November 2014 Biomass Magazine

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NOVEMBER 2014 | BIOMASS MAGAZINE 3

INSIDE¦

NOVEMBER 2014 | VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 11

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 701-746-8385 or [email protected]. Advertising Biomass Magazine provides a specifi c topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To fi nd out more about Biomass Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 701-746-8385 or [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

10 NEWS

11 COLUMNEngaging Communities Nationwide with BioenergyBy Bob Cleaves

12 FEATURE Contract Vehicle in DOD DrivewayThe U.S. Department of Defense is equipped with several tools to expand renewable energy consumption to meet goals, leaving the industry anxious for requests for proposals. By Katie Fletcher

POWER

06 EDITOR’S NOTEHurry Up and WaitBy Tim Portz

07 INDUSTRY EVENTS

08 BUSINESS BRIEFS

42 MARKETPLACE

16

ON THE COVERCol. Terry V. Williams, right, visits with a fellow Marine in front of the $20 million landfi ll gas-to-energy plant at Marine Corps. Logistics Base Albany in Georgia.PHOTO: NATHAN L. HANKS JR

PELLETS

16 NEWS

17 COLUMNMaintaining Industry StabilityBy Bill Bell

18 DEPARTMENT Cautious OptimismThe U.S. Pellet Export Conference concluded that increasing pellet demand from European utilities won’t last forever, therefore, engaging new markets is imperative in maintaining industry momentum.By Tim Portz

Biomass Magazine: (USPS No. 5336) November 2014, Vol. 8, Issue 11. Biomass Magazine is published monthly by BBI International. Principal Offi ce: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biomass Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.

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BIOGAS

30 NEWS

32 DEPARTMENTExpanding Energy, Decreasing DependencyMarine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Dougherty County, Georgia, builds out its existing landfi ll gas-to-energy system.By Katie Fletcher

NOVEMBER 2014 | VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 11

THERMAL

22 NEWS

23 COLUMNPerfect Storm for a Pellet and Firewood ShortageBy John Ackerly

24 FEATURE Sweetening Wood HeatMore states are beginning to realize the potential benefi ts of crafting programs that help homeowners ditch fossil fuels for wood and pellet heat.By Anna Simet

ADVANCED BIOFUELS & CHEMICALS

34 NEWS

35 COLUMNForging Ahead in 2015By Wayne Simmons

36 Q&AAdvanced Biofuels’ Beltway CrusaderAdvanced Biofuels Association President Michael McAdams discusses the organization’s roots, the tough year the industry faced, biofuel use in the U.S. military and the path ahead.By Tim Portz

36 DEPARTMENTToughing Out TurbulenceA concentrated group of industry stakeholders met at the National Advanced Biofuel Conference & Expo in Minneapolis to socialize, strategize and share information.By Anna Simet

INSIDE¦ADVERTISER INDEX¦

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Fagen Inc. 4

Hurst Boiler & Welding Co. Inc. 29

Javo U.S.A., Inc. 16

KEITH Manufacturing Company 7

M-E-C Company 10

New Holland Agriculture 9

Pittcon 43

Sunomi, LLC 8

TerraSource Global 21

Vector Systems Inc. 14

Verdante BioEnergy Services 30

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24

Biomass Magazine 5 3 3 6 10-03-14ComplimentaryJessica Beaudry701-746-8385

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Biomass Magazine

Industry Trade Publication

October 2014

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November 2014

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540 6474,018 4,4767,911 5,95250.8% 75.2%

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6 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2014

Hurry Up and WaitThe U.S. DOD is the single larg-

est user of energy in the world, spending nearly $20 billion annually on heat, power and liquid fuels. Combine that with an am-bitious goal of 25 percent renewables by 2025, and the DOD very quickly becomes one of the most attractive market oppor-tunities in the world for producers of re-newable energy. As our team dug into the stories we produced for November Biomass Magazine, our annual examination of bio-energy use in the military, we learned that penetrating the military market brings with

it the very same challenges that bioenergy producers have come to expect in the civilian marketplace.

Katie Fletcher’s page-12 feature, “Contract Vehicle in the DOD Driveway,” aptly sums up the signifi cant divide between the military’s goals and the reality of achieving them. Fletcher quotes Amanda Simpson, executive director of the newly established Offi ce of Energy Initiatives, who told her, “Right now, all of our long-term contracts for energy have to be at or below what we forecast the price of power from the grid to be.” While top brass inside the DOD recognizes the mission risk that be-ing exposed to the outages the grid inevitably brings, the appetite to pay a premium for power to mitigate risk just isn’t there. In this regard, the DOD wants to have its cake and eat it too.

The news on the biofuel front is more encouraging. While we worked on this issue, the DOD awarded contracts to three different advanced bio-fuels players to build and commission biorefi neries capable of delivering 100 million gallons of drop-in fuels. I asked the Advanced Biofuels Asso-ciation’s Mike McAdams, this month’s Q&A (page 36) subject, about the importance of these contracts for his constituents, and he reported that they “move the commercial ball forward in a most signifi cant manner.”

Anyone who has spent time in uniform has heard the expression “hurry up and wait.” Soldiers share a universal recognition of the slow-to-develop nature of things that plagues the military. The DOD is a massive enterprise charged with this country’s most critical mission, keeping its citizens safe from threats, both foreign and domestic. With that in mind, I urge the biomass community to exercise a measured patience with the pace of bioenergy deployment in the military.

Finally, the Biomass Magazine crew found itself on the road for much of October at two important industry events. We hope you enjoy the pho-to-rich recaps included in this issue, especially those of you who couldn’t make the trips.

TIM PORTZVICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT & EXECUTIVE [email protected]

¦EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITORIAL

PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEFTom Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT & EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Tim Portz [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR Anna Simet [email protected]

NEWS EDITORErin Voegele [email protected]

STAFF WRITERKatie Fletcher kfl [email protected]

COPY EDITOR Jan Tellmann [email protected]

ARTART DIRECTOR

Jaci Satterlund [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNERElizabeth Burslie [email protected]

PUBLISHING & SALESCHAIRMAN

Mike Bryan [email protected]

CEOJoe Bryan [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONSMatthew Spoor [email protected]

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTORJohn Nelson [email protected]

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Howard Brockhouse [email protected]

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERChip Shereck [email protected]

CIRCULATION MANAGER Jessica Beaudry [email protected]

TRAFFIC & MARKETING COORDINATORMarla DeFoe [email protected]

EXTERNAL 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


INDUSTRY EVENTS¦

Renewable Energy World Conference & ExpoDECEMBER 9-11, 2014Orange County Convention CenterOrlando, FloridaRenewable Energy World Conference & Expo has a proven track record as renewable energy's leading conference. Featuring in-sightful discussions and presentations during technical sessions related to technology, markets, business strategies and policy covering the wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal, ocean/tidal/wave, biopower, biofuels, hydrogen and energy sectors. 888-299-8016 | www.renewableenergyworld-events.com

International Biomass Conference & ExpoAPRIL 20-22, 2015Minneapolis Convention CenterMinneapolis, MinnesotaOrganized by BBI International and produced by Biomass Maga-zine, 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. It’s a true one-stop shop—the world’s premier educational and networking junction for all biomass industries.866-746-8385 | www.biomassconference.com

International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & ExpoJUNE 1-4, 2015Minneapolis Convention CenterMinneapolis, MinnesotaThe 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, lon-gest running ethanol conference in the world—and the only event powered by Ethanol Producer Magazine.866-746-8385 | www.fuelethanolworkshop.com

National Advanced Biofuels Conference & ExpoOCTOBER 26-28, 2015Century Link Center OmahaOmaha, NebraskaProduced by BBI International, this national event will feature the world of advanced biofuels and biobased chemicals—technology scale-up, project fi nance, policy, national markets and more—with a core focus on the industrial, petroleum and agribusiness alli-ances defi ning 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 biofu-els, biobased platform chemicals, polymers and other renewable molecules that have the potential to meet or exceed the perfor-mance of petroleum-derived products.866-746-8385 | www.advancedbiofuelsconference.com


PEOPLE, PRODUCTS & PARTNERSHIPSBusiness BriefsVermeer announces management changes

As part of its family succession plan-ning process, Vermeer Corp. has announced that third-generation family member Jason Andringa will serve as the company’s next president and CEO, effective Nov. 1, 2015. On Nov. 1 of this year, he will assume the role of president and chief operating offi cer for one year, before tran-sitioning to president and CEO. Andringa currently serves as president of forage and environmental solu-tions. Mary Andringa, current president and CEO, will assume the role of CEO and chair of the board Nov. 1. Mary will transi-

tion exclusively to chair of the board Nov. 1, 2015. Bob Vermeer, current chairman of the board, will assume the role of chair emeritus, effective Nov. 1.

Mason Manufacturing appoints manager

Decatur, Illinois-based Mason Manu-facturing LLC has appointed Sherman Levin as engineering manager. He brings experience and expertise to the company’s shell and tube heat exchanger and ASME pressure vessel business. Prior to joining Mason Manufacturing, Levin held positions with GE Generator Engineering, Jacobs Engineering, B-KBR and Black & Veatch.

FLSmidth AFT, Covanta renew contract

FLSmidth AFT has agreed to a long-term extension to a current contract agree-ment with Covanta to supply fi lter bags and cages to Covanta’s domestic energy-from-waste locations. FLSmidth AFT’s fi lter bagas are manufactured to capture dust

particulate as required by local and federal environmental regulations. Covanta’s ener-gy-from-waste facilities feature state-of-the art emission control technology, supported by FSLmidth AFT products.

