The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), in conjunction with the Center for Producer Owned Energy, Aitkin County Land Development, and the Aitkin County Economic Development/Forest Industry Coordinator, is exploring the opportunity to utilize biomass resources available in Aitkin County to generate renewable energy. The development of a biomass to bioenergy production system will drive economic and create jobs in the area.
The overall objective of the study, prepared by BBI International, is to determine the volume of potentially accessible biomass in Aitkin County that is not already being harvested for other uses, and compare the economic feasibility of various technologies available to convert the harvestable biomass materials into renewable energy products.
Aitkin County is a unique geographical location in Minnesota. The 1,995-square-mile county is a transition zone that forms the northern border of the corn/soybean/wheat region of the state and the southern border of the heavily forested northern region of the state. The area is predominantly deciduous forests, wetlands and grasslands.
Aitkin County’s intent when performing the study was to quantify and prove or disprove some beliefs long held by many in the business community within Aitkin County.
“We felt we had an economically viable biomass resource, but it was all based on anecdotal evidence. Until we could quantify what we actually had, any discussions of a project would be just talk,” remarked Ross Wagner, Aitkin County economic development & forest industry coordinator.
Authors focused specifically on the biomass available in the county that could reasonably be considered available when taking into account its ability to deliver a profit along a supply chain that includes land owners, loggers, forwarders and transportation providers.
AURI’s Randy Hilliard recognized the common-sense approach taken by BBI to measure the economically available biomass. “What set this study apart was the realistic biomass assessments that paid careful attention to sensitive lands and the infrastructure necessary to get at and harvest the biomass,” he noted.
Upon determining the types and amounts of biomass available to an energy operation, BBI prepared financial forecasts for two different conversion operations. The first scenario explored was a biomass pelletization facility; the second was a combined heat and power facility which would manufacture electricity in Aitkin County. Both of the forecasted scenarios considered 50,000 tons and 100,000 tons of biomass annually processed.
The report will now be used by the Aitkin County Economic Development agency as they work to leverage the abundant biomass supply in their county for economic growth and jobs.
