Willow Biomass Production,
Potential and Benefits
T.A. Volk, P. Castellano, L.P. Abrahamson, L. Smart, E.H. White, T. Buchholz and K. Cameron, SUNY-ESF
Forest Biorefinery: Establishing a path forward to cellulosic ethanol and other bio-products
October 9-10, 2007, Syracuse, NY
Outline
• Background on renewable energy and perennial
•
crops
Woody biomass availability
– Natural forests
– Willow biomass crops
• Willow biomass crop production
• Willow biomass production life cycle analysis
• Economics of willow biomass crops
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Renewable Energy in the U.S.
85% of our
primary
energy
comes from
fossil fuels
{
}
Biomass (42%)
(EIA 2007)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
National Biomass Supply
• Assessment of
•
whether land
resources in the US
could sustainably
produce over 1 billion
tons of biomass
Enough biomass to
replace about 30% of
the country’s
petroleum
consumption
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
National Biomass Supply
• Over 1.3 billion dry tons
377
(Perlack et al. 2005)
annually from forest
and agricultural land
that is currently not
being utilized
– 368 million odt from
forests
– 998 million odt from
agricultural land
– 377 odt projected to
come from perennial
energy crops
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Woody Biomass Feedstocks
Wood residues from
primary and
secondary wood
product
manufacturers, urban
residues
Low value wood
from forests can be
harvested
sustainably
Willow biomass
crops can be grown
on under utilized
open land
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
NY’s Forest Resources
• 18.5 million acres of forest land
• 15.4 million acres of timberland
New York State Land Cover
– 774 million tons of standing biomass
– Annual growth 3X greater than harvest
-
• 15 pulp mills in the mid 1980s, only 3
remain in operation
Miles
0
Legend
15
30
60
90
120
N YS La nd Co ver
W ate r
F ores t 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.
Map C reate d for th e Willow Biom ass Project
Dat e: Jun e 14, 2005
– Employment in forest industry has
declined from 91,400 in 1979 to 61,500 in
2001
– Limited markets for low value trees
– Exasperates in poor forest management,
especially high grading
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
¾ Current removals + bioenergy harvests < 70% of Net Annual Growth
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Willow Biomass Crops on Marginal
Agricultural Land
• Over 7.5 million acres of
New York State Land 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 asture/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
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
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Criteria for Selecting Forest Lands
• Started with all forest land from the NLCD
(National Land Cover Dataset)
• Removed the following areas:
– Tax parcels restricted from timber harvesting
(e.g. State/County Parks, Forest Preserve etc.)
– Wetlands from the NYS DEC database
– Bodies of water from the NYS hydrography
database
– Tax parcels less than 5 acres in size
• Result is timberland
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Timberland
within 25 miles of
Syracuse
• Over 584,000 acres of
•
forest cover
Remove land due to:
–
–
–
–
Restricted use
Small parcel size
Slope >20%
Wetlands or water
bodies
• Result is over 409,000
acres of timberland
(Castellano et al. submitted)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Technically Available Woody Biomass from
Timberland in a 25 mile radius around
Syracuse, NY
• Potential to sustainably supply
•
•
(Castellano et al. submitted)
over 245,000 dry tons of
woody biomass per year from
over 409,000 acres of
timberlands
Yield is 0.6 odt/ac
Need to consider
socioeconomic factors such
as landowner preferences,
economics, parcel size and
location relative to other
parcels
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Criteria for Selecting Agricultural
Land for Willow Production
• Areas classified as agricultural land cover in the NLCD
(National Land Cover Database)
• Areas classified as agricultural land use from county tax
parcel databases
• Areas with slope less than 8% calculated from a digital
•
elevation model
Areas with soils in a farmland classification from SSURGO
NRCS Database
• Removed areas classified as wetlands from the NYS DEC
database
• Removed parcels less than 5 acres
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Agricultural land
within 25 miles of
Syracuse
• Over 440,000 acres of
•
agricultural land cover
Removed land due to:
– Other tax role classification
(217, 532 ac)
– Slope <8% (54,396 ac)
– Designated wetlands (3,043
ac)
– Parcel size (677 ac)
• 167,773 acres of
acceptable agricultural land
(Castellano et al. submitted)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
(Castellano et al. submitted)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Socio-economic Potential
• Amount of technically available resource will vary
due to a range of socioeconomic factors:
– Market prices for other energy sources (coal, oil,
natural gas)
– Prices for biomass for other uses (i.e. pulp logs, saw
logs, mulch)
– Landowners management objectives
– Competition from other biomass users
– Incentives and policies that support renewable energy
– Pubic opinions about biomass resources and their use
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Willow Biomass Production Cycle
Three-year old after
coppice
Site Preparation
Planting
Harvesting
One-year old after
coppice
Coppice
First year growth
Early spring after coppicing © The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Why Willow?
