Beaver Wood Energy’s Unique Process
Once a tree is harvested to either produce paper, lumber or pellets the forester usually leaves behind the crown and branches of the tree. This forest waste is the primary fuel for our power plant. It is chipped and trucked to our facility, stored and then sent to our boiler to generate steam.
While the higher value logs go to sawmills to make lumber and veneer, the lower value (pulp quality) logs go to our facility and are stored for up to 30 days. After that period, the logs are sent to our debarker. The bark removed is sent out our power plant for fuel and the white wood is chipped and sent to our pellet plant. Waste heat from the power plant is sent to the pellet plant to dry the white wood before it is pelletized. In addition to the heat, steam is used to condition the white wood to make it easier to pelletize. Another byproduct of our power generation is ash. Ash will be utilized by local farmers as fertilizer and will be certified as organic.
Market Structure for Forest-Derived Wood
Tree chips used as biomass fuel are the byproduct of harvesting of higher-grade logs for veneer and lumber and lower-grade trees for pulpwood or pellets. The availability of biomass fuel rests upon the economics of harvesting higher-value products.
The waste created from the tops, branches, off-spec wood and undesirable species are potentially available as biomass fuel. For this wood the loggers have two choices; leave the wood in the forest and allow it to decay, or they can chip the wood and sell it as biomass fuel.
Most loggers practice a combination of the two. Leaving some waste material in the forest is good for the soil but leaving too much creates fire hazards, reduces the growth rate of new seedlings and, most importantly, emits a significant amount of harmful greenhouses during decomposition.
FUEL RESOURCES: IMPACTS
The Fair Haven Energy Center will improve the wood resource marketplace, create forestry jobs and improve Vermont forests.
Biomass Generator:
The renewable biomass generator uses tops, limbs, branches and bark along with a small amount of diseased or unmarketable trees. Within 50 miles of the site there are 2.6 million tons of logs harvested annually, generating nearly 1 million tons of harvest residue. The Energy Center will use about one third of this harvest residue.
This material is NOT used significantly by thermal boilers because of its low quality. The biomass electric generator will not compete with thermal boilers.
The Energy Center generator offers market value for private landowners looking to sell part of these harvest residues and improve forest health.
Wood Heat Pellet Facility:
With a truly unique design, heat from the electric generator will be used to make high quality wood pellets, resulting in the most efficient pellet manufacturing facility in the U.S.
(Image courtesy of INRS)
In general, when a single tree is harvested, a number of products can be derived:
- The bottom length (generally eight to sixteen feet) is often straight with relatively few defects such as knots or branches. This section is generally either a veneer log for plywood, or more commonly a saw log made into lumber.
- The next lengths (again, often eight to sixteen feet) may become a variety of products. If it is straight and has few defects, it is a veneer log or saw log and if it is smaller than the size sawmills require, or has a large number of defects (rot, knots, split, etc.), it will be sent to a pellet mill or to a pulp mill for paper manufacturing. If it is not straight (and thus cannot be cleanly debarked) it will be chipped for use in biomass power or mulch, or left in the woods if those markets are not economically available.
- The tops and branches can be chipped for biomass energy markets, or left in the woods.
