Auburn University and Fultondale working on plan to convert ‘green’ waste into electricity

Municipal Green Waste

1:48 PM, May 6, 2009

AUBURN – A new environmental partnership in Alabama could provide municipalities a way to convert their “green” waste into energy while reducing the amount sent to landfills.

Auburn University is collaborating with the City of Fultondale, Alabama Power Company and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to develop a plan for using the city’s green waste – such as trees, tree limbs, leaves and grass clippings – as a source of clean, renewable energy.

“Fultondale, like other communities, sends tons of green waste to the city landfill each year,” said Steve Taylor, director of Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts. “By using innovative gasification technology available through Auburn University, those limbs and branches could be used to power as many as 500 homes. The first step is making sure the process can be carried out in a manner that is cost effective.”

Auburn researchers are using the university’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit to help evaluate converting Fultondale’s green waste, or biomass, into electricity. The gasification unit, mounted on a tractor-trailer vehicle, is cosponsored by Alabama Power Company, which provides funds to support travel throughout the region to explore new energy opportunities.

Gasification is a thermochemical process in which heat and oxygen break down biomass into a synthesis gas that contains hydrogen and carbon monoxide, both of which are flammable gases. This synthesis gas can be used as a fuel in engines and turbines that power electrical generators.

Researchers from Auburn’s School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences will install GPS tracking devices on Fultondale city trucks that collect biomass and will record the amount of material delivered to the landfill. They will combine this information with aerial and satellite images of the city to refine computer models for predicting the amount of biomass that will be generated by the city throughout the year.

At the same time, researchers in Auburn’s Department of Biosystems Engineering will be analyzing the material for the amount of energy and ash that it contains and its suitability for large-scale gasification systems.

“This information will be used to develop projections for the cost of implementing a system for biomass gasification and electrical power generation,” Taylor said.

Fultondale is one of several Alabama communities in the Auburn Energy Partners Program using a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Other communities participating in various projects include Gadsden, Enterprise and Henry County.

A demonstration of the use of renewable energy is being held Wednesday and Thursday, May 6-7, at the Fultondale Target store at 3489 Lowery Parkway. The setup includes the Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit as well as Auburn’s Emergency Housing Solution, a large shipping container converted into an emergency shelter that is being powered by the gasification unit at the event.

Students in Auburn’s Design-Build Masters Program built the emergency structure that would be beneficial after natural disasters, such as hurricanes, by using fallen trees to help power temporary housing for disaster victims or the relief effort’s operations centers. The structure also is designed with alternate hookups for grid utilities so it could use municipal water and power if available.

(Written by Charles Martin.)

Contacts: Leslie Parsons (334) 844-6147, (leslie@auburn.edu), or
Charles Martin (334) 844-9999, (marticd@auburn.edu)

Additional coverage concerning the May 6th media event in Fultondale, AL can be found:

In the North Jefferson News at:  http://www.njeffersonnews.com/local/local_story_124193724.html/ 

On CBS 42’s website at: http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Trees-and-Grass-Equals-Electricity/ZbQZFt1LokGCIXI1WtWdkA.cspx

In the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer at: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/breaking_news/story/709400.html  

And in the Birmingham News at:  http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom/2009/05/see_an_ecofriendly_shipping_co.html

Announcing The 5th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference

The 5^th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference, The Tallapoosa River Basin -Moving Toward More Effective Water Policy will be at the Betty Carol Graham Technology Center at the Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City on Wednesday-Thursday, May 13th-14^th, 2009. This year’s conference will focus on moving toward sustainable water management policy for the Tallapoosa River Basin.

 This year’s organizers and sponsors include the Auburn University Water Resources Center, Alabama Water Watch, the Middle Tallapoosa Clean Water Partnership, Lake Watch of Lake Martin, the Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board, and Central Alabama Community College.

Go to www.twp.auburn.edu  and, under TWP Highlights click the  5th Annual State of Our Watershed Conference  link to go to information on the conference, including the Tallapoosa River Basin Management Plan (8.2 megabite pdf file), conference announcement, and conference registration (required for lunch headcount), and additional information.

Producing Biodiesel for Municipal Fleets from Waste Vegetable Oil – a guide

The Auburn University Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, its Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in cooperation with the Energy Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs have produced and are pleased to make available a guide for those interested in small-scale, municipal biodiesel production from waste vegetable oil (WVO).  Below is an excerpt from the publication.  To access the entire publication as a .pdf, visit our website at:  www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/bio.

