California reform needed to spur investment in conversion technologies

Californians interested in supporting the clean conversion of post-recyclable waste streams into biopower and biofuels need to help support regulatory reform in Sacramento right now.

California is the crucible for this issue because of its proud history for diverting municipal solid waste (MSW) from landfills through reduction, reuse, and recycling. However there still remains some 40 million tons of post-recycled waste that fails diversion and ends up in a landfill. Why? Because the only conversion technology municipalities are allowed to receive diversion credit for is composting. However, there isn't sufficient market for compost (imagine saying that about affordable biopower or biofuels!). Excess compost gets spread onto landfills as alternate daily cover - so there is no true diversion.

A policy I advocate on this blog would allow municipalities to help meet their diversion requirements using their post-recycled waste as feedstock processed by new clean conversion technologies to create thousands of megawatts of green power and millions of gallons of biofuels.

It is incredible that, in a carbon sensitive world, there would be any opposition to such a sensible, regulated policy - but there is. That's why it is critical that new legislation, AB 222, which came out of the Assembly Rules Committee this past week, receive documented public support when the Utilities & Commerce Committee considers it at a scheduled hearing on April 27th. Late letters can still be important for when the fill ultimately reaches the Senate for a vote.

AB 222 will allow low emission thermal conversion technologies to make biofuels and bioenergy out of this waste. Antiquated regulatory definitions virtually prohibit the deployment of even demonstration size facilities for providing proof of concept and required emissions verification. Without the legislative reforms contained in AB 222, no state municipalities dare build conversion technologies to meet diversion requirements.

Below is an appeal for your written support to enable this legislation to reach the Assembly and then the Senate floor for a vote. Please follow the instructions for submitting a letter of support and fax it in today.

---------------
Letter from the Bioenergy Producers Association
From Chairman of the Board Jim Stewart

The BioEnergy Producers Association is pursuing legislation to expedite the permitting and implementation of conversion technologies for the production of renewable energy from the state's organic waste streams.

The legislation creates a new category in statute for a "biorefinery," which is broadly defined as a facility that uses "non-combustion thermal, chemical, biological and/or mechanical processes to produce renewable fuels, chemicals and electricity from any carbonaceous materials.

It will remove from statute a scientifically inaccurate definition of "gasification," which requires zero oxygen in the process and zero emissions from the entire facility, a standard required of no other manufacturing process in the state.

The bill, AB 222, has been moving forward very quickly. It came out of the Assembly Rules Committee this past week and was referred to the Utilities & Commerce Committee, which has scheduled a hearing on April 27th.

Its co-authors, Fiona Ma and Anthony Adams have asked for letters of support, and these letters need to be faxed to the Utilities & Commerce Committee before 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st in order to be acknowledged and listed on the Committee's staff report.

We would be pleased if you could submit such a letter. It should be addressed to Assembly Member Felipe Fuentes, Chair, Utilities and Commerce Committe and faxed to Edward Randolph (the Committee staff member who is preparing the analysis of the bill). The fax number is (916) 319-3899. I am attaching a copy of AB 222 and a bill summary, should you need it for reference. We have a comprehensive web site which you may find of interest, www.bioenergyproducers.org.

Many thanks.
Jim Stewart
Bioenergy Producers Association
Chairman of the Board
323-650-5095

----------------------------
Passage of the bill will:

• Expand the beneficial use of California’s waste streams, and in so doing, stimulate economic investment and provide high level green collar manufacturing jobs here at home, rather than exporting materials to the Far East, India and Nigeria, where essentially no environmental standards exist.

• Significantly reduce the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels and assist the State in reaching its AB 32 GHG reduction goals;

• Reduce statewide dependence on landfills and their associated methane production and waste transport costs;

• Provide alternatives to the open-field burning of agricultural residues and the agricultural land-spreading of biosolids;

• Promote energy independence and national security by enabling the in-state production of advanced biofuels, rather than importing petroleum from the Middle East or ethanol from the Midwest (one billion gallons in 2008);

• Reduce by up to 90% CO2 emissions from automobiles as compared to an energy-equivalent amount of gasoline,

• Help California achieve the goals of its Renewable Portfolio Standard, Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Bioenergy Action Plan.

