Oregon Farmers examine biomass crops and power generation February 10, 2010

Local farmers Monday were invited to be involved in the renewable energy field, not only as producers of a crop that could be turned into a fuel, but also as owners of the power generation facility that would burn the crop to produce electricity.

The question is “are we going to be in the driver’s seat?” Randon Wilson, an attorney who specializes in forming agriculture co-ops, said. “We have to decide where we are in charge.”

Wilson told the group, gathered at the Boulevard Grange near Ontario, as members of a proposed co-op for production of biomass crops, they could own the whole process from farm to processing to generation, or they could just do a portion of it. That would include producing the biomass crop that would be turned into fuel or producing the crop and the processing facility that would turn the crop into pellets.

It would take about five months to construct a processing plant to make the pellets, Wilson said. Construction of a power plant will take 18 to 24 months, Renewable Ag Energy Inc. President Kirk Christensen said.

The meeting was hosted by representatives of Renewable Ag Energy, Inc., an Ontario company assisting a group of local farmers, Agri Energy Producers, to bring a new crop to Malheur County.

While there is more than one crop that would produce the biomass, the co-op proponents were mainly discussing high biomass sorghum.

The high biomass crops would be planted in late May. Irrigation and fertilizer applications would be similar to corn. It would be harvested in September or October. Chopped green, it would be hauled to a conversion facility, where it would be stored, dried, cubed and shipped.

Harvesting, hauling and processing costs will be absorbed by the co-op, Christensen said.

“We’re not playing the fuel market,” Christensen said.

The farmers would be paid for growing the crop and participate in the profits from the conversion plan and profits from the generation facility, he said.

“We can’t survive on just what is produced on the farm,” Wilson said. “We need more bites. We have to take a look at energy.”

It was estimated the power plant would support 17 to 20 family-wage jobs, Christensen said.

Choices include full integration, wholly owned by the farmers, or partial integration, linked with other joint ventures or investors, Wilson said. But, it becomes difficult when you mix producers and investors, Wilson said, because eventually there are tensions between the two interests.

“We would like to get the jump on creating a state-wide co-op,” he said, adding that different groups of growers could act as separate divisions.

Such a large co-op would give the producers a lot of clout, Wilson said.

“There is a significant market,” he said.

Wilson, Christensen and others were also meeting with representatives from state agencies this week to discuss the permitting processes, land-use and other regulation issues.

Larry Meyer, Argus Observer – http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2010/02/10/news/doc4b72f4004d160870392186.txt

Mont. City and county seek funding for biomass project February 5, 2010

Helena city commissioners signed on with Lewis and Clark County commissioners on Thursday to jointly pursue federal funding toward a possible biofuel energy project in the county on Thursday.

The county commissioners said Jan. 27 they would assemble an appropriations request for Montana’s congressional delegation in hopes of securing federal money for a possible project to use local trees to produce local energy.

The city commissioners then accepted a county invitation to join in on pursuing a planning grant for the project on Thursday, citing mutual interests.

The local biofuel project, possibly consisting of some sort of materials production plant and the installation of biomass boilers in certain city-county buildings, would primarily provide a use for millions of trees killed throughout the region by the pine bark beetle infestation.

“We have our own problems with (beetle-damaged trees on) the open lands that we’ve got — not enough to run a plant forever, but we’re interested in disposing of wood,” City Commissioner Paul Cartwright said.

“It makes sense to look at it area-wide. Can it be done? Because we’re all in the same valley whose problems we all suffer and whose benefits we all gain.”

Before completely jumping in, the city commissioners did make sure that the planning grant would include a feasibility assessment, to determine if the area has enough fuel to support the project, and a report on the possible level of air pollution from burning biomass to create heat or energy.

Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg both have previously told the Independent Record they would “absolutely” carry a funding request from the city or county for a biofuel project of some kind. Both the senator and the congressman, as well as city and county officials, have advocated looking into a smaller-scale production, not a full-fledged biomass energy plant.

At the Thursday meeting, though, the group said both Tester’s and Rehberg’s deadline is March 1 for such a proposal, leaving little time to prepare an appropriations request.

