Proposed Renewable
Energy Plant
Eagar Industrial Site
March 11, 2008
On March 18, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. the Eagar Town
Council will hold a public hearing to discuss a proposed renewable
energy/biomass plant. The proposed plant would be located at Eagar’s
industrial park adjacent to the cinder pit, Blue Hills Transfer Site,
and the Reidhead sawmill, about 3 miles west of town. This is behind a
hill, out of sight from Highway 260. The public is encouraged to attend,
hear a presentation and ask questions.
A copy of Biomass Emission in Context is
attached. It is referred to in several places and includes quotes from
various sources. The biomass plant it refers to burns wood in a boiler
to make steam. The proposed plant discussed here is a gasification plant
and is much cleaner than the example used in Biomass Emissions in
Context. (Click
here for a link to "Biomass Emissions in Context")
Frequently asked questions:
1. What kind of plant is it? What is feedstock
of the plant? What products are produced?
This plant will use a “thermochemical
pyrolysis/steam reforming” type of technology. Thus the feedstock, which
is primarily wood waste from thinning on National Forests, is heated in
the absence of oxygen. Without oxygen, it cannot “burn”. Instead it
breaks down chemically into a gas and the gas is then mixed with steam
where it reforms into a syngas gas. This gas can be used to run a
reciprocating engine which powers an electrical generation plant similar
to natural gas plants being used throughout the world with minimal
emissions. Also this gas can be further processed to produce ethanol or
methanol. Ethanol is mixed with gasoline to reduce emissions and
methanol can be used as a fuel or mixed with vegetable oil to make
bio-diesel, as well as many other industrial uses. The plan for this
plant is to produce methanol, which would be shipped by tanker truck to
a railhead. Some syngas will be used to create electricity. Heat is
also a by-product of the plant and can be used for various things such
as a dry kiln for lumber or heating greenhouses. Ash from the wood waste
can be used to enhance the nutrient value of bagged soil products.
Tires are being proposed as a supplemental
feedstock. If the waste wood supply is interrupted due to conditions in
the forest such as too wet, too much snow, closures due to fire, etc.,
then tires can be processed to keep the plant running. The emissions
from the plant will not change if tires are processed. However, the ash
stream must be handled in a different manner. Ash from tires does
produce some valuable by-products such as carbon black, but because of
steel and other residue, the balance of ash must be land filled. Plans
are underway to safely stock pile wood waste in various forms to
minimize the amount of tires that would be processed. The premise upon
which this plant is built is to assist in forest restoration.
2. What are the emissions, water use, noise,
and the affects on adjacent landowners?
To quote Dennis Schuetzle PhD., who did an
assessment of this technology for the U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Since
the entire volume of reactor combustion flue gas is collected, cooled,
and recycled into the combustion chamber and track feeder system, the
system is expected to produce virtually no or very low levels of air
emissions.” This quote refers to the thermo conversion plant itself,
virtually no emissions. In fact the loader putting wood chips onto the
conveyor will emit more noise and air emissions than the plant
operation. Later, if some of the syngas is burned in a reciprocating
engine powering a generator to produce electricity, there will be
additional emissions. But those syngas emissions are not only well below
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which are fixed standards that
must be met, but also below the Arizona Ambient Air Quality Guidelines,
which are more stringent guidelines but not required. (See next
paragraph) As an example, a gasification plant in California burning
syngas to make electricity produced emissions similar to a 100 horse
diesel generator. There are several diesel engines larger than that
being used in the cinder pit and log yard next to the proposed site. The
effect of the air and noise emissions on adjacent landowners and
surrounding communities from this plant will be less than the existing
uses on nearby property. Very little water is used in processing, in
fact if the feedstock is green wood waste, distilled water is a
by-product because of the high water content of the wood. The only water
discharged is from restrooms into a septic system. Other impacts deal
with additional truck traffic - see question 7.
A quote from the Biomass Emissions in Context
“In a nutshell, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
require that even if you go out to the plant and walk right up to the
fence and stand there all day long - not just anyplace along the fence
but in the worst possible spot, with the wind blowing right at you - the
quality of the air you’d be breathing would still meet all of the
federal government’s requirements for safe, breathable air. Anyplace
farther away, the emissions of the plant are even more dispersed and the
impact goes down even farther, but the point is that even right there at
the fence-line the air is still clean.”
3. What permits are required, who monitors
emissions?
The site of the proposed plant is on land owned
by the Town of Eagar but is located in the county. A special use permit
will be obtained from Apache County to build this plant. Currently any
commercial or industrial use in the county is required to get this type
of permit because there are no industrial zones in county zoning. The
County would also issue the building permit.
An air quality permit from the Arizona Department
of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) will be required prior to construction
of the facility. ADEQ will base its permitting decision on the
“potential to emit” air pollutants and the permit will require use of
appropriate controls, equipment and procedures to reduce or maintain air
emissions to acceptable standards. The facility must be constructed and
operated according to the air quality permit, and will be subject to
ADEQ oversight. Permit conditions may include performance tests (to be
performed by the owner/operator), smoke observations, emissions
reporting and other measures to track compliance.
4. Who will own the plant and how many
employees?
