economically go into these marginal lands close to urban areas and raise crops in a sustainable manner,” Thelen explains. To that end, Thelen’s group has been studying five different crops—corn for ethanol; canola, sunflower, and soybeans for biodiesel; and switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol.

Although all brownfield, Superfund, or other contaminated sites will be different depending on weather, soil and the type of contamination, at this site, the MSU scientists have found that the crop yields are comparable with those achieved on nonmarginal lands. The researchers found no significant difference in the ethanol yield or total oil content of the oilseeds. Although a small difference in the fatty acid profiles of the oilseeds grown at this site versus those grown on typical farmland were found, Thelen explains that the difference was so slight it would not alter the quality of the fuel. In addition, on one plot with slightly elevated levels of PCBs and heavy metals, the team did not detect the contaminants in the grain harvested from the crops planted in these soils.

We’re encouraged by the data we’ve generated,” Thelen says. “I think this research will help the argument that these lands can be put to some productive use. There are more sites out there than people think.”
By Jessica Ebert, a freelance writer for Biomass Magazine.- http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2467&q=&page=2

Federal bill includes a Biomass Pellet Facility in Tri-Cities February 25, 2009

Below is an excerpt from the Tricity Herald story by Annette Cary:

Millions of dollars for Tri-City area projects are included in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, a federal spending package unveiled Monday. The Port of Benton’s demonstration project to turn agriculture waste into thermal and electrical energy would receive $951,000 to help build and maintain a facility to turn plant waste into pellets to be gasified to produce energy. “Biomass production is a great way to use the Tri-Cities’ agricultural roots to build a new industry for the region,” Murray said.

Click here to read the entire of the story.

Agreement could bring biomass power plants to 4 NW states February 20, 2009

Public utility consortium Energy Northwest and private energy company Adage have signed a preliminary agreement to develop biomass power plants in four states.

The agreement signed Wednesday calls for developing plants that would convert wood waste from the timber industry into electricity and could be operating as early as 2012

Each plant would generate about 50 megawatts of electricity, or enough to supply 40,000 households in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The plan is to build at least one biomass power plant in each state, the companies said.

The electricity would be delivered by Energy Northwest to the consortium’s 24 member utilities, as well as other regional utilities.

“Our entry into the wood biopower field is a natural extension of Energy Northwest’s long history of environmentally responsible power generation using hydro, wind, solar and nuclear technologies,” said Vic Parrish, chief executive officer of Richland-based Energy Northwest.

Adage President Reed Wills told a news conference Wednesday that the power plants would create 500 new jobs. Adage is a joint venture between Duke Energy and France’s Areva Inc.

In Washington, the biomass plants would likely be located in forested areas of Western Washington.

The idea is to locate the plants near timber operations, such as sawmills, to use bark or tree branches stripped from lumber that typically are discarded or burned, said Jacques Besnainou, president of Areva.

Since the plants are near forests, Besnainou said any carbon emitted would be absorbed by the trees, making the process fairly carbon-neutral.

Parrish said the cost of power generated from wood waste would be competitive with other renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Gov. Chris Gregoire told the Tri-City Herald in Richland that the planned operation fits the state’s environmental and clean energy goals.

“I have said, let us not duplicate what the corn belt did – raising feed stock (for fuels) and competing with food sources,” Gregoire said. “I have said, ‘Let’s look to waste.’ So they are right where we are.”

The Associated Press – http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/632051.html

Clean Energy Aspects of now signed recovery act February 18, 2009

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Tuesday and the measure includes US $16.8 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The funding is a nearly tenfold increase for EERE, which received $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2008.

The act also directs DOE to analyze the nation’s electrical grid to determine if significant potential sources of renewable energy are locked out of the electrical market by a lack of adequate transmission capacity. DOE must then provide recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity.

While the bulk of the new EERE funding is supporting direct grants and rebates, $2.5 billion will support EERE’s applied research, development and deployment activities, including $800 million for the Biomass Program, $400 million for the Geothermal Technologies Program, and $50 million for efforts to increase the energy efficiency of information and communications technologies.

An additional $400 million will support efforts to add electric technologies to vehicles. And separate from the EERE budget, $400 million will support the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), an agency to support innovative energy research, modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The economic stimulus act also stipulates that $5 billion will go towards the Weatherization Assistance Program, and the act also increases the eligible income level under the program, increases the funding assistance level to $6,500 per home, and allows new weatherization assistance for homes that were weatherized as recently as 1994.

A complementary measure in the act provides $4 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to rehabilitate and retrofit public housing, including increasing the energy efficiency of units, plus an additional $510 million to do the same for homes maintained by Native American housing programs. HUD will receive an additional $250 million to increase the energy efficiency of HUD-sponsored, low-income housing.

