http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/Database-of-Woody-Biomass-Energy-Gets-Upgraded-Expanded-203303151.html
Posted By Mark Vruno | 04/16/2013 6:32:00 PM
GREENVILLE, SC – A three-year-old database of
industrial and selected community-scale users of wood-to-energy
facilities across North America has been updated and expanded, reports
the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment). The
improved site -- www.wood2energy.org -- is a searchable database open to
anyone with interest in the state of wood-to-energy conversion at a
national, state/provincial or local operating level.
Through the Woody Biomass Joint Venture – a partnership between the
USDA Forest Service and the Endowment – recent updates to the
Wood2Energy database ensure that it serves as the most comprehensive and
up-to-date source of users and processors of wood for energy, e.g.,
electric facilities, thermal installations, pellet mills, etc.
Partners thoughout the biomass industry as well as state and federal
agencies have worked to improve the usability and accuracy of the
database and recently began including thermal installations, such as
schools and government offices.
Wood2Energy project manager Mladen Grbovic says it now has reviewed
and updated for accuracy more than half of the existing U.S. facilities.
“The systems will only get better as people share information and their
experience with accessing the system," Grbovic adds.
Carlton Owen, the Endowment president, noted, “This type of
information is vital to making sound planning and business decisions for
expansion of wood as an energy source while protecting sustainability of North America’s rich forested estate.”
Showing posts with label USFS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USFS. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Reading Between the Tree Rows
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/5696/reading-between-the-tree-rows
When my oldest daughter graduated from college in 2005, she moved to Atlanta to begin work with the largest subprime lender in the Southern U.S. After completing a six-month training program, she was transferred to their Orlando office.
In February of 2007, while in Orlando for a business meeting, my daughter and I went out to dinner. During small talk conversation, I asked her what she had worked on that day. She said she had worked on a $850,000 mortgage for a single lady and a second note that would cover her down payment. I asked her how much money this lady made, to which she replied, “We don’t verify income.” With a shocked look on my face, I informed her that her business was going to “crash and burn.”
It was no surprise when later that year, she called me in tears early one morning as her office had just been shut down, putting her out of work. Within a month of her office closure, the entire company closed and filed for bankruptcy putting more than 1,200 people out of work.
I tell this story not to illustrate any ability on my part to predict the future but to illustrate an ability to grasp the obvious.
The Issue
What I am concerned about is the low level to which tree planting has dropped in the U.S. South. From the table of tree planting acres (see table on page 45) you can see that planting acres last winter were at the lowest level since 1969. If this trend continues, we may face shortages of pine pulpwood in the future.
According to the folks at the Auburn University Nursery Co-op, these acres are an average of 97 percent pine. Most planting acreage of pine as hardwood is naturally regenerated unless it is old bottomland agricultural sites, which accounts for almost all of the hardwood planting.
There has been some questioning of these acreage numbers. Each state has a different system for collecting their planting acreage numbers. I contributed to these numbers for several years and I can attest that some states do a good job of collecting data but I am not sure how others get their numbers.
Another indicator of this decline, however, can be found in seedling production numbers. In 2001, the largest seedling producer in the nation at that time, International Paper, said in its annual report that it shipped 425 million seedlings that year. In 2010, this same nursery group, now part of ArborGen Inc., reported that it shipped 218 million seedlings. This is a decline of 49 percent in seedlings shipped, which corresponds to the decline in planting acreage.
Also supporting these numbers is my personal experience. In 2000, in my former position, I was responsible for the production and planting of 45 million seedlings. That same company will plant 18 million seedlings this year, a decline of 60 percent.
There have also been a number of nursery closures across the South. While an exact number is difficult to determine, it has been estimated that at least 20 seedling nurseries have closed in the past 10 years. In addition, many of the nurseries in operation today have curtailed production over the past 10 years.
Where Did This Begin?
We hear a lot about unintended consequences and our current situation has its origin in this as well. In the late ’80s our federal government executed one of the largest Conservation Reserve Programs ever attempted. This led to the largest amount of planting acreage ever carried out in the U.S. South. In 1988, more than 2.5 million acres were planted. This was more than double what was planted just one decade earlier in 1978. In total, the CRP added an estimated 3 million acres of additional pine plantations.
During this period and on into the ’90s, pine pulpwood shortages, especially during periods of wet weather, were not uncommon and overcutting of pine timber growing stock was common.
In January of 1995, as the timber sales forester for the second-largest timberland owner in Georgia, we sold a tract of pine pulpwood just outside of Waycross for more than $35 per ton. Adjusted for inflation, this price would now be more than $50 per ton, or more than $100 per dry ton on the stump. Delivered price in today’s dollars would easily be more than $140 a dry ton. How many energy operations could pay this level of prices for their delivered feedstocks?
