Page 41

Bioenergy no 5 September 2015

MARKETS AND FINANCE Biomass Thermal Energy Council Update Heaters. How the Clean Power Plan’s implementation affects thermal energy from biomass is another important area that BTEC will be following as the CPP unfolds. Under a cooperative agreement with the US Forest Service, BTEC launched a suite of new projects to provide technical assistance to the Forest Service. These efforts include supporting the Statewide Wood Energy Teams and further engagement between the biomass thermal industry and the high-performance building community (such as building code organisations and the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Alliance). BTEC welcomes any additional industry partners that see the value in engaging with these groups. Ben Bell-Walker, BTEC Technical Affairs; www.biomassthermal.org BI81/4994/AS WBA staff at the statistical report launch, (left) Bharadwaj V Kummamuru, Project Officer, Karin Haara, Executive Director and Dr Heinz Kopetz, President. Bioenergy International No 81, 5-2015 2015 41 US Legislative Update A number of biomass-related bills were put in motion before members of Congress departed Washington DC. The Senate discussed a Tax Extenders package, including Section 25C, a non-business energy property credit which houses the tax credit for wood and pellet stoves. The package would extend Sec 25C retroactively from to 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016, and will likely be considered on the Senate floor after the August recess. During the last week of July, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee discussed a comprehensive energy bill (the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015) – the bill includes several titles covering efficiency, supply (which includes favourable language on biomass), infrastructure, accountability and other areas. The bill should reach the Senate floor in September. The Clean Power Plan (CPP) package was released on 3 August, and includes a proposal known as the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), which will serve as the model for states to use in crafting their own compliance regimes. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently soliciting comments on a number of issues related to forest-based biomass and the Federal Plan seeks comments on how biomass feedstocks can be tracked. There is considerable and largely favourable discussion about biomass and its potential to contribute to the underlying carbon reduction goals that form the premise of the rule package. Technical Affairs BTEC has completed several milestones in its Commercial-Size Boiler Thermal Efficiency Protocol project. This protocol, currently being drafted, will provide the biomass thermal industry with a consistent test method for thermal efficiency in the commercial sector, and has engaged stakeholders from industry and the regulatory and standards communities. Scoping meetings to gather more widespread feedback on the draft standard are planned for this fall and next spring. Educational efforts related to industry needs are a core part of BTEC’s activities. Member working groups have produced a best management practices document on pellet storage and a literature review on pellet off-gassing and are drafting a white paper on biomassled combined heat and power (CHP) for project specifiers and policymakers. BTEC has also formed a working group on biochar, thermal storage for biomass systems and several US regional biomass thermal networks in New England, the Midwest, and the West. Publicly available webinars on biomass-related policy and on technical subjects of interest to industry and the renewable energy community are also forthcoming in late summer and fall of this year. In the regulatory realm, BTEC continues to engage with the EPA for clarification and interpretations of the February New Source Performance Standards for Hydronic At the end of June the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) launched its 2nd edition of the Global Bioenergy Statistics report. According to the report biomass has seen the strongest growth amongst renewable sources over the period 2010 to 2012 though fossil fuels saw the largest increase in demand of total energy at 20 100 PJ. Biomass supply increased by 2 320 PJ, over triple that of the 645 PJ increase for wind, and almost a factor of ten more than 234 PJ solar photovoltaic (PV) increase. – Two outstanding examples for this finding are Brazil and Sweden with a renewable energy share of 43 and 52 percent respectively. Bioenergy contribution in Brazil is more than 25 percent while in Sweden it is 34 percent. Bioenergy is crucial for renewable energy development, said Bharadwaj V Kummamuru, Project Officer, WBA. Agricultural yields key For the first time in the WBA report, the global and continental potential of agricultural residues were estimated. The potential of agricultural residues for energy ranges from a low of 13.1 EJ to a high of 122 EJ. Global yields of major crops of wheat, rice and corn have increased since 2000. – Agricultural yields hold the key for producing more food and bioenergy. If the same production of crops were required in 2013 with yields from 2000, 134 million ha additional land would have been needed. Hence, productivity gains in agriculture based on better varieties, soil management, weed control, better education of farmers and so forth had the same impact as 134 million ha, or 23 percent, of additional land. Models that ignore this innovation in agriculture come up with misleading results, emphasised Kummamuru, while pointing out that land use for biofuel production was less than 30 million ha. Charcoal and statistical reliability The report also highlights that global charcoal use is larger than liquid biofuels in energy terms. However the inefficient production of charcoal is increasing pressure on forests and Kummamuru suggested that emerging technologies should focus on improving production efficiency and replacing charcoal with other renewable energy sources such as biogas and pellets. – There is a serious lack of accurate and reliable data on biomass statistics in many countries – Kenya uses more charcoal than estimated and Sudan produces more WBA launches 2nd Global Bioenergy Statistics 2015 report crops than reported, ended Bharadwaj V Kummamuru. The report is available at www. worldbioenergy.org. Text & photo: Alan Sherrard BI81/4971/AS


Bioenergy no 5 September 2015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above