The act also directs $2 billion in EERE funds toward grants for the manufacturing of advanced battery systems and components within the United States, as well as the development of supporting software. The battery grants will support advanced lithium-ion batteries and hybrid electric systems. Another $300 million will support an Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program, and an additional $300 million will support rebates for energy efficient appliances, while also supporting DOE’s efforts under the Energy Star Program.

The act also stipulates that $3.2 billion will go toward Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, which were established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, but were not previously funded. The grants will go toward states, local governments and tribal governments to support the development of energy efficiency and conservation strategies and programs, including energy audit programs and projects to install fuel cells and solar, wind, and biomass power projects at government buildings. For background on the program, see pages 176-183 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

The act also stipulates that $3.1 billion of EERE funds will go toward the State Energy Program for additional grants that don’t need to be matched with state funds, but the act only allows such grants for states that intend to adopt strict building energy codes and intend to provide utility incentives for energy efficiency measures. To help states implement the measures, a separate portion of the act allocates $500 million to the Department of Labor to prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Renewable Energy and Smart Grids

The act includes $6 billion to support loan guarantees for renewable energy and electric transmission technologies. The funds are expected to guarantee more than $60 billion in loans. The act requires the DOE Loan Guarantee Program to only make loan guarantees to projects that will start construction by September 30, 2011, and that involve renewable energy, electric transmission, or leading-edge biofuel technologies.

The act also directs DOE to analyze the nation’s electrical grid to determine if significant potential sources of renewable energy are locked out of the electrical market by a lack of adequate transmission capacity. DOE must then provide recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity. To help achieve those recommendations, the act includes a provision allowing the Western Area Power Administration to borrow up to $3.25 billion from the U.S. Treasury for transmission system upgrades, particularly for facilitating the delivery of power from renewable energy facilities.

In addition, the act provides $4.5 billion for the DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability for activities to modernize the nation’s electrical grid, integrate demand-response equipment and analyze, develop and implement smart grid technologies. The funds will also support research in energy storage technologies, efforts to facilitate recovery from energy supply disruptions and efforts to enhance the security and reliability of the nation’s energy infrastructure. A complementary section of the act opens smart grid demonstration projects to electric systems in all areas of the country and establishes a smart grid information clearinghouse to share data from the demonstration projects.

Greener Federal Buildings and Fleets

Federal buildings and fleets will become greener under a measure of the new bill. The act provides $4.5 billion to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to convert federal buildings into high-performance green buildings, which generally combine energy efficiency and renewable energy production to minimize the energy use of the buildings. The act also directs $4 million toward the establishment of an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings within the GSA. In addition, the act provides $100 million for the Energy Conservation Investment Program within the Department of Defense, as well as another $100 million for energy conservation and alternative energy projects at facilities of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

For federal vehicle fleets, the act provides $300 million to cover the costs of acquiring greener motor vehicles, including hybrids, electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, once they become commercially available. Buying plug-in hybrids could be an iffy proposition, however, as the funds must be spent by September 30, 2011.

Renewable Energy Tax Credits

The tax section of the act provides a three-year extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for most renewable energy facilities, while offering expansions on and alternatives for tax credits on renewable energy systems. The extension keeps the wind energy PTC in effect through 2012, while keeping the PTC alive for municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower, and biomass and geothermal energy facilities through 2013.

In addition, a two-year extension of the PTC for marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy systems will keep that tax credit in effect through 2013. The PTC provides a credit for every kilowatt-hour produced at new qualified facilities during the first 10 years of operation, provided the facilities are placed in service before the tax credit’s expiration date.

For 2008, biomass facilities fueled with dedicated energy crops (“closed-loop biomass”), as well as wind, solar, and geothermal energy facilities earned 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, while other qualified facilities earned 1 cent per kilowatt-hour.

Unfortunately, the current slump in business activity means that fewer businesses are seeking tax credits, which means that renewable energy producers are having trouble taking advantage of the PTC. With that in mind, the act also allows owners of non-solar renewable energy facilities to make an irrevocable election to earn a 30% investment credit rather than the PTC. The option remains in effect for the current period of the PTC, that is, through 2012 for wind energy facilities and through 2013 for other qualified renewable energy facilities.

Alternately, the facility owner could choose to receive a grant equal to 30% of the tax basis (that is, the reportable business investment) for the facility, so long as the facility is depreciable or amortizable. The grants are also available for renewable energy facilities that would normally earn a business energy credit of 10%-30%, including systems using fuel cells, solar energy, small wind turbines, geothermal energy, microturbines and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies.

To earn a grant, the facility must be placed in service in 2009 or 2010, or construction must begin in either of those years and must be completed prior to the termination of the PTC. For facilities that would normally earn a business tax credit, construction must be completed prior to 2017. The grants will be paid directly from the U.S. Treasury. A separate measure in the act removes limitations on the business credit based on how the systems are financed and also removes a business credit limit on small wind energy systems.

