- Posted By: Jaime Adler
- Written by: Gareth J Mayhead
Last week I visited Trinity River Lumber (TRL), a sawmill, in Weaverville, California. The sawmill was almost totally destroyed by a fire in September 2009 and completed rebuilding in January this year. The mill is the largest private employer in Trinity County with approximately 115 full time jobs. The community was relieved that TRL’s owner chose to rebuild the mill after the fire. The new mill is impressive in its versatility to saw a range of products and in its use of technology to maximize production. Both the pony (small log) and main headrig saws make use of 3D scanners to optimize lumber yield from each log. They are currently increasing production to approximately 120,000,000 board feet of lumber per year. The main products are green (undried) douglas fir and white fir dimension lumber.
TRL is classed as a SBA (Small Business Administration) sawmill by the Forest Service. This means that they are eligible to bid on Forest Service SBA set-aside sales (http://www.sba.gov/content/natural-resources-assistance-program). There are only four SBA sawmills left in California: TRL, Shasta Green, Sierra Forest Products and Sound Stud (currently curtailed). TRL do not own timberland and source logs, from public and private lands, within a 200 mile radius. Some logs sourced from the Sierra Nevada are delivered on flat bed trucks with log stakes so that the same truck can then take finished lumber to market.
As part of the UC Woody Biomass Utilization program (http://ucanr.org/sites/WoodyBiomass) I have worked with TRL on a number of projects including deploying new technology at the mill that increases the efficiency of sawing small logs. Most recently I worked with the mill to help them secure a 2011 Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization (WBU) Grant. The grant of $250,000 was one of three awarded to California applicants (http://ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5184) and will help pay towards the engineering required for a biomass fired boiler to run dry kilns with the potential to add electrical generation in the future. The project will allow TRL to produce kiln-dried lumber, increase the efficient use of sawmill residues and create a new market for woody biomass in the county.
Since 2008 the UC Woody Biomass Utilization program has helped capture almost $5m dollars for California businesses, non-profits and government though the WBU grant program. This represents a significant investment in helping the forest products industry in California retool for smaller logs and woody biomass from ecological restoration projects.
We have helped many businesses like TRL, non –profits and others with understanding technology, markets and sourcing grants – perhaps you could be next?
Further information:
Woody Biomass Utilization Website (http://ucanr.org/WoodyBiomass)
Woody Biomass Utilization Blog (http://ucanr.org/blogs/WoodyBiomass/index.cfm)
Woody Biomass on Twitter (http://twitter.com/WoodyBiomass)
- Author: Gareth J Mayhead
General registration is now available for a woody biomass to energy field tour on November 17 2010.
**REGISTER HERE**
This field tour is the follow up to the Woody Biomass to Energy Workshop held in Oroville in September 2010. Places on the field tour will be prioritized towards those attended the workshop.
We will visit the following woody biomass to energy conversion facilities in the Davis area.
- Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill and power plant, Lincoln
- West Biofuels, Woodland
- Dixon Ridge Farms, near Winters
The tour will start in the Lincoln area where we will board a motor coach. Lunch will be provided. The registration fee is $20.00 payable in advance.
The focus is on showing you some practical examples of a number of the technologies discussed at the workshop. Representatives from each site will show you the technology – questions and discussion are encouraged. Rob Williams (UC Davis), John Shelly and Gareth Mayhead (UC Berkeley) will facilitate the tour and will also be available to answer questions.
Advance registration is essential for this tour – no walk-ins. Attendees of the Oroville workshop will receive priority for this field tour so long as you register before November 1st 2010. Please register before November 12 2010.
Tour Schedule
9.00 am Assemble at car pool location in the Lincoln area (TBA prior to tour)
9.15 am Board motor coach
9.30 am Arrive at the Sierra Pacific Industries sawmill in Lincoln. Tour of sawmill and cogeneration facility (sawmill provides fuel for power plant and waste steam is used to dry lumber). http://www.spi-ind.com
11.30 am Board motor coach. Depart for Woodland. Comfort break at rest area en-route. Bag lunches and drinks available
1.00 pm Arrive at West Biofuels site near Woodland. This is a biomass gasification to liquid fuels project. http://www.westbiofuels.com/Main.html
2.00 pm Board motor coach. Depart for Winters area.
2.30 pm Arrive at Dixon Ridge Farms near Winters. Tour Community Power Corporation Biomax 50 biomass to energy unit. http://www.dixonridgefarms.com/farmingandprocessing/sustainability.html http://www.gocpc.com
3.30 pm Board motor coach and return to Lincoln
4.50 pm Arrive at Lincoln
5.00 pm Close
**REGISTER HERE**
- Author: Rebecca Snell
http://twitter.com/WoodyBiomass
- Author: Gareth J Mayhead
Over 40 people came to the stewardship contracting and woody biomass utilization workshop at the Heritage Ag Complex in Tulare recently. About one third of the audience came from Sierra and Sequoia National Forests with representatives from local industry and the community also in attendance.
[Left to right] Discussing the handling of mill waste (residuals), chips and bark, processed bark, urban wood waste with power plant in background
- Author: Gareth J Mayhead
Recently, as I have prepared for various talks at conferences and other gatherings, I have made an effort to compile information on new woody biomass utilization projects in California. It is an interesting exercise to undertake as you might think that due to the financial crisis and unreliable flow of material from public lands that there would be very little activity. However, it appears that we have a number of exciting projects underway in the state. They can be put into three broad categories:
1 – Power plants (electricity generation and in some cases cogeneration)
Investment in power plants is taking place as utilities try to meet California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Additionally energy investors are diversifying their portfolios in order to manage the risk associated with volatile fossil fuel prices and maturing carbon markets.
2 – Densified wood fuel (wood pellets and fire logs)
Densified wood fuels represent a growing market sector throughout the US. Demand for pellets stoves is increasing. There also opportunities in institutional heat systems and in supplying pellets to co-fire in coal power plants (especially in Europe and Asia).
3 – Primary processing (sawmills and other processing)
The main California opportunities for primary processing are in niche chip or shavings markets and in manufacturing post and pole from small diameter logs.
The new projects are summarized in the table, below.
All of these projects are either currently being implemented or will be by 2011. This is not a definitive list but it represents some of the most significant and exciting projects out there. I have more information on most of these projects and I plan to provide more detailed project profiles here in the future – subject of course to the project developers permission.
All of the larger projects are using a variety of feedstock sources (agricultural residues, urban waste, private forest and public forest sources) in order to manage risk. A significant component will come from public lands and of course that component could grow in time.
It is exciting to see projects that could utilize over 1m BDT of woody biomass being implemented throughout California. Watch this space for more information!
Power plant restarts like Blue Lake Power are becoming more common