printed in the Kittitas County Conservation District April 2009 newsletter
By Thembi Borras
What is Biomass?
In the context of forests, a definition of biomass is woody material that accumulates to an amount that becomes a hazard or a management or disposal problem. Biomass is generated during fire hazard reduction, forest health improvement and from logging, it includes:
· Branches from pruning
· Small diameter trees from thinning
· Slash (tree tops, branches, broken stems) from operations
The Development of Biomass
Biomass is, in part, stored carbon and nutrients, the products of unique processes of plants.
Photosynthesis changes inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) into organic carbon (carbohydrate). Organic carbon is translocated in vascular tissue from a source, such as a mature needle, to a sink such as roots, the tree bole, and developing cones. Organic carbon is used by the tree to increase biomass and provides the energy to build and maintain that biomass.
Transpiration transports minerals from the soil throughout the plant. In the above ground part of the tree, the needles, leaves, twigs and branches contain a significant portion these nutrients.
The following is excerpted from Keeping Our Forest Soils Healthy and Productive, a publication of WSU Extension. “Removing tree trunks may have little effect on site productivity, but “cleaning up” branches and foliage (i.e., slash) appears to have greater potential for nutrient removal than leaving them onsite.”
Biomass Treatment Today
Usually biomass is seen as a nuisance to be disposed of quickly to reduce fire hazard, improve aesthetics and minimize habitat for undesirable insects. The least expensive way to get rid of biomass has been to pile and burn it, but in doing so carbon dioxide is released and the heat and energy created by combustion is not utilized. Also, the nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur, stored in the biomass are volatilized and lost to the atmosphere while other nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium become available in the short term, but are easily leached.
Biomass Utilization
Biomass is a resource and higher and better uses for it include:
· Biomass may be left on-site, which will likely require that it be modified to reduce fire hazard, improve aesthetics and minimize habitat for undesirable insects. Modification methods include lopping and scattering and chipping. Slash may also be crushed into road surfaces no longer in use to augment existing drainage and reduce surface erosion. In this scenario, the release of carbon and nutrients stored in the biomass is metered. Note: Wood chips are one of the best mulch choices for trees and shrubs. They perform well in terms of moisture retention, temperature moderation and weed control. For more information, go to http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Wood%20chips%202007.pdf
· Biomass, in the form of logs as short as 12’ and with a small end diameter of 2”, may be sold into the chip market. For example, a local landowner may be able to cover operational and hauling expenses if they are within 10 miles of the chipping facility in Cle Elum. Biomass may also be chipped before it is hauled; more biomass can be hauled in chip form than as logs. The advantage of this scenario is that it may help offset the cost of fire hazard reduction or forest health improvement projects. Note: Chips may be used in the pulp industry for paper, rayon or lyocell or the engineered wood products industry. Try to schedule fuel reduction projects to begin after Sept 1 when trees are beginning to go into dormancy when beetles are not as attracted to fresh cuts and slash. Also, in most circumstances, if the project yields less than 5,000 board feet of timber per 12 month period and will be used by the landowner, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification is not needed. Otherwise, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification must be approved by the Washington Department of Natural Resources before operations begin.
· Biomass can be burned in controlled systems to produce heat and/or energy. At the smallest scale, firewood for home heating systems can be gleaned from slash piles that would otherwise be burnt. The following are the approximate number of British Thermal Units (BTUs) produced per air dried cord burned of local species that may be found in a slash pile. Douglas-fir generates 21 million BTUs, white fir 20 million BTUs and ponderosa pine 17 million BTUs. A BTU is the amount of heat necessary to raise one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit (F). A million BTUs equal 293 kilowatt hours. Therefore, one cord of Douglas-fir represents 6,153 kilowatt hours, a number of interest if you heat with electricity. For more information about this opportunity contact the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Southeast Headquarters of which can be contacted at 509-925-8510 or the United States Forest Service, which can be contacted at 509-962-9813; usually permits are available by the beginning of June. At a larger scale, biomass may be burned to create heat and/or energy for community facilities such as schools and hospitals. The Enterprise School replaced its oil boilers with an automated wood chip boiler. Due to rising heating oil costs, the school is projected to save over $110,000 annually on energy costs with the new system. To watch a video about this project, go to http://www.sustainablenorthwest.org/quick-links/resources/biomass/the-enterprise-school-project. The following is excerpted from the 2008 publication Where Wood Works Strategies for Heating with Woody Biomass prepared by the Flexible Energy Communities Initiative, “Chip systems are well-suited for large buildings and campuses. Successful projects get their chips locally, usually within 30 miles or so. Chip-handling systems are complex and expensive to build and operate. This is offset by the low cost of the fuel.”