Viridis Energy adds to management team

Viridis Energy Inc. has appointed Tim Knoop as senior vice president of operations. Knoop will oversee the company’s Cana-dian west coast and east coast manufacturing operations with the goal of heightening cost effi ciencies and fortifying the company’s operational framework in preparation for its expansion strategy. Prior to joining Viridis, he served as general manager of Pacifi c Bioenergy, as well as director of Nazbec, a joint venture between Pacifi c Bioenergy and Nzko, a fi rst nations logging company.

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Joule announces achievement Joule has announced its engineered

photosynthetic biocatalyst has been shown to divert 95 percent of fi xed carbon normally converted to biomass directly to fuel. The achievement was made at the company’s demonstration facility in Hobbs, New Mexico. Joule also recently entered into a memoran-dum of understanding (MOU) with Scatec Solar ASA. Terms of the MOU anticipate that Scatec Solar will become a preferred supplier and operator of photovoltaic power installations for Joule plants. A separate MOU was announced with DNV GL, a provider of technical assurance and advisory services to the energy industry. Under the MOU, DNV GL and Joule will defi ne specifi c areas of collaboration to accelerate the production of carbon dioxide-neutral fuels.

Pressure Technologies to acquire Greenland Biogas

Pressure Technologies has agreed to acquire the business and certain assets of New Zealand-based Greenlane Biogas Hold-

ings Ltd. and those of its various subsidiary companies. Greenland has designed and built more than 80 biogas plants around the world. Pressure Technologies has indicated the acquisition is complementary to its existing subsidiary Chesterfi eld Biogas Ltd., which has been working with Greenlane since 2008 under an exclusive license to sell Greenlane technology in the U.K.

Forest2Market announces change to sales team

Forest2Market has announced Suzanne Hearn, vice president of marketing and sales, retired at the end of September. She joined Forest2Market in 2006 and has been respon-sible for the launch of the company’s bio-energy and lumber practices. Forest2Market began transitioning Hearn’s responsibilities to other staff members last summer. Peter Coutu, director of North American Sales, will lead forest products industry sales, while Peter Stewart, president and CEO, is now overseeing Forest2Market’s lumber service, Mill2Market. Tracy Leslie has been named

director of forest bio-materials and sustain-ability services. In this role, she is responsible for opening new mar-kets for Forest2Market data subscriptions and analytic services. She joins Stan Parton, manager of bioenergy sector sales. The new team will expand the use of Forest2Mar-ket’s product offerings into existing bioen-ergy markets as well as emerging markets in biofuels, biochemicals and sustainability.

BUSINESS BRIEFS¦

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 [email protected]. Please include your name and telephone number in all correspondence.

Hearn

Leslie


PowerNews

Ontario Power Generation’s Aitko-kan Generating Station began operating on biomass in September, becoming the largest plant in North America to be fu-eled with 100 percent biomass. The facility burned its last coal Sept. 11, 2012, and began converting to biomass in mid-2012.

The conversion project included construction of two 5,000-metric-ton capacity storage silos for wood pellets. Modifi cations were also made to the boiler and a new distributed controls system was required. In addition, new truck receiving

and transfer infrastructure was built.OPG has fuel contract supplies in

place with Rentech Inc. and Resolute For-est Products Canada. Each company will supply 45,000 metric tons of wood pellets to the facility annually.

Efforts are also underway to convert another of OPG’s coal-fi red plants to biomass. In April, OPG’s Thunder Bay Generating Station burned its last supply of coal. The facility is expected to be con-verted to advanced biomass by January.

The Defense Logistics Agency has awarded a 20-year contract to ReEnergy Black River, a 60 MW bioenergy facility in New York. The facility will provide secure, renewable electricity to Fort Drum. Accord-ing to ReEnergy Holding LLC, the contract is the largest renewable energy project in the history of the U.S. Army.

The facility, previously fi red primarily by coal, was idled in early 2010 by its former owner. ReEnergy acquired the facility in December 2011 and invested more than $34 million to convert it to biomass. The con-verted facility began operations in May 2013. ReEnergy Black River submitted a proposal to the Defense Logistics Agency as part of a competitive procurement process in spring 2013. The U.S. Army issued ReEnergy a notice of intent to award the purchase agree-ment in February.

The facility was expected to begin sup-plying 100 percent of Fort Drum’s electrical load as of Nov. 1. Fort Drum’s electricity needs currently peak at about 28 MW. A transmission line will be built to directly con-nect the plant to Fort Drum’s substations. Until that project is complete in mid-2015, ReEnergy will arrange for bilateral deliveries through an energy service company.

Atikokan fires up on biomass

ReEnergy wins military contract

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BETTER WITH BIOMASS: The Atikokan Generating Station has completed its transition from coal to biomass.PHOTO: ANNA SIMET


Oct. 22 marked the second annual National Bioenergy Day. What started as a grassroots effort to help bioenergy organizations engage better with their communities is becoming a widespread recognition of the benefi ts of the many types of bioenergy.

The fi rst National Bioenergy Day was held last October 2013 and included 25 events in 13 states. We didn't know what to expect while organizing events, but were pleased to see an enthusiastic response from not only Biomass Power Association members, but also companies, universities and other organizations representing the many corners of the sector.

This year’s event exceeded our expectations, again. We counted nearly 50 events in 22 states and Canada, each highlighting a unique aspect of bioen-ergy in a specifi c area of North America.

We have a lot of people and groups to thank for this increase. First among them is the U.S. Forest Service, which contributed funding and organiza-tional support that helped us spread the word and encourage participation far beyond what we were able to accomplish last year. The USDA, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, truly acknowledges the role of bioenergy in keeping forests healthy and reducing the risk for catastrophic fi res in unmanaged forests that we have seen in recent years.

The USFS’s talented and enterprising staff ensured that we were able to build a website, www.bioenergyday.org. The site provides basic informa-tion about the various types of bioenergy and ties together all the events that occurred on Oct. 22, and features a video about a USFS partnership with a bio-

mass facility in Colorado that is making an undeniably positive impact on the White River National Forest.

We also appreciated enthusiastic support from several other sponsors, including Plum Creek, Pellet Fuels Institute, Biomass Thermal Energy Council, U.S. Industrial Pellet Association and, of course, Biomass Magazine.

As a testament to all the hard work that went into planning National Bioenergy Day activities, the overall turnout was impressive. Thousands of people were exposed to or reminded of the benefi ts of bioenergy, many of them gaining a better un-derstanding of the benefi ts provided by their local facilities. There were facility tours, webinars, pyrolysis demonstrations, seminars, retailer discounts and panel discussions. There was even a Mayoral Proclamation from Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. Many of these events featured close cooperation among local government offi cials and multiple local bioenergy groups.

We are grateful for the support for National Bioenergy Day 2014 from everyone who hosted an event or participated in any way. We look forward to continuing this annual event. It’s important for us to rally together to dispel the many myths about bioenergy that persist, and also to demonstrate the considerable positive effects of bioenergy on the environment and local economies.

Author: Bob CleavesPresident and CEO, Biomass Power Association

www.biomasspowerassociation.com [email protected]

Engaging Communities Nationwide with Bioenergy

POWER¦

BY BOB CLEAVES


Contract Vehicle in the DOD DrivewayThe U.S. Army is equipped with the tools it needs to fulfill renewable energy targets, but project approval processes are lengthy.BY KATIE FLETCHER

The U.S. Department of Defense intends to ac-quire 25 percent of its power from renewable energy sources by 2025, a substantial amount when considering its $20 billion annual energy

bill makes it one of the largest energy consumers in the world. All three major branches of the U.S. military have made commitments to sourcing power from renewable energy, taking various approaches to meet those targets.

The U.S. Army launched a $7 billion renewable en-ergy procurement program in 2012 in an effort to keep its commitment. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center and the Army’s En-ergy Initiatives Task Force teamed up to drive the fi rst-of-its-kind contracting vehicle forward. The indefi nite delivery indefi nite quantity (IDIQ) multiple award task order contracts (MATOCs) were issued to qualify sets of contract awardees to compete for future Army re-newable energy projects through project-specifi c con-tracts called task orders. “The concept of the multiple award task order contract was developed as a way to prequalify companies to bid on task orders that would allow them to compete on a level playing fi eld without

FUELING THE FACILITY: Chip vans are brought to the Central Energy Plant at Fort Stewart in Georgia to unload wood chips into the wood dump to be moved onto a conveyer belt system. The CEP uses the chips to create steam, chilled water and hot water for more than 100 buildings on the installation.PHOTO: ELIVA KELLY, FORT STEWART PUBLIC AFFAIRS


POWER¦

regard to whether they are qualifi ed to do the job,” says Amanda Simpson, executive director of the newly established Offi ce of En-ergy Initiatives, formerly the Energy Initiatives Task Force.

MATOC MechanicsThe EITF Simpson led was established over three years ago to

look at opportunities to leverage renewable energy and bring energy security to Army installations. The task force was able to successfully do this, Simpson says, so the Secretary of the Army has asked the EITF to transition to an enduring organization. Since Oct. 1, with the start of the new fi scal year, the task force formed the permanent Of-fi ce of Energy Initiatives. As head of the new offi ce, Simpson plans to continue to help identify, award and complete renewable energy projects across the country.

