Forest-based biofuels are occupying an increasingly important role in New Zealand’s energy supply. Conversions of large sale industrial heat plants to renewables, including biomass is ensuring that local forest owners and wood harvesting operations are starting to sit up and take notice. The market and demand are already there, it’s increasing and the economics are really starting to stack up.

Aggregating bio-fuel supplies regionally to ensure a reliable and consistent supply to these large end users is now being grappled with. How best to extract or harvest logging residues, procedures and systems that can be used to store, dry, handle and transport these residues or chips are also being trialed and used operationally.

Chipping or grinding at the landing or skid site, chipping at a centralised processing site inside the forest, outside the forest or at a customer’s operation and extracting and delivering loose or bundled logging residues, all require specialised equipment and operations compared to logging operations.

As part of this region’s spotlight being put on the opportunities that are opening up to the forestry industry in utilising forest residues, bin wood, offcuts that until now have been left on landings, short length or malformed logs that won’t meet MDF, pulp-mill or chip export log specifications, a workshop on in-field chipping innovations has been set up for those attending next year’s Residues to Revenues 2022 (R2R) event.

The workshop will be covering new and emerging technologies for processing forest slash, logging residues and stump wood. An informative 90-minute showcase (including equipment that is being brought to the venue for display) featuring major equipment suppliers from around the world has been set up for R2R delegates.

Workshop presenters include;

• Scott Smith, President, Billy Daniels, VP of Engineering & Steve Briscoe, ProGrind Sales Manager, Precision Husky, USA

• Brian Gray, Group V.P. Sales Construction Machinery Solutions Group, Peterson (Astec Group), USA

• Travis Tschumy, Morbark Sales & Dean Pritchard, National Sales Manager, Stevens Group, NZ, and

• George Wilcox, Sales and Marketing Director, CBI and Ecotec, Terex brands, USA

In addition to a global look into some of this new technology, operational experiences and learning’s from some of the country’s pioneers in extracting bio-fuel from forest operations will be explored as part of the conference which will follow.

Full details including registration information on the workshops and planned R2R event that runs in Rotorua, New Zealand on 9-10 March 2022 can be found on the event website, www.woodresidues.events.