&nbsp;An estimated $1.7 billion was invested in biofuels R&amp;D in the U.S. in 2013. Roughly a quarter of that, or about $435 million, was in Iowa, according to the ABF Economics report completed in 2014.&nbsp;
Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels 
Emmetsburg
&bull; Ramping up to 20 MMgy now. &bull; 5 MMgy expansion expected. &bull; About 285,000 tons of biomass will be needed annually. &bull; 30,000 yards of&nbsp; concrete, 1,500 tons of structural steel used in plant.
SOURCE: POET LLC
DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol LLC 
Nevada
&bull; 30 MMgy at full capacity. &bull; Construction completion expected in Q1 2015. &bull; 150 jobs for seasonal collection, transportation and feedstock storage. &bull; 375,000 tons of corn stover gathered yearly. &bull; 500 local farmers will supply feedstock.
SOURCE: DUPONT
Quad County Corn Processors 
Galva
&bull; Feedstock: corn kernel&nbsp; fiber. &bull; 2 MMgy bolt on to 30 MMgy corn-ethanol plant. &bull; Produces about 6,500 gallons of cellulosic ethanol daily. &bull; Generated 500,000 D3 RINs as of mid-November. &bull; Four jobs added, one for each shift. 
SOURCE: QUAD COUNTY
BioProcess Algae 
Shenandoah
&bull; Uses water, heat and CO2&nbsp; recycled from Green Plain Renewable Energy&rsquo;s ethanol plant. &bull; Five acres of greenhouses currently growing algae.&nbsp; &bull; Operating continuously since 2009.
SOURCE: GREEN PLAINS
Learn more about the <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11709/spotlight-on-iowa" target="_blank">ethanol industry in Iowa</a> and <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11711/message-to-the-masses" target="_blank">Iowa's biofuels mobile education center</a> by clicking on the links.&nbsp;
Author: Holly Jessen Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701-738-4946 hjessen@bbiinternational.com

Algae has multiple possible commercial uses, including advanced biofuels, animal feed, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals or biomass for energy production. Green Plains says the company is currently evaluating which options would be profitable. 

2014/12/GoingAdvanced-Jan15_14177972958522_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/GoingAdvanced-Jan15_14177972958522_thumb.jpg

2014/12/GoingAdvanced-Jan15_14177972958522.jpg

2014/12/DuPont-Jan15_14177972941396.jpg

2014/12/Poet-Project-Liberty_14178025687116.jpg

2014/12/Emmetsburg_14177974358933.jpg

2014/12/QuadCounty-Jan15_14177972977432.jpg

Iowa is home to two ethanol plants currently producing cellulosic ethanol and one that is nearing construction completion. Another notable project is algae production colocated with a corn-ethanol plant. 

Going Advanced

There&rsquo;s no question ethanol plant lab workers do a lot of testing and record a lot of data. Some companies, however, put a higher premium on harnessing data. Jenny Forbes, manager of new product development for Phibro Ethanol Performance Group, believes that JMP (pronounced jump) could help give ethanol plants an edge in this area. While some of Phibro&rsquo;s customers use JMP, the majority simply use Microsoft Excel, meaning data is manually entered into an Excel document, Forbes says. In some cases, nothing more is done with the information. &ldquo;They collect a lot of data that just gets filed away, month after month after month,&rdquo; she says. For some of these plants, analyzing the data might simply mean calculating average fermentation rates. &ldquo;The average isn&rsquo;t going to tell you statistical significance, average isn&rsquo;t going to throw out the outliers and make some comparisons in the same way this software does,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I think you lose the whole picture, or the investigative picture, if you just rely on Microsoft Excel.&rdquo; One key constraint is time. Many ethanol plant lab employees literally have no time to spare to train for and implement a new software, says Forbes, who was an ethanol plant lab employee in the 2000s.
&ldquo;If you have people on staff that have time to dedicate to data analysis, yes, I think this would be a very valuable tool,&rdquo; she says of JMP. &ldquo;There are a lot of people out there, working at an ethanol plant, that have zero time to spare. And for them it wouldn&rsquo;t serve any purpose at all, because it&rsquo;s time-consuming.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s where vendors like Phibro and Novozymes, which also utilizes JMP, come into play. Phibro uses JMP to help its customers with evaluating trial data or assisting with troubleshooting ethanol fermentation problems that impact yield. One of the best things about JMP is that, once the data is entered into the software, analysis is very fast. &ldquo;I can make 20 graphs in 30 seconds,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You can do pretty amazing things with the software, if you know what you are doing.&rdquo; Another bonus is that, as long as the data is in a compatible format, new JMP users can simply and easily upload the information in their Excel documents to the software. An annual license for JMP is $1,540 in 2015. JMP Pro, which has additional capabilities, has an annual license cost of $14,900, according to an SAS representative.&nbsp; Heron Lake BioEnergy LLC, a 60 MMgy ethanol plant in Minnesota, has been utilizing JMP since 2011, says quality control manager Amy Audette, who started working for the company in 2014. She doesn&rsquo;t know if JMP is becoming more commonly used within the ethanol industry, but she hopes so, she says. Audette also feels the software&rsquo;s main strengths are the graphs she can create using JMP and the speed with which she can generate them. &ldquo;These visuals are extremely useful and help to provide quick insight into the plant&rsquo;s workings,&rdquo; she says. One example is when Heron Lake was faced with rising sulfate levels. Audette used JMP to create fermentation data graphs and identified certain dates when sulfate rates peaked. &ldquo;The result came down to a strong correlation between longer ferm times and higher sulfates,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;The high sulfates were related to the plant slowing down.&rdquo; Another time, Heron Lake used JMP to optimize enzyme dosing rates. The end result was using less product without negatively impacting ethanol yield, which adds up to a direct savings, Audette says.
Pulling It All Together
Direct Automation has a related product that is newly breaking into the market. PI in the Sky is a software that can be used with or without JMP, to store plant information in the cloud, which is viewable to ethanol plant customers on a custom dashboard, says Paul Zweifel, president of Direct Automation.
 The product is now in use by two ethanol plants and another four will be using it by the end of the year. The company hopes it will have eight to 10 PI in the Sky customers by the end of next year. As the company&rsquo;s customer base grows, it plans to add benchmarking to the its services. Although PI in the Sky does offer some analytical tools, JMP is stronger in that area, Zweifel says. What Direct Automation&rsquo;s software&nbsp;offers is the ability to automatically pull data from multiple sources, such as the plant&rsquo;s distributed control system, equipment in the lab and even corn price information pulled off the Internet, to name a few. &ldquo;We create the data sources that JMP would then use to analyze,&rdquo; he says. It also provides ethanol plants with a single platform to enter and store other plant data, like operator logs (which are often scribbled down in paper log books), financial data or even board of director reports. It is then compiled in one place, so various data sets can be compared. &ldquo;It brings a whole new context to data collection and reporting,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing else out there that currently aggregates all the data sources in the plant that are meaningful to a plant manager or an operations manager and puts them all in one reporting function.&rdquo; One example of data PI in the Sky can pull together is average enzyme rates, total slurry solids and the name of the operator who did the enzyme dosing. &ldquo;We can tell you which operators might need additional training,&rdquo; he says. 
Author: Holly Jessen Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701-738-4946 hjessen@bbiinternational.com

2014/12/Software-FF_Jan15_14177956154644_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Software-FF_Jan15_14177956154644_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Software-FF_Jan15_14177956154644.jpg

2014/12/Paul-Jan15_14177956133175.jpg

PI in the Sky software in use at an ethanol plant.  

2014/12/Sidebar-Jan15_14177956141248.jpg

JMP, a data analysis software from SAS Institute, can help ethanol producers get a jump on plant efficiency and profitability. 

Putting Data to Work

When Jerry Mohr, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association board of directors, talks to politicians, he often reminds them of what happened in Iowa on Oct. 5, 2005. That&rsquo;s when Iowa corn growers forfeited a billion bushels of corn in one day through the loan deficiency payment program. &ldquo;It cost the government $500 million dollars. That&rsquo;s when we had farm programs that didn&rsquo;t work,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Ethanol was the thing that lifted us out of those government programs and got us off the dole of the taxpayer.&rdquo; Another story Mohr likes to tell is about how the industry brought livestock business back to Iowa. Cattle production had left the state and was growing in Texas, where cheap corn was sent by rail. Iowa ethanol production created a demand for corn, which leveled the playing field, and provided distillers grains as a livestock feed. Small wonder that corn growers like Mohr are ethanol industry supporters. &ldquo;Our top goal this year is to defend the RFS,&rdquo; he said of the ICGA, adding that the association also wants to increase E15 availability.
The first dry mill ethanol plant to begin operations in Iowa was Siouxland Energy Co-op, which opened its doors to corn in 2001. Bernie Punt, now a field services manager for Noble Mansfield Commodity Services, served as the project manager, first board chairman and general manager for the facility. In the late 1990s, Punt was managing a 10,000-head feedlot for Farmers Co-op Society. Punt came to the conclusion that colocating an ethanol plant with an Iowa cattle operation made good business sense. After attending a series of meetings about building an ethanol plant in Iowa, he got authorization from the co-op to pursue the idea.&nbsp; He organized a group of people, who ended up as the ethanol plant&rsquo;s first board of directors, and launched an equity drive. &ldquo;We sold all of our equity shares in about a month,&rdquo; he says. Today, Siouxland is colocated with the feedlot Punt used to manage and has brought big benefits to Sioux Center. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s still a farmer-owned ethanol plant,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very proud of that.&rdquo; We&rsquo;re No. 1! If Iowa were looking for a slogan, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re No. 1&rdquo;&nbsp; would be appropriate. The state produces more corn, ethanol and distillers grains than any other U.S. state. Oh, and, it&rsquo;s also the leading hog and biodiesel producer. Looking at corn production alone, Iowa has produced the largest corn crop of any state for almost 20 years. In fact, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa produces more corn than most countries. Boasting 40 first-generation ethanol plants, five of them wet mills, and three cellulosic ethanol projects, two of which are currently producing, the state has a total ethanol production capacity of more than 3.8 billion gallons a year. The products produced at Iowa ethanol plants added up to a gross value of $11.8 billion in 2013, according to a report prepared for IRFA by ABF Economics, Agriculture and BioFuels Consulting LLP. Cedar Rapids could well be considered the capitol city of Iowa&rsquo;s ethanol industry. Archer Daniels Midland Co. has a dry mill and a wet mill at that location. The two facilities have a combined capacity of 240 MMgy. If that isn&rsquo;t enough, Penford Products has a 45 MMgy wet mill plant there as well. &ldquo;More corn is processed in Cedar Rapids than any other city in the world,&rdquo; says T.J. Page, communications director for IRFA. Blend, Baby The state is ahead of the pack in E15 market penetration as well, with 31 registered E15 stations in 28 cities, according to the IRFA. That&rsquo;s more than twice as many E15 pumps than there are in Wisconsin, the state with the second highest number of E15 stations.&nbsp; Looking at E85 numbers, Iowa has 194 gas stations that sell E85, 87 of which are blender pumps, IRFA says. The most recent Iowa Department of Transportation report puts the number of flex-fuel vehicles in Iowa at nearly 283,000. The use of midlevel ethanol blends and E85 is on the rise in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue. The 2013 annual report showed that the use of blends from E15 to E69 increased more than 158 percent, adding up to more than 5.4 million gallons sold. E85 sales hit an all-time high as well, increasing 18 percent to a total of 11.1 million gallons sold. The trend is continuing in 2014. Some ethanol producers in Iowa are skipping the middleman and blending E85 on site and capturing RINs (renewable identification numbers). Although not every ethanol plant blending on site is on the list, the IRFA currently publishes data on about seven plants in its monthly wholesale E85 price listing service, which it launched last summer. The largest price gap between E85 and gasoline recorded since the service started was June 23, when Absolute Energy LLC offered its customers E85 for $1.59 less than the $3.23 OPIS listed regular gas.
Learn more about <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11711/message-to-the-masses" target="_blank">Iowa's biofuels mobile education center</a> and <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11710/going-advanced" target="_blank">advanced biofuels and algae production faclities in Iowa</a> by clicking on the links.&nbsp;
Author: Holly Jessen Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701-738-4946 hjessen@bbiinternational.com

2014/12/combine-IowaSpotlight_14177960925388_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/combine-IowaSpotlight_14177960925388_thumb.jpg

2014/12/combine-IowaSpotlight_14177960925388.jpg

2014/12/Ethanol_Timeline_14177960932014.jpg

Ethanol and distillers grains production is the biggest user of corn grown in Iowa. (Shown in million bushels.) 
In comparison, numbers for U.S. corn usage put ethanol production at 26 percent and DDGS at 10 percent. 

2014/12/IowaCornUsage_14177960941624.jpg

Ethanol Producer Magazine digs into the details of ethanol production in Iowa and how the industry got started. 


Spotlight on Iowa

The high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC), the spendy countertop machine at the heart of every ethanol plant&rsquo;s quality assurance/quality control process is just one of many high-tech gadgets in the toolkits of lab personnel. In this month&rsquo;s cover feature, <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11712/benchmarking-the-ethanol-lab" target="_blank">&ldquo;Benchmarking the Ethanol Plant Lab,&rdquo;</a> however, we learn that HPLC and other analytical equipment like gas chromatographs, pH meters, moisture analyzers and hydrometers are only as accurate as their calibration, stability and method of use allows them to be. This story, written by EPM Senior Editor Susanne Retka Schill, gives us insight into how lab managers check their equipment, and their practices, through test result comparisons and other validation techniques. Our lab theme continues in <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11708/putting-data-to-work" target="_blank">&ldquo;Putting Data to Work,&rdquo;</a> as we learn how data analysis software helps ethanol plant labs harness information that may otherwise be lost or ineffectively stored. Whether a lab manager is calculating average fermentation rates, optimizing enzyme dosage or troubleshooting a production slowdown, lab data software can really help. The cool part, reports EPM Managing Editor Holly Jessen, is the helpful visuals the software quickly generates.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Also this month, we&rsquo;re excited to bring you the first of five ethanol state spotlights that will be sprinkled into Ethanol Producer Magazine throughout the year. We begin with <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11709/spotlight-on-iowa" target="_blank">Iowa, the nation&rsquo;s No. 1 ethanol and distillers grains producing state.&nbsp;</a>
Tom Bryan President &amp; Editor in Chief tbryan@bbiinternational.com

2014/12/Tom-Bryan-Ethanol_14178005818426_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Tom-Bryan-Ethanol_14178005818426_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Tom-Bryan-Ethanol_14178005818426.jpg

Tom Bryan, president and editor in chief of Ethanol Producer Magazine, writes about the stories featured in the January issue of the magazine, which has a lab management theme. 