· Biomass may be sold into the compost market.Biomass in the form of small diameter logs may be peeled into round wood products such as poles and posts or sawn into dimensional lumber.
Challenges
Challenges to biomass utilization include hauling distance to markets, processing cost, quality of product and storage. Overcoming these challenges, by in part, developing local markets may be advantageous in job creation, fire hazard reduction, forest health improvement and community self sufficiency.
Thembi Borras is a forester living and working in Kittitas County, WA and can be contacted by email at thembi@mcn.org.
Showing posts with label firewood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firewood. Show all posts
March 30, 2009
August 20, 2006
Fire Hazard Reduction
By Thembi Borras
A reader writes "I am the owner of a 20 acre property in the Anderson Valley which has about seventeen acres of mixed second generation redwood, Doug fir, tanoak, bay, broadleaf maple, madrone, etc. My question is in regard to mitigating the effects of fire suppression. … what is the best way for me to reduce the fuel load in my woods while increasing the health of the ecosystem? I have no interest in a prescribed burn and I don't see that as a viable option. What are your thoughts?"
Reintroducing fire is not an option for many rural forest landowners, in large part, because of the unmitigated fuel load that has been allowed to build-up for the past 75 years. Treating this fuel load starts at the highest priority site, your home, with the most intense treatment. The balance of the property can be organized into concentric circles, with your home as the center, each warranting a lower priority and a less intense treatment.
The highest priority area is within 30' of your home. In this area, assuming you own the property, maintain a fire-break by removing and clearing away all flammable vegetation or other combustible growth. This will be tempered by your desire to landscape, so the key is to place or maintain single specimen trees, ornamental shrubbery or similar plants in your yard such that they do not form a means of rapidly transmitting a fire from the native growth to your home or outbuildings. Prune the lower branches of specimen trees as high as a pole saw can reach or within a minimum of 6 feet of the ground. Space trees and shrubs 10 feet apart. Choose landscaping that is fire resistant. Remove portions of trees that extend within 10' of the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe. Remove dead or dying wood from any tree adjacent to or overhanging any building. The roof is the most vulnerable part of your house, maintain the roof and gutters free of leaves needles or other dead vegetative growth. Stack firewood and locate propane tanks 30 feet from any structure and clear flammable vegetation that is within 10 feet. Don't forget it is very important to reduce the fire hazard around your access routes especially the roads over which emergency vehicles will travel.
The second highest priority area is between 30 and 100 feet. In this area, maintain fire protection by removing all brush, flammable vegetation or combustible growth, which includes cutting grass exceeding 18 inches in height. Grazing, mowing or raking grass to 4" or less changes the nature of the fuel from ladder to ground, which is good. Treat specimen trees as in the highest priority area.
The third highest priority area is between 100' and 400' and can be narrower depending on native vegetation and slope. Of particular importance is the downhill distance and direction of high winds. You are most susceptible to fire if you live on a ridge with a steep slope that drops away from your house in the direction from which high winds blow. The goal in this area is to thin overcrowded native plants, eliminate ladder fuels and remove any dead plants that will fuel fire. Eliminating ladder fuels means creating a break in the continuity of vegetation from the ground to the canopy of trees.
