You are on page 1of 36

February 2015

Dedicated
to Change
University of Iowas Coring Plans
Create Market Opportunities
For Local Energy Crop Growers
Page 10

Plus:

Codigesting
Energy Perennials
Page 24

And:

OEMs Discuss Energy


Crop R&D Efforts

Page 30

www.biomassmagazine.com

ASTEC
WOOD

PELLET

PLANTS

Hazlehurst, Georgia, USA

Modular design with replicated 20 TPH rated lines


One source for equipment and construction
No add-on equipment needed to reduce VOC emissions
Quick setup and startup with guaranteed production
24/7 support, parts and service
Any hard wood or soft wood species

A tec,
As
tec,
te
c, Inc
nc.. iss a mem
embe
beer off thee Astec
steecc Ind
st
dus
ustr
trie
ies,
ie
es,
s Inc
n . fam
a ili y off com
omp
paani
n es
es,,
a bi
billlllio
on do
ollllar
ar per
er yea
e r co
corp
rp
por
orat
a io
at
ion
n heead
a qu
uar
a teereed in
n Cha
hatt
atttan
noo
o g
gaa, TN
TN,
N, US
U A
A..

INSIDE
FEBRUARY 2015 | VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 2

POWER

04 EDITORS NOTE
Taking Root

08 NEWS

By Tim Portz

09 COLUMN
Biomass, Oil and Gas

05 INDUSTRY EVENTS
06 BUSINESS BRIEFS

By Bob Cleaves

10 FEATURE
Pioneering Perennials in Iowa Soil

34 MARKETPLACE

As the University of Iowa looks to core dedicated energy crops at its on-campus
power station, farmer recruitment and education efforts ramp up.
By Katie Fletcher

PELLETS
16 NEWS
17 COLUMN
Handwriting on the Wall
By Bill Bell

18 CONTRIBUTION
Invasive Plants as Pellet Feedstock

10

A research project in Michigan explores the practicality of densifying invasive


species as a means of funding their removal.
By Gregory Zimmerman

THERMAL
20 NEWS
21 COLUMN
Legal Issues for Biomass Thermal Offtake Contracts
By Todd Taylor

BIOGAS
22 NEWS

30

23 COLUMN
Data and Tools to Better Evaluate Biogas Potential
By Amanda Bilek

24 DEPARTMENT
Grass to Gas
As deployment of anaerobic digesters accelerates, researchers explore ways
dedicated energy crops can maximize biogas production.
By Katie Fletcher

ADVANCED BIOFUELS & CHEMICALS


28 NEWS
29 COLUMN
Low Oil Price Wont Put the Brakes on Biomass Future
By Matt Carr

HAWKEYE HOPES:

The CHP plant at the


University of Iowa has
been cofiring oat hulls since
2003, and energy crops
may soon be added to
the mix.

30 FEATURE
Dangerously Smart Farm Boys
Implement OEMs discuss how they are working to ensure that when demand for
dedicated energy crops reaches growers, they stand ready with the necessary
equipment.
By Tim Portz

PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 3

EDITORS NOTE

Taking Root

EDITORIAL
PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com
VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT & EXECUTIVE EDITOR Tim Portz tportz@bbiinternational.com
MANAGING EDITOR Anna Simet asimet@bbiinternational.com

There are 328,672 acres of farmland in


Johnson County, Iowa, and just 28 of those
acres are now being actively managed for
energy crop production. Compared to the
136,000 acres planted to corn, these 28 acres
hardly seem worth a mention. Still, Katie
Fletchers page-10 feature, Pioneering Perennials in Iowa Soil, clearly establishes
TIM PORTZ
VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT
that two of the states public universities are
& EXECUTIVE EDITOR
working diligently to determine a pathway to
tportz@bbiinternational.com
these crops economic viability. In a county
with historical corn yields around 170 bushels per acre, it is fair to wonder why
any farmer would deviate from a traditional corn/soybean rotation.
Fletcher talked to Steve Schomberg, the first grower successfully recruited by the University of Iowa to grow miscanthus as the university looks to
cofire intentionally grown biomass in its campus power station. Im always
looking to diversify our portfolio of crops, he said. I think it has a great
future, and as a landowner and farmer you dont want to put all of your eggs
in one basket.
While introducing miscanthus to his operation has diversified Schombergs farm, the end markets available for the biomass tonnage he will harvest
from the stand are anything but diversified. For now, the university is the only
likely buyer, and because of this must lease Schombergs acres and hire him to
plant and care for the crop as it gets established. For dedicated energy crops
to really gain momentum, more uses for the resultant biomass must continue
to be identified and perfected.
Reassuringly, research continues in nearly every sector of the biomass industry to make use of the yield advantages offered by dedicated energy crops.
Fletchers page-24, Grass to Gas, article outlines the University of Guelphs
work on codigesting energy crops with manure in anaerobic digesters, and a
page-18 contribution from Lake Superior State Universitys Greg Zimmerman
outlines the research being done on the notion of pelletizing reed canary grass.
In Zimmermans case, reed canary grass is decidedly an unintentionally grown
crop, and converting it into a source of thermal energy may serve as a means
of funding its control.
Finally, as I discovered writing my page-30 feature, Dangerously Smart
Farm Boys, implement and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) arent
waiting for markets to develop. Quite simply, they cant. Instead, both OEMs
I interviewed reported robust and active R&D efforts in energy crop cultivation and harvest equipment so that when dozens of acres become tens of
thousands, theyll be ready.

NEWS EDITOR Erin Voegele evoegele@bbiinternational.com


STAFF WRITER Katie Fletcher ketcher@bbiinternational.com
COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

ART
ART DIRECTOR Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Burslie bburslie@bbiinternational.com

PUBLISHING & SALES


CHAIRMAN Mike Bryan mbryan@bbiinternational.com
CEO Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com
VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS Matthew Spoor mspoor@bbiinternational.com
SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Howard Brockhouse hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Chip Shereck cshereck@bbiinternational.com
ACCOUNT MANAGER Jeff Hogan jhogan@bbiinternational.com
CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry jbeaudry@bbiinternational.com
TRAFFIC & MARKETING COORDINATOR Marla DeFoe mdefoe@bbiinternational.com

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS


Chris Sharron, Western Oregon Wood Products
Amanda Bilek, Great Plains Institute
Stacy Cook, Koda Energy
Ben Anderson, University of Iowa
Justin Price, Evergreen Engineering
Adam Sherman, Biomass Energy Resource Center

ADVERTISER INDEX
34
2015 Heating the Midwest
36
2015 International Biomass Conference & Expo
22
Agra Industries
20
AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG
13
Andritz Feed & Biofuel A/S
2
Astec, Inc.
35
BBI Project Development
5
Biogas Producer Map
16
Continental Biomass Industries
8
DI PI
32
KEITH Manufacturing Company
15
Pellet Producer Map
33
Vecoplan LLC
28
Verdante BioEnergy Services

Subscriptions Biomass Magazine is free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and
handling charge of $49.95 for anyone outside the United States. To subscribe, visit www.BiomassMagazine.
com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to Biomass
Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a
subscription form to 701-746-5367. Back Issues & Reprints Select back issues are available for $3.95
each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at 701-7468385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Advertising Biomass Magazine provides a specic topic delivered
to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production.
To nd out more about Biomass Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 701-746-8385
or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Biomass
Magazine Letters to the Managing Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email
to asimet@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be
edited for clarity and/or space.

COPYRIGHT 2015 by BBI International

Biomass Magazine: (USPS No. 5336) February 2015, Vol. 9, Issue 2.


Biomass Magazine is published monthly by BBI International. Principal
Office: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203.
Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional
mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biomass
Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks,
North Dakota 58203.
Please recycle this magazine
and remove inserts or samples
before recycling
TM

4 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

INDUSTRY EVENTS
Le Salon Bois Energie 2015
MARCH 19-22, 2015

Parc Expo | Nantes, France


Dedicated to the entire wood energy chain, this event
is the international meeting point for the French market. With 20 countries registered, features will include
exhibitors from across Europe, indoor operational
stoves and replaces, outdoor wood fuel machinery
demonstrations, conferences, innovation awards, a
study tour and conference program for professionals
and weekend conferences for the public. Innovations
are introduced into the market at the Salon Bois Energie that provide key insights into future trends for wood
energy, and the most signicant product and service
breakthroughs are recognized and rewarded at the
event.
+33 (0)3-84-86-89-30 | www.boisenergie.com

International Biomass
Conference & Expo
APRIL 20-22, 2015

Minneapolis Convention Center | Minneapolis, MN


Organized by BBI International and produced by Biomass Magazine, this event brings current and future
producers of bioenergy and biobased products together with waste generators, energy crop growers,
municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, project developers, investors and policy makers. Its a true one-stop
shopthe worlds premier educational and networking
junction for all biomass industries.
866-746-8385 | www.biomassconference.com

International Fuel Ethanol


Workshop & Expo
JUNE 1-4, 2015

Minneapolis Convention Center | Minneapolis, MN


The FEW provides the global ethanol industry with
cutting-edge content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-to-business environment. The FEW is the largest, longest running ethanol
conference in the worldand the only event powered
by Ethanol Producer Magazine.
866-746-8385 | www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

REACH NEW CUSTOMERS


MAKE MORE SALES

STAY TOP
OF MIND
PLACE YOUR NAME ON THE WALL!
2015 U.S. BIOGAS PRODUCER
MAP ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertise now on Ethanol Producer Magazines 2015 U.S. Biogas


Producer Map. It is the easiest and most cost-effective way to get
your name, product and/or service in front of ethanol producers, as
well as other industry professionals for 12 months at a time. This
map is extremely popular because it identifies and plots the location
and production status of all U.S. biogas production from onfarm
facilities, waste water treatment plants and community digesters
producing grid-connected bioenergy. Listings include Facility Name;
City; State and Capacity.

