[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
//-->Willow Biomass:An Assessment of theEcological and EconomicFeasibility of Growing WillowBiomass for ColgateUniversityJeremy BennickAndrew HolwayElizabeth JuersRachel SurprenantENST 480Spring 2008Table of ContentsTable of Contents........................................Acknowledgments.......................................1. Executive Summary....................................2. Rationale.....................................................3. Agricultural Processes3.1 Site Preparation…………………………………..3.2 Planting .................................................................3.3 First Growth Cycle Maintenance...........................3.4 Harvesting.............................................................234577101112131314151616184. Soil4.1 Optimal Soil Conditions.......................................4.2 Erosion..................................................................4.3 Nutrient Cycling and Fertilizers..........................4.4 Health of Soil after Willow...................................5. Ecology5.1 Sustainability.........................................................5.2 Biodiversity...........................................................5.3 Bird Diversity........................................................5.4 Sustainable Forestry..............................................6. GIS Suitability Analysis.............................197. Economic Feasibility Analysis7.1 The Current and Future Woodchip Market……..7.2 Willow Economics………………………………7.3 Colgate’s Potential to Grow its Own Willow.…..7.4 Concerns……………………………………….…7.5 Recommendations …………………………….…7.6 Future Potential…………………………………..2627272829298. Conclusions………………………………..302AcknowledgementsWe would here like to acknowledge and thank Professor Ian Helfant, our mainadvisor for this project. Professor Helfant was instrumental in guiding our group on theinitial research goals to pursue, providing us with professional contacts and advising us overthe source of the semester. Similarly, we acknowledge the other two course professors,Professors Beth Parks and Bob Turner. We thank Dr. Timothy Volk of the State Universityof New York, school of Environmental Science and Forestry, for providing us with hisexpertise in the willow biomass field and for answering all of the questions posed to him.Thanks also goes to Peter Babich, Michael Jasper, and Dr. Stephen Bick, the AssociateDirector of Facilities and Manager of Engineering Services, Associate Director of Facilitiesand Manager of Lands and Grounds, and Professional Forester and Consultant to ColgateUniversity, respectively.31. Executive SummaryOver the past four months, our group has worked to determine the environmental andeconomic feasibility of growing willow biomass on Colgate-owned property for our steam-generating wood-burning facility. This feasibility analysis is to be used primarily by theEnvironmental Council and president in determining the future of Colgate’s heating needs, aswell as by members of Buildings and Grounds, and finally by potentially interested growersof willow biomass, such as local farmers.Our primary methods of data collection include both primary and secondaryresources. The willow biomass field is still young, however; therefore, in order tosupplement this research, we also rely heavily on personal communications with several keyexperts in the science behind growing willow biomass, Colgate’s landholdings, sustainableforestry practices and the processes of the wood-burning facility.This document contains a detailed description of the methods of preparing, plantingand harvesting willow for biomass. The first crop of willow can be harvested five years afterthe initial preparation of the field. Willow stems can be planted at a density of 4,000 – 8,000plants per acre and can produce around 3.7 – 5.1 oven dried tons per acre per year. In thisway, Colgate could feasibly plant and maintain a small willow plantation with the aid of anexperienced farmer.Additionally, a Geographic Information Systems suitability analysis is carried out,which consider five criteria: road-access, land cover, favorable soil, stream buffer, and lowslope. Ultimately, 485 acres of Colgate landholding are found to be suitable under theseconstraints; however, much of this land is not available for growing willow due to aestheticand tract size concerns.Furthermore, an economic analysis concludes that it would not make sense to buy orlease the farm equipment because of the small scale on which Colgate would be operating.Colgate should instead look to hire out the farm work. For it to be cost-effective for Colgateto grow its own willow on 200 acres, at the current price of woodchips, the cost of thisservice would have to be no more than $48,000 per year. At this time it is unknown whetherthe farming work for 200 acres can be hired out for less than $48,000 per year, however, asthe price of woodchips increases, so does the maximum price that can be paid for this service.Even if it is not cost-effective today, it could be cost-effective in the future.Overall, we recommend the following action:Colgate should experiment with farming willow biomass on a small-scale, which GISanalyses indicate is the 10-acre Hamilton Street tract. This would ensure familiarity with theprocess should the prices of woodchips continue to rise as predicted.42. RationaleThe importance of renewable energy is becoming increasingly important as we moveinto the second decade of the twenty-first century. One major concern on the global scale isthe availability of the fossil fuels on which our modern society is dependent. Renewableenergies represent one possibility for reducing our dependence on foreign oil for the U.S.;this is significant because currently this country spends billions of dollars annually in importsof fossil fuels such as oil and petroleum (NRDC, 2004). Two-thirds of the oil consumedglobally comes from the Persian Gulf region, a region from which the U.S. imports $25billion dollars worth of oil annually (Lugar and Woolsey, 1999; NRDC, 2004). Relying soprofoundly on this one source leaves the U.S. in a precarious position because of the intenseinternational competition for these oil reserves as well as the historical and current politicaland social unrest experienced in the region. This dependence is associated with a U.S.military presence in the Middle East, thus leading to other foreign policy conflicts (Lugar andWoolsey, 1999). Renewable energy could presumably placate this dependency and theforeign policy issues with which it is associated. Furthermore, it has been calculated thatsubstantially integrating renewable energy into the national economy could save the U.S. $10billion dollars annually by 2015 (Romm and Curtis, 1996).Image 1: Woodchips at Colgate’s biomass burning facilityAlthough Colgate University is ahead of many of our peer institutions with our use ofrenewable energy (our wood-chip powered steam producing facility, and our use ofhydroelectricity), the University still pays a sizable amount for fossil fuels annually. In the2006-2007 academic year (June 1st-May 31st), Colgate paid $299,151.95 for oil. It isexpected that this number will increase in a substantial amount for the 2007-2008 academicyear because of the expansion of Colgate’s facilities with the completion of the Ho Science5 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Wątki

Search