Paste this for details http://www.deere.com/en_GB/forestry/forestry_equipment/energy_wood_harvester/1490d.html
Posted on 08/04/2005 6:35:33 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
MOSCOW, Idaho - A University of Idaho graduate student believes the answer to the world's crude oil crisis grows on trees. Juan Andres Soria says he has developed a process that turns wood into bio-oil, a substance similar to crude oil.
The process — in which sawdust and methanol are heated to 900 degrees Fahrenheit to create the bio-oil — is already drawing some interest from energy and wood product companies, Soria said.
"But because it's quite novel, there's a bit of reserve," he said.
Soria is testing his theory with the help of Armando McDonald, associate professor of wood chemistry and composites in the University of Idaho's College of Natural Resources.
Though the idea may sound far-fetched, Soria and McDonald say the theory has precedent in nature — coal is the result of trees being subjected to high amounts of heat and pressure.
"We're trying to speed up the process," McDonald said. "Rather than doing it in millions of years, can we do it in minutes?"
So far, Soria's research has focused on sawdust from Ponderosa pine trees, although he said any variety of tree could be used, including fast-growing varieties like those being cultivated for wood pulp. Only about 2 percent of the mass is lost in the heating process, he said. After the bio-oil is produced, he separates it by boiling points, or grades. So far, he said, he's identified oil grades that could someday replace gasoline, tar, glues and resins that make things like lawn furniture.
Ponderosa pine sawdust is only the beginning, Soria and McDonald claim. Next, they will begin testing to see if they can get bio-oil from pine needles and bark.
The two are doing the research without grant money. Soria plans to use the research in his dissertation for his doctorate. If the private sector likes the idea enough to back it financially, Soria said he could put together an industrial-size bio refinery in five years.
Still, he said, the bio-oil isn't likely to be an immediate competitor to crude oil. Crude oil currently costs about $60 a barrel, and bio-oil will only be competitive when the cost of crude oil reaches $80 a barrel, Soria said.
Treebeard's not gonna like this.
How will the government allow cutting down a tree.
Paste this for details http://www.deere.com/en_GB/forestry/forestry_equipment/energy_wood_harvester/1490d.html
"I grew up in the logging business,and always believed we needed to collect the MASSIVE amount of scrap left behind....there is a dump truck load of useable material around that Cat"
I co-own a shutter making shop and the amount of sawdust we have to get rid of is incredible. If there was an economical way to utilize it for fuel conversion, thousands of tons of sawdust could be collected from woodshops every week.
main should have read Maine.
BTTT
LOL! There you go again -- thinking! Doesn't that always get you in trouble?
"Juan Andres Soria is a block head"
His idea may have technical merit but it lacks practicality and common sense, which makes it a useless idea.
Read about another process of pelletizing sawdust,similiar to what they do with corn waste,to use for heating.
Long time since I've wielded a chainsaw...now I'm a CAD engineer,who Freeps too much ;-)
It has to be a very large operation to be economically viable. Any operation making wood biofuel would likely be large enough.
I've never been in large scale timber harvesting, i just think it's real cool. If I hit Powerball, I would probably start my own timber harvesting/land clearing business for fun and profit.
Hemp doesn't have THC. Zero. Smoke it all day and you will have a headache & burned lungs.
Indica, or sativa is another story.
Like that matters to the War on Some Drugs mafia?
Of course not. Idiocy abounds.
I did a quick Google search with "pine root Japan fuel", and I found this page http://www.cominganarchy.com/ that mentions the subject.
I'm the first guy in my neighborhood out and about after a good size storm that includes damage,I never pass up a chance to fire up the old saw!
Every time you change energy from one form to another, you lose at least half in the conversion to heat energy.
I have a nice Husky 359 with very low hours. My idea of a vacation is to take my saw up to my BIL's place in Vermont and cut logs for his maple sugar operation (28 cord/year).
I used to help anyone out with limbing, etc, but at almost 40, I don't like to climb with the big saw anymore.
I sure hear you on the storm damage stuff. Any excuse works for me. I love the sound of my saw, but my wife & neighbors don't.
As a biodiesel user, I firmly believe that use of biomass products is worth the effort to experiment with. You never know where it will take you, but the only way to find out is to look into it.
So how many trees will it take to fill up my tank?
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