AU’s state-of-the-art biofuel technology displayed at Alabama Power

Today, the AU Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts demonstrated its mobile biomass gasification unit in Birmingham at the corporate offices of Alabama Power.   NBC 13’s Andrew Hayenga was on the scene.  Check out his story about the AU/Alabama Power Partnership on the NBC 13 website. 

ABC 33/40 ’s Melissa Riopka covered the demonstration as well.  Check out her story on Auburn/Alabama Power renewable energy initiative at the ABC 33/40 website.

AU to demonstrate biomass gasification unit May 15 at Alabama Power corporate offices

AUBURN - Auburn University’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts will demonstrate AU’s mobile biomass gasification unit on Thursday, May 15, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., near Alabama Power’s corporate offices in Birmingham.The gasifier and power generation unit will be on display in the Alabama Power visitors parking lot at 18th Street and 7th Avenue North, across the street from their corporate headquarters.

Alabama Power and Auburn University are working together to develop cost effective systems to convert renewable biomass to electrical power and help meet Alabama’s energy needs.

Charles McCrary, chairman, president and CEO of Alabama Power, will be on site from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

On hand to answer questions about the gasifier, renewable energy and about the collaboration between Alabama Power and AU will be Steve Taylor, director of the AU Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts and head of the AU Department of Biosystems Engineering; Larry Fillmer, Executive Director of AU’s Natural Resources Management & Development Institute; and representatives from Alabama Power.

For more information on Alabama Power’s sponsorship of the mobile biomass gasification unit, go to

 

 

 

http://www.nrmdi.auburn.edu/SpecialFeatures/trailer.php

USDA Honors Dee River Ranch for Conservation Work

Mike and Annie Dee of Aliceville, Alabama, are winners of NRCS’ 2008 Excellence in Conservation Award. Owners and operators of the Dee River Ranch, this brother and sister team applies both traditional and state-of-the-art conservation techniques to ensure that their operation is profitable and environmentally sound. 

On April 30, 2008, Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Gary Mast presented the 2008 Excellence in Conservation Award to Mike and Annie Dee of Dee River Ranch, Aliceville, Alabama.

“True conservation of our natural resources can be achieved only when groups and individuals put their commitment to conservation into action,” said Mast. “Annie and Mike Dee share their knowledge of conservation with communities and individuals across Alabama regularly and with distinction.”

Mike and Annie are very stewardship conscious. Mike says, “As we think of stewardship, we can’t be limited to look at next year’s crops, be it corn, wheat, or cattle. We have to think about the next 10 years. We have to be improving the soil and the environment all the time because we have to produce more from every acre to maintain our livelihood and success. We have to be improving all the time, not just maintaining.”

Brother and sister Mike and Annie Dee have gone the extra mile to ensure that their farming operation is not only profitable but also environmentally sound. They have incorporated conservation practices into their farming operation that have enhanced the productivity of the farm, reduced soil erosion, improved moisture retention in the soil, and provided wildlife habitat.

The award ceremony was held at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Convention Center during the national observance of Soil and Water Stewardship Week, April 27 to May 4, 2008. Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, Ron Sparks, and NRCS Assistant State Conservationist, Zona Beaty, joined Deputy Under Secretary Mast in recognizing the leadership, accomplishments and cooperative efforts of Dee River Ranch.
The NRCS Excellence in Conservation Award as a national award is the highest award the agency gives to honor those outside the Federal government for their work in conservation. This annual award recognizes the voluntary contributions of non-governmental individuals, groups, and Tribes through their conservation efforts in areas of technical assistance, programs delivery, technology transfer, outreach, or communication.

To learn more about the Dees, their conservation efforts and their partnership with the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, check out:

Miles of Stewardship: The Dee River Ranch, a special feature on the NRMDI website.

