Our Cleaner , Safer Fuels Also Support America ’ s Grids
While utilities on the West Coast are burning down forests , our industry is revitalizing the Northeast ’ s forest economy and preventing electricity peaking in the process
New York and other states across the country experienced some very bizarre weather conditions recently . Though the sun was shining , you could hardly tell because the skies were so hazy . It ’ s almost hard to fathom , but that haze New Yorkers saw overhead was actually smoke from massive forest fires on the West Coast , which we now know were most likely caused by electric utility equipment .
That ’ s right . The electric utilities sparked a forest fire so big that the smoke from it traveled across the entire country .
Even before this disaster , the utilities ’ track record on the West Coast was far from clean . Just last year , PG & E pleaded guilty to starting a forest fire in 2018 that , according to news reports , burned down some 10,000 homes and resulted in more than 80 deaths . And remember , the Aliso Canyon gas leak of 2015-16 released some 100,000 tons of methane over a four-month period .
Nevertheless , the notion that we would be able to actually see and physically point to the effects of a West Coast disaster on the East Coast is almost unbelievable , like something out of a movie . Except that it wasn ’ t — it really happened , and as of this writing the fires are still burning .
Meanwhile , in the Northeast , the liquid heating fuel industry is positioned to help revitalize the region ’ s struggling forest economy , and not by cutting down more trees or burning wood . Instead , we ’ re using forest waste products — think trimmings and sawdust — to create a renewable liquid heating fuel with net-negative carbon emissions .
On July 29 , NEFI member Biofine Developments Northeast ( BDNE ) announced an agreement with the town of Lincoln , Maine , to establish a new , industrial scale biorefinery at a former mill site in the town . The plant will convert forest waste into
By Sean Cota , NEFI , and Thomas J . Tubman , AEC
a cellulosic biofuel called ethyl levulinate ( EL ), which can be used as an affordable replacement for heating oil or blended into it alongside other renewable liquid fuels .
BDNE estimates that its Lincoln biorefinery will create about 200 full-time jobs , with the potential for approximately 2,000 over time . The EL produced in Lincoln will reduce Maine ’ s greenhouse gas emissions by 40,000 metric tons ( mt ) per year , which equals the amount of carbon captured by 49,000 acres of forest . Long-term , BDNE sees the potential for 4 million mt of annual reductions , which amounts to 40 percent of the state ’ s climate-action benchmark for 2030 .
EL has been successfully tested by the National Oilheat Research Alliance over the past decade and is now one major step closer to wide-scale commercialization at a price point that ’ s expected to be similar to , if not lower than , ultra-low sulfur heating oil . That ’ s great news not only for our industry , but also for the nation ’ s power grid .
By heating their homes with EL rather than electric heat pumps , ratepayers won ’ t have to worry about electricity shortages or price spikes resulting from cold-weather demand peaks . Likewise , power plants will be able to avoid peaking and will still be able to use renewable liquid heating fuel for power generation during the coldest conditions .
Additionally , increases in cellulosic biomass production could help the U . S . go greener faster . When you include liquid biofuels , biomass-based energy is already the country ’ s leading renewable , accounting for nearly 40 percent of U . S . renewable energy consumption . About 61 percent of the nation ’ s wood is used for industrial purposes , 23 percent for residential and commercial , and 17 percent for electric power .
Normally , the waste byproducts of wood production would be exactly that – waste . Left unused , they rot away , releasing methane . But when those products are refined into EL , they help reduce net emissions . By providing a market for EL , the heating fuel industry would actually serve as a partner to electric power generators , helping them reduce lifecycle emissions as they convert to renewable energy sources such as biomass and hydropower .
This brings us back to the West Coast . California is currently in the midst of a historic drought , which has severely diminished the state ’ s water supply and taken hydroelectricity offline . Instead of hydropower , electrical plants are now running on natural gas , which is driving up the state ’ s emissions and energy costs .
EL can lower both and help prevent power plant peaking . That ’ s one more reason why we say renewable liquid heating fuels are our country ’ s best , fastest , most efficient , affordable and reliable solution for a net-zero future . l FON
Sean Cota is the president and chief executive officer of the National Energy & Fuels Institute . He can be reached at sean . cota @ nefi . com .
Thomas J . Tubman is the executive director of the American Energy Coalition , which promotes the benefits of oil heat in comparison to other energy sources , particularly natural gas .
32 OCTOBER 2021 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www . fueloilnews . com