The stimulus bill also provides greater tax credits for clean energy projects at homes and businesses and for the manufacturers of clean energy technologies. For homeowners, the act increases a 10% tax credit for energy efficiency improvements to a 30% tax credit, eliminates caps for specific improvements (such as windows and furnaces), and instead establishes an aggregate cap of $1,500 for all improvements placed in service in 2009 and 2010 (except biomass systems, which must be placed in service after the act is enacted).

The act also tightens the energy efficiency requirements to meet current standards. For residential renewable energy systems, the act removes all caps on the tax credits, which equal 30% of the cost of qualified solar energy systems, geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines and fuel cell systems. The act also eliminates a reduction in credits for installations with subsidized financing.

For businesses and individuals buying electric vehicles, the act simplifies and expands the available tax credits. For electric low-speed vehicles, motorcycles, and three-wheeled vehicles, a 10% tax credit is available through 2011, with a cap of $2,500. For vehicles converted into qualified plug-in electric vehicles, a 10% tax credit is also available through 2011, with a cap of $4,000. And starting in 2010, full-scale commercial plug-in electric vehicles can earn a maximum tax credit of $7,500, depending on their battery capacity. The credit will phase out over a year for each manufacturer after they sell 200,000 plug-in vehicles.

The act also provides a bonus to homeowners or business owners installing clean fuel refueling systems at their homes or businesses. For businesses, the maximum credit for installing such refueling systems increases to $50,000 for most systems, up from $30,000, and it increases to $200,000 for hydrogen refueling stations. For homeowners, the credit is doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Homeowners might install their own natural gas refueling system for a natural gas vehicle, or they might install recharging systems for plug-in electric vehicles. The credit is available through 2010 for most refueling systems and through 2014 for hydrogen refueling systems.

The economic stimulus act has also added a new tax credit to encourage investment in the manufacturing facilities that help make such clean energy projects possible. A new 30% investment tax credit is available for projects that establish, re-equip or expand manufacturing facilities for fuel cells, microturbines, renewable fuel refineries and blending facilities, energy saving technologies, smart grid technologies and solar, wind and geothermal technologies.

The credit also applies to the manufacture of plug-in electric vehicles and their electric components, such as battery packs, electric motors, generators and power control units. The credit may also be expanded in the future to include other energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Secretary of Treasury must establish a certification program within the next 180 days and may allocate up to $2.3 billion in tax credits.

Clean Energy Bonds Expanded

Two bonding mechanisms for financing renewable energy and energy efficiency systems have been expanded under the tax section of the act. The act authorizes the allocation of as much as $1.6 billion in new Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs), which are tax credit bonds for financing renewable energy projects. CREBs were previously limited to a maximum of $800 million. The act also authorizes the allocation of $2.4 billion in qualified energy conservation bonds, up from the current limit of $800 million. These tax credit bonds are allocated to states and large local governments to finance a variety of clean energy projects.

Unlike normal bonds that pay interest, tax credit bonds pay the bondholders by providing a credit against their federal income tax. In effect, the new tax credit bonds will provide interest-free financing for clean energy projects. But because the federal government essentially pays the interest via tax credits, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service must allocate such credits in advance. However, tax credit bonds require the investment of a bondholder that will benefit from the federal tax credits, and those investors may be hard to find during the current business downturn. To try to draw more investment, a separate measure in the tax bill will allow regulated investment companies to pass through to their shareholders the tax credits earned by such bonds. Yet another measure adds a prevailing wage requirement to projects financed with CREBs or energy conservation bonds.

RenewableEnergyNews.com – http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/02/clean-energy-aspects-of-the-american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act

Emerging Tech: Hydrogen Fuel From Woodchips And Other Non-food Sources February 12, 2009

Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic materials from nonfood sources, and water heated to about 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius).

The group announced three advances from their “one pot” process: 1) a novel combination of enzymes, 2) an increased hydrogen generation rate — to as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation, and 3) a chemical energy output greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars – the highest hydrogen yield reported from cellulosic materials. “In addition to converting the chemical energy from the sugar, the process also converts the low-temperature thermal energy into high-quality hydrogen energy – like Prometheus stealing fire,” said Percival Zhang, assistant professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech.

“It is exciting because using cellulose instead of starch expands the renewable resource for producing hydrogen to include biomass,” said Jonathan Mielenz, leader of the Bioconversion Science and Technology Group at ORNL.

The researchers used cellulosic materials isolated from wood chips, but crop waste or switchgrass could also be used. “If a small fraction – 2 or 3 percent – of yearly biomass production were used for sugar-to-hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, we could reach transportation fuel independence,” Zhang said. (He added that the 3 percent figure is for global transportation needs. The U.S. would actually need to convert about 10 percent of biomass – which would be 1.3 billion tons of usable biomass).

