Follow this link for the full article http://www.cbj.ca/EMAG/2012/May/Cennatek.php
Investigators probe whether dry pine beetle wood is linked to explosion
By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun; With Files From Gordon Hoekstra And Tara Carman April 26, 2012
Forest industry officials are asking researchers based at the University of B.C. to determine what role aging pine beetle wood, and the fine dust it produces when milled, may have played in two recent explosions at sawmills in northern B.C.
“This wood is dry,” said John Allan, president of the Council of Forest Industries, referring to pine beetle wood that has been standing dead for extended periods of time and produces an extremely fine dust when cut.
Experts have long known that dust of all kinds in confined spaces can lead to deadly explosions, but until recently the fine dust created by dry pine beetle wood had not been singled out as a possible high risk for combustion.
WorkSafeBC investigators flagged the issue of dust accumulation at Lakeland Mills in February, shortly after a mill explosion in Burns Lake where public speculation pointed at dust as a possible cause. But the resulting report addressed concerns over respiratory issues, not deadly explosions.
“At the time of inspection, the airborne concentration appears to be below the exposure limit … in the work areas visited,” said the Feb. 9 inspection report.
However, the concern over a link between milling pine beetle wood and increased dust levels was raised as early as 2009 in other inspection reports from the facility.
“Wood dust exposure … should be re-evaluated due to the changes in productivity that has occurred over recent years and the fact the majority of the wood being processed is dry beetle killed pine,” said a Lake-land Mills inspection report from February 2009.
“We discussed potential dust exposure and the need for appropriate respiratory protection for workers performing clean up of dusty areas,” added a report from 2010.
“The employer has recently conducted air monitoring for dust and exposures relating to the end-spraying operation. These results were reviewed and no significant problems were noted.”
But the back-to-back explosions at northern sawmills have ignited fear in industry officials, workers and government, who are now eyeing pine beetle dust as a possible culprit behind the fatal blasts.
The threat posed by the dust has become more complex – and perhaps more menacing – over time as the dead wood going into B.C. mills gets older and dryer, said the council’s Allan.
“Now it’s beyond [respiratory concerns]. What we know now is it’s a combustion issue.”
On Wednesday, Allan said officials at a hastily organized meeting on safety between government and industry officials agreed to ask FPInnovations – a national not-for-profit research and development organization with a facility at UBC – to look into the changes that might be taking place as a result of the changing quality of pine beetle wood.
“Realizing that the nature of the industry is changing and that this beetle wood is per-haps older than the beetle wood we’ve sawed in the past; and that the particular makeup of the dust may be different than we’ve been experiencing in the last few years – in other words it’s a finer level of dust, more combustible – we thought it might be fruitful to ask the research people at FPI to at least initially think about this and get back to us with a research proposal that they might undertake that might shed some light on whether or not we’re dealing with a different situation,” he said.
A spokeswoman at FPInnova-tions said her organization had been contacted by a number of organizations about possible research related to pine beetle dust, but did not have specific details of the requests, or how FPInnovations was planning to respond.
Labour Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said she believes it is crucial to determine what caused the two explosions in Prince George and Burns Lake, adding the research into pine beetle wood will play an important role.
“[Pine beetle wood] has been harvested and it’s been milled for years, but as it has stood it has got dryer and dryer,” she said.
“The question is – has the quality of the sawdust changed, because the particles appear to be smaller? Does that mean there is more likely to be an explosion?” she asked.
“So that is being looked at.”
MacDiarmid also said a working group was formed out of Wednesday’s meeting, and that it will contemplate possible new regulations for sawmills to determine whether they should be changed or strengthened.
The discussions about next steps come as workers in mills across the province confront extreme uncertainty about the dangers they face.
“Before Burns Lake no one had ever heard of a mill explosion before, now we’ve had two in three months. So obviously something is going on and from our unions’ perspective, we want to be able to tell our membership what the hell is going on in the mill and what they should be doing to protect themselves,” said Stephen Hunt, United Steelworkers director for Western Canada.
“If you work at McDonald’s, you know the deep fryer is hot and you can take precautions. If you work in a sawmill right now, we’re not sure what’s causing these things to blow up, so workers are genuinely concerned.”
Sinclar president Greg Stew-art, who ran the Lakeland facility, said employees at the company’s other north-central B.C. sawmills were given the option of not working Wednesday, but all said they wanted to be on the job.
“This is a tragic incident. There’s learning that is going to happen around that. And there’s an investigation taking place,” he said.
“For me it’s tough to jump to a conclusion. I don’t want to speculate in terms of what needs to be done to ensure we have a safe work environment.”
