A Bird's Eye View of Bioenergy

October 06, 2018

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by Bill Keba* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The Mid-Atlantic Bioenergy Conference and Expo (MABEX) was held on September 12 and 13 at the Convene at CityView in Philadelphia, Pa. The Mid-Atlantic Bioenergy Council did well in selecting this terrific skyscraping venue. It provided a wonderful bird's eye view of the city below. The conference, like the venue, provided a broad view of the bioenergy sector while enabling a dive deep into the many subsectors supporting this burgeoning industry. A to Z. Algae to zero waste. It was here.

The conference opened with a short talk by John Costlow, President of the Sustainable Energy Fund, one of the principal sponsors of the conference. The Sustainable Energy Fund, along with its step-sister sponsors, Sun Grant Initiatives and West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, can be considered springboards in developing resources in renewable energy.

The Keynote Session

Michael DiBerardinis, managing director of the City of Philadelphia and wonderful speaker, entertained while giving a brief history of the city, an idea of its issues, a look into the future, and a ton of great quotes. His talk both revved us and queued us for the conference presentations. DiBerardinis spoke about how the city needed to reclaim its past industrial infrastructure. (He’s talking about RNG’s project, discussed below, among other initiatives.)

Describing the city as a “beauty queen who got into a fight and got a tooth knocked out” refers to its gritty, can-do, nature. If you’re from the area, it’s relatable. DiBerardinis made a very strong statement on renewables and sustainability, “…... there is an imperative on government to create policy that links up with business.” We’ve got to work together.

Andrew Place, Vice-Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, spoke next. His rhetorical question, “What are our overarching energy goals?” Could be the title of his talk, a book, and a movie. This dedicated, professional, pubic and civil servant gave us a remarkable overview of the highlights and lowlights of the energy situation in Pennsylvania.

My takeaways? Pennsylvanians are fortunate to live in a low energy cost state. Renewables are on the way. What are we willing to pay? I can’t fairly paraphrase this talk. I’ll simply say this: If you want an energy czar with the ability to see all perspectives and make balanced judgements, look no further.

Mary Beth Tung, Director of the Maryland Energy Administration spoke directly and on point about Maryland’s environment concerns and how renewables may help. Maryland is a relatively small state with a highly agriculturally based economy with dense populations. Look at a map. It is the Chesapeake Bay. It’s overstuffed with environmental concerns and opposing interests. You have the politically powerful farm, animal husbandry and fishery industries facing the need to address agricultural runoff, stormwater management, auto pollution, and infrastructure improvements. Tung will balance those naturally opposing views while moving toward renewables. Lastly, she hopes for a new name for waste, says the word is problematic. Readers, wordsmiths, countrymen…… any ideas? In the circular economy there is no waste, just a source for another product.

Speaker sessions.

I attended the following sessions: Bioenergy Innovations, Food Waste Recycling with Biogas, Federal Policy Effects on Regional Bioenergy Projects, and Marketing Bioenergy Co-Products.

Leading off the Bioenergy Innovations session was Wayne Curtis, PhD. Dr. Curtis’ talk was the “A” of the conference - algae. He is a true scientist, who lets no lab beaker unturned in his study of hydrocarbon organisms. Regarding algae, he stated that, “It’s not about the rate of growth, rather the efficiency of energy conversion.” He also talked about virus’ delivering gene improvements and improving drought stress in fuel crops. For me, too much science-speak. Regardless, his dry humor added to the talk.

Food Waste Recycling with Biogas

The moderator, Paul Kohl, kept the speakers on time. James S. Potter, President and Member of RNG Energy, LLC. spoke about his company’s capabilities, its success in the Heartland Project, (the largest co-digestion anaerobic digester in the world), and all too briefly about the Point Breeze Renewable Energy Project located at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refining complex.

Here are a couple of Potter’s quotes: Speaking on developing renewable projects, “Sustainability goals are a powerful driver of where things go in the future.” Speaking on biowaste, “Land application is not going to be around much longer.” In a side conversation he pointed out that this project will generate an awful lot of commerce for the area.

Peter Ettinger, Director of Marketing and Sales of BTS Bioenergy, briefly talked about the company’s 200 successes in Europe and at length about their very first project in the United States. It is in the Maryland Food Center in Jessup. During his talk I’m recalling the points made by Mary Beth Tung, and could very easily understand and justify this project.

Think of it. They have a renewable source of feedstock at their fingertips. Because the sources are limited they will have much better control of the quality of the feedstock. Typically, plastic and other non-organic waste mixed in upset the anaerobic digester. Here they can easily educate the producers. The project will likely support renewable fuel fleet vehicle programs. Overall this project will take trucks off the road, generate less pollution, stop the landfilling of food wastes, while providing a lower cost disposal alternative, clean renewable fuel and good paying jobs!

Management guru Peter Drucker is quoted as saying “you can't manage what you can't measure.” Melissa Pennington, Sustainability Coordinator for the U.S. EPA Region 3, helps solve that enigma as it relates to food and organic waste. Pennington spearheads the EPA’s Anaerobic Digestion Technical Team. She presented on Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States in 2015: Survey Results. It was an eye-opening presentation and offered much more information than one might expect. Kudos for this work.

Patrick Serfass, Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Bioenergy Council moderated and assisted with the Q and A part of this session titled Federal Policy Effects of Regional Bioenergy Projects.

Amy McCrae Kessler, Executive Vice-President of Turning Earth hopes to raise the profile of biogas. She spoke about how biogas is another great story of energy independence. She talked about advocacy accomplishments in the Food Waste Recovery Hierarchy, Renewable Fuel Standards, EPA WARM Model, Biogas ITC, and successful lobbying on the Farm Bill.

She also focused on five areas of biogas policy at the EPA: Food Waste Reduction Initiatives, Sustainable Materials Management, Inter Agency Goals and Collaborations, Opportunities to Drive Growth, and Research and Funding Opportunities.

Carrie Annand, Executive of the Biomass Power Association also presented in this session. There was a lot of talk about RINs, how a low value determination could tank a project and about the Renewable Fuels Standard. Annand and Kessler both expressed concerns on the Farm Bill. Would it pass or stall? This was a good session with lots of banter between the moderator, presenters and audience. Just what it should be.

Marketing Bioenergy Co-Products was the last session I attended. The speakers were Chris Peot of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, and Robert Kelly, President of Pennsaco. These talks were night and day.

Peot’s talk was factual and grounded in the world class accomplishments of his team in building an amazing integrated treatment facility. In his words, “There is no such thing as waste only wasted resources.” They purposefully and progressively turn over rocks looking for viable projects. They have board and public support in achieving their goals. Their coproduct is a Class A biosolids.

Kelly’s talk was more of possibilities. Although experienced and successful, his technology needs a home. He talked about the perseverance needed to work in a “paradigm designed for fossil fuels.” His technically advanced pyrolytic technology will co-create advanced fuels that don’t need “clean-up” along with high value biochar with the pore structure that you want. His upside is huge. Keep an eye on this guy.

The conference was a success judging by the quality and quantity of sponsors, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees. Everyone was energized and engaged. While initially concerned about the center city location, it highlighted the opportunities for a sustainable circular economy in an urban environment.

*Bill Keba, an executive in transition to the renewable energy sector, is serving as a volunteer correspondent for Advanced Biofuels USA