Transforming Wood Residues to Bioenergy

Transcription

1 Transforming Wood Residues to Bioenergy Russ Martin, Director Martin Stewardship & Management Strategies Pty Ltd Bioenergy 2017 Conference, Sydney 22 November, 2017 Martin Stewardship & Management Strategies Pty Ltd

2 Overview Forestry and sawmilling residues Interaction with NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) waste classification Energy from Waste (EfW) Policy and Eligible Waste Fuel guidelines Resource Recovery Orders (RROs) and exemption Development consents and approvals Mutual government / industry education through guidebook

3 Interactions with EPA MS2 submissions and discussions with the EPA on behalf of Timber NSW and members industry uncertainty about waste classification and residues explain timber practices including harvesting, grading, alternative end uses and chain of custody across these practices case studies forest managers do not consider or classify non-marketable byproducts as wood waste residues listed as eligible waste fuels but not defined bioenergy opportunities and sustainability confirm the regulatory process and seek clarifications comments generally reflected in Eligible Waste Fuel guidelines

4 RROs and Exemption Regulatory Context 1 Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2009 s.97 prohibited the burning of native forest bio-material in any electricity generating work ban removed in NSW Energy from Waste Policy Statement allows for certain low risk wastes or waste-derived materials to be thermally treated in NSW as Eligible Waste Fuels list includes forestry and sawmilling residues and uncontaminated wood waste Any facility thermally treating non-eligible Waste Fuels is treated as an Energy Recovery Facility and licensed accordingly

5 RROs and Exemption Regulatory Context 2 Criteria for facilities proposing to use Eligible Waste Fuels: consistently meets definition of an EPA-approved eligible waste fuel confirm there are no practical, higher order reuse opportunities fully characterise the waste and/or undertake proof of performance meet the relevant emission standards as set out in the Protection of the Environment Operations (Clean Air) Regulation 2010 RROs and exemption specific coverage and limited duration Development consents and approvals need to help local governments understand process and coordinate with EPA

6 Key Issues Residues are technically defined as waste Exemption from waste licensing and waste levy addressed on a case by case basis through RROs Use existing RRO and exemption process demonstrate practices and how residues are managed supply agreements and whole of chain approaches demonstrate no practical, higher order reuse opportunities ensure clean, uncontaminated feedstocks suitable for exemption use only the feedstocks / fuels covered EPA Eligible Waste Fuel guidelines published December 2016 Mutual government / industry education through guidebook

7 Transforming Wood Residues to Bioenergy Guide Jointly produced by NSW Department of Industry Lands & Forestry and Timber NSW Supported through NSW Forest Industries Task Force Woody biomass for bioenergy production forestry and sawmilling residues uncontaminated wood waste Potential of bioenergy markets Woody biomass eligibility for use in bioenergy projects Seeking regulatory approval for bioenergy production Timber industry case studies Checklist for RRO application

8 Eligible Waste Fuels Guidelines 1 Eligible Waste Fuel Waste or waste-derived materials considered by the EPA to pose a low risk of harm to the environment and human health due to their origin, low levels of contaminants and consistency over time. Forestry and sawmilling residues: Uncontaminated, organic fibrous wood residues and natural wood wastes that result from forestry and sawmilling operations such as, heads, tree thinnings, sawmill sawdust, shavings, chips, bark and other offcuts. Demonstrated to have no risk of contamination. No presence of treated, preserved, lacquered, glued, laminated or coated timber or wood products.

9 Eligible Waste Fuels Guidelines 2 Uncontaminated wood waste: Wood waste that is generated in primary and secondary manufacturing processes at facilities with demonstrated quality control over the uncontaminated wood waste stream. Facility must have: robust quality assurance and/or quality control (QA/QC) procedures well-controlled chain of custody comprehensive knowledge and control of the sources of waste and the original input materials, potential contaminants. Uncontaminated wood waste excludes: post-consumer waste wood waste extracted from mixed waste streams, such as construction and demolition waste anything defined as a source separated green waste treated timber painted or coated wood and most engineered wood products

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12 Case Study Grants Sawmilling Co Southern NSW - Narrandera and Condobolin Focuses on Australian cypress Stopped burning residues in the late- 80s See forest as a whole range of potential products Solar PV cells for hot water heating on one kiln Range of marketable products from residues, incl. for soil amendments and biomass for energy generation

13 Case Study Mara Seeds Mallanganee NSW (50 km west of Casino) Grass seed, oilseed, cereal grain, cows and yearling beef that is grass fed or grain finished Activated carbon biochar in a range of organic fertilisers, livestock feeds and additives Woodchip sourced from hardwood milling Difficulty confirming that processes conform to EPA and Council licensing provisions classed as waste management facility? Burden of proof rests with proponents Integrated operations to produce a range of high standard, affordable, environmentally friendly products

14 Case Study Koppers Wood Products Pty Ltd Australia s largest treated wooden pole producer Highest end of grading due to strict needs Trenayr NSW site (outside Grafton) featured Hardwood sourced from private land All Koppers sites certified to ISO 9001 quality, ISO EMS and AS 4707 chain of custody for forest products Began barcoding all poles received in 2011

15 Case Study Weathertex Specialist exterior wall panels supplier and weatherboard company in Heatherbrae NSW Masonite process since 1939 steam and pressure on wood fibre (and <3% paraffin wax) Using a blend of chipped reject hardboard and coal as boiler fuel since 1974 Draft guidelines rejected most engineered timber EPA confirmation of likely exemption under RRO

16 Case Study Big River Group Engineered timber panels, outside Grafton NSW Uses residues as boiler fuel and for cogeneration Cogeneration unit is driven by steam from the boiler & generates ~40% of Big River Group s site power requirements Process improvements elsewhere can reduce on-site availability of biomass supply Using biomass for energy can help make energy intensive processes more self-reliant Due diligence and Chain of Custody considerations applied to all suppliers Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia, AFS Chain of Custody and PEFC certifications

17 Case Study Visy Pulp and Paper Tumut NSW Produces high-quality kraft paper from logs sourced from softwood plantations Bioenergy production included from design stage ~30MW of power (~40% of site s energy demand) generated from bioenergy Biomass comprises ~220,000 tonnes p.a. No major permitting or regulatory barriers in switching from urban wood residues to current feedstocks

18 Russ Martin Director Martin Stewardship & Management Strategies Pty Ltd MS2.com.au RussMartinMS2 on Twitter MartinStewardshipMS2 on Facebook Martin Stewardship & Management Strategies Pty Ltd