During a visit to Prince George to offer support to the affected families and the community, Premier Christy Clark stressed there has been no link established with the explosion there to the one in Burns Lake.
She noted the investigation in Burns Lake has not been completed, and the Prince George investigation has barely started.
Clark said she was hesitant to force WorkSafeBC to rush out any preliminary findings from the Burns Lake explosion which took place three months ago.
She also said she would leave speculation that dust from dry, beetle-killed timber was a factor in the explosions.
“It is not for politicians to rush these kinds of processes because what typically hap-pens when politicians get in and decide they want to rush judgment, rush to answers, you often end up with the wrong answers,” she said.
“And it’s absolutely crucial we get the right answers to this because workers across this province are depending on us.”
New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix agreed.
“I think it’s important in these times to take a step back, yes to hold the government account-able, as we will over time, but right now just ensure that all the services are available to the people who need those services, including grief counselling, to give support to the community,” he said in Victoria Wednesday.
“For the moment, I think we need to be supportive.”
Asked whether he thinks WorkSafeBC is moving fast enough in its investigations, United Steel Workers’ Hunt said: “I don’t know if you can ever go fast enough when people are dying for a living, but hopefully what we can do now is take some steps to ensure that no on else is harmed.”
jfowlie@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Sawmill+dust+levels+under+scrutiny/6521653/story.html#ixzz1tjrAZ2d2
2011-11-10
Sustainable Chemistry Alliance Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 10, 2011
SCA Investment Helps Bring S4CO2 to Sarnia-Lambton
As Region’s Hybrid Chemistry Cluster Further Expands
SARNIA, ON A $500,000 investment by the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (SCA) will help bring another global technology company to Sarnia-Lambton as part of the region’s growing hybrid chemistry cluster. Solutions4CO2 will locate its demonstration facility and global headquarters here with joint financial support that includes the SCA and investment firm Macquarie Private Wealth Inc., which acted as Agent for a private placement offering of special warrants in the amount of $1,516,000.
S4CO2 develops industrial-scale CO2 capture and use solutions using gas infusion technology. Uses of dissolved CO2 gas in solutions include rapid acceleration of algae growth for third-generation biofuels production, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, animal/aqua feed, mineralization and separation into clean commercial CO2.
“We worked closely with the Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership and our government and industry partners to attract S4CO2 to our world-class hybrid chemistry cluster,” said Dr. Murray McLaughlin, CEO and President of the SCA. “This builds on the recent decision by BioAmber to locate is succinic acid plant here.”
Doug Kemp-Welch, CEO of S4CO2, said the experience, expertise and networking capability available through the SCA was instrumental in his company’s decision to locate its global headquarters and research and development operations in Sarnia. “The combination of the SCA and the economic development office had a direct impact on our decision to choose Sarnia over many other locations in Canada for our demonstration facility. Given that Sarnia area companies produce some of Canada’s CO2 emissions, it’s also a natural site for deployment of our technology.”
He added the SCA has helped to facilitate his company’s connection with the major chemical companies in the region. S4CO2 “bolts its technology” to the technology of other companies, which are either a source of CO2 or a potential customer for its downstream products.
“We like to think of ourselves as in the waste gas to coproducts business,” says Kemp-Welch. “We’re transforming waste gas streams into value added coproducts.”
S4CO2 is currently looking at a number of sites in Sarnia and hopes to finalize a location by the end of 2011. It is in the process of forming its senior management team.
About the SCA
The Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (www.suschemalliance.ca) is a not-for-profit organization established in 2008 to promote growth and prosperity by fostering and supporting innovation, development, commercialization and related business activities and projects in the area of green and sustainable chemistry. SCA is supported by the Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research with funding from the Government of Canada.
About Solutions4CO2
S4CO2 is a developer of exclusive industrial scale CO2 capture and use solutions using gas infusion technology. Gas infusion extracts CO2, NO2 and SO2 from flue gas and biogas and efficiently mass transfers high concentrations of the extracted CO2 into water. Currently working out of offices in Toronto, the company (www.s4CO2.com) is planning to locate both its national headquarters and demonstration plant in Sarnia.
About Macquarie Private Wealth
Macquarie Private Wealth in Canada is part of the Macquarie Group, a leading provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Originating in Australia, the group’s (www.marquarie.com) operations include offices in the world’s major financial centres. Macquarie combines entrepreneurial drive with deep industry and regional expertise and robust risk management.
For more information contact:
Dr. Murray McLaughlin, PhD
President and CEO,
Sustainable Chemistry Alliance
Cell: 519-550-5525
Email: murraym@suschemalliance.ca
By Anna Austin | November 09, 2011
NEF’s new miscanthus planting system allows for quick establishment and rapid acreage expansion.
