A COAL ALTERNATIVE Ontario has already laid the groundwork for the replace-ment of coal using advanced biomass thanks to its Thunder Bay Generating Station project. That plant needed just $5 million to convert it from coal to advanced biomass fuel, versus the $190 million needed to convert the Atikokan sta-tion to white wood pellets. On Nov. 30, 2015, the Government of Alberta an-nounced that it would switch 30 per cent of its power gen-eration to renewable energy by the year 2030. And while the expectation is that much of the capacity will be filled by solar, wind and natural gas resources, the domestic de-velopment of the advanced biomass industry could provide a real alternative to massive tracts of land filled with solar panels and wind turbines. With Diacarbon close to commercial-scale production, replicating their technology for use as a coal alternative in Alberta could be a real option for the company. Ericsson provided his thoughts: “We offer a renewable alternative to coal. It burns at the same temperature as coal, and it re-quires very little changes to the system – far less changes than wood pellets or wood chips. They have a lot of assets that burn coal. They are going to need to convert them and use our product or lose the asset. I would think that we offer a bridge for Alberta.” WORKING OUT FIBRE, LOGISTICS One of the greatest needs facing the company upon purchasing the Merritt pellet mill was to establish fibre in-take agreements and cement both the logistics chain for moving pellets and a customer base for the product. For fibre, Ericsson just needed to look across his property to find all of the residuals needed for pellet production. He was able to strike a deal with Aspen Planers, a sawmill that sits less than one kilometre from the pellet plant. The fibre is trucked over daily from the sawmill to the pellet plant, providing freshly-sawn chips and sawdust for use in pellet production. In case of a shutdown, Ericsson was able to secure a piece of property a few minutes outside of town where the company could establish a surge pile. That surge pile contains upwards of 400 truckloads of chips and sawdust at any given time, enough to cover two to three weeks of production should the mill need to halt production for repairs or maintenance. The primary logistics challenge for Merritt is that there is no rail access to the community. Thankfully, there is a solution within a short distance that could fill the need. “There is no rail access in Merritt, but we do have customers that accept our product by rail,” Ericsson says. “So we ship our pellets in grain trucks to a rail yard in Kamloops (85 km NNE) and then it goes both east and west to the ports.” Pellets travelling east by rail are shipped to American customers through a reload facility in New Jersey state. For pellets travelling to Europe, rail loads are taken to Fibreco in Vancouver where they are co-mingled and loaded into large marine vessels. Diacarbon also Proven Solutions for your Biomass Applications Pneumatic & Mechanical Boiler Feeds Store, reclaim, convey and feed biomass and alternative fuels directly into boilers and kilns. Biomass Material Handling Support for biomass energy generation from truck/rail receiving through metered infeed into the boiler. Storage & Reclaim Equipment Open air or enclosed storage with circular or linear design solutions to fit your application. Crushers, Feeders & Sizers Primary and secondary crushing as well as multiple feeder options to process coal and biomass. Unmatched Parts and Service Replacement parts, OEM rebuilds & retrofits, installation, start-up, training and repair. Visit our website, follow us on social media or contact us today for more information. Toll-Free: +1 (855) 483-7721 § Email: [email protected] § Web: www.terrasource.com/cb 3 market-leading brands recognized and trusted throughout the world The brands comprising TerraSource Global (Gundlach Crushers, Jeffrey Rader and Pennsylvania Crusher) are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) © 2016 TerraSource Global. All Rights Reserved. Handling a World of Materials 12 Canadian BIOMASS CBM_MarApr16_JeffreyRadarTerrasource_CSA.indd MARCH/APRIL 2016 1 2016-03-07 7:32 AM
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