Collaborations and Partnerships
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND FIBERS
For decades Weyerhaeuser has used carbon-neutral biomass to provide a portion of
the energy to run our manufacturing operations. Additionally, all of our wood products
and cellulose fiber products are inherently renewable, since they are derived from
forests that are renewed and replanted. We believe that forests and related biomass can be a prime source of raw
material for a variety of products.
We're continuing our strong tradition of ingenuity, research and sustainability
by exploring new ways our assets can be used to generate renewable energy and fibers.
Below are a few examples of our recent collaborations and partnerships aimed at
producing advanced, renewable and sustainable products.
BIOFUELS JOINT VENTURE: CATCHLIGHT ENERGY
In February 2008, Chevron and Weyerhaeuser announced the creation of a 50-50 joint
venture company, Catchlight Energy LLC. Catchlight Energy's vision is to become
a major integrated producer of biofuels derived from non-food forest-based resources
and to deliver renewable transportation fuels produced from biomass in a manner
that is scalable and sustainable — both environmentally and economically.
Catchlight Energy unites Weyerhaeuser's expertise in innovative land stewardship,
resource management and capacity to deliver sustainable cellulose-based feedstocks
at scale with Chevron's technology capabilities in molecular conversion, product
engineering, advanced fuel manufacturing and fuels distribution.
The partnership reflects the view that cellulosic biofuels will fill an important
role in diversifying the nation's energy sources and addressing global climate change
by providing a source of low-carbon transportation fuel.
Testing is underway, across different growing regions and environments, for producing
biomass from intercropped switchgrass and from other understory vegetation, along
with existing forest residuals. For instance, a large pilot test of 2000 acres
of switchgrass is in progress on Weyerhaeuser timberland in Mississippi.
Independent experts are being engaged to verify that Catchlight Energy's forest-to-fuel
business model is environmentally sustainable. Many factors are being taken into
consideration, including life cycle analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, water, wildlife,
and soil erosion.
Catchlight Energy has an agreement to supply forest-based biomass and purchase a
portion of the renewable hydrocarbon fuels produced at KiOR's First Commercial Unit
in Columbus, Mississippi, which is scheduled to start up in the second half of 2012.
HARNESSING WIND POWER ON OUR LAND
In the fall of 2009, we entered into a 40-year lease agreement with EverPower,
a New York-based developer of utility wind projects. EverPower plans to build 44
electricity-generating wind turbines on one of the company's tree farms in Southwest
Washington state.
Since 2008, we have been actively evaluating our wind energy opportunities.
Through lease/option agreements with multiple wind power developers, our wind resources
are being evaluated for:
- Viability
- Fit with transmission availability
- Market opportunities; and
- State renewable energy portfolios.
By early 2011, we had nine wind-resource-development agreements in place
with five separate wind-power developers. Projects are located in Washington, Oregon,
Oklahoma and North Carolina. Potential estimated renewable energy power output from
these projects is approximately 400 megawatts. We are currently negotiating
agreements on additional properties in Washington and North Carolina with the potential
for a further 400 megawatts of electrical power generation. We expect these projects
to provide an additional stream of long-term revenue with minimal impact on core,
timber business activities.
GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATION
In an agreement with us, Alta Rock Energy selected approximately
47,000 acres of originally optioned land in Washington, Oregon,
and California to convert to lease status. Alta Rock selected the lease acreage
based on regional exploration results indicating "at depth" heat resources in the
Mt. Saint Helens area in Washington and adjacent to Summer Lake in south-central
Oregon. Alta Rock continues to explore the potential for developing Engineered Geothermal
System projects and will be conducting additional testing including the drilling
of heat gradient holes on the selected lease lands.
Many areas of the Western U.S. have high heat flow measurements that lie close enough
to the earth's surface to tap with conventional drilling techniques. Once a promising
area is found and drilled, AltaRock plans to cycle water through a closed loop system
to create steam that's used to generate electricity. The water is recycled to continually
capture more heat and produce more electricity. Once developed, such systems can
produce electricity for decades and provide power on a twenty-four hour basis.
ALTERNATIVE TO PETROLEUM-BASED MATERIALS IN NONWOVEN PRODUCTS
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2008 to work with Lenzing,
the world market leader in cellulose staple fibers, to develop novel lyocell-based nonwoven fabrics.
The objective of the collaboration is to develop a technology for the large-scale
industrial production of an innovative and sustainable cellulose-based material
for industrial and personal care applications. The technology will provide an alternative
to petroleum-based materials in nonwoven products with raw materials based on renewable
wood fiber.
The product is based on lyocell technology in which a solution of cellulose is processed
directly and without intermediate process steps into a nonwoven fabric.
CREATING CARBON FIBER FROM LIGNIN
We are currently partnering with Zoltek Companies, Inc., under a U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) grant to produce a low cost carbon fiber incorporating the natural
polymer lignin, which could potentially enhance the energy efficiency of carbon
fiber manufacture and be used in advanced (more fuel efficient) vehicles. The project
was part of a larger announcement in August 2011, of more than $175 million for
Advanced Vehicle Research and Development from the DOE's National Energy Technology
Lab. Prior to the grant announcement, Zoltek and Weyerhaeuser worked together on
developing a new low cost route to carbon fiber using a lignin/PAN hybrid. It is
anticipated that by combining the earlier technology with improvements in operating
and energy efficiencies for carbon conversion, the project may be able to provide
lower cost carbon fiber for automotive and other applications.