PHOTO: NEW ENERGY FARMS
Energy crop developer New Energy Farms says it has developed a new system for establishing miscanthus that takes one-third the time of previous planting methods.
Paul Carver, NEF co-founder and CEO, who holds a PhD in miscanthus physiology and has been working with the crop for more than 15 years, said he believes the company can address the challenges that have been hindering the expansion of energy crops during the past decade. Of those barriers, establishment costs has been one of the most significant. “Grants and BCAP [Biomass Crop Assistance Program] won’t always be around—they are intended to start the market, not keep it going forever—so we’re very focused on providing systems that allow people to plant crops effectively without grant support,” Carver said. “It needs to end up being half the cost of what it is today.”
Carver said the new system, which he describes a second-generation method of planting energy crops, has three components. The first is a bulked up miscanthus breed that can reproduce rapidly. “The second part is development of uniform propagules that you can auto-drill with no hand labor,” Carver said.
That goes hand-in-hand with the last component—a machine that precision drills the miscanthus plants like seed row crops, allowing for quick establishment and rapid acreage expansion. “Our system takes one-third the time that it’s taken in the past; normally it takes about five years for establishment,” Carver said. The system is applicable to seed-based energy crops as well, he added.
NEF is also partnered with Muddy Boots Software, an information technology platform that allows direct trading between end-users and farmers. Among many other facets, Muddy Boots provides crop sustainability information to the end-user, which is required by law in the European Union. “The release of the IT system is very much linked to the establishment system development; we are providing a complete service for the energy crop feedstock supply chain, from breeders to farmers to end-users,” Carver said. “This will make it low cost, and easy to scale up and manage the areas of energy crops required for projects, which have previously been barriers to expansion.”
By Erin Voegele | October 31, 2011
Data available on NREL’s new website will aid in the development of web and mobile apps.
Photo: NREL
The U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has launched a new website that aims to make its vast library of data related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative transportation more accessible than ever before. The new site, www.developer.nrel.gov, provides data feeds that computer programmers can access and use applications they develop for use on mobile and web platforms. The first data set that will be offered on the new site includes a comprehensive, nationwide list of alternative fueling locations that supply biodiesel, ethanol, electricity or natural gas.
“Every year, we get hundreds of requests for our data,” said NREL project manager Johanna Levene. “In the vast majority of cases, we’ve been happy to provide it, but the person on the other end has had to go to the trouble of finding the right person, asking for the data, downloading it and updating it to keep it current. NREL’s new subsite automates that entire process and serves as a seamless data conduit directly from NREL to another organization’s application.”
Application developers are able to retrieve data through a web service application programming interface. The site currently includes three types of search queries that allow the user to either return a full list of alternative fuel stations that match his or her search, an option to retrieve the data when the alternative fuel station data was last updated, and a method to search for the nearest alternative fueling stations to a give location. According to NREL, developers who access the data will be able to tailor it to their own specific needs. “For example, an organization could use NREL’s alternative fueling station data to create an application that reveals the locations of all electric vehicle charging stations inside a particular state or city,” said NREL in a statement.
While the data feeds included in the new site are not designed to be directly useful to the general public, the application development it will enable will be. “NREL wouldn’t necessarily build a mapping tool for charging stations in South Carolina, for instance, but for someone else, that kind of application might be of tremendous value,” Levene said. “Providing our station data through Web services allows developers to slice and dice the information based on their own interests and their own geographical regions… This is a much more streamlined way of pushing out our information on energy efficiency and renewable energy to the rest of the world. We expect that people will develop all kinds of creative applications and uses for it that we haven’t even dreamed of.”
In addition to data related to alternative fuels that the website currently includes, NREL will soon add a new data set that includes all federal and state laws and incentives related to alternative fuel vehicles. There are also plans to add data related to electric vehicles, wind and solar energy.
By Lisa Gibson | November 22, 2011
A large greenhouse in Sainte-Clotilde-de-Châteauguay, Quebec, unveiled on Nov. 18 its new biomass heating system, complete with a 2-kilometer (1.24-mile) hot water distribution network for its 6.5 hectares (16 acres).
Les Serres Lefort Inc. is a specialty greenhouse dedicated to the production of seedlings delivered to 250 vegetable growers in Quebec. With the help of consulting firm Jean Gobeil & Associés and boiler manufacturer Compte-Fournier Inc., Les Serres Lefort fired up its forest biomass heating system, including two 6-megawatt boilers, in October.
