Emerging Biomass Markets in Minnesota

I was in Fairmont, MN yesterday for a meeting hosted by Rural Advantage on the emerging biomass markets in Minnesota. This meeting was focused on technologies currently in use as well as emerging technologies. While some of the presentations were heavy on the chemistry behind the process, it was very interesting to get a good introduction to the process that converts biomass to transportation fuels.

Roger Ruan from the University of Minnesota Biorefining Center gave a presentation on the basic technology behind the gasification and pyrolysis technologies. Both have great potential for adding value to under utilized biomass. In addition, both processes produce by-products that can be used as fertilizer on the fields where the biomass was taken from. This closed loop model is especially important as prices for fertilizer have increased substantially in recent years. It also addresses some concerns about the sustainability of harvesting large amounts of biomass from areas that could be considered ecologically fragile.

Due to current and likely future economic conditions in agriculture, fields dedicated to biomass production are likely to be in areas unproductive for traditional row crop production. These areas may include, but not limited to highly erodible hillsides, low lying poorly drained areas, and areas with soils too thin to support the nutrient requirements of traditional agriculture. Sustainability guidelines for biomass production need to be established and adopted on a widespread basis in order to assure the continued productivity of our lands. We need to focus on developing this sector of agriculture in an sustainable manner from the beginning in order to avoid costly remediation in the future.

This potential for decentralized energy production in rural areas bodes well for the economic future of rural Minnesota. The difficulty of transporting bulky biomass long distances moves the economics of this type of energy production model toward smaller scale plants. Thinking of energy production on these terms requires a complete revision of our concept of energy production that has been dominant since the invention of the automobile.