REACH 8,000 PROFESSIONALS


All Biomass Magazine subscribers
All Biogas Production Facilities
All major related conferences

Distributed to all International Biomass Conference & Expo attendees

FREE LISTING

Receive 6 months of FREE advertising on


Biomass Magazines homepage

National Advanced Biofuels


Conference & Expo
OCTOBER 26-28, 2015

Hilton Omaha | Omaha, Nebraska


Produced by BBI International, this national event will
feature the world of advanced biofuels and biobased
chemicalstechnology scale-up, project nance,
policy, national markets and morewith a core focus
on the industrial, petroleum and agribusiness alliances
dening the national advanced biofuels industry. With
a vertically integrated program and audience, the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo is tailored
for industry professionals engaged in producing, developing and deploying advanced biofuels, biobased
platform chemicals, polymers and other renewable
molecules that have the potential to meet or exceed
the performance of petroleum-derived products.
866-746-8385 | www.advancedbiofuelsconference.com

2015

ADVERTISE TODAY
LIMITED SPOTS

DEADLINE: MARCH 4, 2015


Need more information on advertising opportunities?

service@bbiinternational.com - 866-746-8385 - www.BiomassMagazine.com

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 5

Business Briefs
PEOPLE, PRODUCTS & PARTNERSHIPS

Valmet adds executive


Bertel Karlstedt
has been appointed
president of the pulp
and energy business
line at Valmet Corp.
He most recently
served as president
and CEO of NordKarlstedt
kalk Corp. and previously held positions
at Valmet and Metso.
The AVA Group
adds industry expert
The AVA
Group, a Switzerlandbased biotechnology
company that offers
solutions for the
sustainable use of
sewage and other biomass, has welcomed
Krawielitzki
Stefan Krawielitzki
to its team as an
organic chemistry expert. Krawielitzki led
Synthon for four years and previously served
as head of research and development and
deputy head of analytics at the EhrenstorferSchfers laboratory. He also recently served
as manager of business development at
Aurigon Life Science GmbH, where he was
responsible for advising clients in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
Gainesville Renewable Energy
Center achieves FSC certification
The Gainesville Renewable Energy
Center, a 102.5-MW power facility located in
Gainesville, Florida, has received certification
from the Forest Stewardship Council, affirming that GRECs purchase procedures for its
waste wood fuels conform to the FSC chain
of custody standard. The certification assessment was conducted by SCS Global Services.
Brookfield Renewable to acquire
bioenergy capacity in Brazil
Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners
LP has announced an agreement to acquire
a 488-MW multi-technology renewable
portfolio in Brazil from Energisa S.A. that
6 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

includes 175 MW of biomass capacity. The


acquisition will be funded through available
capital from Brookfield Renewable and its institutional partners. The transaction is subject
to regulatory approvals and other customary
closing conditions and is expected to close in
the first quarter of this year.

Siemens awarded
reaccreditation from IACET
The International Association for Continuing Education and Training has awarded
reaccreditation status to Siemens. IACET
authorized providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET continuing
education units. The accreditation period
extends for five years, and includes all programs offered or created during that time.
Amyris appoints
chief financial officer
Amyris Inc. has appointed Raffi
Asadorian as the companys chief financial
officer. Prior to joining Amyris, Asadorian
served as chief financial officer at Unilabs,
a private equity-owned medical diagnostics
company based in Switzerland. He previously held a senior executive finance role at
Barr Pharmaceuticals and was a partner at
PricewaterhouseCoopers in its transactions
services group. Paulo
Diniz, who previously
served as interim
chief financial officer
of Amyris, will transition to a new role as
chairman of Amyris
Brasil.
Diniz

Rentech names
new leadership
Rentech Inc. has announced that D.
Hunt Ramsbottom has resigned as CEO and
president of Rentech and CEO of the general partner of Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP
to pursue other opportunities. Ramsbottom
has also resigned as a member of the board
of directors for both companies. Keith Forman, a member of Rentech Nitrogens board

since October 2011, has been appointed as


CEO and president of Rentech and CEO
of the general partner of Rentech Nitrogen.
He has also joined the board of Rentech.
Forman has a background in master limited
partnerships. He previously served as chief
financial officer of Crestwood Midstream
Partners LP. He also served as senior vice
president for El Paso Corp., and chief financial officer of GulfTerra Energy Partners
LP. Forman currently serves on the board of
Capital Product Partners LP.
Enel adds biomass capacity
to existing geothermal plant
Enel Green Power has started construction at the Cornia 2 geothermal power plant
in Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, Italy. The facility will use biomass to heat geothermal steam
in order to increase the energy efficiency and
electricity output of the geothermal cycle.
The existing geothermal plant will be supplemented by a small plant powered with locally
sourced virgin forest biomass. According to
the company, 5 MW of capacity from biomass will be added to a geothermal plant that
currently has an installed capacity of 13 MW.
The geothermal plants annual power output
will be boosted by approximately 37 GWh.
ASU professor recognized
Several of Arizona State Universitys
faculty members were
recently appointed
university professors, including Roy
Curtiss, a professor
in the School of Life
Curtiss
Sciences and the director of the Centers
for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology and
Microbial Genetic Engineering in the Biodesign Institute. His research uses microbial
genetic manipulation to address problems of
global concern. Some of his recent research
emphasizes the design and construction of
cyanobacterial strains to maximize production of biofuels and biofuel precursors.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Drax appoints executive


Drax Group plc has announced the
appointment of Philip Cox as a nonexecutive
director and chairman designate, effective Jan.
1. He will succeed Charles Berry as chairman
following his previously announced retirement, scheduled for April. Cox previously
served as CEO of International Power, where
he led the growth and development of a substantial global power generation business.
Fecon launches new website
Fecon Inc. has launched a new website.
New Features include a customizable bull hog
rotor module that allows the user to build and
display three different rotor options and nine
different tooling options, then choose the
combination that fits their application best.
The new compare section shows specifications of the different tracked carriers and
attachment products, side by side, helping the
user find the exact model they are looking for.
In addition, product lines have been broken
down into more user friendly categories to
help the customer quickly find the product
information they need.
Alaska CHP project to
feature cofiring capability
The University of Alaska-Fairbanks has
selected Stanley Consultants to design a new
combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The
facility will use two circulating fluidized-bed
boilers to provide up to 280,000 pounds per
hour of steam to heat both the Fairbanks
campus and produce up to 22 MW of electric power using a steam turbine. It will be
located adjacent to the existing coal-fired Ben
Atkinson Heat and Power Plant and work in
conjunction with it. The facility will be fueled
by coal and have the ability to utilize up to 15
percent biomass. The efficient new boilers
will result in a marked decrease in regulated
emissions including a significant drop in
particulates.
Cardia Bioplastics
announces new patents
Cardia Bioplastics Ltd. has secured patent protection for its Cardia Compostable,
Biohybrid and PPC-starch resin and finished
products from Japan, Australia, New Zealand
and China patent and trademark offices.

Seven new patents were granted during


2014 for Cardias bioplastics resin formulations and production processes. These new
patents expand Cardia Bioplastics growing
intellectual property portfolio of 11 patent
families, with 19 patents so far granted in
U.S., Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand
and South Africa. The patents protect the
composition formulation and manufacturing
process invented by Cardias research and
development team.
Viridis subsidiary renews
agreement with Ekman
Viridis Energy Inc. has announced its
subsidiary, Scotia Atlantic Biomass Co., has
renewed its distribution agreement with Ekman & Co AB. for an additional three-year
period. Ekman has served as Scotia Atlantics
worldwide agent, to arrange short-term and
multiyear offtake agreements for its industrial wood pellet production, with European
power generators that cofire with wood
pellets or have fully converted to biomass.
The renewal agreement provides for volume
discounts on commissions and fees and
expanded volumes in Nova Scotia.

Global Bioenergies produces


biochemicals via fermentation
Global Bioenergies has announced it
succeeded in producing biosourced propylene by direct fermentation. According to the
company, it created a proprietary prototype
strain able to convert glucose into propylene
at laboratory scale. The company also recently
announced it succeeded in producing biosourced butadiene via direct fermentation.
Schutte-Buffalo Hammermill
under new ownership
Martin Berardi has acquired SchutteBuffalo Hammermill. Berardi, the incoming
CEO, is a recent retiree from Moog Inc.,
where he served in a variety of roles over
34 years. Ownership of the company has
transferred from Thomas Warne and James
Guarino, who purchased the company in
2004 following a merger with Buffalo Hammermill Corp.

Ceres adds board member


Ceres Inc. has announced that Aflalo
Guimaraes joined its board of directors. He
succeeds Raymond Debbane, who retired
from the board. Aflalo Guimaraes is a
managing director of The Invus Group LLC,
an affiliate of Artal Luxembourg S.A. Prior
to joining Invus in 1998, he was a manager
at Marakon Associates. He also previously
worked in the U.S. Federal Reserve.

GTI joins ABO


The Algae Biomass Organization has
announced the Gas Technology Institute has
joined the organization as a new corporate
member. Based in Des Plaines, Illinois, GTI
is a leading research, development and training organization that has been addressing the
nations energy and environmental challenges
by developing technology-based solutions
for consumers, industry, and government for
more than 70 years. The company has a long
record of supporting the development and
deployment of biomass conversion technologies for biofuels and other applications.
NuState announces carbon
credit capture application
NuState Energy Holdings Inc. has
developed a carbon credit capture application
to enhance its portfolio of the Global Asset
Tracking solution GPSTrax. This new product
will validate, compile, certify and present for
trade the carbon credits available from the
clean energy projects the company has identified. These include projects in biomass, hydropower, solar and wind all across the globe.
SHARE YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS: To be included in the Business Briefs, send
information (including photos and logos, if available) to Business Briefs,
Biomass Magazine, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203.
You may also email information to evoegele@bbiinternational.com. Please
include your name and telephone number in all correspondence.

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 7

PowerNews
www.sunomi-llc.com info@sunomi-llc.com

Biomass power statistics from 2012 Economic Census


SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

www.di-piu.com info@di-piu.com

$77,551
$567,000
PAYROLL / EMPLOYEE

105
15.7

NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS

REVENUE / EMPLOYEE

EMPLOYEES / ESTABLISHMENT

1,647

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT

$935 M
$8.9 M
$128 M $3
REVENUE

REVENUE / ESTABLISHMENT

ANNUAL PAYROLL

REVENUE / CAPITA

7.3

$2.99 M

REVENUE / $1 OF PAYROLL

POPULATION / ESTABLISHMENT

Census Bureau releases biomass power data

Low Power Consumption


Highest Energy Density
Proven Reliability
Low Maintenance

Lowest cost

firelogs
and pucks

8 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

The U.S. Census Bureau recently


released new economic census statistics
on renewable energy, reporting that
revenues for electric power generation
industries that use renewable energy
resources increased 49 percent in recent
years, from $6.6 billion in 2007 to $9.8
billion in 2012. Biomass is one of four
newly delineated industries addressed by
the Census Bureau in 2012.
The 2007 Economic Census included wind, geothermal, biomass, and
solar electric power under the broad
other electric power generation indus-

try, under NAICS code 221119. By the


2012 Economic Census, those industries
had been broken out separately, with the
other electric power generation industry limited to only tidal electric power
generation and other electric power generation facilities not elsewhere classified.
Under the new categorization system, biomass is now listed under NAICS
code 221117. The Census Bureau reports
biomass power generation achieved
$934.6 million in revenues according to
the 2012 Economic Census.

USDA publishes final REAP rule


In late December, the USDA published a final rule for the Rural Energy
for America Program. The program,
which was established by the 2008 Farm
Bill and reauthorized by the 2014 Farm
Bill, provides financial assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase, install and construct
renewable energy systems. The program
also supports energy efficiency improvements and energy audits.
The final rule modifies REAP based
on comments received on the interim
rule, which was published in April 2011,

and the proposed rule, published two


years later in April 2013.
Within the rule, the USDAs Rural
Businesses Cooperative Service estimates
1,393 total REAP awards will be made
during a typical fiscal year, with more
than a third of those awards supporting
renewable energy systems (RES). Most
of the RES awards are expected to be associated with solar, followed by wind and
biomass projects. Bioenergy and anaerobic digestion projects are among those
eligible for the program.