“All greenhouse farmers know that in greenhouse production, energy is one of the major costs we face,” said Sylvain Lefort, owner of Les Serres Lefort. “Since 2008, the continuous price increase in fossil fuels meant that our propane heating system was generating additional expenses. I therefore started to look for alternatives such as forestry biomass. Today, I am extremely proud to say that Les Serres Lefort Inc. has gone green. Our brand new biomass heating system will decrease our environmental footprint while supporting us in our mission to offer top quality products that meet the expectations of our clients in terms of pricing and profitability.”
The $7.8 million system is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,757 metric tons (14,062 tons) per year and received $5 million from Quebec’s energy efficiency program. The facility will use about 10,000 metric tons of wood chips sourced locally to begin with, increasing to about 18,000 tons after a planned greenhouse expansion, according to Martin Richard, business development and technical manager for Compte-Fournier.
“The client and his consultant, Jean Gobeil & Associés, have signed a long-term agreement with a wood chip platform in order to be supplied with about half of the annual volume required, thus granting themselves some freedom to use different sources of biomass as feedstock based on opportunities,” Richard said.
He added that the system is solely producing heat. “Given the low cost of electricity in Quebec, cogeneration was not considered, as the costs are typically really high for such mid-sized equipments,” he said.
By USDA | November 17, 2011
Deputy Agriculture Undersecretary for Rural Development Doug O’Brien announced Nov. 17 that USDA is funding a series of projects to convert biomass to energy through USDA’s Rural Energy for America program. The announcement was made during an event in Halifax, Va., to mark USDA Rural Development’s participation in construction of a biomass plant to be operated by the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC).
“The Obama Administration is assisting cooperatives, small businesses, farmers and ranchers, as they work to reduce their energy costs,” O’Brien said. “When energy costs are reduced, American rural businesses become more competitive, allowing them to expand and create jobs.”
For example, NC-CHP Owner I LLC of Asheville, N.C., received a $5 million loan for the installation of a combined-heat-and-power system in Montgomery County. The system will generate steam by using a system powered by wood chips and will also generate 5.25 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year. Also in Montgomery County, applicant EWP LLC will receive a $146,000 grant to install equipment at an existing hydroelectric plant so it can be reopened. The project has the potential to generate an estimated 2.8 million kWh per year.
Today’s announcement concludes 2011 biomass project funding assistance for a total of 52 projects with just over $31 million in grant and loan note guarantees through the Rural Energy for America Program. This support helped to leverage a total of $154.5 million of biomass project development in 26 states which will help produce clean, renewable heat and power for farms and small businesses in rural America. A complete list of funding recipients announced today follows:
Alaska Alaskan Brewing LLC—$448,366 grant biofuel from waste grain
N.C. EWP LLC $146,281—grant Hydro
N.C. NC-CHP Owner I LLC—$5 million loan wood to energy
Iowa Firewood Products—$24,232 grant firewood kiln
Mass. CommonWealth Resource—$49,875 grant biofuel from waste
S.D. Legend Seeds Inc.—$17,035 grant boiler installation
Tenn. Mountain Wood Products—$500,000 grant wood pellet processing
Utah Washakie Renewable Energy—$496,750 grant biofuels pretreatment/products plant
USDA funding is contingent on the recipient meeting the conditions of the grant or loan agreement. REAP grants can finance up to 25 percent of a project’s cost, up to $500,000 for renewable energy systems and $250,000 for energy efficiency improvements.
Since taking office, President Obama’s Administration has taken historic steps to improve the lives of rural Americans, put people back to work and build thriving economies in rural communities. From proposing the American Jobs Act to establishing the first-ever White House Rural Council—chaired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack—the President wants the federal government to be the best possible partner for rural businesses and entrepreneurs creating job opportunities and for people who want to live, work, and raise their families in rural communities.
USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of state and local offices. Rural Development has an active portfolio of more than $155 billion in affordable loans and loan guarantees. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America.
By Erin Voegele | October 25, 2011
It’s been nearly two decades since ASTM International initiated spec development efforts for biodiesel. Since then, the organization has developed specifications for not only B100, but also blends of up to B20. Alterations to specifications for petroleum diesel and oilheat products were also made, allowing blends of up to B5 to be considered fungible components of these fuels.
While ASTM’s actions have helped open the market for biodiesel and biodiesel-blended fuels, Steve Howell, president of Marc-IV Consulting and chairman of the ASTM biodiesel task force, notes the process of spec development is never over. “We continue to improve the specifications as time goes on, as engines change, as petro-diesel changes, and as biodiesel changes,” he says. “We continue to improve the specs,” just like what happens with diesel fuels.
