Biomass Challenges for Federal AgenciesPresented to the Renewable Energy Working Group

September, 2002

Existing and Pending Biomass Use in Agencies

• Fort Stewart, GA

• Hampton Roads, VA

• Bio-Diesel for Transportation

• E-85 for Transportation

• Gasohol for Transportation

• McMurdo Sound

• NASA and LFG

Three Approaches

• Build Projects that Use Biomass Energy

• Buy Green Power that Uses Biomass Energy

• Facilitate the Use or Development of Biomass on Federal Lands or Through Federal Programs

Bioenergy Technologies

• Electric or thermal - solid fuel or gasification

– Small-scale systems, distributed generation

– Large scale generation or cogeneration

– Co-firing (biomass and coal or natural gas)

• Liquid Biofuels

– Ethanol, methanol, bio-oil, bio-diesel

• Chemicals and biobased products

Biomass Fuel

Flexibility

• Fuel can be stored, unlike wind or solar, therefore:

– Biomass can be dispatched when needed

– Biomass plants can have high capacity factors

• Biomass can be:

– substituted for natural gas,

– blended with conventional fuels – biodiesel and ethanol

– blended with coal

Applications for

Bioenergy

• Small-scale power or cogeneration systems

• Large-scale biomass generating plants

– Combined heat and power

– Stand-alone power plants (usually 20 MW or larger)

• Wood heating at small facilities

– schools, hospitals, housing

• Co-fire in industrial or utility boilers

• Liquid fuels, specialty chemicals

• Green power purchases

Microgeneration – Performance

15 kWe gasifier/engine

55 kWe gasifier/engine

280 kWe gasifier/engine

Capacity (kWe) 15 55 280

Thermal (kWth) ? 120 600

Company CPC, USA Xylowatt Xylowatt

Yrs in business 7 7 7

Number of units 3 built, 7 coming 10 demos 10 demos

Status Demo Demo/Com Demo/Com

Biomass GT/yr

(12 h/day; 50% MC, 4000 Btu/lb)

100-200 400 2000

Footprint 10 x 6 x 7 ? ?

Installed cost ($) $150,000 (full demo costs)

$300,000 $800,000

Community Power Corp - Biomax15

Xylowatt SA (Swiss)

55 kW electric

120 kW thermal

450 tons/year fuel

Facility Heating System Performance

Wood furnace Wood gasifier/burner Wood gasifier/burner

Thermal capacity

0.03 – 1 MWth(115k – 1 MMBtu/hr)

0.1 - 3 MWth (.5 – 14 MMBtu/hr)

0.6 – 12 MWth (2 – 40 MMBtu/hr)

Company Taylor Waterstoves Chiptec Converta Kiln

Installed cost $4,500 - $65,000 $30,000 – $275,000 (gasifier only)

??

Status Commercial Commercial Commercial

Years in business

Not Known 16 Not known

Biomass use (GT/year)

50 – 3,000 330 – 10,000 2,000 – 40,000

# systems in operation

1000s >125 in NA 300-400

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

Chiptec Systems, Vermont

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

Other Wood Heating System Manufacturers

• Messersmith Manufacturers (Michigan)

• Grove Wood Heating, Inc (Canada)

• Industrial Boiler Company (Georgia)

• KMW Energy Systems, Inc (Canada)

CostComparisons: Biomass vs.Fossil Fuels

Category UnitsBiomass (McNeil Tech)

Biomass (EPRI /

FERCO)Coal

Co-Fire Coal /

Biomass

Natural Gas

Technology   Direct Fire Direct Fire Pulverized coal

Pulverized coal

Combined cycle

Capacity MW 20 50 300 100  

Installed Cost $/kw $2,200 $1,965 $1,195 $271 $500

Heat RateBtu/kWh 20,000 14,483 9,830 10,440 6,500

Capacity Factor % 90 80 80 80 80

Fuel Cost

$/MMBtu $2.24 $2.63 $0.77 N/A $2.85

Levelized Cost $/kWh $0.061 $0.075 $0.044 N/A $0.041

Facilitated Project

Potential

• Millions of tons of biomass will either fuel wildfires or be removed

• Agencies helping private sector use thinnings for energy would be significant for the Federal goal, and for U.S. bioenergy development

• USDA Forest Service and Interior are the 800 pound gorillas in this situation

• DoD, DOE and others with landholdings to manage have specific local opportunities

• DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CONSUMED BY THE AGENCY TO COUNT!

