EVENT Worthy winners, “Excellence in Bioenergy” recipient Christiane Egger, OÖ Energiesparverband and “Groundbreaker of the Year” recipient Faron Rollins, OPG. that is biomass riding shotgun with King coal and the Dragon! Text & photos: Alan Sherrard Bioenergy International No 80, 4-2015 39 IBCE: KING COAL AND THE DRAGON WITH FOUR PARALLEL TRACKS HELD at times in rooms well and truly separated from the expo hall the ICBE event proved an unusually tough one to follow for an uncloned biomass omnivore. That said, most delegates were likely to have appreciated the four dedicated break-out tracks; pellets, biogas, biopower and advanced biofuels, keeping a focus on sector specific issues. The HTM conference attracted around 200 or so delegates, many of whom stayed for the IBCE itself. As the name suggests the conference focused on biomass heat, deployment experiences from other parts of the US and beyond. The IBCE included a well received presentation on the importance of ”sticks, carrots and tambourines” from Upper Austria’s well known biomass proponent, Christiane Egger, Deputy Manager for OÖ Energiesparverband. Egger was subsequently presented with IBCE’s ”Excellence in Bioenergy Award” in recognition of her tireless efforts. On the subject of awards, both of which were presented during the opening session of IBCE, the ”Groundbreaker of the Year” award was presented to Faron Rollins, Project Director Northwest Operations, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in recognition of its two coal-to-biomass power plant conversions, Atikokan respective Thunder Bay. High in, low out A coffee table discussion on 2014 in review, from a biomass heating and pellet perspective ensued. – There was a lot of optimism going into the 2014 heating season with record high propane prices in some parts of the country. However the way oil prices fell this winter and spring, the enthusiasm waned somewhat, commented Joseph Seymour Executive Director of the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC). Jennifer Hedrick, Executive Director, Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI) described it as a ”strong” year overall for US pellet producers supplying into the domestic heat market accentuated by acquisitions and capacity expansions in some regions such as the northeast, with Rentech’s acquisition of NEWP a case in point. Riding shotgun With the US having over 27 percent of the world’s proven coal reserves, a key question crops up on the role of biomass such as pellets in the US coal-fired power generation sector. There is some degree of anticipation given conversions by OPG in Canada and Drax in the UK. – Co-firing coal with biomass is an immediate, scalable option for biomass and has high political priority in the US and China, said Emily McGlynn, Manager for The Earth Partners referring to the Ten Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and Environment and the US-China Climate Change Working Group. McGlynn highlighted that each country has the potential to replace about 25 percent of coal use with biomass from existing annual biomass availability while preserving the value of the power assets. Now (Above) Stacey Cook, CEO, Koda Energy presented the Koda Energy CHP project during Heating the Midwest. (Below) The year that was, opening session conversation led by Tim Portz, Biomass Magazine (left) here with Joseph Seymour BTEC and Jennifer Kendrick PFI. BI80/4808/AS Held in mid-April in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US this year’s edition of the annual International Biomass Conference and Expo (IBCE) week started-off with the option to attend the co-located Heating-the-Midwest (HTM) conference. Bioenergy International No 80, 4-2015 39
Bioenergy no 4 july 2015
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