The fourth highest priority area is the balance of the property or the matrix in which I would suggest practicing good forestry which is multifaceted but may include the marking criteria described in the entry dated 10-16-05 entitled Marking to Improve Stand Structure. These activities will generate logs, which either can be used personally by the landowner or can be sold upon approval of a timber harvest document, which for small acreages may be cost prohibitive. An Emergency Notice for Fuel Hazard Reduction may be cost effective and if the project meets the criteria and is approved would allow the landowner to the sell logs from fire hazard reduction activities within the vicinity of their home.
If you decide to pile and burn the debris created from fire hazard reduction activities, see entry dated 10-30-05 entitled Safe Debris Burning. Other ways to treat the debris include chipping or if the area is more than 100' feet from a structure, lopping and scattering.
Resources at your disposal include the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, which can be contacted at firesafe@pacific.net or 462-3662, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Headquarters of which can be contacted at 459-7414 and your local fire departments. For additional guidance about how to make your home and immediate area more fire safe, go to www.firewise.org and click on resources. If you have time, consider joining your local fire department, there will be no better way to for you to learn about the emergency response infrastructure and what you can do to better protect your property from fire.
A reader writes "I am the owner of a 20 acre property in the Anderson Valley which has about seventeen acres of mixed second generation redwood, Doug fir, tanoak, bay, broadleaf maple, madrone, etc. My question is in regard to mitigating the effects of fire suppression. … what is the best way for me to reduce the fuel load in my woods while increasing the health of the ecosystem? I have no interest in a prescribed burn and I don't see that as a viable option. What are your thoughts?"
Reintroducing fire is not an option for many rural forest landowners, in large part, because of the unmitigated fuel load that has been allowed to build-up for the past 75 years. Treating this fuel load starts at the highest priority site, your home, with the most intense treatment. The balance of the property can be organized into concentric circles, with your home as the center, each warranting a lower priority and a less intense treatment.
The highest priority area is within 30' of your home. In this area, assuming you own the property, maintain a fire-break by removing and clearing away all flammable vegetation or other combustible growth. This will be tempered by your desire to landscape, so the key is to place or maintain single specimen trees, ornamental shrubbery or similar plants in your yard such that they do not form a means of rapidly transmitting a fire from the native growth to your home or outbuildings. Prune the lower branches of specimen trees as high as a pole saw can reach or within a minimum of 6 feet of the ground. Space trees and shrubs 10 feet apart. Choose landscaping that is fire resistant. Remove portions of trees that extend within 10' of the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe. Remove dead or dying wood from any tree adjacent to or overhanging any building. The roof is the most vulnerable part of your house, maintain the roof and gutters free of leaves needles or other dead vegetative growth. Stack firewood and locate propane tanks 30 feet from any structure and clear flammable vegetation that is within 10 feet. Don't forget it is very important to reduce the fire hazard around your access routes especially the roads over which emergency vehicles will travel.
The second highest priority area is between 30 and 100 feet. In this area, maintain fire protection by removing all brush, flammable vegetation or combustible growth, which includes cutting grass exceeding 18 inches in height. Grazing, mowing or raking grass to 4" or less changes the nature of the fuel from ladder to ground, which is good. Treat specimen trees as in the highest priority area.
The third highest priority area is between 100' and 400' and can be narrower depending on native vegetation and slope. Of particular importance is the downhill distance and direction of high winds. You are most susceptible to fire if you live on a ridge with a steep slope that drops away from your house in the direction from which high winds blow. The goal in this area is to thin overcrowded native plants, eliminate ladder fuels and remove any dead plants that will fuel fire. Eliminating ladder fuels means creating a break in the continuity of vegetation from the ground to the canopy of trees.
The fourth highest priority area is the balance of the property or the matrix in which I would suggest practicing good forestry which is multifaceted but may include the marking criteria described in the entry dated 10-16-05 entitled Marking to Improve Stand Structure. These activities will generate logs, which either can be used personally by the landowner or can be sold upon approval of a timber harvest document, which for small acreages may be cost prohibitive. An Emergency Notice for Fuel Hazard Reduction may be cost effective and if the project meets the criteria and is approved would allow the landowner to the sell logs from fire hazard reduction activities within the vicinity of their home.
