Northeast Energy Perspective: Willow Biomass - Bioenergy Industry Development

Edward F. Neuhauser, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp, Syracuse, NY

Lawrence P. Abrahamson, Edwin H. White, and Daniel J. Robison College of Environmental Science & Forestry Syracuse, New York State University of New York, Syracuse, NY

Jeffrey M. Peterson, New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, Albany, NY

Wally H. Benjamin, New York State Electric & Gas Corp, Binghamton, NY

Abstract

Biomass-for-energy cropping and production systems based on willow planted and managed at high densities and short (3 to 4 year) coppice harvest cycles, providing fuel for co-firing with coal can be economically, ecologically, and environmentally sustainable. These issues are crucial to the successful commercialization of this biomass-bioenergy system. Current knowledge and ongoing research and development indicate that the production and utilization systems involved are environmentally and ecologically acceptable. Attempts are being made to adopt the European planting and harvesting system for North American conditions. The other major issues that need development are the economic viability based on cost of production and use, the value of environmental externalities (such as atmospheric emissions), and potential government/public policy actions to promote this system of providing a locally produced and renewable farm crop and fuel. Development needed to overcome the economic constraints are known, and should be bolstered by the environmental and ecological quality of the system.

Introduction to the Salix Consortium Project:

Willow biomass farm crops grown as a Dedicated Feedstock Supply System (DFSS) in Northeastern USA has been analyzed and found to be a feasible means of augmenting current coal resources for power generation. This project is focusing on the technology, equipment and infrastructure required to grow willow crops and integrate them with existing pulverized coal electric generation facilities in central and western New York.

The most promising near-term commercial biopower business scenario involves independent growers, a DFSS planting/harvesting/processing cooperative, and a co-firing utility market. Business expansion in the future includes markets for new generation capacity based on biomass-fired integrated gasification power systems as well as production of liquid and gaseous fuels. The “Salix Consortium” was formed in New York (by four principle partners with the cooperation of about 30 private, government, and research institutions) and supported by the US Departments of Energy and Agriculture plans to commercialize this system in Central and Western New York with future expansion in Central/Northeastern USA and Eastern Canada.

The principle partners in the Salix Consortium are all involved in various aspects of development of biomass resources for energy applications. New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG) is among a handful of utilities in the US to actively co-firing biomass fuels with coal. Several years of tests and operations at the NYSEG stoker-fired Jennison and Hickling Stations have produced encouraging results. This includes trouble-free and economic use of these fuels when the feedstock costs are comparable to coal on a per-BTU basis. Modifications for co-firing biomass with coal at the pulverized coal Greenidge Station have recently been completed for sustained co-firing. Further, NYSEG has a research program with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) establishing biomass dedicated feedstock supply systems (DFSS) on company land. Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) has had an active research program in renewable energy for many years. Niagara Mohawk has sponsored, since 1988, research for energy feedstocks from biomass at SUNY ESF, and is committed to the SUNY ESF biomass program with a 12-year contract (through 2004). SUNY ESF has been a leader in the development of experimental methods for evaluation of high yield woody crops since 1983. SUNY ESF has conducted plant development and cultivation trials for hybrid poplars and willow in soils of the Northeast, achieving experimental yields over 13 dry tons per acre per year. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has supported biomass energy research at SUNY ESF since 1983, and a range of other efforts to evaluate the availability and environmental acceptability of the use of DFSS biomass and residue resources for power generation and process heat applications. These Consortium members have long-standing interests in renewable energy, environmental quality and rural development.

The willow cropping system is based on 15 years of research at SUNY ESF. Research has ranged from hybrid poplar clone-site trials at wide spacings (435 trees/ acre) and anticipated 10-year rotations, to willow clone-site trials at extremely high densities (43,560 trees/ acre) and 1-year rotations. The system adopted is based on this research and extensive work in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Canada. Its basic characteristics are: "Swedish" double row mechanical planting of 6,200 trees per acre, mechanically harvested on 3- to 4-year coppice cycles. There are more than 40,000 acres of willow DFSS in this system established in Europe, and commercial planting and harvesting machines are available. Research and scale-up at SUNY ESF and the University of Toronto have further validated the system for North America. The proposed near-term conversion technology, namely co-firing biomass with coal, is well established in stoker and more recently pulverized coal boilers. Advanced conversion technologies, such as direct biomass gasification, alcohol production, and fuel cell technologies are in various stages of pilot-scale development, and the Consortium is well positioned to access them for testing and eventual deployment.