Labs Leverage Benchmarking, Data 

Homegrown, renewable biofuels like ethanol offer a secure, stable alternative to foreign oil that saves consumers up to $1.09 per gallon at the pump. The ethanol industry provides job security for nearly 400,000 Americans, price security at the pump and energy security for all.&nbsp; For renewable fuels to succeed, however, the administration needs to provide an equally stable policy environment. The uncertainty that has been introduced around the renewable fuel standard (RFS) is devastating to biofuels investment and innovation. The RFS is our nation&rsquo;s most successful energy policy in the past 40 years, the only policy to ever have loosened the oil industry&rsquo;s stranglehold on the liquid fuels marketplace and the only policy that will help us kick our dangerous addiction to foreign oil. It is of critical importance that the U.S. EPA moves forward, not backward in meeting the goals of the RFS as it reworks the 2014 renewable volume obligation rule. I commend EPA for listening to all stakeholders and acknowledging that the proposed rule was flawed, and I commend you all for stepping up to the plate, submitting comments and making your voices heard. The decision to not finalize the rule is a win for the renewable fuels industry, and we wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to do it without your hard work and support. Although we are still surrounded by uncertainty, one thing is sure&mdash;it is important to take the time to get both the volumes and the methodology right for 2014 and beyond. The RFS enables competition that would benefit us all and would give consumers the sorely needed ability to choose a fuel that meets their price and performance needs. It&rsquo;s time for competition. It&rsquo;s time for choice. And it&rsquo;s also time to stick a fork in the tired food vs. fuel myth. We&rsquo;re about to produce yet another record corn crop, global food prices recently hit a four-year low and ethanol production volumes are near the highest ever recorded. Clearly, the success of the industry is not harming anyone&rsquo;s grocery bill. In fact, a 2013 World Bank study demonstrated that the primary driver of increased global food costs is the rising price of energy, not higher farm commodity prices or ethanol production. It outlined how crude oil prices are responsible for more than 50 percent of the increase in food prices since 2004, a full year before the enactment of the RFS. This analysis has been validated by the USDA and countless other objective economic studies. Likewise, the ethanol industry is not driving up prices in the feed store. Only 17.5 percent of net corn bushels are used for renewable fuels because only the starch in the corn is used to produce ethanol. The rest is returned to the food chain in the form of a competitively priced, nutritious animal feed for cattle, hogs and poultry. As a result, both the corn and livestock industries are thriving, not in spite of one another, but because of one another. Since the enactment of the RFS in 2005, livestock production has gone up, livestock prices have gone up and the margin between livestock values and the cost of feed has grown appreciably. In addition to providing livestock producers with feed, the ethanol industry provides American consumers with the ability to choose a high-performance, low-cost fuel that is grown here at home. Under the RFS, our dependence on foreign oil has been cut almost in half, from 60 percent to 33 percent. And, instead of sending nearly a billion dollars a day overseas, we are investing right here at home. The RFS is essential to our nation&rsquo;s energy security, national security, environment and economy. The impact of the policy can be seen across the nation&mdash;in rural communities where farmers can once again earn a living doing what they love, in the cleaner, bluer skies out the window and in the wallets of consumers who are saving substantially at the pump. Let&rsquo;s keep moving America forward. Author: Tom Buis CEO, Growth Energy 202-545-4000 tbuis@growthenergy.org

2014/12/DRIVE-EPM-tom_14178002363531_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/DRIVE-EPM-tom_14178002363531_thumb.jpg

2014/12/DRIVE-EPM-tom_14178002363531.jpg

It is of critical importance that the U.S. EPA moves forward, not backward in meeting the goals of the RFS as it reworks the 2014 renewable volume obligation rule, writes Tom Buis of Growth Energy. 

Moving Forward, Not Backward  

Like the &ldquo;Who Shot JR&rdquo; season of &ldquo;Dallas,&rdquo; the U.S. EPA apparently thought 2014 was just a dream that never happened. When the agency awoke in November and announced that it would not publish the renewable volume obligation&nbsp; (RVO) rule for 2014 until sometime in 2015, refiners and ethanol producers alike were left to watch reruns of government dysfunction.&nbsp; But the year did happen, and quite a year it was.&nbsp; Ethanol production and blending broke records.&nbsp; Exports picked up.&nbsp; E15 and E85 sales increased.&nbsp; And the first cellulosic ethanol gallons were produced.&nbsp; So here, in satiric tribute to the year that wasn&rsquo;t, is our annual in and out list.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="49%" valign="top">
OUT Annual RVOs EPW Chairman Boxer Phantom fuels Infographics DOT-111 Rail Car Corn/DDG exports to China Ice bucket challenges Food vs. fuel canard Big Food complains about $8 corn E15 hyperbole
Computer models predicting ILUC $100-per-barrel oil EPA RVO hearings API RFS lawsuits Infrastructure need Midterm elections API anti-RFS ad campaign RFA Chairman Neill McKinstray
</td>
<td width="2%">&nbsp;</td>
<td width="49%" valign="top">IN Multiyear RVOs EPW Chairman Inhofe D3 RIN production RFA advocacy app Rail delays Ethanol going global E85 pump photo contests Record corn production and yield Big Food Complaints about $4 corn E15 warranty coverage for two-thirds of new &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;vehicles Real world data showing no ILUC Saudi oil production quotas Congressional RFS hearings AFPM RVO Lawsuit Prime the Pump 2016 presidential campaign Fuels America pro-RFS ad campaign RFA Chairman Randy Doyal</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Author: Bob Dinneen President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Association 202-289-3835

2014/12/Bob-Dineen-NEW_14178003443528_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Bob-Dineen-NEW_14178003443528_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Bob-Dineen-NEW_14178003443528.jpg

Bob Dinneeen writes the Renewable Fuels Association annual in and out list after a year in which the EPA announced it was delaying the publication of the annual RVO rule for 2014. 

The Year  That Wasn't  

The G20 Leaders&rsquo; Summit was held here in Brisbane, Australia, in November. World leaders came in with their delegations from 20 of the leading economically developed countries, plus an entire entourage of reporters and other stakeholders. Having never witnessed such a gathering before, I must say it was impressive. Vladimir Putin, who was destined to be taken to task over the Ukraine and the MH17 airline disaster, arrived late and left early. The big stars, of course, were President Obama, arriving on Air Force One, and Xi Jinping of China. As he is the leader of one of the largest emerging economic superpowers, many were anxious to dance with Jinping, so to speak. Australia&rsquo;s Prime Minister Tony Abbott was determined not to put global warming on the G20 agenda. Obama, however, while speaking at the University of Queensland to a large group of students, politicians and others, placed it squarely on the agenda, and other countries followed suit. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR as its known here), one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is being decimated by rising sea temperatures and a host of other factors. &ldquo;Here, a climate that increases in temperature will mean more extreme and frequent storms, more flooding, rising seas that submerge Pacific islands,&rdquo; Obama said. &ldquo;The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened.&rdquo; He went on to say that that while he had not yet had the opportunity to visit the GBR he wanted to be sure it was preserved for his daughters to visit. &ldquo;I want them to be able to bring their daughters or sons to visit and I want it there 50 years from now.&rdquo; The auditorium thundered with applause. I&rsquo;m mentioning this because here in Australia, in the U.S. and countries around the world, we still have those who believe that global warming is a hoax. Science is not on their side, the facts are not on their side and the environmental degradation continuing to be levied on our world as a result of those who bury their heads in the sand is quickly becoming irreversible. Renewable fuels like ethanol are just a part of the solution, but an important part. When I see the U.S. EPA dragging its feet, politicians acting on behalf of special interests and even the environmental minister of Australia supporting large increases in mining and dredging along the GBR, it infuriates me. If Western countries invested hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars developing renewable energy projects around the world, which in turn would employ millions of people and at the same time help protect the global environment, that to me would make much more sense than new pipelines, more oil exploration and mining for coal. It&rsquo;s not just America, the entire world needs a wake-up call before it&rsquo;s too late. That&rsquo;s the way I see it.
Author: Mike Bryan Chairman, BBI International mbryan@bbiinternational.com

2014/12/MIKE2005-EPM_14178004577209_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/MIKE2005-EPM_14178004577209_thumb.jpg

2014/12/MIKE2005-EPM_14178004577209.jpg

Renewable fuels like ethanol are part of the solution to global warming, writes Mike Bryan, of BBI International. Although some believe it is a hoax, science is not on their side.  

World Needs Wake-up Call

These are still uncertain times for the European ethanol industry. Discussions in the EU are well underway to revise the current EU biofuels policy, which expires in 2020, and the EU has not indicated what type of biofuel rules, if any, will exist after 2020.&nbsp; This policy uncertainty is the biggest challenge facing European ethanol producers. The current framework, introduced in 2009, heavily influences and governs the ethanol market in Europe. In 2012, just three years after EU policy support was confirmed for biofuels, however, the European Commission introduced a major U-turn by proposing to cap the use of conventional biofuels at current consumption levels. The Commission justifies the proposed cap as necessary to address indirect land use change (ILUC), incentivize biofuels with better greenhouse gas (GHG) performance and limit biofuels&rsquo; role in food prices. How an arbitrary cap will solve any of these issues is still open to question. As an industry, we agree with the need for effective regulations to ensure that biofuels used in Europe meet the highest possible sustainability standards. In Europe, however, these biofuels are already heavily regulated and must meet mandatory and stringent sustainability criteria. We are proud that the ethanol we produce in Europe is the most sustainable in the world. But Europe must be careful not to &ldquo;throw the baby out with the bath water&rdquo; by punishing all conventional biofuels equally. The proposed cap is an ineffective policy tool because it does not differentiate between biofuels on the basis of GHG emission performance: the very purpose of the ILUC exercise. A clear measure to incentivize biofuels with good environmental performance would be to establish a separate target for renewable ethanol in petrol. Such a target would help promote ethanol, and its proven benefits of high GHG savings and low, or no ILUC. The current policy discussions are important, but everybody agrees they have lasted too long. In Europe, biofuel investments have either dried up or European companies are investing elsewhere where the policy framework is more stable. It is now time to close the debate, move forward and provide the clarity and certainty that present and future investors need. This diverse, versatile and young industry has a valuable role to play in decarbonizing transport, but the EU must put in place a clear, dedicated policy framework that includes long-term ambitions and policy stability. Such a framework will provide companies with a clear reason to invest, incentivize investments and go a long way to both realizing the potential of advanced biofuels and contributing to Europe&rsquo;s bioeconomy. In January, the European Parliament commences its second reading of the ILUC proposal. This is a crucial opportunity for legislators to regain investor confidence in the sector by producing a stable, long-term policy that will realize the benefits of ethanol, both conventional and advanced. Author: Robert Wright Secretary General, ePURE, the European Renewable Ethanol Association&nbsp; wright@epure.org

2014/12/WrightRobertePURE_1417800019262_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/WrightRobertePURE_1417800019262_thumb.jpg

2014/12/WrightRobertePURE_1417800019262.jpg

The European ethanol industry faces policy uncertainty with the expiration of the current biofuels policy in 2020, writes Robert Wright, the new secretary general of ePURE. 

EU Must Keep Benefits of Sustainable Biofuels in Sight

I frequently remind members of the American Coalition for Ethanol that they are the best ethanol lobbyists. For the cynics out there, I don&rsquo;t say this to make people feel good. I say it because it&rsquo;s the truth.&nbsp; Before joining the ethanol industry, I worked for a U.S. senator on Capitol Hill.&nbsp; During that time, we met with thousands of people on energy and agriculture issues, from lobbyists sporting cuff-links and polished wingtip shoes to constituents with dirt under their fingernails and scuffs on their boots.&nbsp; (Digression: I&rsquo;m a lobbyist. No cuff-links, but I confess to a pair of shiny shoes. It&rsquo;s all the rage to condemn lobbyists, but we have an important job to do. Just like any other profession, some lobbyists are overpaid and not very effective; others are pretty darn good at their jobs). While the farmers with dirt under their fingernails and ranchers with scuffs or other stuff on their boots who we met with didn&rsquo;t know what a quorum call is, they knew how the decisions we made in Washington, D.C., would impact their families, neighbors and communities. Their personal experiences were persuasive. The lobbyist&rsquo;s talking points were not. We need look no further for evidence that authentic grassroots advocacy can overcome a horde of overpaid lobbyists than to the U.S. EPA&rsquo;s decision before Thanksgiving to reconsider its proposed reduction of the renewable fuel standard (RFS). While there were rumblings, we had scored some points in trying to deter EPA from its indiscriminate cuts, most of the signs pointed to EPA taking an unprecedented (and probably unlawful) approach to changing the RFS. Big Oil lobbyists thought they had bullied the Obama administration into completely rewriting the 2014 RFS so oil companies could escape their legal responsibility to offer fuels like E15 and E85 to consumers. With feet kicked up on their desks, oil lobbyists were on the verge of uncorking the champagne. But you didn&rsquo;t give up, and in the words of Lee Corso on ESPN&rsquo;s &ldquo;College GameDay,&rdquo; EPA said &ldquo;not so fast&rdquo; to Big Oil. Thanks to your letters, comments and emails to EPA, your phone calls to members of Congress and your support of ACE, grassroots advocacy prevailed, if even temporarily. EPA announced it would reconsider its ill-advised plan to reduce the RFS based on the so-called blend wall. Instead, the agency said it would finalize the 2014 standard in 2015, when it will also announce plans for setting the 2015 and 2016 blending volumes. It&rsquo;s a case of &ldquo;power by people&rdquo; overcoming Big Oil&rsquo;s war chest. ACE and others asked you to write EPA and tell them your story about why the RFS is important. Many of you told the administration about how ethanol has reenergized your hometowns. Others discussed the jobs and economic benefits of ethanol. A lot of you emphasized the clean air benefits of ethanol or the legislative history of the RFS. It worked. The White House and EPA realized their proposal would hurt rural America, cause pain at the pump for consumers and send innovation in advanced biofuels overseas. They also appear to have recognized their method for changing the RFS was inconsistent with legislative history and the Clean Air Act. I jest at Big Oil lobbyists being on the verge of uncorking champagne, but our short-term victory is no cause for celebration. At this stage, it isn&rsquo;t entirely clear if EPA will abandon its flawed blend-wall methodology for setting future RFS volumes. The 114th Congress is sworn in this month and calls from those oil lobbyists to repeal the RFS will intensify. Powered by people persuasive and authentic, like you, ACE stands ready to reengage EPA and work with the new Congress to ensure the RFS serves as a tool to provide market access for higher blends of ethanol. Author: Brian Jennings Executive Vice President American Coalition for Ethanol 605-334-3381 bjennings@ethanol.org

2014/12/JenningsBrian_14178001138533_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/JenningsBrian_14178001138533_thumb.jpg

2014/12/JenningsBrian_14178001138533.jpg

Authentic grassroots advocacy has more power than any lobbyist, writes  Brian Jennings of ACE.  Big Oil lobbyists  were ready to celebrate the rewriting of the RFS but "power by people" won the day. 

