(December 2008) Our Stockton CoGen plant (SCC) is located in California’s San Joaquin Valley, which is a heavily agricultural area. That means the area generates a lot of agricultural waste products—sometimes called biomass fuel. In step with the current California greenhouse gas (GHG) initiative legislation, and to address the rising costs of coal and transportation, SCC has worked with the local Air District to develop an alternative fuel plan. The plan uses various nut shells and stone fruit pits as an offset for coal. In fact, recent test-firing of walnut and pistachio shells and peach pits has just ended and with positive results.

SCC has been successful in sustaining the use of biomass fuel at a modest rate relative to total fuel flow into the CFB boiler. By combining renewable biomass fuels and traditional fossil fuels, the Stockton Operations & Maintenance team just had to make some procedural adjustments. All it took was using existing fuel transfer equipment and a lot of innovative thinking.

Air Products now has received permits for the use of biomass as part of its fuel mix. While biomass isn't displacing all the coal, it’s helping reduce coal emissions and lower fuel and transportation costs.