WOOD PELLET NEWSLETTER
December 2009
Gerald W brown * 7202 County Road U * Danbury, WI 54830 Phone 715-866-8535
Gerald Brown is solely responsible for the content in this newsletter
• HOLLAND, MICHIGAN-BASED WOOD PELLET MANUFACTURER LOOKS TO EXPAND PRODUCTION, WORKFORCE
• POOR NEW MEXICO FAMILIES CAN APPLY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WITH UTILITIES THIS WINTER
• POWER PLANT WANTS TO KEEP IT CLEAN
• PELLET-PRODUCING PLANTS GOING STRONG
• FOOD SCRAPS HELP POWER PLANT / MIXED USE OF WASTE INCREASES ENERGY CONTENT, GETS RID OF RAW GARBAGE JAPAN
• HOME FIRES: CONSUMERS SEEK ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES TO STAY WARM THIS WINTER
• OWNERS OF WOOD PELLET FIRM BURN CUSTOMERS
• SOUTH KOREA PLANS TO PRODUCE 5 MILLION TONS OF WOOD PELLETS BY 2020
• MAINE'S PELLET-PRODUCING PLANTS GOING STRONG
• COUNTY OKS FUEL PELLET ZONING NORTH EAST FLORIDA
• MORE SEEKING ALTERNATIVES TO OIL OR GAS HEAT
• WOOD PELLETS LEAD BIOMASS ENERGY RISE
• SCHOOLS CONVERT TO WOOD HEATING
• CN GROWING "GREEN" WOOD PELLET TRAFFIC AT DOUBLE-DIGIT RATES
• TREAD CAREFULLY ON OUR FORESTS
• HEALTH BILL CARRIES BLACK LIQUOR TAX PROVISION
• FOUR TRILLION MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA THAT CLEAN THE AIR
• THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN ON FRIDAY UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED XCEL'S APPLICATION TO CONVERT THE LAST REMAINING COAL-FIRED UNIT AT ITS BAY FRONT POWER PLANT TO BIOMASS GASIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
• BIOMASS THERMAL ENERGY POLICY BRIEFING A SUCCESS
• EU- DEMAND FOR WOOD PELLETS GROWING IN EUROPE
• ENERGY TO BURN: STATE PROPOSES REGULATIONS FOR OUTSIDE WOOD FURNACES
• INTEREST CONTINUES TO RISE
LOCAL COMPANY PROVINCE'S ONLY PELLET PRODUCER
•
KSM MULTISTOKER 375-35 AUTOMATIC BIOMASS BOILERS FROM ASGARD BIOMASS SYSTEMS
• RESIDENTS STILL HAVE CHANCE AT NEW STOVES IN NH
• IT'S THE SEASON TO BURN WOOD IN VACAVILLE, CA
• OCHOCO LUMBER CO. RECEIVES GRANT FOR WOOD PELLET FUEL PLANT
• FINDING AN ALTERNATIVE WITH TIMBER
• GREENBIZ: THE ALGAE FARMER
• PEAT RESOURCES LIMITED'S ACTIVITIES IN NEWFOUNDLAND
• 'FUEL CUBES' HOLD PROMISE AS CLEANER COAL ALTERNATIVE
• THUNDER BAY ENTREPRENEURS HAVE WOOD PELLET EXPANSION PLANS
• IRVONA BUSINESS QUALIFIES FOR USDA ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
• POWER MIX – A TALE OF TWO UTILITIES
• CALIFORNIANS HAVE TO PAY FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
• CHOOSING THE BEST BIOMASS HEATING OPTION WI GREENHOUSE
• PUSH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO COAL LIGHTS A FIRE UNDER WOOD-PELLET INDUSTRY
Holland, Michigan-based wood pellet manufacturer looks to expand production, workforce
By Sven Gustafson
October 30, 2009, 9:30AM
From Michigan Wood Pellet Fuel's Web site.Michigan Wood Pellet Fuel LLC, a Holland-based manufacturer of fuel pellets for heating, plans to expand its workforce as it struggles to keep up with demand.
The company in the past year more than tripled its workforce and is running at full capacity, WZZM-TV reported. It expects to finish the year having produced more than 30,000 tons of wood pellets, about twice the output as 2008, plant manager Robert Oswald said.
The company has plans to expand production and is considering opening a third pellet mill. The 3-year-old company has gone from operating one shift five days a week to operating three shifts seven days per week with 25 employees, according to its Web site.
POOR NEW MEXICO FAMILIES CAN APPLY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WITH UTILITIES THIS WINTER
Associated Press
10/30/09 12:35 PM EDT
SANTA FE, N.M. — The New Mexico Human Services Department is asking poor homeowners who need help with their energy bills this winter to apply to a state assistance program.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps families pay for natural gas, electricity and bulk fuels such as propane, firewood and wood pellets.
The department says nearly 70,000 New Mexico households participated in the program last year.
The one-time benefit this year is expected to average $150.
Families in the program also will have a moratorium on utility disconnections from Nov. 15 to March 15.
Households qualifying for the program must be at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. For example, a household of three with monthly income of $2,289 could qualify.
POWER PLANT WANTS TO KEEP IT CLEAN
$200 million project under way for FirstEnergy's R.E. Burger to kick dirty coal habit by switching to greener wood pellets
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 01, 2009
Two engineers from Akron-based FirstEnergy Generation Corp. spent 10 days in Europe last summer.
No London. No Paris. No Rome. No Athens. No Riviera. No Alps.
Wood-burning power plants that produce electricity in Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Sweden were the destinations for Harold ''Hal'' M. Kruger and Rick Mahon.
That's because the utility is switching its aging R.E. Burger Power Plant in eastern Ohio from dirty coal to cleaner-burning wood chips — perhaps with some coal — in a $200 million project.
Europe relies more heavily on such ''biomass fuels'' than the United States does, and that's why the FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary went to inspect five plants in the four countries, said Kruger, manager of engineering/air quality compliance for FirstEnergy Corp.
Biomass is the name given to renewable energy sources: wood, farm products, manure, landfills and food waste. It is a growing fuel source. Ohio ranks among the top five states for biomass sources and could be a biomass leader.
Engineers from Ontario Power Generation, which is developing two similar facilities, the Atikokan plant on Lake Superior and Nanticoke plant on Lake Erie, joined Kruger's team. Those two plants are scheduled to switch from coal to wood only in mid-2012.
The Europe trip assured the Americans and Canadians that the technology to produce electricity by burning biomass ''is in
deed viable . . . and successful,'' Kruger said. ''We came back with that assurance. . . . And that was big.
''The challenge for us is that we are going to be pioneers in terms of doing this in this country. It's a medium-sized plant but still a very good-sized project.''
The Burger conversion of two coal-burning units, to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012, will make the plant — on the Ohio River in Shadyside in Belmont County — the largest in the United States and one of the largest biomass-burning power plants in the world.
At present, the largest biomass plants in the United States are the 139-megawatt Okeelanta plant in Florida, which burns sugarcane as fuel, and a 99-megawatt Gaylord-Bogalusa plant in Louisiana, which burns wood wastes.
Plans in the works
Burger's two coal-fired boilers produce 312 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 190,000 houses, or 2 percent of the company's power generation. Those units annually burn 800,000 tons of coal.
FirstEnergy Generation is in the midst of what it calls the Burger's project development phase. A half-dozen company engineers are involved, and the number soon will grow to up to 15. A boiler contract will be let and an outside engineering firm will be hired soon.
Construction is set for 2011-2012.
With the switch, the plant will need up to 1.4 million tons of wood pellets, a renewable energy that looks like rabbit food or briquettes.
FirstEnergy can, under a federal court consent decree, continue to burn up to 20 percent low-sulfur coal at Burger after the switch.
Kruger said the company has not decided whether it will burn only wood and other biomass fuels or whether it will burn coal as well.
What FirstEnergy is doing at the Burger plant could be the solution for many of America's old, small, polluting coal-burning power plants, said company spokesman Mark Durbin.
Retrofitting such plants with scrubbers to comply with federal clean-air mandates is very costly. Switching the plants to biomass might be a better solution, especially as concerns grow over carbon dioxide, Durbin said.
Biomass benefits
Nationally, there are 102 biomass plants that generate electricity in 21 states, according to the Biomass Power Association, a national trade group. Biomass accounts for 2 percent of America's electricity.
''Biomass power is the smart alternative to fossil fuels that will benefit both the environment and the economy,'' said Bob Cleaves, president and chief executive of the association, based in Portland, Maine.
''Renewable biomass power will help Ohio meet aggressive mandates for renewable electricity, reduce greenhouse gases and create green jobs. Biomass power currently accounts for more than half of all the renewable electricity produced in the United States,'' Cleaves said, ''and with continued investment, that number could double as new plants come online.''
Such biomass fuels have heat values that are comparable to coal from the western United States but are inferior to Eastern U.S. coals. They contain little sulfur and ash, resulting in lower emissions of sulfur dioxide and soot or particulate. They produce about half as much nitrogen as coal.
Such plants can be operated continuously, like coal plants but unlike wind and solar plants.
The switch will diversifyFirstEnergy's generation portfolio and will help the utility meet new Ohio rules that call for 12.5 percent of the electricity utilities sell to come from renewable sources by 2025 — with half of that amount generated in Ohio.
The plan is that the biomass FirstEnergy Generation uses for fuel will remove as much carbon dioxide from the environment when it grows as it releases when it is burned. The result would be no net increase in carbon dioxide, a key global warming gas.
At present, there are no limitations on carbon dioxide emissions, but there are plans in Congress to curtail such emissions from utilities and other sources.
Using wood pellets
When the Burger conversion is complete, FirstEnergy will have 1,100 megawatts of renewable energy with biomass, wind and hydro. That will be 9 percent of the company's energy capacity of 14,346 megawatts. The utility will get 52 percent of its energy from coal after the switch is done.
With the switch, the plant itself will produce less electricity because wood produces about one-third less energy than coal, Kruger said.
The company could install equipment called mills that pulverize the wood chips before they are blown into the boilers to boost the plant's power production, he said. He could not say how much that might cost.
The plant's final power output will be determined in mid-2010, he said.
When FirstEnergy announced its decision on Burger in April, the utility said it was looking to burn briquettes of wood chips, cornstalks, switch grass and grains.
Additional research showed that the man-made wood pellets up to three-fourths of an inch in length work very well, Kruger said.
That's because natural wood has too much moisture to burn well, he said.
Testing has shown that the best result is derived when the wood is ground to the consistency of flour, fully dried and then reformed into pellets that are easier to ship, he said.
The utility has an agreement with one firm, Renewafuel LLC, to provide the biofuel to the Burger plant. It intends to provide FirstEnergy with briquettes — roughly 11/4 inches by 11/4 inches by 2 inches — at a cost comparable to Western coal, officials said.
The company, with operations in Michigan and Minnesota, will rely on fast-growing trees like poplars and cottonwoods.
FirstEnergy has no interest in growing the fuel but will rely on numerous suppliers and intends to diversify its fuel supplies, Durbin said.
The utility expects to get its fuel from up to seven plants, each capable of producing 150,000 to 300,000 tons a year, Gary Leidich, the company's executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Generation, said in an Oct. 2 speech in Atlanta.
That would make the Burger plant the largest consumer of biomass in the United States, he said.
Leidich said the plant would require 1 million tons of fuel to produce 200 megawatts and 1.4 million tons to produce 275 megawatts, the plant's practical upper limits unless equipment is added to boost the plant's power output.
Kruger said FirstEnergy Generation is looking at other biomass fuels beyond wood chips but has not determined whether they would be cost effective.
Energy credits
The company intends to begin burning coal with the wood pellets at Burger in 2010, he said.
That will enable the company to look closely at handling and burning wood and testing how it can best be done, as well as to begin earning state renewable energy credits for the utility, he said.
Under Ohio's advanced energy portfolio standard approved in 2008, 25 percent of Ohio's energy must come from advanced and renewable energy by 2025. FirstEnergy Generation earns renewable energy credits for using biomass fuels.
Ohio environmentalists are not thrilled that FirstEnergy will rack up those credits by burning wood with coal, said Amanda Moore of Environment Ohio.
Her group is troubled about the sources of the wood for the Burger plant and whether they will be sustainable and not cause environmental problems elsewhere in the future, she said. ''We have to assume the worst until we see the details fromFirstEnergy,'' she said.
Said Kruger, ''We've embarked on what's going to be a very interesting challenge.''
________________________________________
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Hal Kruger, project manager for First Energy's biomass project, holds two types of wood pellets that will be used as fuel at the company's Burger Power Plant in southeast Ohio. A layout of the plant is in the background. (Ed Suba Jr./Akron Beacon Journal)
Two engineers from Akron-based FirstEnergy Generation Corp. spent 10 days in Europe last summer.
No London. No Paris. No Rome. No Athens. No Riviera. No Alps.
Wood-burning power plants that produce electricity in Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Sweden were the destinations for Harold ''Hal'' M. Kruger and Rick Mahon.
That's because the utility is switching its aging R.E. Burger Power Plant in eastern Ohio from dirty coal to cleaner-burning wood chips — perhaps with some coal — in a $200 million project.
Europe relies more heavily on such ''biomass fuels'' than the United States does, and that's why the FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary went to inspect five plants in the four countries, said Kruger, manager of engineering/air quality compliance for FirstEnergy Corp.
Biomass is the name given to renewable energy sources: wood, farm products, manure, landfills and food waste. It is a growing fuel source. Ohio ranks among the top five states for biomass sources and could be a biomass leader.
Engineers from Ontario Power Generation, which is developing two similar facilities, the Atikokan plant on Lake Superior and Nanticoke plant on Lake Erie, joined Kruger's team. Those two plants are scheduled to switch from coal to wood only in mid-2012.
The Europe trip assured the Americans and Canadians that the technology to produce electricity by burning biomass ''is in
deed viable . . . and successful,'' Kruger said. ''We came back with that assurance. . . . And that was big.
''The challenge for us is that we are going to be pioneers in terms of doing this in this country. It's a medium-sized plant but still a very good-sized project.''
The Burger conversion of two coal-burning units, to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012, will make the plant — on the Ohio River in Shadyside in Belmont County — the largest in the United States and one of the largest biomass-burning power plants in the world.
At present, the largest biomass plants in the United States are the 139-megawatt Okeelanta plant in Florida, which burns sugarcane as fuel, and a 99-megawatt Gaylord-Bogalusa plant in Louisiana, which burns wood wastes.
Plans in the works
Burger's two coal-fired boilers produce 312 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 190,000 houses, or 2 percent of the company's power generation. Those units annually burn 800,000 tons of coal.
FirstEnergy Generation is in the midst of what it calls the Burger's project development phase. A half-dozen company engineers are involved, and the number soon will grow to up to 15. A boiler contract will be let and an outside engineering firm will be hired soon.
Construction is set for 2011-2012.
With the switch, the plant will need up to 1.4 million tons of wood pellets, a renewable energy that looks like rabbit food or briquettes.
FirstEnergy can, under a federal court consent decree, continue to burn up to 20 percent low-sulfur coal at Burger after the switch.
Kruger said the company has not decided whether it will burn only wood and other biomass fuels or whether it will burn coal as well.
What FirstEnergy is doing at the Burger plant could be the solution for many of America's old, small, polluting coal-burning power plants, said company spokesman Mark Durbin.
Retrofitting such plants with scrubbers to comply with federal clean-air mandates is very costly. Switching the plants to biomass might be a better solution, especially as concerns grow over carbon dioxide, Durbin said.