POWER

Biomass, Oil and Gas


BY BOB CLEAVES

Is Washington capable of change?


Historically (and understandably), the oil and gas
lobby has been, well, all about oil and gas. However,
there are some signs that this could be changing in
favor of an all of the above policy that recognizes
the role that renewable energy sources play.
The signs of change were on full display last
week at American Petroleum Institutes State of
American Energy summit. At a well-attended lunch,
the oil-and-gas association launched its annual report
on the role of oil and gas in American energy. Only
this time, the report devoted about 40 percent of its
50 pages (according to the news outlet Associations
Now) to analysis of renewable energy sources and
their future in American energy policy. At the invitation of API, Biomass Power Association contributed its own chapter to the report, along with other
renewable energy trade associations.
Rather than focus solely on the oil and natural
gas industry, API this year is pleased to partner with
organizations representing various energy sectors to
highlight the contributions of each toward Americas
current and future economic well-being, and collectively stress the importance of adopting a lasting all
of the above energy strategy, APIs President and
CEO, Jack Gerard, wrote in the introduction to the
State of American Energy 2015 report.
This was an interesting development for the
biomass sector. Not only is it significant that biomass
is recognized as one of the foremost, essential energy
sources in a report like APIsa nod that may not
have occurred as recently as a couple of years ago.
But the report also shows that we stack up well when
compared to other energy sources, both renewable
and fossil.

Interestingly, rather than simply competing with


traditional energy sources, biomass can also benefit,
particularly when the result is more affordable transportation fuels.
Probably more than any other renewable form
of energy, biomass benefits favorably from lower
priced transportation fuels. The reason is that, unlike other renewables, biomass generators pay for
fuel, and a significant component of that expense is
transporting the fuel from forests and farms to an
energy facility. In fact, recent studies have shown that
for every $1.00 a gallon increase in diesel, the average
cost of wood increases $4.20 a ton.
By bringing cheaper natural gas into the market,
the shale gas revolution introduced the prospect
of converting diesel to compressed natural gas
(CNG)an attractive idea given that CNG, on a
gasoline gallon equivalent, is $1.61. But to everyones
surprise, advances in natural gas exploration not only
yield domestic, affordable natural gas, but significantly cheaper petroleum, at least for now. The dramatic
drop in diesel has had an immediate and positive
effect on the economics of biomass fuel deliveries.
As an industry, we cant claim to be an entirely
domestic, homegrown energy source if our fuel
suppliers are forced to rely on foreign oil producers.
Thankfully, diesel and natural gas used for transporting our fuels are now as homegrown as the electricity
we produce. The success of the domestic oil and
gas industry becomes our success. And thats a good
thing.
Author: Bob Cleaves
President and CEO, Biomass Power Association
www.biomasspowerassociation.com
bob@biomasspowerassociation.com

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 9

POWER

PIONEERING
PERENNIALS
IN IOWA SOIL
The University of Iowa is searching for the right
biomass feedstock to cofire with coal at its power
plant, and miscanthus is one option a few early
adopters are testing.
BY KATIE FLETCHER

rops take time to establish. Not


only do proper planting and harvesting practices need instituting,
but an end market must exist.
Southeast-Asia originated Miscanthus giganteus serves as one among a variety of
energy crops studied in Iowa. Over the
past few years, two miscanthus test plots
have been planted in Iowa; 12 acres in the
spring of 2013 in Muscatine County, and
another 16 acres near Iowa City the following spring. Now with planting protocol
explored at both sites, the initial harvest of
the 2013 test plot is just around the corner. The harvested miscanthus will be one
of several options cofired with coal in two
solid-fuel boilers at the university, in an effort to reach its 40 percent renewable energy commitment by 2020. The university
has provided the end market for the first
two growers to participate in its biomass
fuel project. Although preliminary efforts
have revealed substantial data on miscanthus, more research and test runs must be
done before outreach to a few early adopters turns into a mass-marketing effort.

10 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

Early Adopters
Growing miscanthus is not a pioneering operation everywhere. Europe has been
planting the crop since the 1980s, primarily for combustion in power plants. In the
continental U.S. South, farmers grow the
perennial for a poultry-bedding end market.
A few other states have grown miscanthus,
but, overall, miscanthus is in its early stages
in the U.S., and only a few early adopters
have begun looking into incorporating it,
and other perennials and grasslands, into
farming operations.
Im always looking to diversify our
portfolio of crops, says Steve Schomberg,
the first grower participating in the biomass
fuel project in 2013. I think it has a great
future, as a landowner and farmer you dont
want to put all of your eggs in one basket.
This is perhaps why over coffee with
a friend Schombergs ears perked up when
he heard about UIs project. Another Iowa
grower followed in 2014. The concept of
growing fuel is pretty interesting, says Dan
Black, owner of the 2014 pilot plot.
These two growers knocked on the universitys door, and are now helping spread

the word to others interested in leasing sections of land for the projects purpose. We
want to have 2,500 acres in production to
support our 2020 goal, says Ferman Milster, principal engineer of renewables at UI.
Were going to be ramping up 200 acres this
coming year, and then much more than that
in the years to come.
As a predominantly liberal arts and sci-

POWER

ences school, UI turned to the agricultural


expertise of Iowa State University for support. This is when Emily Heaton, assistant
professor and extension biomass specialist
at ISU, got involved. Its a fantastic partnership, Heaton says. Their university is
taking the risk on transitioning their power
plant, and Iowa State is taking the risk on
understanding the agronomic implications

of the crops they choose, trying to do all


the testing for them at a research scale to
understand what they should start implementing.
Both universities work together with
outreach and extension to Iowa growers.
Weve been working since 2012 to answer
questions they (UI) have, and the questions
of their farmers, as well as getting the word

ESTABLISHING ENERGY CROPS:


Miscanthus giganteus for the University of
Iowas biomass project was planted with rhizomes
last year using Repreve Renewables ACCU Yield
System. This process results in high up-front
establishment costs, but comparatively reduced
costs over the lifetime of the stand.
PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 11

POWER

GENERATING INTEREST: Public eld days have been held on Dan Blacks farm. Repreve
Renewables and the University of Iowa hosted a planting day event, and Iowa Learning Farmers
hosted a eld day after the miscanthus was planted. Heaton shares her knowledge with attendees at a
September event.
PHOTO: JERI NEAL, LEOPOLD CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

GENUINE INTEREST: As an employee at


MidWestOne Bank in Iowa City, Dan Black no
longer farms full-time, but his interest was piqued
to plant after attending Iowa State Extension
meetings on miscanthus. Now he invites coworkers, growers and others to attend eld days
at his test plot.
PHOTO: JERI NEAL, LEOPOLD CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

out to farmers and getting more of the crop


adopted in the Iowa City area, Heaton says.
Growers and the universities are optimistic they will easily obtain more land for
miscanthus. There has been quite a bit of
interest bottom line; everybody is very curious, Black says.
Ive had quite a bit of interestjust
roadside interestthe local guys talking to
me about it, Schomberg says.

Lessons Learned

PIONEER PLANTER: Steve Schombergs plot


was planted in the spring of 2013, and this picture
features fall 2014 miscanthus growth. The plot will
be harvested in late winter or early spring this year.
PHOTO: JIM JACOBUS

12 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

All involved with the project work


closely with one another through each step,
but UI is bearing a majority of the risk. UI
leases the land from both Schomberg and
Black, and then turns around and hires
them to manage the plot while it pays for
the planting cost, field preparation, time
and labor. There is not a lot of risk for
me on my side of this deal because theyve
taken on so much of the risk, and so much
of the responsibility of getting the crop in,
Black says.
UI issued a request for proposals for
the planting both years. In 2013, New Energy Farms was chosen, and in 2014 Repreve
Renewables was selected. Miscanthus does
not produce a harvestable yield during the
first year of growth. Usually the first harvest occurs in late winter or early spring after the second growing season. Schombergs

test plot was planted during adverse circumstances, but is scheduled to be harvested
during that time frame based on snow
cover and climate. It was really a combination of the late planting, which stressed
the rhizomes, and then the drought, which
stressed them, and then the extremely long
winter we had, which provided further
stress, Milster says. Out of the planted
acres, three acres did survive and look very
good.
Heaton expects the acreage to yield 8
to 10 tons per acre on average once the miscanthus is fully matured, which takes about
three years.
Heaton compares miscanthus to children; they are expensive to have, and the
first few years of upbringing are critical.
We generally talk about miscanthus as being a very low-input crop, and thats true
especially when you look at it over a 20- to
30- year lifespan of the crop, but you dont
want to mess around in those first few years,
Heaton says. Its an expensive crop to plant,
just like kids are expensive to have, so we do
recommend diligent management in the first
two years. Like children, if you do a poor job
in its juvenile phase, it will never recover.
Although miscanthus can flourish on
marginal land, the soil needs proper preparation. Both primary and secondary tillage
is needed to loosen the dirt enough to dig

POWER

Your global
equipment
supplier
for the biomass
industry
END MARKET: The University of Iowas main power plant currently cores oat hulls with coal in
two boilers generating 170,000 pounds an hour at 750 degrees Fahrenheit, 500-pound force per
square inch gauge. Miscanthus and other ready-to-burn biomass are being explored as coring
options.
PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

trenches for the rhizomes. One of the secrets to a successful establishment, to effective planting, is field prep, Milster says. In
both cases, we really had to put extra effort
in to prepare the soil.
Rhizome planting is based on potato
planting. Black says the planter used by
Repreve, in essence, has the bones of a potato planter, but is highly modified to plant
the rhizomes.

When Miscanthus Makes Sense


Miscanthus must be carefully planted,
but after it is established little upkeep is
required. Heaton and others at ISU are
working with farmers to understand when
utilizing the benefits of miscanthus, prairie
and other grasslands could make sense to a
grower, not only environmentally, but also
economically. Our vision at Iowa State and
the University of Iowa is to have a suite of
perennials integrated into the crop landscape, Heaton says. The reason I would
include miscanthus in a diversified crop
portfolio in the Midwest is really pretty
straightforward: its yield.
Heaton and others at ISU are trying to
identify at a subfield scale where a grower
should integrate perennials, like miscanthus,
to improve profitability of corn in Iowa. I
would like to see 15 percent of land in Iowa
fields transitioned to perennials, and Id like

to see those perennials be a diverse portfolio, Heaton says. It wouldnt take much
miscanthus to make a meaningful difference
to our energy needs in the state.
Heaton says landscape management is
analogous to healthcare, in a sense. Imagine if you could identify all the smokers
in a population. Heaton asks, Would you
want to insure them at the same rate, with
the same premiums that you are insuring a
healthier portion of the population?
Heaton, as many others posed that
question, says probably not. What were
considering here is that we finally have data
that allows us to ask the same question for
parts of land, Heaton says. We dont want
to invest the same resources, either insurance resources from a taxpayer or actual
farm input from a farmer, on areas of land
that are not going to respond, not going to
be profitable, not going to produce grain,
etc.
Miscanthus giganteus, the sterile type
of miscanthus UI and ISU are using, is an
attractive option for a few reasons. It is unable to produce seed, so this helps to avoid
unintended movement of the crop from
planted areas. Further, the perennial can
help manage poorly drained fields and underperforming areas. Miscanthus also helps
mitigate soil and other nutrients from water. Planting dedicated energy crops is the

ANDRITZ is one of the worlds


leading suppliers of technologies,
systems, and services relating to
equipment for the biomass pelleting
industry. We offer single machines for
the production of solid and liquid biofuel
and waste pellets. We have the ability to
manufacture and supply each and every
key processing machine in the pellet production line.

ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel A/S


Europe, Asia, and South America:
andritz-fb@andritz.com
USA and Canada:
andritz-fb.us@andritz.com

www.andritz.com
FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 13

POWER

PERENNIAL POWER: Emily Heaton, Iowa State University biomass


extension specialist, says miscanthus is the highest yielding perennial crop
option per unit input in the upper Midwest. Sugar cane rises to the top of
high-yielding crops, although since it doesnt grow in the Midwest, its relative
miscanthus can be planted for its high yields.

COFIRING: Miscanthus is being tested in a densied pellet form for coring


with coal in the University of Iowas boilers. In a miscanthus pellet trial burn,
overall, it demonstrated higher heat input potential by densifying grasses.
PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

PHOTO: JERI NEAL, LEOPOLD CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

single, most-effective measure you can take to


help with nutrient runoff, Milster says.
This is why researchers believe miscanthus makes sense in poorly drained soils, and
might be a good option to plant in lower corn
suitability rating (CSR) ground where a grower would typically lose money planting other
commodities. Schomberg says medium-fertility soils around 40 to 70 CSR is the range
being considered for miscanthus.
Black and Schomberg believe growers
interested in implementing miscanthus need
to both understand and think about what the
right conditions are for planting miscanthus.
These test plots and subsequent research are
helping reach that understanding.

Establishing End Market


Anyone with the long-term investment
in their land knows, they need to take care of
certain portions of it differently than other
portions, it is a no-brainer for them, Heaton
says. The challenge has always been the economics, and that challenge still exists.
One problem is the lack of a crop insurance program for miscanthus. Banks dont
understand miscanthus, so getting a loan for
those early years is difficult, Heaton says.
As an extension biomass specialist, Heaton believes in the future her work could in14 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

clude helping banks understand the return


schedule for perennial crops. Right now the
federal governments Biomass Crop Assistance Program recognizes these crops take
time to mature, but not everyone can get
BCAP subsidies, according to Heaton.
Programs like BCAP can help with developing markets. Milster believes miscanthus
can be competitive on $5 a bushel corn, especially on marginal land, for UIs end market.
UIs main power plant currently cofires oat
hulls with coal in two boilers. The oat hulls
come from a partnership with Quaker Oats
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Other ready-to-burn
biomass streams under consideration, along
with miscanthus, are expired corn seeds,
poplar wood chips, switchgrass and reed canary grass. The university calculated prices
for these options at the power plant. The
prices are calculated to give an energy cost
of $5 MMBtu, which is comparable to current coal costs. Miscanthus grass calculations
showed that at 10 percent moisture content,
it would have a heat value of 7,200 Btu per
pound, yielding $72 per ton at $5 MMBtu and
113,000 tons equal to the 2020 goal.
UI brings the market, removing the
market risk. Other markets also exist or are
emerging such as poultry bedding and feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production. I

think the markets will come, and hopefully


we can get out there and establish a protocol
for growing it, and best management practices for growing it that will be replicated as the
market expands, Milster says.
Since the universitys miscanthus market
is in its early beginnings, we want to work
very closely with a small number of farmers
to make sure every story is a success story,
Heaton says.
Schomberg and Black hope that in the
near future with results from their test plots
they can help establish where the opportunities lie in diversifying predominantly corn
and soybean Iowa cropland. Miscanthus,
any new crop like this, will take a while to establish, Schomberg says. There will be early
adopters, like we are, and then well get experience, become more efficient, become more
cost-efficient. We will learn from mistakes we
make so we can help people that follow in our
footsteps into a better job.
Author: Katie Fletcher
Staff Writer, Biomass Magazine
701-738-4920
kfletcher@bbiinternational.com

REACH NEW CUSTOMERS


MAKE MORE SALES

STAY TOP
OF MIND
PLACE YOUR NAME ON THE WALL!

2015 PELLET PRODUCER


MAP ADVERTISEMENT

Advertise now on Pellet Mill Magazines 2015 U.S. & Canada Pellet
Producer Map. It is the easiest and most cost-effective way to get
your name, product and/or service in front of Pellet Producers, as
well as other industry professionals for 12 months at a time.
This map is extremely popular because it identifies more than 180
existing pellet plants as well as those under construction.
Production facilities are conveniently color coded by status for
quick reference.

REACH 8,000 PROFESSIONALS


All Biomass Magazine subscribers
All Pellet Mill Magazine subscribers
Pellet mill owners, operators & management
All major related conferences

FREE LISTING

Receive 12 months of FREE advertising on


Biomass Magazines homepage

ADVERTISE TODAY - LIMITED SPOTS


DEADLINE: MARCH 18, 2015

2015
Need more information on advertising opportunities?

service@bbiinternational.com - 866-746-8385 - www.BiomassMagazine.com


FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 15

PelletNews
Canadian pellet statistics
2010

2011 2012

2013

2014

Production (million tons)

1.32

1.45

1.50

1.80

2.18

Imports (million tons)

0.00

0.00

0.05

0.02

0.02

Exports (million tons)

1.23

1.3

1.37

1.64

2.00

Consumption (million tons)

0.10

0.12

0.15

0.18

0.20

33

39

42

41

41

Number of plants
Nameplate capacity (million tons)
Capacity use (percent)

2.08

2.9

3.18

3.18

3.18

63.40

50.00

47.20

56.70

68.70

SOURCE: USDA FAS GAIN

Canadian pellet capacity holds steady


The USDA Foreign Agricultural Services
Global Agricultural Information Network has
published an annual report on the Canadian
biofuels industry that highlights the current state
of the Canadian wood pellet industry.
The report indicates Canada had 41 pellet
plants in operation last year, with a combined
nameplate capacity of 3.175 million metric tons.
That capacity is unchanged from 2013. Capacity
use, however, was expected to increase from

56.7 percent in 2013 to 68.7 percent last year.


Canadian pellet producers exported an estimated 2 million metric tons of pellets in 2014,
up from 1.64 million tons in 2013.
The GAIN report indicates the province
of British Columbia currently accounts for approximately 65 percent of Canadian production
capacity, with Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia accounting for the remaining 35
percent of capacity.

Portucel plans South


Carolina pellet plant
Portugal-based Portucel S.A.
has announced plans to build a
460,000-ton-per-year pellet plant in
Greenwood County, South Carolina.
Construction on the $110 million project is expected to begin in early 2015,
with operations commencing in the
third quarter of 2016.
According to the South Carolina
Department of Commerce, the Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved a $150,000 grant to
assist with the costs of road, site and
infrastructure improvements, as well as
job development credits related to the
project. The facility will be located in
the Emerald Road Industrial Corridor.
Information released by Portucel
indicates a 10-year fixed price supply
contract is currently in place for approximately 70 percent of the proposed
facilitys output.

CBI Magnum Force


Flail Debarker & Microchipping System
Custom Built with Pride for Rentech

Worlds Best Portable and Stationary


Biomass Recovery Systems
Continental Biomass Industries, Inc. 22 Whittier Street, Newton, NH 03858 USA (603) 382-0556 www.cbi-inc.com

16 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

PELLET

Handwriting on the Wall


BY BILL BELL

I see the handwriting on the wall (The Staples Singers,


1978.)
Incumbency proved popular among Maine voters
in November. Our plain-spoken governor was returned
to office with significantly more votes than when first
elected four years ago. At the same time, southern
Maines member of Congress, a stalwart member of the
Progressive Caucus, easily withstood the tide that swept
a Republican into the previously Democrat-held open
Congressional seat in northern Maine.
Gov. Paul LePages re-election campaign had placed
considerable emphasis on reducing our states high
energy costs, which he cites as a major barrier to bringing
manufacturing jobs to our rural state. Our growing pellet
industry will continue to count on the Governors support for biomass heat produced from Maines forests.
The most resounding, and most expected, election
victory was achieved by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who
received almost 70 percent of the vote in our decidedly
purple state. With endorsements ranging from the
trade unions at Bath Iron Works shipyard to that of fellow Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats,
Collins carried virtually every one of Maines nearly 500
municipalities.
First elected to the Senate in 1996, Collins has
never missed a recorded roll call vote and is respected
as a workhorse. This work has always included attentiveness to Maines important forest products industry.
A strong supporter of the Clean Air Act authored by
Maines Sen. Ed Muskie four decades ago, and one of
the few members of her party endorsed by the League
of Conservation Voters this past year, Collins has also at
times intervened with EPA to seek revision of proposed
air quality rules. One such instance has involved EPAs
rules for industrial boilers like those employed in Maines
paper industry. Another has been her letter, co-authored
with King last March, expressing concern about EPAs
proposed Source Performance standards for wood
and pellet stoves. Note that all Jotul wood stoves sold
in North America are now manufactured in Gorham,
Maine.
Most important to our pellet boiler industry has
been Collins successful dialogue with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to have
wood pellet boilers classified as an acceptable primary
heating source for the purpose of federal housing ad-

ministration (FHA) financing. This nationally important


change in FHA rules was accomplished when Collins
was the ranking minority member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing HUD expenditures.
She will now chair the Subcommittee.
Other support provided by Collins, whose family
has for many decades managed a lumber business in
northern Maine, has included her early co-sponsorship
of King's BTU Act. The measure, if enacted, will make
homeowner expenditures for biomass heating eligible for
the same federal tax credits as solar and other renewable
energy systems. Our industrys Biomass Thermal Energy
Council in Washington will be working to have this legislation reintroduced early in this session of Congress.
Addressing a gathering of heating industry members in Strong, Maine, home of Geneva Woods Fuels
pellet manufacturing facility, Collins called upon the attendees to unleash the power of the pellet. Our Maine
industry now looks forward to the increased Power of
Collins.
Meanwhile, back at the Maine legislature, conventional wisdom is that the Republican takeover of the
Maine senate will benefit the business community, including our sector. Its never that simple, of course. The
current director of the governors energy office, whose
advocacy on behalf of reducing Mainers heating costs
has advanced our industry, is rumored to be in line for
appointment to our Public Utilities Commission, where
bright minds have been known to disappear in regulatory detail. A legislative proposal to streamline requirements for installation of pellet heating systems could get
bogged down with objections from fuel oil licensees.
More telling is a recent announcement by Tim
Heutz, vice president of our Maine Pellet Fuels Association. Heutz, manager of the well-established Heutz
Oil Co. in Lewiston, Maine, and also of Heutz Pellet
Systems, tells us that Heutz Oil is being sold. Hes now
all in, in his words, with pellet heating. Handwriting on
the wall, indeed.
Author: Bill Bell
Executive Director, Maine Pellet Fuels Association
feedalliance@gwi.net
www.mainepelletheat.com

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 17

PELLET

CONTRIBUTION

PELLETIZING A PROBLEM: Gregory Zimmerman (far right), Professor of Biology at Lake Superior State
University feeds a small pellet press as students look on.
PHOTO: LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

Invasive Plants
as Pellet Feedstock

or the past several years, my students and I have been experimenting with making fuel pellets from
invasive species. The projects have
been funded by Michigans Biomass Energy
Office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
and most recently the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. We have also collaborated
with Michigan State University and Bay Mills
Community College. Most recently we have
been working with Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University and the University
of Michigan. Loyola is the lead on the cur-

Harvesting cattails and other wetland plants may


control their presence in the landscape and serve
as a biomass source too.

rent project. While performing our research,


we have learned that invasive species present unique opportunities and challenges as a
feedstock for fuel pellets.