Under the umbrella of the Salix Consortium, these organizations have combined their respective strengths to further the development of high yield energy crops to a pre-commercial demonstration and commercial production stage. The Consortium partners, in conjunction with other sponsoring agencies, are currently scaling-up clone-site trials, establishing a commercial scale demonstration farm, securing acreage for large scale plantings, co-firing 5-15% wood residues on a sustained basis, and continuing co- firing pilot trials. The combining of a long-term funding base for sustained research by SUNY ESF, an active role by progressive electric utilities, politically favorable federal/state governments and a demonstrated need for rural development has resulted in one of the first successful near-term commercialization opportunities for willow as a short rotation dedicated feedstock supply system for electric energy production in the USA

Willow Energy Business Development - the Vision for the Enterprise:

The business enterprise being developed by the partners of the Consortium combines the strengths of entrepreneurial farmers and forward-looking utility companies in New York and the Northeastern United States. As partners in the enterprise they will forge a long term business relationship that will provide the necessary capital and expertise to develop an energy crops market and infrastructure in the Northeastern US The business is built around three entities distinct in their responsibilities but integrated by their common interests in developing a profitable business.

• The Grower - growers (farmers) within a 50-mile radius of the power plant will grow willow crops, developed by SUNY ESF and others, on 20- to 300-acres of land. Landowners will get paid for the feedstock commodity and/or land rent. Income generated by the crop will diversify farm products, and yield up to a 6% internal rate of return on the growers' investment in the energy crop, and allow the land to stay in productive use.
• An Associated Farmer/Utility Cooperative - investment in specialized planting and harvesting equipment will produce income through fuel sales to the utility and service fees charged to regional growers for planting, harvesting, processing and transport services. The cooperative will procure biomass residues in the region and deliver a blend of residues and dedicated feedstocks to the fuel market.
• Associated Utilities - the utilities associated with the Consortium will be able to receive favorable terms on fuel purchases from the Cooperative. Fuel prices for a 50-50 blend of energy crops and residues will be competitive with coal. The utilities will be able to bank the emission reductions (SOx and NOx , and potentially CO2 ) due to biomass fuel substitution. The emission credits are an additional incentive provided through biomass fuel purchases that confer a competitive edge to power companies making the biomass fuel switch.

To ensure profitability, the Consortium will establish regional cooperatives that serve a minimum of 2500 acres. The first would be established to serve NYSEG’s Greenidge Generating Station in central New York. Greenidge production acreage will eventually grow to 5000 acres capable of supporting 15% co-firing with a 50-50 blend. The second regional cooperative would be established to serve NMPC’s Dunkirk generating station. Within 10 years, production is projected to reach 120,000 dry tons per year dedicated biomass fuels grown on 13,000 acres and 336,000 tons of residue fuels serving four co-fired coal generating stations in NYSEG and NMPC territory.

Anticipating the development of greenfield Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power stations fired entirely by biomass fuels, nearly 30,000 acres are projected to be planted in willow energy crops by 2010 in New York. With annual fuel sales projected to approach $20 million in New York alone, electricity sales at 5 cents per kWh would generate $135 million in revenues from biomass generated power. Sales of emission credits could substantially increase these revenues. Other enterprises modeled after these pioneer operations and associated with the Consortium could be constructed throughout the Northeast.

Project Feasibility and Business Plan Development:

The analytic approach to determining the potential for successful development of biomass resources as a profitable venture for both fuel suppliers and users rests on the ability to quantify, within comfortable ranges, the price and availability of the resource and the economic value that can be realized by the utility and fuel producers in the process of utilizing biomass-derived fuels. Beyond these basic considerations, an array of issues and factors will determine public and regulatory agency acceptance of the changes in land and fuel use. These issues will influence resource supply and demand, and are being addressed as risks with potential impacts on both cost and schedule for project development. Approaches to resolving or mitigating the potential impacts are being evaluated.

The Salix Consortium has prepared a preliminary plan for the development of biomass as a utility fuel resource in the Central and Western regions of New York State, and adjoining areas where utility partners are located and co-firing experiments have been conducted. The primary reasons for developing the biomass resource are both economic and environmental. The goals for the project are multiple.

• Establish the technical, economic and environmental viability of willow biomass as an alternate farm crop for the region serviced by the Salix Consortium utilities and potential expansion to other regions.
• Demonstrate the environmental benefits and operability of co-firing biomass and coal in existing coal-fired PC boilers in the region.
• Determine the regional economic development benefits of creating a biomass power infrastructure.
• Demonstrate the environmental benefits and economic advantages attributable to the use of existing by-products and residues from the wood products industries and raw materials from good forest management practices in the region.

