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Power plant: Is Arundo Donax the answer to our power problems?

Arundo Donax is a giant, bamboo- like reed that can be converted to power. A Panhandle company is looking to launch the world's first facility that would commercialize the process.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published February 11, 2007

Jim Wimberly spent more than 30 years working on food and energy projects from Arkansas to Central America to South Africa to Asia. But he figures all those gigs have simply been training for the project he's tackling now.

As vice president of agricultural operations for Biomass Investment Group Inc. of Gulf Breeze, Wimberly, 53, is one of the key players working to create the first commercial power plant in the world to turn a giant reed into electricity.

The power plant and acreage for the crop, scientific name Arundo donax but dubbed e-grass, will be somewhere in south Florida. Its total output, 130 megawatts or enough to power about 83,000 homes, will be acquired by Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of North Carolina's Progress Energy. That means a 12-foot-tall reed - rather than oil, coal, natural gas or nuclear power - may someday be generating power for homes in the Tampa Bay area.

When - and if - that day comes, it will mark a major victory for Wimberly's boss, lawyer-turned-biomass proponent, Allen Sharpe. For nearly eight years, Sharpe, Biomass' chief executive, pitched his concept to utility companies all over the South, eliciting polite interest but no commitments.

"It's been an emotional roller-coaster," said Wimberly, a consultant with Sharpe since 2001 who joined full-time in August. "It's difficult to invest in alternative energy when oil and natural gas prices are so volatile."

Biomass finally signed a 25-year purchase agreement with Progress Energy Florida last May when oil prices topped $70 a barrel. Financial terms were not disclosed, but at the time Sharpe said electricity from its e-grass would be 2 to 4 cents per kilowatt cheaper than power from natural gas.

"When demand is up and prices are up (for fossil fuels), it changes the economics for everybody," Wimberly said. "Renewable energy becomes more attractive."

While much publicity has been given to turning grains like corn into ethanol for cars, Wimberly's company will be the first to use biomass, plant matter grown for use as fuel, to generate electricity on a commercial scale. And its plans have attracted widespread attention, with a story about the project even reprinted in Iran Daily.

"We've had interest from every continent but Antarctica," said Wimberly, who would like to build biomass plants in China and India, where he once built rice processing facilities. "These countries need renewable energy and homegrown energy systems. And they're desperate to keep people on the farm. We can help with that."

But eight months after getting a buyer for its power in Florida, Biomass is still at least two years from turning on lights. Though the company told prospective investors the company has several large tracts of land under consideration, it hasn't closed on a deal. Wimberly said a 15,000-acre site will be announced by the end of March.

Estimated total cost of the project is not being disclosed, but Wimberly said private financing is nearly in place. He also is confident the project will sail through the state's power plant permitting process, particularly on the issue of air quality.

"Our emissions will be very low," he said of the closed-loop system that will emit low levels of nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide but, unlike fossil fuel plants, will add no carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Progress Energy estimated a coal-burning plant of the same size would emit more than 20-million tons of carbon over its 25 years of service.

But Biomass can expect major opposition from environmentalists about its choice of crop. The very qualities that make arundo donax an excellent renewable energy crop makes it a noxious weed, according to a number of state environmental and horticultural groups.

California has spent more than $25-million in an unsuccessful effort to eradicate arundo, which has been named as one of the 100 Worst Invaders of the World by the World Conservation Union. In California, the reed was originally planted by the Army Corps of Engineers along riverbanks for erosion control. Then they discovered its root system rips away riverbanks and flooding causes it to spread. High in wax content, arundo is also an extreme fire hazard.

December McSherry, a farmer from Gainesville and head of the Sierra Club's agriculture committee, said her organization intends to fight Biomass' plan to cultivate large stands of arundo. "This is a disaster for Florida," she said.

Alison Fox, an assistant professor of agronomy at the University of Florida and chairwoman of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, also has complained to state officials. "Florida should not accept the risk posed by large acreage plantings of this species," she said. "The evidence is piling up that this is not a great idea."

In 2003, however, the Florida Department of Agriculture reviewed existing stands of the reed around the state, present since the late 1800s. They determined that the risk from a "carefully managed" planting would be low. The Legislature then passed a law requiring arundo growers to apply for permits and post a bond to cover costs of eradication if the business fails.

Wimberly said his company will gladly meet state requirements for its farm operations. He argues that California has a different ecosystem than Florida, which is why stands of arundo here remain as isolated clumps and have not spread despite hurricanes. Wimberly said commercial farms in Argentina and France that grow the reed for use in woodwind instruments prove it can be effectively managed and contained.

"Our entire farm will be set up to control the crop and monitor activities," said Wimberly, barely concealing his frustration with arundo critics. "There's no such thing as zero risk, but the world of energy economics has changed and new processing technology has emerged. It's time to put these ideas to work."

A spokesman with Progress Energy Florida said its contract calls for Biomass' plant to be on line by December 2009. It will be a small but meaningful step for the utility, which currently gets minuscule amounts of power from alternatives like wood waste and municipal waste plants in four counties, including Pinellas.

"This biomass plant would have the largest output derived from renewable energy that exists anywhere," said Progress Energy Florida's spokesman C.J. Drake. "But now the ball is in their court."

Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2996.

Fast Facts:

What is biomass?

Plant matter grown for fuel or industrial use. Includes grasses like arundo donax and switchgrass and residue like sawdust and sugar cane bagasse.

Arundo donax facts

ADVANTAGES: It is a fast-growing perennial (up to 12 feet and 1 inch in diameter in six months) that takes carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, sequestering it in its roots.

DISADVANTAGES: California has spent more than $25-million trying to eradicate the reed, which uses up to 25 inches of water a year, wipes out native habitats, fuels fires and causes flooding; environmentalists are planning to fight large-scale farming of the plant in Florida.

WHAT FLORIDA OFFICIALS SAY: "Risk of the giant reed's becoming invasive in Florida is low to moderate;" commercial growers will be required to post a bond to eliminate the crop if business fails.

WHAT ELSE IS IT USED FOR? Arundo donax is commercially grown for use as reeds in woodwind instruments.

WHERE IS IT GROWN? Commercially, in France and Argentina for musical instruments. Isolated stands of arundo donax have been found in 21 of 67 Florida counties.

BIG's South Florida biomass power plant

Owner: Biomass Investment Group, Gulf Breeze

Location: to be disclosed by the end of March

Employees: 75-100

Estimated start date: 2009

Fuel supply: 500,000 tons of arundo donax per year

Cost: Not disclosed

[Last modified February 12, 2007, 11:08:08]