ASTM currently has several changes to biodiesel and biodiesel-related specifications in the works that are designed to do just that. Most immediately, the organization is moving to develop No. 1 and No. 2 grades of biodiesel. Additional changes that are in various stages of development include a move to increase the amount of residual biodiesel that can be present in jet fuel, which should open up additional pipeline transportation opportunities; the development of a specification covering higher Bioheat blends; and the possibility of altering the organization’s definition of biodiesel to include new technologies and feedstocks.
A New Grade
Most people are familiar with the concept of No. 1 and No. 2 grades of diesel. Now, ASTM is addressing the same concept with biodiesel. “We are currently balloting at the main committee level a new No. 1 grade of biodiesel within D6751,” Howell says. “That grade would be intended to provide a grade of fuel with lower levels of minor components that would address the rare instances where we’ve seen blends of some No. 1 diesel fuel and some biodiesel have instances of filter clogging above the cloud point of the finished fuel.”
According to Howell, the ballot will provide a No. 1 grade of biodiesel that can be used in similar fashion to how No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuel are used in the U.S. “That’s kind of the whole philosophy behind it,” he says. “Most people will use No. 2 because it works well for just about everybody out there, but in the rare cases where you find that it doesn’t work down to the cloud point with blends, you can try No. 1.”
However, Howell stresses, the new grade would not be specifically for cold weather use. “The No. 1 grade of biodiesel would provide additional assurances that the fuel is going to work down to the cloud point of whatever the blend ends up being,” he explains. “You could have a No. 1 fuel that is not a winter fuel, but what it would do is provide more assurance that with every kind of diesel fuel out there, it would operate down to the cloud point on the blend, wherever your blend ends up being.”
The ballot for that change to D6751 is currently out for vote. “The results will be adjudicated at the December ASTM meeting,” Howell says. “That’s the biggest item on the plate right now.”
Stu Porter, director of BBI Biofuels Canada and ASTM member, notes that the specification changes for the new grade are relatively minor. Specifically, he says the No. 1 grade would have a flat limit for monoglycerides and lower cold soak filtration test requirements year-round. “Otherwise all of the specs remain the same,” he says.
Porter says that the change is seen as critical to the industry because petroleum companies want to have a standard in place to help minimize and limit their risk during all seasons of operation. While there have been rare instances where dispenser filters have experienced plugging in a few states, Porter notes there are several variables those issues could be attributed to. “One of the things that is always an unknown is, there are a number of different blending strategies for different organizations and different regions around the country,” Porter says. “Sometimes when these things happen, you don’t really know for sure what the root cause is, whether it was because it was splash blended, or because the diesel that it was blended with is more or less aromatic than another one might be. The intent of the specs is to try to make it as unilateral as possible so that, irrespective of poor blending practices, or when good practices are employed, or the range of aromaticity of diesels you would normally find in the marketplace, you wouldn’t have any issues with filter clogging above the cloud point.”
According to Porter, there is also a possibility that this current ballot will be seen as more of as an initial step rather than as a final solution to the two-grade system for B100. “One of the things that has been discussed…is that they see this as a starting point, and want to gather more data and do more testing to get a better understanding of things, but also to look at the potential to add some additional tests once we have a better understanding for maybe a different approach,” Porter says.
While the current ballot would indeed result in two different grades of biodiesel, Porter notes that the differences would be quite minor when compared to the different grades of diesel. “The thing that often gets lost is between No. 1 and No. 2 diesel there are a number of different parameters,” he says. “No. 1 versus No. 2 diesel is lighter in viscosity, it’s lighter in distillation, it’s lower in cloud point. There are a number of parameters in No. 1 versus No. 2 diesel that are different, and the difference between the proposed No. 1 or No. 2 grade of B100 is really just a couple of properties.”
A Better Bioheat
ASTM is also working towards the development of a specification for higher blends of Bioheat. However, that work is still in a relatively early stage. That said, Howell notes that it shouldn’t take nearly as long to develop a specification for Bioheat as it did to develop D6751 or D7467. “A lot of the work that was put in to develop the on- and off-road fuel specifications can be cross-applied to heating oil,” Howell says. “But, there are some things that are special for heating oil that don’t happen in on- and off-road diesel engines. There will be some additional work specific to the heating oil market that we’ll need to do, and industry is actually in the process of doing that.” The National Biodiesel Board and the National Oilheat Research Alliance have set up a Bioheat technical steering committee to guide those efforts, which includes a multifaceted group of equipment companies, petroleum companies, biodiesel companies and technical experts that are identifying what those technical needs are executing against those, he says.
According to Porter, a primary issue with the use of blends higher than B5 in home heating use has to do with the yellow metals and elastomers that are found in some legacy equipment. The furnace equipment manufacturers have been resistant to higher blends because they have some material compatibility concerns, he says. “I think looking at up to a B7 or possibility of B10 or B20 is certainly being discussed,” Porter adds.