A phased approach to development of the resource is embodied in the Salix Consortium plan. In the initial phases that have been ongoing, field tests were conducted for willow clones that would become the foundation of a DFSS. Clones with proven yields have been developed and are uniquely available to the Consortium through a long-standing association between SUNY ESF and the University of Toronto and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Combustion of wood by-products and residues in utility boilers has been conducted to evaluate their compatibility with coal firing as well as their environmental and economic characteristics. In the commercialization Phase that the Consortium is now entering, scale- up and expansion of the early experiments is being conducted as a prelude to the first commercial operation of a fully integrated biomass fuel system. Success in the first commercial plant conversion to co-firing biomass and coal will be a stepping-stone to expansion of the use of the fuel in co-firing applications and scale-up of DFSS production capability. It will serve as an infrastructure development model for application in other regions.

In the future new biopower capacity will be considered as power demands change and older generating facilities are retired. The introduction of high efficiency biopower systems is expected to occur near the turn of the century. Based on demonstration of the effectiveness of these systems in pilot plant facilities, the Consortium plans to eventually identify potential repowering or greenfield plant sites for capacity expansion.

Description of Region:

The potential biomass supply within a 50-mile hauling radius of NMPC’s Dunkirk Station, and NYSEG’s Kintigh, Greenidge, and Milliken Generating Stations, in west-central New York was evaluated. Dunkirk and Kintigh Generating Stations are located on the Lake Erie-Ontario Plain of New York. Most of the Kintigh area possesses highly productive soils. The valley floors of this region are some of the most productive agricultural lands in the state, and the hillsides in this region are primarily used for pasture and hay land, or are uncultivated. Although the Dunkirk Station is located within the Lake Plain region, most of the study area falls in the Allegheny Plateau. The northwestern portion of this plateau is cultivable, although soil drainage is restricted. The Dunkirk area encompasses some of the largest timber-producing areas in New York. Kintigh is located between the large population centers of Rochester and Buffalo. The Dunkirk study area encompasses Buffalo. Both of these areas have access to well-developed transportation systems.

The Greenidge and Milliken Generating Stations are both located in the Finger Lakes region of the Lake Erie-Ontario Plain. Greenidge and Milliken have access to the timber producing counties in the southern portion of the state, and the agricultural lands of the Finger Lakes. These areas are not as densely populated as the Dunkirk and Kintigh areas. The transportation systems are not as well developed in the Greenidge and Milliken areas but are adequate for agricultural industries.

Agriculture in New York State is annually a $2.6 billion industry and one of the state's most important sectors. Data from the US Census Bureau and Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences quantifies land use and farming trends readily visible throughout the state. Changes in the industry, beginning in the 1930s, and accelerated over the last decade, have made significant amounts of land potentially available for willow DFSS production in support of biopower industry. For example, between 1987 and 1992 the number of farms declined by 14%, and the number of acres farmed by 11%. Slightly less than half of all farmed acres are cropped, the remainder being in pasture and support areas. Average farm size increased during this period by 7 acres, to 200 acres. Of all farms (32,306) reporting, only 52% earned a profit in 1992. However, 33% of the reporting farms accounted for fully 92% of all agricultural sales. Thus, most small farms are in need of economic revitalization, such as from the introduction of willow biomass as a new cash crop. Steady increases in New York's forested area since the 1930s (the state is now 63% forested) indicate that land removed from agriculture is generally abandoned and returns to forest. Willow biomass is likely to be a socially acceptable alternative for recently retired and unprofitable farmland, and economically welcomed as markets develop.

Willow biomass is not recommended for establishment on currently forested areas. These areas are best managed as forests and it is unacceptably difficult and costly (environmentally and economically) to convert them to DFSS. New York's forests do, however, have great potential to supply wood biomass for biopower, particularly during the scale-up phases of DFSS deployment, as a long-term component of the industrial fuel mix, and as an "insurance" resource to smooth out unanticipated fluctuations in willow biomass production.

Willow Biomass Cropping:

The willow biomass cropping system upon which this project is founded can be summarized as follows: land with appropriate soils (medium textured, moderate drainage, pH 5.0-8.5, depth 18 inches) that is currently open (idle, brush, pasture, cropped) is suitable for producing willow biomass for bioenergy. Other species adapted to the cropping system may also be used (i.e., hybrid poplar). Currently forested land (dominated by trees of sufficient stature to resist brush-hogging) is not to be converted to willow biomass crops. Suitable land is prepared using agricultural practices (clean and/or conservation tillage), trees are mechanically spring planted at 6,200 per acre (using the "Swedish" double-row system; cuttings planted 2 feet apart within each double row that are 2 1/2 feet apart, with the double rows being 5 feet apart), managed on coppice cycles of three to four years (three years normally, except for the 1-year cutback after the establishment year to promote multiple stems), weed control is extremely important the year of establishment, nutrients (chemical fertilizers and/or organic sources) are applied the spring and/or early summer after cutback and each coppice harvest, and mechanically dormant season harvested with modified agricultural machines. Approximately 7 coppice harvests over 21 to 28 years are expected following establishment. The willow crop can be reestablished whenever tree vigor-health-survival declines substantially and reduces productivity, or new-improved clones become available and it is economically justified to replant. Alternatively, the crop can be abandoned or the land can be converted back to other uses.