The final ownership is still being determined and
that is based on the method of financing, which could be bonds or
private financing. In either case, it is being structured so the local
community has some input into the operation as well as a say in where a
portion of the profits that are turned back to the community are spent.
The plant will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a staff of
about 3 per shift. Total employment for the gasification plant will be
about 15, the majority of which can be locally hired and trained.
Additionally, there will be an increase in jobs that do the treatment in
the woods under the Stewardship Contract as well as truck drivers for
the fuel being shipped out. That could easily double the number of jobs
at the actual plant. The electrical generation plant would require a few
additional employees. Construction is estimated to take eighteen months.
5. Where will the feedstock come from and how
does that benefit the White Mountains?
As mentioned, the primary feedstock will be wood
waste from the White Mountain Stewardship Contract. This 10-year
contract has been doing forest restoration around our communities to
improve forest health and prevent catastrophic wildfires. About a third
of the material being treated has little or no value so is left in piles
and burned. We have seen treatments around Greer and on the road to Big
Lake and have also experienced the smoke from the burning slash piles.
This plant would take that slash, eliminating most of the burning in the
forests and create a clean, renewable energy out of it. See chart on
last page of Biomass Emissions in Context that shows a comparison
between burning slash in the forests and in a plant. The plant used in
their comparison burns the wood in a boiler and emits far more than the
plant proposed in Eagar. This plant will pay for this low value
material, allowing more acres to be treated because the cost for
treatment comes down and there is less pollution because of reduced
slash burning. And we become less dependent on foreign oil. Using wood
waste in this manner is not only “carbon neutral”, but actually removes
C02 from the atmosphere. See Biomass Emissions in Context.
6. What role does the Town of Eagar play with
regard to this plant?
The Town of Eagar would either lease or sell the
property upon which the plant would be located. Currently the Town is
considering a lease because over the life of the plant, it would create
more revenue for the Town. With the previous proposed plant, the Town
Council agreed to sell the land. Part of this was based on that plant
using municipal solid waste, medical waste etc. That increased the
potential for negative environmental impact on the property, whereas the
primary feedstock for this plant is wood waste which would have little
impact environmentally.
Additionally, the Town Council is considering the
option of the Town owning the electrical generation portion of this
plant. Eagar would purchase syngas to run a gas fired electrical
generation plant and sell this “green” power to Navopache Electric Coop.
This power would be delivered to a sub station hooked directly to the
grid. A revenue bond of about $8 million would purchase the plant and
after making the bond payment, paying for gas and operating expenses,
the Town would receive a minimum of $500,000 to be used in the General
Fund for Town operations. This is probably better for the Town than
having a property tax.
A huge difference between this proposed
electrical generation and the plant run by Western Renewable Energy at
the old sawmill site in Eagar and also the Renergy Plant in Snowflake is
the technology. The Eagar plant would burn a clean syngas in an engine
which turns a generator and requires no water. The other two plants burn
wood in a boiler, create steam and the steam turns a turbine generator,
creating electricity. These biomass plants are cleaner than burning
slash in the forests, but still emit more emissions than the proposed
Eagar plant. In addition, the Eagar plant will produce fuels and other
value-added by-products.
7. What impact will this plant have on truck
traffic?
The proposed plant
will process 500 tons per day of wood waste. This means about 23 semi
trucks per day would go into the plant off Highway 260. Virtually all
the wood supply for this plant will come off forest roads that enter
onto Highways 260 or 180. These are areas from Alpine to Big Lake to
Greer to Greens Peak. Thus very few, if any, chip trucks would be on
Highway 60 or Main Street to Springerville. Currently chip trucks
(approximately 10) haul from the Alpine area and from the Reidhead mill
next to the transfer site to Show Low or Snowflake, which means they go
through Springerville and out Hwy 60. Upon completion of this plant,
most of these trucks currently hauling chips will go directly to the new
plant, thus there is actually a reduction of chip trucks through
Springville. Trucks hauling methanol out would be about 5 per day, which
would travel from Hwy 260 to Hwy 60 through Eagar and Springerville.
Even after adding the methanol trucks back in, there is still a
reduction of trucks through Springerville.
A question was
raised about emissions from the additional trucks and their impact. If
you compare what they emit to burning slash, they emit far less than
that open burning in the forest. A future goal in conjunction with this
plant is to establish a blending plant, which would use methanol from
this plant and a “vegetable” oil and make a bio-diesel. Then these
trucks (and perhaps school buses, county and city trucks, etc.) can run
on this bio-diesel, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The road from Hwy
260 into the plant is an Apache County Road. The county and the plant
owners working together will upgrade and improve this road to
accommodate the additional truck traffic. There are no plans for
additional roads being built into the site.
EXTREME CONDITIONS
This
year’s monsoons have left us with a bumper crop of weeds and grass. This
means there is the potential for extreme fire conditions this coming
winter and spring. We need everyone to beginning cleaning their yards
and removing any excess debris from around there homes to provide us
with a defensible space in the event of a wildfire. The Fire Department
would like to ask the community to submit any requests for prescribed
burns of fields and/or debris piles to the Fire Department as soon as
possible so that we may begin burning as the weather permits. The Fire
Department needs everyone to be “Fire Wise”, please log onto the “Fire
Wise” link for more information on protecting you and your home from a
wildfire.
