FROM THE EDITORS

Building Demand Boosting Utilization

The news that Strategic Biofuels in Louisiana is working with the Forest Service and other groups on biomass standards is big. Developing a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) system to make it easier to incorporate forestry feedstock into biomass and green energy initiatives and projects by ensuring raw materials meet sustainability standards is going to make utilization of woody biomass more attractive—and that’s good for the wood bioenergy industry.

Having such a system is yet another tool to aid in the increased utilization of wood as a sustainable energy source. Strategic Biofuels is taking the lead in developing an auditable system to track feedstock qualification, source-origin and chain of custody data to support its Louisiana Green Fuels project that will use woody biomass to produce renewable diesel and naphtha.

While the Louisiana facility is expected to break new ground with a negative carbon footprint and also incorporate well-based carbon sequestration technology, the use of woody biomass as a biofuel feedstock is an encouraging sign.

The EPA is required under the Clean Air Act to set RFS volume requirements each year. There are four renewable fuel standards—conventional renewable fuel, advanced biofuel, cellulosic biofuel, and biomass-based diesel.

Traditionally, biofuel has been the province of big agriculture: “Conventional renewable fuel” is mostly corn ethanol; “advanced biofuel” uses mostly non-food crop ag residues and industrial waste as feedstock; “cellulosic biofuel” uses mostly corn stover and similar products; and “biomass-based diesel” has seen soybean oil as its biggest feedstock.

Julie Tucker, National Wood Innovations Program Manager of Bioenergy, Biofuels, and Bioproducts, U.S. Forest Service, notes that “Historically, forest residuals have been a disposal challenge. The Renewable Fuel Standard helps change that by giving the renewable energy sector a financial incentive to convert these unwanted forest residuals to high value biofuels and renewable electricity.”

Tucker adds that EPA must ensure that forest residuals receiving credit under the RFS are qualifying feedstock: “We also want them to be sustainably sourced. This initiative with Strategic Biofuels is an exciting opportunity to do that.”

With large amounts of forest residue volumes available in timber-rich regions of the U.S., it’s important to see timber-based biomass standards set and met. This is especially true in areas where forest health issues and projects create large amounts of biomass available for utilization.

While the development group is being led by the Forest Service and Strategic Biofuels and the full team is still being assembled, members will include representatives from the National Assn. of State Foresters and the American Loggers Council as well as groups representing industrial and non-industrial landowners, tribal interests and others.

It’s critical to have a wide range of stakeholders involved, including wood bioenergy interests, to help develop such a system that has national implications for increased biomass utilization—and help ensure the wood bioenergy industry’s concerns are heard as biomass standards and tracking systems are established.

December 2022 / Wood Bioenergy 3

www.woodbioenergymag.com

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3 FROM THE EDITORS

Something New Is Coming

30 IN SUPPORT OF BIOMASS

Bioenergy Europe Releases Report

12 WELCOME TO THE U.S.

Baltics-Based Graanul Gets Going

18 MAINTENANCE FOCUS

Some Ideas On Handling RTO Projects

20 CANADIANS GATHER WPAC Meeting Report

24 WOOD YARD SECTION

Where It All Begins

36 PRODUCT NEWS

Morbark Adds Dealers

Cover Photography: Despite being plagued by a rocky beginning, Woodville Pellets, now owned by Graanul Invest, has a new leadership team and is ready to make its presence known in the North American market. (Jessica Johnson photo)

4 Wood Bioenergy / December 2022

Volume 14 Number 6

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Enviva Moves Forward With Expansion Plans

“Productivity improvements across our manufacturing facilities, including debottlenecking, asset utilization increases, and the capacity expansions we have underway, are resulting in production rates that we expect to translate to over 6 million tons next year, and when combined with our improving supply chain conditions and the constructive pricing environment, particularly in Europe, are expected to not only provide modest opportunities in fourth-quarter 2022 to drive incremental margin and cash flow, but also set the stage for substantial growth in 2023 and beyond,” comments Thomas Meth, President and CEO of Enviva, in the company’s third quarter report.