Executive Summary

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel alternative to traditional petroleum‐based diesel fuel. Biodiesel is an attractive option for producers who would like to process their own biofuels because it can be made at a relatively small scale using vegetable oils or animal fats. A growing number of municipalities are starting recycling programs to collect and process used cooking oils or waste vegetable oils (WVO) into biodiesel that can be used in the municipal vehicle fleet. This publication provides guidance to municipal small scale fleets on making biodiesel primarily by using cooking oil that has been recycled. Discussion is provided to help the municipality evaluate how much cooking oil might be available in their community; how to develop a recycling program and process the oil into biodiesel; how to test the finished fuel product; and how to store and dispense the fuel. Locally‐produced biodiesel will never be able to eliminate our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. However, it offers an important opportunity for every citizen to become a participant in recycling a waste product into a useful biofuel, which will, in turn, reduce demands on our landfills and wastewater treatment systems, and stretch taxpayer dollars in challenging economic times.

Auburn University’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute selected as Southern Growth Policies 2009 Innovator Award Winner

Auburn University has been selected to represent Alabama as the winner of the Southern Growth Policies Board 2009 Innovator Award.  The Natural Resources Management & Development Institute (NRMDI) was chosen from a strong pool of nominees in the Southern region as an outstanding initiative that encourages economic opportunities relating to bio-products, alternative energy, and energy efficiency. As one of 13 Innovators in the Southern region, NRMDI will be publicly honored on Monday, June 8, 2009 in an awards ceremony and reception during Southern Growth Policies Board annual conference, The Business of Southern Energy, in Biloxi, Mississippi. This year’s conference is hosted by Mississippi Governor, Haley Barbour. Additionally, NRMDI will be highlighted in the 2009 Report on the Future of the South. 

 

For additional information concerning the ongoing activities related to alternative energy at Auburn University’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, visit our website, or contact Center Director, Steve Taylor at taylost@auburn.edu.

Alternative Energy: The Quest To Fuel Alabama’s Future

Recently, Todd Keith of  Thicket Magazine interviewed Larry Fillmer, NRMDI’s Executive Director, for an article that appeared in the January/February 2009 Issue.  This thoughtfully written piece underscored the potential that the emerging bio-fuel industry has for reinvigorating rural Alabama economies.

Thicket Magazine has kindly made a copy of the article available here.

To learn more about the alternative energy intiatives taking place at Auburn University’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute and its Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, visit our websites, or contact us at (334) 844-6140.

Zheng presenting “Will China Run Out of Water?”

The Auburn University Water Resources Center has announced that Professor Chunmiao Zheng will be visiting the Auburn campus Thursday, Jan. 8, as part of the Geological Society of America’s 2009 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecture Series. Zheng will give his lecture, “Will China Run Out of Water?” at 3 p.m. in the conference room in Duncan Hall. Faculty, staff and students are invited. For more information, contact Mike Kensler at 844-5021 or mdk0003@auburn.edu.

ABSTRACT

Will China Run Out of Water?

The American agricultural expert and environmentalist Lester Brown published a provocative book in 1995 called “Who Will Feed China: Wake-Up Call for a Small Planet.” Today, however, of a greater concern may be the question of whether the unprecedented economic growth in China over the past two decades can be sustained as environmental pollution and water shortages continue to worsen. Some people have asked, “Will China run out of water?” This question is not merely academic: China has to nourish a fifth of the global population with about seven percent of the planet’s water resources. In fact, China’s State Council, or Cabinet, warned in a drought-fighting directive issued in December 2007 that even after taking into full account water-saving measures, China’s water use will reach or approach the total volume of exploitable water resources by 2030. Ample evidence suggests that China faces a daunting water resource crisis. The country has been battling water shortages in its northern and western provinces for more than a decade. But burgeoning economic growth and widespread environmental pollution have aggravated the water storage problem. Is China really running out of water? What does all this mean? What can be done? This presentation will take a close look at the current water situation in China and discuss the options available to deal with the worsening water shortage problem. The presentation draws on the presenter’s recent research work in the North China Plain and the Ordos Basin in western China.

 

Biosketch of Professor Zheng

Chunmiao Zheng of the University of Alabama has been selected the 2009 Birdsall-Dreiss

Distinguished Lecturer. The lecture series is sponsored by the GSA Hydrogeology Division.

 

Zheng received his B.S. degree in geology from Chengdu University of Technology (China) in 1983, and a Ph.D. degree in hydrogeology with a minor in civil & environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. From 1988 to 1993, he was a hydrogeologist at the environmental consulting firm S.S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc. Since 1993, he has been a professor of hydrogeology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Alabama. He is also a visiting professor and founding director of the Center for Water Research at Peking University (China). The primary areas of his research are contaminant transport, ground water management, and hydrologic modeling. Zheng is developer of the widely used MT3D/MT3DMS series of contaminant transport models, and co-author of the textbook Applied Contaminant Transport Modeling, Second Edition. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Hydrologic Science and president-elect of the International Commission on Groundwater of the IAHS.

For additional information about Dr. Zheng, visit his  website at http://hydro.geo.ua.edu.

For additional information about the AU Water Resources Center, visit our website at: www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/water or contact Mike Kensler at (334) 844-5021.

