Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part My View by John Frey, a former dean at Minnesota State University. He recently traveled to Sweden to observe renewable energy systems and energy conservation systems.
For transportation, Sweden is moving toward biogas — the production of methane from organic wastes. The biogas comes from anaerobic digestion of manures (including human) and organic agricultural crop materials. The process of producing biogas starts with the use of microbes to digest the wastes in the absence of oxygen, to produce biogas in a ratio of approximately 65 percent methane and 35 percent CO2. This mixture can be used for local heating, but for transportation and other commercial uses it must go through a scrubbing process to raise the methane purity up to above 97 percent, a level required for transportation biogas.
Buses and trucks were the first to be converted to biogas, and now biogas-energized cars are available. New car design has two fuel tank openings — one for biogas, which is under pressure, and one for a gasoline reserve tank should one get isolated from a biogas station. They have some ethanol and biodiesel production facilities but biogas is the preferred fuel. In addition, some is used for electrical generation.
Forest harvesting, transportation and both large and small wood pellet processing plants are visibly present in southern Sweden. Although logs are used for some of the larger burners and wood chips used in others, most portable is the wood pellet because the pellets flow and pour much like the corn kernels. They are well aware that a sustainable system where consumption of biomass does not deplete the soils must be met.
This concern seems to drive energy efficiency without interfering with the food supply. In southern Sweden, one can occasionally find a farm growing willow, a tree that, once established, can be harvested every three years.
However, the majority of wood comes from natural forests. Conservation is extremely important. Hotel rooms have toilets that conserve water by having a dual flush system, one for liquids and one for solids. Hot water is visibly piped around the baseboards and through towel racks to add warmth to the bathrooms. A rural residence was showcased where a wood pellet burning boiler replaced an oil burning boiler. The savings in heating costs was reduced by at least 30 percent. It seems the government had already implemented efficiency programs for the replacement of new energy efficient windows and insulation of walls and ceilings.
Although the U.S. is currently taking steps to regain energy independence, it is clear that we can learn from Sweden because they clearly have the technological lead. They have taken a systems approach that places a high value on energy with respect to district heating, efficient building, it is common to harvest excess exhaust energy from factories and large commercial buildings and have it redirected to schools, hospitals, and homes.
Is Sweden where it wants to be with respect to renewable energy and the environment? The answer is clearly "no." They talk about going beyond carbon neutral, where the amount of CO2 taken from the atmosphere is equal to that released. They want to go carbon negative, and they plan to do this by taking the carbon char from various renewable energy systems and return it to the soil.
Research has shown that this carbon has a long half-life and, while in the soil, it helps retain water as well as stabilizes the nutrients to provide maximum crop growth. The Swedish government’s goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 based on 1990 levels.
Swedish renewable energy industries want to work with the United States, but they will not wait.
Instead, they are seeking partnerships with other countries and states within the United States. For example, we visited one factory where boilers and furnaces were manufactured and they were in the midst of trying to complete a large order for Germany.
Another was looking at the potential of a large partnership/order with one of the states, but it was not Minnesota.
Time is of the essence, and the benefits that can be gained from a Swedish partnership would be valuable, not only to our economy but also to our environment. And we did not smell wood smoke at any of the locations where wood was a primary fuel.
(John Frey is the former dean of the Minnesota State University College of Science, Engineering &Technology. His recent visit to Sweden was sponsored by the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota. This organization has been supportive of the work MSU has been doing in the area of renewable energy and has been a co-partner in the development of the International Renewable Energy Technology Institute.)
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