“We’ve addressed some of these questions just dealing with the dead wood on city open space,” said Cartwright, who admitted the county was still taking the lead on the proposal. “We’ve looked at how much can you take off without damaging the forest, how much you have to chip, how many dead snags you have to leave.

“I think for the city to go forward in a project like this, it’d have to meet those kinds of standards. We’re not going to mine the forest.”

Aside from possible fuel sources from public lands, the group also discussed recent interest voiced by non-industrial, private land owners as to making their pine bark beetle-damaged wood available to the project.

Trent Makela, Helena Independent Record – http://www.helenair.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_8ef9f962-121e-11df-8dc6-001cc4c03286.html

Bioenergy company to build plant in Shelton February 4, 2010

A Maryland-based company bioenergy company has plans to build in Shelton a $250 million plant that converts wood waste from logging into energy.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, ADAGE company officials and others are scheduled to announce details of the project Thursday afternoon at the Port of Olympia.

The biomass power plant is expected to support 275 direct and indirect jobs per year, generate enough renewable energy to power 40,000 homes and pump some $70 million annually into the local economy.

The plant will use green technology to ensure lower greenhouse gas emissions and water use than a traditional power plant, according to advance information about Thursday’s announcement.

John Dodge, The Olympian – http://www.theolympian.com/breakingnews/story/1125196.html

biomass power plant discussed in Flathead Valley January 24, 2010

The closure of the Smurfit-Stone container mill in Frenchtown has amplified the need and potential for a co-generation plant fueled by biomass in the Flathead Valley.

That was the message from a panel of speakers at Flathead Valley Community College on Thursday night. It was the fourth in a series of seven programs in the Re-Powering the Flathead Community Dialogue Series.

“We definitely have the excess [biomass] now without Smurfit,” said Chuck Roady, vice president of Stoltze Land and Lumber, a company that has been aggressively exploring the potential for a co-generation plant at its sawmill complex west of Columbia Falls.

“We have a real passion about trying to do something with this,” said Roady, who went on to make a strong pitch for the future of biomass energy to a crowd of nearly 150 people.

“Most importantly, it helps us manage our forests,” he said, explaining how roundwood, chips and otherwise useless byproducts from logging projects have for years been hauled for productive use at the Frenchtown mill.

Now, much of that material will be left in the woods to rot or be burned in open slash piles, increasing air pollution.

The better alternative involves putting the material to energy-producing use, burning it in a high-tech furnace with emissions controls at a co-generation plant, he said.

Stoltze did a detailed analysis of biomass availability within a 75-mile radius of its Columbia Falls facilities, finding there would be enough available material under the company’s historic, rather than potential, harvest levels to provide fuel for the 15-megawatt co-generation plant that Stoltze wants to build.

But Roady said there is urgency involved with the company’s pursuits: specifically, Montana’s infrastructure of experienced loggers, truckers and their equipment.

“We have … still hanging on by their teeth, the loggers and truckers,” Roady said.

He noted that the state of Montana’s Jump Start Program for putting loggers to work with forest stewardship projects has cost about $700 an acre to implement.

But a similar program in Colorado costs twice as much because that state’s logging infrastructure vanished years ago.

“It takes two years to build one of these plants. We need to think ahead,” Roady said in an interview Friday. “Why not take advantage of the natural resources we have right here, let alone the people and the infrastructure we have in the forest products industry. That’s one of the things that would keep the costs down.”

Stoltze estimates it would cost about $50 million to build a 15-megawatt plant, and that’s where the obstacles arrive.

Even after up-front investments, producing biomass energy continually costs about three times more than existing power sources in the Flathead, most notably hydropower. That’s because biomass material must constantly be cut, processed and transported.

“Even though it costs more doesn’t mean it’s the wrong thing to do,” said Roady, who stressed that the key to building a co-generation plant involves winning the support of Flathead Valley ratepayers to go along with modest increases in power costs.

An increased availability of investment capital, along with tax credits and fuel incentive programs that match those that are available for the development of other renewable energy sources, would help Stoltze in its efforts, Roady said.

He urged the FVCC audience to “think beyond today,” and realize that population growth in the region will eventually create the need for additional energy sources.

Bill Carlson, a consultant who has played a part in multiple biomass energy projects across the country, and Angela Farr, manager of the Montana Department of Natural Resource and Conservation’s biomass utilization program, both affirmed the feasibility of developing biomass as an energy source in the Flathead.

