Newsletter Archive

March, 2002

Contents: Feature Article: Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee Recommendations to the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture On the Hill Grassroots Market Place Events Solicitations R&D Awards

Feature Article

Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee Recommendations to the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture Introduction In January 2002, the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee [Advisory Committee] submitted their recommendations on funding Biomass Programs for FY2002 to the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture. The Biomass Research and Development Act of June 2000 authorized an Advisory Committee for the purpose of advising the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture on the technical focus and future direction of programs that are funded through the Integrated Biomass Programs. The Advisory Committee is made up of twenty-five members from trade associations, environmental organizations, academia, private industry and government. Committee members bring diverse expertise in the fields of biobased products and bioenergy. The ultimate goal of the Advisory Committee is to create recommendations that will serve to triple the production of power, products and fuels from biomass sources by 2020. During four public meetings in 2001, the Advisory Committee developed recommendations for increasing the availability and use of biobased power, products, and fuels. This first of a five-year term was used to provide a preliminary overview of the potential of biomass research and development activities (R&D). The Recommendations To address each of the unique technical issues involved in biomass R&D, the Advisory Committee provided both research and development and non-R&D recommendations in three key areas: biofuels, biopower, and biobased products. A crosscutting section was added to highlight recommendations that apply to more than one area. Biofuel With a growing market in place for alternative fuels, the Advisory Committee indicated that the goal to triple biofuel production can be reached as early as 2010. To enhance increases in the use of biofuels, the Advisory Committee recommended an emphasis on R&D in the following areas: Lignocellulosic Materials Pretreatment Catalytic and Chemical Processing Utilization and Systems Management In their recommendations, the Advisory Committee identified the need to reduce the cost and amount of financial risk involved with initial investment in biofuel technology. Recommendations also included measures to assist rural communities with economic development and increase the value of agricultural and forestry products. This could be achieved through increased federal government effort to create fleet standards, fuel standards, oxidation standards and tax incentives that encourage the use of biofuels. Biopower The Advisory Committee also indicated that sufficient resources exist to triple biopower production by 2010. The three main challenges to achieving this goal were cost, policy and efficiency of biopower technology. In order to meet this goal and overcome the challenges, the Advisory Committee recommended increasing R&D in: Thermochemical Conversion Direct Combustion Thermal Gasification Development of Modular Systems In addition, non-R&D recommendations made by the Committee included improvement of systems management and encouraging the use of distributed generation technology. The Advisory Committee recognized that increased efficiency and development of advanced biopower technologies would provide employment and other economic benefits to rural communities. Biobased Products For biobased products, the Advisory Committee identified goals for 2010 and 2020: by 2010, the biobased products industry will triple the consumption of biobased products, improve the health of rural economies, and reduce the environmental impacts associated with the production and use of industrial biobased products; by 2020, the biobased products industry will replace 10% of the petroleum-based product market with biobased products. To achieve these goals, the Advisory Committee recommends increasing R&D in the following areas: Fractionation and Separation Biomass Fermentation and Hydrolysis Biobased Processing Non-R&D areas identified as priorities to support reaching these goals are increased education and outreach activities. In addition, new product standards need to incorporate the use of new bio materials from various product categories. Crosscutting The Advisory Committee identified a number of crosscutting R&D opportunities that will benefit biofuels, biopower, and biobased products. In order to achieve the full potential of these technologies, the Advisory Committee recommended increasing R&D in the following areas: Industrially Useful Crops Biomass Fragmentation Product Recovery and Storage Genetically Enhanced Microbes Non-R&D recommendations include the development of an infrastructure that will improve the recovery, transportation, and processing of biomass, while retaining its quality, so that it becomes a valued product in the market. DOE Integration The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy [EERE] will incorporate the ideas outlined in the Advisory Committee's recommendations into their biomass R&D program for FY2002 and beyond. Areas from the Advisory Committee's recommendations that the Department of Energy has identified as priorities for the future of biomass R&D include: Gasification, Processing and Conversion, and Fuels and Chemicals. The Department of Energy and the Advisory Committee are looking forward to working together over the next four years to improve the focus of federally funded biomass R&D. The Advisory Committee's work for 2002 will include a recommendations report to the Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture as well as a report to Congress that will showcase the significant work of the Advisory Committee Meetings of the Advisory Committee are open to the public and are advertised in the Federal Register. All interested parties are invited to attend. The Advisory Committee recommendations paper is available at this link: http://www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov/pdfs/ AdvisoryCommitteeRDRecommendations.pdf

On the Hill

Congress is considering a number of bills that affect the use of biomass resources to produce energy and biobased products. The following table contains bills that have been active since November 12, 2001. For more information, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/