If you decide to pile and burn the debris created from fire hazard reduction activities, see entry dated 10-30-05 entitled Safe Debris Burning. Other ways to treat the debris include chipping or if the area is more than 100' feet from a structure, lopping and scattering.
Resources at your disposal include the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, which can be contacted at firesafe@pacific.net or 462-3662, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Headquarters of which can be contacted at 459-7414 and your local fire departments. For additional guidance about how to make your home and immediate area more fire safe, go to www.firewise.org and click on resources. If you have time, consider joining your local fire department, there will be no better way to for you to learn about the emergency response infrastructure and what you can do to better protect your property from fire.
February 19, 2006
Tanoak to Energy
By Thembi Borras
Tanoak is a beautiful wood, we used it in our home for trim, baseboard and cabinet stock. Tanoak is hard and either clear boards or boards complex in character can be made from it. However, tanoak is a labor of love to process, minimizing the defect during drying being the trickiest part. Several attempts have been made to develop the infrastructure for processing tanoak into a viable product, foremost among them was Mendocino Redwood Company's attempt to make tanoak into tongue and groove flooring. Regardless of the many failed attempts to create a viable market for tanoak, landowners and forest managers continue to seek an economical means to balance the large amount of tanoak in certain landscapes with the desired conifer component.
Some forest managers use herbicides to gain this balance. Firewood operations are limited by the number of reputable firewood cutters, logistics, and that many small timers can't afford liability insurance. The best time to remove tanoak is when logging conifers, because the roads are open, the equipment is on site and the CDF plan under which you are operating is active. To do this however, you need some place to sell it and at this time, there is no viable market. Occasionally the chip market will pay enough per ton to justify hauling it to the closest pulp mill in Humboldt County, but this is usually at a net loss.
Recently, I was asked by a reader in Irmulco with a tanoak rich property, "How about conducting a poll to see how many folks would support the county pursuing a hardwood for biofuel project?".
One type of biofuel project could be a cogeneration plant that would burn wood to generate electricity. Another might be to convert biomass to biofuel. One advantage this market has over the furniture or flooring markets is the size and quality of the tree matters less, so there is less incentive to high grade the biggest and best trees from a managed forest. My guess is as much tanoak as conifer could be harvested in the County each year. If this were an adequate resource base, there are at least two inactive industrial sites previously used to process forest products that could serve as potential locations. Given that this topic has been penetrated to various depths over the last several decades, old-timers may already have answers to obvious questions like can it be done cleanly, is it cost-effective and is there public support? Given the high price of oil and interest in self-sufficiency, this may be a good time to once again consider this option for turning tanoak into energy.
Tanoak is a beautiful wood, we used it in our home for trim, baseboard and cabinet stock. Tanoak is hard and either clear boards or boards complex in character can be made from it. However, tanoak is a labor of love to process, minimizing the defect during drying being the trickiest part. Several attempts have been made to develop the infrastructure for processing tanoak into a viable product, foremost among them was Mendocino Redwood Company's attempt to make tanoak into tongue and groove flooring. Regardless of the many failed attempts to create a viable market for tanoak, landowners and forest managers continue to seek an economical means to balance the large amount of tanoak in certain landscapes with the desired conifer component.
Some forest managers use herbicides to gain this balance. Firewood operations are limited by the number of reputable firewood cutters, logistics, and that many small timers can't afford liability insurance. The best time to remove tanoak is when logging conifers, because the roads are open, the equipment is on site and the CDF plan under which you are operating is active. To do this however, you need some place to sell it and at this time, there is no viable market. Occasionally the chip market will pay enough per ton to justify hauling it to the closest pulp mill in Humboldt County, but this is usually at a net loss.
Recently, I was asked by a reader in Irmulco with a tanoak rich property, "How about conducting a poll to see how many folks would support the county pursuing a hardwood for biofuel project?".