The report states that Enviva is progressing well through the early stages of its growth plan to more than double wood pellet production capacity over the next four to five years, from 6.2 million MTPY to 13 million MTPY. Enviva’s Luce dale, Miss. plant, the first plant in its “Pas cagoula cluster,” continues to ramp production, and is on track to reach nameplate capacity of 750,000 MTPY by the end of 2022. In July 2022, Enviva commenced construction of the 1.1 million MTPY plant in Epes, Ala., the second plant in its Pascagoula cluster.

Enviva also announced plans to build the third plant in its Pasca goula cluster in Bond, Miss., subject to receiving the necessary permits. It will have the capacity to produce more than one million MTPY of wood pellets, and, similar to the Lucedale and Epes plants, will export from the Enviva terminal at the Port of Pascagoula.

Enviva is evaluating the timing of a fourth wood pellet production plant in its Pascagoula cluster and anticipates making a decision around year-end 2022. The company is also in the process of securing sites in Georgia and South Carolina and will continue the evaluation process in the coming months to determine which is most suitable for a new greenfield project in Enviva’s “Savannah cluster.”

Enviva recently appointed Mark Coscio as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer to lea corporate development and construction functions.

Enviva’s new pellet plant in Lucedale, Miss.

Rayonier Expands Southern Timber Base

Rayonier Inc. entered into two agreements to acquire 172,400 acres of high-quality commercial timberlands in Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana for $474 million from Manulife Investment Management, a timberland investment manager. The acquisitions comprise well-stocked and highly productive timberlands located in some of the strongest timber markets in the U.S. South. Approximately 80% of the acquisitions consist of fee ownership, and the remaining 20% consist of a longterm lease.

Rayonier believe portions of the acquisitions are well-positioned to capitalize on emerging ecosystem services, natural climate solutions opportunities, including bioenergy, biofuels, and carbon capture and storage.

Of the acquired fee lands, 72% are plantable with an average expressed site index of 73 feet. This translates to an expected sustainable yield of 670,000 tons per year, or 4.8 tons per acre per year.

The acquired fee lands contain 7.5 million tons of merchantable timber inventory, or 54 tons per acre, 66% of which consists of higher-value grade products. Average plantation age of the acquired fee lands is 18 years.

The acquisitions are expected to generate an average annual harvest volume of approximately 860,000 tons over the next 10 years. No wood supply agreements encumber the properties, thus enhancing operational flexibility.

As of September 30, Rayonier owned or leased under long-term agreements 2.7 million acres of timberlands located in the U.S. South (1.79 million acres), U.S. Pacific Northwest (486,000 acres) and New Zealand (417,000 acres).

6 Wood Bioenergy / December 2022

Drax, Respira Partner On CDR Purchasing

Drax has agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the carbon finance company, Respira, which could see the largest volume of carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) traded so far globally.

Respira will reportedly be able to purchase up to 2 million tonnes of CDRs from Drax over a fiveyear period, under the terms of the MoU. The creation of the CDRs would be linked to the future deployment of BECCS by Drax in North America.

Drax already aims to invest more than £2bn in its UK BECCS project and its global supply chain by 2030, to remove 8 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year. In addition to this it is developing investment plans for BECCS projects outside the UK, including in North America, which could remove a further 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, comments, “This agreement with Respira will play a pivotal role in the development of voluntary carbon markets globally and the deployment of BECCS. The

clear demand that we are seeing for engineered carbon removals, alongside the policies being developed by progressive governments in the U.S. and UK to support BECCS, will enable the investment needed to kickstart a vital new sector of the economy, creating tens of thousands of jobs, often in communities which need them the most.”

Ana Haurie, Respira International CEO and co-founder, adds, “Rising global temperatures underline that it is absolutely vital for corporates to augment existing carbon emissions strategies with further solutions to address the climate emergency. This partnership with Drax marks a new and exciting development for Respira as it is our first engineered carbon removals project.”

