Joann (Tink) Birchem is a Minnesota logger and wood pellet manufacturer whose goal is to see wood-pellet furnaces used as the primary source of heat for Minnesota and the Dakotas. With the rising price of fuel she believes it's a matter of economics that will soon be unavoidable.
The renewable fuels standard will require the production of more than 15 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol in the coming years requiring millions of tons of biomass. Moving that biomass from the fields and forests will be a logistical challenge. Some companies are gearing up to meet that challenge.
Backed by a solid vision and a wealth of ingenuity and experience in the wood products industry, Forest Concepts LLC is poised to revolutionize the way wood products are manufactured and distributed within the wood-based biomass industry.
Biomass projects probably won't follow a cookie-cutter approach. The lay of the land, the existing farm structure and transportation system will make each future biomass project unique.
In national forests from Arizona to Montana, thousands of slash piles left by the timber industry could be used to produce cellulosic ethanol. Before that can happen, the language in the Energy Bill must be changed.
Jim Taylor is living his version of an old saw: Every man's trash is his treasure. New York-based Taylor Biomass Energy LLC recycles construction and demolition debris, waste wood and municipal garbage to feed a revolutionary biomass gasification system. His system uses hot circulating sand to heat the feedstock and convert it into a synthesized fuel gas, which powers a high-efficiency turbine or generator.
By Sue Wyka
January 01, 1970
Government grants and loan guarantees could be used to help fund biomass projects until the economy improves.
By Hope Deutscher
January 01, 1970
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