Advanced BioFuels USA

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A new report from CCNY and a Bechtel/Drax partnership on biomass-to-energy but power from biomass into the spotlight — or, under the microscope.  News arrives from the UK that Bechtel and Drax have partnered to advance to construct new Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage power plants around the world. Drax is the largest decarbonization project in Europe having converted its power station near Selby in North Yorkshire to use sustainable biomass instead of coal.

By deploying BECCs’ vital negative emissions technology, Drax aims to go further, by becoming a carbon negative company by 2030. The partners said that scaling up BECCS sustainably over the coming decades will be critical to delivering the Paris Agreement climate targets and keeping the world on a pathway of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.

Bechtel will focus its study on strategically important regions for new build BECCS plants, including North America and Western Europe, as well as reviewing how to optimize the design of a BECCS plant using state-of-the-art engineering to maximize efficiency, performance and cost.

…

Meanwhile, MSW-to-energy gets a big boost from CCNY report
A study from CCNY chemical engineering professor Marco Castaldi found that Waste-to-Energy plays a key role as part of an environmentally sound system that includes full protection of human health and where post-recycled MSW supplies the energy to serve residential, commercial and industrial needs. Castaldi said that “significant confusion and misinformation” exists “regarding sustainably managing MSW using thermal conversion.”

…

Castaldi found that although landfills are the primary alternative to Waste-to-Energy, methane emitted by landfills is the second largest contributor to global climate change. New data show methane is even more damaging than previously thought. Every ton of waste processed in a WTE facility avoids a ton of CO2 equivalent emissions, when the Greenhouse Gas savings from recycling recovered metals is included. Over 700,000 tons of metal are recovered and recycled annually in WTE facilities.

…

Castaldi added that “Independent studies show human health is not adversely affected by waste-to-energy. Further, WTE facilities in the U.S. and globally operate well within environmental standards. Data show their emissions are more than 70% below regulatory limits, except for NOx, which operates at 35 % below emissions limits.”

Addressing detractors, Castaldi said that “evaluating WTE in isolation is misleading as it leaves out the net effect of the environmental and energy impacts of landfilling the waste often great distances away from the source of generation. Reduce, reuse, and recycle are generally recognized by the public; however, there is less awareness and knowledge of recovery and the supporting technology. Further, there is significant misunderstanding of the energy recovery process.”

…

The market he said is robust. The study identified 76 waste-to-energy facilities in the US that process nearly 94,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day, producing enough energy to power the equivalent of 2.3 million homes. WTE is a $10 billion industry that employs approximately 6,000 American workers and is growing worldwide, Castaldi said.

A copy of the report can be found here.  READ MORE

Drax, Phoenix BioPower to explore ways of reducing BECCS costs (Bioenergy Insight)

A Bad Biomass Bet: Why the Leading Approach to Biomass Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage Isn’t Carbon Negative (NRDC)