One type of biofuel project could be a cogeneration plant that would burn wood to generate electricity. Another might be to convert biomass to biofuel. One advantage this market has over the furniture or flooring markets is the size and quality of the tree matters less, so there is less incentive to high grade the biggest and best trees from a managed forest. My guess is as much tanoak as conifer could be harvested in the County each year. If this were an adequate resource base, there are at least two inactive industrial sites previously used to process forest products that could serve as potential locations. Given that this topic has been penetrated to various depths over the last several decades, old-timers may already have answers to obvious questions like can it be done cleanly, is it cost-effective and is there public support? Given the high price of oil and interest in self-sufficiency, this may be a good time to once again consider this option for turning tanoak into energy.
December 11, 2005
Best Wood for Burning
By Thembi Borras
What is the best tree species for firewood? The answer is a function of abundance, availability, splitability, presence or lack thereof of messy sap, density and energy content.
The most abundant hardwood in the managed timberland on which I work is tanoak. The most available species for a low price or free are the less dense hardwoods and conifers, in fact I have found it hard to give pine and willow away. The most splitable woods are species that tend to have straight grain. Others have entangled fibers and can be very difficult to split. Some wood splits easiest when green such as live oak, madrone and tanoak and some split much easier when dry and brittle, such as fir and some pines. Obviously the conifers have the messy sap, and are not preferred because of their sap. Many people believe that burning sap will lead to excessive accumulations of creosote. However, if the wood burning system is functioning properly, above normal levels of creosote should not accumulate. The easiest and best fire is built by using a mixture of both softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods start burning easily, and the hardwoods provide for long burning and good "coaling" qualities.
All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. The higher the density, the higher the energy content per cord. A cord is 4' high by 4' deep and is 8' long. Energy content is often measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). The following are the approximate number of BTUs produced per cord burned of local species: willow 18, redwood and grand fir 19, big leaf maple 22, western hemlock 23, California bay, black walnut and Douglas-fir 25, tanoak, white oak and black oak 27, madrone 30 and live oak 35.
Most folks will say madrone is the best tree species for firewood, but I encourage you to consider other species, which may be more available, less expensive and may be burnt regardless, in slash piles or wildland fires, without the benefit of heating your home. Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the most dense wood available.
For more information, visit the website http://www.woodheat.org/ and http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/homeandwork/homes/inside/heatandcool/fireplaces.html, from which this production was gleaned.
What is the best tree species for firewood? The answer is a function of abundance, availability, splitability, presence or lack thereof of messy sap, density and energy content.
The most abundant hardwood in the managed timberland on which I work is tanoak. The most available species for a low price or free are the less dense hardwoods and conifers, in fact I have found it hard to give pine and willow away. The most splitable woods are species that tend to have straight grain. Others have entangled fibers and can be very difficult to split. Some wood splits easiest when green such as live oak, madrone and tanoak and some split much easier when dry and brittle, such as fir and some pines. Obviously the conifers have the messy sap, and are not preferred because of their sap. Many people believe that burning sap will lead to excessive accumulations of creosote. However, if the wood burning system is functioning properly, above normal levels of creosote should not accumulate. The easiest and best fire is built by using a mixture of both softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods start burning easily, and the hardwoods provide for long burning and good "coaling" qualities.
All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. The higher the density, the higher the energy content per cord. A cord is 4' high by 4' deep and is 8' long. Energy content is often measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). The following are the approximate number of BTUs produced per cord burned of local species: willow 18, redwood and grand fir 19, big leaf maple 22, western hemlock 23, California bay, black walnut and Douglas-fir 25, tanoak, white oak and black oak 27, madrone 30 and live oak 35.
Most folks will say madrone is the best tree species for firewood, but I encourage you to consider other species, which may be more available, less expensive and may be burnt regardless, in slash piles or wildland fires, without the benefit of heating your home. Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the most dense wood available.
For more information, visit the website http://www.woodheat.org/ and http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/homeandwork/homes/inside/heatandcool/fireplaces.html, from which this production was gleaned.