 

The Grand Challenge

A Competition to Promote Forward-Thinking and Leadership in Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry, and Other Institutions of Higher Learning

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in cooperation with the 25x’25 Alliance, has recently announced The Grand Challenge, a competition intended to support academic institutions as they assume leadership in achieving solutions to issues associated with energy supply and consumption. The competition provides an opportunity for agricultural and forestry colleges and other institutions of higher learning to share their vision for how they will contribute to achieving the goal of the 25x’25 Alliance:

“By the year 2025, America’s farms, ranches and forests will provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States, while continuing to produce safe, abundant and affordable food, feed and fiber.”

Institutions are presenting their vision of U.S. agriculture and/or forestry’s contribution to the energy economy in 2017, the roles they intend to create for themselves in that environment, and how those roles will contribute to meeting the 25x’25 goal through achievements in four areas:

• Increasing the production of renewable energy and alternative fuels;
• Delivering that energy to consumers;
• Meeting consumer demand; and
• Enhancing sustainability, conservation and energy efficiency

Grand Challenge Sponsors are: The Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the 25x’25 Alliance, a broad alliance of agricultural, energy, environmental, business and labor groups.

Fifteen winners will be invited to present their visions during the REE Bio Energy Awareness Days II in Washington, DC, on June 19 - 22, 2008. Specifically, the winners will have the opportunity to exhibit at the Whitten Building site for BEAD II, June 19 and 20, with a reception honoring them from 3:00 to 5:00 pm on June 20, 2008. These fifteen will include up to two winners from each of the four USDA geographic regions, two winners from the 1890 land-grant colleges, and five ‘at-large’ winners that can be from any eligible college or university. Participants will be judged on the basis of a paper, not to exceed 10 pages, outlining their vision. A team of judges from REE and the 25×25 Alliance will judge these papers.

Together with Alabama A&M University and Tuskeegee University, Auburn University submitted an entry for the Grand Challenge titled, Partnerships: The Pathway to a Vibrant Bioeconomy for Alabama.

Following is the executive summary:

 

Partnerships: The Pathway to a Vibrant Bioeconomy for Alabama

Executive Summary

Alabama and its alliance of land grant institutions and other research partners are positioned to be national leaders inbioenergy and bioproducts education, research, extension and outreach. Each of the three land-grant universities in Alabama—Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, and Tuskegee University—has a rich past and an exciting future forconducting programs that are directed at utilizing our natural resources for energy and value-added products. This document outlines a comprehensive plan for education, research and development, extension and implementation activities conducted by an alliance composed of these universities with external partners that will lead to the creation of bioenergy and bioproducts that will help Alabama and the nation reach the energy goals outlined by the President and the 25x’25 initiative. The multidisciplinary programs at each of the three land-grant institutions are working in concert in the following major areas: Auburn University emphasizes utilization of biomass resources for conversion to liquid fuels, electrical power, heat, and other higher-value products; Alabama A&M University emphasizes oilseed crop production; and Tuskegee University emphasizes starch crop production. Moreover, two major federal government research units: the USDA ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory and the USDA Forest Service Forest Operations Research Unit of the Southern Research Station; and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries and its Center for Alternative Fuels, also are integral research partners in the alliance in the areas of agricultural and forest production systems. This comprehensive plan outlines a vision, guiding principles, program activities, and necessary steps to create a bioeconomy in Alabama that will help meet and exceed the President’s goals for 2017 as well as the goals set out in the 25x’25 initiative by producing as much as 2.5 billion gallons per year of liquid fuels, offsetting as much as 35% of the state’s electrical power needs, reducing net greenhouse gas emissions, and creating thousands of jobs for Alabama citizens.

To read Partnerships: The Pathway to a Vibrant Bioeconomy for Alabama in its entirety, click here for full text.

 

Fultondale, Ala: An Auburn Energy Partner

 

 

In the months to come, the City of Fultondale, Alabama will join other municipalities in partnering with the Center of for Bioenergy and Bioproducts at Auburn University to create energy from renewable sources.

