News

Ethanol plants soon will have alternative to coal

 

GENE HUGOSON, TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

March 10, 2007

 

In his recent article on the debate over using coal to power the equipment used to produce ethanol ("Green ethanol's dirty fuel" March 5), Pioneer Press reporter Tom Webb raised an important issue.

It is true that energy costs are a major expense for ethanol plants, and, as natural gas prices rise, they can quickly eat into these plants' profitability and push them toward coal. At the same time, it is understandable that some would see irony in using coal - a fuel source not generally associated with "clean, green energy" - to produce clean biofuels like ethanol.

 

Fortunately, there is a new alternative to both natural gas and coal that holds great promise for the near future. Biomass gasification is a process that converts materials such as grasses, wood products, straw and corn stover into a synthetic gas that can be used to generate electricity and steam. Through gasification, we can use biomass as a cleaner alternative to coal and natural gas. Gasification technology already is in place in one Minnesota plant, with another under construction. As this technology becomes more established, it will likely be the choice in other facilities as well.

 

In addition to serving as a hedge on energy prices, biomass gasification also allows plants to capture synthetic gases and turn them into a variety of fuels and industrial products.

 

This technology can serve as the foundation for today's ethanol facilities to launch into a new generation of biofuels. As an added bonus, gasification has the potential to significantly reduce emissions and increase production plant efficiencies.

 

Two months ago, Gov. Pawlenty announced his Next-Generation Energy Initiative for Minnesota with the goals of expanding renewable fuel production, conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions. One part of the proposal calls for $5 million each in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for grants to ethanol plants and other facilities to install gasification technologies. The governor also recommended production incentives that would be in place for 10 years and would encourage facilities to make biofuels from cellulosic materials.

 

A key measure of success for all this will be whether the state investment does for biofuels in the 21st century what previous investments did in the 1980s and 1990s - stimulate the development of a locally owned bioenergy industry that boosts rural economies, reduces air pollution and reduces our dependence on foreign oil.

 

The take-home message is that today's renewable fuels sector is only the beginning of what we can accomplish. Our current renewable fuels and the production systems used to make them are the necessary foundation upon which even cleaner and more efficient future technologies will be built in the years to come.