Feasibility
Our first study was to examine the Btu
yield of unmanaged reed canary grass and
whether it would be energy efficient to harvest and process it into pellets, and burn it
in a multiuse stove. The math worked out. A
3-acre patch of reed canary grass could pro-

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reect the views of
Biomass Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

18 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

vide in pellets the Btu equivalent of 800 gallons of propane with 32 times more energy
return than the energy required to harvest
and pelletize it. Most rural properties in our
area have some stands of reed canary grass.
We then purchased a hammer mill, a
small pellet press and a multifuel pellet stove
to put the idea into practice. Like many others, we were able to make reed canary grass
pellets and we found that they burned well
in the multifuel stove. Our trials then extended to invasive phragmites. Because of
its high proportion of stem, it ground up

PELLET

nicely and pelletized quite well. In contrast,


the high proportion of leaf material in the
reed canary grass results in very fine material that interferes with mixing in the pelletizing process. Phragmites is not as common
in our immediate vicinity as reed canary grass
but is, unfortunately, quite common in other
areas of this region. Our most recent work
involves harvesting and pelletizing invasive
cattail (Typha x glauca), which is also quite
common.
Compared to purpose-grown biomass,
the primary objective of using invasive species is reducing the vigor of the plants. In the
case of cattails, another objective is removing
phosphorous from the wetland. For reducing vigor of the plant, a harvest just before
flowering, when storage carbohydrates are at
their lowest level in the year, would be ideal.
For removal of nutrients, harvest prior to the
time in which the plants translocate nutrients to the crowns in preparation of shoot
dieback would be best. In contrast, for sustainable harvesting, just after shoot dieback
is best. Late fall harvesting also provides
dried material, which can be ground with no
further need for drying and the energy and
effort it requires. It is important to remember that the goal of biomass from invasive
species isnt necessarily to be most efficient.
The biomass is a side-benefit of the biomass
removal. If some economic value could accrue from the biomass, that could help fund
the removal of the invasives.

Harvesting
In addition to timing of the harvest, the
actual harvest procedure for invasive species represents some challenges compared
to purpose-grown biomass. In our work in
the former hayfield, we simply used a tractormounted, sickle-bar mower. In our phragmites sites, we used hand harvesting since
the sites were small. We tied the phragmites
in bundles with twine, then cut the base with
a battery-operated hedge trimmer (more or
less a hand-held, sickle-bar mower). The
bundles were then convenient to carry to a
trailer.
Our current project involves biomass
removal from wetlands. Thus, one additional
step was securing a permit from the Michi-

We have an opportunity to improve the economics


of control efforts and to provide a more carbon
neutral fuel source or other valuable products, if
we use some slightly different than we would with
purpose-grown biomass.
gan Department of Environmental Quality.
The joint permit was quite straightforward
and not at all a barrier, partly because we had
data from a previous study by Loyola University that removal of invasive species can help
restore biodiversity to wetlands.
One of the potential issues with the permit was that we had to show that we would
not disturb the wetland soil. We were to harvest large acreages, thus we needed to use
mechanical harvesting. Our project will be
using a tracked vehicle for the harvest operation and we will carefully maneuver on the
site, so we anticipate no undue impact on the
wetland soils.
Site access is also an issue. Native wetlands often do not have easy road access like
a farm field would. In our case, the wetlands
are near enough to roads, and the topography will allow our tracked vehicle to access
the sites, but not all sites with invasive species do.
We will be harvesting the cattails in
midseason, while they are green. The water
content of the cattails will add challenges in
terms of weight of the material and, perhaps,
the need to dry them out to an optimal moisture level for pelletizing.

Pelletizing
We have had good results in pelletizing
both reed canary grass and phragmites. We
have only done one run of cattails and were
able to make good pellets with green material
(no water added) and without binder. But we
have not fired these pellets to check for their
burn characteristics.
We have been working on scaling up the
pellet production process from demo-scale
(several pounds) to production level (several
tons). We are still developing the processes
for material handling, grinding and pelletizing, and trying to establish a consistent mix-

ture of ground grass, water and binder. Ambient temperature and humidity all seem to
add variation to the production process and
thus to the quality and economic value of the
finished product.
Our brief experience with cattails reveals
some additional challenges, one of which is
that the cattail fibers can clog the screen of
the grinder. We know that water content and
soil picked up in the harvest process will be
issues. Im sure we will find other difficulties
as we go along.

Use of Pellets
Other uses beyond pellet stove fuel may
bring economic benefits to invasive removal
projects. Pellets from purpose, grown grasses
may be marketable as feed, animal bedding
or even compost. Pellets from invasives
might not be marketable as feed, but bedding
and compost could be alternative markets.
Our work so far confirms that invasive
plant removal can have an added benefit of
pellet production. Our current project is to
restore biodiversity of the wetlands with a
side benefit of economic value from the biomass. We want to be clear that we are not
suggesting that reed canary grass, the invasive
genotype of phragmites, or the invasive cattails should be planted for biomass production. The currently available stands of these
plants provide a ready supply that we hope
will decrease over the coming years with successful control efforts. In the meantime, we
have an opportunity to improve the economics of control efforts and to provide a more
carbon neutral fuel source or other valuable
products, if we use some slightly different
than we would with purpose-grown biomass.
Author: Gregory Zimmerman
Professor of Biology, Lake Superior State University
gzimmerman@lssu.edu
906-635-2470

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 19

ThermalNews
Hurst equipment powers
New Hampshire district heating project

Pennsylvania schools win


biomass boiler system grant

A Hurst biomass
boiler district heating
system with a backpressure
steam turbine/generator is
powering a district heating
project in Sullivan County,
New Hampshire. The
project serves the countys
166-bed nursing home and
168-bed prison complex as
well as two smaller onsite
buildings in Unity, New
Hampshire.
AN ECONOMICAL SOLUTION: The Hurst boiler district
The biomass comheating system has already saved Sullivan County
bined-heat-and-power
approximately $100,000.
district energy system is
almost entirely fueled by locally sourced, renewable wood chips, which are provided
by Cousineau Forest Products. Producing inexpensive heat and electricity for the
215,000-plus square feet of conditioned space, the system has replaced 95 percent of
fuel oil purchases and 10 percent electric purchases in the nursing home.
Sullivan County officials project that the annual fuel savings will pay for the construction bond within 15 years.

The West Branch Area School District in


Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, was recently awarded
a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority to support the installation of a
$2.17 million biomass boiler system that will be fueled
by wood chips.
Although specific technology and suppliers
have not been selected yet for the project, preliminary steps have been taken. We have a handful of
clean, screened, green woodchip suppliers and boiler
manufacturers that we have contacted, said Jason
McMillen, business manager at West Branch Area
School District. The selection of these vendors will
be completed through a bid process and consultation with McClure Co. Once operational, McMillen
estimated the boiler will be capable of satisfying 75
percent of the schools heating needs.
The McClure Co. is a mechanical contracting,
engineering and service organization and will serve as
the schools energy services company. The company
will oversee the installation of the boiler, as well as the
new building construction that will house the boiler.

KAHL Wood Pelleting Plants

Quality worldwide.
AMANDUS KAHL USA Corporation 380 Winkler Drive, Suite 400, Alpharetta GA 30004-0736
Phone: 770-521-1021 sales@amanduskahlusa.com
AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG SARJ Equipment Corp., Mr. Rick B. MacArthur 29 Golfview Blvd., Bradford, Ontario L3Z 2A6
20 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015
Phone: 001-905-778-0073 rbmacarthur@sympatico.ca www.akahl.us

THERMAL

Legal Issues for Biomass Thermal


Offtake Contracts
BY TODD TAYLOR

Biomass thermal projects are becoming increasingly


popular and it is important to make sure that they are done
correctly. Project financiers, be they equity partners or
bankers, will require carefully thought-out contracts that
will enable the project to get paid and address potential
problems. One of the most important components of
the contract is the offtake agreement. They establish how
much the project will get paid, what factors could impact
those payments and more.
Most offtake agreements are long-term contracts, often
matching the length of any debt term, in order to ensure
that there will be revenue available to pay the debt service
and usually include renewals. They are binding upon signing, but often include early termination provisions to allow
either party to get out of the deal, such as allowing the seller
(project owner) to terminate if they cannot arrange financing for the project.
Along those same lines, the agreements usually include
conditions precedent, or events that have to take place
before either party is obligated to perform. Common
conditions include final granting of permits, feedstock
agreements, and financing for the seller and any regulatory
approvals for the buyer.
Milestones are an important part of any project development and are often part of an offtake agreement, mostly
because the buyer may be relying on the project to come
online at a certain time in order to meet their own requirements. Often, there are penalties for missing milestones,
though a seller should negotiate that penalties be waived if
the project comes online by the commercial operation date.
The commercial operation date (COD) is the date
when the plant is capable of delivering the thermal energy
to the buyer. The COD is a critical piece of the agreement
and the seller will face significant penalties if the project is
not operational by the COD. Determining the right criteria
for the COD is important to all parties to the project.
Before the plant is in commercial operation, issues
of the delivery of the thermal energy, such as when and
where does the ownership of the thermal energy transfer
from the seller to the buyer must be answered. Much of
that depends on how the thermal energy is delivered to the
buyer, such as colocation, district energy or steam pipelines,
but sellers will generally want the transfer, and thus the sale,
to occur once the thermal energy leaves its plant.