The fi rst request for proposals (RFP) were issued in August 2012 and last year 58 MATOCs were awarded across four energy sectors: solar, wind, biomass and geothermal. An additional 21 MATOCs were awarded at the beginning of this year after further evaluation by the government. Out of the total 79 MATOC-qualifi ed companies, there are 15 in biomass holding contracts. Out of the 52 applicants, the 15 selected include Acciona Energy North America Corp.; ECC Renew-ables LLC; EDF Renewable Energy; Emerald Infrastructure; Energy Answers International Inc.; EIF United States Power Fund IV LP, Needham, Massachusetts; Energy Management Inc.; Honeywell In-ternational Inc.; MidAmerican/Clark Joint Venture; Pacolet Milliken Enterprises Inc.; Siemens Government Technologies Inc.; Stronghold Engineering; Energy Systems Group LLC; Ameresco Inc., and Whee-labrator Technologies Inc. “This solicitation seeks ‛best value’ for the government in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15,” says Debra Valine, chief public affairs USACE. “It is the intent to award to all responsible and qualifi ed companies whose proposals conform to the solicitation and are rated acceptable or better.”

The Source Selection Authority holds the responsibility of ensur-ing proper conduct of the process and making the fi nal source selec-tion decision, Valine says. The main factors that are assessed when selecting the companies include technical and management experi-ence, fi nancial capability, past performance, small business and price. “After the government individually evaluates and rates each proposal, the SSA determines which proposals are responsible and qualifi ed,” Valine says.

Now that the pool of qualifi ed fi rms and contractors for renew-able energy technologies has been selected, they must wait until com-petitive task order RFPs are issued for them to bid on and compete for individual power purchase agreement (PPA) task order contracts.

“As renewable energy opportunities at Army installations are assessed and validated, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, will issue a competitive task order RFP to the prequalifi ed MATOC companies for the specifi c technologies,” Valine says.

In late July, the fi rst RFP was put into drive for on-site solar re-newable electricity at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, but an RFP for biomass still remains in park, searching for the right project to rev up the contract vehicle. Task orders are still moving through the approval process at the pentagon, Simpson says.

Awardees Await Opportunities The biomass MATOC awardees awaiting opportunities like

these have varied views on how successful this type of contracting vehicle will be in enhancing their biomass business. MATOC award-ees, Siemens and Ameresco see value. Siemens was the only team to be selected under all four energy sectors. It partnered with Bechtel and AECOM to win the four contracts. “Our biomass experience is unique in the marketplace,” says Judy Marks, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies Inc. “We have industry knowl-edge and regulatory expertise to help the Army address those risks associated with today’s evolving and complex biomass market.”

Marks mentioned Siemens’ experience with biomass develop-ment projects, such as its commercial carpet gasifi cation facility at Shaw Industries in Dalton, Georgia. The facility turns carpet scraps into power for its own manufacturing facility. “This has resulted in lower and cleaner plant emissions, reduced carpet waste in landfi lls and savings up to $2.5 million per year,” Marks says. “We will pursue similar types of effi ciency, innovation and effectiveness to help the U.S. Army increase its biomass capability.”

Ameresco has a 20-MW biomass cogeneration facility in Aiken, South Carolina, at the DOE’s Savannah River Site. Nicole Bulgarino, vice president-federal with Ameresco, says the company plans to be responsive as opportunities present themselves with the MATOC program, and will encourage its Army customers to utilize this ve-hicle. “We have to have a vehicle to work with federal government agencies, and this is another avenue to do these large-scale renewable projects, rather than using performance contracting or another type of contracting vehicle that may be more restrictive or not completely applicable to a large-scale renewable project,” Bulgarino says.

One of the less-restrictive aspects of the contract is that it is long-term, up to 30 years, in comparison to the 10-year constraints that the rest of the federal government has. This, according to Simp-son, makes it more economical. “This MATOC leverages 10 USC


¦POWER

2922a, which gives the DOD the unique au-thority to contract up to 30 years for renew-able energy PPAs,” Valine says.

The $7 billion capacity expended for PPAs is money already allocated to pay the Ar-my’s utility bills. “Under each PPA, the Army will only purchase the energy that is produced; no generation assets will be required,” Valine says. “Selected contractors of the MATOC will fi nance, design, build, operate, own and maintain the energy plants.”

Even though the long-term contract may make projects more economical, there are still fi scal constraints, and not all the selected bio-mass companies have confi dence that their efforts will be awarded under the program. Although companies have been awarded a MATOC, they are now only eligible to bid on future specifi c contracts with no guaran-tee of having a bid accepted. The companies also have no knowledge at this time when opportunities to bid will present themselves. However, since this is an ambitious and new undertaking for the Army, most understand that these efforts will take time.

One constraint with proposed biomass projects is that the power procured from them has to compete with power from the grid. “Right now, under fi scal constraints that we are handed, all of our long-term contracts for energy have to be at or below what we forecast the price of power from the grid to be,” Simpson says. “We do believe that there is a value to energy security, it’s just no one can assess, nor has Congress given us approval to pay for, that added security.”

Simpson believes there are opportuni-ties for industry to be competitive with grid-connected power, but the Army doesn’t have a price premium that it is approved to pay at this time.

Securing Energy SecurityMATOC and other renewable energy

procurement pathways are spurred by the need for more energy security on military in-stallations. This, in fact, is the ultimate goal, rather than for environmental, governmental or publicity reasons. “What the Army is do-ing through the EITF with the Offi ce of En-

ergy Initiatives is focused not so much on we want to put renewable energy on our installa-tions, it’s that we want energy security, so that our Army is ready to do the job whenever they are called,” Simpson says. “To do that, we can leverage renewable energy through private, third-party fi nancing.”

On a similar note, a leadership meeting between the American Council on Renew-able Energy and the DOD, emphasized that renewable energy projects help reduce the national defense’s vulnerability. According to ACORE, 99 percent of 500-plus military bases on U.S. soil rely on the commercial grid. A signifi cant problem resulting from this reliance has been demonstrated with 87 power outages of eight or more hours at bas-es. The Center for National Policy released a paper making the same claim. The report says most on-base renewable energy power systems are confi gured to offset electricity purchases from the grid, but cannot provide power to the base during blackouts. Even facilities with diesel generators as a backup power source are susceptible to sustained

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POWER¦

blackouts due to limited fuel and potential fuel delivery interruptions.

Biomass for Power Assurance Biomass can serve as a dependable

energy source to power through potential outages. “When we look at solar and wind, for example, those are wonderful renewable resources—it is great when we have that type of generating asset on our installa-tions—but they are subject to the weather,” Simpson says. “Solar panels don’t generate electricity at night and wind turbines don’t generate electricity unless the wind is blow-ing; biomass has the ability to provide pow-er 24/7, as long as there is suffi cient feed-stock available.”

Another component playing into en-ergy security is today’s technological envi-ronment, which Simpson says military per-sonnel refer to as “reach-back capability.” “A soldier on the battlefi eld is connected through a variety of electronic means, all the way back to data centers, intelligence sources back here in the continental U.S.,”

Simpson says. “Those command and con-trol facilities are critical to the operations that our soldiers conduct every day, and more so during times of confl ict. Without that reach-back, which of course is depen-dent upon the access of electricity to keep the telecommunication links operational, there is a missing link in our ability to per-form our missions.”

Although specifi c biomass project in-formation with MATOC cannot be shared, Simpson says 13 projects are currently in the works under the four technologies with a dozen more behind that. Even though there is no public information on biomass projects or even an estimate of when infor-mation will be released, the Army is and will be purchasing renewable energy from a few biomass projects under different acquisition vehicles. “In each one of those cases, we are bringing energy security to our installations, because that is indeed the driver, and when we can do that without spending appropri-ated dollars that tells us that industry can be our partners in this,” Simpson says.

Three projects Simpson mentions are the 60-MW biomass facility at Fort Drum in New York, a 60-MW peaking station that is biodiesel capable at Schofi eld Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfi eld in Hawaii, and a req-uisition on a biomass facility at Red Stone Arsenal in Alabama, where the current MA-TOC RFP for solar has been issued. Simpson stresses that it is important that the Army access electricity there because of an outage the base experienced three years ago after a bad storm. The base lost electricity for eight days in that case. “So having a biomass facility to provide electricity in a situation like that is quite crucial,” Simpson adds. “We are looking at other biomass opportunities across the 50 states, and I think one of the things we often look for with biomass is what is the access and long-term longevity of the feedstock.”

Author: Katie FletcherStaff Writer, Biomass Magazine

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PelletNews

Enviva LP is pursuing the develop-ment of three new pellet plants. Two are planned for development in North Carolina. A specifi c location has not been announced for the third, but documents published by the North Carolina Ports Authority indicate it could be located in Laurens County, South Carolina.

In early September, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced Enviva is planning new pel-let projects in Richmond and Sampson counties. The projects are supported by

an award from the state Job Development Grant program that could provide Enviva with more than $1.7 million incentives for the creation of 160 jobs.

In a statement provided to Biomass Magazine, Enviva said all three facilities would export pellets through a proposed terminal at the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina. The Sampson County project is expected to be completed fi rst, followed by the Richmond County facil-ity. Specifi c development timelines are dependent on permitting.

NFR BioEnergy has announced plans to manufacture pellets from sugarcane bagasse in Louisiana. The company indicated it will make a $312 million capital investment to install pellet production capacity at more than 10 sugar refi ning hubs in the southern portion of the state, subject to completing lease and biomass agreements with sugar mills. The facilities are expected to feature a torrefaction process that has been aided by research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Energy Institute.

The initial facility is under development in White Castle, Louisiana. The plant will be

collocated with the Cora Texas Sugar mill. A demonstration biorefi nery is expected to begin operations soon. A larger, commercial-scale facility is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2015 sugarcane growing and refi ning season.

The State of Louisiana has offered NFR BioEnergy an incentive package that includes a performance-based $500,000 Economic Development Award Program grant and the comprehensive workforce solutions of Louisiana Economic Develop-ment FastStart.

Enviva plans 3 additional pellet plants

Bagasse pellet projects planned in Louisiana

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“Girl, we couldn’t get much higher…” (Light My Fire, The Doors, 1967.)

