Forest, carbon, and air quality impacts from. February 10, 2011 Mary S. Booth, PhD Massachusetts Environmental Energy Alliance

Transcription

1 Forest, carbon, and air quality impacts from wood energy facilities February 10, 2011 Mary S. Booth, PhD Massachusetts Environmental Energy Alliance

2 BIOMASS EMITS MORECO2 THAN FOSSIL FUELS 1. Wood inherently emits more carbon per Btu Natural gas: 117 lb CO2/MMBtu* Bituminous coal: 205 lb CO2/MMBtu** Wood: 213 lb CO2/MMBtu bone dry 2. Wood is often wet, dirty (degrades heating value) at 45% mc, 237 lb CO2/MMBtu 3. Biomass boilers operate less efficiently than fossil fuel boilers Utility-scale biomass boiler: 24% Average efficiency US coal fleet: 33% Average gas plant: 43%*** In practice: per MWh, biomass emits about 150% the CO2 of coal, and % the CO2 of natural gas * ** *** 2

3 DOESN T FOREST CARBON GROW BACK? CONSIDERATIONS: 1. Regrowth ties up the carbon that was released 2. But forests are alreadysequestering carbon... How to take that into account? 3

4 Do the carbon accounting wrong, and you end up with this: 4

5 MANOMET MODELING APPROACH FOR TREES USED AS FUEL

6 FOREST REGROWTH UNDER BAU AND BIOMASS SCENARIOS 6

7 CARBON RECOVERY AFTER ONE YEAR S CUTTING Change in Stored Carbon: Biomass Stand Carbon minus BAU Stand Carbon (Previous slide: the BAU stand carbon was 70 tons; the biomass stand carbon was reduced to 50 tons; 50 minus 70 = -20) 7

8 CARBON RECOVERY AFTER MULTIPLE YEARS CUTTING: FACILITY FOOTPRINT 8

9 MANOMET CONCLUSIONS Increases in biomass energy generation can lead to higher GHG emissions, even when sustainable forestry is practiced Sustainability does not equal carbon neutrality! 9

10 WHY NEW FACILITIES IN VERMONT WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE FOREST HARVESTING

11 Woody biomass fuels in Vermont Logging residues: carbon payback periods are years, since decomposition also emits CO2. One half of residues generated annually (USFS data): ~261,000 tons New trees, including low-grade trees: carbon payback periods are long not a low-carbon fuel: Biomass Energy Resource Center says there are 894,900 green tons of net available low-grade growth available annually in VT, after firewood and other uses taken into account

12 BERC Vermont Wood Fuel Supply Study, 2010 Update Study results for annual net available low-grade growth (NALG) wood in Vermont alone and Vermont plus the adjoining 10 counties in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York (rounded to the nearest 100 green ton).

13 Wood demand at proposed facilities in Vermont exceeds supply Summed residues and net available low-grade growth wood (green tons) Proposed facility wood demand Existing facility wood demand Supply: Residues and NALG wood: 1,156,087 tons/yr (optimistic!) Wood demand at proposed facilities: 1,756,500 tons/yr Demand from existing and proposed: 2,822,500 tons/yr

14 Potential regional demand is enormous

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16 LAIDLAW70 MW PLANT INBERLIN, NH: PETITIONS TO INTERVENE IN POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT FROM EXISTING BIOMASS POWER PLANTS Would require ~900,000 green tons annually. Petitions for intervention in the PPA: Concord Steam Corp. Clean Power Development LLC Bridgewater Power Co. Pinetree Power Inc. Pinetree Power-Tamworth Inc. Springfield Power LLC Whitefield Power & Light Indeck Energy A petition from the latter six alleges fierce competition for the biomass fuel, saying their own plants have a substantial interest in its availability and pricing, and Laidlaw s PPA would directly affect them.

17 MAKES NO SENSE TO THINK WE CAN MEET FUEL NEEDS WITH WASTE WOOD; INDUSTRY AGREES William Perritt, editor of RISI wood industry newsletter, speaking of the recent expansion in facilities: Hungry for large volumes of wood, and frequently armed with government subsidies, the nascent operations have triggered wood price spikes and crossgrade competition in the tightest markets. The oftrepeated assumption that forests and sawmills are littered with waste wood, just waiting for cheap home is proving largely erroneous. 17

