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May 2013 Issue 3 Vol. 22 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • E: l.martin@ryanmediapl.com.au • www.timberbiz.com.au
Biomass pellet production a first for Tasmania
Tasmania alone produces enough bio waste just in sawdust to create domestic heating for the entire Australian population
By Rosemary Ann Ogilvie
I
N A first for Tasmania, Island Bioenergy is setting up a pelletmanufacturing operation onsite at McKay Timber. “McKay is providing the land, which we will rent from them, and the raw feedstock in the form of dried sawdust shavings, which we will buy from them,” says managing director of the company, Rob Douglas. “We provide the capital for the plant and the manpower, and produce the pelletised product from this waste material.” Douglas has accumulated considerable experience in the biomass industry, having operated his Hobart-based business Pellet Fires Tasmania (part of Island Bioenergy) for 10 years, initially importing the pellets from New Zealand, and more recently from a mill in Ballina NSW. “The domestic heating business
in Tasmania has matured to the point where we can afford to invest the capital to create a plant to supply the local demand,” says Douglas. “McKay is just one of many sawmillers with a waste problem. Our aim is that once we’re able to consume all of Bernard’s (McKay) waste, we’ll look for more sites and build other pellet mills strategically around the State.” The biggest thing with pelletising, says Douglas, is to put the mill where the source is to avoid transporting a large-volume product like sawdust. “Pelletising compresses it into very dense small pellets, and the reduced volume allows sawdust to be transported much more cost effectively.” Pelletising technology is basically the same whether the product is wood pellets, animal feed, or – on a giant scale – iron ore. “Many companies throughout the world manufacture these
machines,” says Douglas, “Ours came from China as this is the only country that manufactures smaller equipment for smaller plants.” Tasmanian sawmills are all relatively small by world standards. “A pellet mill in Canada, for instance, could produce 20 million tonnes a year as it’s an entirely different scale of operation,” says Douglas. “With McKay, we’re looking to about one and a half thousand tonnes a year, so that’s very, very small. However, there are probably 20-odd similar sites around Tasmania, so if each produces a similar amount, it will be more than sufficient to meet our needs.”
Zero biomass waste In countries where all the dried shavings are consumed, green sawdust is dried and pelletised, but this adds an extra cost to the production. “Much more green
Liebherr machines were specially chosen for front line work at the new Dongwha Timber Mill, Bombala, southern New South Wales. The newly arrived machines (an A934C HD Pick & Carry 35 tonne excavator and an L566 Industrial Linkage wheel loader) will be used for - but not limited to - unloading arriving log trucks, stockpiling logs awaiting processing and loading the log deck at the green mill. Dongwha’s newest mill is now up and running and will be officially opened this month. The Bombala project is the result of a series of alliances that were formed during its progress. Local, State and Federal Government politicians and departments worked with the Korean owners to enable the project to be considered a sound business decision by the board of Dongwha. See pages… for more on Dongwha, Liebherr and other crucial suppliers to this multi-million dollar project.
sawdust is available in Tasmania – and every other State – than dried sawdust,” says Douglas. “So, in regions such as Scandinavia where pellet heating has become the major source of heating, all the wet waste is consumed: they clean up the forest floors and take all the municipal waste to pelletise and transform into electricity. Some countries actually have zero biomass waste and need to import waste from other countries.” He believes Tasmania alone produces enough bio waste just in sawdust to create domestic heating for the entire Australian population. “And every single State in Australia would have a similar amount.” The pellets produced at the McKay plant will be for domestic heating only, says Douglas. “However, some industries use raw sawdust for fuel, and there are opportunities to use pellet fuel for industrial purposes, such as creating electricity.”
Rob Douglas.
continued on page 28.
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