The U.S. Department of Energy’s regional biomass energy program was revamped in 2003 and identified as the National Biomass (State/Regional) Partnership. It is divided into five regional partnerships, and the Southern States Energy Board is the host organization for the Southeast. Under the auspices of SSEB, the Southern States Biobased Alliance serves as the lead regional body for state and regional partnership activities. The state biomass coordinators act as the technical arm of the Alliance in determining state-specific activities and providing technical assistance at the state and local level.

Southern Biobased Alliance

Formed in July 2001, the Southern States Biobased Alliance works in an advisory capacity to the Southern States Energy Board, addressing the development of biobased products and bioenergy within the southern region. The Alliance has developed a formal mission to provide leadership and develop strategies that will foster a biobased industry and boost rural economies in the southern states. The Alliance members are gubernatorial appointees who are state legislators representing SSEB member states and representatives of the public or private sector who are active in energy, environment, agriculture and forestry issues. Currently, Representative John Raymond Reeves, Mississippi, and Mr. John Davies, Kentucky Division of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency under the Office of Energy Policy, serve as the co-chairs of the Alliance. In addition, Mr. Davies serves as the state representative for the Southeast with the National Biomass Partnership.

Upon its inception, the Alliance established goals to guide the group in building public/private partnerships that advance the economy of the region through unique state, local and industry networks. These goals provide regional leadership to the Southern States Energy Board and its member states through:

	Alliance meetings and activities that foster communication, coordination and collaboration among members to enhance development of a biobased industry in the region;
	recommendation of policies and programs that foster development of a biobased industry in the region;
	identification of strategies that stimulate markets for biobased products and technologies;
	providing electronic access to information, public forums and appropriate links to facilitate information transfer on biobased products and bioenergy; and
	advancing research, development and demonstration of biobased technologies and promoting the use of those technologies.

Key activities are focused on stimulating markets for biobased products and bioenergy. Learning about policies and incentives in other states, both in the South and in other regions, is integral to determining the proper approaches that will stimulate economic development.

In conjunction with the regional steering committee meeting, the Southern States Biobased Alliance sponsored a workshop in July 2005 for participants to examine the impact of biomass-related policies and incentives. The impetus of the workshop was the completion of a study funded through the National Energy Technology Laboratory entitled An Assessment of Biomass-related State Programs and Policies. This analysis considers a broad range of policies and incentives throughout the United States and examines their impact on the bioenergy and biobased product industry.

A number of national and regional organizations cosponsored the workshop resulting in a broad cross-section of stakeholder representatives participating in a dynamic forum, exchanging ideas and sharing practical experiences. Attendees included state legislators, state energy office directors, state officials, industry representatives, foresters, farmers and academia.
The goal of the forum was to stimulate discussion among state government policy-makers and other biomass stakeholders to collaborate on the development and implementation of biomass-related incentives. States are leading the way to foster and stimulate markets for bioenergy and biofuels. The dialogue among the regional leaders participating in the forum presented many observations related to policies and incentives.

One of the highlights of the workshop was a tour of East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Bavarian Landfill Plant in Boone County on July 13. This plant is the first in Kentucky to produce electricity from methane gas from decaying municipal waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates as many as 500 additional landfills could cost-effectively tap methane as an energy source, producing enough electricity to power one million homes across the country.

Economic circumstances and development goals vary among southern states. Meanwhile, rural economies across the South suffer from slowed production and a decrease in the value of farm crops. At the same time, our country’s demand for energy and continuing increase and dependency on foreign energy sources is jeopardizing our economic security. The South has 214 million acres of forest land, primarily owned by private landowners, and over one-third of America’s farmland. Our region has potential for renewable, expandable and sustainable sources of energy as well as chemical feedstocks.

Southeastern State/Regional Biomass Partnership

The regional biomass energy program was created by Congress in 1983 under the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills PL 97-88 and PL 98-50. The enabling legislation instructed the U.S. Department of Energy to design its national program to work with states on a regional basis, taking into account regional biomass resources and energy needs. The five regional programs, working with representatives in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia hosted primarily by regional governors’ organizations, are recognized nationally for their combined experience related to biomass technologies and policies.
In 2002, DOE integrated all the biomass activities under the Office of the Biomass Program (OBP). As part of the reorganization, the Southern States Energy Board, the Coalition of Northeastern Governors Policy Research Center, Inc., the Council of Great Lakes Governors, the Western Governors’ Association and DOE developed objectives for a State/Regional Biomass Partnership that redefines the former DOE Regional Biomass Energy Program. The goal of the Partnership is to work cooperatively with the DOE/OBP to facilitate the increased use of bioenergy and biobased products through coordinated federal, regional and state outreach, education and technical assistance programs.

Similar to all the regional partnerships, the Southeastern Biomass State/Regional Partnership is structured to provide state and regional grants to accomplish specific goals related to education, outreach and technical assistance. As before, the Southeastern Partnership includes Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.

In support of the goals of the National Biomass State/Regional Partnership, a technology matrix is being prepared for the national Partnership and states. Listings of the following will be developed as part of the matrix:
 

	major types of biomass feedstocks;
	potential energy end-use and applications;
	potential biofuel products; and
	biomass conversion technologies that are commercially available.

