Constellation Energy and Chromatin Announce Partnership to Test Sorghum Biomass as Fuel to Generate Power
September 21 2011 - 4:09PM
Business Wire
Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG), through two of its
subsidiaries, and Chromatin Inc., a supplier of biomass feedstock
for energy producers, today announced that they had signed a
memorandum of understanding that could supplement current fuels at
two California power plants with a sustainable supply of renewable
biomass grown specifically for use as fuel in the plants.
In anticipation of this, Chromatin is growing three fields of
biomass sorghum, a non-food crop that has a high energy content, is
adapted to marginal lands, and requires less than half the water
and chemicals of field crops such as corn or sugar cane.
The harvested biomass will be test burned to determine the
feasibility of using sorghum as a fuel source to generate
electricity at two power plants in California that are owned
jointly by Constellation Energy and North American Power Group
(NAPG). If successful, this will be the first production-scale
effort to generate power from an energy field crop in California.
The two plants that will test burn the sorghum biomass are Rio
Bravo Poso and Rio Bravo Fresno. Rio Bravo Poso is located in
Bakersfield, Calif. and currently uses coal and petroleum coke as a
fuel source. Rio Bravo Fresno is located near Fresno, Calif. and
now burns agricultural and construction wood waste.
“California requires load-serving entities generate 33 percent
of their power from renewable sources by 2020. If we can rely more
on sustainable biomass to fuel our plants and capture greenhouse
gases, we would be taking important steps toward generating the
clean power that is the cornerstone of California energy policy,”
said Steve Gross, Managing Director of West Region operations for
Constellation Energy’s Power Generation group. “We were attracted
to sorghum biomass because it offers potentially high energy
content, and can be handled in our plants with only minor
modifications to our equipment.”
The process of generating power from renewable biomass is
referred to as “closed loop biomass.” This means that a new crop of
energy sorghum, grown specifically for power generation, consumes
roughly the volume of greenhouses gases that was created when the
earlier crop was burned.
Chromatin’s first field for use at the Rio Bravo plants – 30
acres near El Centro in California’s Imperial Valley – will be
harvested in September and October. To produce the biomass,
Chromatin has engaged growers experienced in producing hay or
forage for livestock feed. Two other fields – with a total of 65
acres in California’s San Joaquin Valley – also are under
production to supply the Rio Bravo plants.
Chromatin expects to deliver the first shipments of processed
sorghum biomass to the Rio Bravo plants in a few weeks. Chromatin
staggered the planting of its three fields, allowing it to deliver
a steady supply of the processed biomass. The sorghum program is
expected to achieve “industrial scale” because it will produce
sorghum biomass in large volumes that have predictable
deliveries.
“This marks an important milestone toward our goal of creating a
vertically integrated biomass supply chain that can help power
generators like Constellation to rely more on renewable fuel
sources that recycle greenhouse gases,” said Daphne Preuss,
Chromatin’s CEO. “The impressive yield of our crop in El Centro is
an important validation of the advantages of sorghum as a biomass
source. Today, our sorghum is expected to have an energy content
that is more than 70 percent of coal – roughly equivalent to
firewood. Our breeding and crop engineering program is generating
new varieties of sorghum that are expected to have an even higher
energy content with lower levels of ash and other
contaminants.”
This current crop of energy sorghum is a leafy plant that grows
10 to 15 feet tall and reaches maturity in a few months. In
contrast, the sorghum varieties that have been bred to produce
grain are smaller and thus not as well suited for use as energy
biomass.
“The success of this production-scale test of energy sorghum
shows that closed-loop biomass for power generation can provide an
additional and very exciting market opportunity for California’s
farmers and can help create new jobs for our community,” said
Timothy E. Kelley, president and CEO of the Imperial Valley
Economic Development Corporation. “As is apparent from the quality
of the crop that’s now reaching maturity near El Centro, Chromatin
has developed a biomass sorghum hybrid that is ideally suited for
the Imperial Valley.”
About Chromatin
Chromatin, Inc. is developing sustainable renewable energy-crop
feedstocks for power, fuel and chemical producers. It applies its
proprietary technology programs to develop high-value
next-generation sorghum seeds using its crop-breeding and
biotechnology innovations. The company also licenses these
innovative gene-stacking technologies to leading agriculture
companies and applies its technology platforms to its subsidiary,
Sorghum Partners LLC, which supplies hybrid sorghum seeds in the US
and more than 20 other countries. For additional information,
please visit http://www.chromatininc.com.
About Constellation
Energy
Constellation Energy (www.constellation.com) is a leading
competitive supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and
services for homes and businesses across the continental United
States. It owns a diversified fleet of generating units, totaling
approximately 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and is a
leading advocate for clean, environmentally sustainable energy
sources, such as solar power and nuclear energy. The company
delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and
Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland.
A FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Baltimore, Constellation
Energy had revenues of $14.3 billion in 2010.
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