November 27, 2005
Heating with Wood
By Thembi Borras
The following suggestions are provided to support firewood harvested sustainably, burned cleanly and efficiently, and its energy used.
1. Harvest your firewood sustainably, which includes not cutting wildlife trees, avoiding damage to remaining trees, using existing roads, matching the weather to the surface of the road, selecting trees with the future condition of the stand in mind and where appropriate giving removal preference to hardwoods overtopping or competing with conifers. If you buy your firewood, ask your supplier where the wood came from. Make it known you only want wood harvested sustainably. Also, be aware of diseases which may use your vehicle as a vector, such as Sudden Oak Death.
2. Design your wood burning system such that it burns wood cleanly and efficiently (more on this next week). The efficiency of the wood burning system you select can vary greatly, open fireplaces deliver between zero and 20% net efficiency, whereas the contemporary "hi-tech" air tight wood stove may deliver better than 75% net efficiency.
3. Install your indoor wood burning system per the manufacturer specifications and maintain it so that it remains working efficiently and safe. Maintenance includes cleaning the accumulation of creosote in the chimney, which is a flammable by-product of wood combustion. Most stove-related fires are attributable to installation, operation and maintenance, rather than product defects.
4. Your wood burning system can only operate with high efficiency and low emissions if your firewood is properly seasoned. Properly seasoned firewood has a moisture content of less than 20%. One way to properly season your firewood is to cut, split and stack the wood in the early spring and let it stand in the sun and wind all summer. Symptoms of poor performance related to wet firewood include, difficulty getting a fire going and keeping it burning, smoky fires with little flame, dirty glass, rapid creosote buildup in the chimney, low heat output, the smell of smoke in the house, short burn times, excessive fuel consumption and blue-gray smoke from the chimney.
5. Insulate your home to contain the heat you produce. Note open fireplaces may perform very badly in tight homes because the house is easily depressurized.
For more information, visit the website http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/aqmd/, from which this production was gleaned. The article "Heating with Wood" by G. Nelson Wolfe was also used as a source.
The following suggestions are provided to support firewood harvested sustainably, burned cleanly and efficiently, and its energy used.
1. Harvest your firewood sustainably, which includes not cutting wildlife trees, avoiding damage to remaining trees, using existing roads, matching the weather to the surface of the road, selecting trees with the future condition of the stand in mind and where appropriate giving removal preference to hardwoods overtopping or competing with conifers. If you buy your firewood, ask your supplier where the wood came from. Make it known you only want wood harvested sustainably. Also, be aware of diseases which may use your vehicle as a vector, such as Sudden Oak Death.
2. Design your wood burning system such that it burns wood cleanly and efficiently (more on this next week). The efficiency of the wood burning system you select can vary greatly, open fireplaces deliver between zero and 20% net efficiency, whereas the contemporary "hi-tech" air tight wood stove may deliver better than 75% net efficiency.
3. Install your indoor wood burning system per the manufacturer specifications and maintain it so that it remains working efficiently and safe. Maintenance includes cleaning the accumulation of creosote in the chimney, which is a flammable by-product of wood combustion. Most stove-related fires are attributable to installation, operation and maintenance, rather than product defects.
4. Your wood burning system can only operate with high efficiency and low emissions if your firewood is properly seasoned. Properly seasoned firewood has a moisture content of less than 20%. One way to properly season your firewood is to cut, split and stack the wood in the early spring and let it stand in the sun and wind all summer. Symptoms of poor performance related to wet firewood include, difficulty getting a fire going and keeping it burning, smoky fires with little flame, dirty glass, rapid creosote buildup in the chimney, low heat output, the smell of smoke in the house, short burn times, excessive fuel consumption and blue-gray smoke from the chimney.
5. Insulate your home to contain the heat you produce. Note open fireplaces may perform very badly in tight homes because the house is easily depressurized.
For more information, visit the website http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/aqmd/, from which this production was gleaned. The article "Heating with Wood" by G. Nelson Wolfe was also used as a source.
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