----------------
technorati bioenergy, biofuels, waste, urban, landfill, legislation, California

Biomass and BioWaste Conference in Pittsburg this September

I have been in touch with Dr. Ines Freesen about a new conference that her company is co-hosting that will take place between September 25-27th in Pittsburg, PA. While there is plenty of excitement about corn ethanol and the emerging technologies surrounding cellulosic ethanol, there is a dearth of press and conference content about the most revolutionary concept of all - converting municipal solid wastes, sludge, factory smoke, agricultural, and forestry waste into biofuels and electricity.

This blog is an attempt to partially correct that media deficiency but the real headway will be made when pioneers in the field of waste-to-energy congregate, network, and fully explore the potential.

According to the conference website:

"energy from biomass and waste" can make a significant contribution to oil-independence and climate protection with clean power, heat, and vehicle fuels. The technology opens up new earning potentials and markets (domestic & international) for the waste management & power generation industry, as well as for new market players such as the agricultural sector. With this event we want to create the leading North American showcase and educational forum for this growth business.

Here is the press release from last February (posted on the Renewable Energy Access website) about the German/American collaborators behind this event.

-------------------
German-American Partnership To Promote Energy From Biomass and Waste
Freesen & Partner and Steel City Biofuels sign agreement to promote green energy, create international marketplace
Press Release from Freesen & Partner GmbH
Alpen,NRW, Germany / Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 21-Fe-07

The benefits of biofuels seem clear enough: they can provide a safe, sustainable domestic resource. But what does this mean for the business owner, for municipalities, the farm economy? How can the utilization of oilseed crops, switchgrass, manure, landfill gas, or residential waste make a significant contribution to save on energy and recycling costs, to reduce harmful emissions and create jobs?

Two partners from both sides of the Atlantic have joined forces to raise visibility for these issues and to create a forum that provides answers and practical assistance. Freesen & Partner GmbH, a Germany-based trade show organizer, and Steel City Biofuels, a Pennsylvania non-for-profit organization signed an agreement to use the EBW Expo & Conference, held on September 25-27, 2007 in Pittsburgh, PA to create an educational forum tailored to the information needs of multiple stakeholders.

The agreement was signed on February 15 as part of a ceremony for the signing of a Declaration of Cooperation between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW). Dr. Ines Freesen, Managing Director of Freesen & Partner, and Nathaniel Doyno, Executive Director of Steel City Biofuels, were joined by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and NRW Minister President Dr. Juergen Ruettgers.

"We are very excited about this new venture", comments Ines Freesen. "The time is right to think about what can be done with biomass and waste to reduce the world's unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels, and there could be no better place than Pennsylvania to hold the EBW Expo & Conference. Together with Steel City Biofuels we will create a truly international forum that offers hands-on information to a wide range of energy users and 'waste producers'."

"Thanks to the leadership of Governor Rendell and DEP Secretary McGinty Pennsylvania is poised to become a national leader in the production of energy from biomass and waste", says Nathaniel Doyno. "Steel City Biofuels is very excited to partner with Freesen & Partner on this venture because we feel that the EBW Expo provides an ideal platform to bring together the technology providers, energy users, investors, policy makers, and researchers that can really launch these industries."

The agreement is focused on:
- creating educational forums during EBW tailored to the needs of multiple stakeholders, including investors, farmers, green energy producers, cities and municipalities, businesses, students, and university researchers
- determining different options and media to promote the expo and conference to all relevant stakeholders in Pennsylvania, the United States, North-Rhine Westafalia, Germany, and other regions
- organizing site tours to bioenergy and energy-from-waste projects in South Western Pennsylvania during EBW
- develop business opportunities for Pennsylvania and German companies

About Freesen & Partner:
Freesen & Partner GmbH (F&P) is a consulting and event management firm specialized in the field of energy and environmental technology. F&P owns the "Energy from Biomass and Waste" (EBW) Expo & Conference, to be held on September 25-27, 2007 in Pittsburgh, PA. EBW's mission is to educate all relevant stakeholders about the ecological and economical benefits of clean energy, and to create an international marketplace for bioenergy and energy-from-waste technologies in Pennsylvania.