Porter also points out that elements such as higher oxidative stability limits might be important to building more furnace equipment manager acceptance of blends higher than B5. “With home heating oil, some folks may buy their oil at the end of one season and not use it till the following season, or vice versa,” Porter says. “They may store it longer than 6 months, which is the recommended storage, based on the current oxidation stability limits in D6751.”
However, Howell points out that stability might not be that great a concern. “There are no stability specs for petro diesel for heating oil,” he says. “Very few people realize that home heating oil has its own stability problems, and its own quality issues over the years. Biodiesel stability is one of the questions that the technical steering committee is set to address. If it is something that needs additional attention, there are a lot of stability additives that have proven very effective. You don’t want to add them unless you need them, but if you need them, the stability additives have been shown to be very, very effective in increasing the storage life of biodiesel.”
Howell notes that a big push from NORA has been integral in moving work on the spec forward. NORA has formally issued a vision statement, he says, to move to a 100 percent biodiesel fuel by 2050, which would create an 80 percent carbon emissions reduction when compared to petroleum fuels.
Howell estimates that the development of a new Bioheat specification will take at least a couple of years, but he says it shouldn’t take the full eight it took to create D6751. It will ultimately depend on what the data says, he stresses. “If I knew what the data was going to be before we did it,” he says, “we wouldn’t have to do the [research].”
Additional Actions
Several other important actions are in progress at ASTM as well. Regarding pipeline shipments of biodiesel-blended fuel, the organization is working to increase the allowable portion of biodiesel that can be present in jet fuel. Currently, D1655 allows for up to 5 parts per million (ppm) biodiesel in jet fuel. That could increase to 100 ppm in the future, opening up the market for additional pipeline distribution of biodiesel-blended fuel.
“It’s technically illegal for jet fuel to contain any component that is not specifically approved for jet fuel, whether that be an additive or incidental contact with other fuel,” Howell says. “We’re doing a project right now in combination with the airlines and the European and American petroleum refiners and military agencies to approve 100 parts per million biodiesel in jet fuel. That will make it easier to carry biodiesel blends on pipelines that also carry jet fuel.”
According to Howell, work on this initiative is approximately 90 percent complete. “So, far it’s all been positive,” he says. If all continues to go well, the balloting process could be complete in late 2012 or 2013.
“In addition to the jet fuel work, we’ve done a bunch of other improvements that have been incorporated into D6751,” Howell says. “We’ve improved the stability test method for biodiesel and biodiesel blends, and we’ve approved the option of using the AOCS FTIR system for measuring total and free glycerin, cloud point and methanol content, which could provide a significant reduction in testing cost for a biodiesel company to meet the spec.” According to Howell, the new test methods are fast, cheap and effective. He says that especially for medium and small producers, the new methods could be an extremely valuable tool. “It will reduce the overall cost of fuel quality and increase the likelihood that companies will do more testing,” he adds.
While Porter notes the changes don’t necessary represent his preferred approach to testing, he does say it was believed to be a positive move for expediency and cost effectiveness. “It was felt that it was a compromise of allowing more testing to be done and more results to be given,” he says. “I’m not sure it’s the best way to go, but that’s why we have a balloting process, and that’s why we have an opportunity for everyone at ASTM to have their say and their vote, and the consensus was it was an overall better thing for the industry.”
Howell also notes that the development of specifications for blends between B21 and B99 is on the committee’s to-do-list. In addition, Howell says work is underway to complete engine testing to confirm that the existing specification for metals content is sufficient for full useful life for heavy-duty engines to protect the catalysts. “Most engine companies are quite comforted by the fact that we’re doing that type of work and making sure we are testing over the full 450,000 miles of usage, not just one or two years in the field,” he said.
Finally, Howell confirms ASTM is open to clarifying the terminology for biodiesel. “Right now, the definition of biodiesel in the terminology section of D6751 states biodiesel is a mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, since that covered all the biodiesel that was being produced or contemplated,” he says. “If we need to change terminology to cover mono-alkyl esters produced from sugars or other processes, then ASTM will entertain ballots to change that so that [the terminology] remains feedstock- and process-neutral, as it has been designed thus far.”
Porter adds that ASTM has always been open to updating specifications and terminology when there is a commercial need for it. “The intent with the definition of biodiesel was always to be open to change based on the commercial need,” he says. However, if a company were producing a biodiesel blend stock that is not a mono-alkyl ester that does not meet the current D6751 specification limits, Porter notes that would be an entirely different issue above and beyond simply clarifying terminology, since the current D6751 specification limits were based in consensus and considerable input from original engine manufacturers.
