I read a few articles by Suz-Anne Kinney in the last wseelntter and enjoyed them immensely. One thing was not covered in the discussion on CO2 emmisions from burning of biomass. This is that when we burn hog fuel or biomass the main GHG emitted is CO2. If it is left behind in the woods to rot methane and a number of other nasty gases are produced. The greenies against biomass extraction post logging conveniently gloss over this fact.The other issue that seems to give regulators the willies is a simple question: When does biomass cease to be biomass and become hog fuel? I asked our Washington state DNR staff this question and their response was to respond with a why did I want to know retort. The reason is simple subsidies. Biomass may get subsidies but hog does not.Cheers! BBBrian BrownVice President, FiberCosmo Specialty Fibers Inc.

Integration and Displacement – The New Look of BiofuelsThis claim by Searchinger is not entirely true: “bioenergy only ueercds greenhouse gases if it results from additional plant growth or in some other way uses carbon that would not otherwise be stored.” This is over-simplification.Biofuels have a big environmental impact, because they displace fossil fuels. Recycled CO2 replaces newly mined carbon – carbon that would have been added CO2 to the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. Biofuel displaces newly mined Carbon with recycled CO2. Biofuels do Not have to sequester carbon into the soil to be effective. Biofuels mitigate fossil fuels. They can also be integrated to exploit waste and mitigate pollution.If we took ALL the starch, instead of just 25% of it, from our entire feed corn crop and made ethanol out of it. This would Displace 4 times the amount of fossil fuels we are currently displacing with ethanol. We are already growing the corn anyway. There would be No additional plant growth. Currently most of this excess starch is going through animals undigested, and then going to waste as methane GHG.See “Bion Environmental Technologies Plans Closed-Loop Livestock and Ethanol Production Facility in Schroeppel, NY” (Biofuels Joiurnal 12-14-09). This is a proposed large-scale livestock feeding operation that will be a game changer. The methane normally released from cattle manure will provide CHP production power for the ethanol plant. This mitigates GHG methane. And it also displaces the newly mined carbon released from the natural gas or coal, which is typically used to power ethanol refineries. Those carbon credits are spread across the ethanol and the co-products produced by the refinery.The distillers grains are not shipped to China, they are fed to the onsite or adjacent cattle. You didn’t burn dirty bunker fuel to ship it half way around the world. So adjacent use of distillers grains also improves the carbon score of biofuel. Surplus electrical power will also be fed into the grid, displacing coal and natural gas.The digester residue, leftover after the manure is processed, becomes “localized fertilizer” made from waste. That displaces centralized fossil fuel based fertilizer that would normally be shipped regionally, using fossil fuels. So credit the ethanol plant with another by product that displaces fossil fuels and newly mined carbon.The option would be to take the waste effluent and grow adjacent algae or duckweed on it. This can also be grown heterotrophically in high rise or underground tanks, for the small footprint. The algae/duckweed becomes an onsite resource of oil-carbohydrate-protein feedstock. The oil is made into localized biodiesel displacing fossil fuel diesel to grow the corn. The algae/duckweed starch is more ethanol feedstock. And the protein becomes a complete amino acid feed supplement for the cattle or for other livestock.Biofuel co-products are also feedstock for nutriceuticals and bio-plastics. We are now also exploiting the corn cobs and stover into additional fuel. One company is making biomass brickettes out of cobs and stover as a drop-in replacement for coal. This credit spreads across the corn inputs which can also improve the carbon score of ethanol. There was no additional plant growth. There was no sequestration of carbon into the soil. All we did was exploit waste into a value added product to displace fossil fuel.Besides integrating ethanol with producing cattle, we are also using this model to integrate biofuel and dairy, biofuel and poultry, biofuel and hogs, etc. This is going to give you a much better ratio of energy in to energy out. It will also increase efficiency and profit, and lower the cost of both the ethanol, the food products, and other co-products.Searchinger’s background is Attorney, Lobbyist, Political-Environmental Activist, and Biofuels Critic. His skill-set on the economics of biofuels is limited and narrow. Where he falls short is Displacement and Integration.Primarily, biofuels and their co-products displace newly mined carbon with recycled CO2. In addition, the integration of biofuels with agriculture and power generation exploits waste products and mitigates other pollutants such as methane, sulfurous compounds, black carbon soot, and acid rain, etc.. Biofuel integration is also being demonstrated at municipal landfills, sewage disposal plants, algae/ductweed farms, and industries producing waste effluent. This goes well beyond the carbon issue.