Biomass benefits
Nationally, there are 102 biomass plants that generate electricity in 21 states, according to the Biomass Power Association, a national trade group. Biomass accounts for 2 percent of America's electricity.
''Biomass power is the smart alternative to fossil fuels that will benefit both the environment and the economy,'' said Bob Cleaves, president and chief executive of the association, based in Portland, Maine.
''Renewable biomass power will help Ohio meet aggressive mandates for renewable electricity, reduce greenhouse gases and create green jobs. Biomass power currently accounts for more than half of all the renewable electricity produced in the United States,'' Cleaves said, ''and with continued investment, that number could double as new plants come online.''
Such biomass fuels have heat values that are comparable to coal from the western United States but are inferior to Eastern U.S. coals. They contain little sulfur and ash, resulting in lower emissions of sulfur dioxide and soot or particulate. They produce about half as much nitrogen as coal.
Such plants can be operated continuously, like coal plants but unlike wind and solar plants.
The switch will diversifyFirstEnergy's generation portfolio and will help the utility meet new Ohio rules that call for 12.5 percent of the electricity utilities sell to come from renewable sources by 2025 — with half of that amount generated in Ohio.
The plan is that the biomass FirstEnergy Generation uses for fuel will remove as much carbon dioxide from the environment when it grows as it releases when it is burned. The result would be no net increase in carbon dioxide, a key global warming gas.
At present, there are no limitations on carbon dioxide emissions, but there are plans in Congress to curtail such emissions from utilities and other sources.
Using wood pellets
When the Burger conversion is complete, FirstEnergy will have 1,100 megawatts of renewable energy with biomass, wind and hydro. That will be 9 percent of the company's energy capacity of 14,346 megawatts. The utility will get 52 percent of its energy from coal after the switch is done.
With the switch, the plant itself will produce less electricity because wood produces about one-third less energy than coal, Kruger said.
The company could install equipment called mills that pulverize the wood chips before they are blown into the boilers to boost the plant's power production, he said. He could not say how much that might cost.
The plant's final power output will be determined in mid-2010, he said.
When FirstEnergy announced its decision on Burger in April, the utility said it was looking to burn briquettes of wood chips, cornstalks, switch grass and grains.
Additional research showed that the man-made wood pellets up to three-fourths of an inch in length work very well, Kruger said.
That's because natural wood has too much moisture to burn well, he said.
Testing has shown that the best result is derived when the wood is ground to the consistency of flour, fully dried and then reformed into pellets that are easier to ship, he said.
The utility has an agreement with one firm, Renewafuel LLC, to provide the biofuel to the Burger plant. It intends to provide FirstEnergy with briquettes — roughly 11/4 inches by 11/4 inches by 2 inches — at a cost comparable to Western coal, officials said.
The company, with operations in Michigan and Minnesota, will rely on fast-growing trees like poplars and cottonwoods.
FirstEnergy has no interest in growing the fuel but will rely on numerous suppliers and intends to diversify its fuel supplies, Durbin said.
The utility expects to get its fuel from up to seven plants, each capable of producing 150,000 to 300,000 tons a year, Gary Leidich, the company's executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Generation, said in an Oct. 2 speech in Atlanta.
That would make the Burger plant the largest consumer of biomass in the United States, he said.
Leidich said the plant would require 1 million tons of fuel to produce 200 megawatts and 1.4 million tons to produce 275 megawatts, the plant's practical upper limits unless equipment is added to boost the plant's power output.
Kruger said FirstEnergy Generation is looking at other biomass fuels beyond wood chips but has not determined whether they would be cost effective.
Energy credits
The company intends to begin burning coal with the wood pellets at Burger in 2010, he said.
That will enable the company to look closely at handling and burning wood and testing how it can best be done, as well as to begin earning state renewable energy credits for the utility, he said.
Under Ohio's advanced energy portfolio standard approved in 2008, 25 percent of Ohio's energy must come from advanced and renewable energy by 2025. FirstEnergy Generation earns renewable energy credits for using biomass fuels.
Ohio environmentalists are not thrilled that FirstEnergy will rack up those credits by burning wood with coal, said Amanda Moore of Environment Ohio.
Her group is troubled about the sources of the wood for the Burger plant and whether they will be sustainable and not cause environmental problems elsewhere in the future, she said. ''We have to assume the worst until we see the details fromFirstEnergy,'' she said.
Said Kruger, ''We've embarked on what's going to be a very interesting challenge.''
PELLET-PRODUCING PLANTS GOING STRONG
sponsored by
BY LARRY GRARD
Staff Writer 11/01/2009
BURNHAM -- The state's capacity for manufacturing wood pellets is in for a significant upgrade.
International WoodFuels has pushed back its timetable slightly, but the company plans to break ground on a $20 million wood-pellet plant by early spring. Laura Sawall, International WoodFuels marketing manager, said Wednesday that the permitting process is nearly complete.
"The big vision," Sawall said, "is to be up and running at this time next year. We plan to produce 100,000 tons of pellets a year."
International WoodFuels in July announced plans to build the mill on Route 100 next to Pride Sports, the world's largest manufacturer of golf tees.
According to the Maine Pellet Fuels Association, the four existing pellet plants in the state produce about 350,000 tons a year.
Maine Pellet Fuels Association director Bill Bell said that fires have put the Strong and Ashland plants out of operation, but both are on track to go back online.
"We are seeing a steady demand for pellet-stove pellets," Bell said. "We import more than we produce."
The company will be well-positioned to meet the public's need for an alternative to oil heat. It will blend Pride's leftover hardwood -- mostly white birch -- into the pellets. The plan is to create 24 jobs in the plant itself, and about a dozen new logging jobs, Sawall said.
Sawall said that the pellets will be comprised of approximately half hard, half softwood.
"We're not taking any waste residuals," Sawall said. "We're only taking whole logs, and not using any bark."
Sawall said that the town has the mill area designated as a state Pine Tree Development Zone, which will provide for tax breaks. The town's planning board also has approved the construction project, and WoodFuels is only waiting for an air permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, she said.
Bell said that demand for pellets peaked in the summer of 2008, when heating oil was priced at more than $4.25 a gallon, and the call for pellet stoves increased 500 percent from 2007.
The average price of heating oil in the state is $2.55 per gallon now, he said. WoodFuels sells for about $255 per ton, the equivalent of a $2.10 heating oil price.
"People were placing multiple orders with multiple retailers, who said 'we can get you your pellets in November,'" Bell said. "Then once they got some in, they were canceling the other orders."
Pellet manufacturers, meanwhile, have gone through a learning curve. Some of the wooden nuggets were too dusty, and left too much ash in the burn pot.
"One plant thought they were doing the right thing by using wastewood and bark," Bell said, "but there's too much ash in wastewood and bark. That was the big discovery."
Peter Lammert, project forester for the Maine Forest Service, said that people who ordered two or three years' worth of pellets last year might be regretting it. Long storage can disintegrate the pellets, he said.
"Bags should be dated," Lammert said. "I have not seen it yet on any bag that I've looked at."
The arrangement between WoodFuels and Pride is intended to help both the pellet mill and Pride. The company will need 200,000 tons a year of whole logs to operate the pellet mill at full capacity. That's five times greater than what's now coming in.
The added volume and the sharing of a log yard will help Pride save money on wood purchasing.
The savings are important, according to Randy Dicker, senior director of manufacturing at Pride. The company's profitability has been undermined in recent years by a flood of imported golf tees from China, he said.
Larry Grard -- 861-9239
lgrard@centralmaine.com
FOOD SCRAPS HELP POWER PLANT / MIXED USE OF WASTE INCREASES ENERGY CONTENT, GETS RID OF RAW GARBAGE
Saturday, October 31, 2009 1:37 PM
Oct. 31, 2009 (The Yomiuri Shimbun) -- The Hokkaido food processing plant of the Bikkuri Donkey hamburger restaurant chain is known for generating the energy it uses locally.
Aleph-Inc., the Sapporo-based company that runs the chain, uses as fuel a combination of wood pellets--made from fallen trees and construction waste in Hokkaido--and biogas made from kitchen waste from the cooking and production process.
While Aleph operates about 300 restaurants across the nation, the plant in Eniwa, Hokkaido, produces ingredients for dishes to be served at its 40 or so restaurants in Hokkaido. Since February 2007, when the plant started operations, a constant stream of people have visited the plant to check out its energy system.
"The use of these fuel sources not only cuts down on CO2 emissions, if prices of kerosene surpass 80 yen per liter, energy costs will also be lower," said Hisao Shimanuki, 53, manager of the company's environmental business division.
The wood pellets are made by compressing ground-up tree bark, sawdust and leftover pieces of wood.
Since the pellets are compressed, their calorific content is higher than regular wood chips. The Japan Wood Pellet Association said 32,600 tons of the wood pellets were produced in 2007 while the estimated figure for 2008 was 60,000 tons.
The company stores wood pellets in a silo at the plant. About 500 kilograms of pellets are burned in a boiler each day, and the heat is used for cooking sauces and other items.
The biogas is produced from kitchen waste such as vegetable scraps and other raw waste. The plant discharges about 500 kilograms a day of such waste.
The waste is transported to a farm about 15 minutes' drive from the plant. The waste is mixed with cattle dung in a facility to produce biogas. The gas is collected in tanks, which are then transported back to the plant.
Plant officials said that using the kitchen garbage increases the energy content of the biogas by about five times compared with biogas produced only from cattle dung. With this approach, the plant is also able to get rid of all its raw waste.
Even the tractor that transports the raw garbage to the farm uses a biodiesel oil recycled from used cooking oil collected from the company's restaurants.
Through these measures, plant officials say they have halved carbon dioxide emissions compared with projected levels if the plant used kerosene or heavy oil.
The company has set a goal of halving its CO2 emissions relative to sales in 2020 from its 2000 level.
"Though this is seen as a high hurdle, our Hokkaido plant has already achieved this goal, so it is realistically attainable," Shimanuki said.
(Source: iStockAnalyst )
HOME FIRES: CONSUMERS SEEK ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES TO STAY WARM THIS WINTER
By Morgan Jarema | The Grand Rapids Press
November 01, 2009, 6:21AM
Adam Bird | The Grand Rapids PressSome like it hot: Jim and Lyn Van Til are doing a brisk business at their Cherry Valley Stove and Saw store in Caledonia.That’s because the high cost of staying warm has people exploring alternatives to traditional heat sources.Sean McMahon was tired of the high cost of propane to heat his 3,600-square-foot Fremont home.
So, last fall, he and his wife, Sue, converted a conventional fireplace with a wood-burning insert.
“It’s fantastic,” Sean McMahon said.
Also fantastic is the savings in their heating costs.
“I’ve taken a $2,100 (propane) bill a season down to about $500,” he said.
The McMahons and their three children cut and haul wood from felled trees on their property, which adds to the savings. Plus, McMahon, a Web site designer and self-described do-it-yourself guy, created a venting system that allows heat to be transferred from the vaulted ceilings on the main floor to the second floor and the basement.
“I figure I will have paid for this stove by the end of this season,” he said.
With home heating burning a hole in homeowners’ wallets, more people are exploring their options for staying warm in winter. And with tax incentives of up to $1,500 available for energy-efficient heating products, the savings fires are stoked.
Dick BrillMost of Dick Brill’s customers at H2Oasis in Rockford and Nunica, which specialize in alternative heating methods, are looking for two things: saving money on heating and minimizing environmental impact. Ten years ago, Brill said, most of them were looking for a supplement to natural gas.
“It has swung around now where I would say the majority are coming in to replace their existing heating system, not by taking it out, but by making it so it’s not used,” he said. “Most of my customers celebrate the fact that their furnace didn’t come on all winter.”
Choosing a method for that to happen depends on a handful of factors.
Electric and gas fireplaces and woodstove fireplaces for sale at big-box stores may serve your needs just fine if you’re only heating a room or two, but if it’s long-term savings you’re after, he said, you get what you pay for.
While they work great in rural settings, most outdoor wood furnaces are not allowed in many residential areas or are too expensive — about $10,000-$14,000 — to buy and install, which cuts into savings potential.
Economics and convenience
For the average homeowner in urban and suburban areas, Brill said, the decision process is going to be based on economics — for the fuel — and of convenience.
For those looking to heat solely with wood logs — which can be very economical, Brill offers this caution, “I have two questions I always ask: Do you have a source of good wood that is either free or very cheap, and do you enjoy cutting wood?
“If you answer ‘no’ to either one of those two, you may not like me so much a year after you buy a wood stove.”
He steers many customers looking to get away from natural gas and propane toward biomass fuels, such as wood, corn pellets and woodpellets.
Two things to consider: Corn pellets fluctuate in price, he said, and corn and other edibles, such as cherry pits and sunflower seeds attract rodents.
Brill calls wood pellets “the big player” in alternative home heating, because they are relatively inexpensive and won’t attract critters.
Jim and Lyn Van Til, who own Cherry Valley Stove and Saw in Caledonia, say they are doing a brisk business in their wood and wood- and corn-pellet fireplaces and inserts, particularly since nearly all of the models they stock are eligible for the federal tax credit.
Wood and pellet burners are burning cleaner than ever, Jim Van Til said. Most models come with a “secondary burn” system, which circulates air inside the fireplace and burns residual smoke before it wafts up the chimney.
“That’s the thing people are looking for: cutting less wood, making less pollution and getting lots of heat,” Van Til said. “That means less smoke goes up the chimney and more heat comes off the metal, inside the home.”
Lower prices
He said manufacturers have responded to the poor economy with models that are more affordable. For example, Quebec fireplace maker Napoleon sold a model last year for about $1,500, then tweaked the door and eliminated a cleanout drawer for this year’s model, which cut the price to $1,099.
Most of Van Til’s models come from Washington state, Canada and Scandinavia.
“Scandinavians understand zone heating, and most Americans don’t,” he said. “Americans tend to want one single source of heat to do their whole house. Europeans do two or three, depending on where they spend the most time.”
One model Van Til sells, a Rais Rondo wood stove, can turn 360 degrees so homeowners can aim the heat where they want it to go. It sells for about $4,520.
There’s also a biomass furnace that burns corn pellets or cherry pits — “It helps if you know a cherry farmer,” Van Til said — made by Fahrenheit Technologies Inc. in Holland, that heats up to 2,500 square feet, but requires electricity to function and plenty of fuel storage space. It sells for about $4,000.
“The convenience factor is huge for a lot of people with this (furnace),” Van Til said of the Fahrenheit model. “You don’t have to go into the woods with a chainsaw. You just pour in your pellets once every day or more, and it’s themostatically controlled.”
Brill also is a fan of zone heating. He said it has been estimated homeowners can save about 25 percent on their heating bill by installing a pellet stove in the room where families spend most of their time.
“And you’re going to be saving more because you’re buying a fuel that’s less expensive than your current fuel,” he said.
Right now, Brill said, the price of pellets and natural gas is about even. But he is keeping his eye on cap-and-trade legislation that could affect the tax rate of fossil fuels, predominantly coal, and how that will affect homeowners.
If the legislation goes through, he said, it could be a good thing for his business.
“People are looking at that less now, maybe because they are somewhat soothed by lower oil prices.”
If new taxes are levied on fossil fuels, he said, “That will make biomass fuels far less expensive than they are now in comparison to other fuels.”
OWNERS OF WOOD PELLET FIRM BURN CUSTOMERS
Posted on Monday, 2 of November , 2009 at 10:00 am
ALLEGANY COUNTY—The owners of a company who presumably sold wood pellets have been arrested for defrauding their customers.
