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Exporting Biomass

Started by PAFaller, March 13, 2009, 10:55:39 PM

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PAFaller

With all the buzz about biomass these days I have seen that the US is now in the global wood chip trade. Any of you guys down in the coastal southern states familiar with this. There was a chipper manufacturer rep up in these parts a few days back and said logging was slow everywhere but biomass in the southern states was going non-stop full steam ahead. Any info you might have on who is running some of these export markets would be great, as I am sure its headed this way as demands increase. And it seems like the European countries are really looking into the US for their biomass feedstocks.
It ain't easy...

Tom

If "biomas" is going great guns down here, I haven't seen it.  there is a chip mill in St. George that has a steady stream of trucks attacking it from the Florida side of the river when the market is up.  You don't see many chip trucks on the road anymore.

dsgsr

Just my point of view, but can't see how biomass would be cost effective in the export market, State to State much less Country to Country.

David
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PAFaller

You can google search US woodchip exports and find some articles on it there.
It ain't easy...

SwampDonkey

The only thing I heard tell of in the southern states is the pellet industry for export to Europe. The pellet mills being set up are European companies. It's to supplement power generation in Europe to meet Kyoto targets. Great Britain is/will be buying chips apparently from the US to feed it's behemoth 350 MW power station. I tossed out my Atlantic Forestry magazine on Biomass, but I posted someplace on the forum about it.

from that thread:

Quote from: SwampDonkey on November 10, 2008, 05:41:05 PM
Well Florida has gone big in the pellet making industry. Apparently, there is a new 500,000 metric tonne/year pellet making facility in Florida. It's the worlds largest. It has beat the former champion Pinnacle Pellets in BC. The European market, primarily  industrial power plants who seeing the increased supply chain, have been very successful in bidding one supplier against the other to keep the prices down.

The plant in Florida processes 120 truckloads of pine logs a day. The pellets leave the plant on railcars... 20 railcars every day. The pellets travel 60 miles to the Port of Panama City, on the Gulf Coast, where they are loaded onto ships and sent to Europe. Green Circle Bio Energy – which owns this plant – is a Swedish company. The European power plants crush the pellets up, mix them with coal dust, and turn them into electricity. Apparently, the power stations can burn up to 10% wood in their coal plants without making any modifications to the equipment.

This year the British government announced the largest bio-energy power plant in the world. It will generate 350 megawatts of power. The plant will run on American wood chips.

Two more giant pellet plants are under construction in Alabama and Georgia right now.

[sources: Atlantic Forestry Review, Steve Sjuggerud's Daily Wealth]

Apparently, Wisconsin is one source of chips for that British plant.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Tom

Consider that biomass isn't just fuel, it's chips as well.  Clean chips are sold to Paper mills just like pulp logs.  If pulp logs can be hauled in by train from a thousand miles away, chips could be too.  Also, specially designed chips are used in Oriented Strand Board (OSB).  There is nothing that says that the logs can't be chipped in the woods.  :)

Climber

In NH wood chips are same price as a pulp.
On most jobs I rather to chip every think then to handle pulp, saw logs and chips separately.

We have 2 power stations burning biomass, bunch of companies who color for mulch, few paper mills as well end consumers who using for fill, horses, playground and so on.

You should ask your state rep to consider using biomass for energy and other needs.


stumphugger

Eastern Oregon is exporting biomass to SW Warshington.  I guess sometimes they press the thinning slash into hocky puck sized pellets for this.   The chipped stuff doesn't have to be as clean as wood chips for paper or home pellet stoves.  That's all I know.

SwampDonkey

I believe Maine is building a big gasifier to generate electric by using wood chips. Boralex in Fort Fairfield sells power to Maine Public Service, generates power off wood chips. Their supplier contract comes up soon I heard on TV. It pays the town $400,000 in tax revenue.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Blake22

Quote from: Tom on March 14, 2009, 08:10:47 PM
Consider that biomass isn't just fuel, it's chips as well.  Clean chips are sold to Paper mills just like pulp logs.  If pulp logs can be hauled in by train from a thousand miles away, chips could be too.  Also, specially designed chips are used in Oriented Strand Board (OSB).  There is nothing that says that the logs can't be chipped in the woods.  :)

It has been rumored that the Langdale Co is going to shutdown their OSB mill in Quitman, Ga. That's 30 miles south of Moultrie. I heard that from one of their loggers and from the owner of a trucking company that transports OSB for Langboard.