The research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research; Zhang’s DuPont Young Professor Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Science Daily - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090211162026.htm

Biomass harvesting proposed in Douglas County, OR February 6, 2009

To Joe Laurance, harvesting biomass for diesel is not nearly as important as reducing fuel loads in our fire-prone forests and also hiring hundreds — if not thousands — of workers to thin overcrowded trees.

To do so, the Douglas County commissioner says, is to get back to pre-European conditions in the forests. Laurence says that means that forests should be thinned enough for a horseman to travel from one side to another without using a trail — as in the days when indigenous people set fire more often than lightning strikes to create clearings.

“Well there is going to be a lot of timber that will go here and there,” Laurance said Wednesday while speaking at a global warming national teach-in at Umpqua Community College. But he said the thinnings won’t be nearly as aggressive as clearcuts.

To put it succinctly, Laurance calls his proposal “active forest management.”

In these days of global warming discussions internationally and dwindling timber safety net revenue provincially, Commissioner Laurance said biomass harvests in Oregon could convert timber slash into more than 400 million gallons of diesel fuel and generate timber receipts for cash-strapped rural counties. The diesel fuel figure comes from the Oregon Forest Resource Council, he added.

But most importantly, Laurance said, biomass harvests could become a sustainable industry that will get workers back in the woods and help stem the loss of jobs in rural counties.

As for tying Douglas County with potential renewable energy industries, Laurance said biomass seems to be the most viable option for job creation. That’s because the county is well known for having little wind — so turbines won’t likely ever appear atop the Callahans. And the potential for solar panel manufacturers or wave-energy producers on the coast is still unclear, although commissioners on Wednesday did select an Irish engineering firm to explore options for a wave-generated electricity plant near Winchester Bay.

Fuels reduction will also decrease the chances of catastrophic wildfire catching the forests ablaze and consuming tens of thousands of acres, which in turn releases tens of thousands of tons of carbon emissions, Laurance said. That’s why biomass conversion could become part of a solution for sequestering carbon.

Laurance added that biomass harvests could provide much-needed relief to the U.S. Forest Service, which now spends more than half of its budget on fire suppression.

Laurance said a wood-waste processor, such as one developed by Philip Badger of Renewable Oil International, works anaerobically, storing carbon waste in bio-char.

The bio-char could then be converted into charcoal or home heating pellets.

On Aug. 7, Laurance and Badger, president of Renewable Oil International, will demonstrate a working and portable biomass converter near Lemolo Lake, about 70 miles east of Roseburg in the Umpqua National Forest.

“Those who have been to Diamond Lake have seen a lot of lodgepole pine — we’re going to use that material,” Laurance said to about 20 people in the Indian Room at UCC.

Though selective harvesting could provide plenty biofuel and timber receipts, at least one audience member reminded Laurance that the timber industry — overall — really isn’t trained for aggressive thinning. Al Walker also said that it had taken him at least three years recently to find a professional logger who was capable and willing to selectively thin trees on a few acres of his property.

The problem, he added, is that many loggers don’t want to deal with “widowmakers” — rotten trees that can unexpectedly fall on a logger who is selectively cutting trees nearby.

“It’s not an easy thing,” Walker said of the skill set it takes to thin aggressively.

Adam Pearson, The News Review -http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20090205/NEWS/902059846/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055&title=Biomass%20harvesting%20could%20create%20jobs,%20prevent%20fire

Oregon’s Seneca Sawmill to begin construction of wood-Fired Co-Gen plant January 27, 2009

Construction will begin in October and the so-called cogeneration plant will come on line a year later — under the watch of Jody Jones, managing partner in the business started by her father, Aaron, 56 years ago.

Her decision to build created a stir in an industry that’s doing little more than quietly licking its recession-caused wounds.

“Wow, somebody’s actually going to start construction, huh?” said Diana Enright, assistant director of the Oregon Energy Department, who oversees renewable energy.

The company can go ahead because it has a strong balance sheet resting on its founder’s conservative philosophy — be prepared to survive the worst of times and the good times will take care of themselves, sawmill general manager Richard Re said.

The proposed 18.8-megawatt cogeneration plant is expected to produce more than twice the electricity needed to power all three milling operations at Seneca’s plant along Highway 99 near the Airport Road intersection — leaving plenty to sell at a profit to a local or regional utility.

The technology isn’t new. A Springfield pulp plant now owned by International Paper has had a 51 megawatt cogeneration operation since 1976, although its fuels and methods are different from what Seneca proposes.

Seneca’s plant would be the sixth to come on line within five years that burns wood wastes — bark, shavings, sawdust — to generate electricity. Burning the woody debris heats boilers, which create steam that powers turbines and generates electricity.

