Potential Sup
pply of Woody
Biomass in
n Central NY
Timothy A.
A Volk,
Volk Lawren
nce Abrahamson
Abrahamson, Phil
Castellano, an
nd Ed White
SUNY-ESF
SUNYESF
SURE, November 5, 2009, Syracuse, NY
Overview
• US energy consum
mption
• Bioenergy systemss
• Sources of woodyy biomass
b
in NY
– Forests
– Willow energy cropss
• Assessment of regional woody biomass
supplies
li around
dS
Sy
yracuse, NY
• People and percepptions of biomass
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
The Energ
g Demand
gy
"The environment isn't over here. Th
he environment isn't over there. You
are the
th environment.”
i
t”
- Oren Lyons - Faithkeeper, Turtle Claan, Onondaga Nation
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Primary
y Energy
gy Consumption
C
p
Patterns
W
M
C
(BP Statistical Review 2009)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Primary
y energy
gy co
onsumption
p
per
p capita
p
C
T
(BP Statistical Review 2009)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
208
History
y of U.S. Energy
E
gy Use
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
(EIA 2007)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
US Energ
g Sources
gy
Bioenergy Systtems are Complex
Community watershed
Ecosystems
Natural
systems
Was
ste products
Products from hunting and
d gathering
Goods, Capital,
Technology,
Training,
Political power
Solar ene
ergy
Ash
products
Agricultural
land
Agricultural
residues
Human
population
Woody
biomass
Short
rotation
coppice
Conve
ersion
techno
ology
Usable
power
(Agricultural)
Goods,
Capital
Maintenance
Community
Degraded
land
Natural resource
management
Decison points
Atmospheric carbon
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Soil & Biodiversity loss
Wastewa
ater?
Outside
community
Atmospheric emissions
Woody
y Bioma
ass Feedstocks
Wood
W
d residues
id
ffrom
primary and
secondaryy wood
product
manufacturers
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Low value
e wood
from foressts can be
harvested
d
sustainab
bly
Willow biomass
crops can be grown
on under utilized
open land
NY’s
NY
s Fores
st Resources
• 18.5 million acres of forest land
• 15.
15 4 million
illi acres off titimberland
b l d
New York State Land Cover
Miles
0
Legend
g
15
30
60
90
120
N YS La nd Co ver
W ate r
F orest 19 ,55 7,15 5 a c.
P asture/Ha y 6 ,03 3,5 72 a c.
R ow Cro ps
1,6 94 ,2 29 ac.
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Map Create d for th e Willow Biom ass Project
Dat e: Ju n e 14, 2005
–7
774 million tons of standing
b
biomass
• How
w much woody biomass is
technically available from
timberland in NY?
• Make use of FIA and TPO data
sou
urces
• Reppport on a countyy byy countyy
bassis
Sustainable Forrest Biomass
• During assessments for the NYS Biofuels Roadmap
we implemented
p
a numberr of restriction to ensure
that forest biomass estima
ates would be sustainable
– prohibited harvesting in the forest preserve and other
protected areas
– limited the size of the harvesst of traditional forest products
and additional biomass for biofuels
b
to the net annual
growth rate of forests in eacch countyy
g
– restricted the proportion of tops and residues collected and
prohibited the collection dea
ad trees to address concerns
related to nutrient depletion
p
and biodiversityy
– used a sustainable yield mo
odel to address concerns
related to site conditions, futture demographics, or potential
development that might impact long term sustained yield
management
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Technically Available Forest Biomass
Over 8.9 million
illi dry
d
tons of woody
biomass are available
each year from
forests in NY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Sustainable Yield
d Management
g
Model
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Potentially
y Availa
able Forest Biomass
¾4.8 – 6.4 million
odt of forest
biomass are
potentially
available each
year from NYS
forests
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Socio-econo
omic Potential
• Amount of technically available resource will
vary due
d tto a range off socioeconomic
i
i ffactors:
t
– Perceptions and assesssments of sustainability
– Market prices for otherr energy sources (coal, oil,
natural gas)
– Prices for biomass for other uses (i.e. pulp logs,
saw logs, pellets, firew
wood, mulch etc.)
– Landowner
L d
opinions
i i
and
d managementt objectives
bj ti
– Incentives and policiess that support renewable
energy
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Willow Bio
omass Crops on
Marginal Agricultural
A
Land
• Over 7.5
7 5 million acres of
N
New
Y
York
k St
State
t Land
L d C
Cover
•
-
•
Miles
0
Legend
15
30
60
90
120
N YS La nd Co ver
•
W ate r
F orest 19 ,55 7,15 5 a c.
P as ture/Ha y 6 ,03 3,5 72 a c.
R ow Cro ps
1,6 94 ,2 29 ac.