Pricing is one of the most important aspects of a


thermal energy project and pricing will generally be based
on equivalent thermal energy costs, plus any premium for
green thermal energy. Pricing is either fixed, with escalators, or based on market indexes. It is critical for the seller
to have a complete understanding of their costs before
agreeing to final pricing. Financing parties will be sure to
run the numbers. It may help to think of it as a financial
mass balance.
Curtailment is one of the issues the financiers dislike,
but is usually a part of an offtake. Curtailment means that
in certain circumstances the buyer has the right to refuse
delivery of the thermal energy. In these cases, sellers want
the buyer to continue to pay the regular price and count the
curtailed thermal energy towards their requirement. Buyers
understandably want to minimize paying for thermal energy
they are not using and the parties usually reach a compromise, which could include capping the payments, having the
energy count towards the requirement or other options.
Tax credits and renewable energy credits, where and
when available, can be significant factors in the viability of
a thermal energy project. Determining who gets the credits
and how they can impact the bottom line pricing for the
thermal energy is critical.
Performance guarantees are usually required by the
buyer and normally amount to the seller guaranteeing that it
will deliver a certain minimum amount of thermal energy to
a buyer each year. Unexcused failures to deliver result in significant penalties or even rights to terminate. Sellers need to
be sure that their construction and technology partners are
able to build the plant to meet these guarantees. Financing
partners will closely scrutinize performance guarantees and
may require independent financial support such as credit
enhancements in the form of standby letters of credit.
Connected to performance guarantees, the parties will try
to limit their liability to damages from a breach while at the
same time maximizing the liability of the other party.
Thermal energy offtake agreements are complex legal
documents that also need to be drafted in the context of
the entire project. Take care, plan early and consult experienced advisors before getting started.
Author: Todd Taylor
Clean Technology & Sustainability Chair, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
www.fredlaw.com
ttaylor@fredlaw.com

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 21

AGRA

Industries

BiogasNews
Potential biogas-based fuel production in California
(million gasoline gallon equivalents)
SOURCE: BIOENERGY ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA

272

YOUR EPC CONTRACTOR

Agricultural
residue

170
Manure

2,187

Total fuel potential

FROM DESIGN

TO

FABRICATION

710

Forestry and
forest products
residue

56

Fats, oils,
greases

66

Waste water
treatment gas

457
Landfill gas

106

MSW (67% of
food, leaves,
grass fraction)

350

MSW (67% of
lignocellulosic
fraction)

California association calls for RGS


The Bioenergy Association of California recently published a
report detailing why the state needs a renewable gas standard (RGS),
stressing that the biogas sector needs an effective regulatory framework and greater long-term certainty to reach the level of market
penetration that will drive down costs and enable biogas to compete
with the historically low cost of natural gas.
We need something that is longer-term and is more comprehensive, so that the industry itself doesnt go through these boom and
bust cycles, because its not that large an industry, it needs long-term
certainty to really grow at the pace and reach the levels that it should,
said Julia Levin, executive director of BAC.
According to Levin, California could produce 10 percent of its total gas consumption, amounting to 284 billion cubic feet of renewable
gas per year just from organic waste converted to biogas. This has the
potential to generate nearly 7,000 MW of power or 2.5 billion gallons
of transportation fuels.

Republic Services opens Indiana


landfill gas-to-energy project
TO

COMPLETION!

AGRA HAS CUSTOM-DESIGNED


BIOMASS SOLUTIONS FOR YOU!
800-842-8033
WWW.AGRAIND.COM
22 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

Republic Services Inc. recently announced the startup of a new


landfill gas-to-energy project in Indiana. The 6 MW project at County
Line Landfill features four engines operating at one energy generation
facility. According to Republic Services, the project is capable of generating enough energy to power more than 3,200 homes.
Republic Services partnered with Aria Energy on the design,
development and management of the facility. The two companies have
now partnered on four projects with a combined capacity of nearly 40
MW, and are working two additional projects, which are expected to
feature an additional 15 MW of capacity.
With the County Line Landfill project now complete, Republic
Services has implemented 73 landfill gas-to-energy projects in the U.S.
Combined, those projects provide enough electricity to heat or power
approximately 400,000 households.

BIOGAS

Data and Tools to Better


Evaluate Biogas Potential
BY AMANDA BILEK

Biogas projects come in all shapes and sizes and


are implemented across a variety of industrial, municipal and agricultural applications. For a biogas project,
there is no one size fits all. The variety of biogas
feedstock sources and end-use applications sets it apart
from other biomass project configurations. However,
the variations among operational and potential biogas
projects make it difficult to adequately access the resource potential for this underutilized renewable energy resource. Individual states are taking the lead to
better evaluate and assess potential biogas projects.
In the past year, the state of Iowa has worked to
assess their biogas resource. I recently participated in a
webinar where the Iowa Biogas Assessment Model was
profiled. The model is an online, GIS, interactive map
where a user can click on different layers of data to
study the biogas resource or conduct an initial screen
of where a potential project could be sited based on
feedstock and infrastructure availability within a certain geography. IBAM was developed by EcoEngineers
under contract with the Iowa Economic Development
Authority. The tool is available at www.ecoengineers.
us/ibam.
The IBAM tool provides a wide variety of biogasbased feedstock data. Users can assess the feedstock
availability of animal manure, crop residue and potential substrates or identify colocation opportunities with
existing biodiesel, ethanol, food and paper manufacturers. In addition to the feedstock data, there is also
energy infrastructure data on the locations of natural
gas pipelines, electric and gas service territories, and existing power plant locations. Users can also identify the
locations of operational biogas projects at agricultural,
landfill or wastewater treatment facilities.
A complementary tool to the GIS map is a preliminary economic assessment spreadsheet. The downloadable spreadsheet provides users the availability to

modify inputs and assumptions to conduct a preliminary economic evaluation for a potential biogas project.
Both the IBAM map and spreadsheet will require more
robust analysis and engineering designs for any project
moving forward, but these publically available tools can
help users from the private and government sectors to
conduct an initial project screen or quantify the potential for biogas projects in Iowa.
The Iowa tools build on work previously done by
the state of Wisconsin to develop a user-friendly biogas resource map and economic analysis for potential
biogas projects. Having these tools available provides
critical information to biogas proponents and project
developers to assess resource potential, describe the
location and nature of potential projects, and identify
specific locations for future projects. In addition to
Wisconsin, there are examples from other states and
U.S. regions that have developed similar tools and economic assessments.
To further enable increased development of biogas projects, it is essential that we continue to use data
and visual tools to better evaluate the biogas resource.
These tools can provide critical information in the early
formation of a potential project. They also help biogas
proponents to categorize the resource potential in the
context of other renewable energy options or waste
management decisions. The diversity of biogas project configurations and feedstock sources is a real asset
because every city, town, or rural area has some sort
of potential for a biogas project, but without tools and
data like those developed by Iowa, Wisconsin or other
states, it would be more difficult to move projects from
potential to operational.
Author: Amanda Bilek
Government Affairs Manager, Great Plains Institute
612-278-7118
abilek@gpisd.net

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 23

BIOGAS

DEPARTMENT

CODIGESTION POTENTIAL: The University of Guelph Ridgetown campus in Ontario has a 250-kW
digester housed at the CARES, or Center for Agricultural Renewable Energy and Sustainability, research
facility. The manure currently fed to the digester will eventually be mixed with various energy crops to test
biogas at a farm-scale.
PHOTO: KIM VANOVERLOOP

Grass to Gas A
Grassland and perennial biomass streams are
being tapped for conversion as supplemental
feedstock in anaerobic digesters.
BY KATIE FLETCHER

24 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

naerobic digesters (AD)


are usually fed manure
or food waste, yet other
options are being tested
and used in the biogas industry. On the expanding menu of
feedstock possibilities are crops
grown specifically for the purpose. Research conducted in Ontario, Canada, at the University
of Guelph Ridgetown Campus
explores the possibility of growing perennial energy crops and
native grasslands for biogas production. Energy crops are being
considered in the biogas market
for their environmental benefits,

high-yielding rates and reliability.


The U of G-Ridgetown
teamed up with New Energy
Farms and Seacliff Energy for
a project exploring energy crop
potential in biogas production.
Right now, the focus is on the
methane yield at lab level, but
the hope is to eventually test perennial feedstock crops in a 250kW digester located at a campus research facility. The main
takeaway of the things weve
tested so far is that some of
them provide really high yields
in the field, but they dont convert very easily to biogas, says

BIOGAS

STARTING SMALL: Brandon Gilroyed, assistant professor at the University of Guelph-Ridgetown, says
all perennial crop work so far at the university, has been done using a lab-scale digester.
PHOTO: KURTIS BAUTE

Brandon Gilroyed, assistant


professor School of Environmental Sciences at the U of
G-Ridgetown. We need to, for
our future research, place more
emphasis on pretreatment and
things like that to unlock more
of that energy.
Paul Carver, CEO of
New Energy Farms, says, We
identified a need for perennial
biogas crops for a number of
reasons. NEF is involved in
providing suitable cultivars
of different energy crops, established through its CEEDS
system and production testing.

The Crop, Expansion, Encapsulation and Delivery System,


creates a proxy for seed in vegetative crops, such as miscanthus, napier grass and arundo
donax. The system was developed to make planting energy
grasses and other vegetative
crops as simple as conventional
arable crops. In areas where
biogas projects have expanded
rapidly, such as Germany, there
is now saturation of annual
biogas crops on arable land,
Carver says.
Germany has been using predominantly corn silage,

among other streams, for biogas production. The plants that


NEF is exploring are suitable
for nonfood-quality land, which
subsequently allows new plantings to occur without affecting
food production. Another contributing factor to energy crop
implementation is that biogas
byproduct disposal requires a
land base. Sites with perennial
crops on them for 10 years or
more create a good logistical
system for this recirculation of
nutrients, Carver says.
The last factor resides in
the fact that new biogas proj-

ects need secure sources of


feedstocks. A proportion of
perennial grasses can provide
feedstock for 10 years, according to Carver. Crops like these
usually take time to establish,
however. I think there will
be some ways of dual cropping, or things like that, to help
with those initial establishment
years, but that is an issue for
sure with the whole concept,
Gilroyed says.
Presently, most in the
space see energy crops role
in the production of biogas as
supplemental; a side choice to

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 25

BIOGAS

ONE POSSIBILITY: Arundo donax is one energy crop New Energy Farms is providing suitable cultivars
for with its CEEDS articial seed system. NEF is testing this crop and others for biogas potential with 20
acres of trials dedicated to the work in Canada and a series of trials with a European developer of biogas
projects.
PHOTO: NEW ENERGY FARMS

the main dish on the menu. NEF believes


the menu should have a variety of sides
suitable for biogas and different growing conditions. These would be crops
like napier grass, arundo donax and miscanthus, which support production from
Canada down to Florida, Carver says.
We have also found that some of the
energy crops have a much wider harvest
window, and so improving the logistics
of the feedstock supply. With this range
of crops it would be possible to get yearround supply.
A sustainable feedstock supply is
crucial for biogas producers. A big part
of the impetus for us looking into it is the
biogas market right now; its really hard
to find high-quality feedstocks, Gilroyed
says. There is so much competition, and
if we want to see this sort of model work
at the farm-scale, so smaller digesters, I
26 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

think that theyre going to have to have


some options where they are able to independently create at least a portion of the
diet they feed, because the volatility is too
much to handle.
Perennial energy crops and grasses
have the added opportunity to generate
cellulosic renewable information numbers (RINs). The U.S. EPA announced
in July a final rule for the renewable fuel
standard (RFS) program that expanded
pathways for biogas-based fuel to help
boost cellulosic and advanced fuel numbers. Allowing biogas transportation fuel
pathways to generate RFS cellulosic credits brings opportunity for further biogas
project development. NEFs collaboration with the U of G-Ridgetown and
Seacliff is not upgrading the biogas to
transportation fuel, but NEF recognizes
the opportunity it presents. We see a

very strong growth potential for this area


as biogas can be used for heat, electricity and road fuels, Carver says. We feel
there is a substantial commercial opportunity to apply the high-yield perennial
grasses to this market.
One project under development in
Missouri will create biogas-based fuel.
Roeslein Alternative Energy LLC is developing and constructing the project in
collaboration with Murphy-Brown of
Missouri LLC, the livestock production
subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc. The
goal of the $80 million project is to produce 50 million diesel gallon equivalents
by the end of the decade using biogas
derived from hog manure, energy crops
and cover crops harvested between growing seasons. This project can be a model
to show how both economic and environmental benefits can be gained by us-