Not So Fast

Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) standards for the front and back end of an ethanol plant are clearly set out by long-established federal grain inspection standards, ASTM standards and customer contracts. The process in the middle is a different story, however. Not only are there no agencies or contracts prescribing testing procedures and equipment, but the process is inherently variable. On the surface, corn is quite uniform, but starch content does vary somewhat from field to field, and definitely from region to region and from year to year. Those variations, though often slight, affect enzyme dosing. The fermentation process itself is accomplished by a living organism, and the goal is to keep yeast happily producing ethanol under optimal conditions. But, the same environment that keeps yeast productive is also ideal for bacterial growth, detected through monitoring acetic and lactic acid levels. To keep the process humming along efficiently, it is absolutely essential that potential problems be caught early. Thus, every ethanol plant has a system in place to pull samples every few hours for testing, searching for key indicators that the process is moving along as expected. Many tests are done in-house by the ethanol labs and others by third-party labs, often on composite samples sent on a weekly basis. Plant operators and lab technicians work under the supervision of a lab manager tasked with making sure the equipment, test methods and general procedures are up to the task. At the heart of fermentation monitoring is a complex piece of equipment that costs $50,000-plus&mdash;the high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). It can separate, identify and quantify multiple compounds in a sample in about 20 or 30 minutes. The ethanol lab uses it to monitor carbohydrates, ethanol concentration, glycerol, lactic and acetic acids, and more.&nbsp; The HPLC may be the workhorse, but it is far from being the only sophisticated piece of equipment in the lab. Gas chromatographs are used for analyzing finished ethanol, pH meters and moisture analyzers are used to monitor several points of the process, hydrometers measure proof. Microscopes are used to monitor yeast health. To get accurate results, each of the instruments needs to be in working order, calibrated and used properly. Lab managers routinely use check samples, statistical analyses and benchmarking to evaluate just how good their lab procedures are.&nbsp; &ldquo;Being able to measure the quality of your methods and benchmarking against another method or against a known standard puts you in a position to know when the numbers start changing, if it&rsquo;s an analytical issue or if it could be a process issue,&rdquo; explains Amanda Huber, process manager at Front Range Energy LLC, a 50 MMgy plant in Windsor, Colorado. &ldquo;If you have no way of knowing it&rsquo;s an analytical issue, you have no choice but to attribute it to process and you start making changes to the process. Sometimes that&rsquo;s not going to improve things.&rdquo; Huber uses several methods to check the accuracy of the equipment and testing methods in the lab she manages. The moisture analyzer used to measure the solids in mash or moisture levels in distillers grains can be difficult to get standardized, she explains. &ldquo;We do a weekly comparison with the oven method in triplicate, keeping an eye on how the instrument and methods are performing. If it&rsquo;s been within 3 to 5 percent agreement with the oven method for months and months, and suddenly it&rsquo;s 8 percent, we&rsquo;ll investigate.&rdquo; Going Standard Close attention is given to calibrating the HPLC. Huber explains that when she began managing the lab at the plant startup, nearly nine years ago, they used a single standard for calibration, as recommended. After several months, she found that it wasn&rsquo;t doing an accurate job of predicting alcohol production and yield. &ldquo;At that point, we added a second calibration standard just for the ethanol peak, and definitely saw better correlation of our production with our analytical,&rdquo; she says. She now uses a custom-made standard along with a common standard and three data points for the HPLC. Because the HPLC is used to monitor fermentation and measure the success of fermentation at the finishing point, it is helpful to calibrate at more than one concentration of each analyte, she explains. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll measure anywhere from zero to 15 percent by weight ethanol and I think a lot of people are only doing a calibration at 12 percent. So you don&rsquo;t know your instrument response to concentrations other than that.&rdquo; Sabrina Trupia, research director at the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center, explains the core of the center&rsquo;s work is monitoring fermentations, relying upon HPLC data.&nbsp; &ldquo;With HPLC, running several standards is a great idea, once a day, just to check on the stability of the instrument,&rdquo; she says. NCERC&rsquo;s lab uses five standards each with&nbsp; different compositions of the eight components being tested for in the process, and runs a check sample every 10 or 20 samples. If the numbers from one production sample are abnormal, before any changes to the process are made, she suggests first checking the HPLC by running a check sample, rerunning the questionable production sample, and then running another check sample. If all three numbers are outside the norm, it&rsquo;s an indicator the machine is off. If results from the two check samples return true numbers, then it&rsquo;s time to pull a second production sample to verify something is truly wrong with the process and begin investigating causes. In addition to ongoing education through seminars such as the annual Fuel Ethanol Laboratory Conference, ethanol&nbsp; lab managers turn to instrument manufacturers and vendors for help in keeping their lab running at top performance. Some single-ownership plants work together in buying clubs and build on that working relationship to form a peer group of lab managers who periodically meet to share tips. Plant QA/QC teams can also participate in round robins organized by NCERC or enzyme or yeast vendors. The round robin organizer prepares samples that are sent to each participating plant. Each lab runs the specified tests and sends the results to the organizer who compiles them all and reports back with comparison information. Turning to Statistics Another method for monitoring lab performance is through statistical analysis. QA manager Erin Robertson at GreenField Ethanol-Johnstown in Ontario explains GreenField&rsquo;s QA departments use measurement systems analysis for their instruments. &ldquo;We use historical data, so we know how that machine should be performing from day to day. We use statistical process control charts. If you&rsquo;re falling above or below a certain line or limit, it lets you know something has changed within your system.&rdquo;&nbsp; Periodically, the QA/QC team organizes a gage repeatability and reproducibility (R&amp;R) exercise. Everybody who uses the instrument participates, roughly 25 people at the plant, including operators and lab personnel. Each person runs the same sample multiple times (demonstrating repeatability) and the results from all participants are compared (showing reproducibility). &ldquo;It lets you know how much of the variation is coming from the different operators using it,&rdquo; Robertson explains, &ldquo;and how much from the actual measurement itself and the interaction between those.&rdquo; Darrell Veres, plant manager at the 65 MMgy Canadian plant, says this can help identify when additional training is needed. &ldquo;If the variation is too wide, then you go back and retrain the operators to get that variation as tight as you possible can,&rdquo; he says. Veres serves as the mentor for the QA peer group, which includes Robertson and the QA managers from GreenField&rsquo;s three other plants in Ontario and Quebec. &ldquo;When it comes to validating test methods and benchmarking, how we&rsquo;re doing, it&rsquo;s invaluable to have somebody in the same position at another plant where you can bounce ideas back and forth,&rdquo; Robertson adds. &ldquo;We can do interlab cross checks and round robins, where we&rsquo;re testing the same sample and making sure we&rsquo;re getting the same answer.&nbsp; We can tweak our methods based on that.&rdquo; Time to Standardize the Middle? With the goal of QA/QC programs being to tighten up the variation&mdash;both in the process and in the lab results&mdash;Trupia raises the question of whether it&rsquo;s time for the ethanol industry to adopt a common set of good practices for the lab. &ldquo;What I see now is a lot of variability between different ethanol plants,&rdquo; she explains. The Renewable Fuels Association publishes a guide for quality assurance and quality control, but while it establishes basic principles that could be applied to process testing, the QA/QC guidelines focus on end products&mdash;ethanol, distillers grains, corn oil and carbon dioxide. &ldquo;I understand the concern on producing quality coproducts and ASTM compliant ethanol,&rdquo; she says, adding that best practices for QA in the middle process are equally important. Guidelines for the process would help establish best practices for sampling frequency, type of sampling, recommended replications, how often to run check samples, how to determine whether the staff is properly performing manual tasks such as pipetting or titrating, and more.&nbsp; She also thinks the industry would benefit from more benchmarking activities so ethanol labs can compare reporting results on their process testing. &ldquo;ASTM does this for ethanol,&rdquo; she points out. &ldquo;They send you a monthly sample and you test for all the requirements&mdash;ethanol, methanol, water, specific gravity, and so on. They send you your answer and where you stood,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very helpful. If your methanol is systematically high over several tests and you&rsquo;re using the method that ASTM is prescribing, then there&rsquo;s something wrong with your instrument, or your calibration. There&rsquo;s something that is not working. You can trace it back, if you have good records on your lab upkeep.&rdquo; Author: Susanne Retka Schill Senior Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701-738-4922 sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com

SAMPLE PREP:  Front Range process manager Amanda Huber checks the pH of several samples. Used heavily for process monitoring, pH meters are calibrated at least once per week.

2014/12/Benchmarking-FeatFront2_14177978436221_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Benchmarking-FeatFront2_14177978436221_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Benchmarking-FeatFront2_14177978436221.jpg

LOGGING THE WORK:  Multiple fermentation samples are pulled every few hours, with a series of tests done to monitor fermentation progress and watch for potential issues. Recordkeeping on each step on the way is key to traceability. 

2014/12/LoggingWorkJan15_14177978442378.jpg

PROOF CHECK:  A plant operator at Front Range checks a sample for proof using a hydrometer. Not only is the instrument certified, but the thermometers used for the temperature adjustment need to be certified. 

2014/12/ProofCheckJan15_14177978462062.jpg

TRAINED EYE:  Huber reviews acidity titration with a plant operator at Front Range. The color of the titration indicator is very subjective, so it is important all operators correctly identify the end point of the titration. 

2014/12/TrainedEyeJan15_14177978471694.jpg

MONITORING FERMENTATION:  Front Range Energy plant manager, Phil Turchen, puts samples in the HPLC, the process quality control instrument most heavily used to monitor fermentation and, sometimes, distillation. 

2014/12/Monitoring_14177993981021.jpg

Quality control depends on accurate test results, but how do ethanol labs control their own quality?  

Benchmarking the Ethanol Lab

The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association board of directors has appointed Andrea Kent as its president. Kent previously held several senior roles in communications, media relations and issues management, including vice president of communications at the CRFA. She has nearly a decade of leadership experience in numerous federal departments and crown corporations. Kent&rsquo;s appointment follows the departure of W. Scott Thurlow.&nbsp;&nbsp; Kelly Davis, director of regulatory affairs at the Renewable Fuels Association, and Jim Miller,&nbsp; vice president and chief economist at Growth Energy, were&nbsp; appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce&rsquo;s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee. The committee provides advice on the development and administration of programs and policies to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency exports. Archer Daniels Midland Co. has named Juan R. Luciano as its next CEO, effective Jan. 1. He was also elected to the company&rsquo;s board of directors in November. Prior to taking over the role of CEO, Luciano served as president and chief operating officer (COO) responsible for leading and running ADM&rsquo;s global operations. Luciano will succeed Patricia Woertz, who will continue in the role of ADM&rsquo;s chairman of the board and is expected to retire in May 2016. Luciano joined ADM in 2011 as executive vice president and COO, and was named president in February 2014. He will be the ninth chief executive in the company&rsquo;s 112-year history. Mascoma Corp. has completed the sale of its yeast business to Lallemand Inc. As part of the transaction, Lallemand has acquired the Mascoma company name and trademarks, all of its proprietary and patented yeast strains and associated technologies, as well as its entire research and development team located at its facility in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Lallemand and Mascoma have been partners in the successful commercialization of the TransFerm line of products, including TransFerm and TransFerm Yield-plus. Valero Energy Corp. has announced that Bill Klesse will step down as chairman of the board, effective Dec. 31. Klesse became CEO at the end of 2005 and was named chairman of the board in 2007. He stepped down as CEO on May 1, 2014. He spent his entire 45-year career with Valero and its predecessor companies.&nbsp; Growth Energy has announced a multi-year commitment and new partnership with the National Future Farmers of America Organization to build on critical projects that prepare today&rsquo;s students to become tomorrow&rsquo;s leaders in American agriculture.&nbsp; Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad&nbsp; will serve as chairman of the 2015 Governors&rsquo; Biofuel Coalition, while Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has been announced as vice chairman. In 2016, Nixon will transition to the role of chairman. The 33-state bipartisan organization was founded more than 20 years ago to increase the use of ethanol-based fuels, decrease the nation&rsquo;s dependence on imported energy resources, improve the environment and stimulate the national economy.&nbsp; The National Association of Professional Woman has honored Darlene Gonzalez as 2014 Professional Woman of the Year for her leadership in sales. Gonzalez currently serves as regional sales manager at Lallemand Biofuels and Distilled Spirits. &nbsp;&nbsp; Jeff Render has been named utilities manager for Aventine Renewable Energy Inc. He is responsible for overseeing efficient operation of the new natural gas boilers, cogeneration electricity turbine systems and water treatment system at the company&rsquo;s 100 MMgy wet mill plant in Pekin, Illinois. He has returned to Pekin after serving as maintenance manager for the past year to support the restart of Aventine&rsquo;s two dry mill facilities in Aurora, Nebraska. Joule has named Serge Tchuruk as president and CEO. He will lead the company in its next phase of development aimed at commercialization. Tchuruk was appointed to the company&rsquo;s board of directors in July and previously served as chairman and CEO of Alcatel and Total SA. He succeeds Paul Smith, who resigned after holding the position of president and CEO since early 2014.&nbsp; Sloenis, formerly Ashland Water Technologies, has received U.S. Patent No. 8,841,469 B2 for the use of chemical additives to improve the separation of corn oil in the ethanol production process. The company first filed a provisional U.S. patent in March 2011. The patent was issued in September. In addition to yielding more corn oil, Solenis&rsquo; additives, marketed as Dimension corn oil extraction aids, also reduce solids in the oil. Tom Erickson has been named director of the Energy &amp; Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Erickson has been serving as interim director since July. He previously served as associate director for business, operations and intellectual property at the EERC.&nbsp;&nbsp; U.S. Water Services Inc. has launched the rst in a new series of products developed for corn oil recovery. COR NS is a new nonsorbitol-based product line designed to aid in the extraction of corn oil as a coproduct for biofuels plants.

2014/12/Branstad_14177998308486.jpg

2014/12/Davis_14177998320261.jpg

2014/12/Erickson_14177998330732.jpg

2014/12/Gonzalez_14177998341101.jpg

2014/12/Kent_14177998350587.jpg

2014/12/Luciano_14177998360595.jpg

2014/12/Nixon_1417799837091.jpg

2014/12/Tchuruk_14177998380742.jpg

2014/12/Thurlow_14177998391268.jpg

2014/12/Woertz_14177998400958.jpg

2014/12/Miller_14177999409616.jpg

Business Briefs

The core sponsors of the trailer are Iowa Corn Promotion Board and the Iowa Corn Growers Association, along with Absolute Energy, Big River Resources, Golden Grain Energy and Homeland Energy Solutions.&nbsp;
Curt Froyen, project manager, tells EPM: TRAILER WITHOUT BORDERS: The biofuels mobile education center traveled to multiple locations in and out of Iowa in 2014. We began our year at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, on Feb. 11 and concluded it with the AAA Texas 500 in Ft. Worth, Texas, on Nov. 11. We did 51 events in 14 states, from out west in California, south to Texas, Arizona, and Kentucky, north to Minnesota and Michigan and east to Delaware and Virginia. We had over 2,500 students and their teachers visit the trailer at college campuses, high schools and ag related student events throughout the Midwest. SWAG:&nbsp; We handed out over 30,000 Koozies (fabric sleeve for beverages) at 12 NASCAR sponsored events, the Knoxville Nationals and the Iowa State Fair. We attended 12 county fairs in Iowa. Over 20,000 people had the opportunity to visit the trailer at three of this year's Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa events. It would be hard to estimate the total number of visitors for all of our events but it would have to be well over a hundred thousand.
Learn more about the <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11709/spotlight-on-iowa" target="_blank">Iowa ethanol industry</a> and <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/articles/11710/going-advanced" target="_blank">advanced biofuels and algae production faclities in Iowa</a> by clicking on the links.&nbsp;
Author: Holly Jessen Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701-738-4946 hjessen@bbiinternational.com

Iowa's Gov. Terry Branstad, center, visits the trailer. With him are Mike Moats, far left, a representative of the education trailer, and Kevin Buckallew, Iowa Corn district field manager. 

2014/12/biofuels-trailer_14177975883732_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/biofuels-trailer_14177975883732_thumb.jpg

2014/12/biofuels-trailer_14177975883732.jpg

The biofuels mobile education center is sponsored mainly by organizations and ethanol plants located in Iowa but visits locations across the U.S. 

2014/12/biofuelseducation_14177976377739.jpg

The biofuels mobile education center is a 45-foot long trailer filled with interactive touch screen computers, educational displays, movies and more, to educate visitors about ethanol and other biofuels.