All looks good for Maine’s pellet industry. Spurred by $5,000-per-unit consumer rebates from the state’s Effi cien-cy Maine energy agency, pellet boiler fi rms are installing at a combined rate of one unit per day. These fi rms’ annual sales targets are being met or exceeded; in one instance, amounting to a doubling of sales over an already robust 2013. The Pine Tree State’s four pellet manufacturers are running all-out and are having to turn down requests. Con-sumers visiting industry booths at the state’s large fall fairs are much more informed about pellet heat than in previ-ous years. Clearly, the corner is being turned. And yet…

“We need to maintain stability in the boiler rebate program,” says Jacob Roberson, partner in Portland-based Interphase Energy, which imports and distributes Kedel boilers from Denmark. “We’re nowhere near critical mass.”

“As we displace existing technologies, we’re going to get more and more pushback from our competitors,” warns Les Otten, founding partner of Maine Energy Systems, which, in the ski town of Bethel, assembles and distributes Austria’s OkoFEN boilers from New England to Alaska.

The Effi ciency Maine boiler rebate program is sched-uled to stay on track, at least through the budget year end-ing June 2015. This program is an outstanding example of what a state agency can do when it decides not to act like a state agency. Under Executive Director Mike Stoddard, the overriding priority has clearly been to get insulation, weather sealing, and better heating and lighting equipment into Maine homes and business fi rms, and the agency has operated like an aggressive retailer rather than a bureaucra-cy. Partnerships with private sector contractors have been emphasized, and the agency has aggressively branded itself with Maine’s public.

Boiler fi rms also serving the New Hampshire market note that, despite a rebate program slightly higher than Maine’s ($6,000 per unit as opposed to $5,000), “the equipment isn’t exactly fl ying off the shelves over here.” The variable? The New Hampshire program is conducted through a fi nely tuned regulatory agency, the state’s Public Utility Commission, which lacks the promotion capacity and pizzazz exhibited by Effi ciency Maine.

But what about the “pushback” of which Otten

warns? He names three areas that competitors to pel-let heat are likely to cite, one being alleged depletion of Maine’s forest resource. While Maine is the most forested state in the U.S., this is not readily apparent to mall shop-pers in the southern part of the state. Maine’s industry may need to publicize the fact that virtually all of the wood going into pellets is from certifi ed sustainably managed woodlands, where trees are actually growing faster than they are harvested.

The second potential objection to the expansion of pellet heat, alleged air pollution, is equally bogus. Maine’s industry will be exploring a partnership with American Lung Association of Maine, whereby homeowners are encouraged to swap out aging cordwood stoves—the real cause of woodburning air pollution—for EPA-approved wood and pellet stoves. This should help to get across the point about the high-intensity burn, low-particulate matter characteristic of pellet heat.

The third issue, “Will there be a ready supply of pel-lets?” poses a challenge. There is adequate capacity among Maine’s four pellet manufacturers. Lacking, however, is foresight among pellet retailers, particularly the Big Box stores, whose conservatism in placing orders in 2013 led to empty pallets when the Maine winter turned out to be as long and cold as, well, Maine winters used to be. While the chains have reportedly upped their orders this year, small retailers who only just recently have decided to add bagged pellets to their merchandise are being put on waitlists or simply turned away.

Bulk delivery customers will all be served, and the supply side of market will fi nd ways to respond to increased demand for bagged product. The pellet mill in Corinth will be coming back on line after undergoing—via new ownership—some signifi cant equipment upgrades, and the mill in Athens will be expanding production as part of a huge project to generate its own electricity.

The future remains bright, so bright that we’re still wearing shades.

Author: Bill BellExecutive Director, Maine Pellet Fuels Association

[email protected]

Maintaining Industry Stability

PELLET¦

BY BILL BELL


¦PELLET

The 2014 Annual Exporting Pellets Conference opened with its traditional utilities panel. From left to right are Matthew Rivers, director of fuel procurement, Drax Biomass; Jens Price Wolf, senior manager, DONG Energy; and panel moderator Thomas Meth, executive vice president, Enviva.

RISI’s Seth Walker found himself in the middle of one of the conference’s most robust discussions about the differing opinions on the future size of the global pellet market. Walker stood by his recent report suggesting the global pellet market could grow to 50 million tons by 2024.

Nigel Hildyard, director of biomass business development, Eggborough Power, left, and Seth Ginther, executive director U.S. Industrial Pellet Association.


PELLET¦

Cautious Optimism

Markets that gave rise to the pellet industry will begin to plateau, but the promise and growth of new market opportunities are very real.STORY AND PHOTOS BY TIM PORTZ

The market shows “more certainty now than there was 12 months ago.” With this message, Seth Gin-ther, USIPA executive director,

welcomed the 475 attendees to the U.S. In-dustrial Pellet Association’s annual fall gath-ering, held Oct. 1 at Miami’s historic Fon-tainebleau resort. While British utilities have been the market that has thus far propelled Ginther’s members, conference panelists sug-gested that growth in the sector will have to begin coming from other places.

“The coal-to-biomass conversions that you already know about are likely to be it,” said keynote speaker Nigel Adams, a mem-ber of parliament from the power station-rich Selby area of North Yorkshire, England.Adams and other panelists pointed to wan-ing appetites of British policymakers to offer more fi nancial support for biomass conver-sions of existing coal power stations. Noting that biomass solutions are funded with the same dollars that fund other renewable tech-nologies, Adams said, “It is a tragedy that so

Gilles Gauthier and Jean-Marc Jossart, European Biomass Association, enjoy an outdoor chat with Jennifer Hedrick, executive director, Pellet Fuels Institute.


much of the U.K.’s support for renewables has been spent on technologies that are more expensive and far less reliable than biomass.”

While the news about the inevitable plateau of the mar-ket that gave rise to the industrial pellet industry gave the conference’s opening a cautionary tone, attendees were soon buoyed by reports of long-expected markets fi nally coming to life. “You might see some folks in this room that look a little tired, as many of them spent some time in South Korea last week,” said Ginther.

RISI’s Seth Walker offered the conference’s most detailed assessment of the emergence of the long-anticipated South Korean pellet market, reporting that in the second quarter of this year, South Korea imported nearly 400,000 metric tons. In the same quarter of 2013, South Korean pellet imports topped just over 60,000 metric tons. For now, Vietnam enjoys the largest South Korean market share, followed by Canada and China. This market is fueled by a 2012-initiated renew-able portfolio standard that requires 2 percent of all power generated by South Korean utilities to be renewable. An ulti-mate goal of 10 percent remains in place, but the achievement deadline has been pushed back to 2027.

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Left to right: Jesse Dickerman, Zilkha Biomass; Christopher Huhne, chairman, Europe Zilkha Biomass; Nigel Adams, British Parliament; and Nigel Hildyard, director of biomass business development, Eggborough Power.

Mike Curci, capital sales manager of biomass, Andritz, and Robert Lowry, senior vice president, Gray Construction.

The South Korean market remains a challenging one for North American producers, however. The country has little in-bound pellet infrastructure at ports, and delivery costs are the responsibility of producers. “The South Koreans are ruthless on price,” said FutureMetrics president William Strauss.

The conference closed with a producer panel, and the con-versation quickly turned toward the ongoing public debate about the overall sustainability of the sector and biomass-derived power generation. Ginther and his member panel reported that while biomass generation has achieved broad public support in the U.K., a very vocal and active minority remains in place and committed to disseminating misinformation. Panelists expressed frustration about a general lack of understanding about how the pellet indus-try fi ts inside of a robust, well-established and sustainable North American forest products industry. Westervelt’s Mike Williams brought the panel and event to a conclusion by wondering aloud, “I just don’t understand how people would think we would destroy the resource that we rely on for our business.”

Author: Tim PortzExecutive Editor, Biomass Magazine

[email protected]

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ThermalNews

A new law in Massachusetts has added renewable thermal energy as a com-ponent of the state’s alternative portfolio standard (APS). The measure was signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in August.

The new law expands the defi ni-tion of an “alternative energy generating source” to include “any facility that gener-ates useful thermal energy using sunlight, biomass, biogas, including renewable natu-ral gas that is introduced into the natural gas distribution system, liquid biofuel or naturally occurring temperature differ-

ences in ground, air or water.” Under the new regulations, 1-MW hour of alterna-tive energy credit is earned for each 3.412 million Btu of net useful thermal energy produced and verifi ed through an on-site utility grade meter or other approved means.

The Biomass Thermal Energy Council has praised the bill, noting Mas-sachusetts has joined New Hampshire as the only states that have authorized the inclusion of renewable thermal in compre-hensive renewable portfolio standards.

A proposed biomass-fueled district heating project in Grand Marais, Min-nesota, is one step closer to reality with the recent publication of a Step II study. The project, currently spearheaded by the Cook County Local Energy Project, grew out of an initiative led by the county Firewise Group to educate homeowners on the benefi ts of clearing brush from around their homes.

The community now generates a large volume of slash and began looking for productive ways to utilize that biomass, along with slash generated by the local

forestry industry. An initial Step I study demonstrated the feasibility of using that material in a district heating plant, while the Step II study includes the development of a schematic design and full business plan.

The proposed system would feature a 6.8 million-Btu-per-hour biomass boiler. Proposed customers include the local hos-pital and schools, along with several hotels, government buildings, and other commu-nity facilities. Construction could begin as soon as 2016 if state bonding is secured during the next bonding cycle.