BIOGAS

INNOVATIVE APPROACH: Roeslein Alternative Energys biogas project will involve a total of 88 covered
hog lagoons, such as this one being installed at Murphy Browns South Meadows Farm in Missouri. Barn
scraper technology will deliver raw nutrients of livestock manure to the covered lagoons.
PHOTO: SHELDON RIPSON, ROESLEIN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

ing manure in a different way," says Rudi


Roeslein, president of RAE and CEO of
Roeslein & Associates.
The project will not only clean and
compress biogas for transportation fuel,
but will help with efforts to replant and
restore native grassland and prairie on
marginal land. Roeslein Northern Missouri Real Estate has been restoring land
with grassy prairies on its 1,600-acre farm
located within the project area. Already
400 acres of prairie has been planted that
could be used for testing the potential
feedstock.
The massive project is being implemented in phases. The installation of
high-density polyethylene covers on an
initial 19 lagoons at MBMs Valley View
and South Meadows farms in Northern
Missouri is complete. The biogas that
rises to the top of the lagoons will be

collected for further conditioning, while


the leftover indigestible solid residue can
be used as a natural fertilizer, and water
can be safely used for irrigation. "There
is value in the gas we capture as alternative vehicle fuel, Roeslein says. There
is even more value to the environment
from reduced greenhouse gas emissions,
eliminating rainfall effects on treatment
systems and odor reduction."
Next on the project timeline is installing biogas cleaning and conditioning
equipment to produce renewable natural
gas (RNG), and establishing a network of
distribution centers to provide the RNG
to vehicle fleets. The project has the potential to create several hundred million
cubic feet of RNG annually for regional
distribution. RNG production is slated to
begin this year. The third phase includes a
demonstration of using aboveground AD

systems to process a combination of manure and perennial feedstocks.


Now that biogas-based transportation fuel projects can sell either advanced
biofuel or cellulosic compliance credits, an increase in project development
in the U.S. biogas industry may become
apparent. Grassland and perennial crop
establishment has a developing market
opportunity with biogas, and potential to
become an appealing, high-yielding and
reliable side choice for producers.
Author: Katie Fletcher
Staff Writer, Biomass Magazine
kfletcher@bbiinternational.com
701-738-4920

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 27

AdvancedBiofuelNews
We Make

Q3 clean energy and clean transportation jobs


SOURCE: ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS

Biomass

Renewable Energy

6,094

Reliable.

Verdant delivers every time...


even when we have the
most obscure need.

Number of Jobs

Manufacturing

Other

25

Number of Job Announcements

849 45
Jobs

Jobs

4,602 598
Jobs

Jobs

9,892 2,049
Jobs

Jobs

13

announcements

announcements

announcements

announcements

announcements

announcements

Job

Job

Job

Job

Job

Job

E2 Q3 report shows strong growth for biofuel jobs

R&D Support
Procurement
IT Services
Export Assistance
Commercial Appraisals
Pile Management

Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)


recently released its third-quarter clean energy jobs report, reporting that 18,035 clean
energy and clean transportation jobs were
announced in 23 states during the quarter.
This includes 849 jobs in the advanced
biofuel sector, which is the second-highest
quarterly performance for the sector since
E2 began tracking jobs in 2011.
According to E2, the top nine states for
clean energy job announcements during the
quarter were Nevada, New York, California,

Colorado, North Carolina, Michigan, Connecticut, Louisiana and Texas. Illinois and
Maryland tied for 10th.
The single largest biofuel announcement came from Fulcrum Sierra Biofuels,
which is building a 10 MMgy biorefinery in
McCarran, Nevada. The project is expected
to create 450 construction jobs and 50 fulltime jobs by next year. Development of the
plant is supported by U.S. Department of
Defense grants intended to scale-up production of alternative sources of jet fuel.

Iogen starts up cellulosic biorefinery in Brazil

We make biomass reliable.

verdantebioenergy.com
828 394-1246
28 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

Ottawa-based Iogen Corp. announced


its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol
plant is producing ethanol in Brazil. The
first 200,000 liters (53,000 gallons) has
been distributed by Brazilian ethanol
producer Razen to its network of gas
stations, said Ziyad Rahme, senior vice
president and general manager of Iogen
Energy.
According to Rahme, commissioning began in October, with the startup
and shakedown phase scheduled to last
through the end of December. The facility
was scheduled to shut down temporarily

once the sugarcane harvest season came


to a close, and restart operations in the
second quarter. We will ramp up to full
production at that time, Rahme continued. The company expects to be able to
reach full nameplate capacity shortly after.
Iogen announced the groundbreaking in late November 2013, for the $100
million, 40 MMly cellulosic ethanol plant
colocated with Razens 80 MMly Costa
Pinto sugarcane ethanol plant in Piracicaba, So Paulo, Brazil. Razen handled the
engineering and procurement functions
for the project.

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS

Low Oil Price Won't Put


Brakes on Biomass Future
BY MATT CARR

The recent fall in oil prices has everybody talking about


the prospects for advanced biofuels. Will commercialization
be delayed? Will research and development continue? Can the
industry survive $60 per barrel crude?
In the not too distant past, a precipitous drop in fossil
fuels and energy prices could stall or even kill off years of
progress in alternative energy R&D. Just ask someone familiar
with the wind and solar industries in the '70s and '80s, or even
the early algal fuels research programs in the late '80s and early
'90s.
There's good reason to believe that the paths forward for
biomass and biofuels will be different this time around. I doubt
very much that technology advances will halt.
The commercialization strategies of todays advanced
biofuel venturesparticularly those that are developing new
biomass feedstocksare substantially different from earlier
waves of alternative energy technologies. Perhaps most significantly, many are no longer solely dependent on revenue from
fuels or energy sales to be sustainable as a business.
Instead, they are looking to attack multiple markets. Some
examples include biomass-derived plastics, fertilizers, feeds,
nutritional supplements, water treatment services, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals and more, in addition to fuels or fuel
feedstocks that can replace petroleum or palm oil feedstocks.
This flexibility justifies the technical and infrastructure investments needed today to see companies through initial commercialization over the next two to three years.
In the algae biomass industry, Cellana is one of the companies that have led the multi-market approach to commercialization. The company's multiproduct business model is based
on two fractionations of harvested algae biomass to produce
three product streams: algal crude oil, Omega-3 nutritional oils
and protein-rich algae meal for aquaculture or livestock feeds.
All three fractions are used to provide economic sustainability
to complement the inherent environmental sustainability of
the highest-yielding crop on earthalgae.
Initially, Cellana expects revenues from fuel and feed to
be a small percentage of overall product revenue, which will
be driven by the high-value Omega-3s and, to a lesser extent,
the feed product stream, both of which can be produced today
with good financial margins at relatively small commercial
scales.
Profitable initial commercialization will introduce a phase
of improved yields, technology advances and greater economies of scale. In turn, lower unit-production costs will enable
more sales into higher volume feed markets. As prices for
animal feed rise with expected global demand, and production
costs decline, the company can add capacity to address solely

the feed and fuel marketsa final phase of commercialization that does not rely on revenues from higher-value product
streams like Omega-3s.
In the algae space, advanced biofuel pioneer Sapphire
Energy is also diversifying its product portfolio, and Algenol
Biofuels has added an algae crude stream to its advanced
ethanol platform.
Other algae companies are following a similar strategy,
and even the U.S. Department of Energy has recognized the
advantages. The DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office funding opportunity, titled Targeted Algal Biofuels and Products,
announced by David Danielson, DOE assistant secretary, at
the 2014 Algae Biomass Summit, specifically incents the development of coproducts, crop protection and carbon utilization
technologies with algae. The end goal is not to create a new
source of fishmeal or animal feeds, however. Rather, it is to enhance the state of the art and ultimately drive down the cost of
algal fuels by enabling companies to produce multiple revenue
streams from the same biomass feedstocks.
Much like corn, soybeans and other traditional biomass
crops, which serve multiple end markets, the advantages of
algae's market flexibility will drive advances even during today's
crude oil glut.
Companies that are currently focused on a single product
also stand to benefit from feedstock flexibility. A company that
can successfully scale algal oil production will have technical
knowledge (and likely a whole lot of biomass) that will be
valuable in other applications, making for a possible wave of
strategic partnerships as more algae-derived products hit the
market.
In either case, the effect will be a commercialization pathway that marches through a number of markets with economics driven by many more factors than the price of oil alone.
The path is simple: Advance the technology and infrastructure through to initial commercialization, find revenues in
new and bigger markets, repeat.
Low oil prices might alter the pace or the direction of this
cycle but they will not derail progress. In fact, a growing economy, booming populations the world over, and more pressing
security challenges mean governments and investors that keep
the pace of R&D up will be rewarded in the near term by high
revenues from feed, food and nutritional products, and will be
doubly rewarded over the longer term when fossil energy again
becomes expensivewhich it most certainly will.
Author: Matt Carr
Executive Director, Algae Biomass Organization
www.algaebiomass.org
877-531-5512

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 29

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS

DANGEROUSLY

Smart Farm Boys


Long before farmers are ready to buy the implements required to grow and
harvest energy crops, leading OEMs leverage robust research and development
organizations to get them engineered.
BY TIM PORTZ

or energy crops, or even crop residues


harvested for energy production, to
ever establish themselves as widely
grown agricultural commodities the
equipment necessary for their cultivation and
harvest must be available at a cost that works
economically for farmers. Fortunately for
farmers and the prospective buyers of miscanthus, arundo donax, energy sorghums, fast
growing willows and other energy crops currently under development this reality is a guiding principle for the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who have served them for
over a century.

