Supplying New Markets WithForest Products From West

Virginia

West Virginia UniversityAppalachian Hardwood Center

ahc.caf.wvu.edu

OutlineOutline

• Recent rise in energy prices has “fueled”interest in renewables

• This interest has brought additional workload to the AHC

• Related presentations given across US on biomass in WV – this is an example of the message we are sending

What is the AHC?What is the AHC?

• The Appalachian Hardwood Center, or AHC, was established in 1987 by the West Virginia Legislature to provide technical and research support for the state’s growing wood products industry

• The AHC is a center of excellence for:– Outreach– Extension and technology transfer– Professional development– Applied research

Applied Research and Outreach Applied Research and Outreach FocusFocusPriority areas:• Economic competitiveness of the forest products

industry• Researching niche product and market

opportunities• Improving forest stewardship, watershed

management, and forest heritage activities,• Researching stream sediment loading by

harvesting operations, anti-degradation, and TMDL rules, and

• Promoting energy saving opportunities in the forestry sector

West Virginia Forest Resource

• West Virginia is the third most forested state

• Forests cover 12.0 million acres (78 % of land area)

• 88% of the forest resource is privately owned

Ratio of private sawtimber to growing stock

• Over 10 million acres classified as timberland in West Virginia

• On average, sawtimber sized trees account for 54% of the total growing stock

• Seven counties have ratios between 60 and 70% sawtimber to growing stock

Growing stock removals

• Average growth to removal ratio is 3.9 –growing almost 4 times more than we are removing

• Five counties exhibit negative growth in last inventory

• Majority of counties have ratios between 1 and 10.3 (tan, blue and yellow on map)

West Virginia Harvesting• On average, 240,000 acres are

harvested each year in West Virginia

• Represents 2.4% of private timberland/year

• Majority are partial harvests• About 400 active logging firms

with average crew of 4

• A crew operates on an average of 2.2 harvest sites per year

• Each site averaging 89 acres

• Oak and yellow-poplar ~70% of sawtimber

Total Acreage Harvested By Year

215000

220000

225000

230000

235000

240000

245000

250000

255000

260000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Acr

es H

arv

este

d

Goods Portion – Consumption of Hardwood Lumber

Source: Hardwood Market Report

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

{199

1}19

9920

0020

0120

0220

0320

0420

0520

0620

07

Year

Per

cen

t o

f T

ota

l Co

nsu

mp

tio

n

PalletsFurniture

Cabinets

FlooringLumber ExportsOther

Main emphasis on WV biomass – wood byproducts

• We are producing wood byproducts during each step of the wood supply chain.

• How is WV determining quantity and availability?– Logging residue surveys– Yearly primary processing

surveys

– Yearly secondary processing surveys

– Surveys of other wood waste producers

Logging residues• Two surveys - 1995 and 2002

• Line intersect sampling (C.E. Van Wagner 1968)

• Assumptions– Residue pieces are cylindrical– Residue pieces are horizontal

– Residue pieces are randomly oriented

• Diameter and piece size distributions measured on residue crossed by transect lines

• Every third line was intensive –recorded total length, small end, and large end diameters

100 ft.100 ft.

Intersect

100 ft.100 ft.

Intersect

Logging residues - results• 1995, statewide survey

– 101 harvested sites sampled– 504 ft3/acre or 8.4 tons/acre– Average piece size 12.9 ft3

– Mean diameter 7 inches– Pulpwood size residues – 86%– Sawlog size residues – 14%– Red oak, mixed hardwood, yellow-

poplar, and soft-hardwood• 2002, southern WV

– 70 sites sampled– Mean diameter 7.3 in and length

20.4 ft.– 623.7 ft3/acre or 10.4 tons/acre– 24% higher than in 1995

• Oak followed by miscellaneous hardwoods, yellow-poplar, and maple species

Logging residues - results by county (2002)

- 0 – 9 Tons/Acre

- 9 – 11 Tons/Acre

- >11 Tons/Acre

- 0 – 9 Tons/Acre

- 9 – 11 Tons/Acre

- >11 Tons/Acre

- 0 – 9 Tons/Acre

- 9 – 11 Tons/Acre

- >11 Tons/Acre

- Oak spp.

- Misc. Hardwood

- Yellow-poplar

- Maple spp.

- Oak spp.

- Misc. Hardwood

- Yellow-poplar

- Maple spp.

• On average, 10.4 tons/acre of logging residue remained after harvest in WV.

