wood chip boilers!!??

[HiTech]

In my area there are several of these large wood chip boilers. From what i understand they take huge amounts of wood each day. You see chip trailers all day long. Not sure how much money is being made on chips...maybe a cash flow system...as the equipment is expensive to chip wood and transport it. Was wondering how long it will take to devastate the forests around these chip burning plants? I have no idea if this is right or not but was told a tractor trailer load will last maybe 30 minutes. I understand that is with 3 boilers running. That can be some mind boggling wood in a day. Perhaps the price of logs will go up. lol

[beenthere]

They say it takes 7 times the volume in chips (or bio mass) to coal.
Your concerns are valid, as I see it. The chips will get even more expensive as distances increase, and then more tax support funding will be needed to keep a bio mass plant operating. It is a slippery slope.

[PAFaller]

Im in favor of them assuming they can stand on their own and not require government funding. The idea of subsidizing energy businesses, or really any business for that matter, with taxpayer money, does not make sense to me. But back the original post, I think your fear may be a bit far fetched, and heres why. Most of those power plants have a set price, and while they may give a little better price to big producers its all pretty close to equal. And there radius is usually 50-75 miles. Thats a serious amount of ground to work on, and you have to remember that the entire tree is now being utilized. It also enables land managers to put better forestry on the ground. You can only cut gravy out of a woodlot so many times before you have a stand of junk. PA has similar issues, where 3 and 4 consecutive landowners have cut everything 14 inches a bigger, and whats left is rotten, crooked, skinned up, or species like beech, basswood, black birch, etc that have no real value other than pulp and chips.

[CTL logger]

Im in favor of them assuming they can stand on their own and not require government funding. The idea of subsidizing energy businesses, or really any business for that matter, with taxpayer money, does not make sense to me. But back the original post, I think your fear may be a bit far fetched, and heres why. Most of those power plants have a set price, and while they may give a little better price to big producers its all pretty close to equal. And there radius is usually 50-75 miles. Thats a serious amount of ground to work on, and you have to remember that the entire tree is now being utilized. It also enables land managers to put better forestry on the ground. You can only cut gravy out of a woodlot so many times before you have a stand of junk. PA has similar issues, where 3 and 4 consecutive landowners have cut everything 14 inches a bigger, and whats left is rotten, crooked, skinned up, or species like beech, basswood, black birch, etc that have no real value other than pulp and chips.

That's the type ground I've been on for 8 months now landowner bought it high graded it now we come in and try to straighten it back out. The forester for this property says all the time were trying to make chicken salad out of chicken s#@t were not miracle workers some places look better than others, but what do you do.

[torqueporting]

New Hampshire's forest industry produces a high amount of low value chip timber. Many foresters and loggers have said the chip market is the backbone of their operation.

Some argue that low value timber would be better suited for the pellet industry as more energy would be recovered in a building heating process.

[thecfarm]

I live about 10 minutes from a bio mass plant. i can not think of one whole tree chipping operation in the area. I can only think of one that chips some of the wood,but they mainly cut for logs and pulp. I think most of the chips come from many miles from here.

[HiTech]

Not sure everyone just cuts the gravy wood. The way I see foresters mark, good and bad are marked.  Saw logs, firewood, pulp or chip wood, everything goes. I have seen them mark trees that wouldn't even make smoke. lol Knock em down and leave em. All i know is huge amounts of wood are being processed for these boilers. Whenever I stop for a breather...all I can hear is a big chipper off in the distance chewing wood. When they leave a job one could make a golf course out of the land. lol Sand traps and water hazards are already in place.

[craigc]

I have been driving by a wood fired power plant for the last 2 weeks.  It was built by a local University.  The chips were bid out, and a company from out of state is supplying them.  They could have just bought off the local mills and had plenty of material.  But conveniently the conveyor system "broke down" in February and the boilers are fired by cheap natural gas right now. Same thing happen in the neighboring state of Missouri at one of their university's. And same supplier has that contract.

[Mark K]

A couple of my friends have gotten into chipping. Tops and low grade. The pulp markets and the ash borer qaurintine have made alot of guys go to chipping. Quarintine doesnt applie to chips. The chip plants are setting guys up with chippers. Payments on the chippers are pulled out of every ton shipped in. When there not chipping, they dont have to pay. Sounds good but it has bankrupt a bunch already.

[hillsidevt]

i live 15 mins from a biomass plant, that has been in use since the early '90s with at least several chipping operations within the same radius. also 3 other plants within about 50 miles. low grade hardwood seems to still grow as fast as or faster than it is used around here, with the pulp market being reduced from what it once was. most operations mainly chip tops. at $25 per ton delivered i don't think the margin (when it exists) makes it profitable to strip the woods just to make chips.