With vast expanses of renewable resources and a well-established pellet industry, Canada is ready to fill the needs of an expanding global market.
By Matt Soberg | October 31, 2011
It’s no wonder Canada is a world leader in forestry and wood products. The country has 10 provinces, three territories and endless shorelines along the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In between its coastal boundaries, Canada boasts 981 million acres of forest, making up 10 percent of the world’s wood reserves.
The wood pellet industry has increased significantly over the past few years due to improved technology and export capabilities.
The country’s pellet industry is represented by the Wood Pellet Association of Canada, which is funded largely by the pellet producers. WPAC’s mandate is to foster good working relationships between the pellet industry, government and the public, to provide safety certification and quality standardization and to research the enhancement of pellet fuel potential.
Although forestry is a prominent business in Canada, pellet manufacturers are not clear-cutting trees and destroying the environment, says Gordon Murray, WPAC executive director, who stresses that pellet companies have created a sustainable industry out of material that was previously considered waste.
The fuel is manufactured from forestry leftovers including fired logs, beetle-killed timber and residues. Vaughan Bassett, vice president of sales and logistics at Pinnacle Renewable Energy, says its facilities primarily use forest and sawmill residuals to produce pellets. Pinnacle is the largest pellet manufacturer in the world, according to Bassett, and operates six plants in British Columbia, where raw materials are abundant.
Forests in British Columbia have suffered from a serious invasion of mountain pine beetles, which have devastated the pine tree population. Because beetle-killed timber tends to develop cracks, it cannot be used for sawmilling without creating significant waste wood, but it is suitable for pelletizing. When harvesting beetle-killed timber, the resultant cleared areas promote new timber growth and reduce methane emissions from the rotting residue. This is only possible if the extracted beetle-killed timber finds an economic home, which it can in the pellet mills.
It is important to understand the environmental impact of the pellet combustion process. “The pellet industry has good green credentials,” Bassett says. Unlike coal, when wood is burned, the carbon released is recaptured by photosynthesis, thereby closing the loop sustainably without atmospheric change, he adds.
The Canadian industry primarily sells pellets to utilities for power production, but pellets are equally useful in industrial or residential thermal applications. Bassett believes the pellet industry has the potential to replace hydrocarbons for heating purposes, especially in remote areas, or in areas that are off the gas grid.
The bottom line is that, “energy policy means making tough decisions, weighing costs and benefits and even judging the next turn in the financial road,” according to Pinnacle. “Pellet fuel can put North America ahead in all those areas. It will encourage the economic and energy independence of your communities, reduce costs and clean the air.”
Robust Canadian Industry
North America is leading the pellet export race, with Canada and the U.S. surpassing Sweden as leaders in pellet production capacity. With strong global demand for wood pellets in Europe due to government initiatives, Canadian capacity has risen sharply. “Capacity has grown more than one-third over the last year, from 2 [million] to nearly 3 million metric tons,” Murray says.
In 2010, Canada had 30 operating pellet plants and 24 in the construction or development phase. The country produced about 1.5 million metric tons of wood pellets in 2010, with British Columbia accounting for 64 percent of that total. Today, the country has 37 pellet plants in operation.
An internal dichotomy exists between the pellet industries in Western and Eastern Canada. Plants in the West focus on industrial pellets for export from the British Columbia ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert to Europe and Asia, and plants in the East market their pellets locally and in the Northeast U.S.
Murray notes that a 1 million metric ton pellet capacity in the East competes for 100,000 metric tons in demand. Most of the product is bagged and used for residential heating. Only three of the 21 plants in Eastern Canada ship overseas from ports in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Belledune, New Brunswick.
Operating in the far western expanses of Canada, Pinnacle produces and exports 1.1 million metric tons of wood pellets annually, according to Bassett.
Policy and Pellets
Pinnacle and other Canadian pellet manufacturers are well-aware that the new demand is being triggered by energy policy. Europe is leading the way, using sweeping national policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, setting a goal of producing 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020.
Meanwhile, North American governments have been slow to introduce national renewable energy policies. North America is highly reliant on fossil fuels and is resistant to change. “It is a lifestyle issue,” Murray says.
The U.S. oil industry is huge, with large companies employing significant numbers of people. The companies also utilize serious lobbying power and dollars to expand their business. Government subsidies for fossil fuels alone substantially outnumber revenues from the pellet industry. Murray also believes many in North America don’t take global warming seriously.
The Canadian government has recently taken steps in the right direction with a policy to reduce the use of coal and convert to biomass fuels and natural gas. To stay on top of technology, the WPAC has spearheaded an investigation and study into available coal alternatives such as cofiring and torrefaction.