Current Situation

and Issues

• Fires continue to threaten communities

• Increased interest and debate over forest restoration

– mechanical treatment vs. prescribed burn

– diameter limits

– community defense only vs. landscape treatment

• Mitigation efforts are expensive, but not as costly as fires

• Market outlets for small diameter trees can help defer thinning costs

USFS Example

• 46,000 acres targeted for mechanical thinning under National Fire Plan in 2001, just in Urban-Wildland Interface (UWI) and areas to reduce fire threats to communities

• Conservatively, could have supported 436 MW of biomass capacity and over 3000 GWh of generation

• Excludes acres with prescribed burns, or a combination of treatments

BLM Example

• DRAFT NREL Assessment of RE Potential on Federal Lands, including biomass

• Used satellite data showing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) above 4, proximity to communities at fire risk, population centers.

• Identified Planning Units in the Following States:

• Arizona• California• Colorado

• Montana• New Mexico• Oregon• Washington

Benefits of Bioenergy

• Biomass fuel prices generally stable

– hedge against fuel cost variability

• Biomass $ stay in state and local economies

• Rural economic development and job creation (CA = 5 jobs/MW capacity)

• Biomass fuel costs not subject to control of a single supplier

Benefits of Bioenergy

(con’t)

• Biomass is a baseload renewable resource

• Reduce SOx and fossil CO2 emissions

• Biomass systems are easy to convert to other fuels

• Outlet for forest health restoration activities

• Landfill diversion of urban wood wastes

Why Isn’t It Happening?

• Uncertainty

– Environmental opposition, distrust

– When, where, how much thinning, and how long must be known to develop supply curve

• Wildfire is overwhelming focus – not benefits of using thinnings

• Little coordination among agency, state and community plans and investments

• Small-scale technologies adaptable to supply uncertainty are just becoming commercial

• Interconnection , stand-by and buy-back rates

Electricity Sales: Breakeven Price

vs. Biomass Fuel

$0$5

$10$15$20$25$30$35$40$45

$0.057 $0.063 $0.069 $0.076 $0.082 $0.088 $0.095

Dollars/kWh

Dolla

rs/D

ry T

on

Modest Proposals

• In contracts seek proposals for energy reuse of removed biomass and industry input on structure of requests for proposals

• Work in coordination with States, communities and environmentalists in promising areas to create reliable supply

• Support demonstrations of modular technologies that address supply issues

Interesting Projects

• USFS Supported Work with Nevada Tahoe Conservation District, small-scale system

• Pending CEC Project on Distributed Biomass Generation with Truckee-Donner PUD

• CEC-Funded Analysis of RE Distributed Generation and Public Benefits

• Four Corners sustainable forest partnership bioenergy project

• Front range biomass energy assessment

• Summit and Eagle county biomass energy assessment

• Yavapai Apache Feasibility Study

Contacts Scott HaaseMcNeil Technologies143 Union Blvd., Suite 900Lakewood, CO 80228Phone: 303-273-0071Fax: 303-273-0074Email:

shaase@mcneiltechco.comwww.mcneiltech.com

Kevin DeGroatMcNeil Technologies6564 Loisdale Court, S-800Springfield, VA 22150Phone: 703-921-1632Fax: 703-921-1610Email:

kdegroat@mcneiltech.com www.mcneiltech.com