Biofuels Journal - March/April 2008 - (Page 32)

by Lynn Grooms As technology for cellulosic ethanol production advances, potential feedstocks are being examined more closely. Woody biomass can provide several benefits as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock, said Edwin H. White, director of the SUNY Center for Sustainable & Renewable Energy, Syracuse, NY, at the National Ethanol Conference, Feb. 2526, Orlando, FL. Moreover, woody biomass is abundant. White suggested that the amount of woody residues is even higher than that addressed in the “Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion Ton Annual Supply” study published by the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture in 2005. The study, White said, included only tops, branches and residues from current harvesting operations and did not include the low value wood that currently is unharvested due to the lack of markets. This includes the hardwood forests of the Northeast and the conifers of the Southeast, and the need for harvests in the West to lower the danger of fire. Woody biomass is abundant in various forms: • Residues from wood product manu- facturers. • Sustainably harvested low-value wood from forests. • Short-rotation crops grown on under-utilized open farmland. More than 1.3 billion tons of biomass from forest and agricultural land is currently not being used, including 368 million oven dried tonnes (odt) per year from forests and 998 million odt per year from agricultural land, including 377 million odt from perennial crops. The national net annual growth of forest woody biomass on almost 500 million acres of the country’s timberland alone exceeds removals by almost 50%, White said. Most of this biomass can be found in the north central and northeastern states. Benefits try have developed technical and engineering competencies to manage woody biomass. “Regional biomass will be very important,” White said, noting that wood residues are already being used across the country and they already have a cost structure in place. The biggest source of biomass will come from natural stands (low value wood from forests), White added. Finally, short-rotation woody crops will be able to be grown on underutilized “Regional biomass will be very important and wood residues are already being used across the country. They already have a cost structure in place.” - Edwin H. White, Director of the SUNY Center for Sustainable & Renewable Energy White listed several benefits of woody biomass: • It is available year ‘round from multiple sources. • Net energy ratios for bio-energy and bio-products, including biofuels, are large and positive (more energy output than fossil fuel input). • Can be sustainably managed and produced while simultaneously providing environmental and socioeconomic benefits. • Physical-chemical characteristics of woody biomass are fairly consistent from multiple sources. • The forest products industry and the wood-based renewable energy indus- or marginal farmland. This could include poplars in the Midwest and willows in the East. White has conducted research on willow in New York, for example, that will grow 25 feet tall in three years. Lynn Grooms, Grooms Communications, Mt. Horeb, WI, is an independent agricultural journalist. 32 BFJ | MAR/APR 08

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Biofuels Journal - March/April 2008 Contents Stover Ethanol Algae Research High Feedstock Prices Free Fatty Acids Biodiesel Process Fuel From Waste Oil Sustainable Feedstocks DDG Oil Extraction Processing Free Fatty Acids Pretreating Crude Oil Sorghum for Ethanol Barley Ethanol Woody Biomass Wheatstraw Ethanol Waste to Ethanol Switchgrass for Cellulosic Ethanol Sweet Energy Crop Jet Fuel from Algae Supplier Profile: Mason, Mason Mfg. Inc. Supplier Profile: Bensema, The Interstate Companies Managing Switchgrass Biomass Pretreatment Engineering Cellulosic Ethanol FEW 2008 Preview EPA Air Study Training Biofuels Workers Switchgrass Net Energy Monthly Ethanol Production State Report: South Dakota White Paper Studies Energy Act Ultrasonic Ethanol POET Increasing to E-20? Carbon Credits for Cellulosic Ethanol John Neufeld, White Energy John Wilkinson, Minister of Innovation, Ontario Blending Economics Credit Extension Waste to Fuel Enzyme Technologies Ethanol Dedicated Pipeline Husker Ag Inc. Higher Ethanol Yields Industry News Delta T Saving Energy, Water ACE Conference Preview Profile: Sowinski, GreenField Ethanol Profile: Maska, Western Wisconsin Energy, LLC Licensing Technology ICM DOE Grant Book Review Western WI Rail Expansion Ethanol World Cellulosic Ethanol Plants Under Consideration Cellulosic Ethanol Plants Construction Map Nova Biosource Fuels Freedom Fuels, LLC NBB Conference Wrap-up Biodiesel Powered Jaws Biodiesel News Biodiesel Space Age BP plc Chevron Corp. Exxon Royal Dutch Shell Florida Biodiesel Fleet Iowa Biodiesel Board Biodiesel Electricity Biodiesel World Profile: Arnold, Memphis Biofuels LLC Rahul Iyer, Primafuels, Inc. Europe’s Biodiesel Industry Slowdown Brownfield Biofuels Underground Storage Bioindustrial Innovation Biodiesel Buildup Jet Using Biodiesel Biodiesel Positive Energy Balance New Biodiesel Standards Benefuel Solid Catalyst Lipten Company Petroleum Equipment Institute Midland Manufacturing Railroad Industries Inc. Engineered Storage Products Company NARSTCO Inc. ConAgra Trade Group Lide Industries Bunting Magnetics Co. Aldon Company, Inc. Sludge Biodiesel Calendar Ad Index

Biofuels Journal - March/April 2008

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