As Canada and the U.S. initiate sustainability directives, Murray predicts that demand for wood pellets will increase in domestic markets. Pellets may be the best way for countries to satisfy policy requirements in a cost-efficient way. They are also easy to transport and store, and require minimal technology and modification for coal conversion purposes.
Canadian Exports
To satisfy government emissions directives across the Atlantic, experts have projected that European wood pellet demand could increase from nearly 10 million metric tons in 2009 to more than 50 million by 2020, according to the WPAC. Murray warns, however, that forecasting future European consumption may prove difficult because it’s not clear yet how the reduction in national deficits will impact renewable energy subsidies.
What is clear, however, is that European demand is strong, and Canadian companies are trying to capitalize on their established export capabilities. Murray says Canadian pellet exports to Europe currently consist of 1.7 million metric tons annually.
European countries use pellets for power and thermal applications with Belgium, the Netherlands, and England as the main power markets, while Scandinavia uses pellets for area heating, often in conjunction with power generation. Germany and Italy are large markets for residential heating applications.
Approximately two-thirds of Canada’s total pellet production capacity is in Western Canada, where manufacturers can take advantage of backhaul rates, filling empty ships with pellets for export. Backhauling allows western producers to export at only marginally higher costs than eastern companies from Atlantic ports.
Because European pellet consumers prefer receiving small quantities at a time, pellets are transshipped, meaning they are off-loaded into smaller carriers, Murray says. The port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, Europe’s largest port, is one of the most popular transshipping locations. Murray says that significant amounts of cargo are processed at Rotterdam, specifically 430 million metric tons of dry and liquid bulk cargo, compared with the relatively small Canadian ports of Vancouver and Halifax at 75 million and 12 million metric tons, respectively.
Transportation and handling make up the highest proportion of the total wood pellet cost for producers.
Expanding Markets
By constantly targeting emerging markets such as Europe and most recently Asia, Canada is leading the pellet export race. The governments of South Korea and Japan recognize the need to reduce GHGs and are setting environmental policy that is more advanced than in North America, thereby fostering pellet demand.
Although China is behind in emission reduction legislation, Murray says that Canadian companies have had early discussions with the highly industrialized country, which could also provide potential sales for pellet producers.
To stay on top of the market, Murray and the large wood pellet producers traveled to South Korea to promote and gauge the country’s interest in Canadian wood pellets.
South Korea is committed to reduce GHGs 30 percent by 2020. The country’s energy target is 10 percent renewables by 2022, which could translate into more than 4 million tons of wood pellets. Korea is the 10th largest energy consumer in the world, ranking fifth in oil and second in coal imports. Its high coal consumption makes cofiring with wood pellets an excellent way to meet the country’s emissions directives.
British Columbia is the closest province to Korea, and it is twice as far from the Vancouver port to Rotterdam than to South Korea. Pinnacle understands the potential for pellet imports to Asia, and Bassett expects increased trade activity in Korea, Japan and even China.
By Anna Austin | October 12, 2011
As a way to enable Canadian pellet mill Nechako Green Energy Ltd. to make the most of its waste products, Pratt & Whitney Power Systems will install a 2-megawatt (MW) biomass waste heat recovery plant at the Vanderhoof, British Columbia facility.
To be built by subsidiary Turboden, which became a part of Pratt & Whitney about two years ago, the Organic Rankine Cycle unit will provide the 140,000-metric ton pellet plant with power. It will use thermal oil from an existing biomass system to burn the mill’s residual hog fuel and waste bark, which would otherwise be landfilled.
Turboden Director Alessandro Foresti said the pellet facility is a good fit for the system because it already employs a thermal oil boiler. “It’s a very good match for our system—quite an ideal situation,” he said. It’s easy to operate and safe, he said, and can usually run unattended.”
While this installation marks the first ORC in a forest products facility in North America, Turboden is well-known in the European forest industry. “We have over 250 plants in operation, and the great majority of them are in the forest industry,” Foresti said.
In Europe, incentives to install these kinds of systems are much better than in North America, Foresti pointed out, but the cost of residual woody biomass is much lower in North America than in Europe. He said he believes the installation of ORCs in North America is going to increase, but British Columbia in particular offers great opportunity because of its large concentration of sawmills. “In Europe installations are typically between 1 and 1.5 MW, but in the U.S. we’ll see bigger units,” he said. “For biomass applications we can supply up to 5 MW.”
The Nechako Green Energy plant should be up and running by the end of next year, he added.
The installation of the Turboden ORC unit is being funded in part by a contribution from the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program, an initiative by Natural Resources Canada to invest in innovative technologies to help transform Canada’s forest sector.
