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12/01/2009 : Read about how ARC Paper is helping the environment

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06/11/2007

The Pathway to Our Bio-Future

With no end in sight to growing global pressure on the world’s supply of oil, other types of technologies and fuel will play an essential role in easing the energy cost burden in the production of pulp and paper. The reliability, affordability and environmental impact of energy supplies have become the most critical issue for the world economy. While most of the initial response has been investment in producing ethanol from corn, there is common consensus that there is simply not enough corn to meet renewable energy needs. Given that consensus, as we look forward, the conversion of cellulosic biomass to fuels will be required. The U.S.Energy Policy Act of 2005 set an objective of generating 1 billion gallons per year of transportation grade biofuels from lignocellulosic sources by 2015. A primary source of cellulosic feedstocks is the pulp and paper industry—the world’s largest non-food biomass collection system. Recently, the U.S. paper and forest products industry made a commitment to increase the development of biomass fuels, with the long-term goal of developing a network of integrated “forest products biorefineries.” Forest products biorefineries represent an emerging opportunity that will have a dramatic impact on future U.S. energy supplies and on the forest products industry itself. Baltimore, Maryland-based ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI) estimates that by using existing technology and moving the industry to forest products biorefineries, the U.S. pulp and paper industry could produce nearly half of the transportation fuels amount targeted by the DOE, resulting in a new high-value revenue stream for the industry while reducing dramatically its dependence on fossil fuels. Future mills, Integrated Forest Biorefineries, will import regional biomass instead of purchased energy. They will expand the industry’s mission from simply manufacturing low margin paper products to creating new revenue streams by producing “green” power and creating new, high-value products such as biofuels and biochemicals, all while improving the efficiency and profitability of their core paper-making operations. For more detail on the process and the technology, read the complete article, The Pathway to Our Bio-Future by Eric J. Connor. The pulp and paper industry is the world’s largest nonfood biomass collection system. In North America there are approximately 200 chemical pulp mills and high-yield pulp mills that could economically host Phase One biorefineries of the size described in this article. There are also another 100 large, nonintegrated paper mills with heat and energy sinks large enough to support a biorefinery. Internationally, TRI conservatively estimates that there are over 450 pulp and paper mills and another 400-500 nonintegrated paper mills that are sound potential sites for biorefineries. In Europe, there is high demand for distributed “green” energy where incentive structures for carbon neutral fuels and electricity have been established. In North America, forest and agricultural residual-based feedstocks constitute a huge and readily available biomass source for the biorefinery, and the pulp and paper industry is the most qualified industry to take advantage of it. The North American pulp and paper industry has the ideal infrastructure, experience and resources to capitalize on renewable fuels via the biorefinery. Industry leaders, investors, policy-makers and others are now beginning to better understand the vital role to be played by biorefineries as we move from a fossil fuel-based energy economy toward a bio-based model. There are, of course, many different biomass conversion technologies and an even wider range of raw materials and finished products to consider. For these reasons, all potential advantages must be factored into the location, design, efficiency and operational flexibility of any proposed biorefinery. When properly located and designed,the potential of an integrated forest biorefinery could be enormous: a very attractive and synergistic business opportunity for both the co-located pulp and paper mill and for the biorefinery itself.

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