Title: Commercialization, Potential Uses, and Application of Bioenergy in the South
1Commercialization, Potential Uses, and
Application of Bioenergy in the South
- Susan L. LeVan-Green
- Forest Products Laboratory
- Madison, WI
August 29-31, 2005 University of Georgia
Athens, GA
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4Renewable Energy Consumption(2003)
5Price Comparisons of PopularHome Heating Options
Cost/Million Btu
6Commercial Wood Fuels
- Whole-tree chips - 4500 Btu per pound
- Electric power generation
- Source
- Bole chips (uniformity)
- Entire tree
- Mill chips - 5100 Btu per pound
- Heat generation
- Slab wood from mills (chipped screened)
- Pellets (highest cost) 8,200 Btu per pound
- Firewood (seasoned) 20 million Btu per cord
- Sawdust (green vs. dry)
- Bark (more energy vs. more difficult handling)
7Useable Energy Forms
- Electricity
- Heat (steam, exhaust gas, hot water)
- Cooling (air-conditioning)
- Producer (wood) gas (crop drying, duel-fuel)
- Bio-fuels
- Bio-ethanol
- Bio-oil
- Bio-methanol
- Bio-diesel
8Comparative Energy Recovery From 1 Ton of Dry Wood
9Benefits of Using BiomassOver Fossil Fuels
- Economic advantages
- Can be cheaper than fossil fuels
- Stimulates rural economies
- Provides more local jobs
- Encourages local energy production consumption
10Benefits
- Energy advantages
- Reduces reliance on fossil fuels oil prices
(OPEC) - Enhances national economic security
- Highly efficient heating combustion methods
11Benefits
- Environmental advantages
- Greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide (CO2) vs. methane
production (20X) - Eliminates acid rain (wood contains minimal
sulfur) - Reduces amounts of landfill (waste wood is
biomass fuel) - Can create habitats for wildlife
- Renewable energy source
12Carbon Cycle
- Even allowing for
- emissions of CO2 in
- planting, harvesting,
- processing and
- transporting the fuel,
- replacing fossil fuel
- with wood fuel will
- typically reduce net CO2
- emissions by over 90.
13Electricity Large Scale gt10MWe
- Steam boiler/turbine
- McNeil Power Plant 50 MWe
- Ryegate 20 MWe
- Cofiring with coal (5 to 15 wood) several
across country - District Energy of St Paul 25 Mwe all urban
tree waste
14District Energy(St. Paul, MN)
- Urban wood waste
- Daytime
- Heating coolingto downtown
- Electricity to grid
- Night
- Cooling downtown
- Uses electricity
15Small CommercialBioenergy System
16Small-Scale Wood Combustion
- Typical features
- 3 million Btu per hour (900 kW) output
- 850 pounds per hour (green) fuel input
- 45 moisture content (wet basis)
- 201 turndown ratio (Divide the maximum energy
output by the minimum energy output at which
efficient, smoke-free combustion can be sustained)
17Multi-Fuel Boiler (HS TARM)
- Wood pellets or corn
- Water storage tank
- Design
- 80 overall boiler efficiency
- 85,000 Btu/h
- Hourly consumption
- 12.5 lb pellets
- 14.0 lb corn
- 2,000 ft2 heating space
18Institutional Uses
- Schools
- Factories
- Hospitals
- State buildings (Vermont)
- Community centers
- Jails/prisons
19Cost Estimate for Small-Scale
- Initial capital costs
- 50 to 75 per pound of steam generated per hour
- Biomass system capital costs are the highest of
any fuel - Typically 1.5 to 4.0 times the cost of a fossil
fuel system - Fuel-handling system
- Fuel storage
- Low energy density fuel compared to fossil fuels
- Annual cost
- Full life cycle vs. payback (advantage-wood)
- Wood is typically the cheapest fuel available in
many regions
20Union-32 School(East Montpelier, VT)
- Total installed cost 325,000 (200,000 ft2)
- Total heating capacity 4.5 million Btu/h (1.35
MW) - Fuel quantity 1000 tons of green chipsper year
(30/ton) - 75 system efficiency 0.20 per ft2 annually
21Fuels for Schools
Darby, MT
22Memorial Medical Center(Ashland, WI)
- 125 HP boiler system, 5.16 million Btu/h
- Fuel requirement
- 3,000 to 3,800 tons per year
- Truckload delivery every other day
- Source of fuel wood chips from hardwood
manufacturing facility - Hospital size 3 floors, 210,000 ft2
23Memorial Medical Center
- Steam
- Uses
- Heating
- Air conditioning
- Process steam (sterilization)
- Costs of producing
- Wood fuel 0.08/lb
- Gas 0.28/lb
24Financial Tools
- WOODBOILERFEAS preliminary feasibility of
converting heating system with a wood heating
system - Spreadsheet available on web
2566 x 106 MT CO2
Power Export 3.8 BillionorLiquid
Fuels/Chemicals 5.5. Billion
Syngas
O2
Black Liquor Residuals
Manufacturing
?Extract Hemicelluloses ?New Products
Chemicals Polymers 3.3 Billion
?BL Gasifier ?Wood Residual Gasifier ?Combined
Cycle System ?Process to Manufacture Liquid
Fuels and Chemicals
Steam, Power Chemicals
?Pulp 5.5 Billion
The Forest Biorefinery
Net Revenue Assumptions Acetic Acid -
1.73/gallon Purchased Electricity -
43.16/MWH Ethanol - 1.15/gallon Exported
Electricity - 40.44/MWH Pulp - 100/ton net
