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Energy production from biomass at the Okeelanta power plant near South Bay, Florida. Photo / Lonnie Ingram

SNRE Graduate Student Investigates Biomass
as Potential Energy Source

By William Kanapaux

A surge in oil and natural gas prices has brought new momentum to the search for alternative energy sources, and second-semester PhD student Brian Becker is right in the thick of it with his research into the viability of biomass as an energy source for power plants in Florida.

Last year, Becker formed the Bioenergy and Sustainable Technology Society (BESTS) with the help of Ann Wilkie, an associate professor in the Department of Soil and Water Science. The group has a core of about 10 members, with dozens more attending meetings and more than 100 people on its listserv. The idea for forming the group came to Becker while he put together his PhD program and looked in vain for groups across campus with similar interests.

Becker's adviser, Donald Rockwood of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, is researching production and utilization of fast growing woody biomass. This includes wood from tree plantations that are likely to be developed in the near future, as well as curbside wood and debris.

Brian Becker, president of the Bioenergy and Sustainable Technology Society

Becker's research involves determining the amount and location of acreage required to make biomass a viable option for power generation, including a cost-benefit analysis for using these sources. By incorporating Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, he hopes to bring a landscape ecology perspective to research questions on biomass energy.

"In order for any utility to be willing to put up the capital to build a new plant that incorporates biomass technology, it must have guarantees that a resource base exists for making that technology viable," Becker said. "That requires growth-scenario modeling. A utility company has to know that the wood will be there and that it will be available to the plant when needed." The scenario modeling will help predict which areas will be subject to development pressures, he said. In this way, estimates can be made for future supplies.

Alternative energy sources such as wind and tidal power are limited in terms of distance. When large-scale production of these energy sources occurs in remote locations, a lot of power is lost through resistance in transmission lines. Wood, a low-density energy resource, must exist within a limited geographical area to be economically viable as an alternate energy source for a power plant.

Mounds of wood pulp at Okeelanta plant. Photo / Lonnie Ingram

By the end of this summer, Becker will have conducted exploratory interviews with wood collectors in north-central Florida to begin quantifying the amount of curbside biomass available. He will then use remote sensing data (satellite images and aerial photography) to determine the available biomass in the woodshed for a given utility, incorporating information on the age and size of the trees. GIS tools will help to calculate the economic hauling distance for the various wood sources, including costs for harvesting, fuel, and delivery.

Many owners of tree plantations close to urban centers use the property to take advantage of the state's agricultural tax exemptions until they decide to sell the land for development, Becker said. A lot of pulp mills have shut down since the government-sponsored push to grow trees in the 1980s, and many forests are now overstocked. As a result, biomass energy would also offer a potential alternative for reducing fire danger and pine-beetle infestations while preserving traditional Florida land-use such as forestry in the face of rapid conversion to a suburban landscape.

Meanwhile, UF research into biomass will continue on a number of fronts. Other members of BEST are exploring the use of anaerobic bacteria to break down biomass to release methane for energy. The group is also interested in the political and economic realities of using alternative energy sources and hopes to develop a broader membership base that includes students and faculty from other UF colleges such as business and law.

Web Resource
BioEnergy and Sustainable Technology Society

Contact
Brian Becker
brbecker@ufl.edu

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