Wood for Biomass
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Chuck Denney
Can you name the state that has more species of trees than any other? That would be Tennessee. We have over 14-million acres of forestland - and almost twice as much wood grows each year than is harvested. Some of that wood is for paper and furniture, but are trees a potential energy source?
Dr. Bob Hayes
“Certainly we have a lot of waste wood products from the harvest of our woody crops that are left in many cases that could go into biomass.”
Chuck Denney
Dr. Bob Hayes is with UT’s West Tennessee Research and Education Center. Here scientists are studying trees - like these 80-foot sycamores growing for two decades - and the potential to turn parts of them into biomass.
Dr. Bob Hayes
“Sycamores are very adapted to this area, to the mid-south, to our bottomlands. They are a fast-growing tree. The original study down here was biomass production on marginal soil. This was kind of a statewide project. We were comparing a number of species."
Chuck Denney
Results of the study show that sycamores perform well in soil not necessarily ideal for row crops. Pines also were good here, and that’s encouraging for Tennessee landowners.
The lumber industry has actually been using wood for biomass for a good while now. When a log goes to a sawmill, about half the product goes for traditional lumber, while the rest becomes paper, fuel or energy. Nearly 800-thousand tons of harvesting tree residue is produced in Tennessee each year, and UT Experts say more of that could be converted to biomass.
Dr. Adam Taylor
“I talk a lot about the good news of wood."
Chuck Denney
Dr. Adam Taylor is a researcher in UT’s Biofuel Initiative - where he looks at how we can best use Tennessee’s woody resources to benefit landowners and consumers.
Dr. Adam Taylor
“Tennessee forests - there’s a lot of it, for one thing and it’s growing faster than we’re cutting it.”
Chuck Denney
Dr. Taylor says wood for biomass is an environmentally sound idea.
Dr. Adam Taylor
“Wood can be harvested every few decades, so you get to build up the woody biomass over a number of years rather than have to harvest it every year - which is a rather intensive operation. Wood is fairly stable, so that you can store it for long periods of time without it degrading.”
Chuck Denney
Currently biomass provides about three percent of Tennessee’s energy consumption, but that will likely increase in the future. We have wood. We need fuel and energy. It looks like a good match.
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NOTE:UT researchers are also developing a hybrid poplar tree that grows quickly, and could be used for biomass.
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