Message to the Masses

Seventy percent of ethanol producers rely on railroads to ship product, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Rail Road Performance Measures website, a voluntary site for six major North American freight railroads, showed a 23 percent decrease in average speeds of the common manifest trains (multiple product carriers) from April 2013 to April 2014.
 In the April 2 edition of This Week in Petroleum, EIA reported that ethanol stores nationwide dipped 4 million barrels below the average March levels of 20 million barrels. East Coast inventories last March reached 4.5 million barrels, the lowest since EIA began recording data in June 2010.
 Ethanol plants generally have about five to 10 days of storage capacity, according to several company representatives. When storage runs out, there are three choices: shut down, go into an idle mode, or use trucking to move product off site.
 Lamberton, Minnesota-based Highwater Ethanol CEO Brian Kletscher says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got 10 days of storage. After that, we must shut down, but not for more than about 12 hours at a time.&rdquo;
 According to Kletscher, weather related train delays resulting in nine down days for Highwater at a cost of $1.5 million in lost income last year.
 &ldquo;Added cars and crews help, but mother nature overrules at times, and this must be factored into the bottom line. The key is to have a winter plan in place before the temperatures plunge. You&rsquo;ve just got to monitor the weather systems and know that a delay anywhere along the system will create a domino effect,&rdquo; says Kletscher.
 &ldquo;Rail delays have our attention, given last year&rsquo;s experience,&rdquo; says Mike Jerke, CEO, Guardian Energy Management LLC of Janesville, Minnesota. &ldquo;Our solution is to keep the communication lines open with our marketers and actively stay ahead of car movements, where things are slowing down or speeding up. You&rsquo;ve just got to be mindful.&rdquo;
 And to those new cellulosic facilities coming on line, Kletscher says, &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re plan&rsquo;s not working, reach out to your fellow ethanol producers. We&rsquo;ve been through it.&rdquo;
 Investment And Preparedness
 &ldquo;BNSF is working with our ethanol customers to make sure their products get to their ultimate destination,&rdquo; wrote Amy Casas, BNSF director of corporate communications, in a statement to Biomass Magazine on Nov. 14.
 The statement touted &ldquo;an industry record capital investment of $4 billion to improve our network and expand capacity, particularly in the Northern region of our network to handle growth.&rdquo; The investment includes 500 new locomotives as well as 6,000 new employees, representing 13 percent of a 46,000-person workforce. Better communication with customers is also promised.
 BNSF posted a Winter Action Plan to its website Oct. 30 with detailed steps taken to keep engines from freezing and prepare for forecasted weather and emergencies. The tactics include increasing mechanical rapid responders by 25 percent, adding 800 new container and trailer spots at key intermodal facilities in the Chicago area, and increasing emergency generators and salt supplies.
 Railroad Performance Measures website, which includes weekly statistics for cars on line, train speed, and terminal dwell, reported BNSF manifest train speeds steady since late November 2013, averaging about 19 miles per hour. Unit train speeds are up slightly to 20.8 from a fluctuation between a low of 17 and high of 22.3. Dwell times have changed little from a year ago November, but are down slightly from 30.8 hours in 2013 to 28.5 this year. That number reflects the average of all terminals.
 BNSF is performing better than last February when its Galesburg, Illinois, terminal, which handles many ethanol cars from Iowa, reached a peak dwell time of 60 hours.
 Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont, Minnesota, sits on the CP line. According to CEO Randall Doyal, the company needs to ship roughly 120 million gallons or about one train a week. It has 250 cars in the fleet, which is fine if the cars are coming back on schedule. &ldquo;Last winter, we had the railroad saying they were pulling a car, yet we had pictures of the car still sitting in Des Moines, Iowa.&rdquo;
 Doyal predicts seven years at least for the rail carriers to resolve what he sees as an over-committed and under-employed industry. &ldquo;I think the railroads looked at their book of business a number of years ago and felt right sized.&rdquo; Then the Bakken shale play opened up and, according to Doyal, &ldquo;suddenly the railroads have more freight than they can shake a stick at. Ethanol took a back seat.&rdquo; The winter railroad debacle led RBob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association president, to write a public letter, run in part, April 3, by the Wall Street Journal, to the Association of American Railroads stating that the &ldquo;sheer chaos&rdquo; of the rail system damaged the ethanol industry by increasing prices that ultimately landed on consumers at the gas pump.
 EIA reported on its website in April, &ldquo;Rail congestion, cold weather raise ethanol spot prices,&rdquo; that spot ethanol prices expanded by $1 in March between New York Harbor and Chicago. The spread is usually about 25 cents. The extra 75 cents is attributed to the winter railroad delays.
 It further stated that ethanol futures prices suggest that market participants expect short-lived price increases as rail system congestion improves and producers increase production in response to prices. As of Dec. 4, ethanol prices were at $1.77 per gallon, according to EIA.
 3 Winter Options
 According to a range of biofuel producers, there are only three options when delays back up storage&mdash;shut down, idle mode, or trucking.
 Pipelines would be the safest, most efficient means to cover the open distances to major ports but Doyal says, &ldquo;We&rsquo;d need to move 10 times the volume to make the costs feasible.&rdquo;
 Eagle Ford Shale, an online oil industry market report, indicated a coming bottleneck back in 2011 stating, &ldquo;We need more pipelines delivering crude in the Gulf Coast. We don&rsquo;t have capacity, so oil marketers resort to railroad agreements.&rdquo;
 Trucking is limited due to costs as well as crude delivery demands. Only short hauls make sense for the trucking option.
 Kletscher points out that the best plans made by railroads and ethanol producers alike can always be foiled by weather. Every operation has contingency and emergency plans that involve slowing or even shutting down, depending on management&rsquo;s calculus of the alternative costs.
 Plans like those of Highwater Ethanol, Al-Corn and the cellulosic producers all include avoiding shut downs. &ldquo;The key is to first have a plan. Run through it periodically. Think today about worst cases and talk to your board about the costs,&rdquo; Kletcher says.
 &ldquo;The issue with ethanol is a high water concentration. We use water for cooling plus the mash has a high water concentration. It&rsquo;s better to not shut down,&rdquo; Doyal says. Water in the lines must be kept warm in order to keep the distillation process going and the pipes from freezing.
 &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about logistics, whether a rail car is delayed or a truck tips over. We ship out by rail on a short line, so product can go either direction,&rdquo; says Patrick Gruber, CEO of advanced biofuels maker Gevo based in Englewood, Colorado.
 Getting important inputs in can also factor during extreme weather delays. &ldquo;We slowed down due to an inability to get natural gas delivered over excessive cold,&rdquo; Jerke says.
 Taking realistic stock of what the railroad can honestly accomplish is part of the plan too. When trains are running on schedule, a smaller leased railcar fleet works for ethanol producers, but when they are not, issues arise. Al-Corn, according to Doyal, only needs 250 cars in its fleet, if the cars are coming back every five days or less as promised by the railroad. What the railroad called a &ldquo;virtual pipeline,&rdquo; didn&rsquo;t perform under extreme weather conditions and increased crude oil production.
 Government Intervention
 Complaints of rate increases and unfair preference to the oil industry got the attention of legislators and federal regulators.
 John Thune, R-N.D., Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.V., Commerce Committee chairman, introduced the STB Reauthorization Act of 2014 in September. The bill will &ldquo;&hellip;increase efficiency of the Surface Transportation Board by changing internal processes and increasing timeliness of STB decisions to improve U.S. rail service,&rdquo; according to a press release.
 In October, the Surface Transportation Board initiated new weekly reporting requirements for all Class I carriers in order to &ldquo;better understand performance across the entire network.&rdquo; The data, which is not much different from the existing voluntary reporting at the Railroad Performance Measures site, is publicly available at www.stb.dot.gov. It includes summary of service in general, average train speeds by type of freight, total car types on line, average dwell time at origin, and more.
 Hinging on Distribution
 Doyal recalls the early &rsquo;80s, following the oil embargo and the big push for energy independence, working for small renewable producers in Portales, New Mexico. &ldquo;The chemist told us the future is cellulose because of its massive availability and low cost to grow. He didn&rsquo;t foresee the obstacles,&rdquo; he says. While three celebrated new cellulosic facilities came online this year in the Midwest, with a fourth projected for early 2015, the biofuels industry as a whole remains concerned about the impacts of federal policy.
 Kent Hoekman, former petroleum engineer now with the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, says, &ldquo;Developing liquid renewable energy is easy. Man&rsquo;s been converting starch to alcohol for thousands of years.&rdquo; Even a technology that converts cellulosic feedstock to liquid fuel is now proven.&nbsp; Hoekman reports that what&rsquo;s hard today is launching a functional industry, from raw material to customer. &ldquo;The whole thing has to work at cost and scale. You won&rsquo;t see any mom &lsquo;n pop operations,&rdquo; claims Hoekman.
 Hoekman ticks off the requirements: &ldquo;feed stock supply chain, technology, infrastructure, transportation, distribution, customer acceptance, cost, codes and standards, regulations, environmental concerns, and investment. It takes big investment backing and a lot of skill.&rdquo; Gruber says transportation and cold weather are the least of his problems. &ldquo;Unstable and unclear government policy is hurting us because it&rsquo;s confusing for investors.&rdquo;
 &ldquo;All ethanol producers have the same weather, transportation and storage problems&rdquo; Doyal says. &ldquo;We also share a common concern over the unpredictable stance of EPA toward renewables.&rdquo;
 All the hurdles, much like the original railroad expansion westward, circle back to investor interest and consumer acceptance, both of which can be very fickle. Fortunately, weather forecasts for 2015 are mild, comparatively. Author: Carla Harper <a href="mailto:carlamgarrison@gmail.com">carlamgarrison@gmail.com</a>

Down the Line: Rail cars like these are vital components of any biofuels producerâ€™s production strategy. The inability to move finished product away from the plant creates a bottleneck that quickly forces producers into production decisions theyâ€™

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-Tanker-0115_14188399887996_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-Tanker-0115_14188399887996_thumb.jpg

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-Tanker-0115_14188399887996.jpg

Rail operators promise fewer delays, more transparency, and big capacity investment for the nation's rail network in 2015. A few seasoned CEOs offer insight on coping with and planning for delays in winter.

Planning for Rail Bottlenecks

The midterm elections have been completed and the American people voted overwhelmingly for change in the United States Senate.&nbsp; In the election to break gridlock in Washington, we saw a clean sweep by the Republican party in all but two races that were considered toss-ups.&nbsp; Even states that had posted significant polling leads for incumbents, such as Sen. Warner in Virginia, produced cliffhangers and were not declared final for days following the election.
 So, what does it mean for biofuels? And, what does it bode for policy efforts in the new Congress beginning in 2015?&nbsp; Many pundits would say &ldquo;not much,&rdquo; I disagree.&nbsp;
 Already we see significant changes in terms of who will set the agenda and run the individual committees in the Congress.&nbsp; For example, you have a Kentucky Majority Leader, Sen. McConnell, who will set the agenda for the Senate floor rather than Harry Reid from Nevada.&nbsp; For the past two years, Sen. Reid was very cautious in terms of allowing votes on a variety of contentious issues.&nbsp; As a direct result, Democratic candidates had a record that was &ldquo;97 percent in favor with the president&rdquo; due to the limited number of votes they were able to take, which was a favorite, and effective, talking point of Republican challengers.&nbsp; Sen. McConnell has promised a return to regular order.&nbsp; That means lots of votes on lots of potentially contentious issues.&nbsp; It will be interesting to see if he follows through on that pledge given the number of moderate Republicans in his party who will be up for election in 2016.&nbsp; Nevertheless, if he does allow regular order, then individual senators will have more opportunities to fire up challenging amendments on issues like climate change or water policy, both during consideration in committee and during open debate on the Senate floor.
 A second major change will occur at the committee level.&nbsp; In my view, the No. 1 changes for the biofuels industry are the demotions of Sen. Boxer, from California, to the minority, and the ascension of Sen. Inhofe, from Oklahoma, as the chairman of the Environment and Public works committee. Sen. Inhofe has been a frequent and open critic of climate change policy, challenging the basic facts and the validity of the issue itself.&nbsp; As for biofuels, he has been an open critic of corn ethanol for years and will set the agenda on the committee for any actions to consider, including potential reform of the RFS.&nbsp; Given the fact that several Democrats already wish to reform the RFS, this could create a bipartisan base on which to build compromise legislation.&nbsp;
 In the House, we see a change in the leadership for the Republicans with a new Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy of California, who is a very different figure than former Leader Eric Cantor, who was defeated.&nbsp; Additionally, Frank Palone from New Jersey is taking the helm as the leader of the Democrat minority on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee.&nbsp; A seat Pallone gained by defeating Nancy Pelosi&rsquo;s handpicked candidate in a tightly contested vote of the House Democratic Caucus.
 Let me conclude by asking what&rsquo;s on the plate that we ought to be watching? The EPA has kicked the can down the road on the RVO numbers for both 2014 and 2015, until late in 2015.&nbsp; Clearly, this shows a lack of support or clarity by the administration on how to manage the RFS.&nbsp; To me, this situation will raise the likelihood that members of the House or Senate will take up this issue on their own to try to either steady the program or to repeal it.&nbsp;
 Tax policy was half a loaf at the end of the year, with a one-year extension granting a reprieve from disaster but resulting in renewed uncertainty.&nbsp; Given all the efforts to move a two-year bill and the conversations around overall tax reform, it&rsquo;s anyone&rsquo;s guess what Congress will do with the biofuels tax extenders in 2015.&nbsp; So, be careful betting on 2015 like many of you did in 2014.&nbsp; At the end of the day, there is still much division and contention between the two parties and the rules the Republicans used to block progress (requiring 60 votes to pass even consensus bills) are still in place and will likely to be used by the Democrats.&nbsp; After all, turnabout is fair play.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Therefore, we will have to be engaged, reach out to the new members and build new alliances to preserve and move forward a growing and challenging advanced and cellulosic industry.&nbsp; Finally, we must press the administration to continue to complete new pathways for new companies and their fuels, and expedite the final RVOs for the coming year.&nbsp; Buck up, this one is going to be a bit rough.
 Author: Michael McAdams President, Advanced Biofuels Association <a href="http://mce_host/posts/mailtlo:michael.mcadams@hklaw.com">michael.mcadams@hklaw.com</a> <a href="http://www.biomassmagazine.com/posts/http:www.advancedbiofuelsassociation.com">www.advancedbiofuelsassociation.com</a>

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-McAdams-0115_14188400751631_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-McAdams-0115_14188400751631_thumb.jpg

2014/12/AdBio-Biomass-McAdams-0115_14188400751631.jpg

Advanced Biofuels Association president Michael McAdams assesses the results of the mid term elections, what it means for the advanced biofuels industry and offers his thoughts on the coming legislative year. 

Hope vs Change

Capital Regional Development Council has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service to support the development of a wood-fired district heating system in Claremont, New Hampshire. The project is being developed by New Hampshire-based HotZero and will connect buildings in the community&rsquo;s downtown district to the wood-fired system. Participating building owners are expected to realize significant savings in heating costs without the need to use scarce capital and building space to install separate biomass systems.
 The grant dollars will be used to complete engineering for the project.&nbsp; It is expected that the first phases of the district heating system will be operational in late 2015.&nbsp; Initially, the project will focus on the Opera Square section of downtown, but is designed to scale-up over time to connect other sections of the city.

State grant supports wood-fired district  heating project in NH 

Researchers at Purdue University have demonstrated a new process to convert biomass into liquid fuel. The method could make mobile processing plants possible. A patent application on the concept was filed in 2008. The research team has now demonstrated that the process works in laboratory experiments, said Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.
 The new method, called fast-hydropyrolysis-hydrodeoxygenation, works by adding hydrogen into the biomass-processing reactor. Critical to the technology is a new platinum-molybdenum catalyst and design of the hydropyrolysis reactor system. The new method offers advantages over conventional technologies because it produces biofuel from all biomass as opposed to a portion of the biomass such as cellulose or lignin only, Agrawal said.
 To complete the reaction, biomass and hydrogen is fed into a high-pressure reactor and subjected to extremely fast heating, rising within a second to more than 900 degrees Fahrenheit. To date, the process has been tested with cellulose and poplar wood, showing that it represents a potentially practical new biofuels technology.

