A group of Spanish investors is building a new bioethanol plant in the western region of Extremadura that should be producing fuel from maize in 2009. Alcoholes Biocarburantes de Extremadura (Albiex) has already started work on the site near Badajoz and expects to spend €42/$59 million on the plant in the next two years. It will produce 110 million litres a year of bioethanol and 87 million kg of grain byproduct that can be used for animal feed.
Sacramento utility in 10 year contract to purchase competitive biomass energy
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Board of Directors announces it has approved the extension of an 18-month contract with Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) for the purchase of carbon-neutral renewable energy from a new biomass plant in Burlington, WA.
The agreement will allow SMUD to buy 15 to 23 megawatts of round-the-clock baseload power at a competitive cost relative to other renewables like wind or solar, through July 31, 2017. This is enough electricity to serve between 13,000 and 20,000 homes.
Biomass power plants have advantages over wind and solar energy, in that the latter are intermittent energy sources, not capable of generating electricity when there's no wind or sunshine. They need baseload back-up from another source (mostly fossil fuels). Biomass on the contrary is an energy carrier and can be stored, traded, and utilized to provide a reliable baseload. With biomass, peaks in demand can easily be met. However, the difference should not be exaggerated as distributed wind and solar systems are being developed and new energy storage concepts are emerging.
What really sets biomass apart from other renewables is the fact that the energy carrier can be utilized in power stations and fuel production factilities that are coupled to carbon capture and storage systems. This allows for the production of radically carbon-negative energy which takes historic CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere. Such a concept is possible only with biomass; all other renewables are carbon-neutral at best.
Sierra Pacific Industries - a forestry company - turns wood waste into energy through seven cogeneration plants. Together, these facilities produce over 100 megawatts of electrical power. Bark, sawdust, and other low-grade byproducts of wood manufacturing processes were burned or sent to landfills in the past. Today, Sierra Pacific Industries turns these materials into biofuels for on-site cogeneration facilities and dedicated biomass power plants:
energy :: sustainability :: renewables :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: forestry :: wood :: biomass :: efficiency :: baseload ::
Besides the bioenergy purchase agreement, SMUD Board also approved a 10-year extension of a related transmission and exchange agreement with Seattle City Light. This agreement brings SMUD closer to its goal of getting 20 percent of its power supply from renewable energy sources by 2011. In 2006, SMUD’s power mix was made up of over 13 percent qualifying renewable sources.
Through its Greenergy program, SMUD offers consumers the choice of supporting energy created by green resources. Greenergy members can switch to 100 percent renewable resources for use on the SMUD power system for only pennies a day.
Renewable resources (like bioenergy and landfill gas created by waste decomposition) are used to create the energy for Greenergy, not conventional sources that pollute like coal. SMUD matches 40 percent of the Greenergy premium to help secure new power plants fueled by renewable resources.
More than 30,000 customers have signed up for SMUD's Greenergy. According to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Greenergy qualifies as America's fifth-largest green pricing program based on the number of customers enrolled.
In addition to purchases of renewable power based on biomass, SMUD owns approximately 39 megawatts of wind generation (with an additional 63 megawatts on-line by year’s end) and 10.4 megawatts of solar power.
References:
Sacramento Municipal Utility District: SMUD Board approves 10-year wood biomass purchase [*.pdf] - September 24, 2007.
The agreement will allow SMUD to buy 15 to 23 megawatts of round-the-clock baseload power at a competitive cost relative to other renewables like wind or solar, through July 31, 2017. This is enough electricity to serve between 13,000 and 20,000 homes.
Biomass power plants have advantages over wind and solar energy, in that the latter are intermittent energy sources, not capable of generating electricity when there's no wind or sunshine. They need baseload back-up from another source (mostly fossil fuels). Biomass on the contrary is an energy carrier and can be stored, traded, and utilized to provide a reliable baseload. With biomass, peaks in demand can easily be met. However, the difference should not be exaggerated as distributed wind and solar systems are being developed and new energy storage concepts are emerging.
What really sets biomass apart from other renewables is the fact that the energy carrier can be utilized in power stations and fuel production factilities that are coupled to carbon capture and storage systems. This allows for the production of radically carbon-negative energy which takes historic CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere. Such a concept is possible only with biomass; all other renewables are carbon-neutral at best.
Sierra Pacific Industries - a forestry company - turns wood waste into energy through seven cogeneration plants. Together, these facilities produce over 100 megawatts of electrical power. Bark, sawdust, and other low-grade byproducts of wood manufacturing processes were burned or sent to landfills in the past. Today, Sierra Pacific Industries turns these materials into biofuels for on-site cogeneration facilities and dedicated biomass power plants:
energy :: sustainability :: renewables :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: forestry :: wood :: biomass :: efficiency :: baseload :: Besides the bioenergy purchase agreement, SMUD Board also approved a 10-year extension of a related transmission and exchange agreement with Seattle City Light. This agreement brings SMUD closer to its goal of getting 20 percent of its power supply from renewable energy sources by 2011. In 2006, SMUD’s power mix was made up of over 13 percent qualifying renewable sources.
Through its Greenergy program, SMUD offers consumers the choice of supporting energy created by green resources. Greenergy members can switch to 100 percent renewable resources for use on the SMUD power system for only pennies a day.
Renewable resources (like bioenergy and landfill gas created by waste decomposition) are used to create the energy for Greenergy, not conventional sources that pollute like coal. SMUD matches 40 percent of the Greenergy premium to help secure new power plants fueled by renewable resources.
More than 30,000 customers have signed up for SMUD's Greenergy. According to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Greenergy qualifies as America's fifth-largest green pricing program based on the number of customers enrolled.
In addition to purchases of renewable power based on biomass, SMUD owns approximately 39 megawatts of wind generation (with an additional 63 megawatts on-line by year’s end) and 10.4 megawatts of solar power.
References:
Sacramento Municipal Utility District: SMUD Board approves 10-year wood biomass purchase [*.pdf] - September 24, 2007.
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