profit Renewable Fisher Tropsch Fuel - 57/bbl
26BioMax
- Gasification with internal combustion engine
- FS/DOE/CEC demonstration project
- 15, 20 50 kWe of electricity
- 7 sites
- Suited for small scale applications where
residues and waste chips are readily available
27BioMax 15
28North Park High School (Greenhouse)(Walden, CO)
29BioMax 5Residential Application
Research DemonstrationHouse at FPL (Madison, WI)
- Electricity 24/7
- Unit chargesbatteries
- Automatic shutdownwhen fully charged
- Heat for hot water
30Wood Fuel Market Barriers
- Central California to restrict wood-burning
fireplaces (500,000 homes) - Greater capital costs of equipment compared to
oil or gas - Lack of specified and public knowledge about wood
fuel systems - Resistance to community/micro-district heating
schemes
31Barriers
- Maintenance costs
- Difficulty in changing peoples heating habits
- Introduction of imported liquefied natural gas
(LNG) - Lack of storage space for wood fuel in the urban
environment
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33Factors PromotingWood Fuel Market
- Continual rise in oil and gas prices
- Introduction of a carbon tax
- Potential tax breaks for new house builders
installing cordwood/pellet heating as standard
options - More grants to help with capital costs
34Factors PromotingWood Fuel Market
- Marketing campaign, specifically aimed at
architects and homebuilders - Introduction of wood fuel community heating
schemes/blocks of flats in urban areas - Subsidizing transportation costs (20/ton)
- Open vs. closed-loop biomass power plants
(0.015/kWh) - New Energy Bill
35Grants
- Biomass Research and Development Initiative
- http//fedgrants.gov/Applicants/USDA/NRCS/2890/67-
3A75-5-2 - Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
- http//www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs
- FS Woody Biomass Grant
- www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu (under biomass grant)
36FS Woody Biomass Grants
- Help reduce management costs
- Create incentives and/or decrease business risk
- Institute projects aimed at removing economic and
market barriers - Stimulate commercial incentives for hazardous
fuel removals
37Eligibility
- Non-profits
- Local/state governments
- Tribes
- Businesses, companies, corporations (for profit)
- Special purpose districts ie. PUD, port, fire
districts, conservation districts - Inclusive of adjacent lands, must have NFS
component
38FS Woody Biomass Grants
- FY 06 Program
- 4.3 million available
- Wildland hazardous fuels funds
- Aimed at reducing cost/acre on nfs lands
- 2-step process
- Pre-application
- Full-application
- RFP available October 2005
39FS Woody Biomass Grants
- 50,000 - 250,000
- Details of applying www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu under
biomass grant
40Criteria
- Tangible and intangible benefits to national
forest lands (40) - Technical feasibility (25)
- Financial feasibility (25)
- Qualifications (10)
41Impact on NFS hazardous fuel reduction projects
(40)
- Fire class condition (higher classes have more
weight - Documented work on NFS
- Direct, tangible benefits (acres, volumes, raw
material values) - Indirect, intangible benefits (air, water,
socioeconomic)
42Technical Approach Work Plan (25)
- Technical feasiblity
- Adequacy and completeness of tasks
- Likelihood of meeting project objectives
- Reasonableness of time schedule
- Identified deliverables
- Timeliness
43Financial feasibility (25)
- Realistic budget and timeframe
- Thorough documentation of financials
- Cost share
44Qualifications of applicant (10)
- Past efforts
- Documentation of capabilities
45Tangible Benefit Examples
- Project involves acquiring more efficient
equipment, which allows lower unit costs per acre
treated - Business contractor can lower cost/acre bid with
offset from higher value uses for material from
hazardous fuel treatments - Investment in wood processing facility provides
outlet and revenues for material that previously
was hauled to landfill, lopped and scattered,
piled and burned, masticated or burned on site.
46Intangible Benefits
- Removal of material hindered by smoke issues
- Reduced fire risk
- Improved protection of wildland urban interface
areas - Protection of sensitive watersheds
47References
- http//www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu/small-scale_wood_ener
gy.htm - http//www.dectra.net/garn/
- http//www.woodboilers.com/
- http//www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999
/v4-282.htmlconversion - http//bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.
html - http//www.hearth.com/fuelcalc/findoil.html
- Cogeneration from Biofuels A Technical
Guidebook
48For more Information
- Susan L LeVan-Green
- slevan_at_fs.fed.us
- 608-231-9518
- www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu (under biomass grants)
49QUESTIONS?