Recently in Alabama Category

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."

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.

Alabama's Gulf Coast Energy is ready to begin producing ethanol from waste wood as soon as next month. The demonstration plant will use gasification technology on wood waste and turn it into ethanol. The demonstration plant plans to eventually scale up to a commercial capacity of 45 million gallons per year. More information can be found here.

Stemming from a US Department of Energy grant, Alabama Clean Corridors launched its first E85 & B10 fuel pumps in Birmingham. The grant provides funding for pumps along the I-65 corridor and include the cities of Athens, Cullman, Montgomery, Evergreen/Greenville, and Mobile. The state also received a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to provide pumps along Corridor X and Corridor V. To learn more about the project here.

In October 2006, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) released the report Energizing Appalachia - A regional blueprint for economic and energy development. The report focused on promoting energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy resources, and supporting the development of conventional energy sources. The paper state that

The commission's objective was to provide a strategic framework for the promotion of new energy-related job opportunities through the stimulation of sustainable energy production, efficiency measures, and innovation efforts throughout the region.

The report reviews the energy landscape for the ARC region and identifies strategies for reaching their objectives.