The newer plants include those at Freres Lumber Co. in Lyons, Douglas County Forest Products in Wilbur, Rough & Ready Lumber in Cave Junction, and Frank Lumber in Mill City.

Cogeneration is “having a resurgence with all the emphasis on renewables and the high cost of fossil fuels,” said Bill Carlson, a Redding-based consultant who is advising Seneca.

The wood-fired technology is promoted — and funded — by federal and state tax incentives. Unlike the new solar and wind plants, cogeneration is not dependent on atmospheric conditions. Operators determine when and how much to run the plants.

Oregon is a hotbed for development of cogeneration and other biomass technologies that involve turning trees, brush, straw and other organic materials into electricity.

The International Biomass Conference and Expo that’s expected to draw 1,200 people from around the world will be in Portland in late April.

Seneca has long been interested in the technology: The company has examined the feasibility of building a cogeneration plant every two years for a dozen years, Re said. Seneca management decided to go forward this year because of a combination of factors.

Two years ago, the Oregon Legislature adopted a renewable energy portfolio standard that requires large utilities to get 25 percent of the power they sell to retail customers from renewable sources.

The state and federal governments have renewed or improved tax credits and other incentives that make it easier for companies to pursue renewable energy projects. The Seneca project is likely to qualify for a $10 million state tax credit for construction and additional federal credits based on the energy it generates.

Also, it’s a good idea to reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East oil, Re said. “I can’t imagine who wouldn’t think that.”

The Seneca project will include erecting a wood fuel storage building that’s a little smaller than a football field, a series of covered conveyor belts, plus a building for the boiler and turbines. Wellons Inc. of Sherwood was tapped to build the boiler and power plant.

When complete, 11 new employees will be added to Seneca’s 250-employee work force to run the new plant. About 90 people will be employed to build the new plant, according to company estimates

The Seneca plant will not be the biggest of the recently built cogeneration plants. A Roseburg Forest Products plant, for example, is 35 megawatts.

But Seneca was smart to size its plant to fit the amount of waste wood fuel that it could generate from its own sawmill operations and from logging wastes from its 165,000 acres of forest land in Lane and Douglas counties, Carlson said.

“You don’t want to outgrow your fuel supply. You don’t want to be vulnerable to the vagaries of the market,” he said.

The plant will release a little more than 10 tons of particulate pollution a year, so Seneca will need a discharge permit from the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency.

The key factors in the amount of pollution produced are what the plant burns for fuel and whether adequate controls are employed to keep particulates from leaving the smokestack.

The air agency will do its initial examination of Seneca’s plans over the next two months and the agency welcomes comments and questions from the public, said Sandra Lopez, air agency operations manager.

The company plans to install an electrostatic precipitator — which puts a charge on particles that make them stick to a plate — to take as much soot out of the air as possible before it’s released. The technology can remove 99.9 percent of the particulate, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The standard precipitator has two plates to collect soot, but the Seneca system will double that number to make the vented air cleaner still.

“The more you have, the more cost it is; they must really want to get their particulate emissions down,” Lopez said.

The goal is to be the best, said Dale Riddle, a vice president and the corporate attorney.

“There will be no cleaner cogeneration plant in the western United States,” he said. “We’ll pay the extra money. We’ll do the extra step.”

In the balance, the cogeneration plant could be beneficial to the environment — if the company collects limbs and tree tops it would otherwise burn in slash heaps in the forest, some environmentalists say.

Also, because the company will no longer haul away wastes it produces at the mill, it will reduce truck traffic by about two thirds, said Todd Payne, the Seneca project manager.

A cogeneration system may also be a positive if it replaces electricity on the grid that comes from less Earth-friendly sources such as the coal-fired plant at Boardman in northern Oregon.

The company has yet to nail down what utility will buy its power. The Blachley-Lane Electric Cooperative, the Eugene Water & Electric Board and the Bonneville Power Administration all have transmission lines on or near the Seneca property.

And best of all from the business perspective: The variables can change the picture, but Seneca should eventually save enough in reduced energy costs to pay for the new plant.

“In something less than 10 years,” Re said.

“We’re hoping,” Riddle added.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/6517975-35/story.csp

Emerging Technology: Turn trash into energy in your office parking lot January 19, 2009

When a school or office building thinks about distributed energy, it usually means solar panels propped up on a roof.

A small company called IST Energy has another vision: it’s developed a shipping container-size contraption that turns your building’s trash into electricity and heat. The company is expected to unveil the unit, called the Green Energy Machine (GEM), on Monday.

The idea behind the GEM is to offset a building’s energy use while dramatically cutting trash disposal fees. The cost of trash removal can vary greatly, but a university or office park with a number of buildings could pay about $200,000 a year, according to IST Energy executives.

The company says the GEM is clean technology because it doesn’t burn the trash. Instead, the machine uses gasification, a process that overall pollutes less than combustion. A number of clean-tech companies are trying to combine gasification with renewable sources of fuel, namely municipal solid waste or biomass.