Paul D. Ceglia, 36, and his wife, Iasia M. Ceglia, 31, owners of Allegany Pellets LLC, have each been charged with one count of first degree scheme to defraud and 12 counts of fourth degree grand larceny.
Police said the company was based out of their residence in Wellsville.
The couple allegedly defrauded customers out of approximately $200,000 after taking presale orders for around 1,900 tons of wood pellets, then failing to deliver the product to their customers and being unable to refund the money, according to State Police.
The investigation was initiated after the State Police began receiving complaints from victims in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The couple was processed and issued appearance tickets returnable in the Town of Wellsville court at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 11-01-09
SOUTH KOREA PLANS TO PRODUCE 5 MILLION TONS OF WOOD PELLETS BY 2020
By Lee Jong-Heon - UPI Correspondent
Seoul, South Korea Can South Korea achieve the ambitious target of cutting back 30 percent of its estimated greenhouse gas emissions in 2020?
"Yes," said Chung Kwang-soo, head of the Korea Forest Service, stressing that his state-run agency is playing a leading role in the nationwide campaign to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and cut consumption of fossil fuels.
"South Korea can realize low-carbon, green growth through forests," he said. "Forests are recognized as sole carbon sinks by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," the forest chief told a group of foreign correspondents in Seoul.
His comments came at a time when the South Korean government is set to decide on adopting the most drastic target option of cutting 30 percent of estimated greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.
South Korea is expected to produce 813 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020, up from 594.4 million tons in 2005. The government has weighed three scenarios that seek to reduce emissions by 21 percent, 27 percent or 30 percent of the estimated emissions.
The government is most likely to choose the most drastic option of 30 percent reduction, according to government sources. It will officially announce the decision next week.
South Korea, one of the world's fastest growing carbon emitters, is not obliged to announce emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. But it has voluntarily come up with the proposal.
Chung cited wood pellets, clean development mechanism projects overseas, and palm oil and other biomass resources as the main projects being pushed by the forest service to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for causing global warming.
"Promotion of pellet use as a substitute for fossil fuels will contribute to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," Chung said. "Wood pellets produce just 8 percent of the greenhouse gases that diesel fuels emit," he said.
Wood pellets are generally made from compacted sawdust and usually produced as a byproduct of sawmills and other wood transformation activities. Ten cubic meters of forest can produce 4.5 metric tons of wood pellets, which can substitute for two tons of crude oil, eventually reducing six tons of carbon dioxide emissions, Chung said.
Heating with wood pellets is an ideal way for farmers to save on heating bills while improving the environment, he said, noting that diesel accounts for 70 percent of fuel use in the agricultural sector. The cost of pellets is just half that of diesel fuel, he said.
"We plan to produce 5 million tons of wood pellets by 2020 1 million domestically and four millions overseas," he said. This would cut back 6.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of the effort, the forest service is pushing for overseas plantations. It has so far secured land in nine countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam and New Zealand.
As recently as last week, Cambodia agreed to provide 200,000 hectares of land for South Korea's forestation program. The deal was signed during President Lee Myung-bak's two-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country last Thursday.
Earlier this year, Indonesia agreed to provide 200,000 hectares of forestland to South Korea for producing wood for pellets starting in late 2010. "We aim to expand combined overseas forestation land to 1 million hectares by 2050 and have already secured 900,000 hectares," Chung said.
The overseas forestation is also in line with the forest service's efforts to implement the clean development mechanism, a U.N.-endorsed carbon offset project. Under the program, companies can fund emissions cuts in developing countries and in return receive primary certified emissions reductions, which can be used toward emissions reduction targets or sold for profit.
With the help of the forest service, a number of South Korean manufacturers have joined CDM projects overseas to help secure carbon credits. "The afforestation and reforestation CDM would serve to help South Korea win carbon reduction credits," said Park Jong-Ho, deputy director general of the forest service's international division.
Park said South Korean firms have also invested in projects in Indonesia to produce palm oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil as alternative energy sources.
"The biomass deal is part of our efforts to develop alternative energy sources under a comprehensive plan on climate change," Park said. "We have also carried out desertification prevention programs in China and Mongolia, spending US$11.3 million," he said.
MAINE'S PELLET-PRODUCING PLANTS GOING STRONG
BY LARRY GRARD - Staff Writer -
BURNHAM, Maine - The state's capacity for manufacturing wood pellets is in for a significant upgrade.
International WoodFuels has pushed back its timetable slightly, but the company plans to break ground on a $20 million wood-pellet plant by early spring. Laura Sawall, International WoodFuels marketing manager, said Wednesday that the permitting process is nearly complete.
"The big vision," Sawall said, "is to be up and running at this time next year. We plan to produce 100,000 tons of pellets a year."
International WoodFuels in July announced plans to build the mill on Route 100 next to Pride Sports, the world's largest manufacturer of golf tees.
According to the Maine Pellet Fuels Association, the four existing pellet plants in the state produce about 350,000 tons a year.
Maine Pellet Fuels Association director Bill Bell said that fires have put the Strong and Ashland plants out of operation, but both are on track to go back online.
"We are seeing a steady demand for pellet-stove pellets," Bell said. "We import more than we produce."
The company will be well-positioned to meet the public's need for an alternative to oil heat. It will blend Pride's leftover hardwood -- mostly white birch -- into the pellets. The plan is to create 24 jobs in the plant itself, and about a dozen new logging jobs, Sawall said.
Sawall said that the pellets will be comprised of approximately half hard, half softwood.
"We're not taking any waste residuals," Sawall said. "We're only taking whole logs, and not using any bark."
Sawall said that the town has the mill area designated as a state Pine Tree Development Zone, which will provide for tax breaks. The town's planning board also has approved the construction project, and WoodFuels is only waiting for an air permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, she said.
Bell said that demand for pellets peaked in the summer of 2008, when heating oil was priced at more than $4.25 a gallon, and the call for pellet stoves increased 500 percent from 2007.
The average price of heating oil in the state is $2.55 per gallon now, he said. WoodFuels sells for about $255 per ton, the equivalent of a $2.10 heating oil price.
"People were placing multiple orders with multiple retailers, who said 'we can get you your pellets in November,'" Bell said. "Then once they got some in, they were canceling the other orders."
Pellet manufacturers, meanwhile, have gone through a learning curve. Some of the wooden nuggets were too dusty, and left too much ash in the burn pot.
"One plant thought they were doing the right thing by using wastewood and bark," Bell said, "but there's too much ash in wastewood and bark. That was the big discovery."
Peter Lammert, project forester for the Maine Forest Service, said that people who ordered two or three years' worth of pellets last year might be regretting it. Long storage can disintegrate the pellets, he said.
"Bags should be dated," Lammert said. "I have not seen it yet on any bag that I've looked at."
The arrangement between WoodFuels and Pride is intended to help both the pellet mill and Pride. The company will need 200,000 tons a year of whole logs to operate the pellet mill at full capacity. That's five times greater than what's now coming in.
The added volume and the sharing of a log yard will help Pride save money on wood purchasing.
The savings are important, according to Randy Dicker, senior director of manufacturing at Pride. The company's profitability has been undermined in recent years by a flood of imported golf tees from China, he said.
Larry Grard -- 861-9239
lgrard@centralmaine.com
COUNTY OKS FUEL PELLET ZONING NORTH EAST FLORIDA
By PETER GUINTA | More by this reporter | peter.guinta@staugustine.com | Posted: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 ; Updated: 12:00 AM on Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The St. Johns County Commission granted a zoning change Tuesday that allows a St. Augustine-based company to build a plant off County Road 214 and Interstate 95 to manufacture wood pellets, a type of "green" fuel with multiple uses.
This would be the first plant of its type in Northeast Florida, applicant Joe Williams said.
Williams, partnering with Dr. Roy Hinman II, applied to have the property rezoned from Residential B to Rural Silviculture.
The 10-acre rectangular compound -- about 1,300 feet by 332 feet -- will be surrounded by 529 acres they also own, the application papers said.
In August, the county planning staff wrote: "This 'green' initiative is a prime example of eligible sites for state and federal funding programs...It is (hoped) that the rural silviculture designation to create a wood pellet center will allow the applicant to protect (that) environmentally sensitive land from being impacted by development as seen in many (other) areas of the county."
The site would also be used for a composting and mulch center, planners said.
In October, the Planning & Zoning Agency recommended approval of this project in a 7-0 vote.
Hinman, a former Army colonel and combat surgeon in Iraq, said the plant's raw material will be yard debris collected by the same county haulers that pick it up now.
He said they'd probably truck the material to a landfill to burn or bury, or take to Jacksonville.
"This is a chance to take something that is objectionable and turn it into something that not only isn't objectionable but which creates jobs," Hinman said. "We'll take stumps and yard clippings and compress them."
Wood pellets can range from a quarter-inch to 1.5 inches long, and institutions and homes are using them more and more in furnaces, boilers and fireplaces as a cheaper, alternative fuel over oil or natural gas.
The web site for Energex, a Pennsylvania company which bills itself as the largest pellet maker in the Western Hemisphere, said wood -- and yard trash -- are turned into sawdust, then chopped, dried and forced under high pressure through a press, or extruder. Natural oils in the wood prevent them from falling apart.
Hinman said bringing debris to his pellet company, which has not yet been named, is cheaper than what the county is spending now to haul it away.
"It also helps bring a little money into the county," he said.
On a motion by County Commissioner Phil Mays, the rezoning passed unanimously.
None of the commissioners asked questions or made comments about the project.
Williams, who said he got the idea while attending a forestry conference in Oklahoma, said pellets "are one of the easiest selling products. Now that we have our approvals, work can begin on the site. We may see pellets by spring."
MORE SEEKING ALTERNATIVES TO OIL OR GAS HEAT
By: Jason R. Vallee, Record-Journal staff
11/02/2009
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Johnathon Henninger / Record-Journal
When Dean's Stove & Spa in Southington held a sale on heating units this summer, general manager Mark Tiso said the store was flooded with customers seeking alternatives to fuel oil. Sales began to spike, and Tiso said business continues to be strong across the heating industry.
Alternative heating sources remain an enticing option for many people seeking cost-efficient ways to heat their homes, and the movement has led to continued strong sales of pellet stoves and an increase in the purchases of wood and gas-based units.
"There's a lot more balance this year," said Fred Lindsay, president of the Afterglow Energy Center at 1592 N. Broad St. in Meriden. "Our customers continue to come in to look at options for anything other than conventional fuels such as oil or electricity."
The interest in such options has been almost two years in the making, according to several stove vendors, but local building inspectors said the installation of new units has risen in the past year.
In Cheshire, for instance, the town issued 102 permits for wood, pellet or gas stoves in fiscal year 2008-09. In the previous three years combined, the town issued 111 permits, said Jean McSweet, Building Department secretary.
But Tiso and Lindsay said the shift this year has been from pellet stoves to other options, including wood-based fire systems, high-efficiency natural gas stoves and fireplace inserts.
"As new construction resumes and people consider renovations to increase the value of their homes, people are really moving to these alternative heating options," Tiso said. "We're finding that many people are clearing lots and wood is a cheap and easy source. Options today can provide 80 percent efficiency, compared to older fireplaces."
The industry has also been aided recently by a 30 percent federal tax credit for the purchase and installation of alternative sources. Under the program, consumers can see as much as $1,500 in savings, Tiso said.
Lindsay said it is the first time in more than a decade that such an incentive has been available. He said he expects to see the number of people seeking new units to even pick up in the spring.
While alternative heating options can help reduce costs, fire officials are warning people to be cautious and follow all instructions when using them.
Meriden Fire Marshal Steve Trella said firefighters respond to several incidents each winter that could be avoided.
"With the economy the way it is, alternative heating sources are a concern," he said. "When installing any new unit, the safest advice we can provide is to have residents make sure they get a building permit. It will force inspectors to look at the unit and could catch any problem before it happens."
Wallingford Fire Inspector Brian Schock said residents should follow manufacturer's instructions if they're buying used units, and if unavailable, they should contact the manufacturers. He suggested people also consider professional installation even if the unit is used.
Schock cautions about use of temporary sources, including space heaters and kerosene units. He said it's important to follow all the instructions, including providing space around the heater and making sure the units are used only in ventilated areas.
Fire officials also noted that kerosene heaters can only be used in single-family homes, according to state law.\
With winter quickly approaching, Trella also suggested residents make sure there are working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every home. With windows closed to conserve heat, there are more problems with carbon monoxide, he said.
After fire officials responded to two separate incidents last winter involving grills inside homes, Trella also warns residents not to use an oven as a heating source and suggested residents find another option if they feel it is too cold to grill outside.
"Do not under any circumstance bring a propane gas grill into a home," he said. "It is illegal and will only end with negative results."
jvallee@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
WOOD PELLETS LEAD BIOMASS ENERGY RISE
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Europe is leading rapid growth in the wood biomass energy sector with demand for wood pellets seen growing at 8 to 10 per cent annually in coming years, according to Wood Resources Quarterly.
Wood pellets are made mainly from wood waste – bark, sawdust and wood chips – from forestry operations. Compressing wood waste into pellets creates a more efficient-burning fuel than wood chips. Wood biomass fuel is seen as a valuable source of renewable energy and, if produced sustainably, offers a climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels.
The wood biomass industry in Europe is seeing the benefits of the EU’s target to produce 20 per cent of power needs from renewable energy by 2020. It’s being led by increasing demand for pellets and investment in pellet production in Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Britain, the WRQ reports.
Sweden alone used almost two million tonnes in 2008, 20 per cent of world demand, producing almost 1.6 million tons at home and importing the balance from Canada and elsewhere in Europe. The number of pellet-producing plants in Europe has reached 450 and is expected to increase significantly over the next few years.
The industry is also benefiting from investment inspired by government green stimulus measures. The pellet market is growing in the United States where a federal tax credit of up to $1500 is currently offered on the purchase and installation of high-efficiency stoves and heaters, including wood or pellet-burning units.
SCHOOLS CONVERT TO WOOD HEATING
BY VALERIE TUCKER
Correspondent 11/05/2009
STRONG -- A flatbed trailer hauling five tons of shiny white steel rolled through the Strong Elementary School parking lot on Wednesday.
Mark Rahsch and flag-car driver Kate Flanagan delivered the first 28-foot-long pellet silo to Tim Sorel and Mel Bouboulis, who were siding a newly-constructed building to house the boiler in December.
The pair planned to deliver the second silo to the Kingfield Elementary School, wrapping up the first phase of a plan to convert the two School Administrative District 58 schools to wood-pellet heat.
"This is about the height of a two-story building," Rahsch said. "It looks pretty big now, but it looks way bigger standing up."
A wood-pellet silo this size, Rahsch said, has an auger feed system to load pellets into the hopper on the boiler. This makes the whole process of using pellets highly automated, making it competitive with the convenience of oil and gas boilers.
The wood-pellet boilers at Strong and Kingfield Elementary Schools were purchased with a $1.08 million USDA grant. Skanden Energy, Inc., based in San Diego, Calif., with an office in Sumner, worked with the school system through its conversion to wood thermal energy.
"Maine people have a great appreciation for the benefits of biomass heating, and we also look forward to bringing new job opportunities to the state," company president Laura Colban said.
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, $11.4 million has been awarded to the Maine Department of Conservation to provide grants through its Wood-to-Energy Initiative.
