By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

URBANA, Ill. — A biomass workshop focusing on developing a supply chain from producer to refiner to market will be March 11-12 at Heartland Community College in Normal, Ill.

With bio-based replacements for petroleum in the pipeline and other valuable products being made from biomass such as crop residues and wood waste, the biomass supply chain needs to be developed and any potential problems addressed, according to Natalie Bosecker, spokesperson for the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Bioenergy Research (CABER).

“We are encouraging people who are already working with biomass or have a very strong interest in biomass to come to this presentation,” Bosecker said of the event, titled Biomass to Heat & Electricity Workshop: Molding Today’s Technology for Tomorrow’s Bioenergy Feedstock Supply Chain. “We are looking to identify the bottlenecks and what some of the challenges to creating a new economy based on biomass will be, as well as how to address those challenges.”

The supply chain for biomass will include densification, transportation, storage, bulk handling and marketing of the materials, according to CABER.

Featured speakers for the workshop are Colleen Callahan, Illinois State Director for USDA, Rural Development, Bill Johnson, biofuel development manager for Alliant Energy and John Regalbuto, professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering for the University of Chicago and a contributor to the National Science Foundation.

Callahan “will touch on local, regional and national perspectives pertaining to biomass and rural development,” said Bosecker, while Johnson will provide an update on Alliant Energy’s cooperative development of biomass for electricity. “John Regalbuto’s presentation is futuristic and deals with what we can do with biomass besides electricity and heat generation, whether it be biofuels, green chemicals or other uses,” Bosecker added.
Four panel discussions will provide additional insight regarding biomass end users, biomass densification, systems/marketing and policy/environmental regulations.

Densification refers to the condensing of biomass source materials such as corn stover and other sources into forms suitable for refiners’ use. Baling technologies will be among topics discussed by the densification panel, Bosecker said.

Referring to the workshop’s systems and marketing panel, Bosecker said that “because biomass is a completely new crop, you might say, there are going to be some bumps in the road as we figure out how to market and establish a price for the product. This panel will discuss how to address those needs.”

Perhaps the most important panel discussion for potential biomass producers will be the seminar on policy and environmental regulations. “The federal government has a lot of money invested in the stimulus program with biomass. This panel will let people know about some of the (opportunities) available and how they may help those in the Midwest to consider growing biomass,” said Bosecker.

Sponsors for the workshop include CABER, Western Illinois University’s Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Illinois State University’s Center for Renewable Energy, UoI Extension, Heartland Community College, Chip Energy and the Agricultural Watershed Institute.

Early registration for the event is available for $80 through Friday, February 19 and includes lunches and materials. After that date, registration is $120. Contact CABER’s Natalie Bosecker at (217) 244-9273 to register or for more information.