# Presentation: 341169

## Biomass Challenges for Federal Agencies

**Presented to the Renewable Energy Working Group**
**September, 2002**

## Existing and Pending Biomass Use in Agencies

- Fort Stewart, GA
- Hampton Roads, VA
- Bio-Diesel for Transportation
- E-85 for Transportation
- Gasohol for Transportation
- McMurdo Sound
- NASA and LFG

## Three Approaches

- Build Projects that Use Biomass Energy
- Buy Green Power that Uses Biomass Energy
- Facilitate the Use or Development of Biomass on Federal Lands or Through Federal Programs

## Bioenergy Technologies

- Electric or thermal - solid fuel or gasification
- Small-scale systems, distributed generation
- Large scale generation or cogeneration
- Co-firing (biomass and coal or natural gas)
- Liquid Biofuels
- Ethanol, methanol, bio-oil, bio-diesel
- Chemicals and biobased products

**Notes:**
Ethanol has ready market outlet
Cellulose to ethanol is still in R&D phase
Acid hydrolysis
Enzymatic
Large scale plants needed for economies of scale
Power Energy Fuels (Lakewood)
Start-up company, bench scale tests at WRI
Patents on process for converting producer gas to ethanol
Market outlet is needed for bio-oils
Bio-oils can be used in low speed diesel engines, combustion turbines, utility boilers
Bio-oils degrade over period of several months
Btu content is half that of diesel fuel
DOE and USDA placing strong policy and funding priority on bio-refineries

## Biomass Fuel Flexibility

- Fuel can be stored, unlike wind or solar, therefore:
- Biomass can be dispatched when needed
- Biomass plants can have high capacity factors
- Biomass can be:
- substituted for natural gas,
- blended with conventional fuels – biodiesel and ethanol
- blended with coal

## Applications for Bioenergy

- Small-scale power or cogeneration systems
- Large-scale biomass generating plants
- Combined heat and power
- Stand-alone power plants (usually 20 MW or larger)
- Wood heating at small facilities
- schools, hospitals, housing
- Co-fire in industrial or utility boilers
- Liquid fuels, specialty chemicals
- Green power purchases

## Microgeneration – Performance

|  | 15 kWe gasifier/engine | 55 kWe gasifier/engine | 280 kWe gasifier/engine |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Capacity (kWe) | 15 | 55 | 280 |
| Thermal  (kWth) | ? | 120 | 600  |
| Company | CPC, USA | Xylowatt | Xylowatt |
| Yrs in business | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Number of units | 3 built, 7 coming | 10 demos | 10 demos |
| Status | Demo | Demo/Com | Demo/Com |
| Biomass GT/yr
(12 h/day; 50% MC, 4000 Btu/lb) | 100-200 | 400 | 2000 |
| Footprint | 10 x 6 x 7 | ? | ? |
| Installed cost ($) | $150,000 (full demo costs) | $300,000 | $800,000 |

**Notes:**
Heat recovery with both the small gasifier/engine and the microturbine, but thermal output not yet known. The gasifier/engine uses waste heat to dry fuel to the required low moisture content
Few if any Xylowatt applications in the US currently. 
Capital and power costs not reported  for gasifier/engine and microturbine because systems aren’t commercial; delivered costs to US for 55 kW engine not known

## Community Power Corp - Biomax15

## Xylowatt SA (Swiss)

- 55 kW electric
- 120 kW thermal
- 450 tons/year fuel

## Facility Heating System Performance

|  | Wood furnace | Wood gasifier/burner | Wood gasifier/burner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Thermal capacity   | 0.03 – 1 MWth(115k – 1 MMBtu/hr) | 0.1 - 3 MWth (.5 – 14 MMBtu/hr) | 0.6 – 12 MWth (2 – 40 MMBtu/hr) |
| Company | Taylor Waterstoves | Chiptec | Converta Kiln |
| Installed cost | $4,500 - $65,000 | $30,000 – $275,000 (gasifier only) | ?? |
| Status | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial |
| Years in business | Not Known | 16 | Not known |
| Biomass use (GT/year) | 50 – 3,000 | 330 – 10,000 | 2,000 – 40,000 |
| # systems in operation | 1000s | >125 in NA | 300-400 |

- Note: Biomass use estimates assume 0.90 capacity, 33,475 Btu-h/boiler hp, and 4,000 Btu/wet lb biomass heat content

**Notes:**
Industrial: 
Size: 5-75 million Btu/hour Annual fuel Use: 5-60,000 tons Cost: $10,000 to several million
Commercial/institutional:
Size: 1-20 million Btu/hour Annual Fuel Use: 200 to 20,000 tons Cost: $8,000 to several hundred thousand
Home/residential: 
0.25-0.5 million Btu/hour for 1600 sf poorly insulated and 2,100 sf well insulated homeAnnual fuel use: 9-11 tonsCost: $3,000 to $10,000

## Chiptec Systems, Vermont

- Heat only or CHP
- 5 – 45% MC
- Wide range of sizes
- Turnkey systems
- Co-gen (35 kW – 5 MW)
- Automated fuel handling

## Other Wood Heating System Manufacturers

- Messersmith Manufacturers (Michigan)
- Grove Wood Heating, Inc (Canada)
- Industrial Boiler Company (Georgia)
- KMW Energy Systems, Inc (Canada)