The increase in planting acreage helped to push pulpwood prices to new lows starting in the late ’90s as these stands had to be thinned to continue CRP payments. There were cases of landowners in Georgia having to pay loggers to thin their CRP stands. This glut of pulpwood also coincided with major changes in timberland ownership as many integrated forest products companies disposed of their timberlands.
Today many of these stands remain, as their high levels of small sawtimber make them difficult to sell in a market depressed by the downturn in housing.
The Current State of Affairs
At present, there are strong markets for pulpwood in many markets across the South. With the decrease in clean chips from sawmills due to the reduced operating hours, many pulp/paper mills are relying on roundwood to make up the shortage. To be able to supply this level of roundwood in a market with minimal need for sawtimber, many timberland owners have used thinning as their main form of harvest. This approach is creating larger inventories of sawtimber that are being carried forward for harvesting later and further reducing the demand for seedlings.
Planting densities have continued to decrease across the South. Most timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) have decreased their seedlings planted per acre, with some reducing them to less than 300 seedlings per acre. They are also planting control mass pollinated and somatic embryogenesis (SE) seedlings. These high-priced seedlings are being grown strictly for the sawtimber market.
While our government has maintained a CRP program in recent years, the program has changed its focus from timber production to ecosystem restoration. This has resulted in a planting regime that promotes planting longleaf at no more than 500 stems per acre.
Accuracy of Forest Service FIA data
New energy startups have relied on U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis data for site placement. Having reliable data on forest inventories and removals is important in light of the major capital investments in these facilities.
John Morris, vice president of Foley Timber and Land Co., has examined FIA data in his recent report “Florida’s Pine Plantation Resource, Short of Sustainability.” Morris examined the pine resource in Florida by looking at both the plantation and natural pine stands.
He found that FIA data is not giving a current picture of removals from plantations. The FIA data uses an average of removals over a survey period of 12 years. Using this average FIA shows removals for 2007 of 14.9 million tons but a private source that tracks mill usage shows 2007 removals of 17.1 million tons. This is a difference of 2.8 million tons.
He also found a discrepancy in the removals from plantations versus natural stands. FIA estimates that 55 percent of pine removals in 2007 were from plantations, again using the 12-year average. However, an analysis of current removals from the Master Logger survey shows that 2007 removals from pine plantations were actually 90 percent of removals.
Based on his analysis, Morris estimates that Florida plantations were overharvested in 2007 by 3.8 million tons. He further forecast that this number would increase in the future as regeneration acreage continues to decline. Adding increased usage from bioenergy and biofuels operations “will further negate sustainability.”
What Might the Future Hold?
If the solid wood markets do not recover soon and planting acreage continues its decline, what will be the result? There are a number of possible scenarios.
There would be a continued decline in sawtimber pricing while pulpwood pricing increases. In spot markets recently, we have seen pine pulpwood prices near those of small sawtimber and in one case exceeding it. This is especially prevalent during periods of wet ground conditions.
The specifications that differentiate pulpwood from small sawtimber will probably change with the smallest of this sawtimber moving into pulpwood. We are already seeing this occur in some areas.
The volumes of forest residue will increase, as we all know that larger trees have larger limbs and tops. In addition, the current push to low planting densities will increase the amount of residue hardwood that invades these pine stands. These are both pluses for users of forest residue.
With the continued glut of sawtimber on the market, many in the forest products industry believe that we may see increased sales of timberlands by the TIMOs and REITs in an effort to prop up returns within these organizations. This could lead to further fragmentation of forestland ownership in the South.
Additional dangers to forest plantation acreage may be in our current commodity pricing. With corn and cotton at all time highs, we may see acreage revert from timberland back to farmland.
It is possible that we have seen the bottom of the pulp/paper mill closures in the South. In addition, almost all the new development in the energy markets is occurring in the pulpwood area. There have been no new developments in the solid wood markets.
What Can Pine Pulpwood Users Do?
All of the evidence points to a coming shortage of pine pulpwood. Users can wait until pricing and availability become a problem, or they can start to work on minimizing the impact. There are a number of approaches a user can implement to overcome this impending problem.
The first and most important thing a new user of pine pulpwood can do is to assure that their due diligence is exhaustively complete on their potential feedstocks. Looking at more than one source of inventory numbers should be a necessity. If one is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars constructing an energy facility, then having a good understanding of the feedstocks now and in the future should be a requirement for construction and financing.
One of the more dramatic approaches would be the purchase of timberland. Just as the integrated forest products companies owned timberland, energy facilities could do the same. The advantages of this approach are the ability to harvest whenever needed and stands can be planted and managed to maximize pulpwood production. However, a company would face the same tax implication that contributed to the sale of timberland by these integrated forest products companies.