All harvesting is done during the dormant (winter) season. This maximizes tree nutrient and carbohydrate allocation to roots during the autumn, thus promoting vigorous coppice regrowth the following spring, and ensures that leaves have fallen and will enter the site's nutrient cycle. In addition, leaves with their relatively high nutrient contents may be problematic in some conversion processes. Winter harvesting ensures that the ground is hard and trafficable, and does not interfere with normal farm harvesting operations in the summer and autumn.

Winter harvested material (which is immediately chipped) must either be stockpiled during harvest months (November to March) for use throughout the year, creating inventory management challenges, or be a "cold-season-only fuel" (six months). In this case, during the "warm-season" (April to November) alternative fuels would be required since chipped material can only be stored for one to four months with proper management. In co-firing operations, willow biomass crops might not be used in the warm- season; other biomass may be used. Alternatively, if willow biomass harvesting is done with a whole- stem harvester machine, the cut stems can be stored up to several years, drying while in storage, and then used as fuel during cold or warm-season months. In co-firing, coal-only fuel can be used as required. In advanced biopower conversion systems, 100% dependent on biomass, alternative biomass resources in addition to willow biomass crops may have to be used. These could include biomass from forests and wood processing industries, as well as seasonally available agricultural residues. Warm-season harvested DFSS crops, such as the alfalfa stem biofuel project in Minnesota, might also be attractive options.

Willow DFSS is an agri-forestry system of production, using agricultural practices and equipment to produce wood biomass. By analogy, the willow biomass crop system is established like a corn crop, but managed like a hay crop with multiple harvests from a single planting. In addition to the use of agricultural type site preparation techniques and equipment, planting and harvesting machines and operations are more similar to agriculture than traditional forestry. Commercial planting equipment developed in Sweden for willow biomass crops includes an automated tractor-drawn and powered two- and four-row planters.

Automated willow DFSS harvesting machines have been developed in Europe and are commercially available in the US Two basic types of machines have been developed: the harvester-chipper and the whole-stem harvester. The harvester-chippers are modified corn (Claas Jaguar 695 - CLAAS Corporation) or sugarcane (Austoft 7700 - Austoft, Inc.) harvesters, which cut, chip and blow the chips into a dump wagon following alongside or pulled by the harvester.

Two Swedish companies, Rosenhalls gard Energi AB (Empire 2000 - self propelled) and Froebbesta, Inc. (Froebbesta Harvesters - both self propelled and tractor pulled), have developed whole-stem harvester machines. These cut whole stems and then pile them in the field, which are moved by grappling equipment for on-site storage, direct transport, or chipping and transport.

Summary:

In summary, the Consortium’s biomass energy plans must consider the current economic factors, present future energy consumption level, and the environmental constraints on the electricity-producing industry. It is clear that New York is currently gearing its efforts towards improving its electricity-producing market capabilities. However, further work and planning is necessary to ensure New York’s existence in this highly competitive market.

• The most important innovations that could change the commercial prospects for biomass to energy technology are: the development of high-yield willow energy crops and economical, high capacity planting and harvesting equipment; willow yields 50% above current yields are possible but will take time to achieve in field conditions. Commercial harvesters and planters for willow are in a first production run stage in Europe. Improvements to the productivity of this equipment and broader use would significantly reduce production costs.
• Improvements in fuel handling and fuel preprocessing technology will ease the introduction of biomass as a co-fired fuel in existing coal-fired boilers. NYSEG is investigating improvements to fuel-handling equipment.
• Introduction of integrated gasification combined cycles will increase efficiency and output by as much as 30%, reducing fuel costs and potentially capital investment.

All of these factors would provide leverage for market entry for a biopower enterprise and were evaluated in terms of their potential effects upon the business viability.

Fortunately, a strong potential exists for the growth of New York’s energy market through the use of energy efficiency programs, the continued use of coal and natural gas, and the future use of renewable energy resources (such as the willow biomass crop described here) found in New York.

File posted on March 17, 1998; Date Modified: February 21, 1999