1. Biomass Harvesting and Transportation Bob Rummer US Forest Service Forest Operations Research Auburn, Alabama

2. A Billion-Ton Feedstock  Forests currently about 70%  2.5 x increase to 368M bdt

3. Future Woody Feedstocks  144M tons forest industry residues  64M tons logging residues  60M tons thinning/fuel treatments  52M tons fuelwood harvest  47M tons urban woodwaste

4. Biomass Challenges  Small diameter harvesting costs  Low SVF increases handling/transport  Low product values to pay the freight  Ecological/environmental issues  No silver bullet

5. 2 acres of biomass

6. Biomass—31 Flavors

7. Removal cost “The cheapest way to get the 4” stick is when it is on top of an 8” stick.” Steve Aulerich

8. Bentley and Johnson, 2003 13% softwood volume 24% hardwood volume Biomass Utilization

9. #1. Integrated recovery

10. Chipping

11. Integrated recovery  Biomass only has to cover the cost of comminution and transport  May even receive value of avoided disposal costs  May include energywood harvest  Integration with existing systems is key

12. Biomass Bundling

13. #2. Thinnings

14. Thinnings  Lowest cost extraction (?)  Small merchantable mat’l can be processed effectively with known systems  Limits on tract size, total volume  Biomass value has to cover cost from stump to user  Ground-based impacts

15. #3. Brush harvest  Biomass recovery can be credited with the value of stand cleaning  Small diameter/low volume reduces productivity  Special equipment

16. Biomass harvesting

17. Chip Recovery

19. Brush harvesting Photo: Texas A&M Univ

20. You can’t go far … 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 152030405060 1-way miles $/gt.10/ton-mile.15/ton-mile

21. Payload

22. Slash transport

24. Conclusions  #1: Lowest cost to user—residues  #2: Thinnings  #3: Niche systems for brush, smallwood, SRWC  Biomass for energy will not pay for stump to mill without subsidy  Wide variety of options

25. www.srs.fs.usda.gov /forestops