Massachusetts law adds thermal to APS

Minnesota community plans district heating

Massachusetts APS

SOURCE: MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS


THERMAL¦

As winter approaches, the groundwork is being laid for a perfect storm of unprecedented fi rewood shortages in the Northeast and Great Lake states. This may result in the impression that biomass is taxing our forests too heav-ily, when it’s almost entirely due to other factors.

Like last year’s pellet “shortage,” this year’s shortages are mostly a supply chain issue. Industry has been waiting for the consumers, and now that they're here, is playing catch-up. As far south as Maryland, people couldn’t even fi nd pellets in late September.

So far, coverage of the fi rewood shortage has been good, and scores of articles typically cite the causes as: last year’s cold winter, a wet spring and summer kept loggers out of the woods, a declining number of loggers, com-petition with other biomass users, new restrictions from transporting wood over state lines to combat invasive spe-cies, and more people heating with wood and and pellets.

There is one thing none of the articles mention: the shortage is likely to result in far more smoke because more people will be using unseasoned wood. The short-age began as a shortage of seasoned wood. Now it’s a shortage of any wood.

Also, coverage rarely mentions that about half of American homes that heat with cordwood—5 million—obtain their own wood and will not be affected by this shortage.

The real seasoned wood heaters have a two-year sup-ply of wood in storage, because even wood purchased in the spring is not necessarily ready in the late fall. It’s many of the people new to heating with wood who are the least prepared this winter and don’t have enough seasoned wood.

If we have another cold winter like last year, this shortage will be far worse than it’s already shaping up to be. And if there is also another pellet shortage, it may shake the confi dence of potential wood and pellet stove customers and lead to more concern over how the U.S. can sell millions of tons of pellets to heat European homes instead of serving the American market. Gener-ous European subsidies, particularly in the U.K., make pellets an economical choice to make electricity at only 30 percent effi ciency, instead of using this resource at 70 to 80 percent effi ciency for heat.

The market is defi nitely giving signals that higher demand for both pellets and cordwood is not just short-term. More pellet mills are being built, and hopefully, more customers will learn to order early in the year. Pellet mills are making sure to fi rst take care of their bulk cus-tomers: residential, commercial and institutional. What’s left over gets bagged.

The cordwood industry is, for better or worse, incredibly decentralized and unregulated. Each state has hundreds of retailers who source wood from a variety of ways, some buying it and others cutting it themselves. This shortage could help expand operations that kiln-dry wood and sell by the cord, not just in small, shrink-wrapped bundles. Operations with robust kilns that can get green wood one week and deliver it seasoned the next week command $400 and higher, instead of the normal $225 to $275 per cord. Regardless, this winter, normal prices will move moving upwards of $300 for any cord of wood.

Unlike most cordwood, kiln-dried wood can cross state lines or be transported further than 50 miles, as long as it’s dried to federal specifi cations that assure all bugs are killed. Kiln drying operations are much more common in Europe. Expansion in the U.S. would be a great way to ensure more of our fi rewood supply is properly split and seasoned, resulting in higher effi ciency and lower emis-sions.

While Maryland is already experiencing a pellet shortage, there is no fi rewood shortage here, or in many major suburban areas outside of the northern Snow Belt. In fact, there is still a slew of free, precut fi rewood from tree cutting companies, some that will deliver it for free. One company just posted a big, permanent sign advertis-ing “free fi rewood” on a major thoroughfare, and several local tree trimmers drop cords of unsplit, 18-inch pieces there every month. I often drive by and am tempted to grab it, but my wife reminds me that we already have two years of seasoned wood out back.

Author: John AckerlyPresident, Alliance for Green Heat

[email protected]

Perfect Storm for a Pellet and Firewood ShortageBY JOHN ACKERLY


¦THERMAL

KEEPS GETTING BETTER: Many wood stove designers continually strive for to produce more effi cient, lower-emitting appliances, as demonstrated at a Wood Stove Decathlon held in Washington, D.C., in late 2013. Pictured is an Englander NC 30.PHOTO: ANNA SIMET, BIOMASS MAGAZINE


THERMAL¦

Sweetening Wood Heat Using wood to heat homes and businesses offers plenty of perks, but spreading state incentives are further enticing installations.BY ANNA SIMET

During the fi rst week of September, homeowners in New Hampshire paid about $25.20, $33.91 and $44.88 per mil-lion Btu for fuel oil, propane and electricity, respectively. Those using bulk-delivered wood pellets and cordwood

paid about half that amount or less—$14.91 and $15.50. Though the low price of wood and pellets holds plenty of ap-

peal to consumers, making the transition is oftentimes a different story, particularly when it comes to anteing up to purchase the ap-pliance and pay for installation. Most wood and pellet stoves cost between $3,000 and $5,000 for the appliance, potential change out and installation, but a wood pellet boiler system can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 with installation.

To help mitigate the initial fi nancial burden of fuel switching, New Hampshire is one of fi ve U.S. states that offers wood pellet boiler incentives—up to a 50 percent rebate, a max of $6,000—and is one of a handful of states that does so, which includes Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. Eight states offer tax cred-its, rebates or deductions for wood or pellet stoves, mostly in the western U.S., and a few states offer some kind of incentive for both.

Though states with wood heat incentives have seen momen-tous growth over the past several years—by over 100 percent in some—the trend isn’t isolated to that region; Great Lakes states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio have also experienced expo-nential increases. But states with incentive programs have a leg up on states that don’t, especially when it comes to meeting certain ob-jectives, such as guiding consumers to purchase cleaner and more effi cient appliances to improve air quality, or providing help to low-income families dealing with ever-increasing fossil fuel prices. It all depends on what the state’s goal is, says John Ackerly, president of the Alliance for Green Heat.

Different Goals, Different Programs“Rebates are much better for lower-income people; they don’t

have to wait until the next year to get it [money back], most rebates come in the mail one or two months later. Rebates are better for the consumer,” Ackerly says.

In states that don’t have air pollution problems, there aren’t typically requirements for qualifi ers to remove old stoves, such as in Maryland, Ackerly’s home state, a newer member of the state wood heat incentive club. “We don’t have any substantial wood smoke problems, plus the program is being run out of the Maryland De-partment of Energy, and they don’t even have a mandate to im-prove air quality,” he says.

It’s a different story in the Northwest U.S., where programs are totally driven by air quality. “Even to the point of where the state will give you more money if you agree to switch to a natural gas appliance,” Ackerly says. “So there, the government is trying to get people to go from a renewable to a fossil fuel, and paying them more money to do so, which is kind of a pity. But in a deep valley in an urban area where pollution is really bad, you can’t really argue with that. Although, I think they could have done a better job start-ing earlier and providing people with incentives to get onto pellet stoves—the air quality might not be as bad as it is.”

Though the general wood heating incentive wave is trending toward boilers and automated bulk delivery—in Maine, distributors report an installation rate of about one system per day—Maryland’s new wood and pellet stove program has exceeded expectations in terms of popularity, and serves as a good example and place to start for other states looking to implement something similar.

Implementation and ChallengesProviding $500 grants for wood stove installations and $700 for

pellet stoves—both required to meet certain emissions rates—the goal of the program is to reach Marylanders who don’t have natural gas access, says Emilee van Norden, Maryland Energy Administration clean energy program manager. “Last year was a pretty diffi cult year for people—many had diffi culty affording fuel oil because of the really harsh winter, harder than we’re used to. These stoves only cost a few thousand dollars, and we give a pretty sizeable grant to them. It also allows us to get to parts of Maryland where they can’t get solar on their roof because they’re in the woods or mountain areas, or regions where income is a bit lower and [they] can’t afford geothermal or solar.“


¦THERMAL

U.S. Home Wood Heat Trends and Tidbits


THERMAL¦


¦THERMAL

After a strong response to its pilot phase, the program was expanded indefi -nitely as part of the state’s Clean Energy Grant Program, which also funds other types of renewable installations. Money for the program is drawn from Maryland’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which results from the state being part of the Re-gional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based, carbon cap-and-trade program.

Figuring out where funding for such a program will come from can be a challenge to states hoping to implement what Mary-

land has done. To help generate ideas, EPA Burnwise has recently released a guide for states to help them through the program development process. Program funds may potentially come from weatherization and other housing assistance programs, grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA, U.S. DOE or U.S. EPA.

Once the program is in place—after a need is demonstrated, preliminary plan has been developed, partners identifi ed and funding scored—there are implemen-

tation problems that may arise, such as “free riders,” or people who would make the purchase anyway and don’t really need the fi nancial help, an issue that stove incen-tives are more likely to encounter than pel-let boilers. “[For boilers] the upfront cost is high, so I don’t think there will be too many free riders,” Ackerly says. “A few may have done it otherwise, but a $5,000 incen-tive is certainly enough to push people over the edge. One thing we don’t have in the stove or boiler world is the volume that will bring the per-unit cost down. Some of these companies are only selling a couple hundred boilers a year, and though 5,000 single stoves is a good year, it’s not enough volume to help bring the cost down.”

In Europe, where the residential heat-ing market is thriving, the upfront costs of stoves and boilers are nearly the same, but the return on investment is much quicker. “The fuel you’re avoiding is double or triple the cost,” Ackerly says, adding that people stay in their houses longer in Europe, so most don’t mind making a longer-term in-vestment. “Here, if you’re not sure you’re going to live there in fi ve years, do you want to pay $20,000?”

Ackerly noted that a new payback mechanism, on-bill fi nancing, is helping to sway those who may be planning to move in the future to make the investment anyway. “The next owner of the house will contin-ue to pay the monthly amount, so you don’t need to worry if you sell the house in a few years,” he says. “They’ve been using it in the solar world, but it’s a lot easier to use it for electric appliances because the electric utility usually just adds a certain amount each month onto your electric bill. When you’re adding a nonelectric appliance onto your electric bill, it defi nitely takes coordi-nation to make that happen.”

