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Energy wood was all the buzz at the In-Woods live Demo in Hot Springs Arkansas. The Council on Forestry Engineering’s Southern Region Annual meeting that preceded the show was also focused on the same topic. With all the biofuel projects announced or underway in the south, loggers at the show were optimistic that bioenergy would eventually help to pick up the slack and overcapacity in southern logging. So far the talk has not translated into a big impact on many loggers with the price of energy wood still low in most areas. However, the scale of the announced projects could certainly create high regional demands that eventually translate into large wood volumes and with resulting higher prices for loggers and forest land owners.

Loggers at the show were trying to figure out the types of machines that could best supply the energy wood markets. What form of fiber will be required? Round wood? Clean or dirty chips? Ground wood and logging residuals? – or maybe all of the above? How will the new forest owners with a focus on maximizing total forest value, such as Plum Creek Timber, affect the types of machines that will be required?

Peterson used the In-Woods Expo to showcase types of machines needed in this new environment, including showing the capabilities of the new model 5900 Whole Tree Disc Chipper in a live demonstration.

Boiler Fuel Opportunities

This fuel has traditionally, with a few exceptions, generated power and process heat for the forest products industry. Energy wood is still far from fully priced when the energy value is compared to today’s natural gas prices. If oil and natural gas prices don’t drop, mills or power generators can afford to pay much more than the current price of wood boiler fuel. This could increase the price paid to loggers and permit longer hauling distances.

The lowest cost boiler fuel comes from tops and branches, which need to be ground in a machine like the high-capacity Peterson 4710B Horizontal Grinder. Tub grinders, on the other hand, are very unsuitable for this task. The 4710B can grind full trees from a first thinning, or tops and branches from a second thinning or regeneration cut. The 4710B also does a great job grinding larger logs. However, grinding saw logs does not fully utilize their value. Many of the logs we ground at the In-Woods demo in the 4710B should have been utilized as saw logs. When the value of energy wood exceeds the value of pulpwood, circumstances may change again.

Chipping full trees for boiler fuel may also become a good option in a first thinning. The 5900 demonstrated its high production capability at the In-Woods Expo, chipping full trees up to 23 inches in diameter. Many of the pines on our site had large branches that did not pose any problems for the 5900.

The 5900 at the show was equipped with a C18 engine at 765 hp that was not heavily taxed while chipping pine. This chipper had a three-pocket disc but the 5900 had lots of reserve power for an optional four-pocket chipper, which would gain even more production.

Other Biofuels

High quality household wood pellets contain low bark fiber. The ash and smoke from burning comes mainly from the bark and no one wants to clean the ash out of their home pellet furnace more often than necessary. The pellets also need to hold together well with minimum broken pellets so they feed and burn consistently into the burner. Dirty chips or ground forest residuals are not suitable for this market.

Chipping contractors who know how to make high quality, low bark pulp chips are well equipped to produce the clean chips required for this market. The chip specs could be different for energy wood – as short as possible, since they need to be reduced even further for the pelleting process.

Other biofuels that also require consistently sized, low bark chips are expected to use thermo-chemical delignification processes for producing cellulosic ethanol.

The Peterson 5000G Delimber/Debarker/Chipper is the most economical machine to produce clean chips in a variety of these applications. The wood supply needs to be adequate to keep these high capacity machines utilized. Contractors with these Peterson 5000G chippers will welcome the new market option for their clean chips.

Smaller volume producers of clean chips may find that close-coupling a Peterson 4800E debarker with a 5900 chipper is a more flexible option. Industrial grade wood pellets can contain bark, so whole tree chipping with a Peterson 5900, or grinding with a 4710B are both available options.

Maximizing the Overall Value of the Forest

Another new factor affecting southern loggers today is the ownership of the forest resource. The current owners are insisting that the overall value of their forest resource is maximized for their shareholders. Many of new owners do not need to worry about the profitability of their mills. The requirement to maximize the forest value may not result in low cost, high volume logging. Second thinning and regeneration cuts provide the most difficult challenge since the additional energy markets for all of the tree parts will likely increase the total number of machines required.

Veneer and saw logs need to be merchandized for maximum value. A computer controlled processor mounted on a track loader or excavator working at the landing will do this job best in southern logging conditions. The remaining part of the stem used for pulpwood or energy wood will require a grinder or chipper. A debarker will also be needed if the energy wood specification requires low bark.

Contact your Peterson dealer or direct sales representative for more information.