- Author: Gareth J Mayhead
Last week I was in Flagstaff, Arizona, for the Smallwood 2012 conference. I was on the planning committee and it was great to see over 200 people in attendance. The conference started with some good introductory presentations looking at the background to the Southwest forest products industry (Todd Morgan, University of Montana) and to broader federal policy issues (Butch Blazer, USDA). The conference then split into two tracks and covered topics ranging from collaboration, ecosystem restoration, grants and incentives, pre-treatment, technologies and products, markets and other topics.
I was fortunate to be moderating a panel on pyrolysis technologies. I started with a brief introduction to the range of pyrolysis technologies including slow pyrolysis, torrefaction and fast pyrolysis. The tables below compare pyrolysis technologies, outputs and markets.
The speakers and topics were:
- Jim Ippolito (USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation & Soils Research Laboratory) – Biochar Opportunities
- Andy Soria (University of Alaska) - Pyrolysis Oil Opportunities
- Larry Felix (Gas Technology Institute) – Torrefaction Opportunities
Jim gave an excellent introduction to the uses and properties of biochar which can be produced from a variety of processes. I appreciated that, in addition to covering pyrolysis technologies, Andy and Larry introduced the audience to two alternative technologies: hydro-thermal carbonization (to produce a product similar to torrefied wood) and liquefaction using supercritical fluids (to produce a bio-oil).
We have recently written a fact sheet on pyrolysis which is available here for download if you wish to learn more. It is currently in a draft form awaiting review. I would be grateful to receive comments on it.
The presentations from this session and the rest of the conference will be available shortly on the Forest Products Society website.
- Author: Gareth J Mayhead
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the successful projects that will receive almost $3m in funding from the 2011 Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program. This year the program objective was to fund advanced engineering studies for woody biomass to energy projects.
Nationally 17 projects were selected for funding, including 3 from California, from a total of 34 submitted. The successful projects are listed below and locations are shown on the map.
Applicant |
City |
State |
Grant Amount |
Matanuska-Susitna Borough |
Palmer, |
AK |
$ 80,000 |
Placer County |
Kings Beach, |
CA |
$ 50,000 |
Kiara Solar |
Anderson, |
CA |
$ 250,000 |
Trinity River Lumber |
Weaverville, |
CA |
$ 250,000 |
Community Power Corporation |
Littleton, |
CO |
$ 125,000 |
Idaho Forest Group |
Coeur d'Alene, |
ID |
$ 135,000 |
Yellowstone Power |
Emmet, |
ID |
$ 250,000 |
EcoPower Generation, LLC |
Lexington, |
KY |
$ 250,000 |
Stoltze Land & Lumber |
Columbia Falls, |
MT |
$ 190,720 |
Pyramid Mountain Lumber, Inc. |
Seeley Lake, |
MT |
$ 202,727 |
University of Montana |
Missoula, |
MT |
$ 250,000 |
Burrows Paper Corporation |
Little Falls, |
NY |
$ 250,000 |
New York Power Authority |
White Plains, |
NY |
$ 250,000 |
City of Vernonia |
Vernonia, |
OR |
$ 25,000 |
ColPac Quinault Indian Nation |
Montesano, |
WA |
$ 50,000 |
Thilmany LLC |
Kaukauna, |
WI |
$ 132,400 |
University of Wisconsin--Superior |
Superior, |
WI |
$ 250,000 |
View Woody Biomass Utilization Grant 2011 in a larger map
The table below shows the split of the grant money between the 9 Forest Service regions. California is Region 5 and came in the top 3 regions due to the great applications that were submitted. We would like to congratulate the successful California applicants (Trinity River Lumber, Placer County and Kiara Solar).
More information:
/small>