18 MA: The Fitchburg Power Station is a 17 MW waste wood and landfill gas fired power facility. The facility burns whole tree chips NH: Tamworth Power Station is a 22.5 MW waste wood power facility The facility uses wood from trees unsuitable for lumber or pulp NH: The Bethlehem Power Station burns low quality wood, which is continuously replenished through the natural forest cycles. The facility uses approximately 675 tons (per day) of whole tree chips NH: Schiller Station: Currently, PSNH s Schiller Station in Portsmouth operates three 50 megawatt coal-fired steam boilers built in the 1950s. PSNH will replace one of these coal boilers with a new fluidized-bed boiler. This state-ofthe-art boiler will burn whole-tree wood chips and other clean low-grade wood materials to generate electricity. VT: The Ryegate Power Station burns 250,000 tons of whole tree chips per year VT: McNeil Station (Burlington Electric): Seventy percent of the wood chips that fuel the McNeil Station are called whole-tree chips and come from low quality trees and harvest residues. The trees, a majority of which are on privately owned woodlands, are cut and chipped in the forest. Clearcutting of woodlands is limited to areas that need to establish a new crop of trees. It may also be used in some instances to improve wildlife habitat. In these cases, the size of the area cleared is limited to a maximum of 25 acres. To run McNeil at full load, approximately 76 tons of whole-tree chips are consumed per hour. That amounts to about 30 cords per hour (there are about 2.5 tons of chips per cord of green wood) EXISTING PLANTS ARE USING WHOLE TREE CHIPS 18

19 1. we found the need to go to a raw material source other than bark. What we went to was basically the whole tree, which we chipped and introduced through the infeed of our system. When we get into a 100 percent whole tree run, we re consuming upwards of 50 to 60 tons an hour 2. "We're not taking any waste residuals. We'reonly taking whole logs, and not using any bark. 3. The company will need 200,000 tons a year of whole logs to operate the pellet mill at full capacity. PELLET PRODUCTION INCREASES FOREST CUTTING

20 BIG PLANS FOR BIOMASS AND PELLET PLANTS, REGIONALLY AND NATIONALLY

21 PROPOSED BIOMASS POWER AND PELLET FACILITIES, NEW Biomass Power City/Town State tons Plainfield Renewable Energy Plainfield CT 512,656 NRG Energy Uncasville CT 539,638 Watertown Renewable Power Watertown CT 404,728 Russell Biomass Russell MA 674,547 Pioneer Renewable Energy Greenfield MA 634,074 Berkshire Generations Pittsfield MA 539,638 Palmer Renewable Energy Springfield MA 512,656 CCI Energy Fitchburg MA 67,455 Laidlaw Berlin Berlin NH 876,911 Concord Steam Concord NH 202,364 Clean Power Development Winchester NH 269,819 Clean Power Development Berlin NH 337,274 Laidlaw Energy Henniker NH 269,819 Indeck Energy Alexandria NH 215,855 Catalyst Renewables Geddes NY 539,638 Alliance Energy Renewables Ogdensburg NY 337,274 Newton Falls Fine Paper Newton Falls NY 134,909 U.S. Salt Watkins Glen NY 200,000 NRG Energy Dunkirk NY 202,364 Griffiss Utility Services Rome NY 129,513 Beaver Wood Energy Fair Haven VT 391,237 Beaver Wood Energy Pownal VT 391,237 Winstanley Enterprises North Springfield VT 337,274 Access Ludlow Clean Energy Ludlow VT 337,274 ENGLAND AND NEW YORK Pellets City/Town State tons Corinth Wood Pellets Corinth ME 280,000 International WoodFuels Burnham ME 200,000 Maine Woods Pellet Athens ME 200,000 Geneva Wood Fuels Strong ME 160,000 Greenova LLC Berlin NH 360,000 Lakes Region Pellets Barnstead NH 176,000 New England Wood Pellet Jaffrey NH 50,000 Woodstone Pellets Moreau NY 280,000 New England Wood Pellet Deposit NY 200,000 Curran Renewable Energy Massena NY 200,000 New England Wood Pellet Schuyler NY 200,000 Essex Box & Pallet Chesterfield NY 140,000 Vermont Pellet Works Lyndonville VT 150,000 Renewable Energy Company Island Pond VT 100,000 Vermont Wood Pellet Co. Clarendon VT 20,000 Beaver Wood Energy Fair Haven VT 220,000 Woodstone Pellets (Greenova) Berlin NH 200,000 Vermont Biomass Energy Island Pond VT 200,000 Total new wood demand: 12.4 million green tons annually Existing biomass fuel use: ~8 million green tons annually Total roundwood harvest, 2006: 22,077,140 green tons

22 NEW YORK STATE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN: EXISTING GENERATION AND 2030 GENERATION FROM BIOMASS UNDER 9,000 GWH SCENARIO 10,000,000 9,000,000 8,000,000 7,000,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0 MWh from Wood and Wood-derived fuels (Data from Energy Information Administration) 22

23 MAINE: A CASE STUDY IN WHAT NOT TO DO Power sector in 2007: 24% from biomass 23% from hydropower 41% from natural gas Low emissions (on paper): 5.57 million tons CO2 Real (but unreported) emissions from biomass: 7.9 million tons CO2

24 BIOMASS HARVEST, MOOSEHEAD LAKE REGION, ME 24

25 May 12, ACRE CLEARCUT, MAINE ~ 950 dry tons biomass Enough fuel to power a 50-MW biomass plant for about 21 hours October 31, 2007 Regrowth negligible after almost ten years 25