AGCO
Maynard Herron is one of AGCOs
17,000 global employees and, as manager of
product proving in the companys Hesston,
Kansas, location, well-versed in the iterative
nature of AGCOs product development approach.
I grew up as a farmer. I was always interested in the mechanical side of farming,
Herron says. I have a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and I got a masters degree
in agricultural engineering, which tied it all together well for me. Im very interested in what
people are doing to make a living with equipment on their farm.
Herron and his team spend their time
developing solutions for markets not yet fully
commercialized, markets that the company expects may generate real demand perhaps five
to eight years down the road including energy
crops. I dont claim that we have a group of
people who can look into the future and know
where our products need to be at a certain
30 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

point in time, Herron says. But we have an


innovative group of people who weve given a
little bit of freedom.
With well-developed market share in both
the grain and hay segments, AGCO is actively
working to adapt and modify existing products
to capture future orders from farmers looking
to bale corn stover or energy perennials with
hay-like characteristics. With an eye on developing a prototype that can be engineered to
what Herron calls a manufacturable state,
Herrons team is using existing AGCO modules as a starting point. I would say 80 percent or more of the functional modules of the
machine already exist, Herron says. Its not
unusual for us to take a machine and add two
or three functional modules to it that are from
another machine just to get started.
Once a prototype is fabricated, Herron
and his team observe and modify based on
what they see. Herron notes that while AGCOs tradition of engineers working the field
with wrenches and hammers has changed, the
practice was certainly used as AGCO eyed the
coming biomass-to-energy market. An army
mechanic I had the opportunity to work with
used to say, Well weld it on here and if we
dont like it well cut it off and weld it on somewhere else,'" Herron remembers. He credits
this mentor with changing his idea about the
iterative work his team does every day. He
taught me to not see things as failures. Instead,
he saw each idea that didnt work as an elimination of one of the total range of possible solutions, Herron says. And that was success.
Also fundamental to Herron and his
teams approach is to continue pushing toward
an answer to the root question of why? He

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS

TRY, TRY AGAIN: During a demonstration harvest of miscanthus in Illinois, AGCO engineers put this Razor Bar harvesting head through its
paces. This model included the biomass option, which is the auger above the head. At the time this photograph was taken, the prototype was
still well within its preproduction test phase.
PHOTO: AGCO

FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 31

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS


cites his early experiences working on corn stover baler concepts for
the DuPont cellulosic ethanol facility in Nevada, Iowa. When we
started the program, the whole industry wanted to see higher-density
bales, says Herron. At the heart of the matter was that with lowerdensity bales, trucks were making trips from field to plant well below
their carrying capacity, introducing inefficiencies that had to be eliminated. We improved the density of the bales to the point of coming
out of the field with large square bales that would fill a legal-size truck
to the legal highway load limit in most cases.
Once a particular design problem is overcome, another usually
follows. Once Herron and his team solved the bale-density problem
for the DuPont project, they moved on to throughput and bale size.
They never even stopped to take a breath, he remembers. This exhaustive and iterative process is beginning to bear fruit as nearly 40
AGCO balers were brought online to bale corn stover in the Nevada
area this fall.

New Holland
Another instantly recognizable ag-machinery brand actively developing equipment solutions for the prospective energy crop market
is New Holland Agriculture, part of the multinational ag and construction equipment giant CNH Industrial. The organizations R&D
efforts are housed in the companys New Holland, Pennsylvania, location led in part by John Posselius, innovation and technology manager.
Posselius and his team are responsible for developing the next
generation of both New Hollands agricultural and construction
equipment offerings. Like AGCO, New Holland works to keep Posselius and his team focused on markets they feel may come to fruition
on a four- to eight-year horizon.
The advanced technology group has some leeway, but theres a
good bit of involvement from senior management, Posselius says.
Everything we work on gets approved by senior management. Weve
got what I call dangerously smart farm boys. Lots of our guys and
gals have PhDs
Posselius credits his teams understanding of agricultural and agricultural technology for the trust that company management has in
their efforts, even if the immediate need isnt readily apparent. To keep
their pipeline of development work full, the company leverages its
global presence to keep in tune with emergent trends in agriculture,
whether they are bubble up in Europe, Asia or South America.
Another constituency that New Holland maintains close relationships with are the agronomy departments at universities around the
world. They stay up to speed with the research trends they see and let
those trends inform where they spend time and resources.
In 2004 or so, we caught wind of some of the work that Dr.
Tim Volk of the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, was doing with willows, Posselius says.
It intrigued us. Posselius and his team learned that early efforts to
harvest willow were utilizing existing sugar cane and forage harvesters.
With both of those products already in their portfolio, willow seemed
to provide a new market opportunity that fit nicely into what the company was already doing.
After getting in touch with Tim, we started bootlegging some
things and tried several approaches with engineering equipment that
32 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS


tively bale corn stover with low ash content is a
completely different endeavor than engineering
it so that it can be manufactured and deliver a
profit not only to the company, but ultimately to
the farmer that buys it.
Posselius and his team ultimately release
their concepts to a product design group responsible for getting that product built and released
to the waiting farm community. Is it difficult for
Posselius to let go of a project hes worked so
hard on, sometimes for years? It takes a particular type of person to do the upfront work,
says Posselius. For some engineers, it would
drive them nuts to not take a project all the way
to the finish line of having a saleable product.
Some people like to prove concepts, some like
to build product. Fortunately for Posselius, hes
the former.

FIELD ADJUSTMENTS: A team of CNH Industrial Engineers make adjustments on a prototype in


upstate New York while working with the State University of New York.
PHOTO: JOHN POSSELIUS, CNH INDUSTRIAL

we already had on the fast growing willow,


Posselius says. We had a pretty fair level of
success.
The initial efforts were successful enough
to win an approval from management to expend more time and energy on developing solutions for a crop not yet widely grown. Still,
when considering willows potential and the
existing platform New Holland already had
in sugarcane and forage harvesters together,
the opportunity proved too good to pass up.
When we can take advantage of a current
product with no or minimal modification that
opens up a new market for us, thats a positive
situation, Posselius says.
This same logic applies to the New Hollands continued interest in perennial energy
grasses like miscanthus. The company sees its
existing hay and forage platform as a common
sense departure point from which to compete
in this category should it become commercially viable for farmers to grow those crops.
In addition to the overcoming the technical burden of harvesting willow, or miscanthus, or corn stover, Posselius and his team
must also consider the economics during the
design phase. Speaking specifically about their
work developing a coppice header capable of
effectively harvesting willow, Posselius says,
We need to develop a header that comes in at
a price point that we can afford to build, that
our customers can buy and can produce chips
at a price an end user can pay.

Ready For Production

have to let go of their projects, either because a


decision has been made to cease research efforts
or a prototype is ready to move into full-scale
production. Designing a machine that can effec-

Author: Tim Portz


Executive Editor, Biomass Magazine
701-738-4969
tporz@bbiinternational.com

DESIGNING INNOVATION

Biomass Feedstock Processing Systems

Cellulosic Ethanol Pellet Production Combined Heating and Power Co-Firing Utilities
A worldwide leader in size reduction technology for bioenergy, Vecoplan works with individual customers
to design, engineer, manufacture and implement technologically advanced, material specific, and
application specific shredding, ferrous and non-ferrous removal, size and density separation,
screening and classification technologies and extremely efficient conveyor and bulk material
handling, metering, storage and unloading technologies.

Contact Vecoplan today to learn more about our existing systems


or to arrange a visit to one, or several, of our installations.
(336) 252-4095

vecoplanllc.com

Both Herron and Posselius eventually


FEBRUARY 2015 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 33

MARKETPLACE
Biomass Magazine Marketplace

Pelleting Biomass
Energy
Planning&Development

Experience & Innovation


Working for You
www.mseco.com

Ph:(501)3212276

HEATING
THE

Engineering&
ProjectManagement

MIDWEST

WITH RENEWABLE BIOMASS

April 20, 2015


D
Minneapolis, MN
www.BiomassConference.com
Produced by ,D
K//

The Midwest relies heavily on fossil energy for


,
D
advocates working to increase awareness and




's,D

D


d


D

Exhibit Spaces Are Going Fast

Become a Exhibitor Today


Call Today to Reserve Your Space
866-746-8385

31st ANNUAL

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
NOW AVAILABLE!
 ,D is a co-located with
/




K>KdsEd

PROMOTING

INNOVATION
CONNECTING
THE INDUSTRY

www.FuelEthanolWorkshop.com
34 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2015

April 20-22, 2015


Minneapolis, MN

www.BiomassConference.com

VISION
WE CLARIFY YOUR VISION AND HELP
CREATE WHAT IS INVISIBLE TO OTHERS.

Are You Looking to Develop


a Bioenergy Project?
BBI Project Development can provide the information and answers you need to move your project
forward whether you are starting from project conception or looking to modify an existing facility.
Our experience and knowledge in the conventional and advanced biofuels and bioenergy industries
is unsurpassed. After all, Biomass is our Business.
Engineering and Project Development services offered:
Conceptual and Preliminary Designs for Advanced Biofuels
Process Modeling
Technology Due Diligence
Bank/Independent Engineer
Engineering Studies
Feasibility Studies
Business Plans
Project Management
Feedstock Resource Assessments and Procurement Plans
Product and Co-product Marketing Plans
Site Selection and Site Development
EPC Contractor Selection and Contract Negotiations
Coordination of Permitting
Strategy and Assistance for Raising Equity
Assistance in Obtaining Debt Financing
Economic Impact Analysis

Contact Us Today. 866-746-8385 - service@bbiinternational.com

www.BBIProjectDevelopment.com

The Largest Biomass Conference in North America

Dont Wait, Get Your


Premium Booth Now

At the 2014 event


in Orlando

100%
of exhibitors rated the

quality of leads positive

98%
of exhibitors said
theyd return

98%
of exhibitors rated

their ROI as positive


The Biomass Conference was an
excellent networking event with technical
information relevant to the industry.
Amy Theis, Fauske & Associates

Overall the conference was a positive


experience and an opportunity to find our
place in the Biomass Industry.
Steve Hoagland, Pantron Automation

This is a very important conference for


me. Wouldn't miss it.
William Perritt, RISI

April
20-22, 2015
Minneapolis Convention Center
Minneapolis, MN
www.BiomassConference.com

2015 AGENDA
NOW AVAILABLE
VIEW AGENDA @ www.BiomassConference.com

MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND

Register Today at www.BiomassConference.com


INDUSTRY TOUR

CO-LOCATED EVENT

POET/DSMs

Project
Liberty
LIMITED SEATING
The International Biomass Conference
& Expo is pleased to be able to offer
attendees an unprecedented opportunity to tour one of the nations very first
commercial scale cellulosic ethanol
production facilities. POET/DSMs
Project Liberty in Emmetsburg, Iowa is
complete, having celebrated its grand
opening in September of 2014. This
unique tour opportunity will provide
attendees with the opportunity to catch
up with one of the industrys most
storied cellulosic ethanol facilities in its
first months of operation.

866-746-8385 | service@bbiinternational.com

HEATING
THE

Surround Yourself
with Biomass
Decision Makers

MIDWEST

WITH RENEWABLE BIOMASS

April 20, 2015

Minneapolis Convention Center


Minneapolis, MN

The Midwest relies heavily on fossil


energy for heating homes and businesses. Heating the Midwest is a network of
thermal biomass advocates working to
increase awareness and usage of
renewable biomass for heat, which has
the potential to greatly reduce the
regions dependence on propane and
fuel oil for thermal energy.

#IBCE15 - Follow Us: twitter.com/biomassmagazine

You might also like