The GEM unit is designed to take up as much space as three parking spaces, making it suitable for office buildings, hospitals, and the like. Metal and glass have no energy content, so they should be recycled. But everything else–food, cardboard, plastics, agricultural wastes–can go in.

“Normally, when we tell people what we’re doing, they say, ‘You can do that? I had no idea that was possible,” said Stu Haber, president and chief executive of IST, which is based in Waltham, Mass.

The company, which was spun out of a research and development firm, says it can convert 95 percent of the waste–up to three tons of trash a day–into usable energy. The remaining 5 percent is ash. With three tons of trash a day, a unit can provide enough electricity and heat for a 200,000 square-foot building holding about 500 people, it says.

So far, a handful of universities, a municipality, and a real-estate developer have come by its Waltham, Mass. offices for demonstrations.

Got a big trash bill?
Haber said the unit pays for itself relatively quickly but realizes that the novelty of the GEM could make it a tough sell. He hopes to sell between 5 and 10 units this year. “The first GEM will be the hardest one to sell,” he said. Noise from the machine could also be a barrier.

Corporate purchases of solar panels have been growing rapidly, depending on a state’s incentives. Haber argued that many companies invest in solar energy to reduce their carbon footprint in a visible way, but a purchase of a GEM can be driven entirely by money, he argued.

Feeding the maximum of three tons of trash will yield about 120 kilowatts of electricity and about double that in heat, which will fulfill about 15 percent of a building’s energy needs, IST Energy figures. The bigger financial benefit is in cutting disposal fees, Haber said.

With an up-front cost of $850,000, a GEM unit will have a payback in three to four years, the company calculates. More likely, those interested will go with a leasing option that would eliminate the hefty up-front investment.

“Everybody loves the fact that they’re helping the environment, but because we’re talking to businesspeople, I have to assume that they’re interested because of the very quick payback,” he said.

There’s also a 10 percent federal tax credit available for this sort of renewable energy, Haber said.

Squeezing more value from refuse
From the end user’s point of view, the GEM is designed to be simple. Through a loader, trash goes into the machine, which shreds the garbage.

Then the machine removes moisture and creates pellets–shaped just like the sawdust pellets used in pellet stoves. Then the pellets are put into an air-fed gasifier designed by the company, which generates what is called a synthetic gas, or producer gas, which typically contains mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

That gas is the fuel for making electricity or heat. IST Energy recommends that the best energy source would be a natural-gas microturbine, which would need to have its setting adjusted, or a generator. It takes about two hours before the GEM runs from its own energy output, so the main carbon emissions come from burning the synthetic gas.

Garbage is already used as fuel source in a number of places. Some landfill operators capture methane from degrading trash to make electricity. Trash incinerators, too, can create some usable energy, but they are considered inefficient and polluting.

Looking to reduce shipments of diesel fuel, the U.S. Army last year tested portable trash-powered generators in Iraq, but the project is said to have not met all its goals.

For energy technology firms looking for a cheap source of fuel, trash appears to be attracting more interest.

Another Boston-area company called Ze-Gen is pursuing the same general idea as IST Energy. Last week, it raised a Series B round of $20 million to build a facility to take construction debris and make electricity at a central location using a gasification process.

Another firm, InEnTech in Oregon, is pursuing a different technology process to get the most energy out of household garbage.

Many of these firms have yet to test their products at commercial scale. But at a time when people are seeking clean and renewable-energy sources, waste may come full circle and become a valuable commodity again.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10140500-54.html

More on Weed, CA Biomass plant lawsuit January 9, 2009

An environmental lawsuit has delayed Roseburg Forest Products’ plans to make power by burning scrap wood in Weed, which the company points to as the cause of 33 layoffs.

A regional manager with the company based in Dillard, Ore., said he was surprised by the opposition to the $15.5 million project.

“The same groups that I thought would be behind green power and green energy are against it,” said Steve Henson, Roseburg’s California operations manager.

The Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center and Weed Concerned Citizens, a pair of Siskiyou County environmental groups, filed the lawsuit in mid-December. In it, they claim the planned biomass energy operation at the company’s Weed veneer plant would sully the air and create noise pollution.

The groups aren’t trying to stop the plant; rather, they want changes made to its design that would make it more environmentally friendly, said Karen Rogers, a board member for the ecology center.

“There are some very specific things that could be done that would make us happy,” she said.

Rogers said those things include using pollution control systems that would lessen the plant’s impact on the county’s air.

Because of the nationwide sag in the building market, Henson said the demand for veneer is down, and the company planned to use the biomass project as a way to keep workers at the mill busy. Because of the lawsuit, he said the company reduced the mill’s work force from 138 to 105 last month.