About Steel City Biofuels:
Steel City Biofuels, Inc. (SCB) is a project of the Pennsylvania Resources Council, Inc. that is building the awareness, policy and infrastructure necessary for the widespread production and use of biofuels in South Western Pennsylvania. SCB pursues this mission through education, demonstration, research, and advocacy. SCB's foundation is a diverse network of partnerships that link individuals, farmers, schools, non-profits, community organizations, businesses, and governmental agencies.

For Further Information
EBW Expo & Conference Website
Steel City Biofuels website
"waste to energy" website

technorati BIOwaste, bioenergy, biofuels, waste, pollution, urban, landfill, legislation

Green Waste Gasified to Electricity in CA

Almost one year ago, I posted an entry on the diversion of green waste clippings from landfills to be used as biostock for a California utility electrical plant. The Bull Moose announcement was one of many planned by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) not only for biomass, but also solar and wind projects.

Yesterday another similar biomass diversion contract was announced involving a different supplier to SDG&E. Envirepel Energy, Inc. received the go-ahead on June 14th to build the 90MW Fallbrook Facility. It is the first of four separately sited facilities Enviropel is designing to supply 240MW of electricity to SDGE.

A big question concerns the amount of emissions that will be generated by the facility. Here is what Envirepel has to say about that:

Total air emissions as viewed from the stack exiting into the surrounding air are expected to be in the range as follows:

Particulates Less than 5 tons per year
Carbon Monoxide (CO) Less than 10 tons per year
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Less than 15 tons per year
Sulfur Oxides (SOx) Less than 5 tons per year
Hydrocarbons (THC) Less than 5 tons per year
Total Emissions @ 45 MW generation is approximately 40 tons per year

That's not enough to require an air emissions offset credit permit (those permits that are so costly for big natural gas fired power plants to get)...think about that, a renewable, organic power plant that doesn't pollute? That is our design goal, setting a new standard for how you should do it, not the cheapest way or the easiest, or the business as usual: way it's been done throughout the industry, but the right way to do it for today's needs.

Here is the full text of the SDG&E press release.

----------------
DG&E to expand use of biomass energy
Utility seeks to acquire more renewable energy with latest solicitation

SAN DIEGO, June 12, 2007 – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced it has signed a supply contract with Envirepel Energy, Inc. for renewable, biomass energy that will be online by October 2007. SDG&E also reported that it has received nearly 5,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable-energy-supply proposals in response to the utility’s most recent renewable Request for Offers (RFO) solicitation that ended May 30, 2007.

Every year since 2002, SDG&E has solicited supply bids for renewable power to meet California’s mandate of having 20 percent of its energy portfolio come from clean resources such as wind, solar, biomass and geothermal by 2010. Envirepel’s agreement is the result of an earlier competitive solicitation. Biomass power results from burning plant-based materials such as wood.

“We are excited about the new renewable energy contract with Envirepel and with the overwhelming response we received for supplying green energy to our grid,” said Debra L. Reed, president and chief executive officer for SDG&E. “Developers are signaling their willingness to build these renewable projects. We are committed to providing the transmission pathway necessary to ensure renewable energy from any of the projects developed reaches San Diego.”

The nearly 5,000 megawatts proposed in the most recent RFO represents a mixture of renewable energy, including about 2000 MW of wind, 2,700 MW of solar, and 300 MW of geothermal, biomass and landfill gas. Several of the proposals submitted would require the addition of new transmission infrastructure to deliver energy to San Diego customers.

Today, SDG&E is more than half-way toward meeting its 2010 goal with approximately 12 percent of its future energy supply under contract to be delivered from renewable sources.

SDG&E’s contract with Envirepel will now be submitted to the CPUC for review and final approval. SDG&E’s final selection of the renewable-energy bids will be based on least-cost, best-fit procurement criteria and will be reviewed by the Procurement Review Group, comprised of California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff, consumer advocates and other non-market participants, and an independent evaluator prior to being submitted to the CPUC for final approval.

technorati BIOwaste, bioenergy, waste, urban, landfill, California

Green Options for Recycled Paper

Megan Prusynski of Green Options has written a good review of the state of the industry in recycled papers. Citing EPA statistics that paper makes up 35% of our waste stream but less than half of that (48%) is recovered for recycling, the graphic designer implores her readers to think more about the alternatives to using virgin paper (paper made from trees). Her research is very helpful because graphic designers would use more recycled paper if they had a ready reference on where to get it.

