Good visuals highlighting the the mutual benefits of energy generation and removal of waste wood. Of the 15 tons of bone dry wood per acre available, how much would ideally be removed in a given year?
Judges’ Queries and Presenter’s Replies
Presentation Discussion
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Thanks for the question. Currently, there are 500 acres slated for restoration treatments. At about 100 acres per year this plays out as a five year plan with roughly 1500 bone dry tons of Russian olive per year.
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Great job Lloyd!
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Well done.
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Clever example of leveraging the energy of the system to achieve objectives and converting “waste” into resource.
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Thanks Lloyd and Team! Really enjoyed your video.
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Interesting connection between restoration and energy production, and well crafted video! Could you elaborate on the particulars of the bioenergy process? What sort of carbon footprint does it generate? Thanks!
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Thanks Alan,
the power facility that is being designed for this region is 15 MW combustion boiler with estimated efficiency of 20%. As of yet, an Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint has not been completed for this particular facility. Yet, LCAs of this type of bionenergy infrastructure have been reported for other regions. For our site, our research shows that sufficient supplies of biomass sources (predominantly Ag. and Timber; with invasives to a much lesser extent) could be sourced from within the 5 county study site (View Poster tab above). Thus fossil fuels used for transport, which often reduces the carbon gains of bioenergy, would be minimal. Your question, and ‘carbon footprinting’ the site does present an excellent follow-up opportunity that will hopefully be completed in the near future. -
Nice work Lloyd! This is a great way to support restoration while offering a great incentive to do it. How doable would this be on the west side of the Cascades? While we don’t have large invasive trees like salt cedar and Russian Olive (excluding holly), we do have large swaths of blackberry, RCG, knotweed, ivy, and those lovely roadside blooming Scotch broom that produce tons of biomass (though rarely dry). Is it even possible to create bio energy from that material?
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Thanks Patricio,
I have heard some people are trying to bale blackberry to condense the material, and if dried off site it surely could provide forms of combustion. Other partners within our IGERT are looking at converting plant wastes to biochar, and then using the char as a stable carbon soil amendment. I could envision this process being useful for the types of invasive you mentioned too. -
Great job Lloyd and associated IGERT teammates. How extensive is Russian olive in the inter mountain west? Are there other watersheds in which there is an equivalent or great potential for producing biomass?
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Thanks Tom,
Russian Olive invasions are prolific in the inter mountain west. The map on the poster (view poster tab above) shows how widespread the two invasive trees are. Russian olive predominates the northern latitudes (MT, SD, WY, ID). Although there are not yet spatially explicit regional maps of the distribution of Russian olive. Many local watersheds have reported densities equal to or greater than what we found. -
Great job of using images to get across the feel and economic livelihoods of the local area. Great use of video to capture the natural beauty of the area. Great use of images to powerfully communicate how restoration can be closely linked to energy production. Good narration. Excellent at simplifying a complex process into a direct economic/ecologic equation that =BENEFITS.
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Patricio, it’s an exciting idea worth investigating, isn’t it? Turning “waste” into resource. How much holly and English laurel is being removed from city parks and natural areas? Can a system be designed for collecting, processing, and transporting product that emits less greenhouse gas than burning or decomposing the residue? Or offsets other emissions?
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Great to see familiar faces from Cohort 1; well done Lloyd!
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Nice use of video footage and forward thinking to repurpose an existing waste.
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The potential for wood waste biomass energy is endless including job creation. Just think how beneficial it could be to re-open closed mills re-fitted with biomass technologies. Technologies that include biomass liquid fuels for energy as well as burning. Great Job Lloyd.
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Good video Lloyd! As you know, in Northern California we have a big problem with Acacia trees. I am wondering if this type of project is viable in the Bay Area, or if the model requires dense woodlands in a rural setting. Keep up the good work!
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