Purdue researchers announce new  biofuel processing technology 

A public comment period on the Oregon Clean Fuels Program closed in November. The program, which is similar to California&rsquo;s Low Carbon Fuels Standard, requires a 10 percent reduction of greenhouse gases from transportation fuels over a 10-year period.
 The first phase of the program was adopted in December 2011. In February, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality was directed to draft rules for the second phase of the program. The comment period on those rules has closed. While the DEQ is moving forward to implement the program, it is currently subject to a statutory sunset date of Dec. 31, 2015. If that sunset date is not removed by the state legislature, the DEQ will be unable to implement the program after the end of the year.
 A wide variety of fuels would be eligible for use under the program, including biogas-based biofuels, cellulosic fuels, first-generation biofuels, electricity and hydrogen fuels.

2014/12/January-2014-BMM-40_1418840529571.jpg

Purdue researchers announce new biofuel processing technology 

Anaerobic digestion is perhaps the biomass industry&rsquo;s most malleable technology. Digesters are deployed into a broad array of civil and industrial environments. In fact, anaerobic digesters are deployed in so many different environments the actual number of operating digesters remains elusive. Anaerobic digesters can be found at breweries large and small, food processing facilities, wastewater treatment plants, waste management facilities, dairies, swine operations, and, increasingly, purpose-built community digesters that accept multiple feedstocks, leveraging their rich organic content to generate renewable power or even a purified biogas that can be used as a vehicle fuel.
 This flexibility brings with it some unique challenges, however. Because of the unique nature of most digesters and the feedstocks that make them go, there is no uniform approach to successfully operating a digester, no set protocols on how to troubleshoot digesters that aren&rsquo;t performing at anticipated levels. Recognizing this, New Jersey-based Natural Systems Utilities, a sustainable infrastructure development company, has developed an operations and maintenance (O&amp;M) offering into its suite of services.
 &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the reason we&rsquo;re in this business,&rdquo; says Ryan Brandt, executive vice president at NSU, noting that the efficient operation of digester assets has been a challenge for the biogas sector. NSU leveraged a management team with deep experience in wastewater treatment and water reuse strategies to build out its digester offering. &ldquo;How NSU is different is that we are focused on biological wastewater operations and our executive management team has significant experience operating those systems,&rdquo; Brandt says. &ldquo;NSU senior managers are microbiologists, engineers, Ph. D.s and wastewater operators. They are all supported by our technology team led by Eugenio Giraldo, an industry expert in anaerobic digestion.&rdquo;
 The NSU team finds itself involved with digester projects in three different ways. The owners and operators of existing digesters that aren&rsquo;t achieving operational goals often reach out to NSU to turn the productivity of their digesters around. Additionally, when project developers begin the work of financing their project, they often receive pushback from lenders and financiers to shore up their operational plan and NSU&rsquo;s services become a way to mitigate this risk. Finally, NSU works in concert with other parties to finance, build, and operate facilities.
 Brandt points to the recently completed and commissioned digester at the Forest County Potowatomi Community renewable generation facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a practical example of successfully addressing the challenges digesters can present. The nearly $20 million dollar facility, built in 2013 by Miron Construction takes in a diverse mix of food waste streams, creating biogas that is used to make electric power. At peak efficiency, the facility is capable of providing power for 1,500 homes, which is currently sold to WE Energies under a 15-year power purchase agreement.Additionally, captured waste heat is used for water and space heating at the nearby Potawatomi Bingo Casino. The facility attracted numerous industry accolades during its construction and commissioning, but a challenge that remains is making sure the digester operates continually at or even above expected levels of productivity.
 &ldquo;At a facility like this one that brings in a diverse number of feedstocks, what you really need to do, from the operational side, is understand what the characteristics are of the feedstocks that are coming into your facility,&rdquo; Brandt says. &ldquo;We look at concocting an entire recipe.&nbsp; We focus on understanding and testing every load that comes into our facility. We make sure we&rsquo;re not getting a load that&rsquo;s going to cause an issue with the biology of the system. We don't want to start injecting waste into our digester that is toxic to our microbiology or requires us to add chemicals to accept the material. For example, some waste streams are quite acidic and they require caustic to be added to balance the pH before adding them to the digester. NSU understands the feedstock characteristics and we blend compatible wastes to naturally buffer our recipe, driving down the use of commodity chemicals required to keep our bugs happy.&rdquo;
 For digester operators, achieving a steady, predictable and constant rate of production is the ultimate goal, and understanding the biogas potential of all the feedstocks available to introduce into the digester is an ongoing process. Owners and operators of new digesters often find themselves managing a large volume of diverse feedstocks immediately following commissioning. &ldquo;When you ramp up a facility, you get a lot of waste and you can start to get a lot of biogas production. The challenge, however, is you start going up and down with biogas production. Our operators try to attenuate that to arrive at as constant a rate of production as they can, which keeps our microbiology balanced and in check,&rdquo; Brandt says.
 For Brandt, achieving a steady, predictable level of biogas production reaches far beyond the facility gate. A digester&rsquo;s performance and stability are pinned directly to the feedstock procurement engine that owners build to supply the facility. &ldquo;We have experience not only in operations but in procuring feedstock. We&rsquo;re doing that in the Milwaukee area; we&rsquo;re also doing that at our New Jersey facility,&rdquo; Brandt says. &ldquo;You have to look at the big picture and try to make this entire facility operate as a full circle and a build a really good, humming infrastructure. NSU believes it is critical for the operator to lead the feedstock procurement process so they can effectively manage the entire process, adding, it makes no sense to force incompatible feedstocks into an operation, and the operator needs to be heavily involved and preferably in charge of this effort. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to put a number of pieces together and have the experience, as well, to give you a successful operations project,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Those facilities that hire just an operator and are trying to focus solely on operating the facility may do a really good job at operating it, but you really have to have a full-circle understanding of the feedstocks that come in, and what feedstocks can&rsquo;t, with each unique digestion technology.&rdquo;
 Putting Financiers At Ease
 As NSU&rsquo;s experience and track record of success continues to grow and activity in the biogas space accelerates, Brandt and his team find themselves being contacted more and more by other developers and owners. There is a strong appetite for digesters in the development and investment community, driven by the increasingly attractive economics of solid digester projects. One of the bigger sticking points with many digester projects, however, is risk in effectively operating a system that is both biological and mechanical. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not enough to just know the equipment and not understand the biology. You have to understand both. That&rsquo;s where NSU sees a gap in the market,&rdquo; Brandt says. The financial community has taken notice and are urging developers seeking financing to look closely at their operational strategy.
 &ldquo;When these projects come up, the developers may actually call us and say, &lsquo;Hey, we&rsquo;re trying to get financed. We&rsquo;d like to talk to you about operating the plant so that we can go through our due diligence process and close on financing,&rdquo; Brandt says. &ldquo;My sense is there will be more parties looking for third-party O&amp;M. I think it&rsquo;s really being demanded by the finance community.&rdquo;
 Once engaged with a project, NSU deploys a strategy of sound facility specific hires they can blend with the expertise they already have on staff. &ldquo;When we hire a plant manager, we might be looking at someone that has not just the ability to operate the facility but can he manage the broader operation.They can offer expertise on the financial side, managing employees, or overseeing the operations or even having a real hands-on level of experience with the technology,&rdquo; Brandt offers. &ldquo;Then we&rsquo;ll hire the technical staff, maybe someone that is really good with pumps, really good with motors or someone really good with an engine. We&rsquo;ll have those kind of people on site. Then, we utilize what we call our corporate support, which is a bit like a digester SWAT team. That includes our chief technology officer, our director of technical operations, and our regional operations manager. It&rsquo;s made up of at least three people and those&nbsp; people will be monitoring data from the plant and be in contact with plant personnel on if not a daily basis then certainly on a weekly basis. They&rsquo;ll make regular site visits and look over everything and make sure everything is operating properly.&rdquo;
 Encouraged by the success they are having helping other projects get financed, NSU is not afraid to develop projects themselves. &ldquo;And obviously, we see our involvement in our own projects and operating those projects as a significant risk mitigant,&rdquo; says Brandt.
 In addition to leveraging the microbiology expertise NSU has on staff, the company has developed a software solution to help digester developers, owners and operators better predict biogas production before feedstocks are ever brought on site. NSU calls this solution its BOOM model, or Biogas Optimization and Operations Management.
 &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a software program that we have that basically predicts how much biogas you&rsquo;re going&nbsp; to be able to provide with a given type of feedstock based upon the chemistry of that feedstock and how far you can start pushing these digesters,&rdquo; Brandt says.
 While engineers are capable of designing digesters to hold a given amount of feedstock, no one has really tackled the challenge of connecting that to the feedstocks that are available and their inherent biogas potential. &ldquo;What we have is a predictive model that basically is calibrated directly to the site based on the existing chemistry. This is real time,&rdquo; Brandt says. The end result is that operating teams can strategically target certain waste streams over others, dialing in a digesters feedstock program to maximize its productivity.
 The Road Ahead
 NSU continues to refine its offering and sharpens its tools as the company sees a biogas industry poised for continued growth. For Brandt and NSU, the opportunities in the industry are likely to continue to be regionalized, at least in the near term.&nbsp; When asked to cite some of the regional differences in market opportunities Brandt says, &ldquo;In the Midwest, where I&rsquo;m focused, very little private investment is really done in the municipal wastewater treatment plants. On the East Coast, it&rsquo;s a very common practice.&rdquo; This, by no means indicates that NSU doesn&rsquo;t expect opportunities in the Midwest. &ldquo;Agricultural anaerobic digestion is also an area of continued growth, especially if you start looking at the watersheds and where do those nutrients go. I don&rsquo;t see that slowing down too much,&rdquo; Brandt says.
 Of course, without buyers willing to buy biogas-generated power or, increasingly, vehicle fuel, market growth will be slow. &ldquo;A lot is going to be dependent upon the offtakes. It&rsquo;s one thing to be able to develop a project and find a feedstock. If you don&rsquo;t have an offtake or a certainty on the offtake to finance these projects, it&rsquo;s all moot,&rdquo; Brandt concludes.
 While working to shore up market opportunities and the legislation that affirms those opportunities are the domain of industry associations, NSU has taken up the yoke of solidifying the foundation of digester operation. If industry advocates continue to have success creating market opportunities for biogas developers, those developers and their finance partners now have an O&amp;M resource available that is steadily building a pattern of successful and predictable operation.
 Author: Tim Portz Executive Editor, Biomass Magazine <a href="mailto:tportz@bbiinternational.com">tportz@bbiinternational.com</a> 701-738-4969

Outsourced Operation: The digester built and owned by FCPC Renewable Generation LLC, which is owned by the Forest County Potawatomi Community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has enlisted Natural Systems Utilities for both operations and maintenance as well 

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Front-0115_14188408562497_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Front-0115_14188408562497_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Front-0115_14188408562497.jpg

Being Bilingual: For digesters to get to and remain at expected levels of energy production, its operators must be well-versed in both the mechanical and biological aspects of the facility. Here a worker checks in on the genset at the Forest County R

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-GENset-0115_1418840858461.jpg

Anaerobic Digesters are among the most challenging biomass conversion technologies in the industry. New Jersey-based Natural Systems Utilities is increasingly being tapped to offer its O&M expertise to a growing roster of digester facilities. 

Mitigating Operational Risk

When it comes to the way we power our homes or fill up our vehicles, regardless if one&rsquo;s motivation is environmental stewardship or national security, Americans have known for a long time that the status quo cannot continue.&nbsp; The move to use our resources more wisely, while relying on domestically available resources is universally supported.&nbsp; The path to achieving it is less clear.
 Until recently, a person wanting to do their part either had to pay a lot of upfront money for residential solar panels, or resort to carpooling.&nbsp; Thankfully, recent technological improvements and policies intended to incentivize biogas production and fuel cell purchases are beginning to have their desired impact.&nbsp; And as the markets for these technologies continue to expand, energy providers are beginning to merge the two in a number of exciting applications.&nbsp;
 For those unfamiliar with the technology, fuel cells generate electricity electrochemically, without combustion.&nbsp; The process consists of combining hydrogen or a hydrogen-rich fuel, with oxygen.&nbsp; For the moment, the hydrogen-rich feedstock of choice is understandably natural gas, which has become affordable and abundant, thanks to the shale gas revolution.&nbsp; However, some notable projects involving biogas have been placed in service over the years that deserve attention, kudos, and replication.&nbsp;
 Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley fuel cell manufacturer, features six installations where customers contract for biogas, which is directed into natural gas pipelines.&nbsp; Then the fuel cell systems generate electricity on-site for the facility.&nbsp; One of the company&rsquo;s more visible projects is a 10 MW station that powers Apple Computer&rsquo;s data center in Maiden, North Carolina.&nbsp; The biogas is produced by a landfill about three miles from the data center. Data centers, which are on track to consume 140 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually by 2020 in the United States, are frequent targets for clean energy technologies.&nbsp; The fuel cells at Apple supplement the company&rsquo;s renewable power plan for the location, which also features a 100-acre 20 MW solar array.&nbsp;
 FuelCell Energy, another stationary power manufacturer, has developed a number of projects that directly utilize biogas to provide heat, power, and sometimes cooling for customers.&nbsp; At the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant in San Jose, California, a 1.4 MW fuel cell provides electricity and heat to the waste water facility, reducing electricity and natural gas consumption from local utilities.&nbsp; The energy generated is enough to offset the annual consumption of 1,400 households.
 Like Bloom Energy, FuelCell Energy&rsquo;s power plants are being employed by technology companies that value strong environmental performance and high-quality, reliable power.&nbsp; The company recently completed a project in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with Microsoft to build a zero-carbon data center.&nbsp; With biogas supplied from the Dry Creek municipal wastewater treatment facility, the fuel cell generates more than 300 kW of renewable power, two-thirds of which will power the data center, with the remainder powering the wastewater facility.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Biogas and fuel cells are not just limited to stationary applications.&nbsp; FuelCell Energy recently completed an advanced demonstration in Fountain Valley, California, on the world&rsquo;s first trigeneration plant.&nbsp; The project harnesses on-site biogas to produce electricity, heat and hydrogen for use in fuel cell electric vehicles.
 While this is the first plant of its kind, the potential is tremendous for sustainable power generation as well as transportation.&nbsp; By one account, installing similar trigeneration systems at California&rsquo;s major waste water treatment plants would generate enough hydrogen to power about 10 percent of all the cars on the state&rsquo;s roads.&nbsp;
 Harnessing biogas in the most efficient way possible makes sense, and will undoubtedly continue to gain traction.&nbsp; However, the government can play an important role in hastening the transition to these technologies.&nbsp;
 Our association continues to advocate for consistent and predictable funding for research and development and advanced demonstration projects.&nbsp; The same assurances should be extended to our tax policies, where appropriate and predictable tax credits should be extended for these technologies.&nbsp; Policymakers from both parties have generally agreed with these positions, but we must continue to remind it takes smart, predictable policies to get the job done.
 Author: Bud DeFlaviis Director of Government Affairs, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association <a href="mailto:bdeflaviis@fchea.org">bdeflaviis@fchea.org</a> <a href="http://www.fchea.org">www.fchea.org</a>

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Bud-0115_14188419053225_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Bud-0115_14188419053225_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Bio-Biomass-Bud-0115_14188419053225.jpg

Bud DeFlaviss, director of government affairs for the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association on the natural pairing of biogas production systems and fuel cells. 