26 BIOMASS BUILD-OUT UNDER A PROPOSED FEDERAL RES ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP, CLEARCUT DISASTER

27 100,000,000 WOOD DEMAND IS GROWING RAPIDLY 90,000,000 80,000,000 Wood pellets Biopower and biofuels Wood demand (green tons) 70,000,000 60,000,000 50,000,000 40,000,000 30,000,000 20,000,000 10,000,

28 LIQUIDATION OF FOREST CARBON TO THE ATMOSPHERE: THE CONSEQUENCES?

29 RGGI STATES: BIOMASS POWER GENERATION VERSUSCO2 EMISSIONS, 2008 (WOOD/BYPRODUCTS ONLY) 160,000,000 Power generation 45,000,000 Power sector CO2 emissions 140,000,000 Wood/by-products (MWh) 40,000,000 CO2 from wood /by-products (tons) 120,000,000 Total generation (MWh) 35,000,000 Reported power sector CO2 (tons) 30,000, ,000,000 25,000,000 80,000,000 20,000,000 60,000,000 15,000,000 40,000,000 10,000,000 20,000,000 5,000,000 0 CT DE MA MD ME NH NJ NY RI VT - CT DE MA MD ME NH NJ NY RI VT 29

30 BIOGENIC EMISSIONS MAKE FEDERAL EMISSION REDUCTION GOALS 2,950 IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET Million tons car rbon dioxide 2,750 2,550 2,350 2,150 1,950 EIA projected emissions EIA projected emissions plus biomass emissions 3% reduction from % reduction from ,750 EIA projected emissions plus biomass emissions, without the benefit of CCS ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP, CLEARCUT DISASTER 30

31 2,100,000 2,000,000 1,900,000 1,800,000 1,700,000 1,600,000 1,500,000 Replace coal with biomass? Current generation from coal: US Total Electric Power Industry, GWh from Coal

32 Potential for co-firing biomass at coal plants (MWh) 120,000, ,000,000 80,000,000 60,000,000 40,000,000 MWh from residues (100%) 20,000,000 Existing wood (MWh) 5% coal (MWh)

33 Considerations for air quality

34 SMALL-SCALE BIOMASS

35 Particulate matter emissions from thermal biomass: comparison to residential wood burning emission factor (g/kg) tons fuel fuel moisture emissions (tons) Woodstove Catalytic stove Pellet stove emission factor (lb/mmbtu) emissions (tons) tons fuel fuel moisture 4 MMBtu/hr (school boiler) , MMBtu/hr (lumbermill) ,

36 Small thermal biomass: comparing emissions to oil Air permit application for Wyalusing School District, PA: New biomass burner with multiclone, and new oil burner PM rate PM tons NOx rate NOx tons CO rate CO tons VOC rate VOC tons SOx rate SOx tons Oil burner Wood burner Wood/oil PM: emissions from biomass higher than from oil NOx: emissions from biomass higher CO: emissions from biomass higher VOCs, SOx: emissions from oil higher

37 UTILITY-SCALE BIOMASS

38 Emission rates at existing and proposed biomass plants generally exceed those from coal (heat input basis, lb/mmbtu) Three best existing performers BACT clearinghouse (boilers >250 MMBtu). PM PM NOx NOx CO CO SOx SOx Coal Biomass Coal Biomass Coal Biomass Coal Biomass Emissions rates from proposed biomass plants not much better: PM NOX CO SOx Gainesville RE, 116 MW, FL Perryville RE, 32.5 MW, MO Sierra Pacific, 23 MW, CA ADAGE, 65 MW, WA

39 Killen Coal Plant, OH: Significant increases in organic hazardous air pollutants when co-firing 5% biomass

40 Small differences in control efficiency make a big difference to PM emissions uncontrolled emissions (lb/mmbtu) btu/lb wood tons wood tons PM (uncontrolled) control efficiency PM rate (lb/mmbtu) tons PM emitted Control Multiclone ,000 1, % ESP ,000 16, % Baghouse ,000 16, % Baghouse ,000 16, %

41 EPA s proposed emission limits recognize that biomass emits more than coal PM limits: Existing coal and existing biomass plants have the same limit: 0.02 lb/mmbtu New biomass plants are allowed to emit 8x more PM than new coal plants (0.008 lb/mmbtu vs lb/mmbtu)

42 EPA s proposed emission limits for biomass vs. coal Hydrochloric acid: new biomass plants allowed to emit more than coal Mercury: coal emits more Carbon monoxide: biomass always worse, by order of magnitude Dioxins/furans: coal and biomass comparable

43 THE CONTEXT FOR NEW EMISSIONS

44 PM2.5 levels in Vermont Potential new 24-hr standard coming in July 2011?

45 Ozone levels in Bennington Probable new standard of ppm

46 Prevalence of adult asthma, % % % %

47 QUESTIONS?