## CostComparisons: Biomass vs.Fossil Fuels

| Category | Units | Biomass (McNeil Tech) | Biomass (EPRI / FERCO) | Coal | Co-Fire Coal / Biomass | Natural Gas |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Technology |   | Direct Fire | Direct Fire | Pulverized coal | Pulverized coal | Combined cycle |
| Capacity | MW | 20 | 50 | 300 | 100 |   |
| Installed Cost | $/kw | $2,200 | $1,965 | $1,195 | $271 | $500 |
| Heat Rate | Btu/kWh | 20,000 | 14,483 | 9,830 | 10,440 | 6,500 |
| Capacity Factor | % | 90 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Fuel Cost | $/MMBtu | $2.24 | $2.63 | $0.77 | N/A | $2.85 |
| Levelized Cost | $/kWh | $0.061 | $0.075 | $0.044 | N/A | $0.041 |

## Facilitated Project Potential

- Millions of tons of biomass will either fuel wildfires or be removed
- Agencies helping private sector use thinnings for energy would be significant for the Federal goal, and for U.S. bioenergy development
- USDA Forest Service and Interior are the 800 pound gorillas in this situation
- DoD, DOE and others with landholdings to manage have specific local opportunities
- DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CONSUMED BY THE AGENCY TO COUNT!

## Current Situation and Issues

- Fires continue to threaten communities
- Increased interest and debate over forest restoration
- mechanical treatment vs. prescribed burn
- diameter limits
- community defense only vs. landscape treatment
- Mitigation efforts are expensive, but not as costly as fires
- Market outlets for small diameter trees can help defer thinning costs

## USFS Example

- 46,000 acres targeted for mechanical thinning under National Fire Plan in 2001, just in Urban-Wildland Interface (UWI) and areas to reduce fire threats to communities
- Conservatively, could have supported 436 MW of biomass capacity and over 3000 GWh of generation
- Excludes acres with prescribed burns, or a combination of treatments

## BLM Example

- DRAFT NREL Assessment of RE Potential on Federal Lands, including biomass
- Used satellite data showing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) above 4, proximity to communities at fire risk, population centers.
- Identified Planning Units in the Following States:

- Arizona
- California
- Colorado

- Montana
- New Mexico
- Oregon
- Washington

**Notes:**
7 States Identified by NREL had 30,000 acres targeted for mechanical thinning in 2001, representing over 1000 GWh and 160 MW of potential biomass capacity if just 10 green tons/acre is removed, and it can be brought to a productive use.

## Benefits of Bioenergy

- Biomass fuel prices generally stable
- hedge against fuel cost variability
- Biomass $ stay in state and local economies
- Rural economic development and job creation (CA = 5 jobs/MW capacity)
- Biomass fuel costs not subject to control of a single supplier

## Benefits of Bioenergy (con’t)

- Biomass is a baseload renewable resource
- Reduce SOx and fossil CO2 emissions
- Biomass systems are easy to convert to other fuels
- Outlet for forest health restoration activities
- Landfill diversion of urban wood wastes

**Notes:**
Prescribed burning – 60 lbs PM10/ton of fuel
.15 tons PM10/acre burned 
(assumes 10 tons per acre fuel loading and 50 percent of that is burned)
In 2001, 28,000 acres prescribe burned in CO, or ~ 4,200 tons PM10
Combustion biomass plant 
Burning same amount of fuel from 28,000 acres prescribed burn would  yield ~ 50 tons PM10

## Why Isn’t It Happening?

- Uncertainty
- Environmental opposition, distrust
- When, where, how much thinning, and how long must be known to develop supply curve
- Wildfire is overwhelming focus – not benefits of using thinnings
- Little coordination among agency, state and community plans and investments
- Small-scale technologies adaptable to supply uncertainty are just becoming commercial
- Interconnection , stand-by and buy-back rates

**Notes:**
High cost of biomass from forests
Transportation is a killer; 50 percent moisture
Decades of mistrust between environmental community, industry and USFS
Utility roadblocks (interconnection, stand-by rates, buy-back rates)
Assigning all of the costs of thinning to fuel supply overlooks other beneficiaries

## Electricity Sales: Breakeven Price vs. Biomass Fuel

## Modest Proposals

- In contracts seek proposals for energy reuse of removed biomass and industry input on structure of requests for proposals
- Work in coordination with States, communities and environmentalists in promising areas to create reliable supply
- Support demonstrations of modular technologies that address supply issues

## Interesting Projects

- USFS Supported Work with Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, small-scale system
- Pending CEC Project on Distributed Biomass Generation with Truckee-Donner PUD
- CEC-Funded Analysis of RE Distributed Generation and Public Benefits
- Four Corners sustainable forest partnership bioenergy project
- Front range biomass energy assessment
- Summit and Eagle county biomass energy assessment
- Yavapai Apache Feasibility Study

**Notes:**
Looking at ski resorts in Summit and Eagle, trying to involve them in it.

## Contacts

- Scott Haase
- McNeil Technologies
- 143 Union Blvd., Suite 900
- Lakewood, CO 80228
- Phone: 303-273-0071
- Fax: 303-273-0074
- Email: _[shaase@mcneiltechco.com](mailto:shaase@mcneiltechco.com)__[www.mcneiltech.com](http://www.mcneiltech.com/)_

- Kevin DeGroat
- McNeil Technologies
- 6564 Loisdale Court, S-800
- Springfield, VA 22150
- Phone: 703-921-1632
- Fax: 703-921-1610
- Email: _[kdegroat](mailto:kdegroat@mcneiltech.com)__[@mcneiltech.com](mailto:kdegroat@mcneiltech.com)_ _[www.mcneiltech.com](http://www.mcneiltech.com/)_