Conservatree's choosing paper guide begins with a very good recommendation: "The first step in choosing paper is to evaluate how to reduce paper use so that you're only using what's truly needed. Reducing paper use is probably the most important step we can take to save trees and resources and prevent waste."

Megan recommends several online sites to search for alternatives:
• "One of my favorites is renourish. This site is a complete guide for designers who want to become more sustainable and includes information on which types of paper are most environmentally-friendly and what to look for when choosing a sustainable paper. "
• "Celery Design Collaborative has a very comprehensive list of sustainable papers available from a variety of companies."
• "Neenah Paper offers several sustainable options, including Neenah Green Papers and the Environment line of papers. They even have an Environmental Savings Calculator so you can see how many resources you would save by choosing a greener paper."
• "Mohawk Fine Papers also offers recycled choices and many papers produced using wind power.
• "SMART Papers is another large paper company with high environmental standards.
• "Yupo and Polyart provide synthetic tree-free papers.

She then adds a few more specialty paper companies:

While the big paper companies often dedicate only part of their entire product line to sustainable papers, there are smaller companies who produce only sustainable paper. EcoPaper produces papers and stationery that utilize not only recycled paper fibers, but natural tree-free fibers from bananas, coffee, lemons, and even cigars! Green Field Paper Company produces paper that is made with a mix of recycled fibers and renewables like hemp, which is stronger and can be recycled more times than regular paper. They also make paper out of recycled junk mail and coffee, along with some beautiful cards called Grow-A-Note that have seeds embedded in the paper fibers so that the cards can simply be planted after use. Vision Paper produces paper from kenaf, a quick growing plant with a high fiber yield.

technorati BIOenergy BlogRing, BIOwaste, waste, , paper

Small Town with a BIG green vision

Although located near the site of two famous Bull Run battles of the Civil War, the rural community of Warrenton, Virginia is not the kind of place you would normally expect to find revolutionary figures. Yet the town's mayor, George Fitch, envisions a future of green choice and self-reliance for his community by converting local waste and crops into bioenergy - ethanol for cars and green electricity for the grid. He may be one point of light that ignites the imagination and energy of thousands with a similar vision throughout the nation - and the world.

Apparently, someone on the U.S. Senate Energy Committee decided it was a perspective that needed closer inspection. At its Transportation Biofuels Conference on February 1, this small town mayor was a featured speaker along with representatives from Ford, Chevron, MIT, and the American Corn Growers Association.

An advocate of decentralized waste diversion into energy production Fitch's message is that local communities can be a major contributor to the goal of 20 billion gallons of renewable fuel. He said he has embarked on a plan for an integrated biorefinery at a landfill site which would produce 10 million gallons of ethanol and 8MW of electricity from a wide variety of wastes and residues.

“Most of the feedstocks would come from municipal solid wastes including construction debris which now are being buried at the landfill emitting greenhouse gases. This amounts to more than 100,000 tons annually of useable waste that can be converted into energy. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from a biorefinery using wastes would be over 50%,” Mayor Fitch commented.

“We’ve estimated there are about 10,000 tons of forest residues, 5,000 to 20,000 tons of collectible agriculture residue and another 5,000 to 7,000 tons of sewer sludge and animal manures which could be used as feedstock for the plant. “I’ve been told there are more carbons in a 10 cent bushel of manure than a $4 bushel of corn.” the Mayor said.

“We don’t expect to get much of the agriculture residue at the beginning because it will take awhile to solve the infrastructure problem of efficiently harvesting, gathering, storing and transporting the corn stover Right now, it’s trial and error. We hope to involve John Deere which has developed a machine that allows just a single pass to pick up the grain and the residue at the same time. This would reduce the cost of corn stover to the biorefinery by at least $10 per ton.

He pointed out that the technology seems to have evolved so you can use a wide variety of biomass material to co produce ethanol and electricity at an integrated biorefinery. He added, “we are looking at three different gasification technologies from three different companies for our project.”