Map C reate d for th e Willow Biom ass Project
Dat e: Jun e 14, 2005
Land cover types in NY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
agricultural land cover in NY
About 1.5 - 2.0 million acres
are under utilized
Willow biomass crops could
be an alternative crop for
farmers and landowners
Produces environmental and
rural development benefits
in addition to bioenergy
and/or bioproducts
Willow Biomass
s Production Cycle
Three-year old after
coppice
Site Preparation
Planting
One-year old after
coppice
C
Coppice
i
First year growth
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Early spring
s
after coppicing
Three Year Old Willow
W
Biomass Crops
¾Willow yields are typically 4
odt/acre/yr in the first rotation and 5
odt/ac/yr in subsequent rotations
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Commercial Planting
g Stock Production
• Double A Willow, Fredonia NY
Shrub willows in nursery beds at
y
Fredonia, NY
Double A Vineyards,
(www.doubleawillow.com).
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
– About 100 acres of willow
nursery beds planted since 2005
– Produced about 5 million
cuttings in 2007/08 for biomass
crops and for other applications
– Projected production of 15
million cuttings in 2008/09
– Future production potential of
about 30 million cutting 10 new
willow varieties from SUNY ESF
breeding and selection program
Harvester Development
D
p
• SUNY ESF has worked with
•
•
New CNH Short-Rotation Coppice header
being tested in the western NY in March
2009
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
•
Case New Holland ((CNH)) over
the past four years to develop
a single pass cut and chip
harvesting
g system
y
based on
New Holland (NH) forage
harvester
CNH is developing a new
Short-Rotation-Coppice (SRC)
header
Trials have been run from NY
to Washington
Recently awarded a $1.3
million DoE grant to improve
the efficiency of the system
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Market De
evelopments
Combined Heat and Power
Biorefinery
Co firing
Co-firing
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Gasifiication
Small Scale Heat
Technically Available
Woody Biomass from
Forests
• About
Ab t 580,000
580 000 acres off
forest cover
• Remove forest land:
–
–
–
–
preserves
small parcels
classified wetlands
excessive slope
• Result
R
lt iis 400
400,000
000 acres
of timberland
• Potential production of
245,000 odt per year
Timberland in a 25 mile radius around Syracuse, NY
N
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Technically
Available Woody
Biomass from
Agricultural Land
• Almost 440,000 acres of
•
agricultural land
Remove land:
–
–
–
–
not classified for agriculture
excessive
i slopes
l
wetlands
small parcels
• ~ 167,000 acres remaining
• On 10% of this land could
produce
p
oduce o
over
e 83,000 odt/y
odt/yr
Technically Available
e Woody Biomass Supply
• A total of almost 330,00
, 00 odt of woody
y biomass
is technically available from a 25 mile radius
– 298,000 from agriculturral land
– 464,000 from timber lan
nd
• Willow biomass crops grown
g
on a land area that
•
is 4.1% of the timberlan
nd area could produce
25% of the total biomas
ss
The 19 MWe CHP facility Lyonsdale Biomass
uses ~ 165,000 odt/yr
– 25 mile radius could support 2 similar sized plants
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
What about a 50 Mile Radius?
• A total of over 762,000 odt
of woody biomass is
technically available from
a 50 mile radius
– 298,000 from agricultural
land
– 464,000 from timber land
• Lyonsdale biomass uses
~ 165,000
16 000 odt/yr
d/
Agricultural land potentially available
in a 50 miles radius around Syracuse,
Syracuse
NY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
– 50 mile radius could support
4 5 similar sized plants
4.5
Matching Potential Supply and
De
emand
• These are estimates oof technically available
•
woody biomass in the region
There are several esse
ential unanswered
questions in order to match
m
up supply and end
users
– are landowners in the region
r
interested in
producing and selling b
biomass
– if so, at what price
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
The Peop
ple Factor
p
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
The Peop
ple Factor
p
ANOT
THER
INCONVENIE
ENT TRUTH:
IF YOU’RE AGAINST
GREEN ENERGY,
E
YOU’RE FO
OR BIG OIL
Impact of the People Factor
• Mispperceptions about biomass
– V
Value laden, emotionally charged issues
– Need
N
for good scientific evidence to
ad
d
ddress
dd
concerns
– Need
N
for long term discussions with all
sttakeholders
• Lackk of stakeholder involvement and
partiicipation, especially at the local
level
Preliminary design for 35MW wood
fired facility in Oneonta, NY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
– 1//3 of biomass projects in the UK in the
la
ate 1990s failed because of local
opposition (Upreti 2004)
– 2//3 of small scale gasifiers deployed in
In
ndia were not in operation after a year
– lo
ocal opposition stops wood bioenergy
project in Oneonta, NY
C
policy support for establishing
– CREP
w
willow
biomass crops in NY is derailed
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Sum
mmary
y
• Interest in biomass as a source of renewable
energy is increasing rapidly
• Central NY has the pottential to produce large
amounts of biomass
• Lots of interest in usingg biomass in central NY
• A challenge ahead is too understand the people
factor to connect suppl
pp y and demand,, overcome
disagreements and mo
ove the industry forward
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
© The Research Foundation of SUNY
Acknowlledgements
¾ Honeywell International
¾ NY Farm Viabilityy Institute
¾ NYS Dept. Agriculture and
Markets
¾ NYS Energy Research and
Development
p
Authority
y
(NYSERDA)
¾ NYSTAR
¾ USDA CSREES
¾ USDA R
Rurall Development