Other potential implementation chal-lenges that are likely to be discovered dur-ing postprogram analysis include too many people using the incentive, causing the bud-get to run out quickly, excessive administra-tion burdens, and people fi nding loopholes.

At that point, determining and fi x-ing challenges is essential in ensuring a more successful next round. In Maryland, one challenge was identifi cation of which stoves qualify and which don’t, van Norden says. “Now, I’m at the point of when I see


THERMAL¦

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a certain dealer’s name, I know it’s going to be a good application. It’s mostly a matter of making sure the dealers and stove own-ers are getting the right marks. Emissions rates are part of our requirement that peo-ple didn’t understand at fi rst.”

To keep things running smoothly, a bimonthly meeting is held with Maryland stove dealers to fi nd out what issues they might be having, or to answer any ques-tions.

Ace Hardware & Hearth owner Pete Peterson, who opened the Glen Burnie, Maryland, hardware store in 1978, said the rebate program does result in more stove sales, but how it really benefi ts his business is other things that customers also buy—venting, pellets and wood, grates and mate-rials to start their fi res.

And, perhaps most importantly, the uptick in business has allowed Peterson to keep more employees on year-round. “We’re busy the whole year in spring and fall, so we get to keep eight people on dur-ing the winter because of this program.”

Peterson says upon implementation of the program, impacts occurred nearly immediately—people were quick to act upon the opportunity. “It was a very ob-vious there was an incentive to switch off of electric, oil, gas and propane,” he says. “In Maryland, we went through a situation where electricity costs went up 72 percent in just a couple of years, and there wasn’t much of an incentive [to fuel switch] other than some meager things the dealer can give. It’s been just like the story of the frog boiling in the pot—the heat has been turned up slowly and it’s dying but doesn’t know it—people have been slowly bleeding from their electric bill, when they could be buying other things.”

The biggest challenge has been spread-ing the word about the program, in Peter-son’s opinion. “Letting people know they have an option, that they can take control,” he says.

On any confusion of qualifying vs. nonqualifying stoves, Peterson says the list the state has provided is pretty cut and dried, and there isn’t much motivation for hardware stores to carry stoves that don’t qualify. “It’s not very common, most of ones not certifi ed are carried in big box-type stores that aren’t concerned about the

things we are—they’ll sell anything at the right price points,” he says.

Van Norden says there’s potential to add pellet boilers to the state rebate pro-gram, but as the program is still new, much has to be fi gured out. “We’ll probably be looking at other states to see what they’re doing,” she says.

And to those states on the fence about implementing wood heating incentive pro-grams, van Norden has the following advice to offer: “Engage the stove community—it’s a really good asset. And don’t hesitate. It’s a

smart way to help people, it’s very practical, and it helps them lower their energy bills.”

Author: Anna SimetManaging Editor, Biomass Magazine

[email protected]


BiogasNews

Biogas-based transportation fuels are now helping to meet the cellulosic biofuel requirements of the renewable fuel standard (RFS). According to U.S. EPA data, the fi rst D3 cellulosic biofuel renewable identifi cation numbers (RINs) were generated for biogas transportation fuels in August. During the month, more than 1.64 million D3 RINs were generated for renewable compressed natural gas, along with nearly 1.85 million for renew-able liquefi ed natural gas.

Biogas-based transportation fuels have been contributing to RFS targets for several years under the D5 advanced biofuel RIN category. In July, the EPA published a fi nal rule qualifying several additional cellulosic and advanced biofuel pathways, including those for compressed and liquefi ed natural gas produced from biogas from landfi lls, munici-pal waste-water treatment facilities digesters, agricultural digesters and separated municipal solid waste.

Dane County’s Rodefeld landfi ll is undergoing an expansion that will double its landfi ll gas-to-energy project to double electricity production. The upgrades will also extend the life of the landfi ll for an additional 30 years.

The landfi ll currently generates ap-proximately $3.3 million in electricity each year, enough to power 4,000 homes. The power is purchased by Madison Gas and Electric. Following the expansion, the landfi ll will enable production of more than 6 MW of electricity during peak years. In addition to increasing the produc-tion of renewable power, the expansion is

also expected to provide energy that will eventually heat a nearby medical exam-iner’s building and Dane County highway garage.

The project capitalizes on a pilot proj-ect at the landfi ll that encourages garbage to decay faster. Leachate, the liquid that comes out of garbage, is collected at the bottom of the landfi ll and pumped back into the waste mass. The project helps keep the waste at a near-optimal moisture level, which helps accelerate the natural decay process. It also allows the landfi ll to control and increase the amount of gas produced when necessary.

Biogas fuels enter cellulosic RIN market

Wisconsin landfill gas-to-energy project expands

Biogas RIN data D3 cellulosic biofuel RINs (millions)

D5 advanced biofuel RINs (millions)

2011Biogas - 1.42Total (all fuels) 0 224.962012Biogas - 2.88Total (all fuels) 0.02 597.372013Biogas - 25.393Total (all fuels) 0.42 551.582014 (Jan.-Aug.)Biogas 20.35Renewable CNG/LNG 3.49Total (all fuels) 3.57 115.16SOURCE: U.S. EPA RFS2 EMTS INFORMATIONAL DATA


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¦BIOGAS

DEPARTMENT

Expanding Energy, Decreasing DependencyMarine Corp Logistics Base Albany battles toward meeting and exceeding DOD renewable energy goals with expansion of its landfill gas-to-power project and other developments.BY KATIE FLETCHER

In southwest Georgia’s Dougherty County, the 3,600-acre Ma-rine Corps Logistics Base Albany assumes the mission of re-building and repairing ground combat and combat support equipment. The base embarked on another mission in 2005 to

develop opportunities for renewable energy installations to support what it was already positioned to do. Now, after some completed installations, the base is in the process of boosting those efforts even further.

The renewable energy onset began when a number of man-dates were issued to increase energy production from renewable resources. MCLB-Albany contracted with Chevron Energy Solu-tions to identify renewable energy projects using a Department of Energy Savings Performance Contract, one of the private-sector fi nancing authorities leveraged to meet these goals. “One of the mandates requires us to reduce our consumption—on a MMBtu per thousand square feet (ksf) basis—by 30 percent by 2015,” says

Fred Broome, director with the installation and environment divi-sion on the base.

Broome says the ESPC task orders and others have allowed the base to meet and exceed that goal. Under the ESPC, Chevron identifi ed eight energy conservation measures (ECMs). One of the ECMs was a project with the Fleming/Gaissert Road Dougherty County landfi ll across the road from the base. “It’s a great project for us, this (methane gas) is a resource that we would have just been fl aring off and now we’re getting a benefi cial use of it,” says Scott Addison, Dougherty County solid waste director.

The landfi ll gas-to-energy (LFGE) project uses gas that was previously vented and fl ared from a header pipe at the landfi ll. The landfi ll gas extraction system includes 140 vertical wells and one horizontal well to provide landfi ll gas for the project. Addison com-pares the wells that are inserted with plastic pipes to straws with holes in them. After being vacuumed through the wells, methane

BIOGAS ON BASE: The Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany’s landfi ll gas-to-energy generator team stands in front of its initial installation, which will soon be joined by a second generator. Among the government offi cials pictured are Col. Donald Davis, current commanding offi cer on the base, Fred Broome, director with the installation and environment division, and former Public Works Offi cer Navy Lt. Commander Jeff Benjamin. PHOTO: MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY


gas is sent to a compression skid at the landfi ll site, which cleans, dries and compresses the gas before sending it via 3 miles of pipe-line to a combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant at MCLB-Albany. Addison says the base pays 75 cents per MMBtu for baseline quality gas, with a 2 to 5 percent increase each year and a 33 percent in-crease on year fi ve. “The fi rst year we (Dougherty County) received about $122,000 in revenue from the project,” he says.

The gas fuels the CHP plant’s 1.9-MW GE Jenbacher genera-tor and a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), which recov-ers heat from the engine stack that produces 95-pound force per square inch gauge (psig) of steam.

Since the plant’s completion in 2011, MCLB has kept expan-sion under consideration, and is now taking action. The base is capitalizing on space set aside during initial construction by install-ing a second generator with the capacity of 2.1 MW and an addi-tional HRSG. The HRSG produces hot water (180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit) for industrial processes at the maintenance center on base, and the second generator should produce enough steam to cover the center’s demand year-round. The $4.5 million expansion, funded under the Energy Conservation Improvement Program Headquarters Marine Corps, will essentially double its renewable energy production capabilities by the anticipated startup date in April 2015. “The thought was that when the fi rst generator was down for maintenance or outages the second generator could run and the renewable energy would not stop,” Broome says. “The re-dundancy of having two generators helps with energy security on the base.”

Energy security is a driver with renewable energy installations, but as Broome points out, the economics have to make sense. The initial project economics didn’t demonstrate savings on a stand-alone basis when compared to terms MCLB-Albany had with utility providers. In order to make the economics work, the project was bundled with another ECM, which replaced and upgraded 18,500 light fi xtures on the base, and added another building to the di-

rect digital controls system. The 20-year contract was signed with Chevron in December 2009 for it to develop and maintain the CHP plant, pipeline and landfi ll gas (LFG) processing equipment throughout the life of the contract. The base pays Chevron back with the energy savings gathered from the project. Ac-cording to Broome, last year the LFGE project had a total cost savings of over $1.5 million, with total energy savings of 48,030 MMBtu.