Both also outlined many of the challenges discussed by Roady.

Carlson noted that because Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines in Western Montana are at capacity, a local co-generation  plant would need to be integrated as a local power supply. And supplying a co-generation  plant also must rely on nearby biomass because of transportation costs.

“At the end of the day, biomass is local,” Carlson said.

The next program in the Re-Powering the Flathead series will be “Building Green Homes for Today and Tomorrow,” scheduled for Feb. 18.

Jim Mann, Daily Interlake – http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_011c3222-08a5-11df-b8f9-001cc4c03286.html

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
———————————————————-

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/

Flathead, Mont. lumber company seeking fed support for Co-Gen Project March 9, 2009

Stoltze Land and Lumber company in Flathead County is trying to gain federal support for creating green, renewable energy.

The Stoltze company would like replace its 100-year old boiler with a cogeneration plant that would create electricity. The plant, using woody biomass, would supply power to over 10,000 homes.

Stoltze is contacting senators, representatives and local government to try to get financial assistance for the $54-million project. Stoltze Vice President Chuck Roady said the project would probably create and keep 13 jobs.

“This is the right fit for the area, it’s the right fit for the state, it’s the right fit for the nation actually, it is good clean renewable power that will assist in air emissions,” Roady said.

Stoltze is also negotiating with Flathead Electric Cooperative and Northwestern Energy about the energy project.

MontanaNewsStation.com – http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=9976270

Click here for a previous post from NW Renewable News with more information on this Co-Gen project.

Mont. Timber Company seeks city support for co-Gen plant February 25, 2009

F. H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Company is looking to upgrade its boilers and in the process its plant in a fairly big way.

Stoltze is focusing plans to create a co-generation system as part of the mill’s operation and create electricity. A system that burns woody biomass, by-products of forest harvest, is planned.

“Our boilers are celebrating their 100th birthday this year,” Joe O’Rourke said. “A new system has to be put in. When we began to examine options we began looking at not only new boilers, but installing a co-generation system.”

O’Rourke, Stoltze’s plant manager, presented the company’s plans to the Columbia Falls City Council at its Feb. 17 meeting.

He came before the Council to ask for city support in the project as the company secures funding for the plant through grants, tax credits and other areas.

The Council informally agreed to have Mayor Jolie Fish write a letter supporting the plan. The letter will be forwarded to local and state representatives.

“Woody biomass is a clean, renewable energy source that is very complimentary to a saw mill because it burns what is we normally leave in the woods,” O’Rourke said.

Stoltze plans to build a co-generation system that would burn woody biomass that in turn would create steam used in drying wood.

“It would be used to generate electricity at the same time which would be sold onto the grid,” O’Rourke said.

He noted that the electricity would likely be sold to Flathead Electric Co-op or to NorthWestern Energy.

Woody biomass is what’s left behind when an area is logged. It’s the trees and woody plants including limbs, needles and leaves not harvested.

O’Rourke called the process “carbon neutral.”

“There’s less discharge (of carbon) at the plant than if you let the material rot in the woods,” he said.

Stoltze conducted a fuel study to determine the feasibility of the product.

The study looked at a 75-mile radius and found that there is enough biomass available to support the system. Biomass would be collected from the some 38,000 acres in the Flathead Valley owned by Stoltze.

The plant is expected to generate up to 12 megawatts of power. That amount created could fluctuate based upon when energy consumption is high.

O’Rourke said Flathead Electric estimates that an annual increase of five to six megawatts of power will be need per year to handle growing local demand.

The plant could be operational in 18 to 24 months after funding and permits are secured, said O’Rourke.

Stoltze last month announced that it would temporarily shut down the plant for about six weeks. Initially about half the mill’s workforce was expected to be impacted.

“This (the co-generation plant) has economic incentive to help with tough times and help prevent layoffs,” said O’Rourke.

He said co-generation could create eight jobs at the plant and more outside of Stoltze.

“Independent contractors will bring in the biomass product and that will likely create more jobs,” he said.

By HEIDI DESCH, Hungry Horse News – http://www.hungryhorsenews.com/articles/2009/02/25/news/doc49a573738b4c0115066197.txt

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

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