By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent
 
ESCANABA, Mich. — The Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) has taken the step of renaming one of its experiment stations to reflect its new focus on bioenergy: The Upper Peninsula Tree Improvement Center has been renamed the Forest Biomass Innovation Center (FBIC).

“The types of research and demonstration projects have been gradually changing over the past 10 years or so,” said the FBIC’s director, Ray Miller. “We felt it was important to make it a little more clear exactly what we’re doing here. It matches the priorities that have been set by Lansing and Washington, D.C.”

Miller said especially over the past couple of years, the field station in Escanaba has been focusing more on bioenergy.

“We’re doing field trials here and consultations with different companies. We have a network of different collaborators,” he said.
In January 2010 the Michigan State University extension issued a bulletin called Woody Biomass for Energy in Michigan (E-3087). Along with other publications, it provides an overview of the new bioenergy focus.

According to the bulletin: “Trees contain one of the largest potential pools of energy among renewable sources in Michigan. They are solar factories, converting light energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis. This stored energy accumulates annually, building a wood inventory that has been increasing for decades.

“Globally and historically, societies have long tapped into this energy source, but researchers are closely examining the possibility of using more of this pool in Michigan.”

According to Miller, Michigan has one of the largest potentially harvestable volumes of wood in the United States. It also has much more than it had in the past.

A graph in the bulletin illustrates the amount of hardwoods and softwoods available compared to previous decades. In 1955, for example, Michigan had well under 5 billion cubic feet of hardwoods, compared to just under 20 billion in 2007. Similar increases have been seen in softwoods.

One project the FBIC is involved with is the development of shrub willow as a bioenergy crop. Shrub willow can be harvested three years after it is planted and has been used in Sweden for years as a bioenergy crop. Miller’s own research emphasis is on short rotation woody crops.

Researchers are also working to develop hybrid poplars for this same purpose. The researchers are working with the State University of New York on the project, which has been developing the shrub willow for use as a bioenergy source for about 10 years.
“We are working on trying to develop that (Swedish) system for use in the U.S.,” Miller said. “We’ve been consulting with Traxys on this.”

Traxys North America owns two power companies in the Upper Peninsula: White Pine Electric Power and L’Anse Warden Electric Co. (LWEC). The LWEC bought a power plant in L’Anse recently that used to produce electricity with coal, oil and natural gas.

The company converted the plant over to be fueled with biomass, namely woodchips, bark and fines. It’s also using paper mill wood residues, railroad ties and tire chips.

The company planted 30 acres of shrub willow in Skandia, Mich., last spring and is planning to increase its acreage devoted to shrub willow by many times in the near future, Miller said.