Recently in State Resources Category

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Georgia, already a national leader in turning wood into electricity, could get two more wood-burning power plants by 2015, in a plan announced Thursday by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Tucker-based Oglethorpe Power Corp., the nation's largest power supplier to co-ops, is ready to spend about $1 billion to build the plants. They would generate enough electricity from Georgia wood to power between 100,000 and 120,000 homes. A third plant is under consideration.

Perdue called Oglethorpe's commitment a "pioneering investment that will transform the way we provide clean and renewable energy to Georgians."

Each plant is expected to employ 40 people, and spend about $30 million a year to buy trees and wood waste.

Five other energy companies, including Georgia Power, have announced plans to build six wood-to-electricity plants here. In addition, two cellulosic ethanol companies are racing to build the nation's first plant that will turn wood into fuel for cars and trucks.

Georgia and South Carolina have received DOE grants to pursue renewable energy initiatives. According to the DOE press release:

• Georgia will build on a variety of ongoing activities to create the infrastructure that will enable Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to integrate clean energy supplies into their electricity portfolio ($257,459).

• South Carolina will seek to overcome existing barriers for coastal clean energy development for wind, wave, and tidal energy projects.  The grant will be used to develop studies on transmission, resource validation, and regulatory barriers.  The grant will also establish the South Carolina Coastal Clean Energy Regulatory Task Force to create a regulatory environment conducive to wind, wave, and tidal energy development in state waters ($492,648).

Alabama Governor Bob Riley is promoting the Biofuels for Schools grant program. Through the program, any Alabama public school system can apply to receive up to $2,500 to help defer the costs of preparing fuel storage tanks to receive B20. School systems that receive the grant are required to use B20 for at least 3 years and report the number of gallons of biodiesel consumed.

North Carolina State University will be home to a new national research center aimed "to revolutionize the nation's power grid and speed renewable electric-energy technologies into every home and business." The NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems is focused on developing technology for transforming the nation's electric power grid into a "smart grid" that will "easily store and distribute energy produced from solar panels, wind farms, fuel cells and other energy sources." The center will begin operations immediately with support from over 60 private companies involved in electricity production. More information about the center can be found at the FREEDM Center website and the NC State press release.

On July 30th through August 1st, The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services held the "Farm to Fuel Summit" in Orlando, Florida. Presentations from the summit can be found at the summit website. In addition, the summit will be aired on the Florida channel on September 20-21. 

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.

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.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change offers users interactive maps describing energy and climate change policies in each of the U.S. states. Map topics include:

• Climate Action
• Energy Sector
• Transportation Sector
• Building Sector
  

Maps can be found at their website.