Under the terms of the MoU with Drax, Respira would be able to purchase CDRs produced by Drax in North America, receiving up to 400,000 tonnes of CDRs a year over a five-year period to sell on a voluntary carbon market. This would enable buyers, such as corporations and financial institutions, to achieve their own carbon emissions reduction targets.

World Scientists Go To Bat For Bioenergy

Five-hundred fifty global scientists have signed off on a letter to the presidents of the European Commission, European Parliament, and European Council that outlines numerous climate benefits of woody biomass and sustainable forest management.

“Obviously forests are at increasing risks from climate change, while at the same time they have the capacity to mitigate climate change and increase biodiversity with proper management and use of its products to secure a bioeconomy and renewable energy supply in Europe,” the letter states.

The letter points out that in many European countries a high level of growing wood stocks has already been reached and further accumulation of biomass appears risky under climate warming. “Without harvesting, the forest volumes will saturate. The carbon sink will approach zero, as it is visible in the old-growth areas in the Ukraine pristine forests.”

The climate benefits of wood products are multiple, and these follow sustainable management, the letter adds. Use of wood as building material is not only an additional storage for CO2, but additionally secures urgently needed affordable housing, reduces energy demand of buildings and creates sustainable employment in all European regions.

“Additionally, manufacturing wooden products will also result in residues like cuttings, shavings and sawdust that are suitable for producing energy. The energy content of remnants and residues of wooden products at the end of their life cycle should be recovered ideally by using BioEnergy with Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (BECCS). It has been argued that wood is inefficient for energy production due to its low energy density compared to fossil fuels. However, this comparison is unfair. Fossil fuels will not be available in near future. When the energy transition in Europe has been successfully achieved, biomass-based carbon capture and storage technologies have also the ability to produce hydrogen and biochemicals.”

Bonds Allocated For Biofuels Project

Strategic Biofuels has announc ed that the Louisiana Community Development Authority’s (LCDA) Executive Committee voted unanimously to adopt a resolution granting final approval for the issuance of up to $1.1 billion of its revenue bonds to finance a portion of the Louisiana Green Fuels project (LGF) in Columbia, La. The utilization of waste materials to produce fuels enables the LGF project

December 2022 / Wood Bioenergy 7

8 Wood Bioenergy / December 2022 to utilize these tax-exempt municipal bonds. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., the investment bank and financial services company, has been engaged to serve as the underwriter of the bonds and will be responsible for marketing the bonds to investors.

The LCDA is a statewide Conduit Issuer of revenue bonds and is authorized to issue bonds to finance economic development, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and a variety of projects on behalf of local governmental entities throughout the State of Loui siana. Although the State of Loui siana authorizes the issuance of the bonds, they are not guaranteed by the State or the LCDA nor are taxpayer dollars involved.

To date, Strategic Biofuels has received $450 million in total bond allocations—$200 million for 2020 and $250 million for 2021. The company anticipates receiving substantial additional allocations over the next two years.

Bayou Fuels Projects Promotes Carbon Savings

Velocys plc, a sustainable fuels technology company, announced that its proposed facility Bayou Fuels in Natchez, Miss. has been re-optimized for maximum decarbonization to a negative carbon intensity of -375g CO2e/MJ (previously -144g CO2e/MJ), abating the carbon emissions from the equivalent of 1.1 million return economy trips from San Francisco to London per annum.

The significant improvement in negative carbon intensity has the potential to increase future revenue for Bayou Fuels and enhance the attractiveness of the project for third party project funding. In particular it will allow the Bayou Fuels project to derive maximum benefit from the 45Z tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which incentivizes the total amount of avoided carbon instead of the volume of sustainable fuel supplied, thus prioritizing those technologies which offer routes to negative carbon-intensity fuels.

