Alternative energy sources and technologies for the pulp and paper industry

Abstract

Weyerhaeuser—together with Amoco Corporation, Carolina Power and Light, and Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation—carried out a feasibility study sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute to assess the economic merits of expanding the use of biomass at its New Bern, North Carolina, facility to produce electric power and liquid fuels. Biomass gasification is expected to be a means for improving utilization of wood and process wastes while producing gas turbine fuel and reducing environmental impact. The team also assessed the technical merits and business potential of integrating a nominal 1000 ton/day biomass processing facility to produce ethanol at the New Bern plant. The primary objectives were to evaluate biomass as a source of electric power and liquid fuels within the context of a specific operating pulp mill and to assess the relative value of biomass-derived electric power and liquid fuel. An additional objective was to define the most cost-effective process for commercializing advanced biomass to energy technologies. This article describes the conditions that make these technologies potentially attractive, outlines the approach taken to develop comparative economics and economic sensitivities, presents results of the analysis, and suggests options for proceeding to commercialization of these advanced conversion technologies.