"We help applicants through the grant application process, and then, we guide them through installation, training local contractors and helping them develop expertise in the industry," Colban said. "This maximizes the economic and environmental benefit to the local community."
The grants, aimed at rural schools and public entities converting to wood heating, can be used to fund the purchase and installation of Skanden equipment, she said. Residential use of pellet heat has become more common, but few public systems have been able to afford the cost to convert from oil and gas systems.
CN GROWING "GREEN" WOOD PELLET TRAFFIC AT DOUBLE-DIGIT RATES
November 05, 2009: 01:00 PM ET
MONTREAL, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) - North America’s largest mover of forest products - is on track to haul more than 800,000 tons of wood pellets (http://www.cn.ca/woodpellets) this year and sees more opportunities in the future for this "green" source of heating energy.
"Since 2005, we have experienced a 16 per cent compounded annual growth in our wood pellet traffic, and we see growing potential for this business in domestic and international markets," said James Foote, executive vice-president, Sales and Marketing.
"Wood pellets are a renewable resource, right in our backyard," Foote added. "Our network has direct access to wood pellet production areas and reaches key consumption markets in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S., as well as key export terminals on the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf coasts."
Major power plants and residential consumers in North America, Europe and Asia are turning to wood pellets as an alternative to fuel oil, gas or electricity to heat homes. In addition, wood pellets are being used increasingly in industrial applications such as district heating plants, greenhouses, and cement and aluminum production facilities.
Wood pellets, made from waste wood such as wood shavings and sawdust, are carbon neutral and do not contribute to global warming because they emit the lowest greenhouses gases of any fuel burned. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed wood pellet heat as one of the cleanest burning, most renewable energy sources on the planet.
Global wood pellet production in 2008 was almost 11 million tons, and some analysts believe worldwide production could double by 2014. North American consumption is expected to exceed 3.3 million tons in 2010.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) -- one of North America’s largest producers of electricity -- is studying conversion of some coal-fired generating units to agricultural and forest-based biomass. OPG is targetting 2012 for the first conversion - the Atikokan station in northwestern Ontario. CN serves the plant.
Canada’s 29 wood pellet plants have a combined production capacity of approximately 2.2 million tons. Most producers are located in British Columbia, with some in Alberta and a few in Quebec. Facilities are also opening on CN lines in Wisconsin and Mississippi this year, and the first major Ontario producers are expected to start production in 2010.
CN’s network reach and solid service are critical factors in the growth of a number of wood pellet producers:
Granules LG, located in Saint-Felicien in Quebec’s Lac Saint-Jean region, is building a rail connection into its plant, which will allow direct rail loading instead of trucking to a nearby reload facility. Direct access to CN will lower the producer’s transportation costs and improve its competitiveness in the market.
Pinnacle Pellet Inc. operates five plants in British Columbia, all located on CN’s network. CN’s network reach enables this producer to ship product for export via the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver, and to reach domestic markets across Canada, the U.S. Midwest and northeast.
Wood pellets are one of CN’s expanding sustainable energy business segments, which include biodiesel, ethanol and wind turbine components.
CN, as a railway, can help play a key role in addressing climate change challenge. Rail emits six times less greenhouse gases (GHG) than heavy trucks. Plus, CN can move one tonne of freight 197 kilometres on just one litre of fuel. Using less fuel means fewer GHG emissions.
Rail also relieves traffic congestion, improves mobility in urban areas, and can ease pressure to renew road infrastructure by taking goods off highways.
TREAD CAREFULLY ON OUR FORESTS
Many questions need answers before we allow wood-burning power plants
By EINAR CHRISTENSEN | COMMENTARY
Sun. Nov 8 - 4:46 AM
Junior high students tour a clear-cut section of forest in Lunenburg County. (Beverley Ware / Herald archive)
ONE THOUSAND years ago, Scandinavians were plundering and pillaging European countries, and what is now Nova Scotia was a pristine wilderness flourishing under the capable guidance of the Mi’kmaq and other First Nations people. Today, Scandinavian countries (especially Sweden and Finland) are developing their forests sustainably, while some Nova Scotian forest companies are plundering our woodlands.
Lately, much media activity and discussion has been generated concerning biomass and NSPI’s plan to generate 60 megawatts of power from "waste" wood at the NewPage Paper mill in Port Hawkesbury.
Earlier this month, the provincial government approved the sale of timber from Crown land for the proposal, but it’s not clear if the plant will go ahead.
According to reports, this plant would require 600,000-700,000 tonnes of biomass annually. Where will this amount of biomass come from? A wise, ancient, Chinese philosopher once remarked, "Once you’ve raised a hungry beast, you must continue to feed it!" How will this ‘beast’ be kept satiated?
Although this article refers specifically to the NSPI/NewPage plan, the following questions must be answered before making decisions concerning any biomass-fueled power project.
1. How much living biomass exists today in Nova Scotia?
2. How much "waste" biomass is produced annually in Nova Scotia? In the Canso Strait area?
3. What radius of operation would have to be exploited to satisfy the 600,000-700,000 tonnes of biomass annually? i.e.: How far would the waste wood have to be transported?
4. How much biomass should be left on the forest floor to provide nutrients for the next generation of vegetation to grow?
5. Taking into account the amount of biomass being generated annually, the amount that should be left on the forest floor, how much biomass can be produced and exploited for power generation (or any other purpose) in Nova Scotia before the operation becomes unsustainable?
6. Is incineration for power generation the best utilization of biomass? Would converting it directly to heating fuel be a more efficient use of this resource?
As a general guiding principle, power generated by biomass combustion cannot be considered renewable energy unless the wood harvesting operation is sustainable. This principle has many obvious implications.
Wood waste can be generated from many sources — for example:
1. Tree harvesting;
2. Lumber mills;
3. Pulping operations;
4. Construction and demolition sites or recycling facilities.
Regardless of its source, wood waste ultimately comes from our stock of living trees.
Sixty megawatts is considered to be a large biomass power project — especially for Nova Scotia. In Scandinavia, the majority of plants are in the 5-15 megawatt range. They generally use wood or straw waste, not virgin trees that would not otherwise be harvested. It makes no sense to harvest virgin forest just to produce wood chips for power generation.
There are those who say that you need a large plant to exploit economies of scale. However, economies of scale are economic only up to a certain magnitude; once that point is reached (a certain radius of operation), the energy required to collect the biomass from farther and farther away outweighs the energy gained. At that point, you’re into the realm of the law of diminishing returns.
If a sustainable biomass power generating facility is going to be developed, at least consider co-generation, and utilize the waste heat for "district heating" or the equivalent.
If areas are harvested — especially if they are clear cut — they should not be re-planted with only one species of trees (known as a monoculture), as this discourages re-establishing the biodiversity of the forest. Fly over Nova Scotia in a small plane or helicopter; you will be shocked at the area that has been clear cut in the last few years.
What are the alternatives to clear cutting?
1. Silviculture — if practiced properly — will enhance the ultimate yield (and value) from our forests.
2. Selective harvesting; Windhorse Farm in Lunenburg County is a prime example of how this concept can be utilized successfully over a long period of time. Their forestry operation has been (sustainably) producing 150,000 board feet of lumber annually — since 1840! To further protect the forest floor, they use horses to extract their logs from the forest!
What can we do to protect and enhance the value of our forests? Here is a suggested hierarchy for forest use.
1. Leave it in place as protected land (up to at least the 12 per cent legislated) for biodiversity, animal habitat, recreation and tourism purposes.
2. Harvest it sustainably to create lumber for construction or furniture making.
3. Harvest it sustainably for pulp operations.
4. Harvest it sustainably for heating fuel. This would include manufacturing wood pellets.
5. Harvest it sustainably for power generation — preferably co-generation.
6. Harvest it arbitrarily (and unsustainably) to produce wood chips for incineration for power generation.
7. Cut it down with no particular use in mind.
Obviously, we want to achieve the highest value-added products that we can from our forests. Granted, waste wood has a different hierarchy, but using it for direct heating is more efficient than burning for power generation.
Wood waste can be converted into manufactured lumber and wood pellets, both of which are more energy efficient than incinerating it for power generation.
If products can be manufactured from the wood, the captured carbon can be sequestered much longer than if you incinerate it.
The same amount of carbon will be liberated if you burn wood quickly or allow it to decompose naturally over a long period of time — the difference, of course, is the length of time over which the carbon is released.
These are a few of the questions that should be asked, before granting any large company the right to burn wood for power generation. Unless, and until, we can answer (positively) these questions and concerns posed above, no large-scale energy-generating biomass project should be approved in Nova Scotia.
Einar Christensen is a freelance writer from Halifax.
HEALTH BILL CARRIES BLACK LIQUOR TAX PROVISION
A measure that could save the federal government $24 billion in biofuel tax credits over 10 years by restricting the eligibility of a controversial fuel was attached last night to health care reform legislation making its way to the House floor this week.
Language included in the manager's amendment would restrict the paper industry from claiming a lucrative incentive for use of a fuel known as "black liquor."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the House Democratic leadership, introduced the measure as a stand-alone bill (H.R. 3985 (pdf)) this week that would formally restrict the paper industry from eligibility for the $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic biofuel tax credit included in the 2008 farm bill.
The estimated $24 billion in tax credit savings could be used to offset costs of the health care bill, Van Hollen said.
"In addition to supporting homegrown renewable energy, it is my hope that this legislation will be added to the manager's amendment for the House health care reform package making its way to the floor this week so that the savings generated by these improvements can help pay for health care for all Americans," Van Hollen said in a statement yesterday before the amendment was released.
The health care legislation is expected on the House floor Friday or Saturday.
Last month, news of an Internal Revenue Service memorandum surfaced saying the the paper industry could be eligible for the credit with its wood-pulping byproduct that is burned as fuel to produce electricity for paper mills.
The industry already receives a 50-cent-per-gallon credit for its production of the mixture, black liquor, through a separate credit for alternative fuels mixtures set to expire at the end of this year. Bank of America analysts estimate the industry will receive about $2.5 billion from that credit in 2009.
Industry analysts reported many paper and forest stocks were up sharply after the IRS memo surfaced last month, and some reports pegged the potential windfall for the industry at $25 billion.
But the paper industry remains unconvinced it would benefit from the credit.
"The IRS memo on this subject surfaced only a few weeks ago, and we're still trying to understand what it means and what impact it may or may not have on the industry," said Scott Milburn, a spokesman for the American Forest and Paper Association.
The memo points out that the fuel would have to meet U.S. EPA requirements under the Clean Air Act governing fuels and fuel additives. An EPA spokeswoman said black liquor is not currently registered as an approved fuel.
Van Hollen's measure is not the first attempt to restrict the paper industry from receiving tax incentives through alternative fuel tax credits.
Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced a draft proposal (pdf) this summer that would clarify the types of fuels that qualify for the 50-cent-per-gallon alternative fuels tax credit, eliminating black liquor from eligibility (E&E Daily, June 12).
But that proposal has not been formally introduced.
Van Hollen's legislation would also expand the definition of non-food feedstocks in the existing cellulosic biofuel tax credit to include cultivated algae, cyanobacteria and lemna. It would also proportionally correlate the value of the $1.01 credit with the energy content of the fuel produced, measured in British thermal units.
The advanced biofuels industry welcomed the news of the bill.
"The legislation introduced ... sets a new paradigm in encouraging the development of performance-based biofuels," Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, said in a statement. "Both the technology-neutral inclusion of algae-based fuels into the cellulosic credit as well as Congressman Van Hollen's suggestion to include BTU-based tax credits are welcome additions to the current code."
FOUR TRILLION MICROSCOPIC BACTERIA THAT CLEAN THE AIR
The $9.5-million biofilter at Plum Creek's medium-density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls was unveiled at the end of October last year. - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon
Story By Myers Reece - Flathead Beacon
After so much dreariness for the Plum Creek Timber Co. over the past two years, its a welcome relief for company officials to announce a bit of good news: a fruitful partnership with the Flathead Electric Cooperative and the Bonneville Power Administration.
A year ago, Plum Creek implemented an energy-conservation system at its medium-density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls to cut down on power costs and reduce the facilitys carbon footprint. The system is essentially smart grid technology, said Tom Ray, vice president of Montana operations.
Now that the technology has been in place for a full year, Plum Creek qualifies for a $337,000 check through a BPA rebate program. The money is a one-time rebate, but Ray said the long-term benefits are lower power costs, less energy use and a more efficient system of making boards at the plant.
To mechanically refine sawdust and woodchips in the board-making process takes tremendous amounts of electricity, Ray said. The new system, with its advanced computer optimization capabilities, helps officials better monitor the ebbs and flows of voltage use, he said.
As the wood products industry continues to struggle, Ray said anything Plum Creek can do to stay competitive is vital.
Its really a win-win situation for the partners here, Ray said. Were able to get greener.
In the past year, Plum Creek has closed three of its Flathead facilities and laid off employees at other operations in the valley. Hundreds lost their jobs. The timber company reported heavy losses in 2008 and early 2009. The F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co., based out of Columbia Falls, has also been hit hard by the declining lumber market.
Plum Creek permanently closed its Ksanka sawmill in March, dismantled the facility and then auctioned off its parts in May. Stoltze was among the companies that made purchases at the auction. Then in June, Plum Creek shut down its Pablo sawmill and its stud mill and remanufacturing plant in Evergreen. Officials hope to reopen the Evergreen plant in the future, Ray said. The Pablo mill has not been dismantled.
Today, Plum Creek has four facilities still operating in Montana: the medium-density fiberboard plant, an Evergreen plywood plant, a Columbia Falls plywood plant and a Columbia Falls sawmill.
Changes in the companys cost structure, as well as a slight improvement in the market, has enabled Plum Creek to operate those four facilities without any recent layoffs, Ray said. Outside of the Flathead, Plum Creek has one other plant, a lumber remanufacturing operation in Meridian, Idaho.
The current employment configuration has been essentially the same over the past few months, Ray said.
Amid the decline, the medium-density fiberboard plant has managed to take a couple of progressive steps forward. Last October, a $9.5 million biofilter was activated at the plant. The bug farm, as its called, is a high-tech system that houses approximately four trillion microscopic bacteria that clean the air of chemicals released during the manufacturing process. Its a pollution control mechanism that results in cleaner emissions.
At the time, Plum Creek officials said the biofilter was the largest of its kind in the world. It was the third for Plum Creek at its Montana operations. There is a similar system at the Evergreen plywood plant and another one at the fiberboard plant. Upon activation of the biofilter, Hank Ricklefs, vice president of northern resources and manufacturing, said the system would help the plant withstand the struggling wood products market.
The partnership with Flathead Electric and BPA is yet another forward-thinking effort designed to keep the fiberboard plant viable.
We want to stay competitive and continue to run, Ray said.
THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN ON FRIDAY UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED XCEL'S APPLICATION TO CONVERT THE LAST REMAINING COAL-FIRED UNIT AT ITS BAY FRONT POWER PLANT TO BIOMASS GASIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
Web Site: http://www.twincities.com/
WI- Xcel Energy said today it has received permission to build the Midwest's largest biomass power plant in Ashland, Wis.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on Friday unanimously approved Xcel's application to convert the last remaining coal-fired unit at its Bay Front Power Plant to biomass gasification technology, Xcel said.
The $58.1 million conversion project is expected to begin next year and be producing power by late 2012, Xcel Energy said. Ashland is about 69 miles east of Duluth.
When completed, the plant's power total output will drop from 70 megawatts to 60 megawatts, but still produce enough electricity to supply about 50,000 homes, Xcel said.