But Rogers said the mill worker layoffs were already in the works because of the recession and the company is now blaming it on the lawsuit.

“It’s simple scapegoating,” Rogers said.

The Siskiyou County Planning Commission approved Roseburg’s plans in September. Two months later, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors denied an appeal to that decision brought by the environmental groups.

Late last month, the five-member board issued a statement reiterating its support of the project.

“It means jobs for Siskiyou County and it’s a renewable energy start for California,” said Supervisor Michael Kobseff, whose district includes Weed.

He said the project meets county, state and federal environmental requirements.

Roseburg owns 186,000 acres of north state timberland and has run the mill for 25 years. Steam already was used to dry wood and produce veneer, and the plan was to use it to power an electricity-producing turbine, said Bill Carlson, principal of Carlson Small Power Consultants, who helped design the project. Scrap wood is chipped and then burned to boil water, making the steam.

To maximize the power production, he said the mill would double the amount of dry wood it burns each year from 50,000 to 100,000 tons.

The resulting 10 megawatts of electricity would power about 8,000 homes, Carlson said.

As the former manager of the Wheelabrator Shasta Energy Co. in Anderson, he said the Roseburg project would be about one-fifth of the size of Wheelabrator.

Carlson argued that the wood chips that will be burned at the mill put off lower emissions than straw and other wastes burned at other biomass plants.

“This is cleaner than most,” he said.

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/jan/09/roseburg-blames-environmental-suit-for-layoffs/

Environmental Groups file suit against Weed, CA biomass project January 8, 2009

The Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center and Weed Concerned Citizens filed a suit in mid-December against the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, challenging their Nov. 13 decision to approve a use permit for Roseburg Forest Products to build a 15-megawatt biomass cogeneration plant in Weed.
The petition alleges that the supervisors’  actions violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the petitioners are seeking a determination from the Siskiyou County Superior Court that the board of supervisors’  actions were invalid and void.
According to the suit, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the project fails to satisfy the requirements of CEQA and the CEQA guidelines.
The board of supervisors, in a strong response dated Dec. 29 and e-mailed to news organizations on Jan. 5, stated their continuing support for the project.
Titled  “Statement of Board of Supervisors Regarding Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, et al. v. County of Siskiyou and Roseburg Forest Products,” the statement reads:
“The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors is issuing this statement with respect to its position regarding the recent lawsuit filed challenging the approval of the biomass cogeneration electric power plant to be constructed by Roseburg Forest Products Company at the Weed Veneer Mill facility.
“The Board of Supervisors continues to stand firmly behind this project and the approval granted. It is unfortunate that a few disgruntled individuals have filed, what appears to be, a suit lacking in substance in an attempt to forestall the development of this critically needed facility.
“Not only is this facility consistent with the Governor’s desire to develop renewable energy resources, but it is also essential for the continued economic vitality of the County of Siskiyou.
“It is the Board of Supervisors’  understanding that as many as 33 employees could be laid off within the next few weeks because of this lawsuit and that there is a very real potential for permanent harm to the County’s economic base. It is the Board of Supervisors’  opinion that this lawsuit is an abuse of the CEQA process and the Board calls on the Governor of the State of California, the Legislature, and the Attorney General, to take immediate action to support the County of Siskiyou in its efforts to comply with the State’s desire to have these types of environmentally friendly facilities created.
“In light of the fact that the State is supporting the removal of clean hydroelectric power from the County, it is even more essential that environmentally friendly sources of power generation be put in place. The Board directs the Clerk to send a copy of this Statement to the Governor of the State of California, and the Attorney General of the State of California, as well as the County’s Legislative Representatives and Congressman Wally Herger, as its request for their support for this project.

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/news/x1060501669/Groups-file-suit-against-Roseburg-biomass-project

More on Douglas County, OR Mobile Biomass Project December 28, 2008

It’s one thing to come up with a concept and toss it around on the front porch, but it’s even better when you get to scrutinize the real thing up close, take it around the block a few times, see if the wheels fall off before you spend any money on it.

That’s what county officials plan to do next summer, when a biomass project designed to convert forest slash and other wood waste into a No. 3 grade heating oil comes to Douglas County.

The idea of creating biomass projects locally has been largely championed by Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance. We commend him for exploring the possibilities and coming up with some interesting ideas.

It is noted that one-third of the wood waste material that can be used for biomass projects in Oregon is found on the forest floors of Douglas County. That creates an opportunity locally that is found in few other places.

“This is ground zero for that,” Laurance said in a story last Sunday by reporter John Sowell.

Laurance said the project will involve the superheating of 5 to 7 tons of woody material per day at a site near Lemolo Lake in eastern Douglas County.

Renewable Oil International told the Douglas County Forest Council recently that a small modular biomass operation can be loaded on a flatbed truck and driven into the forest.

