[Stoves] wheat husk pellets

[Paul Olivier]

See comments below.


On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 7:01 PM, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <
crispinpigott at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Paul O
>
> The reason is economics.
>

In may cases transport distances are short, and the economics are quite
good, and yet we complacently continue to burn fossil fuels. I lived for
over 20 years in West Flanders in Belgium where wheat fields encroached
upon densely populated rural areas, and yet everyone merrily burned LPG gas
to cook a meal. Later I move to Waxahachie, Texas, a small town near
Dallas, and once again, wheat fields were everywhere. Yet no one dreamed of
making wheat husk or wheat straw pellets and using them to make syngas to
cook a meal.


>
> China is showing at the moment that the maximum radius that is viable to
> transport pellets/briquettes is 150 km.
>

China appears to be struggling with a lack of infrastructure in getting
pellets to market. How does one explain the economics of shipping coffee
husk pellets from Brazil to Holland as we see in this link?
http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2007/10/coffee-husks-as/ This is a thoroughly
bold undertaking, but does it make sense to transport coffee husk pellets
half way around the world to provide fuel for Dutch power stations? Why not
make use of these pellets in Brazil? Also, one might argue that the highest
and best use of coffee husk pellets would be, not to burn them in huge
power stations, but to generate from them a syngas that would replace
bottled gas or other forms of fossil fuel gas. The biochar left over from
these stoves would then be returned to the soil.


>
> $76 a ton is cheap by Canadian standards but far higher than the price of
> coal per delivered MJ.
>

Not always so. Vietnamese coal coming from the north costs more per
delivered MJ than rice hulls pellets.
In Vietnam there is a huge multi-billion dollar infrastructure that
underlies the mining, preparation and transportation of coal.
This infrastructure does not yet exist for waste biomass pellets.



> Agri-waste pellets are a nice fuel provided they have been prepared
> properly.
>

The same applies to coal and all other fossil fuels.
Coal preparation is a gigantic and complex undertaking.


>
> If the value of char is 'always there' it is quite possible the economic
> equation will change with the introduction of gasifiers, however the same
> energy production rate will increase the demand for transport and raw husk
> supply.
>

Yes, you are right. The introduction of pellet gasifiers in a given area
will create a demand for pellets, and the demand for pellets will stimulate
the construction of the infrastructure needed to meet this demand.


> You know all this. How about giving us an equation or spreadsheet that
> includes the whole value chain?
>


>
> Stovers could plug in their local costs and make a comparison between
> options. In at least *some *circumstances the gasification route would be
> the most viable.
>

Instead of using the word "some". I would prefer to say "many".


>
> The UK buys wood pellets from Canada to burn in power stations, but that
> is subsidized by pensions grannies and the working poor.
>

Once again, why haul pellets from Canada to the UK? Does the UK not have an
abundance of agricultural waste? And once again, should we not focus more
on producing syngas from pellets and directly using this syngas to cook a
meal? Burning pellets to make electricity is surely not the wisest way to
proceed, especially if this electricity is used as a source of energy to
cook a meal. Why not bypass the power station altogether?

What's needed above all else, in my opinion, are small, beautiful TLUD's
that make use of pellets. Such units could be situated in modern kitchens
throughout the world. Once these units are in place, the rest will follow.


>
> Regards
> Crispin
> From BB9900
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Olivier <paul.olivier at esrla.com>
> Sender: "Stoves" <stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:19:20
> To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves<stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Reply-To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves
>         <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: [Stoves] wheat husk pellets
>
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-- 
Paul A. Olivier PhD
26/5 Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Dalat
Vietnam

Louisiana telephone: 1-337-447-4124 (rings Vietnam)
Mobile: 090-694-1573 (in Vietnam)
Skype address: Xpolivier
http://www.esrla.com/
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