1. Biomass for Power Generation
Greg Grotvik
BA 205-02, Fall Term
December 6, 2012

2. Biomass Technician: Introduction
• Biomass Technician: Job Duties, Outlook
• Biomass: How it Works
• Biomass Power plants in the United States
• Types and uses of Biomass
• Biomass Technician: Conclusion

3. Biomass Plant Technician
Job Duties and Work Environment
• Job Duties
▫ Operate biomass fuel-burning….
• Work Environment
▫ Mill Setting

4. Biomass Plant Technician
Job Outlook, Wages, & Education
• Outlook: 3700 jobs in the United States
• Wages: Median wages $25.58 hourly, 53,200
Annually.
• Education Required: Bachelors degree gives
applicant the advantage in the labor market.
Long term on the job training required.

5. Biomass to Electricity: How it works
• Biomass is sized
and dried
• Once dried,
biomass is gasified
into a bio-gas.
• Bio-gas is sent
through a gas
filter and travels
through a
combustion
turbine
• After the
combustion
turbine, biogas is
sent through a
generator to a
substation and
then sent to end
users via
transmission lines

6. Biomass Power Plants in the United
States
Facility Name Company Name City/County State Capacity
6th Street Aliant Energy Cedar Rapids MI 85mw
Bay Front Xcel Energy Inc Ashland WI 76mw
Colbert TVA Tuscumbia AL 190mw
Gadsden 2 Alabama Power Co Gadsden AL 70 mw
Greenridge AES Dresden NW 161mw
Tacoma Steam Plant Tacoma PUD Tacoma WA 35mw

7. Biomass power
Question Response
Question 1: What are the pro’s and con’s of The Pro’s are that Biomass is renewable,
biomass for the generation of energy abundant, and readily available. Biomass is also
dispatchable and can reduce the dependence on
fossil fuels
Question 2: What are the barriers to adoption of Barriers to utilization are primarily economic. The
biomass? current pay rate to utilities is marginal at best.
One of the contributing factors is that to reach the
scale that encourages positive returns on power
production facilities tend to be larger than the
end-users needs.
Question 3: How can these barriers be mitigated? For power generation it would be mitigated by
power purchase rate that reflects a better market
value. Some states have tried to encourage a
better power purchase rate through renewable
energy standard. In Oregon, the need has been
met for beyond the next decade
• Responses courtesy of John Pine, Biomass Resource Specialist, Oregon Department of Forestry

8. Types of Biomass used for power
generation
• Agriculture
• Energy Crops
• Forestry
• Urban Wood Waste
• Garbage

9. Types of Biomass used: Agriculture
• Rural communities could be entirely self-sufficient
by utilizing energy from locally grown crops
• Uses of the residue of this type of biomass
▫ Used as fuel for cars, trucks and farm machinery
▫ Used to heat homes and buildings
• Based on a 2002 Farm Bill, up to $20 Billion
available in new income to farmers and rural
communities
▫ Used for reduction of global emissions
▫ Which equates to removing 70 million vehicles off
the road.

10. Types of Biomass used: Forestry
• The costs related to the distribution of forest
energy crops (e.g. wood chips) changes
dramatically depending on location
▫ Primary roads
▫ Secondary roads
• Additional charge of $10 per dry ton was added

11. Types of Biomass used: Forestry
(continued)
• The study analyzed the following data types:
▫ Forestry inventory
▫ Logging costs
▫ Chipping
▫ Distance hauled
▫ Wood densities
▫ Terrain slope
▫ Equipment operating issues

12. Types of Biomass used: Energy Crops
Trees Grasses
• Examples include: • Examples include:
▫ Willow ▫ Switch grass
▫ Reed
▫ Poplar
▫ Canary
▫ Sycamore ▫ Wheat
▫ Sorgum
▫ Cottonwood • Grasses are native to Oregon
• These crops are also profitable
• These trees grow up to 40 • If an average sized farm
feet in less than 8 years changes crops from corn to
switch grass, over 66 tract
• Trees are harvested after 10- loads of soil could be saved
20 years and then replanted from erosion.

13. Types of Biomass used: Urban Wood
Waste
Types of Urban wood waste General Facts
include:
• National average freight cost
• Wood yard trimmings is $0.24 per ton mile
• Demolition wood residue
• Construction wood debris • Average distance hauled is 50-
• Other wood waste 100 miles per dry ton
• Costs include: • Local trucking companies had
▫ $0-$8 per wet tons for mill estimated that 506 billion ton
residues miles have been hauled in one
▫ $10-$14 per wet ton for year.
urban wood waste residues

14. Types of Biomass used: Garbage
• Three methods in processing garbage into
biomass power
▫ Combustion technologies
▫ Cogeneration
▫ Cofiring

15. Types of Biomass used: Garbage -
Combustion
• Combustion technology
▫ Garbage is placed into a furnace, which converts
o
biomass to heat energy at 2200 (Fahrenheit)
▫ As this biomass is burned, hot gas is released.
▫ Gas contains 85% of fuels energy

16. Types of Biomass used: Garbage –
Co-generation
• Co-generation Technology
▫ From garbage, co-generation produces biomass
electricity from steam driven turbine generators
▫ Turbine generators have an efficiency of 17-25%
▫ If a boiler is added to an turbine, efficiency
increases to 85%

17. Types of Biomass used: Garbage –
Co-firing
• Co-firing Technology
▫ Co-firing is a back-up fuel in a coal burning
power plant.
▫ Carbon dioxide emissions are decreased from a
co-firing power generation plant
▫ To maintain efficiency, wood fuel or a
modification of the boiler might be required.

18. Biomass for Power Generation
• Conclusion:
• Biomass is a more sustainable power source, and
employment opportunities will exist with living wage
jobs.
• “Some states have tried to encourage this renewable
energy standards, but in Oregon, we have met the need
for the next decade or more”
– John Pine, Biomass Resource Specialist, Oregon
Department of Forestry

19. References
n.d. 2 december 2012. <www.EIA.gov>.
One net online. n.d. 3 December 2012.
<http://www.onetonline.org/find/industry>.
Pine, John. Biomass Specialist, Oregon
Department of Forestry Greg Grotvik. 3 December
2012.