Auburn Researchers Making Biofuels More Accessible

Larry Fillmer, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, and Steve Taylor, Director of the AU Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts were recently featured in a three-part story from reporter Laura Beth Ezell of Huntsville’s WAAY, Channel 31  The series focuses on alternative energy efforts in the state of Alabama.  Check out it out below:

Transcripts of part 1 and part 2 are available online.

To learn more about alternative energy iniatives at Auburn University, visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu.

Larry Fillmer and Steve Taylor participate in Congressman Mike Rogers’ Annual Energy Tour

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Larry Fillmer, Steve Taylor (center) and Mike Rogers discussing a variety of feedstock types with energy tour participants.

On Wednesday of this week, Larry Fillmer  of the Auburn University Natural Resources Management & Development Institute as well as Steve Taylor and Christian Brodbeck of Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts particpated in Congressman Mike Rogers Annual Energy Tour of his district.  The delegation from Auburn joined Congressman Rogers at Jacksonville State University and there demonstrated AU’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit.  This mobile unit is capable of taking a variety of feedstocks (including but not limited to wood chips and poultry litter) and converting them to a synthesis gas which can then be used to create liquid fuels, electricity, or heat.

For more information about our Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit or our people and programs, visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu.

Christian Brodbeck of the AU Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts describes the gasification process.

EPA designates Auburn University as Center of Excellence for Watershed Management

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today designated Auburn University as a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management. Participating in the signing of a memorandum of understanding were (left to right) Trey Glenn, director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Jay Gogue, president of Auburn University, and Jim Giattina, director of the EPA Region 4 Water Management Division.

2:15 PM, October 7, 2008

AUBURN – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today designated Auburn University as a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management, enhancing Auburn’s efforts to address water quality and availability issues in Alabama and the region. This is only the fourth Center of Excellence to be designated in the Southeast and the first in the state of Alabama.

Auburn University President Jay Gogue and officials from the EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize the partnership between Auburn, the EPA and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

“We appreciate this opportunity to partner with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to help manage water resources as prudently as possible, with an eye toward conservation and increased availability,” said Auburn University President Jay Gogue. “Auburn has a broad array of expertise to contribute to these efforts.”

The EPA program works with colleges and universities to provide communities with hands-on, practical products and services to solve watershed problems, such as pollution control and water availability. Some of the benefits of being a recognized Center of Excellence include receipt of EPA technical assistance and EPA letters of support for grant opportunities.

Auburn’s role will be administered through its Water Resources Center under the direction of the university’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute. Auburn also will rely on affiliated academic departments, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alabama Agriculture Experiment Station, Alabama Water Watch, as well as non-AU affiliated groups like the Alabama Clean Water Partnership.

“A little less than a year ago, we learned about this EPA program at a meeting in Atlanta with a number of universities from around the Southeast,” said Larry Fillmer, executive director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute. “We felt strongly that many of our research and outreach efforts on campus and the focus of our newly formed Water Resources Center to address watershed issues were closely aligned with the EPA program.

“Finalizing the memorandum of understanding provides the framework for Auburn, ADEM and EPA to work together on these issues with a common set of goals, objectives and measurements.”

Contact: Leslie Parsons, (334) 844-6147 (leslie@auburn.edu), or
Charles Martin, (334) 844-9999 (marticd@auburn.edu)

Larry Fillmer and Steve Taylor attend 2008 Annual Meeting of the Energy Council

Auburn University's Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit used to demonstrate conversion of biomass into electrical power, heat, and liquid fuels.

On September 25^th and 26^th, Mr. Larry Fillmer, Executive Director of the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute at Auburn University and Dr. Steve Taylor, Director of the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts attended the 2008 Annual Meeting of The Energy Council in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The Energy Council is a legislative organization comprised of eleven member states and six international affiliates drawn from the major energy producing regions of the United States and Canda.  It provides a forum for discussion government policies regarding energy and the environment.

Dr. Taylor was among the presenters and addressed attendees on the subject of biomass gasification as part of a discussion on commercialization of biofuels technologies.

Biomass gasification technology is one of the platforms available for conversion of biomass to electrical power, heat, and liquid fuels.  While research and development projects are finding ways to refine and implement large-scale gasification systems, small-scale systems are being used today to successfully convert agricultural and forest wastes to electrical power and heat.  Modular downdraft gasification units are available to convert on-site residues like agricultural processing wastes, small-diameter trees and logging residues, and municipal green waster into on-site power and heat.

Dr. Taylor’s presentation included a demonstration biomass gasification and power generation using Auburn University’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit.  The unit, sponsored in part by Alabama Power, travels widely for both research and demonstration purposes.

To learn more about biomass gasification or Auburn University’s Mobile Unit, contact Dr. Steve Taylor at taylost@auburn.edu or visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu.