WOOD 120 Bio-energy

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WOOD 120Bio-energy
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The Bio-Buzzwords

• Bio-energy
• Bio-mass
• Bio-fuels
• Bio-diesel

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Past practice in BC
Beehive burners
Sawmill waste (hog fuel) was burned without
capturing heat value. Now sawmill waste is
burned to heat the dry kilns.
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Forms of Energy

• Electricity
• Transportation fuel
• Heat

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Forms of Energy

• Solid
• Liquid
• Gas

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Fossil fuels (the simple slide)
CO2
Fossil Fuels
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Bioenergy (the simple slide)
reduce
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Bioenergy (the more complicated slide)
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Bioenergy drivers

• Climate change
• Shortages of traditional energy sources
• Costs of traditional energy sources
• Energy security
• Landfill reduction
• Mountain Pine Beetle (BC-specific)

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Biomass sources

• Grain
• Straw
• Grass
• Sugar cane (bagasse)
• Wood (lignocellulose)

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Wood vs. other cellulosic biomasses

• Longer storage life and lower storage costs
• Higher bulk density
• Less intensive use of water and fertilizer in its
  growth
• Established collection system exists

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Transportation
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Energy density of materials
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Bioenergy technology platforms

• Wood pellets
• Gasification
• Bio-ethanol
• Direct combustion

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Bio-fuel status in BC
www.energyplan.gov.bc.ca
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Wood Pellets

• Sawmill waste extruded into small pellets.
• Either burned directly for heat value or for
  generation of electricity
• Used domestically (N.A.) and industrially (Europe)

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Wood Pellets

• Waste may be ground to consistent, fine size.
• Pressed through pelletizer to consolidate.
• Pellets are held together by natural adhesive
  in wood (lignin).
• Pellets are denser than starting material.

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Wood Pellet Stove

• 1 Hopper
• 2 Convection fan
• 3 Auger
• 4 Ash pan
• 5 Igniter
• 6 Heat exchange tubes
• 7 Burn chamber

www.pelprostoves.com/images/pelpro-cutaway.jpg
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Pellet plants in BC (2011)

• 8 plants
• 787,000 tonnes production
• Plant capacity56-186,000 tonnes
• Used 2.2 million m3 of wood residues
• 10 of global market

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Liquid biofuels

• Bio-ethanol (one example)
• Currently produced from grain (in NA)
• Blended with gasoline
• Gasolineethanol 9010
• Reduces carbon monoxide emissions

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Wood Chemistry
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Bioethanol from wood waste
Burn
Solidresidue
Solid material
Newproducts?
Pre-treatment
Wood
Sugars insolution
Alcohol
Fermentation
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Comparsion of bio-fuel feedstocks
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Conversion of biomass sources
LIGNOCELLULOSE
STARCH
SUGAR
Pretreatment
Pretreatment
Pretreatment
Fractionation
Fractionation
Fractionation
Lignin
Cellulose
Hemicellulose
Extractives
EnzymaticHydrolysis
EnzymaticHydrolysis
Pentoses
Hexoses
Hexoses
Hexoses
Fermentation
Fermentation
Fermentation
Recovery
Recovery
Recovery
BIOFUELS
BIOENERGY
BIOPRODUCTS
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Bio-ethanol from wood

• Wood is hard to break downinto chemical
  components
• High cost of enzymes
• Products need to bedeveloped utilizing solid
  residue (lignin)
• Rate of development of technology is influenced
  by price of oil

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Gasification

• Burns biomass with controlled amount of oxygen
• Converts biomass into carbon monoxide and
  hydrogen
• Results in syngas which is itself a fuel

www.nexterra.ca/i_mages2/Gasifier.jpg
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Gasification

• Cleaner and more efficient technology than direct
  conversion of biomass
• Syngas can be burned on site (for production of
  electricity) or transported (increase in energy
  density)

http//www.sc.edu/usctimes/articles/2005-02/images
/gasification.jpg
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Gasification plant at UBC

• Opened in September 2012
• 25,000 tonnes of urban wood waste per year from
  Metro Vancouver
• Generation of steam and electricity
• Low pressure steam (15 reduction of natural gas
  used for heating on UBC campus)
• Electricity generation (2MW, demonstration scale)
• GHG reduction of 5,000 tonnes/year

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Gasification plant at UBC
Photo credits Don Erhardt
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Gasification plant at UBC
(Nexterra)
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Electricity generation
Raw material ?
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Cogeneration plant

• Williams Lake, BC
• Established in 1993
• 60 MW capacity
• Electricity feeds into BC Hydro grid
• Burns wood waste (600,000 tonnes/year)
• 4-5 local sawmills provide wood waste
  (combined capacity of 1 billion fbm)
• High efficiency combustion

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Looking back and forward??
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Current Status of Bio-Energy Technologies
Gasification
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Bio-energy - issues

• Government policies (e.g., tax credits? RD
  incentives?)
• Competing green technologies (e.g., wind, wave,
  geothermal)
• Competing bio-energy technology platforms still
  being developed
• Competing new fosil fuel capcaity in North
  America
• Food vs. Fuel vs. Fibre