1. Shawn Grushecky Assistant Director WVU Appalachian Hardwood Center
6/15/2018
West Virginia Division of Energy, Energy Efficiency Activities: Woody Biomass
Shawn Grushecky
Assistant Director
WVU Appalachian Hardwood Center
Thank you – My name is shawn grushecky, I am the assistant director of the appalachian hardwood center at WVU. I am going to talk about the energy efficiency activities related to woody biomass that we have been working on with the west virgina division of energy.

2. West Virginia’s Forest Resource
6/15/2018
West Virginia’s Forest Resource
West Virginia is the third most forested state
Forests cover ~12 million acres (78 % of land area)
88% of the forest resource is privately owned
Growth to removal (harvest) averages 1.7 : 1
Oak species account for 48% of removals
Maine and New Hampshire are the most heavily forested

3. Growing Stock Removals
6/15/2018
Growing Stock Removals
If we look at the growing stock issue a little closer, we can see that wv is indeed growing more forest than what we are harvesting. For this example, growing stock is defined by all live tree stems that are 5” and greater in diameter. For this forest subgroup, we are growing almost 4 times more forest than we are harvesting. Counties in red are those in which 10 times more forest is growing than what is harvested.

4. Wood Residues Wood Residues Primary Secondary Tertiary
6/15/2018
Wood Residues
Wood Residues
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Logging Residues
Fuel Treatment
Primary wood processing mill residues
Secondary wood processing mill residues
Pulping liquors (black liquor)
Urban wood residues
Wood residues can be classified into these three major groups including residues produced during the harvesting of forest products, primary breakdown of forest products into lumber and consumer goods, and also tertiary products such as urban wood waste.
Tree Trimming
(Source: Perlack et al. 2005)

5. Types of Woody Byproducts
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Types of Woody Byproducts
These photos show a little better depiction of the major sources of woody byproducts in West Virginia. One of the major sources is logging residues or slash that remains after harvesting, another is the production of bark, sawdust, and edgings from lumber producing operations, as well as sawdust and chips from secondary manufacturers.

6. Logging Residues (Tons/Acre)
6/15/2018
Logging Residues (Tons/Acre)
The AHC has conducted two intensive studies on the amount of logging residues that remain after timber harvest in West Virginia. From surveys conducted in 1995 and 2001, we know that approximately 8 tons of logging residues remain after harvest. Counties in yellow in red in this map have greater than 8 tons/acre of logging residues remaining after harvest. This counts only logging residues that are at least 4” in diameter – so considerably more is available.

7. Logging Residue Totals for 2006
6/15/2018
Logging Residue Totals for 2006
If we take the 8 tons per acre figure and multiply by the number of acres harvested – we can estimate the total availabilty of logging residues. In 2006 there were over 2 million tons of logging residue available. Counties in yellow and red had greater than 50,000 tons per year available – this represents approximately 2500 truckloads of logging residues.

8. Primary Mill Residues - 2007
6/15/2018
Primary Mill Residues
Through collaborative work with the WV Division of Energy, the AHC has conducted surveys on the amount of primary and secondary mill residues that are available on a yearly basis. This has been done for a period of approximately 8 years. This map depicts the amount of sawdust, chips and bark produced yearly by county in West Virginia during 2007.

9. Primary Mill Residues : 2005-2007
6/15/2018
Primary Mill Residues :
To remove some of the variability in response, this map shows the average amount of mill byproducts that were available for the three year period counties produced in excess of 50 thousand tons of mill residues per year. Counties in red produced more than 150,000 tons per year.

10. Annual Wood Residue Production
6/15/2018
Annual Wood Residue Production
Total 2.41 million dry tons (~5 million green tons) of residue per year.
1.34 million dry tons of logging residue, 55%.
941,888 dry tons of mill residue (39%).
40,000+ green tons weekly
80% from sawmills and 20% from secondary manufacturers
50% of chips, 30% of sawdust, and 20% of bark
Urban tree and pallet residues, 6%
Equivalent to Btu - ~25% of the electricity used in WV households
If we sum up all of the available forms of excess woody biomass, we could potentially capture a significant portion of waste stream products for alternative energy projects. These figures do not include other forms of woody biomass that could be incorporated including tree plantings, and forest thinnings.

11. Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner, MA
6/15/2018
Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner, MA
Closed loop, two pipe hydronic heating system, ~$4 million invested
8M Btu combustion unit
During 2003/2004 heating season, saved Mt. Wachusett approximately $275,000
Also have installed 50kw downdraft gasifier
Produces electricity for buildings via production of syngas from woodchips
Syngas is then combusted in a Honda generator to produce electricity
Where we would like to head – encourage energy users to consider the use of woody biomass for the production of heat and process steam. While this is just one potential outlet, it could represent savings for those industries involved. We have many examples from the wood products industry in the state. Need to get non-wood producers to consider. I will finish this talk with an example of an existing woody biomass energy user from Mass.

12. In Summary
We are actively partnering with the WV Division of Energy to encourage the increased use of woody biomass – which WV clearly has an abundant supply.
Although complete recovery of woody residues may not be feasible, they represent an economic resource that has been largely ignored in WV.
More emphasis needs to be placed on the efficient recovery of these materials in a sustainable fashion.
Opportunities definitely exist for new industries to develop around this resource that will benefit the people and the communities of the Appalachian region.
Important for WV to promote the use of our natural resources not only for the production of traditional forest products, but also for liquid fuels, electricity, heat and process steam, as well chemical feedstocks, syngas, and its use in coal liquefaction, among others…