Buckthorn biomass to be converted into electricity

[Fledermaus]

It was brought to the United States as a hedge and is now more of a nuisance.

Buckthorn multiplies so fast it literally chokes native plants and trees, but the Department of Natural Resources has come up with a powerful pilot plan to make use of the plant.

The prickly plant took over a spot near the Minnesota River Valley and eventually eliminated any view of the water, but Wednesday the DNR regained control of the land In the past they would simply torch the pile of buckthorn and be done with it.

"There's absolutely value in buckthorn when it's removed from the land," said Don Arnosti, Director of Forestry for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

This time around the woody buckthorn will be shredded and used as energy. As part of the new Woody Biomass Project, years of growth will help supply St. Paul with electricity.

"This is going to power, heat and cool downtown St. Paul," said Arnosti.

The project combines habitat restoration with renewable energy like never before.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29767568/

[cliffordu]

1. We have the scotchbroom out here in Washington -

people with herds of goats make good money clearing the land, but biodeisel with scotchbroom might be doable....

(the goats clear the land, the owners sit on thier asses.)

[XemaSab]

2. I went to the unemployment office yesterday

I was qualified to herd goats, inspect fruit, and site power plants.

No shit. :o

[cliffordu]

3. I just LOVE them goats....

They eat weeds and provide good milk and companionship....

A dozen goats a dog and some chickens and I'm almost good to go.....

[excess_3]

4. whatever happened to the practice of burning garbage for elctricity?

less carbon footprint.
Mt Trashmore (s) gaining altitude more slowly.
among other advantages

everybody wins

[NickB79]

5. The Twin Cities already has a garbage burner

It hasn't been well-received, to say the least. The latest worry with it is that they're building a new, open-air baseball stadium for the MN Twins to replace the Metrodome right next to the damn thing!

Yep, nothing like a nice summer night watching the ballgame, eating a hot dog, gagging on the fumes of burning diapers and used condoms....

[Fledermaus]

6. Burning waste paper pellets

An alternative, environmentally safe fuel source — pelletized waste paper — proved cost-effective in a three-phase test burn. Two Department of Energy laboratories teamed up with private industry to burn paper pellets and coal to create steam at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant's Coal Fired Steam Generation Facility. The $125,000 cooperative research and development agreement involved the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory conducting the test burn, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory providing a technical expert in paper combustion, the R. W. Beck Company analyzing the test burn results, and Solid Waste Integrated Systems analyzing pellet composition and providing 50 tons of pelletized paper.

The Laboratory is a DOE reservation with numerous facilities scattered over 800 square miles of the Idaho desert. The logistics of serving the entire site, therefore, are complicated. However, the pelletization test burn proved so successful that the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant is planning to install a pellet-making machine to serve the balance of the facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

Cost analysis of the solution

Converting waste paper to fuel pellets saves $500 per day in landfill disposal costs and more than $6,000 daily in ash handling and other variable costs. Also, there will be savings in future coal purchases. Each 1.5 tons of pelletized paper has the energy equivalent of one ton of coal. This provides a savings of $45 per ton in fuel costs.

http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2006/234.html

[Fledermaus]

7. Paper Pellets for Industrial Fuel

Benefits of Paper Pellets
• Quality. Paper pellets are made to meet the quality demands of your energy system. They
are very dense, giving them a Btu content similar to coal. They are dried during processing
to give them an extremely low moisture rate. Pellets have less sulfur and produce less
carbon monoxide than coal. Compared to wood, paper has less formaldehyde.
• Cost. Pellets are a low cost fuel to manufacture. Because transportation is the highest
component to the pellet’s cost, however, the distance of your industry from the pellet
manufacturer may be the biggest determinant of its economic value.
• Environment. Pellets are made of clean, recycled materials left over from local industries.
By burning paper pellets you are keeping this material out of landfills and incinerators and
reducing air pollution from coal.

http://www.focusonenergy.com/files/Document_Management_System/Renewables/paperpelletsforindustrialfuel_factsheet.pdf

[Nihil]

9. Ummm ... ?

> By burning paper pellets you are keeping this material out of
> landfills and incinerators

:crazy:

[XemaSab]

8. They're still working on it

It's called WTE.

My old boss once told the city of Alameda that they wouldn't need to sort their recycling anymore, and he was just about run out of town on a rail. :D