Bill # Sponsor Summary Last Action H.R. 3708 Rep. John R. Thune (Democrat - FL) T: (202) 224-2321 Bioenergy Investment and Opportunity Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to continue the program to promote industrial consumption of eligible agricultural commodities (including animal fats, oils, and by-products) for bioenergy production through FY 2011. 2/7/2002 S.1766 Sen. Tom Daschle (Democrat - SD) T: (202) 224-2321 The Energy Policy Act of 2002 provides for the energy security of the Nation, and for other purposes. 12/06/01 Pending before the Senate

Grassroots

North Dakota Governor Directs State Fleet to Use Ethanol-Blended Fuel North Dakota Governor John Hoeven has directed the state Department of Transportation to begin using a 10% ethanol-blended fuel in the state's 2,300-vehicle fleet. The plan calls for the state to buy about 1.2 million gallons of 10% ethanol blend a year. The additional cost to the state will be $71,800 a year, funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant. North Dakota already has two ethanol plants, and more are planned. To read the full article, please go to:http://www.governor.state.nd.us/media/news-releases/2002/01/020110.html Methane Generators Turn Agricultural Waste Into Energy UC Davis scientist Ruihong Zhang and her colleagues have developed an improved methane generator technology, called the APS-Digester. The APS-Digester is an anaerobic digestion system that uses bacteria to break down manure and other biomass into a biogas of approximately 60% methane, which is then captured to produce energy. In October, the APS-Digester will be installed at the Palm Beach Thoroughbred Training Facility in Florida, where it will generate about 2 MW of power from horse stable wastes. The first wide-scale application of the APS-Digester will be at horse racing tracks around the country. To read the full article, please go to:http://danr.ucop.edu/calag/01SO/speclrpt2.html Soybeans Find New Growth as Plastics Ingredient The Urethane Soy Systems Co. of Princeton, Illinois has developed a spray foam insulation manufactured from soybean oil. Foam insulation is just the latest product from the Urethane Soy Systems Co., which has pioneered a range of plastic materials made from the soy-based polyol "SoyOyl". The soy-based foam provides the same insulation performance in a four-inch layer that fiberglass batting can provide in a six-inch layer, which cuts down on construction costs. At the same time, spray foam provides better insulation quality, cutting energy bills for homeowners up to 50 percent. The soy-based insulation can be used for both residential and commercial building applications. To read the full article, please go to:http://www.unitedsoybean.org/lib_fs_artview.cfm?id=10&type=one University Heats Buildings with Animal Fats At the University of Georgia, animal fat is being put to an unusual use: heating the campus. In tests over the last few weeks, the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering has used giant steam boilers, converted to burn animal fats, to heat water and buildings on campus. The scientists have burned various mixes of petroleum and animal oils, sometimes up to 100 percent chicken fat, pork fat, beef tallow, or other greases. The project will also test the potential of animal fat in other applications, such as truck and auto engines. To read the full article, please go to: http://www.biobased.org/news/news1690.html

Market Place

Data Sources: OxyFuel News: Ethanol (U.S. Avg: Terminal); MTBE (Houston, TX: spot); Gasoline (Gulf Coast: spot, regular grade) USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Agricultural Prices," "Grain Stocks"

Grain Prices Feb 2001 Feb 2002 % Change Corn Prices ($/bushel) 1.96 1.93 -0.02% Soybean Prices ($/bushel) 4.79 4.19 -0.13%

Fuel Supply Feb 2001 Feb 2002 % Change Motor Gasoline Production ('000 b/d) 7746 7967 2.85% Motor Gasoline Imports ('000 b/d) 594 650 9.43% Motor Gasoline Stock (Mil b/d) 156.3 165.6 5.95% Refinery Utilization Rate 90.9 88 -3.19%

Fuel Production Jan 2001 Jan 2002 % Change Ethanol Production (Mil b/d) 113 128 13.27% MTBE Production (Mil b/d) 160 178 11.25%

Data Sources: U.S. DOE-Energy Information Administration, "Petroleum Supply Monthly" USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service, "Agricultural Prices," "Grain Stocks"