The Bay Front Power Plant was originally built in 1916 with five coal-fired boilers. Two boilers have since been retired and two boilers were converted to burn primarily wood biomass in the 1970s, the utility said.
Converting the last remaining boiler from coal to wood would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides and particulate matter, according to Xcel.
The Bay Front plant is expected to use tree harvest leftovers, such as treetops, logging slash and damaged or underused trees, Xcel said.
biomass
By Leslie Brooks Suzukamo
lsuzukamo@pioneerpress.com
BIOMASS THERMAL ENERGY POLICY BRIEFING A SUCCESS
Policymakers Learn the Benefits of Biomass Thermal Energy Policy
From Industry Leaders
November 10, 2009 (Washington, DC) The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC), the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI), and the Alliance for Green Heat briefed a combined audience of Democrat and Republican congressional staffers about the benefits and viability of biomass thermal energy.
The briefing, held November 6, 2009, addressed a standing room only audience of individuals interested in biomass energy, including representatives from 16 congressional offices, two Senate committees and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The goal of the briefing was to help policymakers understand biomass heating as a cost-effective way to meet our goals of energy independence and addressing issues of climate change, said Jon Strimling, President of WoodPellets.com and BTEC Government Affairs Committee chairman. We are excited about the level of interest were seeing in utilizing clean, renewable resources for heating, and we look forward to continued progress in Washington.
As a source of heat, biomass thermal energy, made from wood and other renewable resources, accounts for a third of the nations energy use. Yet, biomass for heating has traditionally been overlooked. Cellulosic ethanol and biomass used for electricity generation receive the lions share of government assistance even though biomass thermal accounts for one-third of this countrys energy usageand is more efficient than either of the two. said Bruce Lisle, President, Biofuel Technologies and PFI Government Affairs Committee chairman. Biomass thermal energy is the most convenient and economical form of renewable energy that consumers can take advantage of immediately and policy-makers are taking notice.
With the appropriate public policy and tax structure, biomass - a sustainable energy - can help displace meaningful amounts of imported fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions.
The federal tax credit structure for residential renewable energy is backwards, said John Ackerly, president, Alliance for Green Heat. It heavily subsidizes solar and geothermal which wealthy families can afford, but barely subsidizes biomass stoves which low and middle income families can afford. Solar and biomass systems both reduce a family's carbon footprint by 3 - 4 tons of carbon but the government gives about $3,000 of tax credits per ton of carbon for a solar system, but only $350 per ton for biomass."
Recent federal legislation created a consumer tax credit of 30% up to $1,500 towards the purchase and installation of a biomass burning stove. For more information on the tax credit, go to http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/taxCredit.html.
The Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC), located in Washington, DC, is a non-profit association dedicated to advancing the use of biomass for heat and other thermal energy applications. For more information visit www.biomassthermal.org
The Pellet Fuels Institute, located in Arlington, Virginia, is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting the use of wood pellets and other biomass fiber fuels. For more information visit www.pelletheat.org.
The Alliance For Green Heat, based outside of Washington, DC, is a non-profit group promoting biomass as a carbon neutral, sustainable and affordable heating solution. For more information visit www.forgreenheat.org
CONTACTS:
Jennifer Hedrick
(703) 522-6778 EST
Jennifer Nickulas
(603) 623-1150 EST
EU- DEMAND FOR WOOD PELLETS GROWING IN EUROPE
The decision by EU to use a minimum of 20% renewable energy by 2020 has driven a rapid increase in wood pellet production in Europe. Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the UK are expected to have the fastest growth in consumption the coming 10 years, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.
Demand for wood pellets and investments in pellet plants continue to grow despite the global financial crises and tight credit markets. In some countries, the current slowdown in the economy has actually had a positive effect on the biomass industry because politicians have often favoured bioenergy and pellet heating projects in governmentally funded economic stimulus packages.
The bioenergy sector is attracting a lot of attention from the forest industry, timberland owners and, increasingly, from interests with limited past participation in the forest resources sector; many of these companies have historically have been in the business of fossil fuels.
The biggest expansion in the use of forest-based biomass has occurred in Europe, mainly as a result of the decision by the EU to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and use a minimum of 20% renewable energy by 2020.
Sweden is currently the biggest consumer of wood pellets in the world, consuming over 20% of the worlds production of wood pellets. In order to meet the demand from a fast growing market, the country produced almost 1.6 million tons in 2008 and import!ed another 300,000 tons mainly from other countries in Europe but also from Canada. There are no signs portending any slowdown in demand for wood pellets, and the annual growth is expected to be between 8% and 10% in the coming years.
There are currently over 450 pellet-producing plants in Europe with many new projects planned over the next few years. The United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Germany are some of the countries that are expected to have the fastest growth in forest biomass consumption (both pellets and wood chips) over the next ten years. These countries will both invest in domestic production capacity and increase import!s.
Pellet prices have trended upward the past seven years, as reported in the Wood Resource Quarterly. Prices in Sweden have generally been higher than in Central Europe, but in 2009, prices fell the most in Sweden, resulting in a convergence with prices in Germany and Austria. Wood fibre costs are expected to increase later this year, which would result in higher production costs for many pellet manufacturers. As a consequence, it is probable that wood pellet prices will start moving upward again this coming winter after a few months in retreat.
ENERGY TO BURN: STATE PROPOSES REGULATIONS FOR OUTSIDE WOOD FURNACES
(Source: Erie Times-News) By Tim Hahn, Erie Times-News, Pa.
Nov. 10--EDINBORO -- Michael Reed is proud to keep his borough home warm with a renewable resource.
He said he is happy that his wood-fired outdoor furnace runs cleaner and more efficient than many systems that burn fossil fuel, and that he saves landfill space by burning some wood products that others had planned to throw away.
Reed is even tickled that the ashes from his furnace, which he sprinkles on his garden and on his lawn, have made his vegetables and his grass grow better.
"I've got no complaints," he said.
Except one.
Reed, the owner of Goldart Jewelers in Erie, is less than pleased that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection might adopt rules that would regulate the sale and use of outdoor wood-fired boilers.
"If I have an efficient wood-burning furnace, they don't need regulations. What they need to do is put more regulations on people who burn coal. And did you ever try to get rid of nuclear waste? It's not easy," Reed said. "Are they really doing it for the environmental health of people, or are they really doing it for the taxes?"
It's all about the environment, according to the DEP.
Proposed amendments to state air-quality regulations that the DEP's Environmental Quality Board has drafted, and is currently collecting public comments on, would require all new furnaces sold to meet more stringent air emissions standards.
New furnaces must also be installed at least 150 feet from the nearest property line, and must have a permanently attached stack that extends at least 10 feet above the ground and at least two feet above the highest peak of the highest residence located within 150 feet of the furnace.
Those with existing furnaces must also have permanently-attached stacks at least 10 feet above the ground, but those stacks must be at least two feet above the highest peak of the highest residence located within 500 feet of the furnace.
The proposed regulations also require users to burn only clean wood, wood pellets from clean wood, certain home heating oil, natural gas or propane fuels, or other fuel that is approved in writing by the DEP. Wood that's been painted, stained or treated with preservatives cannot be used.
Sellers of furnaces would be required to properly notify their customers of these rules, and to keep sales records for five years.
The Environmental Quality Board is additionally seeking comments on whether the regulations should include language prohibiting the operation of outdoor furnaces between May 1 and Sept. 30.
The regulations have been touted as beneficial to Pennsylvanians because they would cut down on pollution and reduce the spread of particulates that have been linked to premature death and other health problems, according to the DEP.
The agency's regional office in Meadville has received 24 nuisance complaints regarding outdoor furnaces in the 12 counties it oversees since January 2007, agency spokeswoman Freda Tarbell said. The bulk of those complaints came from Mercer and Venango counties, although three dealt with furnaces in Crawford County, Tarbell said.
None of the complaints came from Erie County, she said.
DEP representatives go to the source of the complaint for "an educational outreach type of visit," where they discuss best practices for operating wood furnaces, such as what to burn and how high to have the stack, Tarbell said.
The DEP also visits the municipality where the offending furnace is located to make local officials aware of the complaint and to suggest possibly adopting a local ordinance to regulate the furnaces, she said.
Oil City is one of the few municipalities in this region to have such an ordinance. It was adopted in April after much review, in part because of complaints that officials had received about some outdoor wood-burners in the city, Oil City Councilman John Bartlett said.
Oil City's ordinance requires outdoor furnace users to obtain a permit from the city and to adhere to setback, stack height, fuel and other requirements, including one that prohibits their operation between May 31 and Sept. 1.
The biggest effect from the proposed rules for future buyers of outdoor furnaces that are growing in popularity in this region would be the cost of the units, said Bill Kelly, the owner of Heatmor Stainless Steel Outdoor Wood Burning Furnaces in McKean.
"I can't tell you how much, but it will be substantial," said Kelly, who sold more than 30 outdoor furnaces in 2008 but has seen his business drop a bit this year because of the slow economy.
The DEP states in its proposed revisions that nonqualifying furnace models cost between $8,000 and $18,000, depending on the size, and that the qualifying units are estimated to cost about 15 percent more because of changes made to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
But the higher price should be offset by the new unit's efficiency, said David Hayes, who works for C&J Outdoor Furnaces in Cochranton.
"We have (a newer furnace) at the shop, and when we heated the shop last week we loaded up five pieces of wood that weren't split on Monday and it took us until Friday to burn it off," Hayes said.
No matter what regulations ultimately come into play in Pennsylvania concerning outdoor wood-burners, the restrictions won't be enough to make Brandy Poff change her mind about switching six years ago from propane to wood to heat her home and her husband's trucking company office on Route 285 in Espyville.
"It paid for itself within the first three or four years with what we saved in propane," she said.
TIM HAHN can be reached at 392-7821 or by e-mail.
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INTEREST CONTINUES TO RISE
LOCAL COMPANY PROVINCE'S ONLY PELLET PRODUCER
SUE HICKEY
Advertiser
Trudy Blanchard, office manager at Blanchard's Woodworking of Bishop's Falls, presents a wood pellet stove. This uses wood pellets, not regular wood, and burns efficiently with low emissions. Government is encouraging more people to consider investing in the stoves, as they now can be produced locally and can even get a rebate. Sue Hickey photo
The province is encouraging people to think about investing in wood pellet stoves to heat their homes.
It's continuing with a rebate for people who buy the stoves.
That initiative arose last year when government introduced the program, mainly to create a demand for wood pellets. The move appears to be successful, says Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale.
"There does seem to be considerable interest in pellet stoves," said a spokesperson for the department. "The number of pellet rebate applications received by the department has increased over the last month, and more retailers seem to be carrying pellet stoves.
"Two to three years ago, most homeowners were not familiar with the technology; today pellet heating has become a viable option for homeowners in this province," she added.
Right now, the only company producing the pellets is Blanchard's Woodworking, through its new subsidiary, Exploits Pelletizing. There are others planning to come onstream, however.
"Cottles Island Lumber continues to develop its pellet plant, and a pellet plant is being constructed on the Northern Peninsula," said the spokesperson.
Exploits Pelletizing had received funding under the Newfoundland and Labrador Green Fund in December for the production of wood pellets as a green alternative to electric or oil heating.
One tonne of waste sawdust makes about half a tonne, or 25 bags, of wood pellets. The manufacturing of the wood pellets in Bishop's Falls will result in approximately 18 tonnes of waste being diverted from local landfills every month.
The low emission is a bonus for green-conscious consumers. A wood pellet stove produces only one-fifth the emission of a regular wood stove.
The Residential Wood Pellet Appliance Rebate Program was introduced under the 2008 provincial budget to diversify the industry and identify new markets. The rebate program continues until March 15, 2010. To date, 319 rebate applications have been submitted to the department.
Details on the rebate, program requirements and application forms are available at www.gov.nl.ca/nr or from wood pellet appliance vendors in the province. Additional information is available at www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2008/nr/1105n03.htm or by calling 709-637-2349.
KSM MULTISTOKER 375-35 AUTOMATIC BIOMASS BOILERS FROM ASGARD BIOMASS SYSTEMS
Asgard Biomass Systems offers the KSM Multistoker 375-35 Automatic biomass boiler that provides an output power of 35 kilowatts. The biomass boilers can be used along with a separate hopper or a silo. The biomass heater is included with a filling indicator, a fire damper, and an external feed screw control. Wood pellets, wood chips, grains and other biomass fuels can be used in the biomass boiler.
KSM Multistoker 375-35 Automatic biomass boiler
The KSM Multistoker 375-35 Automatic biomass boiler features automatic de-ash and an oxygen control, which can be adjusted according to the requirement. External feed screws and silos can be provided with the furnace, on demand. If grains are used to fuel the biomass heater, a moving floor burnhead has to be attached. The KSM Multistoker 375-35 Automatic biomass boiler is basically designed for use with biomass, such as grain and wood pellets. However, it can also be used with fire wood.
The biomass furnace, supplied by Asgard Biomass Systems, has an efficiency of 92 percent. The KSM Multistoker 375-35 Automatic biomass boiler consists of a 180mm diameter chimney, 1-inch BSP inlet and an outlet. The charging door of the heater measures 23 x 35cm. The biomass boiler uses fire wood with the maximum size, 80cm. The boiler of the furnace is 1,450mm in height and 950mm in length. The overall length and width of the biomass furnace is 1,675mm and 620mm, respectively, with a weight of 500kg.
Source: Asgard Biomass Systems
RESIDENTS STILL HAVE CHANCE AT NEW STOVES IN NH
Funding remains in Keene’s wood stove change-out program for cleaner heat
By David P. Greisman
Sentinel Staff
Published: Monday, November 16, 2009
Behind door No. 1: an old, less efficient wood stove, the kind that is sending a significant amount of pollution into the air above Keene.
Behind door No. 2: a new, more efficient wood stove, pellet stove or gas heater, discounted by $1,000, a 30 percent federal tax credit on the remaining cost of the wood stove, and 2,000 pounds of free wood pellets.
Some 55 city homeowners have taken the deal behind door No. 2. And for those still dealing with what’s behind door No. 1, another 45 rebates remain.
“We’ve had a lot of interest, and the interest is still really strong,” said W. Rhett Lamb, Keene’s planning director, who is working on the city end of the wood stove change-out campaign.
“If people need a little push to get over the hump and replace these things, the option is still there,” Lamb said. “It won’t last forever.”
The incentives are funded through a federal grant and with money the state received in a court settlement involving air pollution. The trade-in program officially began Oct. 22, much earlier than a once-proposed start date of spring 2010.
Applications will be accepted until the rebates run out, or until the end of January, whichever comes first.
One of the first to take the deal was Keene homeowner Steve Perkins.
“Without the exchange program, I wouldn’t have even considered upgrading, due to the cost,” Perkins was quoted as saying in a N.H. Department of Environmental Services news release.
Perkins got a new wood stove for a rental property he owns, spending $600 instead of the $1,600 retail price.
He’s also saving money on fuel; his new stove is about 33 percent more efficient, according to the news release.
This trade-in program is, well, a product of its environment.
Last winter, state officials informed city staff that a Department of Environmental Services monitoring station for Cheshire County — set up on Water Street in Keene — had measured high levels of particulate matter in the city.
Fine particulate matter can be residue from construction, windblown dust, burned fossil fuels or wood, or vehicle combustion.
Data showed that the measurements were related to residential wood burning. Particulate matter levels went up dramatically at times when people would arrive home from work and light up their wood stoves and fireplaces, according to Lamb.
