[SustainableTompkins] Poplars for fuel

Mon Sep 18 07:37:00 PDT 2006

I'd like to see our sewage sludge used as a fertilizer for biofuel 
production. It's use could be limited to our less productive soils, since 
some people have concerns about the impact of heavy metals in the sludge on 
the soils over time. I might note that Tompkins County sludge is among the 
cleanest because of the near absence of dirty industries here. We have 
thousands of idle acres in this county under development pressure with no 
good options for economic use. Better to risk using sewage sludge on them 
than to risk their development and assured loss to agriculture, in my opinion.

I think the most sustainable option for CAFO's is to break them up into 
smaller, more dispersed, and less energy intensive operations. Proper use 
of the manure should be mandated, otherwise these operations have a strong 
economic incentive to overapply nutrients and store them in large ponds (at 
risk of failure in high rainfall events) because of the high cost of 
transportation to more distant fields.

Joel

At 08:58 PM 9/15/06 -0400, you wrote:
>With regard to the talk about fast growing firewood... i personally love 
>the idea and have had experience with the speed at which the native black 
>locust trees grow. There is also alot of talk lately about using willows. 
>Regardless of the species I have 2 ideas...
>
>A forester up in Syracuse that used to care for my trees once told me of 
>an experiment in the Carolinas done during the 90's in which a stand of 
>eastern white cedar (notoriously moisture hungry trees) was planted in a 
>porous bed of crushed stone. Raw municipal sewage was pumped into the bed 
>and the trees grew at a rate of 5 feet per year... 5 times normal, because 
>of the fertilizing nature of poop. The water was kept in the gravel bed 
>(and out of ground water) by a clay liner. The stand was on a hillside, so 
>that the water would end up percolating out into a test pond at the 
>bottom... the water was clear and suitable for recreation, though not for 
>quite drinking. I am trying to find documentation on this and will post it 
>when I do, however John Todd, of Ocean Arks International has also 
>suggested growing fuel trees as part of his biological wastewater 
>treatment systems.
>
>Let's now revisit our problem with the recent manuring done by the local 
>CAFO... I have driven by there at the wrong time on numerous occaisions 
>and sympathise with the neighbors...Seems to me we have an abundant supply 
>of unwanted poop... nice poop without industrial metals and the usual 
>chemicals of municipal sewage... just maybe if the CAFO was approached in 
>a spirit of partnership, thinking of their effluent as a resource rather 
>than a nuisance, that waste could become a means of accellerating the 
>growth of fuel trees, which when burned would not spew heavy metals into 
>the air. (The Carolina trees ended up as paper pulp, because they mopped 
>up the metals).
>
>As for burning, long ago I had thought of grinding the wood into sawdust, 
>which would speed its drying time, and blowing the seasoned dust into a 
>furnace as a means of both firing it continuously and mixing the wood with 
>ample air to encourage more thorough combustion. It was just an idea, and 
>not being a machinist or engineer, the idea just sat in my head.... I 
>remember a similar concept proposed using coal dust to fuel a new breed of 
>steam turbine locomotives back in the 70's. It might be an idea to run 
>with if someone has the inclination.
>
>Anyway, those are my thoughts... get everyone to the table, because one 
>person's trash is another person's gold mine. There's lots of potential here.
>
>Rob
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel and Sarah Gagnon" 
><joel.and.sarah.gagnon at lightlink.com>
>To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" 
><sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org>
>Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 12:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Poplars for fuel
>
>
>>I have used poplar and other low-density hardwoods as fuel and can share 
>>my limited experience.
>>
>>They burn cleanly, once dry, but they don't burn long because of their 
>>low density. A pound of dry wood has the same fuel value whether it is 
>>oak or willow, but the oak packs a lot more heat into a unit volume. I 
>>use poplar, box elder, willow, pine, hemlock, spruce, sumac and 
>>fungally-compromised normally denser woods to heat in the swing seasons 
>>when all you need is a quick shot of heat to take the chill out of the 
>>house in the morning. To use them when the heat demand is greater 
>>requires frequent feeding of the fire. Being lighter, though, they are 
>>easier to handle.
>>
>>One problem with growing poplar for fuel is that it is rabbit candy. I 
>>don't think it coppices or root sprouts either, so it needs to be 
>>replanted every time it is harvested. I like a locust stand for firewood 
>>(Black Locust, Robinia pseudoacacia). They grow quickly, are dense, have 
>>multiple uses (fence posts and rot-resistant lumber) and both coppice 
>>(grow back from the stumps) and root sprout. The light shade they cast 
>>allows understory cropping of things like blackberries and raspberries.
>>
>>Joel
>>
>>At 08:16 AM 9/15/06 -0400, you wrote:
>>>The recent posting of an article about the genome of the black
>>>cottonwood (a kind of poplar) raises a question about poplars in
>>>general.
>>>
>>>It's been suggested to me that a person who heats with wood might
>>>be wise to plant a stand of fast-growing poplars.  Apparently you
>>>can get seeds or seedlings (I'm not clear on which) locally, I
>>>think from CU or from County Extension, for about 25 dollars a
>>>thousand.
>>>
>>>On the other hand, I've also heard that poplar wood is not the
>>>greatest for heating.  I'm talking about just cutting them up and
>>>feeding the billets to a fireplace insert, not cellulosic
>>>conversion or anything like that.
>>>
>>>Does anyone have experience with growing poplars for fuel in this
>>>area, or pointers to the advisability of this approach in our
>>>growing region?  Given their rate of growth, it sounds like a
>>>great idea, but I haven't heard of a lot of people around here
>>>doing this.
>>>
>>>Jon
>>>
>>>
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