A less costly approach would be to work with the major holders of timberland. Private landowners hold 71 percent of the timberland in the South, so working with these owners to supply feedstocks is key. In the ’80s and ’90s, many of the forest products companies had landowner assistance programs. These programs had many different forms but most included the right of first refusal on all timber sold by the landowner. These programs offered seedlings and planting assistance at no- or reduced-cost to the landowner.
Providing seedlings to landowners has another benefit. Seedlings can be selected that maximize fiber production. Most tree improvement programs have focused on selecting trees for the production of sawtimber. Attempting to identify seedlings that maximize fiber production should be an objective of all pulpwood users.
The Biomass Crop Assistance Program may be an aid in this. One would need an understanding of the species and management regimes that will work. However, future funding of this program is a real question.
Energy grasses may be needed to fill the gaps that are sure to occur. These can give full productivity in as little as three years. Eucalyptus and fast-growing hardwoods may also work to fill the gap but they take a longer time, a minimum of seven years to begin harvest. Eucalyptus can only be used in the Deep South, usually defined as south of Interstate 10.
If the landowner’s objective were growing sawtimber, then promoting an intercropping approach would be beneficial. An example of this would be the planting of high-end seedlings such as mass control pollinated or SE on 20-foot rows and then planting between these rows with good quality open pollinated seedlings. This would give the landowner a harvestable crop of pulpwood in 10 to 14 years while still producing the sawtimber at a future time.
Conclusion
While we hear many economic development people referring to areas of the South as the Saudi Arabia of pine trees, this is not necessary the case. This future shortage will affect all users of pine pulpwood, the existing pulp/paper industry and the new energy start-ups. However, the pulp/paper industry can afford to pay more for feedstocks than the energy industry.
All is not lost, however. Users of pine pulpwood can become proactive and begin to plan for the feedstock market changes. If not, they face increased cost or possibly shortages of pine pulpwood.
The bright side is that forest residue users will see an increase in available feedstocks.
Author: Dean McCraw
President, McCraw Energy LLC
mailto:dean.mccraw@mccrawenergy.com.
Are we headed for a pine pulpwood shortage in the U.S. South?
In February of 2007, while in Orlando for a business meeting, my daughter and I went out to dinner. During small talk conversation, I asked her what she had worked on that day. She said she had worked on a $850,000 mortgage for a single lady and a second note that would cover her down payment. I asked her how much money this lady made, to which she replied, “We don’t verify income.” With a shocked look on my face, I informed her that her business was going to “crash and burn.”
It was no surprise when later that year, she called me in tears early one morning as her office had just been shut down, putting her out of work. Within a month of her office closure, the entire company closed and filed for bankruptcy putting more than 1,200 people out of work.
I tell this story not to illustrate any ability on my part to predict the future but to illustrate an ability to grasp the obvious.
The Issue
What I am concerned about is the low level to which tree planting has dropped in the U.S. South. From the table of tree planting acres (see table on page 45) you can see that planting acres last winter were at the lowest level since 1969. If this trend continues, we may face shortages of pine pulpwood in the future.
According to the folks at the Auburn University Nursery Co-op, these acres are an average of 97 percent pine. Most planting acreage of pine as hardwood is naturally regenerated unless it is old bottomland agricultural sites, which accounts for almost all of the hardwood planting.
There has been some questioning of these acreage numbers. Each state has a different system for collecting their planting acreage numbers. I contributed to these numbers for several years and I can attest that some states do a good job of collecting data but I am not sure how others get their numbers.
Another indicator of this decline, however, can be found in seedling production numbers. In 2001, the largest seedling producer in the nation at that time, International Paper, said in its annual report that it shipped 425 million seedlings that year. In 2010, this same nursery group, now part of ArborGen Inc., reported that it shipped 218 million seedlings. This is a decline of 49 percent in seedlings shipped, which corresponds to the decline in planting acreage.
Also supporting these numbers is my personal experience. In 2000, in my former position, I was responsible for the production and planting of 45 million seedlings. That same company will plant 18 million seedlings this year, a decline of 60 percent.
There have also been a number of nursery closures across the South. While an exact number is difficult to determine, it has been estimated that at least 20 seedling nurseries have closed in the past 10 years. In addition, many of the nurseries in operation today have curtailed production over the past 10 years.
Where Did This Begin?
We hear a lot about unintended consequences and our current situation has its origin in this as well. In the late ’80s our federal government executed one of the largest Conservation Reserve Programs ever attempted. This led to the largest amount of planting acreage ever carried out in the U.S. South. In 1988, more than 2.5 million acres were planted. This was more than double what was planted just one decade earlier in 1978. In total, the CRP added an estimated 3 million acres of additional pine plantations.
During this period and on into the ’90s, pine pulpwood shortages, especially during periods of wet weather, were not uncommon and overcutting of pine timber growing stock was common.