The Bayou Fuels project, which is expected to enter production in 2026, will now use renewable energy derived from sustainable biomass power instead of solar power. This will approximately double the carbon savings for its aviation customers, thereby enabling maximum carbon abatement from the Velocys conversion pathway. The Bayou Fuels SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) prospective carbon intensity of -375 g CO2e / MJ avoids more than 15 times as much CO2 as a typical HEFA SAF gallon from soybean oil.

Velocys carried out preliminary boiler engineering evaluations, identified the most appropriate carbon capture system, confirmed the availability of sustainable biomass and re-evaluated the layout of the overall facility in order to validate the use of biomass power at the plant.

Henrik Wareborn, CEO, comments, “The Inflation Reduction Act means that future SAF production must

focus on the number of tonnes of avoided carbon and not gallons of fuel produced. The use of biogenic feedstock, biomass power and CCS at our project in Mississippi equates to a yearly reduction of 1.8 million tonnes of carbon and means our technology is ideally positioned to benefit from the SAF tax credits of the IRA.”

The facility will be first of its kind and Velocys’ agreement with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC (OLCV) will take these environmental benefits a step further through CCS, whereby Bayou Fuels CO2 will be captured before it enters the atmosphere. This combination of CCS-ready technology and OLCV’s expertise in storing CO2 will enable the Velocys’ facility to produce net negative carbon intensity fuels.

Enviva Appoints Meth As CEO

Enviva Inc. has announced that Thomas Meth, Enviva’s President, has been appointed the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and will become a member of Enviva’s board of directors, while retaining his title as President.

This announcement comes at the same time Enviva announced that John Keppler, Chairman and CEO, is expected to assume the role of Executive Chairman, consistent with the succession plan developed by the Board. Prior to doing so, Keppler will be stepping down from his responsibilities to pursue medical and surgical treatment to address a cardiac valve issue. Enviva expects Keppler, who co-founded the company in 2004 with Meth, to remain available to the company, and return in the active Executive Chairman role early in 2023. Ralph Alexander, who has been a member of the Board since 2013, will fulfill Keppler’s duties as Chairman of the Board until Keppler’s return, when Alexander is expected to become Lead Independent Director.

“After careful consideration, I have decided with my medical team and family to step back and focus on my heart condition,” Keppler comments. “The Board and I are delighted that Thomas Meth will serve as our next CEO. Thomas has been my closest business partner in building Enviva into the great company it is today, and I know he will continue to excel in leading Enviva’s growth trajectory as we execute our plan for the future. Thomas is an exceptionally skilled leader who has full command of all facets of the company and has earned the respect of our employees, customers, investors, and other key stakeholders.”

Thomas Meth says, “All of us at Enviva wish John the best as he prioritizes his health and full recovery, and we look forward to his return as Executive Chairman. We are laserfocused on executing the previously announced business plan and are on track to deliver results for 2022 in line with the expectations we outlined recently on our third-quarter earnings call. The world wants costeffective, ready-to-deploy bio-based alternatives to fossil fuels, from secure sources, and that’s exactly what we offer.”

U Of Ga. Researchers To Reengineer Poplar

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Georgia and two partner institutions have been awarded a $15.8 million grant over five years from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to reengineer poplar trees to be used as a sustainable energy source.

The researchers will use state-of the-art biotechnology approaches to breed the trees as a multipurpose crop that can be used for bioenergy, biomaterial and bio-

December 2022 / Wood Bioenergy 9

product alternatives to petroleumbased materials.

“Poplars are among the fastest growing trees in the U.S. and are important for both carbon sequestration and global carbon cycling,” says Robin Buell, principal investigator on the grant and the GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics at the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The team will start by measuring mRNA transcripts in single cells—mRNA transcripts are portable strands of RNA that encapsulate the information contained in a gene—and will look at how the 3D DNA changes in single cells. From this, they will create a cell type-specific gene expression and regulatory map of poplar that will provide new information on gene function. Ultimately, the project aims to fabricate new types of poplar through genetic modification. “What we propose is to genetically engineer poplar to make it a multipurpose crop by changing its architecture and engineering it to produce different things in the leaves and wood,” Buell says, adding that the team will try to engineer several different types of poplar trees in the study to take advantage of different plant materials—such as the wood or the leaves—for different uses.