• High biomass production
•
•
•
•
Three-year old willow in Tully, NY
•
potential
Produces uniform
feedstock
Easily established with
unrooted cuttings
Resprouts vigorously after
each harvest
Limited insect and pest
problems
Wide range of genetic
variability
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Planting Stock
Harvesting one year old whips for planting stock
25 cm long dormant cuttings
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Commercial Planting Stock Production
• More than 75 acres of willow
•
•
Shrub willows in nursery beds at
Double A Vineyards, Fredonia,
NY.
nursery beds planted since
2005 at Double A Willow for
commercial planting stock
production
Supplemental supplies from
fields planted as biomass
crops
Storage facilities for 10
million cuttings completed,
enough for about 700 ha yr-1
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Planting
¾ First commercial planting of willow
biomass crops in North America
occurred in the Tug Hill region of NY
in 2006 by Catalyst Renewables
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Three Year Old Willow Biomass Crops
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Cut and Chip Harvesting Systems
• Harvesting occurs
during the dormant
season to ensure
vigorous regrowth
• Modified agricultural
equipment is used to cut
and chip willow biomass
in a single pass
New Holland forage harvester
being developed to harvest willow
biomass crops
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
LCA of Willow Crops - Boundaries
(Heller et al. 2003)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Primary Energy Use Over 22 Years
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
EROI for Different Yield Scenarios
(Keoleian and Volk 2005)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Yields from SUNY-ESF Varieties Bred in 1999
Harvested - Two years post-coppice
BIOMASS - Top 20
Family ID
• 15 clones with greater yield than ‘SV1’
• top clone had 40% greater yield than ‘SV1’
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Management Scenarios
(Heller et al. 2003)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Biomass and Other Power Systems
System
Net Energy Global Warming Potential
Ratio
(kg CO2 eq/MWHelec)
Willow Biomass
13.3
38.9 (-96.1%)
- Gasifier
Willow Biomass
9.9
52.3 (-94.7%)
- Direct fire
BIPV
4.3
59.4 (-94.0)
Wind
30.3
9.1 (-99.0)
US Grid Ave
0.257
989.1
(Keoleian and Volk 2005)
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Willow Biomass - Economics
• Completing cash flow model for willow
•
biomass crop production and delivery to end
user
Includes:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Land rental
Site preparation
Planting, maintenance and harvesting
50 mile delivery of willow biomass
Seven three year rotations
Removal of willow crop at end of seven years
Assumes a $30/green ton price at the plant gate
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Economics of Willow – Base Case
500
US $/acre
0
-500
-1,000
-1,500
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Year
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Economics of Willow – Base Case
Realistic
Back to
Input-Output
Sheet
Optimistic (Revenues +10%; Expenditures -10%)
Pessimistic (Revenues -10%; Expenditures +10%)
2,000
US $/acre
1,000
0
-1,000
-2,000
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
Year
NPV - $197/acre
IRR – 8%
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Distribution of Expenses over 22 Years
100%
6%
Stock removal
90%
80%
29%
Harvest
70%
60%
26%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Transport
Fertilizer
Establishment
3%
Administration
19%
2%
15%
Land cost and
insurance
0%
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Economics of Willow – With CREP
$100/ac rental rate and 50% establishment cost share
1,000
US $/acre
500
0
-500
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Year
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Economics of Willow – With CREP
$100/ac rental rate and 50% establishment cost share
Realistic
Back to InputOutput Sheet
Optimistic (Revenues +10%; Expenditures -10%)
Pessimistic (Revenues -10%; Expenditures +10%)
6,000
5,000
US $/acre
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
-1,000
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
Year
NPV - $1,617/acre
IRR – 23%
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Now is the Time for Action
• “The stone age did
not end for lack of
stone, and the oil
age will end long
before the world runs
out of oil.”
– Sheikh Zaki Yamani,
former oil minister for
Saudi Arabia
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007
Acknowledgements
¾ USDA CSREES
¾ NYS Energy Research
and Development
Authority (NYSERDA)
¾ NYS Dept. Agriculture
and Markets
¾ NYSTAR
¾ US Dept. of Interior
© The Research Foundation of SUNY 2007