Economic viability also played a large role when determining if the proj-ect supported expansion. The generator at the base is down 14 percent of the year on average for maintenance and routine checks. “When we did the eco-nomic analysis for a second generator, we were able to justify it just off of the

second generator running when the other is down,” Broome says.The project has the potential to produce 24 to 40 percent of

the base’s load depending on the availability of LFG, and reduce energy use and carbon emissions by 21,160 tons annually. The county landfi ll currently does not produce enough LFG to run both generators full time simultaneously, but Addison says as the landfi ll grows, the well fi eld will be expanded to new areas. Until the amount of LFG production and amount required to fuel the gen-erators is determined, MCLB-Albany has several options on how to run the generators. One is running the second generator on natural gas or a blend of natural gas and methane. The GE Jenbacher gen-erators allow dual fueling.

MCLB-Albany doesn’t want to stop with just this expansion. Presently, the base has exceeded the mandated 30 percent by 2015 with a current 41 percent reduction. However, there is also the goal of reaching net-zero by 2020 at half of the bases in the Navy and Marine Corps. MCLB-Albany wants to be one of the fi rst to achieve net-zero, and Broome believes the base is on track to reach that goal by spring of 2017, if all goes as planned. A proposed proj-ect that could bring the base to net-zero is through a partnership with Proctor and Gamble and Constellation Energy on a 7.5 to 10 MW biomass project. The base’s location comes at an advantage again, with this project utilizing property near P&G’s paper prod-ucts plant near the base. Broome anticipates contract signatures in August 2015 with production in spring 2017. “To meet the secre-tary of the Navy’s goal, short of shutting the lights off, we have to have more renewables,” Broome says. “To get there, we have to have technology that saves money—we cannot put technology in place that does not save money to be green for green sake—it has to be economical.”

Author: : Katie FletcherStaff Writer, Biomass Magazine

701-738-4920 kfl [email protected]

BIOGAS¦

COMPRESSING FOR CONVERSION: Landfi ll gas is brought to the compression and dehydration skids at the landfi ll site where the gas’s quality is monitored and compressed up to pipeline pressure.PHOTO: SCOTT ADDISON, DOUGHERTY COUNTY SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR

AdvancedBiofuelNews

In September, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Defense Production Act contracts to Red Rock Biofuels, Fulcrum Bioenergy and Emerald Biofuels to construct and commission biorefi neries. Together, the facilities will produce 100 million gallons of drop-in biofuels to serve military and private sector needs at an average price of $3.45 per gallon.

Fulcrum BioEnergy, based in northern Nevada, will produce 10 million gallons of biofuel from municipal solid waste. Red Rock Bio-fuels in Oregon will utilize woody biomass to create 12 million gallons of advanced biofuels. Using waste fats, Emerald Biofuels will produce

82 million gallons at a Gulf Coast refi nery. Both Fulcrum and Red Rock will deploy the Fischer-Tropsch process, and initial production of the facilities is to begin in 2016.

The Defense Protection Act was passed in 1950 for the purpose of providing investments in anything America needs, but doesn’t have at scale, for national security. “We’ve done it in a myriad of industries from steel to microchips,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “And energy is particularly called out... Today is a major milestone that only happened because of DPA, which is there to use for America’s defense.”

DOD awards contracts to 3 biofuel producers

The USDA has awarded a $105 million loan guarantee to Fulcrum Sierra Biofuels LLC to support the development of an 11 MMgy facility to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into jet fuel. The $266 million project, under development near Reno, Ne-vada, is expected to break ground this year and enter commercial production by the end of 2016.

The loan guarantee is being made under the USDA’s Biorefi n-ery Assistance Program through the Bank of America N.A.

At the proposed facility, Fulcrum Bioenergy will produce syntheses gas from 147,000 tons of MSW and catalytically convert it to synthetic paraffi nic kerosene/jet fuel through a proprietary technology.

Fulcrum secures USDA loan guarantee for biobased jet fuel project

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KAHL Wood Pelleting PlantsKAHL Wood Pelleting Plants

September 2014: Selected for USDA loan guarantee; awarded DOD contract

May 2013: Demonstrates fully integrated MSW-to-jet fuel process

November 2012: Withdraws IPO registration request

November 2011: Announces strategic investment by Waste Management

September 2011: Registers for proposed IPO

January 2011: Announces partnership with Waste Connections

September 2009: Announces cellulosic ethanol breakthrough; proposes construction of Sierra Biofuels plant


Ladies and gentleman, there is a lot on the line in this election, and we must be involved to make sure our indus-try moves forward in 2015 and beyond.

For those of you who run advanced biofuels and re-newable products companies like I do, there is a great deal you must keep your eye on. Whether it is the opportunity to apply for grant money available from the Defense Pro-curement Act, the Biorefi nery Program or loan guarantee programs from the USDA or U.S. DOE, one must plan way in advance. Of course, we all also have to follow how the U.S. EPA is implementing and changing the regulatory requirements for our industry under the renewable fuel standard (RFS).

Whether we like it or not, in the short term, our in-dustry is in partnership with the federal government and the states, in an effort to become a commercial and de-pendable segment of the transportation fuels supply chain. Fortunately for us, the investment community has already funded $18 billion in just the past 10 years in the U.S. to make that happen.

For decades, energy policy has not been a partisan is-sue; it has been one of regional focus between consumers and producers. However, the biofuels movement, given the wide range of available feedstocks that can be used, gives all 50 states an opportunity to create jobs and sustainable fuels while also generating energy and economic security for our nation. Whether you are a Republican or a Demo-crat, an Independent or a Libertarian, you have a reason to support the call for advanced biofuels. From my position as the chairman of the Advanced Biofuels Association, I can tell you fi rsthand, having been in many agencies and congressional offi ces, that they are inclined to support our effort and cause. But unless we continue to keep them up-to-date on our progress and efforts, they will lose interest. We have had many successes in the past few years, but we have much further to go before we are a household-known and accepted industry.

That is where this election impacts us. No matter what the outcome of the election, given the discourse in Wash-ington surrounding the RFS, I expect that we are likely to return in 2015 to a discussion on whether we should re-form the RFS. For my money and the association’s mem-bers, having to wait more than 11 months for the renew-able volume obligation (RVO) numbers to be published is simply not acceptable to our innovative industry. Let’s just take the numbers off the EPA Moderated Transaction System as a starting point, and use periodic adjustments to ensure the RVO is, in fact, the actual production, in lieu of the current system.

Just recently, we have seen our members benefi t from $210 million investment under the Defense Production Act, and another $200 million under the USDA loan guar-antee efforts. These things don’t happen unless you fi ght for them in Washington. The Advanced Biofuels Associa-tion has been fi ghting for all of us for nine years—come join our efforts, make a stand and get ready for a busy and active 2015. Together we can make a difference; individu-ally and separately from each other, the challenge is far greater.

As you receive those phone calls requesting assis-tance, remember to tell those politicians that we can make a difference, but only if they give the industry certainty. They must, on a consistent basis, make sure the rules they write and the laws they pass provide a clear message to the investment community to instill confi dence to invest in our industry of the future.

Author: Wayne SimmonsCEO, Sundrop Biofuels

[email protected]

Forging Ahead in 2015BY WAYNE SIMMONS

ADVANCED BIOFUELS AND CHEMICALS¦


“We’re the people you hire to protect you from the people you elect.”

Anyone who has spent time around Mike McAdams has likely heard his tongue-in-cheek description of the role of industry associations. Jokes aside, McAdams has established himself as the voice in D.C. for companies producing drop-in fuels and platform chemicals that would otherwise fi nd themselves without a voice or advocate in the beltway. McAdams’s member companies benefi t from a network that he has built over a career best measured in decades. Still, he would be the fi rst to say that the most powerful voice in Washington is yours.

Is it fair to say you’ve spent the bulk of your professional life in Washington, D.C.?

Yes. My father and mother met in 1953 while working on Capitol Hill for two senators, and I began as a house page at age 16 in 1972. After graduating from Virginia Tech, my fi rst job was working for a Texas member of Congress. This year is my 35th consecutive year working either in government or in government affairs in Washington, D.C.

Who founded the Advanced Biofuels Association and why?

In 2007, the Congress was considering renewable fuel standard 2 (RFS) reform legislation, and at the time I was representing Amyris and Neste. We all recognized that drop-in fuels were not clearly represented by any of the current associations. Additional conversations with Tyson and ConocoPhillips led to the four companies essentially forming the Advanced Biofuels Association, and I have

had the honor of running the organization since its inception.

In a recent Biomass Magazine column, you outlined a number of disappointments for the industry from a 2014 policy perspective. Which policy shortfall do you think will be the most diffi cult for the industry to overcome?

I am concerned with two policies in particular. First, the tax policy has been on-again, off-again, since its inception. Tax policy can play a signifi cant role in assisting the development of a new industry. It helps buy down the cost of bringing a new industry into the market. Over the long haul, I expect more scrutiny on the tax front as we seek to reform the nation’s overall tax policy. Moving to a technology-neutral, performance-based system will be diffi cult to construct, but I believe in the end it will create a more even playing fi eld for all concerned.

Second, under the statute, RFS program was asked to create a system to certify new technologies, feedstocks

and fuels under the RFS. This part of the program is referred to as pathway approval. It is complicated, and many of the current stakeholders simply don’t want new competition, but that was the intention of the authors of the legislation. It is essential that the U.S. EPA expedite the process and get these innovative companies participating in the RFS program as soon as possible.

You closed the aforementioned column by suggesting that if the Republican Party should gain majority in the Senate, the RFS may well be one of its fi rst priorities. What makes you feel that way?