In January of 1995, as the timber sales forester for the second-largest timberland owner in Georgia, we sold a tract of pine pulpwood just outside of Waycross for more than $35 per ton. Adjusted for inflation, this price would now be more than $50 per ton, or more than $100 per dry ton on the stump. Delivered price in today’s dollars would easily be more than $140 a dry ton. How many energy operations could pay this level of prices for their delivered feedstocks?
The increase in planting acreage helped to push pulpwood prices to new lows starting in the late ’90s as these stands had to be thinned to continue CRP payments. There were cases of landowners in Georgia having to pay loggers to thin their CRP stands. This glut of pulpwood also coincided with major changes in timberland ownership as many integrated forest products companies disposed of their timberlands.
Today many of these stands remain, as their high levels of small sawtimber make them difficult to sell in a market depressed by the downturn in housing.
The Current State of Affairs
At present, there are strong markets for pulpwood in many markets across the South. With the decrease in clean chips from sawmills due to the reduced operating hours, many pulp/paper mills are relying on roundwood to make up the shortage. To be able to supply this level of roundwood in a market with minimal need for sawtimber, many timberland owners have used thinning as their main form of harvest. This approach is creating larger inventories of sawtimber that are being carried forward for harvesting later and further reducing the demand for seedlings.
Planting densities have continued to decrease across the South. Most timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) have decreased their seedlings planted per acre, with some reducing them to less than 300 seedlings per acre. They are also planting control mass pollinated and somatic embryogenesis (SE) seedlings. These high-priced seedlings are being grown strictly for the sawtimber market.
While our government has maintained a CRP program in recent years, the program has changed its focus from timber production to ecosystem restoration. This has resulted in a planting regime that promotes planting longleaf at no more than 500 stems per acre.
Accuracy of Forest Service FIA data
New energy startups have relied on U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis data for site placement. Having reliable data on forest inventories and removals is important in light of the major capital investments in these facilities.
John Morris, vice president of Foley Timber and Land Co., has examined FIA data in his recent report “Florida’s Pine Plantation Resource, Short of Sustainability.” Morris examined the pine resource in Florida by looking at both the plantation and natural pine stands.
He found that FIA data is not giving a current picture of removals from plantations. The FIA data uses an average of removals over a survey period of 12 years. Using this average FIA shows removals for 2007 of 14.9 million tons but a private source that tracks mill usage shows 2007 removals of 17.1 million tons. This is a difference of 2.8 million tons.
He also found a discrepancy in the removals from plantations versus natural stands. FIA estimates that 55 percent of pine removals in 2007 were from plantations, again using the 12-year average. However, an analysis of current removals from the Master Logger survey shows that 2007 removals from pine plantations were actually 90 percent of removals.
Based on his analysis, Morris estimates that Florida plantations were overharvested in 2007 by 3.8 million tons. He further forecast that this number would increase in the future as regeneration acreage continues to decline. Adding increased usage from bioenergy and biofuels operations “will further negate sustainability.”
What Might the Future Hold?
If the solid wood markets do not recover soon and planting acreage continues its decline, what will be the result? There are a number of possible scenarios.
There would be a continued decline in sawtimber pricing while pulpwood pricing increases. In spot markets recently, we have seen pine pulpwood prices near those of small sawtimber and in one case exceeding it. This is especially prevalent during periods of wet ground conditions.
The specifications that differentiate pulpwood from small sawtimber will probably change with the smallest of this sawtimber moving into pulpwood. We are already seeing this occur in some areas.
The volumes of forest residue will increase, as we all know that larger trees have larger limbs and tops. In addition, the current push to low planting densities will increase the amount of residue hardwood that invades these pine stands. These are both pluses for users of forest residue.
With the continued glut of sawtimber on the market, many in the forest products industry believe that we may see increased sales of timberlands by the TIMOs and REITs in an effort to prop up returns within these organizations. This could lead to further fragmentation of forestland ownership in the South.
Additional dangers to forest plantation acreage may be in our current commodity pricing. With corn and cotton at all time highs, we may see acreage revert from timberland back to farmland.
It is possible that we have seen the bottom of the pulp/paper mill closures in the South. In addition, almost all the new development in the energy markets is occurring in the pulpwood area. There have been no new developments in the solid wood markets.
What Can Pine Pulpwood Users Do?
All of the evidence points to a coming shortage of pine pulpwood. Users can wait until pricing and availability become a problem, or they can start to work on minimizing the impact. There are a number of approaches a user can implement to overcome this impending problem.
The first and most important thing a new user of pine pulpwood can do is to assure that their due diligence is exhaustively complete on their potential feedstocks. Looking at more than one source of inventory numbers should be a necessity. If one is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars constructing an energy facility, then having a good understanding of the feedstocks now and in the future should be a requirement for construction and financing.
