[SustainableTompkins] DEC: woody biomass as an alternative energy

[Thomas Shelley]

Dear Friends--The following has been forwarded from the mailing list 
maintained at Cornell by BZ Marranca.  I thought it might be of interest to 
some of us as it deals with an alternative energy source that could be a 
local product as well.  Tom

>Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:26:34 -0400
>To: mmm10 at cornell.edu
>From: Peter Smallidge <pjs23 at cornell.edu> (by way of BZ Marranca 
><mmm10 at cornell.edu>)
>Subject: DEC: woody biomass as an alternative energy
>
>FYI,
>Peter
>
>===================
>DEC Explores Woody Biomass as Alt Energy Source
>Feasibility study centers on Adirondack logging leftovers
>
>ALBANY, NY (08/31/2007; 1109)(readMedia)-- Every year, one million tons of 
>green energy rots on the Adirondack forest floor. Now, the State 
>Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is studying ways to convert 
>that material to a woody biomass fuel.
>
>DEC has secured a grant from the U.S. Forest Service to explore the 
>feasibility of converting leftover wood from logging operations on private 
>lands into a fuel source. The $64,000 award will fund a one-year project 
>to evaluate whether there would be enough potential users in and around 
>the Adirondack Park to make woody biomass a go.
>
>"This is an idea we really want to explore,'' DEC Commissioner Pete 
>Grannis said. "As we look for innovative ways to enhance the economic and 
>environmental health of North Country communities, harnessing locally 
>grown energy sources such as low-grade wood might be part of the answer. 
>Also, the program could help private forest land owners in the Adirondacks 
>find new markets for low-grade wood, contributing to a sustainable economy 
>for the Adirondacks and reducing the region's reliance on fossil fuels."
>
>Typically, this material consists of the tops of hardwood and softwood 
>trees, including maple, birch, beech, white pine, spruce and fir, that 
>logging operations discard. The study would focus only on private lands.
>
>Currently, about two million tons of wood chips harvested from private 
>Adirondack lands go into the low-grade wood market, as pulp or biofuel. 
>Some of that goes to two cogeneration facilities in the North Country. DEC 
>estimates at least another one million tons gets left behind.
>
>The potential customers would be community colleges, prisons, other state 
>facilities and additional medium-scale energy users because they have the 
>capacity to store the wood chips. Also their heating and cooling systems 
>incorporate the appropriate emissions controls to protect air quality. 
>Currently, these facilities predominately rely on oil for fuel.
>
>The study would evaluate interest, storage capabilities, heating systems 
>and engineering concerns. It also would look at whether prospective 
>customers could switch to wood and meet air emissions standards. Plans 
>also include hosting at least two regional workshops.
>
>New York State has set a goal to have 25 percent of its electricity come 
>from renewable energy sources by 2012. Woody biomass is one potential 
>source. Further, State Forester Robert K. Davies said the project, if 
>successful, could create a synergy between "benefits to the forest and 
>biomass energy." Davies noted that DEC has been providing technical and 
>other assistance to parties involved in the emerging woody biomass industry.
>
>"The Northern Forest region of New York contains vast forestry resources 
>that can be responsibly tapped to help meet our energy requirements in an 
>environmentally sound way,'' Davies said.
>
>The grants were awarded through the U.S. Forest Service's Wood to Energy 
>``Jump Start'' program.
>
>"These grants are another step for the conservation of the hundreds of 
>thousands of family forests in the Empire State. The future of private 
>forests depends on markets that keep timberland valuable for use other 
>than development,'' said Anne F. Archie, U.S. Forest Service Northeast 
>Field Representative for State and Private Forestry.
>
>The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, which recently 
>helped form a new Adirondack Energy $mart Park Coalition, endorsed the 
>woody biomass feasibility study.
>
>"One of our goals is to make the Adirondacks a model of energy 
>conservation and efficiency with an emphasis on renewable resources. The 
>coalition considers the production of energy from woody biomass to be a 
>critically important component of our vision for the region,'' said David 
>Gibson, executive director of the Association for the Protection of the 
>Adirondacks.
>
>This article was found on:
><http://www.readmedia.com/news/show/DEC-Explores-Woody-Biomass-as-Alt-Energy-Source/8119>http://www.readmedia.com/news/show/DEC-Explores-Woody-Biomass-as-Alt-Energy-Source/8119 
>
>
>Peter J. Smallidge
>NYS Extension Forester and Director, Arnot Teaching and Research Forest
>Cornell University
>116 Fernow Hall
>Ithaca, NY 14853
>
>607-592-3640 voice (cell)
>607-255-2815 fax
>
>www.ForestConnect.info
>www.CornellMaple.info
>www.ArnotForest.info

Tom Shelley
118 E. Court St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607 342-0864
tjs1 at cornell.edu
http://www.myspace.com/99319958