[Gasification] Emissions fines

[Tom Miles]

Pulp and Paper Canada (Feb 2011) reporting on a gasifier-boiler application:


http://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000402062 

Kruger's Biomass Gasifier Fuels Customers' Need for Green

Biomass gasification has quantifiable environmental benefits to show
customers: fewer GHG emissions, less fossil fuel, better air quality.

By: By Tony Kryzanowski



  _____  

n investment by Kruger Products L.P. in a biomass gasification system at its
New Westminster, B.C. tissue mill is giving the company a competitive
advantage, as well as greater assurance that it will be allowed to continue
to do business with its more environmentally sensitive retail customers.

"It is becoming the price of entry," says Kruger Products vice-president of
technology, Frank van Biesen. "The Walmarts of the world are creating
scorecards and rigorous metrics around supplier performance, leading to
their own environmental and sustainability position, whether it is carbon
footprinting, package reduction, etc."

He adds that it is literally impossible now to play in that retail market
space, which also includes companies like Costco, unless, as a supplier, you
are able to demonstrate that you are doing something constructive,
measurable, and meaningful regarding environmental impact reductions or
improvements.

A life-cycle assessment confirms that the biomass gasification technology
provided by Nexterra Energy Systems Corp. for the New Westminster site fits
the bill for constructive, measurable environmental benefits.

The syngas produced by Kruger's twin gasifier system heats about 65% of the
tissue mill's process steam needs in summer and 45% in winter, saving the
company more than $1 million annually in natural gas costs.

LCA confirms benefit of biomass

The project delivers a number of environmental dividends that the company
anticipates will gain the attention of its customers. FPInnovations
conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) study of the project to help
validate the environmental benefits of this technology compared with the old
fossil fuel-based energy system.

"LCA was a disciplined approach to really look at the whole cradle to grave
life cycle," explains FPInnovations vice-president, Alan Potter. "You can
very easily create a strong environmental case just by looking at one part
of the cycle, but by looking at the whole life cycle of the installation,
you have a more realistic sense of what the impact of switching to biomass
gasification is."

The LCA study determined that by converting to syngas generated by the
biomass gasifier, the mill's greenhouse gas emissions dropped by about
22,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. Because British
Columbia has a carbon tax, Kruger estimates that this emissions reduction
saved the company about $380,000 in provincial emission taxes in 2010 alone,
increasing annually to $580,000.

By generating a portion of its energy needs from syngas, Kruger is consuming
about 40,000 bone dry tonnes of woody biomass annually that would have ended
up in landfills.

The project has also significantly improved the air quality emanating from
the tissue mill, which is important considering that it is located right in
New Westminster. FPInnovations has determined that particulate emissions
from the mill are now practically zero, and carbon dioxide and volatile
organic compounds emissions are also exceptionally low.

"There is definitely a marketing advantage, especially in the consumer
products business, when there is a story to be told and there is concrete
action which we can demonstrate," says van Biesen. "While you can't go out
into the marketplace and command a greater price for having done so, you can
certainly strengthen and/or cement customer relationships with these types
of initiatives."

A first for gasification in paper

Kruger Products is the first Canadian pulp and paper company to install a
commercial biomass gasification system with the direct syngas firing
technology supplied by B.C.-based Nexterra Energy Systems Corp. The project
involved a consortium of Kruger, Nexterra, and FPInnovations, with funding
support from Natural Resources Canada, Western Economic Diversification
Canada, and the province of British Columbia.

"Ultimately, this project will take biomass technology one step closer to
market, which will benefit the western Canadian economy overall and create
jobs for Canadians, all while providing clean renewable energy options to
business," says Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification (WD),
Lynne Yelich.

The biomass gasification installation is catching the attention of many
other Canadian and international forest companies. Dozens of company
representatives attended a recent open house hosted by the consortium that
showcased the installation. Both Kruger and Nexterra continue to receive
regular inquiries about the system.

Andrew Goodison of FPInnovations is a project manager with the Canadian
forest industry's Future Biopathways Initiative. He says he is not surprised
by the amount of interest being shown by industry in the Kruger
installation.

"Demonstration and validation of these types of projects really help reduce
some of the risk factors to commercially acceptable levels; allowing the
industry to further invest in implementing this type of technology," he
says. "It helps to reduce the technology risk and it allows us to
stress-test some of the economics associated with these technologies."

The Future Biopathways Initiative was launched by FPInnovations, the
Canadian Forest Service and the Forest Products Association of Canada in
2009 to help provide industry with better baseline information on making
inroads into the bio-economy and with a framework to support decision
making. While helping industry understand the tradeoffs, information
gathered as part of the Initiative is also helping to identify and fill
knowledge gaps so that individual companies can select the right pathways
for their specific circumstances.

Goodison emphasizes that it is important for each company to conduct a
detailed analysis to determine if adopting biomass gasification technology
makes economic sense for them because each province treats such issues as
the management and disposal of forestry biomass and carbon taxes
differently. He adds that the short- to medium-term price for natural gas is
one of the key drivers in how quickly companies will be prepared to invest
in alternative energy projects like biomass gasification.

Project gains worldwide honours

Both Kruger Products and Nexterra are gaining attention from a variety of
organizations eager to recognize technological advances that lighten
industry's footprint on the environment. Kruger Products has been nominated
for a United Nations 'Champions of the Earth' Award, a Pulp & Paper
International Award for Green Energy & Biofuels, and a Platts Global Energy
Award for Green Energy Efficiency. Van Biesen also won a 2010 Canadian Award
for Environmental Innovation sponsored by the Royal Canadian Geographical
Society and 3M Canada, and Kruger Products received a 2010 Applied Energy
Innovation Award from the Canadian Institute for Energy. Nexterra received
the Best Application of Technology Award from the BC Technology Industry
Association for the system it designed and installed in New Westminster.

Nexterra co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Rhone, believes this type of
recognition will contribute to proliferation of the technology.

"These awards provide another source of validation and credibility that
Nexterra's technologies and products are doing what we say they are supposed
to do," says Rhone. "It creates confidence with other customers, helps to
create awareness, and creates interest from new customers as well."

Because of the many other business benefits that Kruger Products has
achieved by switching to biomass-generated syngas, van Biesen says the
company has no regrets about making the switch despite the current low price
for natural gas.

"I don't lose a moment of sleep over the subject because in the long term, I
am sure that the price of natural gas will increase," he says. "But these
days, with companies being short on capital, it's not easy to make decisions
based on long term pricing trends. The tendency is to try to deliver shorter
term paybacks."

Van Biesen agrees that having validation is critical if the objective is to
achieve greater use of this technology within the pulp and paper sector,
given the nature of the industry.

"This industry has long been based on a tendency to not adopt technology
unless it has already shown to be advantageous or proven," he says. "It's
not a high tech business where risk taking is common. This business is too
tight on margins, and too cost-oriented or commoditized. So if you are
talking about investments and cost reduction investments, you want to know
in advance that it is going to work."

Given the nature of the industry, the level of continued interest has been
encouraging.

"Independent of the Open House, we have had countless visits, tours and
demonstrations to single entities who have requested entry for the purposes
of seeing what's going on, how it works, and evaluating the benefits and
challenges," says van Biesen. "That's the acid test for me as to what level
of interest there is."

Kruger Products is considering the installation of similar technology at its
other facilities where the economics can be justified, and is currently
evaluating various approaches. To satisfy a changing market with an
increasing number of environmentally sensitive retail customers, alternative
technologies such as this are quickly becoming the price of entry. PPC

 

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