Renewable Energy on Cape Cod

by Clay Schofield, PE, Transportation Engineer, Cape Cod Commission and BSCES Vice President

 

“New England is addicted to oil. In Massachusetts alone, we spend more than $10 billion a year on petroleum, and it is very clear where most of those dollars are going,” —former Congressman William Delahunt (D-10th MA), noting that Saudi Arabia alone made $160 billion in 2005 exporting oil. Congressman Delahunt implemented a task force to promote renewable fuels on Cape Cod. This group was named the Cape Cod Renewable Fuels Partnership aka “the Partnership” and included a mix of public and private representatives with a charter to explore viable alternatives for Cape Cod and educate people on a number of levels.

 

The Partnership advocated the increased use of biofuels, primarily biodiesel on Cape Cod which included educational seminars and a procure-ment contract through Barnstable County to provide biodiesel blends to the 15 Cape towns. The Partnership’s efforts resulted in a number of towns adopting biodiesel for their heavy equipment and endorsing a “Declaration of Support” to include renewable fuels where practical and procure “flex fuel” vehicles when updating their fleets. All of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Agency diesel buses are also operated on a 20% blend of biodiesel.

 

The Partnership was also a forum that brought people together to discuss potential projects. These projects ranged from grease collection to methane recovery. Two major projects have been moving forward and a strategic implementation plan for encouraging the use of renewable fuels on Cape Cod has been proposed.

 

An initiative was proposed in 2009 to develop a pilot scale biofuels production facility on Cape Cod. The team included the Cape Cod Commission, State and Federal Officials, The Marine Biological Laboratory, The Regional Technology Development Corporation, The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Plankton, LLC, and Biocombustibles del Chubut of Argentina Biocombustibles del Chubut has developed several proprietary processes to produce biodiesel from cold water species of salt water algae. These processes have been refined and are part of a program supported by the Argentine military. Argentina is approximately as far south of the equator as New England is north and this environmental similarity prompted interest in their research. Cape Cod also currently has algae farms to support shell fishing and aquaculture experts at the Woods Hole Institutions.

 

The team developed a proposal to produce an algae-based biodiesel and expand on the efforts of Bio Combustible Chubut in Argentina using marine algae native to New England. The pilot project was to optimize and standardize the technology required for the production of algal lipids in cold temperate climates and ensure a cost effective method that can be scaled up to a commercial scale production facility. The proposal was to develop a pilot plant that would provide “proof of concept” for an industrial scale (30 Million Gallons/year) plant.

 

The refinery design developed for the proposal would require approximately five acres to contain the algae ponds, photobioreactors, water and effluent circulation systems, on-site laboratory facilities, and an extraction and processing facility for biofuel production and processing. Based on the research from Argentina, the 5 acre site was expected to be able to produce 850,000 gallons of biodiesel or 170,000 gallons/acre/year. This is significant as most biodiesel is currently produced from soy beans and the annual yield is approximately 50 gallons per acre (A look back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae, United States Department of Energy, July 1998). The efficiencies related to the research and development by Bio Combustible Chubut had already demonstrated that algae based biodiesel production estimated by the 1998 DOE report could be exceeded and the 850,000 gallons/year was a conservative figure.

 

The project was to be sited on land adjacent to the Cape Cod Canal and use the stack gasses from the canal electric plant for CO2 and solids from the Massachusetts Military Reservation wastewater plant to feed the algae. A secondary fuel production based on the cellular waste products from the micro algae was also considered using an enzyme process developed at UMass Amherst to produce cellulosic ethanol. This by-product could be used as fuel or as a component of the bio lipid transesterification process that converts the algae lipids to biodiesel and glycerin.

 

The grant was not successful, however interest in the concept has continued. The recent update to the Cape Cod Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) selected the project as a regional priority (click here for more information). Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the Marine Biological Laboratory are proceeding with implementation of the failed DOE grant request, and have jointly developed the Woods Hole Marine Biofuels Center (WHMBC). The center is located at WHOI’s Quissett Campus, adjacent to the Environment Science Laboratory, and was established for the purpose of demonstrating and validating the optimal technology to produce high quality algae oil.

 

Biodiesel will soon become a significant part of the energy future for Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Advanced Biofuels Bill passed in 2008 requires diesel fuel and oil heat distributors to start adding biodiesel or renewable diesel to their fuel blends in 2010. The bill required that all diesel transportation fuels and distillate heating oil blends contain 2 percent biodiesel, or other qualifying renewable diesel, by July 2010. The legislation increases the biodiesel requirement by 1 percent per year to a cap in 2013, when all diesel transportation and heating oil blends will have to contain 5 percent of the renewable fuel by volume.

 

A methane energy project being contemplated on Cape Cod is proposed for the Bourne landfill and a request for proposals is currently circulating for a number of options including generation of power. The Town of Bourne is looking to develop a facility to use landfill gas collected from its active solid waste landfill. The Town is currently collecting and flaring 25 million Btu/hour of landfill gas. The Town is proposing to provide development and land fill gas rights to a private developer that would develop a facility to produce electricity or other products. Proposals are due March 29, 2012. The Cape has 3 other landfills that have enough waste in place to potentially provide methane recovery options. These sites are located in Barnstable (2,000,000 tons), Chatham (230,000 tons), and the Massachusetts Military Reservation (unknown). The Bourne landfill has an estimated 1,000,000 tons of waste in place.

 

Cape Wind is a well-known controversial project that proposes to develop a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal off Cape Cod. This project was initiated in 2001 and is estimated to cost $2.6 billion to construct and will produce an average of 170 megawatts of electricity from 130 wind turbines that will be 440 feet tall. This is about 75% of the average electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket Island combined.

 

The project is to be financed by the sale of energy and, currently, National Grid has agreed to buy half of the estimated power at 18.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first year. That amount would escalate 3.5 percent annually for 15 years. This is between $420 million and $695 million above expected market prices for the life of the contract (MA Department of Public Utilities) and the remaining power has not been sold.

 

The National Grid contract requires Cape Wind to begin construction by Dec. 31, 2013, and be producing power by Dec. 31, 2015, with possible two-year extensions for both dates. ISO New England is an independent, non-profit that oversees the operation of New England’s electric power system and transmission lines. In a recent report, ISO New England determined that it is unlikely that the Cape Wind project will be generating power before mid 2015.