Using Auburn University’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit, pictured below, the City of Fultondale will work with researchers from AU to turn municipal green waste into energy.  Limbs and branches, normally bound for a local landfill will be used as feedstock for creating a synthesis gas.  That gas will then be used to power a generator that produces electrical energy.

Working together, the City of Fultondale and the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts will:

• Conduct an analysis of the city’s feedstock (municipal green waste)
• Determine the amount and type of energy that could be produced
• Test the feedstock in AU’s Mobile Biomass Gasification Unit
• Demonstrate the method for converting feedstock to synthesis gas
• Convert the synthesis gas to electricity

This analysis, testing, and demonstration are the first steps in developing an economically viable means to create clean, green energy from renewable resources and in reducing the amount of space needed for city landfills.

 

 

Biomass Gasification: Technology for Renewable Energy

Gasification:

• A thermochemical process where heat and oxygen break down biomass into a synthesis gas
• Synthesis gas consists of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, etc.

Synthesis gas is used for:

• Powering internal combustion engines
• Powering boilers, furnaces, driers, or chillers
• Powering gas turbines or fuel cells
• Producing liquid fuels  (diesel, gasoline, and aviation fuel)

Don’t Give Up on Energy Independence

By ROBERT MCFARLANE

May 7, 2008

This week in Congress, efforts are underway to roll back goals enacted just last year to encourage the development of biofuels. This could damage - perhaps irretrievably - the substantial progress we’ve made toward relieving the threat posed by our reliance on foreign oil.

 

Our country is in the midst of a vigorous, healthy argument over whether the apparent appeal of biofuels as a means of reducing our reliance on foreign oil hasn’t had the unintended effect of driving an increase in food prices throughout the world. We must base this debate on established facts, and emerge with renewed commitment to measures to relieve a historic threat to our national security.

 

Let’s focus first on what is true in the food-versus-fuel argument.

 

Three factors have driven the increase in the price of food. The first is greater foreign demand. China and India are importing record amounts of coarse grains to feed growing populations and livestock. In the U.S., however, even after accounting for corn devoted to ethanol production, we produced 17% more corn food product and exported 23% more food product in 2007 than 2006.

 

The second factor is reduced supply. Serious drought conditions among traditional suppliers - especially Australia - have reduced supplies in the global marketplace and stimulated speculation in futures markets.

 

The third factor is energy costs. By far the greatest contributor to higher food prices has been the run-up in the price of oil, which impacts every stage of food production.

 

The same sustained growth in China’s and India’s economies that is contributing to the rise of food prices is matched by a corresponding increased demand for oil, which promises to keep oil prices high for the foreseeable future. Given the tightness of supply - with very little excess production capacity anywhere in the world - if oil flows from the Persian Gulf were disrupted (as al Qaeda has promised, and which could easily happen), we would see oil at more than $200 per barrel overnight. And it would stay at that level until the damage is repaired - a period of up to a year - during which time the global economy would likely fall into deep depression.

 

Fortunately, we have the means to relieve this strategic vulnerability. There are four policy measures to alleviate this threat and in the process lower the global price of oil and dramatically reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases:

 

- Accelerate the introduction of second-generation biofuels (e.g. cellulosic ethanol and methanol) which don’t rely on any food crop as feedstock, and should not require any government subsidy.

 

- Establish an Open Fuel Standard. That is, require that any automobile sold in the U.S. be a flexible fuel vehicle capable of burning gasoline, methanol, ethanol or any combination of the three - a feature that costs just $100 per vehicle.

 

- Accelerate the production of plug-in hybrid-electric cars and trucks.

 

- Introduce the use of lighter, stronger carbon composite materials, as Boeing is doing in the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, into the production of cars and trucks. A Pentagon study a few years ago concluded that this step alone could reduce our oil imports by 48%.