Through biotechnology, plant materials harvested from the reengineered architecture of the tree will be used to create products that have the potential to replace petroleum-based products.

Auburn Team Looks At Needle Blight

A research team in Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wild life and Environment (CFWE) is working to find solutions to an increasing threat to pine forests needle blight. Through a $2.1 million U.S. Forest Service grant, Lori Eckhardt, a professor of forest health, and her team members in the college— Joseph Fan, associate professor of forest ecology and statistics; Lana Narine, assistant professor of remote sensing and modeling; and Janna Willoughby, assistant professor of population and conservation genetics—are aiming to determine the impacts on productivity and biological causes of needle blight.

Insect pests and fungal diseases are a great concern to the forest industry, as costs associated with damage caused by non-native pests and pathogens within forests throughout the U.S. were estimated to be valued at approximately $4.2 billion annually.

Historically, the disease has only infected longleaf pines, or Pinus palustris, but in the last few years, the disease also has begun to infect loblolly pines, or Pinus taeda, in young and mature stands.

Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) notes the first sign of infection is discoloration of the needles. Infected needles will contain circular lesions with a brown spot surrounded by a yellow halo. Over time, the infected area will turn brown with a dark red or dark green border. The discoloration begins in the lower portion of the crown and moves up as the disease spreads by rain and wind events. An easy way to identify the disease is if the pine needles look as if they have been scorched by fire, even though there has been no burn.

The cause for this change in behavior of the disease has yet to be determined, but it can be speculated that it may be a new sub-species that has evolved from the original fungal pest, according to AFC.

“An investment in mitigating forest pests, such as those associated with needle blight, requires adaptive management geared to prevention and remediation that provide economically sound solutions,” says

10 Wood Bioenergy / December 2022

Eckhardt, team leader, CFWE professor of integrated forest pathology and entomology and director of the Forest Health Cooperative.

Through their research, land owners and forest managers may be able to predict future timber revenues more precisely from affected stands and adjust management activities accordingly.

“We hope to determine the distribution and movement of the needle pathogens, determine if their appearance is due to more aggressive strains and understand the disease cycle and the environmental factors that drive their emergence and distribution,” adds Eckhardt.

Center For Forest Business Starts Up

University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Arkansas Cen ter for Forest Business, housed in the UAM College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources building on the Monticello campus, October 3, 2022. Approximately 200 people attended the ceremony, where Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson served as the keynote speaker.

The center was created to provide market-based economic solutions to forest resource issues. It aims to improve business practices for forest enterprises and enhance the economic competitiveness of Arkansas’ forests in a global economy. Gov. Hutchinson provided seed funds of $450,000 to establish the center in June 2021.

Dr. Matthew Pelkki, professor, and George Clippert Chair of For estry in the UAM College of For estry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, serve as the directors of the Arkansas Center for Forest Business. During the ceremony, Dr. Pelkki highlighted the origin of the center, explaining, “About 12 years ago, Dean Emeritus Phil Tappe and I came up with a simple concept: healthy forests, healthy forest economy, healthy forest businesses, and vibrant rural communities are really complementary. They all work together, and it is a win-win-win situation for the forest, the people, and the economy, so we put together a proposal for the Center for Forest Business with the help of a long list of people.”

Dr. Peggy Doss, chancellor of UAM, said the center will partner with programs at the UAM Colleges of Technology in Crossett and Mc Gehee to provide additional educational opportunities to those pursuing forestry-related careers.

For the ribbon cutting, Gov. Hutch inson landed a blow from a sledgehammer on the end of a precut log, knocking free a wooden cookie to reveal the Arkansas Center for Forest Business logo.

December 2022 / Wood Bioenergy 11