One of the more dramatic approaches would be the purchase of timberland. Just as the integrated forest products companies owned timberland, energy facilities could do the same. The advantages of this approach are the ability to harvest whenever needed and stands can be planted and managed to maximize pulpwood production. However, a company would face the same tax implication that contributed to the sale of timberland by these integrated forest products companies.
A less costly approach would be to work with the major holders of timberland. Private landowners hold 71 percent of the timberland in the South, so working with these owners to supply feedstocks is key. In the ’80s and ’90s, many of the forest products companies had landowner assistance programs. These programs had many different forms but most included the right of first refusal on all timber sold by the landowner. These programs offered seedlings and planting assistance at no- or reduced-cost to the landowner.
Providing seedlings to landowners has another benefit. Seedlings can be selected that maximize fiber production. Most tree improvement programs have focused on selecting trees for the production of sawtimber. Attempting to identify seedlings that maximize fiber production should be an objective of all pulpwood users.
The Biomass Crop Assistance Program may be an aid in this. One would need an understanding of the species and management regimes that will work. However, future funding of this program is a real question.
Energy grasses may be needed to fill the gaps that are sure to occur. These can give full productivity in as little as three years. Eucalyptus and fast-growing hardwoods may also work to fill the gap but they take a longer time, a minimum of seven years to begin harvest. Eucalyptus can only be used in the Deep South, usually defined as south of Interstate 10.
If the landowner’s objective were growing sawtimber, then promoting an intercropping approach would be beneficial. An example of this would be the planting of high-end seedlings such as mass control pollinated or SE on 20-foot rows and then planting between these rows with good quality open pollinated seedlings. This would give the landowner a harvestable crop of pulpwood in 10 to 14 years while still producing the sawtimber at a future time.
Conclusion
While we hear many economic development people referring to areas of the South as the Saudi Arabia of pine trees, this is not necessary the case. This future shortage will affect all users of pine pulpwood, the existing pulp/paper industry and the new energy start-ups. However, the pulp/paper industry can afford to pay more for feedstocks than the energy industry.
All is not lost, however. Users of pine pulpwood can become proactive and begin to plan for the feedstock market changes. If not, they face increased cost or possibly shortages of pine pulpwood.
The bright side is that forest residue users will see an increase in available feedstocks.
Author: Dean McCraw
President, McCraw Energy LLC
mailto:dean.mccraw@mccrawenergy.com.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Forest Service Awards Nearly $3 Million for Woody Biomass
http://www.kentuckyagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=522&yr=2011
June 23, 2011
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday announced the award of nearly $3 million in grants to 17 small businesses and community groups to develop wood-to-energy projects that require engineering services and will help expand regional economies and create new jobs.
"Biomass is a vital part of America's clean energy future as we work to decrease our dependence on foreign oil," said Vilsack. "Projects like these will help grow regional economies, create new jobs, and improve and protect our environment. We will need architects and engineers to design these plants, skilled laborers to build them and well-trained technicians to operate them."
These projects will use woody material removed from forests during projects such as wildfire prevention, and that woody biomass will be processed in bioenergy facilities to produce green energy for heating and electricity. The awardees will use funds from the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program to further the planning of such facilities by funding the engineering services necessary for final design, permitting and cost analysis.
Examples of possible projects include the engineering design of a woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill, a non-pressurized hot water system for a hospital or school, and a biomass-power generation facility. The grant program helps applicants complete the necessary design work needed to secure public or private investment for construction.
The Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization grant program has been in effect since 2005 and has provided more than $33 million toward various projects, ranging from biomass boilers for schools and prisons, to helping businesses acquire equipment that improves processing efficiencies. During this time period, 140 grants have been awarded to small businesses, non-profits, tribes and local state agencies to improve forest health, while creating jobs, green energy and healthy communities.
The Forest Service selected 17 small businesses and community groups as grant recipients for these awards. According to the requirements, all 17 recipients provided at least 20 percent of the total project cost. Non-federal matching funds total nearly $8 million.
The Forest Service's State and Private Forestry, Technology Marketing Unit, at the agency's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis. administers the grant program. The recipients were chosen from 34 applications.
EcoPower Generation, LLC, in Lexington, Ky., was awarded $250,000.
June 23, 2011
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Wednesday announced the award of nearly $3 million in grants to 17 small businesses and community groups to develop wood-to-energy projects that require engineering services and will help expand regional economies and create new jobs.
"Biomass is a vital part of America's clean energy future as we work to decrease our dependence on foreign oil," said Vilsack. "Projects like these will help grow regional economies, create new jobs, and improve and protect our environment. We will need architects and engineers to design these plants, skilled laborers to build them and well-trained technicians to operate them."
These projects will use woody material removed from forests during projects such as wildfire prevention, and that woody biomass will be processed in bioenergy facilities to produce green energy for heating and electricity. The awardees will use funds from the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program to further the planning of such facilities by funding the engineering services necessary for final design, permitting and cost analysis.