Biogas and Fuel Cells: A Marriage of  Old Ideas, New Technologies  

Waste Management recently announced the opening of a unique landfill gas project that is creating pipeline-ready natural gas from the biomethane produced at its Milam Landfill in Fairmont City, Illinois. Starting in December, the renewable methane was injected into the Ameren Illinois pipeline for withdrawal at other locations, including some WM facilities.&nbsp;
 The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility is designed to process approximately 3,500 standard cubic feet per minute of incoming landfill gas. That equates to the volume of fuel needed to power approximately 200 Waste Management CNG collection trucks each day, and represents more than 5 percent of the natural gas that is used in WM&rsquo;s entire CNG fleet per day.
 &ldquo;The Milam Renewable Natural Gas Facility is the first facility of its kind we&rsquo;ve actually built from the ground up,&rdquo; said Jim Trevathan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for WM, although, the facility is the third WM project to convert landfill gas to natural gas.&nbsp;

WM produces pipeline quality landfill gas in Illinois 

Novus Pacific LLC is developing a $20 million bioenergy project at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Oregon. The project is expected to break ground soon, once the financing package is complete. Once operational, the plant is expected to produce biogas, organic fertilizer and clean water.
 Novus Energy has been testing its trademarked Novus Bio-Catalytic system on a mobile, 50-foot semi-trailer-mounted demonstration plant. According to Jeff Zierdt, vice president of process operations with Novus, the company determined now is the time to move forward with a full-scale plant.
 The company&rsquo;s NBC process differs from traditional anaerobic digestion (AD) systems in that it requires only about four days to convert waste to biogas instead of around 20 like other AD operations. The 1 MMgy anaerobic digester will consume 442,000 tons of waste per year, broken down into about 120 tons of onion waste a day and approximately 275 tons of potato waste solids from a local fry plant. An additional 10,000 gallons of manure per day will be added to the mix from a local dairy farm.

2014/12/News-Biomass-Biogas-0115_14188419848049.jpg

Novus Pacific to develop Oregon AD facility  

Biomass boilers equipped with automatic ash extraction systems typically include the following:
 &bull; Internal ash extraction:&nbsp; Consists of one or more augers that move the ash from the combustion chamber into an ash pan or an external ash auger.
 &bull; External ash extraction: Consists of one or more ash augers that collect ash from the internal ash augers that empty into a self-contained ash bin.
 &bull; Fire tube pneumatic cleaning: Consists of a manifold of hoses or pipes that automatically send a blast of compressed air through fire tubes, which are located on the last pass of a three-pass biomass boiler system.&nbsp; This is also commonly known as the boiler's &ldquo;tube nest.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 If a biomass boiler is equipped with the above components, a daily walk-through of the boiler room is all that is necessary.&nbsp; On average, a boiler operator will spend 10 to 30 minutes inspecting the boiler, making sure the combustion levels and flue gas temperatures are within the boilers set points. Maintenance times will vary based on the size of boiler, fuel type, and rate of consumption.
 Biomass boilers without automatic ash extraction systems will need to be shut down more frequently to be serviced manually.&nbsp; The increased cost of maintaining the boiler and work load will directly result in reduced fuel savings and job performance.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Biomass boilers equipped with automatic ash extraction and tube cleaning will increase the boiler performance, efficiency, and lifespan.&nbsp; It is important to keep the fire tubes clean of ash to obtain the best efficiency possible.&nbsp; Once ash starts to settle in the tubes it insulates the heat transfer, thus, sending the heat up the exhaust rather than exchanging it into the boiler water.
 With proper maintenance of a biomass boiler, the life span will be comparable to a fossil fuel boiler system.&nbsp; The internal combustion parts will last longer and the boiler will consume less fuel.&nbsp; It is important to check with the boiler manufacturer or owner&rsquo;s manual to follow their suggested maintenance schedule.&nbsp;
 While the manufacturer will have maintenance schedules listed for each of their boiler models, it is also important to work with a local representative to create a service agreement.&nbsp; Regular checks by a certified service representative will increase the performance of the boiler.&nbsp; Service representatives are trained to run diagnostics on biomass boiler systems.&nbsp; They will recommend adjustments to optimize boiler performance, creating years of trouble-free operation and significant fuel savings.
 Author: : Grant Gagner Sales Manager, Woodmaster <a href="mailto:ggagner@woodmaster.com">ggagner@woodmaster.com</a> 218-253-3142

Assuring a Long Life: The Woodmaster CS-300, capable of producing 1 million Btu per hour, is very capable of a service life that rivals its fossil fuel-fired cousins as long as appliance owners perform basic, regular maintenance.

2014/12/Therm-Pellet-woodmaster-0115_14188425014277_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Therm-Pellet-woodmaster-0115_14188425014277_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Therm-Pellet-woodmaster-0115_14188425014277.jpg

2014/12/January-2014-BMM-33_14188424975107.jpg

Monthly Maintenance Musts: A monthly inspection of the working parts of the fire pot, the secondary air nozzles (on left) and the stoker auger are recommended. 

2014/12/Therm-Pellet-CScombustion2-0115_14188424997845.jpg

Biomass boilers, much like fossil fuel boilers, carry a maintenance schedule that needs to be performed on a regular basis.  This article, offered by a manufacturer of wood burning appliances, outlines a few of the most common items to watch. 

Preventative Maintenance Protocols For Commercial Biomass Boilers

I recently attended a wood stove conference and was so impressed with what leadership looked like from the Environmental Protection Agency.&nbsp; Administrator Gina McCarthy attended in person and brought high-level aides who stayed for two days.&nbsp; She gave a rousing speech about building coalitions, making stove research a top priority and how the EPA is funding six universities to do some of that research.
 The EPA is now leading a research effort that will deliver practical results to a wide range of stakeholders.&nbsp; They are conducting trusted independent research not just on reducing emissions but also on improving the energy efficiency of stoves.&nbsp; In the near future, the EPA will be translating these results into the field, by bringing innovative, consumer-driven stove technologies to homes.
 By now you have guessed that this was not a domestic wood stove conference, but an international wood cookstove conference.&nbsp; Neither the EPA administrator nor its number two has ever attended the far larger domestic heating stove conventions.&nbsp; Even junior EPA staff sometimes can&rsquo;t get funding approved to attend.&nbsp; But funding to attend cookstove events does not appear to be a problem.&nbsp; The goals of the domestic heat stove and international cookstove communities are the same: to develop and deploy cleaner and more efficient stoves to reduce the health risks of wood smoke and use a renewable resource more sparingly.&nbsp; Both communities also need to create demand for more advanced stoves so that consumers don&rsquo;t just keep using their older models.&nbsp;
 Perhaps most importantly, the heat stove and cookstove communities need aggressive outreach and education efforts so that the advanced stoves are used properly.&nbsp; In both cases, the technical design of stoves is only half the battle.&nbsp; The other half is how they are used in the hands of consumers.
 I have no issue with the amount of EPA time and resources being spent to try and solve such a pressing international problem.&nbsp; Nearly 3 billion people use traditional wood cookstoves or open fires to cook on.&nbsp; In the U.S., there are only 12 million homes that heat with wood, and more than 99% are effectively vented to the outside.&nbsp; What is vexing is that there is such a stark difference between how a similar domestic issue is being treated.&nbsp; Domestic wood stoves seem to have a far lower priority, certainly based on the amount of time top brass at EPA appear to spend on it.&nbsp; Domestic wood stoves are a group of appliances that EPA is trying to regulate, but there is no discernible vision and leadership from EPA about what role really clean wood and pellet stoves could play in our energy future.&nbsp;
 In contrast, the EPA has no regulatory role in the international cookstove arena, but provides real leadership, vision and coalition building.&nbsp; The international effort to encourage cleaner cookstove use in developing countries can be a noble, almost altruistic program like the Peace Corps.&nbsp; It certainly can be tempting to focus on other people&rsquo;s problems instead of facing our own.
 One reason the international cookstove movement is such a high profile issue at both EPA and the State Department is that Secretary Hilary Clinton adopted it as an issue that she felt deserved much more attention.&nbsp; We agree with her.&nbsp; But when will a cabinet level official feel that domestic wood heating is a both a problem and an opportunity that deserves much more attention?
 If Secretary Clinton becomes president, there could be an opening to focus more on improving wood stove emissions and efficiency in the United States as she really understands the health impact of wood smoke and the importance of access to affordable fuel for households.&nbsp; If a Republican is elected in 2016, there also could be an opening, as wood and pellet heat is a mainstream rural issue that is often overlooked by the liberal democrats pushing residential renewable energy policy. Democrats have tended to focus on subsidies for a wealthier urban and suburban demographic to adopt solar panels.
 There may be other arenas where the U.S. is putting more effort into an international issue than into a similar domestic one. This may be a case where there is lower hanging fruit internationally because the air quality and sustainability issues are far, far worse than they are here.&nbsp; It is true that U.S. leadership can make a real difference. Regardless, the stark contrast between the EPA&rsquo;s approach to addressing domestic and international stoves is something that this administration needs to change.&nbsp; A good start would be for top EPA officials to attend the next wood stove convention in Nashville, Tennessee in March.&nbsp; Bridging the divide between cooking and heating technologies will produce dividends for both communities&mdash;and for the EPA.
 Author: John Ackerly President, Alliance for Green Heat <a href="mailto:jackerly@forgreenheat.org">jackerly@forgreenheat.org</a> <a href="http://www.forgreenheat.org">www.forgreenheat.org</a>

2014/12/Therm-Biomass-Ackerly-0115_14188426006557_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Therm-Biomass-Ackerly-0115_14188426006557_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Therm-Biomass-Ackerly-0115_14188426006557.jpg

What EPA Leadership Looks Like

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has awarded Bridger Bowl Ski Resort in Bozeman $20,000 to support the installation of a $50,000 wood boiler.
 The cordwood boiler system will run on beetle-killed timber and wood cut for slope maintenance and forest management on the ski hill. Bridger Bowl will use the Austrian-based Froling FHG-Lambda Turbo 3000 boiler to heat the ski resort&rsquo;s operations and maintenance shop through radiant floor heating that was already in place.
 According to Randy Elliott, general manager at Bridger Bowl Ski Area, the boiler should produce about 170,000 Btu and has a 600-gallon-pressurized heat and water storage system. He said the reason this boiler and storage system was selected is that it burns cleanly with a 90-percent efficiency rating. Elliott hypothesizes the installation will pay for itself within about five years.
 The DNR also awarded grants to support wood energy projects at Troy Public Schools and SmartLam Technologies Group.

