Better BTU Best Reads:

A few readers have asked for an 'index' to the postings on various biomass blogs and industry articles. So...

A new study published in Science concludes that BioMass is 80% more cost efficient than Biofuels and 200% more effective at carbon reduction. more

Another set of biochar test results point to the same conclusion -- biochar is a viable carbon sequestration strategy. more

BioMass modification proves to be cheaper than adding scrubbers to a coal plant. more

Middlebury College Saves 2 Million A year, and a lot of Carbon

Middlebury college is on a march towards economically viable, carbon neutrality by 2016.

A biomass fueled district heating and cooling system is the cornerstone of this movement.

Middlebury is ahead of the pack in other ways as well -- they are focused on feedstock availability so that they don't create the "ethanol effect" -- where the popularity of a technology ends up driving up feedstock prices to the point where it kills the economics.

Middlebury is working with SUNY, who is working on short rotation willow.  We think willow is not getting the attention it should in the feedstock area, being incorrectly eclipsed by switchgrass.  

But the other feedstock that shows real promise is processed waste streams.  (more on this in another post).  Here's the key:  Multiple feedstock streams are a stategic way to build a competitive fuel strategy that ensures a cost competitive carbon neutral strategy.

BioMass is Cheaper than Scrubbers

When left with a choice between adding scrubbers to an aging coal fired plant, mothballing the unit when capacity prices are rising, or converting to a biomass co-fired power plant, First Energy's math said that co-firing was the best option.

After a 200 Million Dollar Upgrade (the price seems very high to us), the plant will co-fire cottonwood and other biomass.  Cottonwood has a high moisture content, so it is an unusual choice, but the short rotation crop is interesting because it is one of the first US projects built around short rotation bio-energy crops vs. using up the current surplus of pulp wood.

This will be interesting to watch -- and it really calls out for torrefaction -- because the process is much better at removing the moisture and making biomass suitable for co-firing.

Georgia Pacific's Intelligent Carbon Strategy

Georgia Power (part of Southern Company) announced that the PUC has approved the conversion of the Mitchell Plant to a 100MW biomass plant.

That's not surprising.  What is surprising is that through the analysis, no one has seriously questioned the size of the plant!  100 MW is just too large for a cost effective biomass plant without torrefaction -- and Southern Company has no known plans for torrefaction.

According to one estimate, the plant will require 160 Chip Trucks a day.  Given an economic distance of 25 miles, consuming 3,520 tons of chips a day will create a regional biomass black hole pretty quickly.

Now lets look at the other side:  Three things are true.

A)  The amount of woody biomass available is generally underestimated and Georgia is rich in aging woody biomass due to the downturn in paper and housing

B)  Depending on how Cap-&-Trade comes down, the value of biomass could make bringing chips in by rail from further distances economic.

C)  Georgia does not need to run the plant at capacity nor do they really have to commission it

What you say?  Since they are retrofitting an existing mothballable plant, they can move the process forward and see how Cap-&-Trade comes down.  If biomass gets calculated right (carbon neutral) and it looks like the price of credits are going to soar, they can press forward quickly and get this plant into production quickly.  If they create a black hole for local biomass, at least they have bought time and avoided buying into a short term carbon credit bubble.

Hmmm... Some smart thinking going on at Southern Company.....

Of course the "Right" answer long term is:

1)  Build plants in the 30MW to 40MW -- this is the optimal size for green chips

2) Invest in Torrefaction!  Stretch the economic range of delivery to 100 miles by rail or more!