First of all, America is tired of a Congress that points fi ngers at each other instead of addressing the country’s issues on a more consistent basis. If the legislative branch of government is controlled by

Q&AAdvanced Biofuels’ Beltway CrusaderMike McAdams discusses work on Capitol Hill, founding of the Advanced Biofuels Association and the importance of engaging in the ongoing public debate about renewable fuels.

PHOTO: ISTRICO PRODUCTIONS


Q&A ¦

one party, they will most likely have to put out a clear and concise agenda, which differentiates itself from the other branches of government. Given the consistent debate on the RFS over the last two years, reforming it, at a minimum, would most likely make that list.

Just over two years ago, you were aboard the USS Nimitz for the most ambitious test of renewable fuels in military ships and planes in history. How would you characterize the momentum for the advanced biofuels industry within the defense community since then?

First, I want to give high praise and gratitude to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus. He has been a visionary and seminal leader in this effort. As for the day on the USS Nimitz, it was a bucket list day for me to be with the men and women of the U.S. Navy. This effort has laid the groundwork for the importance of a portfolio approach in the use of biofuels for our military and society in general. In addition, the recent announcement of $210 million to construct three commercial plants moves the commercial ball forward in a most signifi cant manner. Procurement efforts are also a signifi cant factor in aiding the development of the advanced drop-in biofuels industry.

Two members of your organization, Velocys and Honeywell/UOP, were part of the teams awarded funding under the Defense Production Act. What does a funding award like this mean for these organizations?

For both organizations, funding under the Defense Production Act is an opportunity to demonstrate their technologies on a commercial scale. For the advanced biofuels community, it means more gallons toward the targets under the renewable volume obligation process, and more momentum for the industry as a whole. These are large facilities. Moreover,

the gallons and projected average cost by the Navy at less than $3.50 per gallon prove that these fuels can, for the long haul, compete with the existing industry. Congratulations to all the organizations that won these opportunities—Red Rock Biofuels, Emerald Biofuels and Fulcrum BioEnergy.

Will there ever come a time when participants in the biofuels industry won’t have to wonder about the long-term future of important policy mechanisms like the RFS?

Public policy works best when it is a partnership between the business community and a government with the vision to create new options for our country that move us favorably forward. The RFS is such a policy, one that seeks to stand up a clean fuels industry that adds to the nation’s options for energy and economic security by augmenting our current energy base. If that vision succeeds, it will make itself irrelevant. On the business side, that means that the industry will need to deliver competitively priced products and market participation in a manner that can be independently sustained over the long term.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established the RFS and garnered strong bipartisan support, with 95 house Republican votes. Has the pendulum for biofuels brought it back to being a very partisan issue?

Energy policy has never been partisan; it is regional and about consumers and producers. Biofuels give a broader opportunity for all areas of the country to participate in the production of advanced and cellulosic biofuels. No matter who runs the White House, or the Congress, biofuels will remain part of the public policy discussion, there are simply too many winners, including consumers, for it not to be.

With all the brake tapping on the policy front, what keeps your members pressing forward with their commercialization efforts?

The opportunities moving forward and investment made to date keep our industry pressing forward. In the last 10 years, we have seen more than $13.6 billion deployed in the U.S. alone, to stand up the advanced and cellulosic industry. The sad part is that, given recent uncertainty surrounding both tax policy and the RFS, there has been a signifi cant decline in the rate of the deployment of money in this sector over the past 18 months. My members remain committed and focused on delivering the value proposition for renewable fuels and renewable bioproducts moving forward, which will not end anytime in the near future.

At nearly every industry event you attend, you conclude your remarks beseeching the audience to get involved in the political process and directly contact their representatives. It’s hard for people outside the beltway to believe it makes a difference. What have you witnessed that affi rms the importance of engagement for you?

As a young legislative director for Congressman Ralph Hall, I watched as former President Reagan called on the American people to write their congressman about supporting a tax bill early in his term. Before his speech, all the senior staff and members said there wasn’t a chance on the tax bill. But following the speech, our offi ce received 10,000 cards and letters in one week asking him to support the tax bill. It passed. Members and their staff need to hear from the people they represent, so they can represent them. Get involved.

Mike McAdams INTERVIEW BY TIM PORTZ


¦ADVANCED BIOFUELS & CHEMICALS

Advanced Biofuels Association President Michael McAdams expresses industry frustration with Congress during the National Advanced Biofuel Conference & Expo federal biofuels policy panel. Also participating were Tim Portz, Biomass Magazine executive editor, left, National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe and Matt Carr, Algae Biomass Organization executive director.

National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe said he is optimistic the U.S. EPA will get the RFS renewable volume obligation numbers right.

Mike Jereke, Guardian Energy Management LLC CEO, Brian Kletscher, Highwater Ethanol CEO and Randall Doyal, Al-Corn Clean Fuel CEO, discuss plant manage-ment and investment during policy turbulence.


ADVANCED BIOFUELS & CHEMICALS¦

Toughing Out TurbulenceBY ANNA SIMETPHOTOS BY JOHN SCHMIEG

A concentrated group of serious industry players committed to the advanced biofuel and chemical industry gathered at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis in mid-Oc-tober, for an intimate discussion of policy issues, progress,

new technologies and the industry’s outlook.The National Advanced Biofuel Conference & Expo kicked

off with a federal biofuels policy panel featuring Mike McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuel Association, Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, and Matt Carr, Algae Biomass Orga-nization executive director.

After lamenting the damage that a dysfunctional Congress has infl icted on the industry over the past two years, and uncertainty surrounding renewable volume obligation (RVO) numbers, renew-able fuel standard (RFS) pathways, the compliance division of the Quality Assurance Program, the on-again, off-again tax code and unpredictability as to whether Congress will get anything done in any amount of time, McAdams expressed optimism for a poten-tial change of direction after the midterm election in a few weeks. “Though there’s a good chance of a Republican takeover of the Senate, which could break loose some legislative and regulatory cir-cumstances that have taken place over the last couple of years…if it does happen, and we are able to move some things forward, we could reaffi rm that the federal government recognizes the impor-tance of cellulosic and advanced biofuels industry…that will clear up this lack of certainty, which would be very, very helpful.”

Following McAdams, National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe highlighted the success the biodiesel industry experienced in 2012 and 2013, but delved into its major struggles following a leaked U.S. EPA RVO proposal draft. “If it was designed to have a chilling effect on markets and on RIN values, then it achieved its purpose, because RIN values began to drop at that point,” he said. That,

David Rubenstein, CEO of California Ethanol & Power LLC, asks a question dur-ing the federal biofuels policy panel.


coupled with an expired blenders tax credit, resulted in a very tough year for the biodiesel industry, particularly from small- and medium-sized producers.

Jobe concluded by saying that he’s cautiously op-timistic that the EPA will ultimately get it right, even though it will have taken them a year to do so.

Algae Biomass Organization Executive Director Matt Carr emphasized the huge potential algae has to alleviate some of today’s most pressing sustainability is-sues, but pointed out that the sector has moved beyond its youthful, exuberance phase that drew many “looking to strike it rich,” and has boiled down to serious players focused on strategic partnerships, diversifying portfolios and looking overseas for fi rst production facilities.

Carr provided several examples of developments amongst companies looking at higher value markets while domestic biofuel policy remains uncertain, but was quick to add that the industry hasn’t moved away from fuels. “It remains a main driver,” he said.

David Belseth, CHS Renewable Fuels Marketing, and Luke Schneider, Highwater Ethanol, wait for the plenary session to begin.

New Holland’s Scott Wangsgard prepares to cut the ribbon to the National Advanced Biofuel Conference & Expo grand reception, along with Tim Portz.

National Advanced Biofuel Conference & Expo attendees traveled to Emettsburg, Iowa, for a tour of Poet-DSM’s Project Liberty and a chance to witness corn stover collection.

Superior Process Technologies’ Kirk Cobb and Chris Sorensen welcome booth traffi c.


For the algae industry, a big piece of missed opportunity lies within the Clean Power Plan proposed rules for new and ex-isting power plants, from Carr’s perspective. “There is this really dynamic and exciting set of technologies, many of which are bio-based, to use waste CO2 to create fuels and products…to really turn CO2 from a prob-lem into an opportunity, a revenue genera-tor opportunity for utilities and a way to address climate change...”

Carr said that right now, the way EPA has written proposed rules for existing power plants, there’s some acknowledge-ment of carbon capture and sequestration and underground storage, but no discus-sion at all on reusing that CO2.”

Following the policy panel was a bio-fuels plant management and investment

executive roundtable featuring Mike Jerke, CEO of Guardian Energy Management LLC; Brian Kletscher, CEO of Highwater Ethanol and Randall Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel. Two days of technical breakout sessions ensued, covering topics including new routes to advanced ethanol, momentum biogas producers are experi-encing in the advanced biofuel markets and innovation in biodiesel and renewable diesel approaches, and an Oct. 15 stover collec-tion fi eld day at Poet-DSM’s Project Liberty in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Author: Anna SimetManaging Editor, Biomass Magazine

[email protected]

|

Verdanté Bioenergy Services CEO David Waechter and New Holland’s Scott Wangsgard converse during a refreshment break between technical breakout sessions.

Travis Brotherson, Quad County Corn Processors plant engineer, moderates a breakout session focused on leveraging the foundation of existing biofuels platforms to expand the advanced biofuels industry.

Pan American Hydro Inc.’s Sergio Martinez chats with booth visitors.

Cool Planet’s Wes Bolsen discusses the company’s renewable gasoline commercialization plans during a technical breakout session also featuring Steve Csonka, Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative executive director (left); Ted Aulich, senior research manager, EERC; David Kittelson, professor of mechanical engineering, University of Minnesota; and Bruce Folkedahl, senior research manager, EERC.


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Documents

November 2014 Biomass Magazine