 

The most important of these measures is the enactment of an Open Fuel Standard, so that the consumer has a choice at the fuel pump. Unfortunately, without a predictable market, such as would be provided by mandatory flexible-fuel cars and trucks, there is a strong disincentive among investors to risk the capital needed for second-generation alternative fuels like cellulosic ethanol to take off. But without such a mandate, we are keeping ourselves tied exclusively to oil, with all the risks that involves.

 

Some say that these mandates are contrary to free-market principles. But one could say the same thing about seat belts, air-bags and even the FM radios mandated during the Cold War to assure the government’s ability to broadcast nuclear alerts.

 

No one argues seriously that these things have not been in our interest. And just imagine how valuable it would be to reduce the $460 billion we will spend on foreign oil this year, or the threat to our economy that its disruption would represent.

 

We must not let this national debate be distorted by charges that one is either pro- or anti- oil. I believe strongly that Western oil companies ought to be supported in the production of as much oil as they can, for as long as they can. Reducing our reliance on foreign oil is, however, an urgent national security priority.

 

Mr. McFarlane served as President Reagan’s national security adviser.

 

 

 

Local Solutions to Global Problems: Albuquerque Wins World Leadership Award

Here, in the Natural Resources Management & Development Institute, we recognize that meeting global demands for water and energy is a challenge that will not yield to a single-faceted approach.  Long-term solutions are likely to be regionally specific and the result of collaboration between many disciplines and agencies.

While we can point to a number examples of region-specific (local) solutions generated through our own activity, we would also like to recognize the efforts of others whose success underscores the value of collaboration and the pitfalls of one-size-fits all answers.

The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico is receiving much-deserved attention for their work in sustainability—particularly in the area of water conservation.   In 2006 they won a World Leadership Award for their comprehensive and truly transformative efforts in water.

To learn more about their approach and their success, take a few minutes to watch a video that has caught the attention of the world:

To learn more about NRMDI, including energy and water conservation efforts, visit our website at www.nrmdi.auburn.edu

 

Five Mile Creek: Responding to Legacies of the Past, and Creating a Legacy for the Future

This is a story about the natural beauty, long-standing abuse, natural resilience, and the possibility, even likelihood, of the redemption and restoration of Five Mile Creek, located in the Black Warrior River Watershed just north of Birmingham.

I recently had the fascinating pleasure of paddling a stretch of Five Mile Creek that ends at the confluence with the Locust Fork River. I was graciously invited by Beth Maynor Young, conservation photographer extraordinaire, to join her and a few excellent paddle-mates on an exploration of this long-abused but struggling to recover waterway. We met our friendly and enthusiastic outfitters, Charles and Mike from Five Mile Creek Canoe & Co. in Brookside (www.canoe5mile.com), and we were on our way.

Our fellow explorers included Hunter Nichols, an Auburn University undergraduate and talented multimedia artist in his own right, James Lowery, a dedicated conservationist with a penchant for geology who serves on the boards of three Alabama conservation organizations, and Cindy Lowry, Executive Director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance, an organization dedicated to the restoration and protection of Alabama’s bountiful heritage of flowing water. Cindy was my canoe-mate, and she deftly dodged and deflected the various obstacles I steered us into.

Visually, I found two things striking, and they are captured in the accompanying photos.

 

On a larger landscape scale, it looked and felt like we were deep in the woods. The banks were thick and green with trees and shrubs, no buildings to be seen anywhere. And aside from crossing under power lines and occasionally hearing traffic, it felt, sounded, and looked quiet, scenic and natural.

Looking a little closer, the river shows signs of distress and abuse. The river bottom, which in its natural state should be rocky, is covered with gravel and sand washed into the river somewhere upstream. Rocks do jut up from the bottom, and we had to watch out and steer around them when we saw riffles in the flowing water. Only some of the rocks weren’t rocks at all. They were tires: car tires, truck tires, tractor tires. TIres, tires, tires. I’ve never seen so many tires in a nice looking stream from a canoe. (And I know that a lot of tires have already been removed!)

