From Blueprint to Baler

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine) AGCO is well-equipped to aid the first U.S. cellulosic ethanol plants in devising efficient and effective feedstock supply chain models. Name the crop, and AGCO has baled it. Extensive work with kenaf, hemp, miscanthus, energy sorghum, energy cane, switchgrass and corn stalks—nearly all nonwoody biomass—has allowed the company to build a tremendous knowledge base of how to treat each material and bring success to a project, says Glenn Farris, AGCO North American biomass and industrials segment strategy manager. “We can bale it all, but we’ll just say some are certainly more challenging than others,” he quips.

It hasn’t come without trial and error, but that’s the name of the game in this burgeoning industry, according to Farris. As of late, the focus has been on corn stover, and on what he dubs The Big Three—Abengoa’s, DuPont’s and Poet-DSM’s commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants in Hugoton, Kansas; Nevada, Iowa; and Emmetsburg, Iowa, respectively. At Abengoa, Pacific Ag does 100 percent of the feedstock supply, and uses AGCO balers exclusively. Investment for the machines needed to complete the feedstock supply chain amount to much more than one might think—a typical-size, 25 to 30 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant requires around 350,000 dry tons of stover per year, which equates to as many as 60 balers and windrowers when the project is fully open, and a total of around 350 pieces of equipment. Therefore, on top of the roughly $200 million cost to build a plant, an additional $40 million investment is required for machines alone.

Right now, the market for large square balers in this industry is around 1,600 units, Farris says, but potential as vast. If cellulosic fuel production projections are achieved—one billion gallons by 2023—that could ratchet up the market to roughly 4,000 balers, for corn stover specifically. “That’s more than two and a half times the existing market, it including the other uses the balers are used for,” Farris says.

Now, with the Big Three all underway, the preferred feedstock system is in the making, and may or may not be one-size-fits-all. “We don’t know which is going to be ‘the one’, but we’re really getting into the knowledge of spare parts, the consumables, ways to keep costs down and how to optimize the machines,” Farris says.

Though AGCO has been wheels-deep in stover logistics, its work with biomass continues to expand beyond that crop and the U.S. market.

Other Markets, Road Ahead
One developing and two operational power projects in Chile and sugarcane baling in Brazil and Argentina are some examples of AGCO’s latest global biomass sector involvement, offers Ken Wagenbach, senior marketing specialist. Also attracting the company’s attention are developments in China, where the company already has operations and sees significant growth opportunity, and the EU, where AGCO is a major market force.

Farris points out corn yields are steadily rising and current national averages hover around 175-plus bushels per acre, with forecasts to reach 200 within the next 15 years. “Yields for wheat are in the mid-40s, when you see them hit 65 to 70, there will be a need to take it off because it will be a detriment to yields.”

Therefore, the once heavily debated argument surrounding crop residue removal will become nearly obsolete, and the concept will move from a potential detriment to an extra revenue stream. “All of a sudden, it’s going to go beyond a niche market for one company,” Kitt adds. “It will become every corn farmer’s opportunity.” READ MORE and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine)