Alaska Wood Energy Development Task Group (AWEDTG)
announces Wood Energy Pre-Feasibility Grant Program

Alaska Wood Energy Conference Presentations and Participation
April 25-27, 2011 Fairbanks, Alaska

Alaska's most important biomass fuels are wood, sawmill wastes, fish byproducts, and municipal waste. AEA's biomass energy program focuses on developing wood-fired systems that displace fuel oil for heating public facilities, demonstrating fish oil biodiesel performance, and recovering energy from municipal solid waste. AEA is part of the Pacific Regional Biomass Energy Partnership, a state and federally supported effort that encourages bioenergy development in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Wood remains an important renewable energy source for Alaskans, with over 100,000 cords per year used for residential space heating statewide. Closure of the major pulp mills in Sitka and Ketchikan in the 1990s brought an end to large-scale wood-fired power generation in Alaska; however, recent increases in oil prices have raised interest in using sawdust and wood wastes as fuel for lumber drying, space heating, and small-scale power production. Alaska has also seen renewed interest in converting low-value wood and wood wastes to liquid fuels such as ethanol.

In 2010, the state's first large-scale pellet boiler was installed by the Sealaska Corporation at its corporate headquarters in Juneau. Additionally, the Tok School installed a chip-fired boiler in 2010 that will displace approximately 65,000 gallons if fuel oil. Other wood-fired boilers have been installed in Coffman Cove, Craig, Dot Lake, Gulkana, Kasilof, Tanana and over 40 projects in other communities are being considered.

Interest in manufacturing wood pellets continues to rise. Currently, there are both small and large-scaled plants operating in Alaska. The largest facility, Superior Pellets, is located in North Pole and is capable of producing an estimated 30, 000 tons of pellets per year.

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Shore-based and floating groundfish procesors produce approximately 8 million gallons per year of fish oil from as a byproduct of fish meal plants. Much of the oil is used in the process as boiler fuel for drying the fish meal or exported to Pacific Rim markets for livestock and aquaculture feed supplements and other uses. In 2001, with the assistance of AEA and the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, processor UniSea Inc. conducted successful tests of raw fish oil/diesel blends in a 2.2 MW 2-cycle Fairbanks Morse engine generator. Since then, the company has expanded the operation and used over two million gallons of 50-50 raw fish oil-diesel blend for power production between July 2002 and June 2004.

Biodiesel is an engine fuel manufactured from renewable sources, such as vegetable oils, recycled cooking greases or oils, or animal fats. Biodiesel is a U.S. EPA-approved substitute manufactured to established industry standards. Currently AEA is working with University of Alaska Fairbanks ' (UAF's) Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and the National Park Service to test performance of biodiesel in generators at UAF and Denali National Park . The team has produced a brochure describing the project.

In 2010, Alaska Waste opened Alaska's first large-scale biodiesel plant. The plant produces 250,000 gallons of biodiesel annually with the waste vegetable oil that is gathered from local restaurants. Alaska plans to fuel up to 20% their vehicles with the biodiesel.

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Alaskans generate approximately 650,000 tons of garbage per year. Currently, Chena Power is developing a 400kW power plant in North Pole that will burn 4,300 tons of waste paper and other biomass annually. In addition, the Municipality of Anchorage and its partners are working on plans to convert methane gas from the city's landfill into electricity. This project could produce up to 3 MW of power, enough to supply 3,000 homes along the Railbelt and the equivalent energy of 2 million gallons of diesel per year. Over the next thirty years gas and energy output from the landfill is expected to more than double. The Municipality has produced a brochure summarizing the project.

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Biodiesel

Production of Methyl Esters using Salmon Oil – A Study for Taku Renewable Resources, Inc. (Fisherman’s Daughters Ecofuels) prepared by Lee Litvin of Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, Salem, Oregon, 2009.

Feasibility of Biodiesel Production from Juneau Area Waste Fish Oil prepared by Taku Renewable Resources, Inc. (Fishermen’s Daughters Ecofuels),  2010.

Juneau Area Commercial Fisheries Byproduct as a Biodiesel Feedstock:  Energetic and Economic Analyses of Potential Collection Methods prepared by Taku Renewable Resources, Inc. (Fishermen’s Daughters Ecofuels),  2010.

University of Idaho Cooperative Extension Service
Farm Energy Biodiesel - Table of Contents 2010.

Demonstrating the Use of Fish Oil in a Large Stationary Diesel Engine by J.A. Steigers, Steigers Corporation Prepared by Steigers Corporation, 2002.

Organic Waste Characterization Project, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor.  Prepared by Steigers Corporation, September 2000. (large pdf 13.2mb)

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Municipal Waste

Burning Garbage and Land Disposal in Rural Alaska.  Alaska Energy Authority and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, 2004. (size 2617kb)

Juneau Heat Recovery and Distribution Prefeasibility Assessment. Assesses heat recovery from Juneau incinerator for local space heating. Prepared by Peter Crimp, Alaska Energy Authority, Anchorage, Alaska, 1993.

Landfill Gas Utilization Economic Evaluation for Anchorage Regional Landfill.   Prepared by Shaw EMCON/OWT for Municipality of Anchorage Sold Waste Services 2004.

Toxic and Hazardous Emissions Associated with Co-Firing Mixed Fuels in Direct Combustion Systems.  Air emissions from co-firing biomass and fossil fuels. Prepared by David C. Junge, Ph.D., School of Engineering, University of Alaska, Anchorage, 1990.

Use of Mixed Fuels in Direct Combustion Systems. Operational, environmental, and economic considerations for co-firing fossil fuels, wood, and municipal solid waste. Prepared by David C. Junge, Ph.D., School of Engineering, University of Alaska, Anchorage, 1989.

Waste-to-Energy Feasibility Study for Channel Landfill Inc.   Assesses feasibility of heat and power recovery from Juneau incinerators. Prepared by Harris Group Inc., Seattle, WA, 1997.

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Wood and Wood Waste

FOREST RESOURCES ON STATE FOREST LANDS IN THE COPPER RIVER BASIN - A PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE prepared by Douglas Hanson, Inventory Forester State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry Northern Region,  2010.

Analysis of Wood Fiber Feedstock Availability for a Proposed Ethanol Plant in Southeast Alaska.  Delivered cost and quantity of logging and mill waste in Southeast. Prepared by Charles Nash for Division of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1998.

Dot Lake Wood-Fired Boiler Final Design. Drawings and analysis of small wood boiler retrofit in Dot Lake.  Prepared by Alaska Energy Engineering, Anchorage, Alaska, 1997.

Feasibility Study for Building and Operating a Power Generating Plant for the City of Thorne Bay, Alaska. Assessment of wood residue-fired power plant. Prepared by Carroll, Hatch & Associates, Inc. and Paul E. Oliver, P.E. Portland, Oregon, 1995.

Logistics of Wood Fiber Collection and Processing for the Production of Ethanol in Southeast Alaska.  Options for processing, handling, and transporting wood residue in Southeast. Prepared by Charles Nash for Division of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1998.

McGrath Biomass Heating Project, 35% Design.  Analysis and design of a hybrid biomass / diesel waste heat system. Prepared by J.S. Strandberg Engineers, revised by MBA Engineering, Anchorage, Alaska, 1998-9.

Seward Wood Waste to Energy Prefeasibility Assessment. Assesses use of mill waste as fuel for heating of an industrial area.  Prepared by Peter Crimp, Division of Energy, Department of Community and Regional Affairs, Anchorage, Alaska, 1994.

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