Once there, wood slash is chipped into small pieces and superheated, with each ton of slash capable of producing 157 gallons of bio-oil. It can be used as a heating oil or slightly refined and turned into No. 2 diesel fuel.

A byproduct of the burning process is char, which can be used in applications calling for activated charcoal, briquettes and as home heating pellets, according to the company.

The local test project is going to take place next summer, and it should provide concrete evidence on whether a large-scale facility could provide an economic boon to Douglas County.

That includes jobs, which are in increasingly short supply these days, as well as opportunities for a new revenue stream in Douglas County, with tons and tons of growth potential.

We have the raw material. Renewable Oil International says it has the technology. And this project should provide interesting answers to some good questions.

“If this shows us what we think it will, we think it will be justifiable, perhaps, to invest in the process,” Laurance said.

And first we get to kick the tires. We like this idea, and we’re appreciative of the chance to give it a road test.

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20081228/STAFFCOLUMNS/812269964/1055&title=Biomass%20project:%20A%20chance%20to%20road%20test%20an%20interesting%20idea

Douglas County, OR to convert forest slash and wood waste into heating oil December 14, 2008

Douglas County plans to set up a test project next summer to convert forest slash and other wood waste into a No. 3 grade heating oil, Douglas County Commissioner Joe Laurance told members of the Douglas Timber Operators on Thursday.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting, Laurance said the project would involve the superheating of 5 to 7 tons of woody material per day at a site near Lemolo Lake in eastern Douglas County.

The project would utilize a process described to Laurance and other members of the Douglas County Forest Council during a meeting in September. At that time, Philip Badger, president of Renewable Oil International, explained how a small modular plant could be loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken out into the forest.

The wood waste would be chipped into small, thumbnail-sized pieces and mixed with heated steel shot placed into a heated chamber. The biomass then is heated to 1,000 degrees within a second and the resulting gases are then used to further heat the chamber, which is initially heated by propane.

Each ton of slash produces 157 gallons of bio-oil, the equivalent of nearly four barrels of oil. It could then be used as heating oil or refined slightly to a No. 2 diesel fuel.

The conversion process also produces 500 pounds of char per ton of slash. That material can be used in applications calling for activated charcoal, charcoal briquettes or as home heating pellets with twice the energy of traditional wood pellets.

One-third of the biomass material available in Oregon is located in Douglas County, according to state foresters.

“This is ground zero for that,” Laurance said.

One of the biggest hindrances for large-scale biomass projects has been the high cost of transporting slash materials to a processing plant. In most cases, it’s not feasible because of the long distance between the source of the material and the processing plant.

The portable system was tested in a two-year pilot program at a chicken farm outside Huntsville, Ala. Badger’s company converted the waste of 264,000 chickens into bio-oil that was used to warm the poultry houses on the farm.

“If this shows us what we think it will, we think it will be justifiable, perhaps, to invest in the process,” Laurance said.

Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Ron Wyden and Reps. Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden, have expressed interest in the project, Laurance said.

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20081214/NEWS/812129865/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055&title=Biomass%20test%20project%20scheduled

Possible Grant for Sustainable Wood Products in Baker Co. (OR) November 21, 2008

A $2 million grant is breathing life into planning for a new sustainable wood products industry in Baker County capable of providing income for woodland owners and low-cost power, heat, wood pellets and firewood to the community.

All combined, the analysis of available information suggests a range of 59,000 to 70,000 green tons of woody biomass supply each year. This does not include the 20,000 green tons of residential slash volume from completed harvest operations that (the Oregon Department of Forestry) estimates is currently piled on private forests,” according to the report.

Biomass from federal forests could add another 60,000 green tons to the supply, and possibly much more if forest officials authorize more thinning.

Christoffersen described a system where woodland owners would thin their timber stands and the larger logs not sold to mills would be cut and dried for firewood. Smaller trees and other woody biomass, including slash piles from logging, would supply the gasifier power plant and the pellet mill. Heat created as a byproduct from the gasifier plant could be used to dry the pellets.

http://www.bakercityherald.com/2008112178032/News/Business/Building-a-new-wood-products-industry

Weed, CA OK’s Co-Generation Power Plant November 19, 2008

Co-Gen facilities are popping up everywhere as timber companies have began to embrace the green technology, and the economic savings. These plants burn the bark from trees, which is very abundant waste product at mills. This turns a turbine, thus producing energy. The emissions from the burning process, mostly steam in these facilities, then powers a second turbine. This effectively generates twice the energy compared to older wood burning plants. It also generates a whole lot less pollution, because of carbon sequestration technologies.  All this from a renewable resource that was all but a throw-away waste product just a few years ago.

Best of all, in almost all cases these plants can pay for themselves in just a few years. When you spend  $700,000 a month powering your dry kiln, a $18 million investment in a co-gen facility that can do the same job just makes good business sense.

Here is the LInk