MARKETS AND FINANCE Biomass Thermal Energy Council Update Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 35 Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act of 2015 Consistent with BTEC’s efforts in 2013, the reintroduction of the BTU Act in March sent a bipartisan signal to Senators and House Representatives to consider advanced biomass heating technologies in broad energy and tax reform legislation. The BTU Act would provide a 15 % tax credit on the installed capital cost of a heating system with an output efficiency higher than 65 % and a 30 % tax credit for heating systems with more than 80 % efficiency. The challenge now is to build broader congressional support for the BTU Act by recruiting House and Senate cosponsors. BTEC is actively seeking to recruit 10 Senate and 20 House cosponsors by May 10, 2015. Wood Chip Standard Awarded Funding The Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) and BTEC were selected for funding by the US Forest Service’s Wood Innovations program for their proposal to develop a national woodchip heating fuel standard. A woodchip standard would help provide consistent quality and reduce contamination of woodchips, improving the reliability and output of woodchip heating systems. Additionally, it would bring the US biomass industry more in line with Europe’s, where woodchip fuel standards already exist. More information on the project’s timeline, scope, and upcoming activities will be shared on BTEC’s website. Hydronic-Based Biomass Heating Systems BTEC, in collaboration with John Siegenthaler and the Heatspring Learning Institute, is thrilled to announce their newest biomass online training course. This technically focused course is for heating professionals who want to design and install state-of-the-art heating systems supplied by high-efficiency/ low-emission biomass-fueled It is widely recognised that drained peatlands can emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG), in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The cumulative effect of these gases is determined by assessing the amount of CO2 that corresponds to the climate effect of CH4 and N2O respectively expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq). The biggest proportion of emitted GHG from drained peatlands is CO2, due to increased oxygen availability following drainage, enabling oxidation of the peat. For undrained peatlands the GHG emissions might be even larger, but occurring instead as CH4 due to the lack of oxygen. However in undrained peatlands, a carbon sink can occur due to peat growth. Thus drainage can result in peatlands changing from being net carbon sinks to being net emitters of CO2eq. Two new reports Two recently published reports, TorvForsk report no. 15, “Emissions of greenhouse gases from drained peatlands in land based industries” and Swedish Board of Agriculture “Emissions of greenhouse gases from peatlands” have found that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from drained peatlands in Sweden can amount to between 11–24 million tonnes CO2eq) per annum or up to one third of the country’s reported emissions. The difference is because the latter report does not include drained peatlands under forest cover whereas the former does. 2.6 million ha drained According to Mats Olsson, Professor at Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) and author of the TorvForsk report, Sweden has around 10 million hectares (ha) of peat-covered land of which approximately 6 million ha has a peat layer thicker than 30 cm and is classified as peatland. About 2.6 million ha of this peatland is affected by drainage carried out to enable agriculture and forestry. Most of what is drained, 2.1 million ha, is productive forest land, whereas 0.3 million ha is agricultural land and 0.2 million ha is land where drainage has failed and is classified as mire without any forest production. For peatlands with a groundwater table at 30 cm or deeper the emissions of the three GHG vary between 5.2 and 9.1 tonnes CO2eq per ha and year, depending on differences in hydrology and peat properties. Up to 33% of emissions The total GHG emissions of these three gases from peat amounts to 15–24 million tonnes CO2eq per annum. This is at the same level as the emissions from all domestic traffic in Sweden, 15 million tonnes CO2eq) and equivalent to up to one third of Sweden’s total reported GHG emissions of 55.8 million tonnes CO2eq in 2013. Forestry and peat management Of the drained peatlands the share with productive forestry is the one with the largest share of emissions due to the large area. These emissions amount to 11-19 million tonnes CO2eq per annum. The amount of losses through peat oxidation following drainage (2.6 million ha) is 8-14 million tonnes or 81-148 million m3. The amount of energy that is lost in this way annually is equal to the energy content in 2.7–4.9 million m3 fuel oil. There is significant uptake of CO2 on the 2.1 million ha drained peatland due to the growth of forest biomass. Not all of the uptake can be considered as a long-term sink as a large share of the uptake is recycled to the atmosphere due to decomposition of dead plant residues (litter) and the fact that wood is used in the processing industries like pulp industry. However, there is a longterm increase of the standing stock of forest biomass. Furthermore, woody biomass can substitute fossil fuels and wood can be used instead of concrete in construction. This results in both avoided fossil emissions and a sink that together correspond to about 50 percent of the emissions from peatland with productive forestry. boilers, focusing on residential and light commercial system applications. This course presents a wealth of information on how to use modern hydronics technology to complement the operating requirements of biomass boilers and engagingly discusses complete system design, best practices, lessons learned, and problems to avoid. The course begins on 11 May and runs through 18 May. More information at www.heatspring.com. Dayanita Ramesh, BTEC Project Assistant www.biomassthermal.org BI79/4848/AS Reports highlight need to manage drained peatlands, curb greenhouse gas emissions Peat cutting in combination with an effective use of the peat and regenerated forest might turn a drained peatland system into a substantial carbon sink. In addition, the creation of new wetlands and lakes after finished peat cutting might be suitable measures. – These reports indicate that the actual GHG emissions from drained peatlands in Sweden, some dating back to the 1800 s, is 20 to 30 percent higher than has been reported. Each year peat with an energy content equal to roughly half the country’s oil consumption is literally lost to the atmosphere as GHG through oxidation, commented Claes Rülcker, CEO, Swedish Peat Producers Association. According to Rülcker everyone wins by viewing peat as a sustainable resource both as a technical fuel, co-fired with woody biomass, as well as in the nursery and animal bedding sectors. – Using a large portion of the peat from these drained lands before reverting the land for agriculture, forestry or back as wetlands ensures environmental values are retained and carbon sequestration can begin again, Rülcker said. Editor’s note: The reports can be found on www.torvforsk.se/Rapporter.htm and webbutiken.jordbruksverket.se/sv/ artiklar/ra1424.html Text: Alan Sherrard BI79/4798/AS
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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