The levels would peak around midnight, decline slowly until morning, start up again for a short period in the morning and then remain lower during the day.
While people in other communities burn wood and don’t have high particulate matter counts, the topography, weather patterns and geographic pattern of Keene led to what Lamb called “a sort of perfect storm for high particulate matter levels.”
The matter remains in the air over Keene because of a lack of air movement to carry it out of the valley and over the surrounding hills. On some winter nights, the levels in Keene have actually spiked above federal standards, Lamb said.
The average levels have not yet reached a point at which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would increase its regulation, however. That regulation would largely take the form of stricter requirements for businesses and their emissions — which are not the sources of the particulate matter levels.
Now 55 of those old wood stoves are being recycled. The new wood stoves achieve what is called a secondary burn, with temperatures so hot that wood smoke, which is burnable debris, bursts into flame again.
Older wood stoves do not achieve this secondary burn, instead releasing the wood smoke debris into the air.
With temperatures now dipping below freezing, it is a good time for people to take advantage of the remaining rebates, Lamb said.
“People are beginning to wonder if their wood supply is going to make it through the year, or if that stove that they’ve just fired up in the last couple of weeks is as efficient as it should be,” he said.
For more information, call Corey Canning in Keene’s planning department at 352-5474 or 856-5323, or go online to http://ci.keene.nh.us/ sustainability/ woodstove-changeout
David Greisman can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or dgreisman@keenesentinel.com
IT'S THE SEASON TO BURN WOOD IN VACAVILLE, CA
By Nate Johnson / Reporter Intern
Posted: 11/17/2009 01:00:49 AM PST
Ty Jennings, of Jennings Ranch in Corning, supplies a large region of Northern California firewood customers with seasoned almond and oak firewood. (Rick Roach/The Reporter)
When temperatures drop, many families stop adjusting the thermostat and burn wood instead, a hands-on, rustic alternative to home heating.
"With wood heat, you actually feel the heat. It's a different kind of heat," says Ty Jennings, who runs Jennings Ranch, a seller of cordwood in Corning, with his mother, Patricia Jennings. "You can feel the heat in your bones."
A cord of wood is legally measured at 128 cubic feet. It is usually sold as a stack of wood 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. Several sellers in the area offer hardwoods or mixed hard and soft woods. Some sellers may sell cordwood in fractions, such as one-half cord, one-quarter cord or one-eighth cord, and will include the cost of delivery in the overall price.
"Some people go through three cords a winter, some get by on half a cord," says Patricia Jennings. "Some call us in the summer for a better deal."
Cordwood sellers are required to indicate the species of the wood they sell, and no cord can contain any undeclared wood, unless the cord is sold as mixed or unknown. Denser woods such as oak, almond or walnut tend to have a higher heat rating than softer woods, which is measured in Btu's, or British thermal units.
"It's been slow this year," says Jim McClish, whose cordwood business, based out of Winters, has felt the bite of the recession. "Last year, sales were so down I had about half my inventory left."
"I lowered my prices about $100 a cord," he adds. "I've got
debt to pay, I have to move my wood."
McClish says that green wood, or wood that hasn't been properly seasoned, should be avoided. Green wood contains an excess of creosote, a sticky residue that can damage stoves, cause chimney fires and create darker smoke. While all wood contains creosote, properly seasoned wood that has been dried for at least a year has a more negligible amount, especially hardwood.
"The harder the wood, the less the pollutants," says McClish.
For consumers who are planning to install a new stove or furnace, a federal tax credit is available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Buyers may be eligible for 30 percent off the purchase of a high-efficiency wood or pellet stove. Pellet stoves offer the user more control than a wood stove, and wood pellets are widely available at bigger convenience stores.
Dennis Gregerson, co-owner of the Gallery of Fireplaces in downtown Vacaville, recommends the strategic placing of a newly purchased stove.
"Best possible place to put a zone heater is where you spend the most time. That's where you recoup most of your investment," says Gregerson.
Vacaville and Dixon residents are under the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, which has a "Don't Light Tonight" program. It asks for people to voluntarily refrain from burning on days in which the particulate matter consists of 25 or more micrograms per cubic meter of air. Access http://www.ysaqmd.org/ for more information.
OCHOCO LUMBER CO. RECEIVES GRANT FOR WOOD PELLET FUEL PLANT
Wed. November 11, 2009; Posted: 11:35 PM
Nov 11, 2009 (Baker City Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A $4.89 million federally funded economic recovery grant from Business Oregon is headed to the Ochoco Lumber Co. of John Day.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced Tuesday the funding will construct a wood pellet fuel facility, helping support the retention of 80 full-time jobs and creating 11 new ones in the community.
The grant opportunity was made possible by the U.S. Forest Service and funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Malheur National Forest officials worked in conjunction with Business Oregon staff to make the pellet fuel project possible.
"This project will save and create jobs in an industry hit very hard by the current recession," Kulongoski said. "It will not only have a huge impact on the local community, but will also have a profound impact on the health of our forests."
The Recovery Act grant will allow Ochoco Lumber, doing business in John Day as the Malheur Lumber Company, along with its partner Bear Mountain Forest Products, to produce pine fuel pellets for retail sale in the Pacific Northwest as well as Bear Bricks, a compressed fuel product.
Bear Mountain Forest Products, founded in 1988 and based in Portland, operates manufacturing plants in Brownsville and Cascade Locks and sells its products to more than 400 retailers in the western United States, according to the governor's announcement.
"We are very excited about this project," said Ochoco Lumber President Bruce Daucsavage. "This is going to mean good things for this community."
The new facilities will utilize biomass harvested from private lands as well as nearby U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands. The plant will produce pellets for bulk delivery to fuel pellet boilers in hospitals, schools and other commercial and government buildings in the region. The company also hopes to significantly increase production by providing fuel pellets to large industrial users such as utility companies.
The recovery funds will help the company purchase and install a new drying system, two pellet-making machines and the infrastructure necessary for the boiling and drying processes. The governor's office reported that the company plans to have the pellet-making operation up and running by the end of next summer.
Baker County woodland owners and economic development officials are still waiting for a response to a similar request submitted for federal funding under the recovery act, according to Gene Stackle, business development manager for the Baker City/County economic development team.
However, he said with the closures earlier this year of some of Northeastern Oregon's last remaining lumber mills in John Day, La Grande and Enterprise, projects that expand markets for wood products, including biomass for wood pellets and other products, is good news to area woodland owners and the regional economy
"We haven't heard anything, but we haven't given up," Stackle said.
He said the approval of recovery act funds for the biomass project in Grant County renews hope that some of the recovery funds may yet be headed to Baker County for woody biomass project.
In the meantime, he said Elkhorn Biomas of Baker City is continuing their self-funded firewood processing and woody biomass projects.
FINDING AN ALTERNATIVE WITH TIMBER
Posted: Nov 18, 2009 09:49 AM by Aaron Levitt
As the price of oil, seems to be moving up again, alternative energy is also beginning to make a comeback. The two sectors almost move in lock step with each other, and as the fossil fuels segment of the market increases, so does the awareness of various alternatives. As interesting as Ocean Power Technologies' (Nasdaq:OPTT) Aqua Buoy wave system is, one of mankind's oldest fuel sources has recently been getting all the attention. Across the United States, power plants are turning to the forests to make electricity in some unconventional ways.
In 2008, wood-burning power plants were capable of generating 6,700 megawatts of electricity. This is enough to provide power to about 6 million homes, according to the Energy Department. Nearly 310 additional megawatts of new capacity have been added in 2009 through new wood-based power plants. The spur of growth stems from the $500 million in stimulus package grants devoted to thinning federal forests with the goal to make forests more resistant to wildfires and disease. A side bet on this thinning includes the grants for sustainable energy. Analysts predict that U.S. forests could sustainably produce at least 368 million dry tons of wood for energy annually.
Not Your Grandfathers Pot Belly Stove
Iberdrola Renewable's (OTCBB:IBDRY) new Tacoma, Washington facility could be an example of what's in store for the industry. The plant, which opened next to a paper mill, burns the leftover scraps and wood waste to provide energy to homes in Sacramento. In the Southern regions of the country, wood energy is seen as renaissance, as the section is plentiful in forests, but lacks ample sun or wind (Florida aside) to use those sources.
The benefit from wood energy could be in a co-fired plant. Such operations burn both traditional sources of energy, such as coal, alongside wood waste or pellets. These plants are considered "greenhouse gas neutral" as it is assumed that forest re-growth will sequester the carbon dioxide emitted through photosynthesis. Sulfur oxide emissions are reduced on a one-to-one basis in a wood co-fire plant. A 20% pellet and 80% coal mix will reduce sulfur emissions by 20%. These wood pellet plants can also achieve a nearly 90% thermal efficiency rating, which is on par with straight coal or fossil fuel fired facilities.
Adding Some Wood to Your Portfolio
Investors wanting exposure to the sector have a few choices. There are several alternatives in both individual companies and exchange traded funds. The exchange traded funds provide poor correlation to straight timberland, as they contain paper and packaging companies. Raw land and timber have been great places to position long-term money over the years, as they have historically outpaced inflation. Timber has a low correlation to other asset classes, and has served as a great diversification tool. Both timber REITs Plum Creek Timber (NYSE:PCL) and Potlatch (NYSE:PCH) offer a chance to participate in raw timber.
However, wood energy may be the one area in which the two timbers ETFs shine. The paper and package companies could potentially find selling scrap product to be a profitable business. In this instance, the two ETFs may make sense.
The first to market was Claymore/Beacon Global Timber Index (NYSE:CUT), with 30 international holdings including Plum Creek and Potlatch. The fund charges 0.65% in expenses. While the volume is heavier for the Claymore fund, the iShares S&P Global Timber & Forestry Index (Nasdaq:WOOD) maybe a better choice as the fund has higher concentrations in raw log producers. Expenses for the iShares fund run 0.49%. Both funds have rallied alongside the broad market with WOOD returning 26% and CUT returning 43% year to date.
The Bottom Line
It seems as if an old fuel source is having a bit of a renaissance. As traditional fossil fuels are once again creeping up the price ladder, several alternatives are being explored. Wood energy is gaining momentum as a renewable source of fuel. The two timber ETFs are an easy way to gain exposure to this coming trend. (Learn more about energy ETFs in ETFs Provide Easy Access To Energy Commodities.)
By Aaron Levitt
Aaron Levitt is an accountant with a non-publicly traded real estate limited partnership. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and international business from Pennsylvania State University and is currently working on his master's degree. Levitt advocates long-term v
GREENBIZ: THE ALGAE FARMER
November 18, 2009 by Al Harris
With an alternative and renewable energy industry poised to take off in Virginia, there are plenty of start-ups and entrepreneurs looking to cash in. In a new feature for BizSense, we will take a look at those Virginians who are putting a stake into the emerging green energy sector.
In Prince George County, in a town called Spring Grove, Jes Sprouse is one of those looking to build a business around a green idea — literally.
Sprouse has developed a patent-pending process to convert algae into fuel. He is just one player in a nationwide race to create a viable biofuel from algae.
But while most other efforts are focused on processing algae to be used as an alternative to diesel or gasoline, Sprouse’s start-up Algal Farms Inc. is focused on creating algae pellets, which are burned like coal to generate electricity or are used as a substitute for wood pellets for heating.
“I want to create an alternative form of coal, a carbon replacement for coal-power plants,” said Sprouse. “The carbon footprint would complete go away and help clean up the atmosphere.”
But Sprouse is taking baby steps to get there. He is seeking capital to set up several small-scale production sites on farms in Dinwiddie. He has applied for a $600,000 grant with the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, an entity that uses money from the state tobacco settlement to create economic programs for areas that have been historically dependent on tobacco farming.
To get the grant, he needs another $600,000 in matching funds, which he is currently seeking from private investors. The idea is to use the fertilizer runoff from the farms to feed the algae growth, which helps keep pollution out of the bay.
At first, Sprouse said, he plans to bring forward a product to compete with wood pellets, which he said sell for $300 a ton.
“It’s a wide-open market that is getting stage for a huge amount of growth in Europe,” said Sprouse. “There is more demand than there is supply.”
Sprouse also said he is working on another project in Chesterfield County to convert an old wastewater treatment facility in a shuttered tobacco processing facility into an algae farm.
But Sprouse’s big dream is to build two large-scale algae farms, one 2,000-acre farm at a site in Prince George and a 20,000-acre at another in Prince George County – combined, the two farms would employ 860 people. He said that each acre of surface water would be capable of producing 500 pounds of biomass a day.
Of course, there is just one problem.
“We’ve been doing good at getting things moving forward, but not very good getting more money in the door,” said Sprouse.
The two large farms would cost $80 million and nearly a billion dollars, respectively.
While his goals are ambitious, Sprouse is focused and determined to get there, every since he was child.
“I’ve always had an interest in renewable fuels. When my dad was building power plants on the front range of the Rockies, I saw the amount of coal burned there every day and though, ‘One day we are going to run out of the stuff,’” Sprouse said.
For more on Sprouse’s process, check out a recent feature from Poplar Mechanics.
And for more on some of the hype surrounding the algae-to-oil industry, check out Algae Energy Orgy from Mother Jones.
Al Harris covers alternative energy for BizSense. Please send news tips to Al@richmondbizsense.com.
PEAT RESOURCES LIMITED'S ACTIVITIES IN NEWFOUNDLAND
By: Marketwire .
Nov. 18, 2009 11:06 AM
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/18/09 -- Successful operation of Peat Resources Limited's (TSX VENTURE: PET) small-scale production facility in Stephenville (Newfoundland) has produced over two hundred tonnes of high quality peat fuel pellets that are being used for testing and marketing purposes.
A 25-tonne batch of the pellets was shipped to Corner Brook Pulp and Paper for a combustion trial in the plant's heat and power generation system. A report detailing the handling and combustion characteristics of the peat fuel pellets confirmed their acceptability as a fuel for the mill. Consequently, Peat Resources Limited has been invited to bid on Corner Brook's 2010-2011 fuel supply procurement.
Another application of the Company's peat fuel is in residential pellet stoves. A controlled comparative analysis of equal quantities of peat and wood pellets was carried out in Stephenville which demonstrated that the peat pellets ignite faster and burn 30% longer. Forty-pound (18.2 kg) bags of the peat pellets are currently being test marketed with consumers in the Stephenville-St. George's area.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government's Energy Plan identified peat fuel resources as a component of the province's "energy warehouse". The Company's advice was sought this month by provincial government authorities who are preparing an Energy Innovation strategy that was called for in the Energy Plan. The Company's input was also requested for the development of a Newfoundland wetland management policy. Peat Resources Limited is a registered company in Newfoundland and is pleased to be receiving recognition for its responsible efforts to stimulate sustainable economic development in the region.
Peat Resources Limited was formed to develop, produce and market peat fuel - a sustainable bioenergy resource. The Company's Annual General Meeting is being held in Toronto on November 26, 2009.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release.
Contacts:
Peat Resources Limited
Peter Telford
President and CEO
416-862-7885
416-862-7889 (FAX)
peatfuel@peatresources.com
www.peatresources.com
'FUEL CUBES' HOLD PROMISE AS CLEANER COAL ALTERNATIVE
By Dan Haugen, Minnesota Monitor
December 29, 2007
A Minnesota start-up company says it's invented and successfully tested a new biomass briquette that could become to coal what ethanol has been to gasoline.
