CoAlternative Blog

Industry enters rapid growth phase as markets switch on to 2nd generation biofuel’s inherent qualities

A PYRE of recent allegations stacked against energy giant Drax has illuminated the importance of transparent provenance in the biomass industry. In March, a former executive claimed the company had misled over its sourcing of white wood pellets burned, as a replacement for coal at its Selby power plant. The accusation came less than one year after the firm agreed to pay Ofgem £25m for filing inadequate data on the wood it sourced as fuel – although the energy regulator found no evidence of deliberate misreporting. And three weeks ago Drax revealed it was cooperating with a further probe into “historical statements” that it made about the origin of white wood pellet fuel that it imported as an energy source for UK homes and businesses. Few companies will recognise the importance of transparent provenance in biomass fuel production more than Drax. The UK government gives Drax vast renewable energy subsidies based on the fuel it burns. As part of them, Drax has signed a stringent Contracts for Difference (CfD) agreement with the UK government to guarantee all of its pellets come from sustainable sources. It also recently unveiled its own far-reaching sustainability framework to aggregate detailed data about its supply chain. This undoubtedly came in response to well-meant concerns that some of its white wood pellets could have originated from logging firms operating in northern Canada’s old-growth primary forests. Canada possesses 25 percent of the world’s boreal forest, dense woodlands rich in biodiversity and complex eco-systems. Logging licenses are rightly difficult to acquire in the country’s provinces, and the controversial activity is already on pause in several of them. It is for all of these reasons that CoAlternative uses only the dead remains of charred wildfire timber mixed with Alberta’s forest floor debris to create its Gen2 black wood pellets. Our steam explosion treatment process converts this low-grade biomass into premium, high-density black pellets that also replace coal in power stations, but with little or no modification of plant facilities needed. Each year wildfires claim up to 20,000 sq km of forest in Alberta, near to where CoAlternative is based in its Peace River district. The fires, started most commonly by lightning strikes, provide plentiful feedstock for our steam explosion pellet plant, without any need for climate-deadly deforestation and logging. That expired feedstock is harvested, steam-exploded and compressed to create offtake with 46% greater bulk density and 24% greater energy release than any high quality Gen1 white pellet fuel – making it comparable with coal and highly viable for transportation. The product’s lower moisture content and lower ash production ensure it is low-emission and considerably cleaner and more environmentally friendly than white wood pellets, or coal. By clearing dead wildfire wood from Alberta’s boreal forest, CoAlternative’s biomass supply chain also reduces the release of decomposition methane into the Northern hemisphere – and promotes reforestation instead of deforestation. CoAlternative CEO David Peters said: “Drax deals with millions of tons of biomass every year, so it faces an enormous challenge in establishing the provenance of every wood pellet that it burns. It has made clear that it is increasing its efforts to meet that challenge. “Scrutiny of biomass supply chains is a principal part of the industry’s present and future. The practice helps to show the contribution that biomass can make to climate change reversal. “Deforestation of any primary woodland contributes to global warming. It undermines the world’s energy transition away from fossil fuels. “Put simply, the biomass industry will find it difficult to justify its existence if it relies on the felling and logging of any mature tree stock. But none need occur for the production of biomass wood pellets anyway. “Canada’s boreal biome produces ample forest floor and wildfire debris, and diseased woodland, for the production of wood pellets. “Only a steam explosion process can turn it into a black pellet biofuel product with sufficient energy density and calorific release to warrant shipment over significant distance. “That is why CoAlternative will lead the way in producing second generation black wood pellets which validate the existence of biomass fuels and contribute to our move away from burning fossil fuels.”