Sad thing is it might take a bad huricane or earthqauke to get things going again. Somebody needs to build a bunch of houses.
Blake

9shooter

I'm not much for the so called "green bs" but......My neighbor is looking into putting in a "green" biomass power plant. It is supposed to run on cow farming refuse. I wonder if they might want some wood?..........I might just have to change my colors. I hate the idea of attempting to get some of that "stimulis" money, after all, it's coming out of all of our pockets, but given the rotten economy maybe the idea has some merit.
Earth First! We'll log the other planet's later!

Woolywolf

Coincidentally, the NCSU website had a short article about wood chips posted on it today:

March 11, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Is wood the new coal? Researchers at North Carolina State University think so, and they are part of a team working to turn woodchips into a substitute for coal by using a process called torrefaction that is greener, cleaner and more efficient than traditional coal burning.

Environmental organizations have raised concerns for decades about the environmental impact of the burning of fossil fuels – particularly coal – for energy. The combustion of coal contributes to acid rain and air pollution, and has been connected with global warming.

During torrefaction, woodchips go through a machine – almost like an industrial-sized oven – to remove the moisture and toast the biomass. The machine, called a torrefier, changes more than just the appearance of the woody biomass. The chips become physically and chemically altered – through heat in a low-oxygen environment – to make them drier and easier to crush.

The torrefied wood is lighter than the original woodchips but retains 80 percent of the original energy content in one-third the weight. That makes them an ideal feedstock for electric power plants that traditionally use coal to generate energy for businesses and residential neighborhoods.

While the process of torrefaction is nothing new, NC State's particular torrefier machine, called the Autothermic Transportable Torrefaction Machine (ATTM), is field portable and self-heated. Traditional torrefier machines are bulky and immobile, but the ATTM lends itself to field-based operations, which reduces the cost of transporting tons of woody biomass to and from the combustion facilities. The ATTM is also largely self-powered, producing a large energy return while also removing carbon from the atmosphere.

"This process could help us build a bridge to more energy independence," says Chris Hopkins, a doctoral student in forestry at NC State and developer of the torrefier machine.

Woodchips are abundant in North Carolina while coal is all imported from other states. More importantly, woodchips are a carbon neutral source of energy. For a state that spends more than $4 billion a year importing coal, use of torrefied wood could result in an economic windfall.

Hopkins explains that nearly half of the state's forests are not adequately thinned because landowners lack a market for small diameter trees, rotten or unusable trees and logging residue. That land could be producing more valuable wood products if it was managed more effectively, he says.

If woodchips were collected and sold to help fire North Carolina's energy generating plants, the state's tax base could be increased by nearly $400 million a year, Hopkins estimates. Since the torrefier machine is small enough to transport, it could be set up close to forest-clearing operations, making the process even more efficient.

NC State's Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) announced an exclusive license agreement with AgriTech Producers, LLC of Columbia, S.C. to commercialize this technology, called "Carolina Coal." Billy B. Houghteling, director of OTT, says, "This partnership is an example of how NC State contributes to the strengthening of our state and national economy. By partnering with organizations like AgriTech, the university's scientific discoveries move beyond the Belltower and into the marketplace where they can really make a difference."


Ed

Quote from: 9shooter on March 16, 2009, 10:49:18 PM
I'm not much for the so called "green bs" but......My neighbor is looking into putting in a "green" biomass power plant. It is supposed to run on cow farming refuse. I wonder if they might want some wood?..........I might just have to change my colors. I hate the idea of attempting to get some of that "stimulis" money, after all, it's coming out of all of our pockets, but given the rotten economy maybe the idea has some merit.

The "cow farming refuse" is manure.  :D
The methane gas is collected and used to run generators.

Ed

9shooter

Actually the biomass power plant is going to utilize some "new technology" and is supposedly a step up from those failed methane gas collectors. The grant application has been submitted. The gist of the process involves mixing stuff in a tank and fermenting it and then drying it and using a gasification boiler. At least thats the way I heard it. I may have left out a few details. I figure there are plenty of new ways to do things just waiting for the inspiration of hard times to provide the motivation. I've been stewing about a wood gasification boiler for a number of years and am getting closer to building a prototype. I plan on learning what I can from them brainy types working on this new project.
I understand there are similar plants in operation in the state. I think there is a chicken farm/factory using one over on the western side of the state.
Earth First! We'll log the other planet's later!

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