Mayor Fitch told the committee and audience, “there are a lot of communities like Warrenton across the country, certainly hundreds if not thousands, which could be self sufficient in renewable energy. Like Warrenton, they have a variety of biomass material right in their backyard. Collectively, that represents billions of gallons of ethanol or renewable diesel – and all of it made from waste and residues.”

“That is a major contribution, which I think has been overlooked, to the goal of 20 billion gallons of renewable fuel by the 2020. The focus seems to be on creating large scale biorefineries producing 50 to 100 million gallons a year by the ADM’s and Cargill’s of the world. Communities like mine are just as valuable. Perhaps more so because we can engage the people in our community to get behind our renewable energy initiative and be a stakeholder.”

Mayor Fitch added, the economics of small scale biorefineries now work. It used to be that you needed at least 3,000 to 5,000 tons of feedstock per day to be economical. Not any more. Our model shows that 300 to 500 tons per day will be profitable; provided it produces both ethanol and electricity.”

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina told the audience, “Mr. Mayor, you have stimulated our thinking. We need to think about small scale biorefineries across the country using different types of wastes. He added, “decentralization of renewable energy would give our country more energy security.”

For more information, you can contact Mayor Fitch directly at: (540) 347-1101. He would appreciate supportive letters to the editor to a local newspaper article written about his plan. Address the letters to the author Cheryl Chumley.

technorati BIOblog, BIOwaste, bioenergy, biofuels, waste, pollution, urban, landfill, decentralization

L.A. Council visits BRI Energy

As part of a learning expedition for Greig Smith's R.E.N.E.W. LA Plan, members of the L.A. City Council journeyed to Fayetteville, Arkansas to examine a pilot plant demonstration of a revolutionary technology for the conversion of waste-to-ethanol. BRI's process utilizes bacteria to convert gasified syngas into ethanol.

Excerpt from the report are below. Pictures of the facility are contained in the actual report.

--------------------

BRI ENERGY, LLC And BIOENGINEERING RESOURCES, INC
GASIFICATION–FERMENTATION PILOT FACILITY (Arkansas)
Monday, November 21, 2005

Facility: BRI (Gasification-Fermentation) Pilot Plant.
Location/Site: The BRI pilot plant is located outside the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, which is surrounded by farmland within a two-mile radius. The plant started operating the fermenter process unit in 1991 and the gasification unit in 2003. Each process unit is enclosed in separate buildings and the administration building houses the laboratory where further research continues to take place. The lot size is about 5 acres.
Feedstock: Wood, corn stover, tires, RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) and Material source-separated biodegradable waste (not municipal solids waste, MSW, although MSW has been successfully tested.)
Throughput: 1.5 tpd.
Conversion Technology: Thermal and Biological – Gasification-Fermentation.



Process Description: The organics in the source-separated biodegradable waste are converted to syngas via BRI’s two-stage thermal gasifier that raises the syngas temperature to over 2000°F in the second stage to enable cracking of any heavy hydrocarbons to carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) maximizing the ethanol yield. There are hundreds of these units in operation, worldwide with a demonstrated reliability of 95 percent. The hot syngas is then cooled to 100°F, in the process generating steam, and it is introduced into the fermenter containing a specialized microbial population that converts the syngas into ethanol and H2O. Nutrients are added to provide the cell growth and automatic regeneration of the biocatalyst. The resulting dilute aqueous stream of ethanol is continuously removed through a membrane that retains cells for recycle to maximize reaction rates. Anhydrous ethanol is produced by conventional distillation followed by a molecular sieve, using the waste heat from the process. Water, with nutrients, is recycled from the distillation bottoms back to the fermenter. Air emission control systems remove almost all air pollutants.

The BRI pilot unit can process a maximum of 1.5 tons per day of various feedstocks, which include pre-sorted MSW (after removal of plastics, metals, and glass) and shredded to a size of 2 inches and 5 to 10 percent moisture content. The entire process claimed by BRI from gasification to distillation is approximately seven minutes. Due to its maximum process feed rate of 2 lb/min, the pilot unit must be fed manually.