INDUSTRY NEWS


INDUSTRY NEWS New bio-refinery concept


is joining forces with Standard Bio, an expert in novel biomass conversion technologies, to develop a new bio-refinery concept that will use low-value organic waste as a resource for clean energy, natural fertilizers and animal protein. The concept is based around the conversion of renewable resources – initially, trees from cultivated forests, although it can also be applied to other types of biomass – into solid briquettes for energy generation, as well as natural oil. At its heart is a patented high-pressure wood press and drying machine developed by Pallmann and Standard Bio, capable of producing 500 cu m of com- pressed wood per day, together with 50 160 litre barrels of natural oil. Pallmann will develop and build


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he Pallmann Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of innovative size reduction technology,


various key pieces of equipment to reduce the dried wood to particu- late sizes that can then be convert- ed into the briquettes. These will be produced either by mixing dried wood chips with a small amount of tree oil and then compacting it to form bio-briquettes (also known as HerbBalls) or by pyrolysing the sawdust and then forming char-


Renewables hit 10% of US energy


A report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that renewable energy accounted for 9.8% of total domestic energy consumption in 2014. This marks the highest renewable energy share since the 1930s, when wood was a much larger contributor to domestic energy supply.


Renewable energy use grew an average of 5% per year over 2001-2014 from its most recent low in 2001. The increase over the past 14 years was in part due to the growing use of biofuels, wind and solar. During this period, the use of biomass for the production of biofuels grew from 253 trillion Btu to 2,068 trillion Btu.


Hydroelectricity was the larg- est source of renewable energy in 2014, but consumption has decreased from higher levels in the mid-to-late 1990s. Wood remained the second-largest renewable energy source, with recent growth


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driven in part by demand for wood pellets.


In 2014, slightly more than half of all renewable energy was used to generate electricity. Within the elec- tric power sector, renewable energy accounted for 13% of energy con- sumed, higher than its consumption share in any other sector. The industrial sector used 24% of the nation’s renewable energy in 2014. Nearly all of that renew- able energy was biomass, which included wood, waste and biofuels used in manufacturing processes as well as in the production of heat and power.


About 13% of renewable energy used in the US today is consumed in the transportation sector, which experienced the largest percentage growth in renewable consumption from 2001-14. The growing de- mand for liquid biofuels, including both ethanol and biodiesel, pushed renewables to nearly 5% of the sec- tor’s energy consumption in 2014.


coal briquettes.


The two companies recently signed a technical and sales co-oper- ation agreement, under which they first plan to set up a demonstration plant in an area of forest in Norway that will use wood surplus to the requirement of timber processing operations for the construction industry. This plant should be opera-


tional later this year. The medium- term goal is to provide technol- ogy and equipment packages for customers around the world. Standard Bio already operates a pilot press that can squeeze water and natural oils out of wood before they are reduced to chips. This elimi- nates the need to expend energy on drying wet chips and also provides a valuable resource in the form of tree oil that can be used as a feedstock in various other processes. “We are developing technol- ogy for converting environmental waste and misplaced resources into commodities with high added value that can be sold around the world,” stated Ove Lerdahl, CEO at Standard Bio. “The technology represents a highly cost-effective and sustainable means of producing clean energy from renewable resources that has no need for government subsidies to be successful.”


Wood waste to power jets


A breakthrough has been announced by Gevo to its fermentation technology that will allow it to produce isobutanol from cellulosic feedstocks such as wood waste, which can then be converted into Gevo’s alcohol-to-jet fuel. Gevo currently makes isobutanol from corn at its plant in Luverne, Minnesota, but its process has always had the flexibility to adapt to other feedstocks.


The patented Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT) has now been adapted to convert the cellulosic sugars from wood intro renewable isobutanol. Gevo then uses its patented hydrocarbon technology to convert the cellulosic isobutanol into alcohol-to-jet- synthetic paraffinic kerosene


(ATJ-SPK) fuel.


The company’s cellulosic isobutanol production will be conducted at a demonstration facility in St Joseph, Missouri, that the company jointly operates with ICM. The ATJ- SPK will be produced in Silsbee, Texas, at the demonstration facility the company operates with South Hampton Resources.


“There are significant economic and environmental benefits of renewable jet fuel,” said Pat Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “The next two milestones for renewable jet fuel are the approval by ASTM (previously known as the American Society for Testing and Materials – Editor) and the scheduled commercial test flights. Our team is actively engaged in both of these activities.”


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