The technology matrix will allow users to match end-use applications and biomass feedstocks with specific characteristics to appropriate conversion technologies. Ultimately, this will increase bioenergy development intensity.

In January 2006, the Southeastern State/Regional Biomass Partnership met jointly with the Northeast region. The purpose of this interregional activity was to exchange ideas and lend expertise among states and regions.

A number of state grants were awarded during 2005 to continue outreach and education on biomass at the state and local level. Some state projects are listed below.

Alabama is developing a liquid biofuels plan that will increase the biofuels awareness and knowledge base of state policy-makers and serve as a guide for future state investment in the development of the biofuels industry in Alabama.

Arkansas is organizing and conducting a workshop on energy and value-added products from biomass as it relates to biomass utilization in the state and the region.

Florida is creating a portfolio of biomass resource maps and identifying installed and potential biomass energy production capacity in the state. Additionally, the Florida Energy Office seeks to create a Florida Biomass Network that will assist with strategic planning for its biomass program and provide advice on specific biomass projects in the state.

Georgia is forming a Biomass Task Force that will “asses the state of the industry” including research, development and demonstration as well as commercialization efforts to develop a strategic “roadmap” for future biomass development in the state.
Kentucky is working with County Extension agents in a process that will result in the location, development and distribution of decision aids that will allow their clientele to reduce energy consumption, consider alternative energy sources and receive guidance on grant applications.

Louisiana is documenting biomass use and potential energy in the state for stakeholders who share an interest in developing efficient energy systems for the economies of Louisiana.

Missouri is investigating the procurement and marketing strategies that industries based on crop residue and energy crops can utilize with a focus that will provide a unique perspective that may be applied to all bio-processors of new agricultural biomass products and technologies.

North Carolina will facilitate permanent establishment of the North Carolina Biomass Council to provide consultation to the North Carolina Energy Policy Council, the State Energy Office and the North Carolina General Assembly on implementation of bioenergy studies and demonstration projects through the establishment of a biomass deployment roadmap for the state.

Puerto Rico is developing market data on availability, quality and cost of biomass solid waste feedstock, determining Puerto Rican market applications, conducting engineering analysis for scale-up and for economic feasibility of various biomass energy technologies and building an information base on feedstock versatility, with the objective of reserving a percentage of electric power generation and diesel fuel consumption for electricity and biodiesel produced from local applications.

South Carolina is providing public and private sector decision-makers with economic and environmental metrics needed to foster production of energy in South Carolina from waste water sewage, poultry waste and waste grease.

Tennessee is analyzing economic benefits of reducing petroleum imports and moving to a more biobased fuel system to help Tennesseans understand how biofuels have a positive impact on the state.

U.S. Virgin Islands is assessing the feasibility of collection and cleaning of the landfill biogas to insure the greatest possible use of available biogas resources in the territory.

Virginia will conduct workshops that will increase awareness and understanding of small-scale biodiesel production as well as the opportunities, hazards and considerations of using biodiesel.

West Virginia is developing a conceptual biorefinery and configurations to lay a foundation for detailed economic analysis of the feasibility of a biorefinery in the state.

Other state projects are in the planning stages to receive funding through the Southeastern State/Regional Biomass Partnership. At the time of the printing of the Annual Report, proposed projects are under review.

Southeast Regional Biomass Energy Feedstock Partnership

The President’s new biofuels initiative calls for resources intended to enable ethanol produced from sources other than corn starch to become cost competitive by 2012. This will require lowering the costs of feedstocks as well as driving advances in conversion technologies. The Southeast holds enormous potential to develop and advance lignocellulosic biomass through its on-going and future research.

SSEB is working with the Sun Grant Institute, DOE, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), The National Biomass Partnership and others in leading a series of regional biomass energy feedstock partnership workshops. This initiative is part of the DOE/USDA research to advance the development of lignocellulosic biomass and a biorefinery industry. The first of these regional workshops was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 10-12, 2006, with the intent of organizing a Southeast Regional Biomass Energy Feedstock Center.

The Southeast steering committee identified a number of initial participants to begin strategizing how to sustain an on-going dialogue and technical transfer of research in the region. Through this partnership, a “virtual” feedstock center is envisioned as a means to share research and policy needs as the Southeast focuses on fostering a “biorefinery” industry. In order to develop this industry, the use of straw, grasses and forest product residues and resources has high potential as biomass energy feedstocks in the southern states.

A recent DOE/USDA study determined that the United States has the potential to supply the estimated one billion tons of feedstocks needed annually to achieve the DOE goal of replacing 30 percent of current U.S. petroleum transportation fuel consumption with renewable biomass. By organizing a partnership of this type, research can begin focusing on the processing of these high cellulose and hemicellulose materials, which is critical and a major challenge to the development of efficient biorefineries.

Organizing regional partnerships is the best approach to evaluating specific regional barriers, both technical and non-technical. The Southeast Biomass Energy Feedstock Partnership can accelerate advancing technology, policy analysis and investment in the region. With a growing decline in the production capacity of the paper industry and traditional farm crops, the Southeast is positioned to contribute significantly to achieving national goals, thereby increasing America’s energy and economic security.
SSEB maintains an active website for the Southeastern Biomass State/Regional Partnership.