Events

March 4-6, 2002 San Francisco, CA BioCycle West Coast Conference 2002: Composting/Organics Recycling San Francisco, CA http://www.biocycle.net/ Conferences/WC2002/WC02Main.htm March 4-7, 2002 Detroit, MI SAE 2002 World Congress: Engineering for the Environment - Challenges and Opportunities http://www.sae.org/congress/ March 6-8, 2002 Stadthalle Wels, Austria World Sustainable Energy Day 2002 http://www.esv.or.at/aktuelles/WEST/progr_e.htm March 7-8, 2002 Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3rd e-Chemmerce Europe Conference: Best Practices for ROI Presented by Chemical Week http://www.e-chemmerce.com/aboutus/ebROI.html March 10-14, 2002 New Orleans, MI AIChE Spring National Meeting Energy & a Sustainable Planet http://www.aiche.org/conferences/spring/ March 11-13, 2002 Atlanta, GA Distributed Generation and On-Site Power www.dist-gen.com March 12, 2002 Washington, DC Clean Cities Washington Day Contact Adrian Farley at (202) 586-8791 or adrian.farley@ee.doe.gov March 13-15, 2002 Vancouver, Canada GLOBE 2002: 7th International Conference and Trade Fair on the Business of the Environment http://www.globe2002.com/ March 14-15, 2002 Ede, The Netherlands Biotechnology in the Post-Genomics Era http://www.kncv.nl/secties/nbv/nbvcongres140302.html March 18-20, 2002 Mexico City, Mexico International Congress on the Process Industries ACHEMAMERICA Exposition: "Chemical Engineering, Environmental Protection and Biotechnology" www.aiche.org/programming/ic.htm March 19-21, 2002 San Antonio, TX World Fuels Conference: Focus on Refining, Clean Diesel and Gasoline, and Future Fuels reg@chemweek.com March 19-23, 2002 Las Vegas, NV International Off-Highway Congress http://www.sae.org/calendar/oh/ March 20-22, 2002 Chicago, IL Themosets - 2002 and Beyond http://www.4spe.org/ March 20-22, 2002 Portland, OR Wood Technology Clinic & Show http://www.woodwideweb.com/2002/main.html April 3-5, 2002 Athens, GA The Second International Symposium on Biotechnology in Textiles http://www.fcs.uga.edu/tmi/sisbit April 7-11, 2002 Orlando, FL ACS National Meeting http://www.acs.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=acsdisplay.html &DOC=meetings\orlando2002\index.html April 7-11, 2002 Wageningen, The Netherlands The First International Congress on Plant Metabolomics http://www.metabolomics.nl/ April 10-11, 2002 Kassel, Germany 4th International Wood and Natural Fibre Composites Symposium http://www.kutech-kassel.de/ April 11, 2002 Bronx, NY National Alternative Fuels Day and Environmental Summit http://www.ccities.doe.gov/national_af_day.html Click here for additional bio-related events.

Solicitations

Title: Renewable Energy Development on Tribal Lands Description: Applications are solicited from Federally recognized tribes or Alaskan Native Corporations for the purpose of feasibility studies and the installation of renewable energy facilities on tribal land. Government Agency: Department of Energy Schedule: Solicitation will be issued at the end of February 2002. Proposals will be due 70 days after issuance. URL: http://e-center.doe.gov Title: Green Construction - U.S. Post Office Description: The U.S. Post Office seeks the services of a general contractor to build the first sustainable (green) U.S. Post Office in the State of PA. Government Agency: U.S. Post Office Schedule: Responses due March 28, 2002 URL: http://www.eren.doe.gov/sro/solicitations.html Title: Partnerships for Innovation Description: Seeking proposals from degree-granting institutions of higher learning for innovative research projects that stimulate the transformation of knowledge created by the national research and education enterprise into innovations that create new wealth, build strong local, regional and national economies and improve the national well-being. Government Agency: National Science Foundation Schedule: Proposals due May 7, 2002 URL: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf02060/nsf02060.html Title: Forest Products Industry of the Future Description: Funding for cost-shared research and development of technologies that will reduce energy consumption, enhance economic competitiveness, and reduce environmental impacts of the forest products industry. Government Agency: Department of Energy Schedule: Proposals due April 15, 2002 URL: http://www.oit.doe.gov/cfm/fullSolicitation.cfm/id=123 Title: NICE3 Pre-Proposal Description: This solicitation will fund projects that will provide significant energy savings on a national level. Industries considered must fall within DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies' focus industries, such as agriculture and forest products. Government Agency: Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies Schedule: Competitive Solicitation opens early April 2002 Competitive Solicitation closes late June 2002 URL: http://www.oit.doe.gov/

R&D Awards

Title: NICE3 National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment and Economics Description: Funding to demonstrate energy-efficient and clean production practices in manufacturing Recipients: Graphic Engineering; Princeton Advanced Technology; Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Pollution Prevention Assistance Division; OG Technologies, Inc.; Indiana Department of Commerce, Energy Policy Division; Louisiana State University in conjunction with Exxon Mobil Chemical Co.; Louisiana Dept. of Natural Resources; Dynamet Technology, Inc.; PPG Industries, Inc.; Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; Biopulping International; Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Energy. Award Total: $4,000,000 Sponsoring Office: Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies URL: http://www.energy.gov/ Grain Price: The January issue of the newsletter mislabeled Grain Price year-to-year comparisons as December 2001 and December 2002. The correct labels are December 2000 and December 2001 respectively.