WB0822_bkj.qxp_Wood Bioenergy Magazine 7/11/22 10:15 AM Page 14
Restoration Offers Torrefied
High Carbon Opportunities
By Dan Shell JOHN DAY, Ore. estoration Fuels is proving that torrefaction technology is a viable option for converting lower value biomass and mill residuals into higher value carbon products for fuel and other applications. The concept is especially important here in John Day, where the Malheur National Forest surrounding town has almost completed a first major 10-year forest health stewardship project and will soon embark on another. Such projects generate sawlogs as well as lots of small diameter volume that includes post, pole and firewood material, and biomass. According to project task orders, all material needs to be removed to thin landscapes into more historically open and pine-dominant timber stands with reduced fuel loads that are more resistant to fire.
R
Finding markets and outlets for the low value material is key to the success of such projects, which are being implemented across the Western U.S. where public lands are increasingly hard hit by wildfire. Officials with Restoration Fuels believe their high carbon torrefied system can be transferred to other projects as well. As a fully-owned subsidiary of the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the plant was created in response to all of the above and to help fulfill the Endowment’s mission to support rural economies while boosting forest health and promoting wood utilization by creating leading edge high carbon fuels and materials. The Restoration Fuels story originally began in 2014 with that objective in mind and worked with multiple groups and organizations including the USDA Consortium for Advanced Wood-to-Energy Solutions (CAWES) formed by the U.S. Forest Service (FS) and
CLICK HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY OPTED IN!
