renewSOUTH

Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently announced it will replace its steam plant with a wood boiler and will take additional efficiency measures to cut energy and water consumption at the lab. ORNL anticipates the improvements will cut energy consumption by 50 percent and water usage by 23 percent. Wood for the boiler will be provided by suppliers within a 50 mile radius of the lab consisting primarily of waste wood from timber mills and pallet manufacturers. Completion of the project will occur in the next 2-3 years. More on this story can be found here.

The Environmental Protection Agency has denied Texas Governor Rick Perry's request to cut the Renewable Fuels Standard in half. Put in place by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the RFS requires that 9 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into the fuel supply by 2008 and 11.1 billion gallons by 2009. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said, "After reviewing the facts, it was clear this request did not meet the criteria in the law ... The RFS remains an important tool in our ongoing efforts to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions and lessen our dependence on foreign oil, in aggressive yet practical ways." The full press release can be accessed here. More information on the RFS can be found here.

The National Renewable Energy Lab has released a technical report entitled, E85 Retail Business Case: When and Why to Sell E85. According to NREL,

The document identifies seven variables that can make E85 profitable and weighs their influence using a model NREL created based on a discounted cash flow analysis. These variables are:

• E85 equipment configuration
• E85 throughput
• Equipment costs
• Return on investment
• Maintenance and operation costs
• Base taxable income
• Annual throughput of mid-grade and premium

Knowing the relative influence of these variables helps retailers assess whether they are good candidates for an E85 project. The model also helps them estimate the minimum margin that they would need to make on each gallon of E85 in order to make their investment profitable.

All fifty governors signed on to a National Governor's Association letter asking congress to extend the renewable energy tax credits. The letter urges Congress to "extend, for at least five years, tax provisions that encourage the development of renewable energy sources and promote energy efficiency."

The letter also encouraged Congress to "continue to develop incentives for programs that help families and businesses use energy-efficient building techniques, materials, and equipment readily available in today's market. Extending incentives for energy efficiency and conservation will slow the growth of future energy needs, minimize ratepayer costs, and lessen potential environmental impacts"

The tax credits are a critical component in sustaining the renewable energy industry. Bart Ruth, policy committee chair of the 25x'25 National Steering Committee said, "The policies currently in place to develop and nurture non-fossil fuel based energy sources have been short term and in many cases intermittent. Such on-again, off-again policies have made long-term investment in new technologies and interest in renewable energy difficult to maintain," The full letter can be found here.

From the press release:

ConocoPhillips announced today that it has signed a $5 million, multi-year sponsored research agreement with the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2), a research center of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, to develop new ways to convert biomass into low-carbon transportation fuels.

The Collaboratory, a joint venture of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) formed C2B2 in March 2007, to conduct research at all four institutions. The new collaboration will build on a variety of active research projects being conducted by Colorado scientists and students to develop new sources of transportation biofuels. The first project will involve converting algae into renewable fuel.

In a press release, Toyota has announced that the newly built Mississippi manufacturing plant while original slated to produce the Toyota Highlander SUV, will instead produce the Toyota Prius. Siting increase demand for hybrids in North America, the plant will be Toyota's second hybrid producing plant. The company also announced a three-month suspension of production of the Tundra and Sequoia in their Alabama plant. No job losses were announced. The full press release can be found here.

Verenium Biofuels Corporation has received one of the last two Department of Energy awards for small-scale biorefineries. The company will receive up to $40 million over five years to continue their work in building and operating a demonstration-size biorefinery in Jennings, Louisiana. Verenium technology is focused on converting non-food biomass, such as agricultural byproducts and waste wood products, into ethanol. Read the full press release here.

The Gas Technology Institute is embarking on two new research projects "to economically convert any leafy or woody biomass into a uniform, densified feedstock that can be easily fed into any thermal gasifier or pyrolyzer for conversion into syngas, fuels, and value-added chemicals." One project will focus on biomass of Alabama and the Southeast and the other on Nevada and the West.

From the press release:

Sponsored by the DOE, these initiatives are focused on the development of pretreatment technologies for processing a wide range of biomass types into a single, uniform feedstock of similar consistency and character. Experts note that reliable feeding systems must be engineered to accommodate different forms of biomass, a significant barrier that continues to hinder the global deployment of biomass-based energy production. Presently, some abundant biomass materials are not feasible energy feedstocks by virtue of the difficulty or cost of handling and preparing them for use.

"The over-riding interest is to expand the versatility of new and existing biomass processing facilities by providing them with the ability to accept multiple feedstocks," says GTI Project Manager, Larry Felix. "Our goal is an economical process to normalize the format of the feedstock and thereby directly encourage the use of energy-rich wastes and other sources of renewable energy that might otherwise be untapped."

A recent report from Forbes magazine ranks the top five states for alternative energy in the categories of wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Rounding out the top five best places for biomass are Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Georgia's 25 million tons of mill wood debris; Mississippi's 3.6 million tons of logging waste, and North Carolina's methane from manure based on the 10 million hog population were the driving factors behind the rankings. Iowa and North Dakota ranked first and second.

In a press release, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said, "Georgia's wealth of natural resources combined with our research institutions and a strong business climate create an ideal environment for the development of renewable energy. We appreciate Forbes' recognition of our ability to develop alternative energy sources."

Southern Company has released a report detailing a series of tests conducted on co-firing green wood chips from whole and from approximately needle free pine trees. The purpose of the project was to "determine what level of processing of whole trees is required to successfully co-fire the chips in a boiler, and to evaluate the benefits and costs of wood processing compared with the effect of the fuel on the power plant." The tests were performed at Plant Gadsden in Gadsden, Alabama. From the report, summary results are as follows:

• Green wood chips were successfully co-fired in blends with coal between 8% and 15%
  wood by weight. Of the input fuel energy, 2.8% and 5.5% was from wood, and represented about 2.0 MW to 3.8 MW biomass power.
  
• Sulfur emissions were reduced, and particulates were no higher with co-firing. At normal operating condition, carbon monoxide emissions were unchanged. The measured impact on NOx emissions was small.
  
• With 10% co-firing, boiler efficiency was about the same as coal alone, while there was a slight reduction in efficiency with 15% wood.
  
• Higher moisture losses due to high wood moisture were offset or nearly offset by reduced dry gas losses up the stack.
  
• High moisture of the wood coal mixtures resulted in low mill temperatures and high mill bowl under pressures. This caused a 5% load derate when co-firing 15%.
  
• The coal-wood mixtures had much lower fuel energy to volume ratio than the baseline coal. The issues appear to have been related to the installation of new automatic controls. Stability issues were corrected in subsequent tests by tuning the fuel-steam pressure automatic controls.

The project was initiated by Southern Company & Alabama Power, USDA Forest Service, Forest Based Economic Development Services, University of Alabama, and Auburn University.

The full report can be found here.