Examples of possible projects include the engineering design of a woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill, a non-pressurized hot water system for a hospital or school, and a biomass-power generation facility. The grant program helps applicants complete the necessary design work needed to secure public or private investment for construction.
The Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization grant program has been in effect since 2005 and has provided more than $33 million toward various projects, ranging from biomass boilers for schools and prisons, to helping businesses acquire equipment that improves processing efficiencies. During this time period, 140 grants have been awarded to small businesses, non-profits, tribes and local state agencies to improve forest health, while creating jobs, green energy and healthy communities.
The Forest Service selected 17 small businesses and community groups as grant recipients for these awards. According to the requirements, all 17 recipients provided at least 20 percent of the total project cost. Non-federal matching funds total nearly $8 million.
The Forest Service's State and Private Forestry, Technology Marketing Unit, at the agency's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis. administers the grant program. The recipients were chosen from 34 applications.
EcoPower Generation, LLC, in Lexington, Ky., was awarded $250,000.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
US expert talks biomass
Posted
(News Online)
A forestry expert from the United States has travelled to south east New South Wales to advocate the production of wood pellets for energy use.
The approach involves taking timber removed from forests for fire management purposes, and using it to provide energy for schools in the form of pellets.
Mr Atkins says it is an approach that has worked overseas.
"We started out providing heating systems in school systems," he said.
"We've expanded that beyond schools now, but we started out with the schools.
"It was a great opportunity to help kids understand the importance of thinning forest to reduce fire hazards."
He says it is a proven method.
"I'm sharing experiences that we've developed over the last ten years on using woody biomass for energy," he said.
"A lot of the time we're thinning out forest to reduce wildfire hazard, or to protect the forest from insects and diseases."
For more, go to the South East News blog.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
BTEC launches industry podcast series
Episodes will cover a wide range of topics, including current developments, major challenges, sustainability issues and federal policy. Currently, there are five podcasts available for direct listening or download from BTEC’s website, free of charge. Each ranges from 20-30 minutes long.
Speakers to date include Upper Austrian Renewable Energy Agency Deputy Director Christiane Egger, Plum Creek Senior Resource Forester Steve Robe with Plum Creek Director of Renewable Resources Mike Jostrom, Sustainable Forest Initiative Director of Conservative Partnerships and Communication Allison Welde, Director of Penn State’s Institutes of Energy and Environment Tom Richard, and Stoel Rives LLP Partner John Eustermann.
The podcasts are designed to educate customers, industry stakeholders and policy makers on the opportunities and challenges of the biomass thermal industry. They compliment an educational webinar series that BTEC launched last fall, replays of which can also be accessed on BTEC’s website.
All work has been funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service Wood Education and Resource Center to advance education and outreach on biomass thermal energy.
To access the podcasts, visit http://www.biomassthermal.org/resource/interviews.asp.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Forest Service's new logging approach helps Alaska town
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tongass-logging-20110409,0,5991515.story
The Forest Service plans modest harvests instead of big old-growth timber sales in the Tongass National Forest. It's the right fit for the small, struggling town of Kake.
Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2011
Reporting from Kake, Alaska—
A few years ago, the U.S. Forest Service was getting ready to open up several large stands of old-growth trees here on Kupreanof Island in an attempt to sustain southeast Alaska's beleaguered timber industry.
The target was up to 70 million board feet of timber. Much of it would be plucked from remote, roadless forests. Even getting to the trees was going to mean building 25 miles of roads at a cost of more than $6 million.
The three tiny sawmills in nearby Kake, where the unemployment rate is 80%, couldn't hope to bid on such a massive and expensive logging operation.
What happened next marked a crucial turnaround for the Forest Service, which traditionally works mainly with large mills in Alaska and has encountered endless lawsuits by environmental groups.
The local Forest Service ranger, Chris Savage, set up meetings with Kake's 500-some residents to ask — they say they had never been asked before — what they wanted to happen in the remaining uncut forests around their village.
Jobs, people said first. Check. A few timber sales small enough that our own mills can bid on them. Check. Stay out of roadless areas so the blacktailed deer we hunt can have a chance to flourish. Check.
The result is a new plan that will cut only 26 million board feet of timber, requiring just 1.8 miles of permanent new roads. Much of the harvest will be offered in "micro-sales" that will almost certainly go to mill owners in Kake. Community residents will be offered contracts to maintain old forest roads, repair culverts and thin newly growing forests to ready them for logging later.
Advocates say it may be one of the only ways forward for logging in southeast Alaska, which has chewed through much of its easily accessible old-growth timber.
The Forest Service last year announced that it was abandoning its long-standing approach of big old-growth timber sales in the Tongass National Forest in favor of more modest harvests in previously logged lands, which could then be cycled in perpetuity.
