JIM LONG
FOR THE NEWS-REVIEW,
Recent forest biomass-for-energy developments may lead to new businesses and employment in the Umpqua Valley. Here are examples from a recent conference in Roseburg, field demonstrations near Lemolo Lake, and a web site.
The conference held June 17 at the Douglas County Museum was sponsored by Cooperative Extension, Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Forest Resources Institute. One speaker estimated sustainable supplies of waste forest biomass in Oregon and in Douglas County. Another presenter illustrated newer, more efficient ways to collect, transport and process forest slash to burn for heat or electricity, or to convert into bio-oil and biochar. The speaker highlighted industrial investments in designing and testing new equipment. An audience member spoke about a home-made trailer to haul non-merchantable logs with a load of logs for lumber.
Throughout the conference, speakers emphasized the importance of integrating energy production with other goals: to sustain soils, watersheds, wildlife, less fire-prone forests, clean air, and businesses that help achieve these goals along the chain of custody from forest to fuel. One panelist estimated that generally biomass-for-energy enterprises produce one tenth the emissions of burning forest slash in the open air.
The Umpqua National Forest scheduled field demonstrations near Lemolo Lake throughout the week following the conference. The demonstrations featured a one-ton/day fast pyrolysis unit manufactured by Advanced BioRefinery Inc. (ABRI) of Ottawa, Canada. With very high heat and very little oxygen, the unit degraded wood chips into bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. Bio-oil can be burned straight away for some purposes or further processed into biodiesel. Biochar is a valued soil amendment that helps some farm and forest soils hold moisture and nutrients for plants. And after startup, the syngas can be burned to dry wood chips and provide heat for the pyrolysis process itself.
The ABRI pyrolysis unit included a dryer; higher-moisture chips were dried to 10% and then processed into these three components. Also, the ABRI unit produced a cleaner bio-oil by more completely separating char from the oil.
A web site introduced Biochar Products of Halfway, Oregon, the business that conducted these demonstrations. Entrepreneur Eric Twombly, explained this transportable ABRI unit can process most any organic matter from forest slash, yes, but also, from livestock litter and manure, spoiled hay, woody weeds like Scotch broom and English hawthorn, industrial wastes, and municipal wastes. ABRI and Biochar Products are developing and testing a much larger portable pyrolysis unit.
A great deal of information is available:
• Biomass Energy and Biofuels from Oregon's Forests, a booklet that estimates forest biomass supplies. It was produced by Oregon Forest Resources Institute, www.oregonforests.org; 1.800.719.8195.
• Biomass and Family Forest Landowners, a pamphlet from Oregon Department of Forestry/Roseburg: 541.440.3412/115.
• Summary of regulations from Douglas Forest Protective Association, www.dfpa.net; 541.672.6507.
• Biochar Products of Halfway, Oregon: http//biocharproducts.com.
• Jim Archuleta, UNF soil scientist who arranged the pyrolysis demonstrations and established biochar test plots in an elk habitat and a forested parcel on pumice soils near Lemolo Lake: jgarchuleta@fs.fed.us.
• Advanced BioRefinery Inc., Ottawa: www.advbiorefineryinc.ca
Recent engineering, regulatory, and business developments suggest that forest biomass-to-energy enterprises as an integral part of sustainable forest management can generate new jobs in the Umpqua Valley.
The conference held June 17 at the Douglas County Museum was sponsored by Cooperative Extension, Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Forest Resources Institute. One speaker estimated sustainable supplies of waste forest biomass in Oregon and in Douglas County. Another presenter illustrated newer, more efficient ways to collect, transport and process forest slash to burn for heat or electricity, or to convert into bio-oil and biochar. The speaker highlighted industrial investments in designing and testing new equipment. An audience member spoke about a home-made trailer to haul non-merchantable logs with a load of logs for lumber.
Throughout the conference, speakers emphasized the importance of integrating energy production with other goals: to sustain soils, watersheds, wildlife, less fire-prone forests, clean air, and businesses that help achieve these goals along the chain of custody from forest to fuel. One panelist estimated that generally biomass-for-energy enterprises produce one tenth the emissions of burning forest slash in the open air.
The Umpqua National Forest scheduled field demonstrations near Lemolo Lake throughout the week following the conference. The demonstrations featured a one-ton/day fast pyrolysis unit manufactured by Advanced BioRefinery Inc. (ABRI) of Ottawa, Canada. With very high heat and very little oxygen, the unit degraded wood chips into bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. Bio-oil can be burned straight away for some purposes or further processed into biodiesel. Biochar is a valued soil amendment that helps some farm and forest soils hold moisture and nutrients for plants. And after startup, the syngas can be burned to dry wood chips and provide heat for the pyrolysis process itself.
The ABRI pyrolysis unit included a dryer; higher-moisture chips were dried to 10% and then processed into these three components. Also, the ABRI unit produced a cleaner bio-oil by more completely separating char from the oil.
A web site introduced Biochar Products of Halfway, Oregon, the business that conducted these demonstrations. Entrepreneur Eric Twombly, explained this transportable ABRI unit can process most any organic matter from forest slash, yes, but also, from livestock litter and manure, spoiled hay, woody weeds like Scotch broom and English hawthorn, industrial wastes, and municipal wastes. ABRI and Biochar Products are developing and testing a much larger portable pyrolysis unit.
A great deal of information is available:
• Biomass Energy and Biofuels from Oregon's Forests, a booklet that estimates forest biomass supplies. It was produced by Oregon Forest Resources Institute, www.oregonforests.org; 1.800.719.8195.
• Biomass and Family Forest Landowners, a pamphlet from Oregon Department of Forestry/Roseburg: 541.440.3412/115.
• Summary of regulations from Douglas Forest Protective Association, www.dfpa.net; 541.672.6507.
• Biochar Products of Halfway, Oregon: http//biocharproducts.com.
• Jim Archuleta, UNF soil scientist who arranged the pyrolysis demonstrations and established biochar test plots in an elk habitat and a forested parcel on pumice soils near Lemolo Lake: jgarchuleta@fs.fed.us.
• Advanced BioRefinery Inc., Ottawa: www.advbiorefineryinc.ca
Recent engineering, regulatory, and business developments suggest that forest biomass-to-energy enterprises as an integral part of sustainable forest management can generate new jobs in the Umpqua Valley.
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