2014/12/January-2014-BMM-30_14188427138661.jpg

Bridger Bowl Ski Resort to install biomass boiler 

Dust that accumulates at wood pellet plants during the production process can end up being a fuel source itself, fueling unwanted fires or explosions. This potential hazard makes effective dust management an integral part of wood pellet manufacturing. &ldquo;Essentially we are taking a woody product, reducing its particle size and drying it into its most combustible form, and then densifying it afterward,&rdquo; says Shawn Bells, general manager with Pacific BioEnergy. &ldquo;So with regard to what we do, we&rsquo;re probably doing the exact opposite of what you are supposed to be doing&mdash;we are creating a fuel&mdash;so then we have to deal with it.&rdquo;
 Producers recognize the nature of their operation can produce hazards. &ldquo;We started really getting serious about dust about 10 years ago,&rdquo; says Stephen Faehner, president and CEO of American Wood Fibers. &ldquo;Then OSHA became focused on dust control and management. That&rsquo;s, I think, when it heightened everyone&rsquo;s awareness.&rdquo;
 It is the combustible nature of dust at pellet plants that makes it a hazard. Combustible dusts (CD) are defined by OSHA as fine particles that present an explosion hazard when suspended in air in certain conditions. Organizations like OSHA help the industry manage and enforce safety, and some organizations that cater to the pellet industry are beginning to step up compliance standards and standardize protocol. The International Standards Organization has launched an effort, under the direction of Working Group 4 of ISO/TC238, to develop global standards for numerous components of commercial, industrial and small-scale pellet production. Topics to be addressed include not only prevention, detection, suppression and management of fires and explosions, but also safe handling and storage, analysis of spontaneous heat generation and analysis of off-gassing products. Another example of the effort is WorkSafeBC&rsquo;s new dust policies in British Columbia, Canada. Separate explosions in early 2012 that destroyed two sawmills and resulted in four deaths and 42 injured workers at Burns Lake and Prince George, British Columbia, spurred the organization to prepare a review and action plan that outlines plans for an agency restructuring and reviews mitigation of safety hazards from dust at sawmills and wood manufacturing facilities. &ldquo;We crafted a policy that speaks to the responsibilities of employers, workers and supervisors with respect to the management and control of combustible dust,&rdquo; says Al Johnson, vice president of prevention services with WorkSafeBC.
 As part of the policy for employers, WorkSafeBC expects them to undertake a risk assessment to account for all of the potential risks and unique aspects&nbsp; at&nbsp; their particular mill. After the risk assessment, employers need to create a dust management and control program based on the assessment&rsquo;s results. &ldquo;That program then needs to be implemented and all of the workforce needs to be trained in that program,&rdquo; Johnson says. &ldquo;So that when we come knocking on their door doing an inspection, and we ask for their program, they can demonstrate that they have a written program.&rdquo;
 Additionally, the Wood Pellet Association of Canada and all of its British Columbia member mills have agreed to work with the BC Forest Safety Council to create a combustible dust audit tool customized for pellet mill operations. &ldquo;This has basically helped mature the rest of the pellet industry by relying on the strengths of the larger producers to share the standards, the protocols, give them this inspection that they can use&nbsp; to ensure that their systems are safe and up to the standard of the rest of the industry,&rdquo; Bells says.
 The pellet industry is evolving, and so are&nbsp; dust management practices and the regulations and standards that accompany them. Equipment vendors are also onboard. &ldquo;It is apparent that there is more focus on the dust collection and safety systems and devices within the pellet manufacturing facilities,&rdquo; says Andy Clarke, vice president of sales at Clarke&rsquo;s Sheet Metal Inc. &ldquo;The basic concepts have remained the same, however, there have been advancements with regard to energy efficiency and advancements aimed at reducing downtime and increasing safety.&rdquo;
 Elements of Explosions
 There are many important factors when considering the explosivity of CD including size, shape, moisture and environment. The industry refers to the dust explosion pentagon when illustrating the mix of components that need to be&nbsp; present to cause explosions or fires. The five elements of the pentagon include fuel, ignition source, dispersion, confinement and oxygen. Removing any one of these elements can prevent an explosion, but not necessarily a fire.
 Dust is present with other elements of explosions in every stage of the pellet-making process in both internal systems and external environments. Although producers can&rsquo;t see what happens in the pipes and machines of the internal system, &ldquo;what we do know is those internal systems have four elements of that explosion pentagon present,&rdquo; says Scott Bax, senior vice president of operations with Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. &ldquo;Really, the only thing you are missing at any given time is an ignition source. As a result, there is a tremendous amount of energy from all pellet producers to have very good systems.&rdquo;
 The external environment comes down to whether dust is present and can be dispersed. Few systems at plants are perfectly sealed, so dust can accumulate on places like ducts, shafts, cable trays or other places where a small amount of dust is leaking. &ldquo;What is required is a management system; it should measure the rate of dust accumulation and link that to a rigorous clean-up schedule and program to minimize the presence of dust,&rdquo; Bax says.
 The National Fire Protection Association creates standards and guidelines for the pellet industry to follow. &ldquo;As pellet producers, and, in general, the entire wood industry, we have a better understanding of the issue of combustible dust and that is paying off,&rdquo; Bax says.
 The NFPA provides the guideline of one-eighth of an inch over 5 percent of the area accumulating dust to meet the minimum explosible concentration. They define the size of deflagrable wood dust as .5 mm or less with a moisture content of less than 25 percent. &ldquo;Mill practices on equipment operation and safety is continually influenced by the NFPA and OSHA, and we are continually working to comply with these changing standards,&rdquo; says Bruce Livesay, vice president of marketing and owner of Western Pneumatics Inc. &ldquo;Knowledge of continued process and safety regulations make it our responsibility to pass this knowledge to our customers.&rdquo;
 Managing the Mess
 Information shared at a joint WPAC and WorkSafeBC combustible dust workshop held over the summer of 2014 discussed components of how to manage CD at pellet plants. Areas to improve a dust management program include a risk assessment process, implementation of controls, regularly scheduled inspections, thorough investigation of all incidents so as to prevent recurrence, education, training and supervision, program audit and review, a corrective action process and records and statistics to identify trends.
 WorkSafeBC works with five companies operating 10 wood pellet mills to improve dust management programs, Pacific BioEnergy and Pinnacle are two. &ldquo;WorkSafeBC&rsquo;s done a very good job helping us with the education piece,&rdquo; Bax says.
 Employee training is regarded as essential moving forward. &ldquo;A big one, probably our biggest one, is continuing to empower employees to understand combustible dust and report on any dust-related issues anywhere they believe there is a concentration of dust,&rdquo; Bax says.
 Equipment manufactures and vendors also take part in educating. &ldquo;We train our customers how our equipment operates and how it should be maintained,&rdquo; Livesay says. &ldquo;Documentation is created to substantiate initial operating performance and periodic checks confirm the proper operation of our systems. We also perform inspections and critiques of systems which have been in operation for years and require upgrading.&rdquo;
 Designing for Dust
 Building design and engineering controls are also impactful factors in dust management. Some pellet producers say this is the sustainable management practice. &ldquo;The long-term solution to keeping your plant clean is not cleanup,&rdquo; Bells says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s meant to be an interim step until you have all the engineering, design, all of the steps necessary to keep the dust contained and keep it from spilling out of the process.&rdquo;
 Various equipment features can help fugitive dust from accumulating. Having round metal ducting, and monitoring overhead beams, ducting, electrical cable trays, lighting fixtures and more is important, as these are prime locations for fugitive dust to linger. Sonic air fans can help prevent dust from accumulating in elevated areas that can be difficult to reach, Bax says. Other equipment Pinnacle has for dust mitigation includes NFPA compliant vacuums that are antistatic, as well as wireless temperature sensors in pelletizers, among other equipment.
 Western Pneumatics works with 12 large pellet plants, including dryer and pollution abatement systems for Green Circle, Georgia Biomass, German Pellets and Sega Biofuels, to name a few installations. &ldquo;We developed new lines of dust collection filters and they have been received well for hammermill air-assist, cooler aspiration, dry fiber and pellet silo aspiration and truck and rail load-out aspiration,&rdquo; Livesay says. &ldquo;We also provide the high pressure pneumatic systems to move fines and dust from one end of the plant to the other.&rdquo;
 Dryers use wet precipitators and rapid thermal oxidizers to handle and clean large volumes of air before it is discharged into the atmosphere, according to Livesay.
 Abort gates are one piece of equipment that exhaust hazardous air flow from the ducting. The gates are activated from spark detection system sensors. A spark detection system itself is primarily used as a fire prevention method in dust collectors by detecting and extinguishing sparks and embers. Sparks can be caused by various things such as a dull tool, damaged fan bearings or an overheated motor.
 There is equipment to manage the fuel and ignition elements of the dust explosion pentagon, but elements like oxygen and confinement are inevitable. &ldquo;So you try to focus on eliminating the fuel and minimizing ignition sources,&rdquo; Bax says. &ldquo;Those are the two items you have the most control over.&rdquo;
 The Combustible Challenge 
 &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a dust focus,&rdquo; Faehner says. &ldquo;The challenge is trying to change a lot of the culture in the wood products industry.&rdquo;
 He adds that almost everyone in the business is focused on manufacturing, and they&rsquo;re certainly focused on safety, but at the end of the day they have to produce the goods. &ldquo;With that in mind you have situations where people are driven to produce, produce, produce and they&rsquo;re reluctant to either stop and fix a dust source&mdash;the dust is coming from somewhere&mdash;or to be mindful that you must have good housekeeping.&rdquo;
 Although the industry is taking dust seriously, organizations like WorkSafeBC, with a health and safety focus, hope it can become embedded into the overall day-to-day management of the facility. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to integrate the safe management of wood dust into their overall operation culturally, if you will, so they just naturally see it as something they need to manage on a day-in-day-out basis,&rdquo; Johnson says.
 Johnson went on to say, stepping up the focus on health and safety is part and parcel of WorkSafeBC&rsquo;s goal for pellet mill owners to maintain sustainable compliance in dust control management.
 The standards take work to maintain for producers. &ldquo;We have heightened our awareness and increased our focus to go from a very, very tidy facility to a spotless facility, and that&rsquo;s a challenge because we are still at the stage where we&rsquo;re still implementing more engineering to deal with some of the point source spillage issues,&rdquo; Bells says.
 Equipment design and system design is more technical than ever as dust control systems now involve many more safeguards, according to Livesay. &ldquo;Existing mills will be challenged to improve dust control and once the dust is collected to install, equipment which will keep personnel safe and minimize the chance for fires or explosions,&rdquo; he says.
 Producers agree that one of the best paths forward is collaboration among industries dealing with CD issues. &ldquo;The next evolution is a better understanding of where other organizations have been able to effectively manage dust and develop best practices, so focusing on improving collaboration within the pellet industry, within the forest products industry, and then even broader with payoff,&rdquo; Bax says.
 The work being done with CD standards in BC is just one example of how the industry is working to mitigate the fine particle byproduct of pellet production from becoming a source of fuel itself.&nbsp; &ldquo;As the regulator, we&rsquo;re working closely with the pellet mills in the province and they&rsquo;re working closely with us,&rdquo; Johnson says. &ldquo;A lot of work has been done, we see that, to effectively strengthen their programs around managing combustible dust in the pellet mill facilities. I think a little more work can be done, but the indications are positive that they&rsquo;re moving in that direction.&rdquo;
 Author: Katie Fletcher Staff Writer, Biomass Magazine 701-738-4920 <a href="mailto:kfletcher@bbiinternational.com">kfletcher@bbiinternational.com</a>

Increased Production and Protection: The Pacific BioEnergy facility in Prince George, British Columbia, has been operational since 1994, and was rebuilt and expanded in 2007, and again in 2010 to 350,000 metric tons capacity. Pacific BioEnergy and ot

2014/12/Pel-Biomass-PackBio-0115_14188428584702_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Pel-Biomass-PackBio-0115_14188428584702_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Pel-Biomass-PackBio-0115_14188428584702.jpg

Primary Protection: Combustible dust can be found in every step of the pellet-making process. These are the primary filters for the pelletizing line at Drax's Morehouse BioEnergy site in Bastrop, Louisiana.  

2014/12/Pel-Biomass-1466-0115_14188428457643.jpg

Keeping it Clean: Circulating fans by AFE are designed to knock down dust from accumulating on ledges and hard-to-reach spaces to avoid potential combustible dust hazards at American Wood Fibers' pellet plants. 

2014/12/Pel-Biomass-144102-0115_14188428496421.jpg

A Safe Distance: A baghouse with spark detection and abort gates are located over 100 feet away at an American Wood Fibers pellet plant. 


2014/12/Pel-Biomass-ABORTgates-0115_14188428550415.jpg

As the pellet-making industry grows, more emphasis is being placed on mitigating and managing the potential for dust-generated fires and explosions.

Combustible Dust an Explosive Issue 

Converting old pulverized coal power plants to use advanced solid biofuels rather than coal provides a ready-to-go solution for compliance with states&rsquo; renewable portfolio standards (RPS).&nbsp; The strategy delivers low-carbon and low-cost electricity that will also satisfy the EPA&rsquo;s proposed carbon policy under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Power Plan.&nbsp; This strategy is the lowest-cost pathway to compliance and provides a renewable solution without the intermittency of wind and solar.&nbsp; The strategy does not cost jobs.&nbsp; In fact the strategy creates new jobs.
 Most coal fired power stations are pulverized coal plants.&nbsp; Those plants convey coal into pulverizing machines that crush the coal into a fine powder.&nbsp; That powder is pneumatically conveyed from the pulverizers to the burners.&nbsp; The burners are mounted in the sidewalls of the power boiler.&nbsp; The coal dust is blown into the burners and combusts very rapidly; almost like a liquid fuel.&nbsp;
 Two years ago, the concept of using pulverized wood pellets in large coal fired power stations to completely replace coal was unproven.&nbsp; That has changed with three large power plants proving that using pellets in power stations not only works, but allows the power station to consistently and reliably generate the same amount of electricity as they did with coal (Drax in the UK and Ontario Power Generation&rsquo;s plants in Atikokan and Thunder Bay Ontario).&nbsp;&nbsp; There is no derating of the power plant.&nbsp; Just as many megawatts can be generated from the renewable low-carbon fuel as from coal.
 Although the EPA&rsquo;s carbon policy that would incentivize high carbon emitting power generators to mitigate their CO2 emissions is a few years from implementation, 27 U.S. states do have renewable portfolio standards (RPS).&nbsp; 11 other states have variants on RPS.&nbsp; RPS goals apply to 55 percent of retail electricity production in the US.&nbsp; The RPS systems provide incentives to the generators by issuing renewable energy certificates (RECs) for each MWh generated from renewable sources.&nbsp; RECs are traded in the open markets and have values ranging from a few dollars to over $50 per REC.&nbsp;
 The pathway to that lowest-cost renewable power for RPS and EPA section 111(d) compliance that also has the benefits of being available on demand (dispatchable) or continuously (baseload) is via the conversion of older pulverized coal power plants into updated facilities that run on advanced solid biofuels.&nbsp;
 Thermal generating stations that can be switched on as needed can complement the wind and solar component of the renewable low-carbon power portfolio.&nbsp; Every MW of wind or solar power needs a MW of thermal generation (or hydro where available) to keep the grid balanced when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.
 Converting from pulverized coal to advanced solid biofuel will have a significant positive net job impact in the fuel supply chain.&nbsp; The typical argument against renewable power solutions such as wind and solar is that they will result in a higher electricity price placing a drag on economic growth.&nbsp; Wind and solar generation results in significantly higher power prices than power generated from plants converted to use pellets; and wind and solar are a generation pathway that requires no labor for fuel provisioning.&nbsp;
 The best solution for new renewable power generation that has baseload and peaking characteristics is the conversion of older pulverized coal plants from coal to renewable low-carbon advanced solid biofuel.&nbsp; When there is a carbon policy in the U.S., the converted plants will already satisfy low-carbon requirements.&nbsp; For every MWhe not generated by coal, on average, about 1400 pounds of CO2 is not emitted.&nbsp; For a 500MW power station, that adds up to about 3,000,000 tons per year.
 Wood pellet supply chains are well-established.&nbsp; The quantity of power that can be generated is limited to the sustainable quantities of renewable woody biomass.&nbsp; However, within that sustainability boundary, a significant proportion of older pulverized coal plants can be converted.&nbsp;
 Many new pellet manufacturing projects could be developed if the demand were to increase.&nbsp; There is no shortage of sustainable feedstock in the fiber baskets of the U.S. and Canada.&nbsp;
 This is a strategy that does not need R&amp;D, does not need massive subsidies, and does not need any significant infrastructure investment.&nbsp; The fuel supply chain is already well-established Pellets offer a low cost, low carbon, reliable, ready to deploy, renewable solution to our peaking and base load power demand that will result in the creation of more jobs than any other power generation technology.
 Author: William Strauss President, Future Metrics <a href="http://www.futuremetrics.com">www.futuremetrics.com</a> <a href="mailto:williamstrauss@futuremetrics.com">williamstrauss@futuremetrics.com</a>

2014/12/william_strauss_14188433004568_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/william_strauss_14188433004568_thumb.jpg

2014/12/william_strauss_14188433004568.jpg

FutureMetrics president and founder outlines the opportunity to drive massive amounts of carbon out of the North American coal fleet using the impressive pellet production and delivery infrastructure currently under construction. 

Transitioning from Pulverized Coal to Pulverized Pellets

The Georgia Southern University Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Georgia, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, recently announced the launch of the Consortium for Advanced Wood-to-Energy Solutions. The consortium&rsquo;s goal is to spearhead development of commercially viable, advanced wood-to-energy products that can be produced from low-value trees and forest residues that can compromise forest health and increase the frequency of wildfires.
 AWES&rsquo;s initial focus will be on torrefaction. &ldquo;Our initial work will center on determining the commercial viability of torrefaction&mdash;the &lsquo;roasting&rsquo; of wood in a low-oxygen environment&mdash;to create an energy-dense product that can more easily be shipped, stored and used to produce renewable energy,&rdquo; said Alexander Koukoulas, president and CEO of Herty.
 According to information released by Georgia Southern University, founding partners will seek the participation of public and private institutions in the consortium.

Wood-to-energy consortium launches

In late October, Rentech Inc. announced the startup of its Atikokan wood pellet facility. Commissioning and startup of the Wawa facility was expected to begin before the end of the year. All major equipment at the Wawa facility was in place in October, and certain critical items, including the drying system, bark furnace and both log cranes were commissioned and operational at that time.&nbsp;
 &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased to reach this important milestone at the Atikokan facility. Our Canadian team has done a superb job managing the construction of Rentech&rsquo;s first two pellet plants, through one of the worst winters on record. We are excited about beginning operations and bringing jobs back to these communities,&rdquo; said Sean Ebnet, senior vice president of Rentech&rsquo;s wood fiber business.
 Rentech noted delays in deliveries by certain vendors prolonged construction and startup of the two Canadian plants. The first shipment of pellets to Drax is expected to occur during the second quarter.