There was also trash in the river and on the banks: bottles, cups, cans, styrofoam bits, basketballs, soccer balls, balls of uncertain purpose, even a fully inflated raft lodged in a tangle of fallen trees. Some of the nice looking green shrubs were privet, a not so nice invasive species that out-competes native plants, reduces habitat, and weakens the local ecosystem.

Five Mile Creek also bears the scars and shadows from decades of industrial pollution that earned it the name “Creosote Creek,” and from past and present impact from acid mine drainage and stormwater runoff from streets and rooftops and yards that adds nutrients, toxics, pathogens, and sediment to the river.

In spite of all this, Five Mile Creek remains a living river. Nature’s resilience, when given half a chance, will create this river anew. And nature is getting an impressive helping hand from individuals, groups, communities, businesses, government, and other organizations, who see the possibilities for this living river, and who have come together to form the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership. You can read all about it at www.cawaco.org/fivemilecreek and it is well worth a visit to this site.  Here is the Partnership’s mission statement:     

“The purpose of the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership is to promote and facilitate coordinated and cohesive planning, development, and maintenance of a network of greenways, parks, trails and points of interest along the Five Mile Creek Corridor.”

What’s happening along the Five Mile Creek Corridor is a powerful example of what can occur when a diverse group of individuals and organizations come together to solve community problems and commit to creating the common good for the future. This is the practice of participatory democracy at its best and hints at what can be accomplished on every scale when people commit to work together in this way. 

Developing a shared vision of what is possible, learning and acting together in ways that build trust, respect, and a shared understanding of issues and approaches, and thinking systemically to see how everything connects with everything else, the Partnership is building the foundation for a sustainable future. 

The greenways project can serve as the backbone for comprehensive, basin-wide planning that protects the “green infrastructure,” the natural systems that provide, free of charge, enormous economic and ecological functions and benefits. Knowing which areas are particularly important ecologically, it is possible to practice “smart growth” by directing growth and development into areas that can support them without degrading the value of the natural systems that protect water quality and make life so much richer and healthier for everyone. Not to mention, this approach will protect and enhance in perpetuity all that the Partnership is working so hard to reestablish and improve. 

The importance of this work cannot be overstated. What W.H. Auden wrote in First Things First is true, and affirms the fundamental importance of restoring the Five Mile Creek system: “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” At the same time, it is love of water and love of place and love for future generations that gives energy and power to this effort in the first place.

See you on the river!

Mike Kensler

Sam Fowler named to lead Water Resources Center

Dr. Samuel R. Fowler

Sam Fowler, formerly of the Alabama Coopera­tive Extension System, has been named director of the Water Resources Research Center in AU’s Natural Resources Man­agement & Development Institute.

Fowler, who has been at AU since 1982, was associate director for rural and traditional provisional programs in ACES.

Larry Fillmer, execu­tive director of NRMDI, said Fowler will lead the AU center in its development of research and outreach programs concerning water quality and quantity for the state and region.

Fowler is also moving to a faculty position in the College of Agricul­ture, effective June 1.

In the administrative post, Fowler succeeds Graeme Lockaby, who led the Water Resources Center for the past year.

While serving as the new center’s first director, Lockaby continued to carry a full load as a faculty member, as Associate Dean for Research in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, and as the director for the Center for Forest Sustainability.

After relinquishing his duties with the Water Resources Center, Lockaby will devote full time to his duties in Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.

National Corn Growers Respond to Grocery Manufacturers Association

Earlier this week, the National Corn Grower’s Association responded to a claim from the Grocery Manufacturer Association that food to fuel mandates are respondisble for hikes in food prices.

To hear a podcast of their response, click here. 

To read their response, visit their site at:  http://www.ncga.com/news/notd/2008/April/041708.asp

To read the statement from the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association, click here.

To learn more about biofuels including ethanol, biodiesel, and feedstocks besides corn, visit the Auburn University Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts website.