Allies of big timber companies, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), say the Forest Service is still falling short of delivering a reliable supply of wood. But Obama administration officials say the new consolidated approach linking timber sales and maintenance provides a way to administer federal lands that also looks at economic opportunities from fishing, recreation, biofuels and tourism.
"This project really is the first of a whole slew of projects we're expecting to come out within the next five years. We're real optimistic and feel it's the way of the future," Jay Jensen, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture for natural resources and environment, said in a telephone interview.
Lincoln Bean, vice president of the Native Tlingit tribal council in Kake, said, "We as Native people want to protect what's left." Kake's population is mainly Alaska Native.
"We want to see a sustainable logging operation where we can say what's going to be logged, and where it's going to be logged," he said. "We need to protect our hunting lands; we need to protect our watersheds. They always talked about jobs, but every time a logging outfit came here [before], very few if any of our people ever got hired."
Now, Kevin Merry, who owns a small sawmill in Kake, is talking about buying the lot next door, building a roof over his mill and building cabin kits fashioned from the Tongass' famed yellow cedar.
Jon Koefod, who co-owns a construction company, hopes to bid on contracts for ditch clearing and culvert replacement.
"Before, they would bring people from out of town on stuff like this. But now the Forest Service says they're willing to kind of help get us started on some of this. It would help a lot, and if it goes good, we can buy more equipment and employ a few more people."
Sarah Campen of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, who helped design the project at Kake, said the plan gained credibility when it became clear that any trees cut near the town were too remote for bigger mills to economically log them.
But the timber industry remains wary of the Forest Service's new "transition" approach. Owen Graham, executive director of the Alaska Forest Assn., said a viable volume of second-growth trees would not be ready for harvest for at least 40 years.
Tongass spokeswoman Erin Uloth said 36 million board feet were cut from the forest last year, and the Forest Service has a "pipeline" of other sales under development.
Here in Kake, many see the survival of the town at stake. Already, school enrollment has shrunk so much that the high school had to field a coed basketball team this year.
"I ask myself every morning why I even stay here," said Michael Acevida, who had been thinking of moving but now hopes to bid on jobs from the Forest Service. "It's got to be the fishing."
kim.murphy@latimes.com
The target was up to 70 million board feet of timber. Much of it would be plucked from remote, roadless forests. Even getting to the trees was going to mean building 25 miles of roads at a cost of more than $6 million.
The three tiny sawmills in nearby Kake, where the unemployment rate is 80%, couldn't hope to bid on such a massive and expensive logging operation.
What happened next marked a crucial turnaround for the Forest Service, which traditionally works mainly with large mills in Alaska and has encountered endless lawsuits by environmental groups.
The local Forest Service ranger, Chris Savage, set up meetings with Kake's 500-some residents to ask — they say they had never been asked before — what they wanted to happen in the remaining uncut forests around their village.
Jobs, people said first. Check. A few timber sales small enough that our own mills can bid on them. Check. Stay out of roadless areas so the blacktailed deer we hunt can have a chance to flourish. Check.
The result is a new plan that will cut only 26 million board feet of timber, requiring just 1.8 miles of permanent new roads. Much of the harvest will be offered in "micro-sales" that will almost certainly go to mill owners in Kake. Community residents will be offered contracts to maintain old forest roads, repair culverts and thin newly growing forests to ready them for logging later.
Advocates say it may be one of the only ways forward for logging in southeast Alaska, which has chewed through much of its easily accessible old-growth timber.
The Forest Service last year announced that it was abandoning its long-standing approach of big old-growth timber sales in the Tongass National Forest in favor of more modest harvests in previously logged lands, which could then be cycled in perpetuity.
Allies of big timber companies, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), say the Forest Service is still falling short of delivering a reliable supply of wood. But Obama administration officials say the new consolidated approach linking timber sales and maintenance provides a way to administer federal lands that also looks at economic opportunities from fishing, recreation, biofuels and tourism.
"This project really is the first of a whole slew of projects we're expecting to come out within the next five years. We're real optimistic and feel it's the way of the future," Jay Jensen, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture for natural resources and environment, said in a telephone interview.
Lincoln Bean, vice president of the Native Tlingit tribal council in Kake, said, "We as Native people want to protect what's left." Kake's population is mainly Alaska Native.
"We want to see a sustainable logging operation where we can say what's going to be logged, and where it's going to be logged," he said. "We need to protect our hunting lands; we need to protect our watersheds. They always talked about jobs, but every time a logging outfit came here [before], very few if any of our people ever got hired."
Now, Kevin Merry, who owns a small sawmill in Kake, is talking about buying the lot next door, building a roof over his mill and building cabin kits fashioned from the Tongass' famed yellow cedar.
Jon Koefod, who co-owns a construction company, hopes to bid on contracts for ditch clearing and culvert replacement.
"Before, they would bring people from out of town on stuff like this. But now the Forest Service says they're willing to kind of help get us started on some of this. It would help a lot, and if it goes good, we can buy more equipment and employ a few more people."
Sarah Campen of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, who helped design the project at Kake, said the plan gained credibility when it became clear that any trees cut near the town were too remote for bigger mills to economically log them.
But the timber industry remains wary of the Forest Service's new "transition" approach. Owen Graham, executive director of the Alaska Forest Assn., said a viable volume of second-growth trees would not be ready for harvest for at least 40 years.
Tongass spokeswoman Erin Uloth said 36 million board feet were cut from the forest last year, and the Forest Service has a "pipeline" of other sales under development.
Here in Kake, many see the survival of the town at stake. Already, school enrollment has shrunk so much that the high school had to field a coed basketball team this year.
"I ask myself every morning why I even stay here," said Michael Acevida, who had been thinking of moving but now hopes to bid on jobs from the Forest Service. "It's got to be the fishing."
kim.murphy@latimes.com
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Book details wood-to-energy viability in the South
The Southern United States is a prime location for producing woody biomass because of an already abundant wood supply, the proximity of forests to expanding urban areas and relatively low production costs, according to the newest publication released by the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Research Station in Florida.
Written and edited with the help of the University of Florida, “Wood to Energy: Using Southern Interface Fuels for Bioenergy” gives the latest information on the viability of the wood-to-energy market in wildland-urban (WUI) interface areas of the South. The Southern U.S. produces nearly 60 percent of the country’s wood and that figure is likely to grow, according to Christie Staudhammer, the book’s lead author and assistant professor of forest biometrics at the University of Florida. As urban areas spread, large areas of forestland are increasingly influenced by humans and surrounded by or intermixed with urban development.
“The objectives of this document are to increase awareness of potential uses for biomass in [WUI] areas and to disseminate knowledge about putting bioenergy production systems in place, while addressing issues unique to WUI areas,” Staudhammer wrote. “The South’s WUI areas are expanding in population, making them well-positioned to take advantage of emerging bioenergy production efforts.”
The book addresses a number of topics pertinent to the South’s WUI areas including woody biomass sources; harvesting, reprocessing and delivery of woody biomass; conversion to energy and fuels; economic availability of woody biomass; economic impacts of woody biomass energy development; and public perceptions of using wood for fuel.
A number of studies cite public perception as playing an important role in the success or failure of proposed biomass energy projects, according to the book. “Projects can stall, funds can be denied, and lawsuits can spell doom if the public does not support an initiative,” it says. “With public support, however, projects can move forward in a spirit of cooperation and exploration.” The level of support for a woody biomass facility can be difficult to predict, it adds, but characteristics that affect proposals can be divided into three categories: perceptions of biomass in general; perceptions of forest sustainability; and perceptions of risk.
While the quality of the wood varies with location and the availability is difficult to assess, WUI areas in the South represent a significant opportunity for bioenergy, according to the book. “This document seeks to remove a key barrier to using woody biomass for energy production by providing information that can help potential wood energy users prepare to bring this novel energy system to their communities,” it says.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Grants available for wood energy projects
To address the goals of Public Law 110-234, Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Rural Revitalization Technologies (7 U.S.C. 6601), and the anticipated Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act of 2011, $3.7 million is available for grants that address the nationwide challenge in dealing with low-valued material to create renewable energy.
Submission of an application is required for a grant up to $250,000 for wood energy projects that require engineering services. These projects will use woody biomass material removed from forest restoration activities, such as wildfire hazardous fuel treatments, insect and disease mitigation, forest management due to catastrophic weather events, and/or thinning overstocked stands.
The woody biomass shall be used in a bioenergy facility that uses commercially proven technologies to produce thermal, electrical or liquid/gaseous bioenergy. The funds from the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program (WBU) must be used to further the planning of such facilities by funding the engineering services necessary for final design and cost analysis.
Examples of such projects include engineering design of a:
• woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill
• non-pressurized system to heat water for various applications at a hospital, and
• biomass power facility, or similar facilities.
This program is aimed at helping applicants complete the necessary design work needed to secure public and/or private investment for construction.
Goals of the 2011 Hazardous Fuels Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program are the following:
• Reduce forest management costs by increasing the value of biomass and other forest products generated from hazardous fuels reduction and forest health activities on forested lands.
• Create incentives and/or reduce business risk to increase use of woody biomass from our nation's forestlands for renewable energy projects.
• Implement projects that target and help remove economic and market barriers to using woody biomass for renewable energy.
• Produce renewable energy from woody biomass
Note: The federal government's obligation under this program is contingent upon the availability of 2011 appropriated funds. No legal liability on the part of the government for any payment may arise until funds are made available to the grant officer for this program.
Application Deadline: Postmarked by close of business March 1, 2011.
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