Let’s talk about renewable resources! Here in Pennsylvania, our forests are growing twice as fast as they are being harvested. While the 16.6 million acres of timberland has not grown much, if any, in acreage, it has grown considerably in volume. In fact, Dr. Charles Ray from Penn State University estimated, in 2017, that the additional volume of low value stems that could be annually harvested would be 10 million wet tons!
As you can see, renewability and sustainability when it comes to wood products in Pennsylvania is not an issue! And, as trees continue to grow faster than we can harvest them, many wood products remain renewable resources, such as woody biomass fuel in Pennsylvania.
You may be wondering – what is renewable woody biomass fuel and where does it come from? Renewable woody biomass fuel is commonly referred to by a number of names: wood fuel chips, dry fuel chips, hog fuel and green fuel chips. Biomass fuel is most commonly used to power electric generation facilities, heat large buildings or small campuses.
As for where it comes from, we use the residuals of logging and sawmill operations, or those from harvesting and processing low value stems. Let’s break it down a bit more though.
Low value stems are trees that by either species or dimensions are unfit for other uses. They are processed in one of two ways: either as poles called round wood or pulpwood, or chipped “in woods” into chips of various sizes.
Logging residuals are the uppers of saw timber, while sawmill residuals are made from slabs or other pieces that can’t be sawed.
Woody biomass fuel is in fact renewable, and even helps prevent waste from low value stems or sawmill or logging residuals! By using the leftover pieces that are unusable in other settings, we are minimizing waste and ensuring that we respect our forests by using every part of each tree that we harvest.
If your facility uses woody biomass fuel, we at A.M. Logging, will produce from logging residuals and “in woods” chips the products you require to operate your boiler. Not only can A.M. Logging produce them, but we also have a track record of meeting or exceeding your product demand schedule.
Do you have any questions or would you like to make A.M. Logging your renewable woody biomass provider? Call our office today at 814-349-8089 or contact us!