Renewafuel, a two-year-old subsidiary of Endres Processing in Rosemount, calls them "fuel cubes." They're made from a mix of plant materials that include wood, corn stalks and switch grass. Unlike raw biomass, the cubes can be blended with or substituted for coal in existing burners with little or no modifications, the company says.
Like ethanol, burning the fuel cubes creates far less pollution than fossil fuels and producing them has potential to boost rural economies. As with ethanol, too, though, there are concerns about whether harvesting material for the cubes will generate side effects that outweigh their value as an alternative.
"It's an exciting development, as long as the dense fuel cubes are produced sustainably," says Todd Reubold, communications director for the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment at the University of Minnesota. "Burning these biomass pellets is beneficial to the environment, but you have to look at the whole system."
Cleveland-Cliffs, an Ohio mining company that owns Hibbing Taconite, Northshore Mining and United Taconite in Minnesota, announced last week it has purchased a 70 percent controlling stake in Renewafuel. It is already using the fuel cubes to heat a pelletizing furnace at one of its Michigan mining facilities and it wants to use them at its Minnesota sites, too, the company said.
James Mennell, a Minneapolis environmental lawyer, and Leon Endres, owner of Endres Processing, started working on the fuel cubes a couple of years ago. Mennell learned the industry from representing many of the region's ethanol projects, and Endres Processing was already in the business of combining varieties of food waste into livestock feed.
What they came up with was a way to aggregate several types of biomass, from grass to wood and grains to seed hulls, and process it all into dense, coal-like briquettes. The recipe can be adjusted depending on what biomass materials are available in the region where they're being manufactured or to meet specific requests of customers.
"It's a little bit of art and a little bit of science to getting different mixes to work," says Mennell.
The cubes come out similar in size and moisture content, and they produce a consistent amount of heat that's comparable to what's created by coal. They generate nearly twice as much energy as other biomass, the company says, putting it on par with coal from the western United States. The cost is competitive with coal in some markets, says Mennell.
When burned, the cubes emit 90 percent less sulfur dioxides, 35 percent less particulate matter and 30 percent less acid gases compared to coal. That's based on testing the company ran at the University of Iowa with supervision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The company says burning the fuel cubes doesn't contribute to global warming because the carbon emitted was only recently stored in the plant material. Coal and gas burning, on the other hand, release carbon into the atmosphere that had been stored underground for centuries and was no longer part of the natural balance.
That's not necessarily true, says Matt Norton, forestry advocate for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. He's skeptical about the sources Renewafuel will use to harvest material for its cubes. If it relies too much on wood, it could rachet up pressure to clear forests, causing the release of carbon that had been stored there for decades.
"My fear is that wood is there and it's ready, and it's what they're going to turn to," says Norton. "And if they start consuming wood, then the claims they make with regard to carbon neutrality are not borne out. If they start consuming prairie grasses, hats off to them. This could be something we would support in a big way."
Norton is part of a subgroup of Clean Energy Minnesota that's trying to come up with a system for scoring biomass fuels based on things like how much net energy they produce, how much carbon they divert from the atmosphere, and how else they affect the economy and environment. It's not yet clear whether Renewafuel's project would rank high or low, he says.
Reubold says he expects questions will arise about whether energy is the best use for materials like wood fibers. The use of corn for ethanol fuel instead of food has generated debate and claims it is causing rising food prices. Increasing the use of wood for biomass energy could create competition and higher material prices for other industries.
But Renewafuel's fuel cube appears to be an important breakthrough, Reubold says, because it allows companies to use biomass without building new facilities.
"The challenge is breaking into a market that's dominated by coal," says Reubold. "What this does is it gets a foot in the door for using new forms of biomass to produce bioenergy."
Copyright:
©2007 Minnesota Monitor
THUNDER BAY ENTREPRENEURS HAVE WOOD PELLET EXPANSION PLANS
By: Northern Ontario Business staff
A wood pellet mill is scheduled to go into operation in 2010 at the site of Atikokan's former oriented strandboard mill. (Photo supplied)
Thunder Bay businessman Ed Fukushima is hoping for a spring launch of a wood pellet manufacturing operation in Atikokan.
“March is our optimistic target if everything goes absolutely right,” said Fukushima, who together with business partners Larry Levchak, Tere McDonald and Doug Chadwick, have formed Atikokan Renewable Fuels. The proposed operation is on the site of the former Fibratech mill, an oriented strandboard (OSB) plant, which went into receivership in 2007.
The mill was acquired this year by Fukushima and his partners. Construction crews were removing the OSB equipment in November and retrofitting the building to accommodate special machinery now on order. The company has spent close to $10 million on the project so far.
Fukushima is also awaiting word from the government on securing the wood allocation for the plant, estimated at 120,000-cubic metres. But he also has plans to buy fibre on the open market with some deals already in place. There are some upcoming agreements with multiple First Nation communities as well.
With a targeted annual pellet production of 140,000 tonnes, the Atikokan operation would create 40 plant jobs and 100 to 150 in spinoff forestry jobs.
But those numbers could easily double with the company's more ambitious plans to establish three or four pellet operations across northwestern Ontario.
“Atikokan is only of multiple pellet locations that we're going to build,” said Fukushima. He also has plans to be manufacture pellet machines in Thunder Bay by next spring.
Fukushima and his partners are owners in a group of Thunder Bay companies that include MGM Electric, Mahan Electric and Automation Now.
They have a separate U.S. business in Park Falls, Wisc., called Renewable Densified Fuels, which makes wood pellets from sawmill residue.
IRVONA BUSINESS QUALIFIES FOR USDA ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Friday, November 20, 2009
By Terry Whetstone Staff Writer
IRVONA - Two years ago CQ FireMakers made a move to Irvona and has been a welcome addition to the borough. In October 2008 the company purchased Bald Eagle Pellets and relocated it to Glen Hope and both the manufacturer and the office are doing well.
Yesterday Bill Wehry, U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency state executive director, made a visit to the sites, and while at the office in Irvona he presented a certificate to the company.
CQ FireMakers LLC is a Biomass Conversion Facility that is now qualified under the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. This allows material owners to be eligible for matching payments for delivery of eligible materials to CQ FireMakers.
The Collection, Harvest, Storage and Transportation Matching Payment Program will provide eligible material owners matching payments for the sale and delivery of materials to a CHST-qualified Biomass Conversion Facility. The payments will be available to material owners at the rate of $1 for each $1 per dry ton paid by the CHST-qualified BCF to the eligible material owners, limited to a maximum of $45 per dry ton and limited to a two-year payment duration.
Wehry presented a certificate to David Benson, vice president of operations of CQ Inc., yesterday in the Irvona office. The certificate reads, "Certificate of Recognition, awarded to CQ Firemakers LLC for your certification as an FSA qualified Biomass Conversion Facility."
According to its Web site, CQ FireMakers LLC was formed in 1989 by the Electric Power Research Institute, the not-for-profit (research and development) arm of the electric utility industry.
Originally, CQ's revenues came primarily from contract research for EPRI, U.S. utilities and the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 1994, CQ Inc. employees bought out 80 percent of EPRI's interests in the company. In 1998, CQ Inc. employees purchased the remaining 20 percent of the company, becoming a closely held private corporation 100 percent owned by CQ Inc. directors, officers and employees.
(It) expanded beyond contract R&D to operation and maintenance of coal cleaning and synthetic fuel plants as well as ownership and operation of commercial ventures such as finishing of raw wood flooring and production of wood pellets for home heating.
CQ, which stands for Coal Quality has a planned production at the Glen Hope plant of about 36,000 tons per year. The hopes are to continue increasing that.
Through its FireMakers affiliate, CQ Inc. sells wood pellets to wholesalers and distributors and also to retail customers from its Irvona office. It also serves the local market and provides FireMakers with the additional profits associated with retail sales. Additional products available at Irvona are manufactured firelogs and firestarters, which are produced in a multi-purpose area behind the office. The company acquired the technology and equipment associated with the firelog/firestarter business in 2007. Firelogs and firestarters are also sold through a Web site and distributors.
CQ produces its pellets from sawdust materials and works hand-in-hand with Kitko Wood products in Glen Hope.
POWER MIX – A TALE OF TWO UTILITIES
By Chris Hubbuch / chubbuch@lacrossetribune.com | Posted: Sunday, November 22, 2009 12:15 am |
Power mix – a tale of two utilities
With its heavy reliance on coal, La Crosse-based Dairyland Power faces tough challenges under proposed climate change legislation in Congress. The nonprofit energy cooperative is lobbying for a carbon credit distribution that won’t give windfalls to some companies while penalizing others. Xcel, which already relies on nuclear, hydro and non-fossil fuel sources, should fare better.
CASSVILLE, Wis. - The future of Wisconsin's energy is piled high on the south lot of the E.J. Stoneman plant.
Gone is the coal that fueled the boilers for six decades. Now 40,000 tons of wood chips and railroad ties tower over construction workers building an apparatus to grind that wood into fuel.
With its yellow tile walls and dusty turbines, Stoneman hardly looks futuristic. La Crosse-based Dairyland Power built the plant in 1950 and shuttered it in 1993 for economic reasons.
But with a push to limit carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, utilities are scrambling for new sources of renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. Stoneman again is viable.
DTE Energy Systems bought the plant in 2008, stripped out the boilers and began a two-year project to convert it to biomass. Starting this summer, they expect the turbines to spin again with steam generated primarily by construction and demolition debris.
Even with a cost in the tens of millions - they don't disclose the exact amount - DTE expects to make money because of the premium price for green energy.
On the other side of town, Alliant Energy burns wood pellets along with coal at its Nelson Dewey station as part of a yearlong test. Though Madison-based Alliant has no plans to convert the plant, the company will use the data as it examines ways to reduce its carbon footprint, spokesman Steve Schultz said.
With Congress poised for the first time to limit carbon emissions, power utilities are ramping up efforts to replace coal, a cheap and plentiful resource that long has been the major source of electricity, particularly in the Midwest.
Environmental advocates say it's a start to slowing global climate change, and even utilities favor the principle of limiting greenhouse gases.
But not all utilities are created equal. Xcel Energy, which supplies urban households and industries, has a diverse energy portfolio bolstered by investments in renewable sources and nuclear power, which produces no greenhouse gases. Dairyland Power, which through its member cooperatives provides power for most of the Coulee Region's rural and small town residents, relies almost exclusively on coal.
Both utilities support a congressional approach to cutting carbon emissions but differ on the details of how it should be done.
"Now is the time to push for it," said Brian Rude, vice president of external relations for Dairyland. "All of us need some certainty in planning."
What it will cost consumers is a matter of speculation, but most agree families will see their bills climb by $100 a year or more.
Cap and trade
The plan is to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2012 and gradually lower them over the next four decades.
The government would distribute carbon credits, which would allow utilities to continue emitting - for a price. Those allocations then could be traded on an open market.
Companies able to cut emissions - by switching to nuclear or renewable sources - could sell excess credits to those needing more time to wean off fossil fuels.
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change says that cap-and-trade system will put a price on carbon, spurring markets to invest in low-carbon technologies like biomass.
Although burning wood does release carbon, it's considered cleaner than fossil fuels because the carbon recently was part of the natural cycle. Coal, on the other hand, contains carbon that has been underground for millions of years.
The bill passed by the House of Representatives would give companies such as Dairyland three years to bring their carbon emissions to 3 percent below where they were in 2005. By 2050, emissions would have to be cut 83 percent. A bill making its way through the Senate has even stricter limits.
Though Dairyland has an aggressive plan to add renewable sources like wind and biomass to its mix, the nonprofit cooperative gets more than 95 percent of its power from coal and has to meet a demand that historically has grown 1 percent to 3 percent a year.
After years of state and federal policy that pushed Midwestern utilities toward coal, the recognition of carbon as a threat to global climate has precipitated a turn in the last several years. That presents challenges for a slow-moving industry.
"The tables have turned," said Dairyland spokeswoman Deb Mirasola. "(But) you can't change generation on a dime. You need to have time."
The end of coal?
Coal is abundant, cheap and reliable, and for years was the fuel of choice for Midwestern utilities and their government regulators. The problem: it produces a lot of carbon dioxide. Scientists say it accounts for about a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Wisconsin gets more than 60 percent of its electricity from coal, more than the national average, according to the state's Public Service Commission. A little more than half the capacity added between 2008 and 2014 will come from coal, the rest coming mostly from wind and natural gas.
But the PSC hasn't approved a new coal plant since 2004.
Xcel identified no new coal plants in its 25-year plan released at the end of 2007, noting that economic and environmental factors now favor renewable resources and natural gas. Dairyland has no new coal in its plan, and the only fossil fuel in consideration is a natural gas plant that might be necessary in 2017.
Xcel recently converted two Twin Cities coal plants to natural gas, a fossil fuel that produces the same energy as coal with about half the carbon. But with no natural gas supply at Genoa or Alma, Dairyland isn't poised to take advantage of that efficiency.
For Dairyland, there are few immediate alternatives to coal.
The addition of the Stoneman plant will bring renewables to about 10 percent of the company's energy portfolio. Dairyland is exploring kinetic hydroelectric projects and pursing contracts for wind energy.
But for now, there's a scarcity of renewable energy on the market, said Don Huff, director of environmental affairs. And new power plants are expensive and take time to build.
"We know we're going to have to dramatically reduce our carbon output," Rude said. "And that's going to cost a lot."
Two utilities, different concerns
The biggest concern for Dairyland and other small Midwestern utilities is how carbon credits will be distributed.
Dairyland argues that credits should be allocated solely on emissions, but formulas in both House and Senate bills would allocate credits based half on a utility's emissions and half on its sales. That would benefit companies that already have nuclear, hydro and wind resources.
"We see it as a direct transfer of wealth from coal burning states to the coasts," Rude said. "We're not asking for a free ride, but out of the starting gate there should be a level playing field."
Historically, state and federal regulators approved and financed "least-cost" energy resources. In the Midwest, that meant coal, Mirasola said.
Xcel endorses the 50/50 formula, which it says would reward prior investments in clean energy.
"We're mostly interested in making sure we get credit for early action," said Jim Turnure, the company's environmental policy manager. "Steps taken before a climate bill is signed and implemented can still be very important."
A recent industry analysis suggests Xcel actually stands to gain about $27 million a year under the proposed cap-and-trade system, nothing close to the estimated $1.7 billion that Chicago-based Exelon Corp., considered one of the nation's largest electric utilities, could reap. Other companies, such as Duke Power and AEP, are expected to lose money because of their carbon exposure.
A spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, the utility industry's lobbying group, would only say "the EEI stands behind that formula."
The cost of action and inaction
Dairyland estimates that under the House bill, its average household customer would pay an additional $216 to $544 a year over the next two decades, with the steepest rise coming in 2020.
But a Congressional Budget Office report issued last summer determined that with rebates and other offsets, the net impact would be $235 a year for families making $39,000 to $62,000. Those earning more would see higher costs, while the poorest fifth of the population actually would come out ahead.
What utilities don't know is what carbon credits will cost, or how they will be distributed. The CBO predicts a price of $28 a ton; the utility industry expects it will be closer to $50. With annual carbon emissions of 6.8 million tons, that could be a nearly $150 million question for Dairyland.
Thanks to Xcel's diversified energy portfolio - more than 46 percent of its Midwestern electricity comes from renewable and nuclear sources - its customers should be protected regardless of the scenario, Turnure said.
"It's not likely to be dramatic cost increases (for consumers)," he said. "We're not talking about doubling anything."
