provided by waste management company Alpine Group, to meet
ongoing plant requirements.
Why Biomass Gasification?
Van Belleghem and his team chose biomass gasification technology for its promise to deliver a combination of superior performance and operational benefits over those of conventional
combustion – including design simplicity, fuel versatility, low
emissions and cost.
Cyclists cruising past the biomass plant would certainly have
a hard time distinguishing the facility as an industrial operation.
The plant is housed in an architecturally designed building that
blends in with the surrounding neighborhood, and the plant’s
operation is imperceptible from a noise, dust and emissions perspective.
The emissions profile of biomass gasification systems as it
pertains to particulate matter has been shown to be comparable
to that of natural gas, using a carbon-neutral, renewable fuel
source. In addition, emissions of both carbon dioxide and volatile
organic compounds are significantly lower than the guidelines set
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as compared to
levels resulting from the burning of natural gas. Biomass is
considered carbon-neutral by key monitoring agencies, which
distinguish renewable energy sources like wood – which
recirculates CO2 already in the biosphere’s carbon cycle – from
the fossil fuels that add more CO2 to that in active circulation.
PRIMARILY DUE TO ITS RENEWABLE ENERGY
USE, DOCKSIDE GREEN IS ON TRACK TO BE
CARBON-NEUTRAL.
The choice of biomass gasification for the central heating plant
has enabled the project to take concrete action toward reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Once the development is completed,
heating with syngas produced from biomass instead of burning
natural gas will cut CO2 emissions by 3,460 tonnes per year at
Dockside Green – the equivalent of taking 850 cars off the road.
These benefits are not lost on Dockside residents, who state
that the on-site creation and use of green energy is an appealing
aspect that makes them feel good about where they live.“I am
really excited that the developers of Dockside Green are being so
proactive about energy and environmental issues,” says resident
Taylor Kennedy.“The fact that we have excess capacity for others
in our community is an added bonus. It’s great knowing that our
heating system will help keep carbon out of the atmosphere,
while also reducing my heating bills.”
Dockside Green is, in fact, on track to be carbon-neutral, primarily due to its renewable energy use. By generating surplus
renewable energy in the form of heat that can be sold off site, the
development will be able to compensate for the greenhouse
gases generated on site through electricity and the delivery of the
waste wood biomass to the plant. The community also began to
earn carbon credits this fall when the biomass plant was connected
to serve a nearby hotel.
Certainly the project’s renewable energy system seems tailor-made for British Columbia, where greenhouse gas emissions
reduction strategies and targets are required in all official community plans and regional growth strategies. The province has estab-
Advancing the Technology
Since 2003, Nexterra Energy Corp. has been developing a
fixed-bed, updraft gasification technology that converts wood
residuals such as bark, sawdust and shavings into syngas. The
first generation of this technology has been successfully commercially deployed for heat and steam applications at
Dockside Green; Tolko Industries in Kamloops, B.C.; and the
University of South Carolina in Columbia.
The second stage of technology development involves conveying and directly firing the syngas into rotary kiln and boiler
burners. The company has performed successful trials of this
application at pilot scale and is currently working to commercialize this solution. The first installation will startup later this
year at the Kruger Products tissue mill in New Westminster, B.C.
The company is now embarked on the third generation of biomass gasification technology in collaboration with GE Energy
and its gas engine division, GE Jenbacher. It is developing an
advanced combined heat and power system, ranging from 2 to
10 MWe, that involves direct-firing syngas into GE’s Ecomagination-certified Jenbacher internal combustion engines. Pilot testing
of the technology is being conducted at the company’s Product
Development Centre, where a 250 k We Jenbacher is being
installed. This next-phase gasification system has also been proposed for installation at Dockside Green when it becomes
commercially available.
In late August, the company announced that it had received
CA$7.7 million ($7.08 million) in funding to support the commercialization of the new biomass power system. Funding
sources include the BC Bionenergy Network, Sustainable
Development Technology Canada, the National Research
Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program and
Ethanol BC.
lished legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets of 33 percent
from 2007 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. But the cornerstone of British Columbia’s climate action plan is a revenue-neutral
carbon tax starting at CA$10 ($9.19) per tonne in 2008 rising to
CA$30 ($27.57) per tonne in 2012. It has also established Pacific
Carbon Trust to sell carbon offsets at CA$25 ($22.98) per tonne.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced that municipalities
will be given the power to waive development cost charges as a
way to encourage green developments such as Dockside Green.
All public institutions in the province must be carbon-neutral by
2010, and any new government buildings or facilities shall be built
to a minimum LEED Gold or equivalent certification.
A Climate Positive Community
Dockside’s on-site biomass heat generation plant was a key
factor in the community’s selection by the Clinton Climate