2014/12/News-Biomass-Pellet-0115-01_14188435314379_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/News-Biomass-Pellet-0115-01_14188435314379_thumb.jpg

2014/12/News-Biomass-Pellet-0115-01_14188435314379.jpg

Rentech announces startup of Canadian pellet mills 

Many power plants use steam to generate electricity, and many of them still use fossil fuels to heat water for steam. The electricity is produced when the steam flows over a series of aerodynamic turbine blades, rotating a turbine which activates a generator. Biomass-fueled power plants, whether an energy-from-waste (EfW) or a wood-fired facility, are increasingly producing renewable energy using turbine generators.
 Essentially, from a turbine-generator (TG) point of view, there is no difference between the maintenance at either an EfW or wood-fired biomass power plant. &ldquo;With the steam turbine generator set, or turboset, there are no differences between maintenance operations for waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities and wood-fired biomass plants,&rdquo; says Hanno Garbe, senior sales manager for steam turbine units at Siemens Energy.
 Covanta Energy Corp., a power producing company with steam turbines at both installations, agrees. &ldquo;Both energy from waste and biomass combustors generate live steam to drive the turbine,&rdquo; says Frank Miller, vice president of maintenance technology at Covanta.
 Covanta owns and operates 45 EfW facilities around the world including facilities in Canada, Italy and China. Currently, the company has four operating wood-fired biomass facilities, 115 boiler installations, five of which are woody biomass fired, and 59 turbine generators, five running on biomass. &ldquo;Covanta is the largest EfW operator in the world and produces power for approximately one million homes annually,&rdquo; Miller says. This equates to 20 million tons of solid waste being processed into 9 billion pounds of steam, which is sold to a variety of industries.
 Covanta has a wide variety of sizes, styles and manufacturers; nine steam turbine makes and 11 generator manufacturers.
 Siemens is one provider of steam turbines for various biomass fuel types. Siemens turbine generator sets have been deployed in over 93 biomass-fueled plants in the past decade. &ldquo;Our fleet of steam turbines is currently comprised of more than 200 turbines at waste-to-energy facilities and biomass power plants all over the world. The most installations are in Europe, Asia and the U.S.,&rdquo; says Thorsten Scheller, Siemens&rsquo; head of business development and product management for service of industrial steam turbines.
 Siemens steam turbines range from 75 kW up to 250 MW, and can be used with many biomass boilers. Stoker boilers and fluidized bed combustion boilers are the two most common technologies used to combust biomass, according to Siemens. Feedstock characteristics are used to determine which boiler is appropriate for the plant. Siemens also can supply steam turbines with auxiliary equipment, such as a generator, a condenser system, monitoring and control systems, power transmission equipment and others.
 GE Power and Water is another large provider of steam turbines. It has produced more than 530 GW of steam turbine capacity in more than 6,000 installed units since the beginning of the 20th century. The product line features high performance impulse technology with multiple feed water heater design configurations, integral cover buckets, brush seals and abradable coatings, improved diaphragm nozzle construction and others.
 Inspections and Overhauls 
 Predictive, not reactive maintenance is required to reduce forced outages and shorten planned outages, which can be extended for unforeseen repairs, according to Turbine Generator Maintenance Inc. The focus should be on prediction and prevention, not just on inspection and repairs. Covanta requires preventive maintenance (PM) tasks daily, weekly and quarterly that do not interrupt normal operations, as well as an annual safety system trip test. &ldquo;Typically all PM work is done in-house with specialty vendors for lube oil analysis and vibration analysis, thermography, etc.,&rdquo; Miller says.
 TGM is a provider of turbine generator services that includes inspections, assessments, overhauls, consulting, engineering and more. The company can perform turnkey inspections on steam turbines for most all original equipment manufacturers (OEM), servicing the entire generator unit: controls, auxiliaries, gearboxes and generator, as well as steam path components. One of its services is a Running Condition Assessment program that can reduce unscheduled outages, identify future repairs, shorten planned outages through contingency planning and increase the overall reliability of the equipment. TGM uses a grading system to review previous testing reports. The generator reliability assessment and diagnostic evaluation algorithm arrives at a letter grade representing the generator&rsquo;s condition. TGM uses these assessments to work with plant management to develop an ongoing multiyear outage plan. TGM has serviced both Siemens and GE units among many others.
 Siemens, GE and Covanta also have their own maintenance programs in place to avoid unscheduled and unwanted downtime. Maintenance on steam turbine generator sets can be divided into inspections and overhauls. Inspections are aimed at assuring proper functioning of all systems, whereas partial or full overhauls are conducted to inspect the status of the components and exchange wear and tear parts, and accordingly repair damages at an early occasion. &ldquo;As some of the defects can only be determined during the dismantling of the turboset, periodic major overhauls are strongly recommended,&rdquo; Scheller says.
 One of the problems that can occur with the units is associated with the age of steam turbines and the end-of-life of some components.&nbsp; &ldquo;For example, a common problem in steam turbines with 20 to 25 years of operation is stress corrosion cracking,&rdquo; Miller says. &ldquo;This occurs at highly stressed locations on the turbine rotor.&rdquo;
 Another example is gearbox speed reducers, which require gear set replacement due to fatigue fracturing of gear teeth. &ldquo;Covanta has inspection programs to identify indications for both of these potential issues in order to repair or replace proactively,&rdquo; Miller says.
 Siemens provides periodic inspections every 12,500 equivalent operating hours (EOH), partial overhauls every 25,000 EOH and major overhauls every 50,000 EOH. &ldquo;Based on our continuous development, such as our advanced monitoring capabilities, Siemens can offer extended times between major overhauls under a long-term program,&rdquo; Scheller says. &ldquo;The basis is a close partnership between Siemens and its customers, performing regular monitoring of the turbosets, thereby being in a position to closely monitor and assess any adverse behavior.&rdquo;
 The program gives Siemens the ability to make instant recommendations, and the maintenance cycles can be extended, giving significant rise in reliability and availability while at the same time lowering maintenance costs, Scheller says.
 Covanta has a TG outage plan, which requires a major overhaul&mdash;full turbine steam path inspection, repairs and generator field removal&mdash;every seven years, for approximately 20 days. The plan also calls for a minor TG safety and controls system overhaul every three to four years approximately five days long, Miller says. &ldquo;Major overhauls are done primarily to address machine integrity and performance efficiency,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Covanta performs about 15 TG outages a year including major and minor overhauls.&rdquo;&nbsp;
 Miller adds that the company uses a combination of resources to accomplish all maintenance-related activities. &ldquo;Covanta Maintenance Technology, which is our in-house group, has both turbine and electrical/generator field specialists that specify work and work alongside overhaul contractors and OEM support as required during the outages.&rdquo;
 Manufacturing for Maximum Runtime
 GE has a technical advisory services team to ensure proper assembly and placing of parts into service. Siemens equips steam turbines with electronic control and protection systems to protect against adverse operation. The company also offers a service concept to ease and optimize the maintenance for their power producer customers, Garbe says. &ldquo;Combining our customers&rsquo; operational knowledge with our in-depth OEM engineering knowledge, Siemens aims to maximize the availability and reliability of their machines,&rdquo; Scheller says.
 Remote troubleshooting, in case of an event, is also offered by Siemens, in which it can analyze the large amounts of data collected on the rotating equipment. This monitoring plays a key role in overall maintenance and long-term, problem-free operations. Covanta specifically tracks the TG monitor bearing temperature, lube oil pressures, supply temperature and drain temperature, turbine axial position indicators, local temperature of the exhaust hood, electrical status of generator output, voltage and MW, etc. &ldquo;There are also process and steam condition monitoring and controls on the boiler supply side and the condensing side as well,&rdquo; Miller says.
 A steam turbine generator usually has the following scope: steam turbine, generator, gearbox, if applicable, oil system, electronic control and protection system. &ldquo;In addition, if required, we also offer water-cooled condensers, as well as enhanced monitoring and control systems, power transmission and distribution equipment and process control,&rdquo; Garbe says. &ldquo;The extended scope can increase the turnover or enhance the reliability.&rdquo;
 Garbe says, the steam turbine generator sets are designed to last as long as possible; for example, the root-clamping design and screws have 50,000 maintenance-free operating hours and the overall components are designed for a lifetime of at least 200,000 operating hours.
 When manufacturing the components for a turbine, certain measures are undertaken to ensure the highest quality of the design properties. Some measures include ultrasonic inspections, magnetic particle tests, dimensional checks, and run out measurement and testing of components separately, such as oil unit or full-test run of the core turbine.
 High-quality design properties are needed because, as Siemens says, the heart of virtually every EfW plant is a steam turbine generating electrical power out of the heat from the combustion of waste. A steam turbine is the key to harnessing energy from waste.
 Covanta&rsquo;s largest facility, Covanta Fairfax Inc., processes more than 3,000 tons of MSW per day. Without its two condensing steam turbine generators, the facility would not be able to sell over 80 MW of renewable energy to Dominion Virginia Power Co. Likewise, two of Siemens&rsquo; SST-110 steam turbines would not have the capacity to produce 11.5 MW of electricity in Link&ouml;ping, Sweden, at the G&auml;rstad waste incineration plant operated by Tekniska Verken, where a total of 420,000 tons of sorted waste per year is incinerated for energy recovery.
 Steam turbine generators can utilize various fuel sources to generate electricity. As more are installed in the renewable energy sector, maintenance programs are essential to ensure limited scheduled downtime and avoid the unscheduled downtime altogether. As steam turbine generators are the heart of EfW facilities, it is the job of manufacturers, power producers and technicians alike to keep electricity flowing from them.
 Author: Katie Fletcher Staff Writer, Biomass Magazine 701-738-4920 <a href="mailto:kfletcher@bbiinternational.com">kfletcher@bbiinternational.com</a>

GLOBAL SERVICE NETWORK: Siemens Power Service can deliver maintenance and repair onsite or using its extensive factory network with major repair facilities in six countries. This SST-300,
50 MW industrial steam turbine at the Nuremberg, Germany. 

2014/12/Pow-Biomass-siemenstechs-0115_14188444212644_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Pow-Biomass-siemenstechs-0115_14188444212644_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Pow-Biomass-siemenstechs-0115_14188444212644.jpg

Steam turbine generators are reliable machines, but require surveillance to remain problem-free and keep electricity pumping.  

Tuning A Power Station's Turbine Heart

When the Clean Power Plan, the EPA&rsquo;s nationwide carbon reduction plan that sets specific emissions targets for each state, was released June 18, the EPA and the Agency&rsquo;s Science Advisory Board had not yet completed their work on the carbon accounting of biogenic emissions. Important questions regarding how the EPA should model biogenic emissions and thus how biomass power could play a role in reducing overall carbon emissions were left unresolved.
 As I have said in past columns in Biomass Magazine, biomass energy plays an important role in the mix of energy sources helping to reduce U.S. GHG emissions. The White House, the Environmental Protection Agency&rsquo;s Science Advisory Board, and the international scientific community have all recognized that sustainable biomass can be an important source of low-carbon energy, particularly waste biomass and residues from sustainable forestry management and forest products manufacturing.
 These materials provide consistent, baseload, renewable sources of energy and should be given a clear pathway for utilization by the EPA in any rulemaking regarding biogenic emissions. Biomass energy is recognized in nearly every state that has a Renewable Portfolio Standard. Failure to adequately credit the carbon mitigation attributes of low-carbon sustainable biomass in the final rule could result in state compliance plans that exclude this clean energy technology, the potential closure of biomass facilities, and a lost opportunity for greater GHG reductions. But, due to an onslaught of litigation from groups opposed to biomass, we have been left on the edge of our seats for the better part of four years to see how the EPA would decide to count biogenic carbon emissions.
 Luckily, we no longer have to wonder. Nov. 19, the Agency released the Revised Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Stationary Sources and its accompanying memorandum to states from acting assistant administrator McCabe. Together, the Framework and the EPA&rsquo;s implementation of it support a clear, science-based approach that provides regulatory certainty while deferring important policy implementation to the states.
 Dec. 1, BPA filed comments with the EPA on the CPP, which can be found on our website. While the big picture&mdash;that the EPA recognizes the value of biomass as a renewable energy source that should contribute to the nationwide reduction of carbon emissions&mdash;is very positive, there are still questions that we need answered.
 We welcome the EPA&rsquo;s determination that waste-derived materials, biogas and forest-derived industrial by-products are &ldquo;likely to have minimal or no net atmospheric contributions of biogenic CO2 emissions, or even reduce such impacts, when compared with an alternate fate of disposal.&rdquo; We have asked the EPA to clarify in the final plan that nonforestry cellulosic materials&mdash;like urban wood, wood-derived construction and demolition debris, and railroad ties&mdash;be specifically included in the definition of &ldquo;waste-derived feedstocks&rdquo; since these organic materials do not cause land use changes and do not deplete carbon stocks.
 Also, regarding the EPA&rsquo;s decision to include in the plan &ldquo;sustainably derived&rdquo; forest-derived feedstocks, we urge the EPA to recognize that for decades, states have managed their forests using sustainable land management practices. Existing state laws promote and protect healthy forests, and the plan should recognize that the EPA does not have the expertise or resources to set or enforce sustainability standards.
 Finally, we encourage the EPA to clearly state that biomass power plants that use feedstocks covered by the McCabe Memorandum are exempt from regulation under the Clean Power Plan. To the contrary, biomass power from renewable and sustainable feedstocks should be encouraged as a compliance tool under Section 111(d).
 All in all, the news from the EPA is a good sign for the biomass industry. After waiting several years for the revised framework, this document, along with the memo to states encouraging the counting of biomass in the Clean Power Plan, are a great way to kick off 2015, and a new, more stable, chapter for biomass.
 Author: Bob Cleaves President and CEO, Biomass Power Association <a href="http://www.biomasspowerassociation.com">www.biomasspowerassociation.com </a> <a href="mailto:bob@biomasspowerassociation.com">bob@biomasspowerassociation.com</a>

2014/12/Bob-Cleaves_Standing_14188446149586_largethumb.jpg

2014/12/Bob-Cleaves_Standing_14188446149586_thumb.jpg

2014/12/Bob-Cleaves_Standing_14188446149586.jpg

Bob Cleaves offers his reaction to the Environmental Protection Agency's November release of the Revised Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Station Sources. 

EPA's Biogenic Carbon Framework:  A New Chapter For Biomass 

The U.S. EPA released a revised framework for assessing biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from stationary sources in November. The revised framework is undergoing additional public review. The agency has also issued a memo providing regulatory guidance on how the updated framework will impact the Clean Power Plan and Prevention of Significant Deterioration Program.
 The memo outlines the EPA&rsquo;s current thinking with regard to the treatment of biogenic emissions under the CCP and PSD program. Notably, it indicates the EPA plans to propose revisions to the PSD rules to include an exemption from the best available control technology (BACT) requirement for GHGs from waste-derived feedstocks and from nonwaste biogenic feedstocks derived from sustainable forest or agricultural practices.
 In response to the EPA&rsquo;s announcements, Biomass Power Association President Bob Cleaves said the agency had never before made such a clear and emphatic endorsement of biomass. Cleaves said EPA is describing waste-derived materials and forest-derived materials as having "minimal or...no net atmospheric contribution of biogenic CO2 emissions,&rdquo; and called the declaration &ldquo;a very positive and very clear statement.&rdquo;

January 2015

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Labs Leverage Benchmarking, Data

Moving Forward, Not Backward

The Year That Wasn't

World Needs Wake-up Call

EU Must Keep Benefits of Sustainable Biofuels in Sight

Not So Fast

Hope vs Change

Biogas and Fuel Cells: A Marriage of Old Ideas, New Technologies

What EPA Leadership Looks Like

Transitioning from Pulverized Coal to Pulverized Pellets

EPA's Biogenic Carbon Framework: A New Chapter For Biomass

It's in the Way that You Use It

Featured

Going Advanced

Putting Data to Work

Spotlight on Iowa

Benchmarking the Ethanol Lab

Message to the Masses

Planning for Rail Bottlenecks

Combustible Dust an Explosive Issue

Tuning A Power Station's Turbine Heart

Contributions

Preventative Maintenance Protocols For Commercial Biomass Boilers

Departments

Mitigating Operational Risk

January 2015.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Labs Leverage Benchmarking, Data

Moving Forward, Not Backward

The Year That Wasn't

World Needs Wake-up Call

EU Must Keep Benefits of Sustainable Biofuels in Sight

Not So Fast

Hope vs Change

Biogas and Fuel Cells: A Marriage of Old Ideas, New Technologies

What EPA Leadership Looks Like

Transitioning from Pulverized Coal to Pulverized Pellets

EPA's Biogenic Carbon Framework: A New Chapter For Biomass

It's in the Way that You Use It

Featured

Going Advanced

Putting Data to Work

Spotlight on Iowa

Benchmarking the Ethanol Lab

Message to the Masses

Planning for Rail Bottlenecks

Combustible Dust an Explosive Issue

Tuning A Power Station's Turbine Heart

Contributions

Preventative Maintenance Protocols For Commercial Biomass Boilers

Departments

Mitigating Operational Risk

January 2015