Clean Wisconsin supports the standards of the Senate bill, if not more aggressive carbon limits, and argues that climate change will adversely affect the state's economy - particularly agriculture, forestry and tourism sectors.
"The costs of inaction far outweigh the costs of action," said Ryan Schryver, an advocate for the nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
Staff scientist Peter Taglia said efforts to promote and fund end-user energy efficiency could offset increases in the cost of electricity if the state follows Clean Wisconsin's recommendation to triple funding for efficiency programs.
"People pay bills, not rates," Taglia said. "We can achieve these goals without having (bills) go up."
Wisconsin stands to benefit from the creation of green jobs, Taglia said, while not suffering the losses that will hit states with fossil fuel resources. As it is, the state has an energy deficit, spending more than $20 billion a year on imported fuel.
"Wisconsin has no fossil fuels," he said. "We're not going to lose any coal mining jobs."
A balancing act
In crafting effective climate legislation, lawmakers said they must balance climate and consumer protection.
Wisconsin and Minnesota's senators - all Democrats - signed on to a letter last week from Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin arguing against the current allocation formula and urging Senate leaders find a way to distribute credits equitably.
Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl provided a written statement in which he said Congress needs to address climate change "in a way that doesn't hurt small businesses or increase consumers' energy costs." Kohl did not offer specific ideas but said he is "hopeful that (the bill) will include provisions that will allow utilities time to phase in clean power generating technologies."
The state's other senator, Russ Feingold, said he is "concerned some draft climate change bills may put unfair burdens on Wisconsin."
Though he also provided no specifics, Feingold said he will work with colleagues "to produce legislation that addresses climate change and does not unfairly impact Wisconsin."
CALIFORNIANS HAVE TO PAY FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
November 24th, 2009 by EBR_EBdaily
In a revolutionary and bold move to curb the greenhouse gas emissions the state of California is preparing to charge businesses for their carbon footprints. The move was first introduced by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District which decided to levy a fee for greenhouse gas emissions. The charges would be in the tune of 4.5 cents per metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions. The efficacy of the program further encouraged the State to introduce stricter norms to control the amount of greenhouse gas emissions
Keeping in line with this initiative the California Air Resource Board (CARB) is pushing a new ruling which will impose a fee of 12 cents per metric ton of greenhouse gas emissions on businesses in the area. If approved, the rule will be implemented starting late 2010 or early 2011. The CARB further added that once the greenhouse gas emissions have been successfully controlled with this move the fine will be reduced to 9 cents in three years. This will provide a financial impetus for businesses that are among the largest polluters in California because not only will they have to pay the local fees but also the state fees which will amount to 16.5 cents per metric ton.
The revenue collected through the fines for greenhouse gas emissions will be used to further environmental initiatives like monitoring, measuring and studying greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on the climate. The move comes on the heels of the state’s goals of cutting 20% of their greenhouse gas emission by 2020, a very ambitious plan. The levying of the fine is considered to be the first step towards controlling and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is the first step taken by the state to create a carbon tax or cap and trade system.
While environmentalist are hailing the attempts and agree with the state regulatory boards that monitoring indeed plays a pivotal and crucial role in the control of greenhouse gas emissions, the big emitters are less than enthusiastic about the move and have expressed their disdain by saying that there is a risk of creating an unfair bureaucracy of regulations and fines.
The industries which will be the most affected by the move include the major refineries in the area, cement factories and power plants but even other businesses like auto shops, restaurants and coffee roasters will also be fined a nominal amount of $1 or $2 per year. The Bay area program has so far managed to collect $1.7 million. However, the move has raised quite a few hackles at the Western State Petroleum Association which considers the move too punitive.
The district already has rules in place that regulates volatile organic compounds that are associated with smog formation and nitrous oxide from diesel generators, construction equipments and wood burning fireplaces. However, the majority of the greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to motor vehicles in the area. However the district wants to expand its purview to include greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources as well.
CHOOSING THE BEST BIOMASS HEATING OPTION
full story
Features - Environmental Issues
11/24/2009
Long term energy prices are expected to continue to rise. Investing in biomass energy should be a good investment if biomass is readily available in your area.
An increasing number of growers are looking at biomass heating. Here are some biomass heating options for a 30- by 96-foot freestanding greenhouse used to produce spring bedding plants.
Spring bedding plant production
A gothic style greenhouse, located near Madison, Wis., measures 30 feet wide by 96 feet long and 13 feet tall. It has a 3-foot tall side wall. It is covered with a double layer of polyethylene film on the roof and sides and 8 mm double-wall polycarbonate sheet on the end walls.
The house is used from Feb. 1 through June for growing bedding plants and vegetable transplants with an average set-point temperature of 70°F days and 60°F nights. The heating system is two propane-fired 200,000 Btu per hour power-vented unit heaters (78 percent efficiency). The propane is budgeted at a cost of $2 per gallon.
Biomass heating fuel sources can include (clockwise) corn (top left), wood pellets, small grains and prairie grass pellets. Option A: Install a residential/shop pellet stove to supplement the heating. The pellet stove has a rated output of up to 70,000 Btu per hour and would operate mainly at night. The unit would be set near an end wall and would rely on existing circulating fans to move the heated air throughout the greenhouse. The unit does not have a thermostat control so the grower has to estimate the heat setting based on the forecasted temperature for the evening.
The installed cost is estimated at $4,350 (the stove costs $3,500, chimney pipe costs $550, labor and brick pad cost $300). The stove has an expected efficiency of 80 percent.
Option B: Install a thermostatically-controlled pellet furnace with a heating capacity range of 10,000-160,000 Btu per hour. This type of furnace has a high volume blower (1,400 cubic feet per minute) to distribute the heated air. A short section of duct would be attached to the outlet to direct the air horizontally down the greenhouse. The furnace would be placed at one end of the greenhouse near one of the existing unit heaters.
The installed cost of the furnace is $6,030 which includes the furnace, a fuel bin that holds 14 bushels, thermostat control, chimney, brick pad and labor. A bulk storage bin for pellets could be installed in the future to reduce the fuel cost and handling. For this study, bagged fuels will be used. This furnace has an expected efficiency of 80 percent. The boiler controller automatically ramps up and down the output allowing it to be used during periods of lower heat demand.
Option C: Install a reduced-emissions outdoor wood boiler that meets EPA outdoor hydronic heater Phase 2 emissions limits with forced-air heat exchangers in the greenhouse to distribute the air. Based on independent testing, the boiler selected has an output of 160,000 Btu per hour. The boiler would be placed on the side of the greenhouse and PEX tubing would be run into the house to two air exchangers placed in the center of the house. The air exchangers are placed one on each side of the center aisle facing in opposite directions to promote circular air flow. The heat exchanger fans and circulator pumps would be connected to a thermostat.
The installed cost is estimated to be $13,050 (boiler cost is $10,175, hot water to air heat exchangers are $1,600, piping and pumps are $775, labor and concrete pad cost $500. The average efficiency of this boiler is 75 percent based on EPA data. Heat loss from the boiler and piping to the greenhouse is not included nor is the amount of wood burned during the day when there is little or no demand.
Option D: This is the same as option C, but includes a non-qualifying outdoor wood boiler for EPA emissions reduction program (pre-2008 typical outdoor boiler). Estimated efficiency is 40 percent. Installed cost is $11,634 (boiler cost is $8,760). All other costs are the same.;
Heating requirements
A heat balance model for auditing greenhouses was used to calculate the heating requirement to maintain set-point temperatures (Table 1). In a typical greenhouse, 80 percent of the heating occurs Table 1. Average night heating requirement by month.at night. In this case, the day-time heating needs are, on average, provided fully by solar radiation except during February. The average day-time heating requirement for February is 12,795 Btu per hour or about 10 percent of the overall daily heating requirement. The model uses monthly weather data so it is an average of the heating requirements.
The usable heat from a stove or furnace was estimated by comparing the heat requirement and the stove or furnace output. There will be periods of low temperature swings when the stove or furnace doesn’t have enough capacity to maintain set-point temperature. The thermostat for the current propane heater would be set about 5°F below the set-point of the furnace thermostat so the propane heaters would provide supplemental heating during cold periods.
Greenhouse heaters are sized to maintain the set-point temperature at some minimum ambient air temperature. Table 2 shows the required heating capacity to maintain an inside temperature of 65°F. Based on the output capacity of heating systems used in this study, Option A can provide 100 percent of the heating requirement down to an outside temperature of 40°F while Options B, C and D should provide 100 percent of the heating requirement down to about 10°F.
Table 2. Heating requirement based on outdoor temperature. The average minimum temperature for Madison, Wis., in February is 14.3°F so based on monthly heating averages, Options B, C and D should be able to provide 100 percent of the heating needs. In reality there will be many nights (and some days) when the heat loss will be higher than the capacity of the biomass heating system. It is estimated that propane heat will provide 20 percent of the heating for Options B, C and D to supplement the heating on nights colder than 10°F.
Expected energy replacement
The greenhouse heat loss model estimates the greenhouse will require 1,592 gallons of propane at a cost of $2 per gallon for an overall cost of $3,184 for the spring growing season. The cost of wood pellets locally is $4.60 per 40 pound bag in 50 bag pallet lots and $150 per cord of wood (assumed the cost of harvesting wood yourself). If a bulk storage bin was available, the wood pellet cost could be reduced to $178 per ton (20 ton load) and it would save on labor. Table 3 summarizes the energy costs and savings for the different options.Table 3. Summary of biomass heating options
Best option
The pellet burners have a better return on investment than the cord wood boilers even though the energy cost for Option C is lower. Both pellet stoves have longer paybacks than may be acceptable.
The lower-emission, higher-efficiency outdoor wood boiler is a better investment than the standard outdoor boiler, but both have a longer payback than would be acceptable by most businesses. The longer payback is due to the higher capital cost without a corresponding increase in energy savings. The payback is very sensitive to the spread of the difference between propane and wood pellet costs.
Last winter when wood pellets were selling for $4 per 40-pound bag and propane was selling at $2.15 per gallon, the payback for Options A, B, C and D were 4.7, 4.6, 7.1 and 9.4 years, respectively. Investing in energy conservation projects would be a better investment.
Final considerations
A word of caution -- the analysis for this greenhouse case study doesn’t take into account ash disposal costs, maintenance and repair costs and daily management and labor. A net present value analysis is recommended to account for these costs.
Long term energy prices are expected to continue to rise, so investing in biomass energy should be a good investment providing biomass is readily available in your local area.
This article only made comparisons between different types of biomass heating systems. Compare energy efficiency options such as double wall glazing, higher efficiency heating systems and thermal energy curtains to make sure you are receiving the highest return on investment. Investing in energy efficiency first reduces the size of a future biomass-fueled heating system.
This gothic style greenhouse, near Madison, Wis., is used from Feb. 1 through June for growing bedding plants.
Before investing in a biomass heating system you should also compare energy efficieny options.
Scott A. Sanford is senior outreach specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Biological Systems Engineering; (608) 262-5062; sasanford@wisc.edu; www.bse.wisc.edu; www.uwex.edu/energy
PUSH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO COAL LIGHTS A FIRE UNDER WOOD-PELLET INDUSTRY
By Gary Lamphier, Edmonton JournalNovember 28, 2009Be the first to post a comment
Replace coal with wood pellets to generate electricity?
Don't laugh. The idea isn't as implausible as it sounds. Use of the clean-burning renewable fuel as an alternative energy source--still in its infancy in Alberta--is already moving ahead in a big way elsewhere.
Ontario Power Generation--the provincially owned utility that generates 70 per cent of Ontario's electric power--intends to convert one of its four coal-fired power plants to wood pellets by 2012.
OPG has already conducted smallscale test runs of the wood-waste fuel at its Atikokan and Nanticoke power plants, as part of Ontario's drive to eliminate coal-fired power by 2014. Now, Atikokan is gearing up for full-scale conversion within three years.
In Sweden and Germany, several major power plants already run on wood pellets. Germany's Novus Energy, for instance, generates heat for a Total refinery at a wood power plant near Hamburg.
South of the border, Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power-- the largest coal-fired electric utility in the U.S.--sees wood pellets as a promising way to curb emissions in what's almost sure to be a carbon-constrained world.
As a result of these and other plant rollouts, there's growing worldwide demand for wood pellets. Production is currently running at some 12 million tonnes on a global basis, and some forecasters say that figure could nearly double over the next five years.
"The bottom line is, we're seeing a huge surge in pellet plants around North America and beyond," says Jeff Thiessen, an exec with Edmonton-based Dansons, an established wood-pellet distributor.
Canada has roughly 30 wood pellet plants operating today, with total capacity of about 2.2 million tonnes. Most plants are in B.C.--where large tracts of forest that have been ravaged by the mountain pine beetle represent a potentially lucrative new fuel source--and Quebec.
Here in Alberta, just three smallscale plants produce wood pellets at present. But that's likely to change as demand grows, and Dansons aims to capitalize on it.
The 30-year-old Edmonton-based, family-owned maker of wood-fired stoves and barbecues has been distributing wood pellets--mainly for the U.S. residential market -- for years, from two of Alberta's three operating plants.
Now Dansons intends to build a plant in Edson with its joint-venture partner, Sundance Forest Industries. The new plant is slated to open next year, with initial output of 30,000 tonnes, rising to 100,000 tonnes over the next three years.
Although the projected volumes are still modest in world terms, it's a meaningful venture for Dansons, which currently boasts annual sales of some $20 million from its 78,000-square-foot plant on the city's west side. At the going rate of about $200 per tonne, wood-pellet revenues from the new Edson plant would equal Dansons' current total revenues in about three years.
More broadly, Dansons' founder Dan Thiessen--Jeff's father--says the burgeoning wood-pellet sector offers a great opportunity for Alberta, with its massive boreal forest, to assume a key role in renewable energy, while creating revenues and jobs for the province.
"We're trying to show the Alberta government that this is viable and it is the future, and Alberta should be part of it. We have a lot of fibre resources in northern Alberta, and we can turn that into a positive in terms of what it can produce, and in terms of the environmental image of the province," he says.
"In Alberta, we're always considered dirty polluters. This is an opportunity to create a growth industry, and to show that Alberta can be responsible environmentally. I'm not saying the oil and gas industry isn't dealing with its issues, but this is an alternative energy source. Why shouldn't Alberta capitalize on it like the rest of the world?"
While emissions from wood pellets are minimal--the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)says it's one of the cleanest energy sources around--the economics are also attractive.
Pellets are currently cheaper than heating oil, propane and conventional electrical heating, as well as cord wood, Dansons argues. Only natural gas, which has been depressed for the past year, is cheaper.
The key to growing the sector in Alberta is long-term access to fibre, the company says. Just as sawmills need guaranteed access to commercial-quality fibre, pellet mills need a secure long-term source of sawmill waste.
"Where we need government support is for that fibre to become available. It's very difficult for us to make a huge capital investment in a project when we don't know if we have sustainable fibre," says Dan Thiessen.
"If you remember, 30 years ago wood chips weren't being sold to pulp mills. Then we had this huge rush of pulp mills being built.
"Then the next round was fibreboard plants, and we had a lot of those built. So the big forestry companies will always look at where is the largest amount of (sales) volume," he says.
"They want projects of scale. Somebody doing 30,000 tonnes (of wood pellets)a year doesn't mean anything. But if someone says 'Here's our plan to go to 500,000 tonnes and then one million tonnes, and in 10 years it might be three or four million tonnes, then you've got their attention.'"
glamphier@thejournal.canwest.com
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