• Oak species average over 5 tons/acre

• Represents 2.2 million tons statewide, over 1.2 million tons of Oak pulpwood

Statewide results applied to 2006 harvests

• Total 2.2 million green tons

• Total harvest 231,209 acres

• Top 5 counties• Districts 3 and 4/Region 2

Investigating site factors

• Mean slope = 30.8 % (±9 %) No relationship (r = -0.09, P = 0.43) among slopes and residue loads

• Mean dist. = 979.8’(±490.5’) No relationship (r = -0.13, P = 0.28) among distance to landings and residue loads

• Mean haul=108 miles (±42) No relationship among distances to markets and residue loads

Primary and Secondary Mill Residues• Mail surveys

– Initial survey mailing– Follow-up mailing to non-respondents– Done by AHC for 10+ yrs (detailed data of 7 yrs) with

funding from WVDOE/WVDO

• Survey data– Plant type– Plant location– Types/amount/species of residues generated– Types/amount/species of residues demanded– Market and disposal information

Annual byproduct directory

ASP.Net Web Application

Mapping Interface

• Integrating Google Maps API to allow spatial depiction of residue search results

• Allows users to click anywhere on map and find approximate residue results

• Also integrating FIA TPO data so that areas outside WV can be queried

Total residue produced and available 2007

Bark volume produced and available 2007

Sawdust volume produced and available 2007

Chip volume produced and available 2007

Byproduct utilization rate

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

Uti

lizat

ion

Rat

e

Bark

Chips

Sawdust

Markets and production 2007

Selling your waste materials 2007

Question to byproducts users 2007

Producers and markets over time

Questions to Producers

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

% R

esp

on

din

g Y

es

Market Byproducts?

Lack of Markets RestrictedProduction?

Byproduct users – trend in supply and cost

Questions to Users

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

% R

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es

Reliable Supply

Cost Restricted

Linear (Cost Restricted)

Annual Wood Residue Production in WV

• 1.34 million dry tons of logging residue (55%).

• 941,888 dry tons of mill residue (39%).

• Urban tree and pallet residues (6%)

• Total 2.41 million dry tons (~5 million green tons) of wood residue produced per year.

Logging residue, 1,340,000, 55%

Mill residue, 941,868, 39%

Pallet residue, 12,716, 1%

Urban trees, 118,590, 5%

How do we use these data?

A day in the life…

I’m doing a feasibility study and…

• I am looking for x amount of wood near City, WV– 500,000 tons/year

– 60-80 k tons/year

• How much does it cost? (how much is a ton of lumber?**)

• Who do I talk with to get it?

• Most are retrofitting or building power plants, replacing natural gas boilers also significant interest in coal to liquids

First Step – some maps depicting estimated availability

Discussion of current markets supply location considerations

30-min drive time for each mill Drive times for all sawmills

Bottom line

• Most of the time – a lot of $ and effort is spent on plant design and location without regard to supply

• In today's energy markets, wood almost always achieves a good payback period (next slide) – and most are confident it is “there” for the taking

BTU calculatorBTU calculator

BTU Calculator BTU Calculator –– Change Green Wood Change Green Wood $$

Lumber Value in Tons?Lumber Value in Tons?

Typical Sawmill Grading Table

Scaling Clear Sides

Diameter Four Three Two One None

>=17" P S 1 2 3

16" S S 1 2 3

15" S S 1 2 3

14" 1 1 1 2 3

13" 1 1 1 2 3

12" 2 2 2 2 3

11" 2 2 2 2 3

<=10" 3 3 3 3 3

P = Prime S = Select 1 = No. 1 2 = No. 2 3 = No. 3

Gross $ Ton : Lumber Value Gross $ Ton : Lumber Value –– Sawing Sawing costcost

But But –– how much did that log cost?how much did that log cost?

To ponder…• On average Red Oak

Select Logs weighed 1430 lbs with a gross Dvol of 103 bdft

• @ $300/MBF that log costs approximately $30.

• The cost in tons is ~$44

Value N Logs

Mean Std Min Max

Lumber/Ton

213 $66.80 $19.73 $22.72 $115.53

Log / Ton

213 $44.14 $7.61 $24.05 $69.55

Focus

• We have data that show this wood fiber is potentially available

• Primary and secondary streams are not reliable –and already have good markets and market fidelity

• Best opportunity may be in low grade roundwood and logging residues

Some problems• No real commitment to

justify loggers making necessary capital investment in new equipment nor reliable estimates of cost.

• Markets currently exist for pulp – but it is not all coming out of the woods –Is this price or extraction limited?

• Planners need to use reasonable estimates of cost when doing feasibility studies ($15/ton won’t cut it).

Conclusion• West Virginia has an abundant supply of “waste” woody

biomass.

• Although complete recovery of woody residues may not be feasible, they represent an economic resource that has been largely ignored in WV.

• More emphasis needs to be placed on the efficient recovery of these materials in a sustainable fashion. This has to include the logging workforce - empowering loggers in this supply chain is crucial.

• Opportunities may exist for the current wood product industry to supply these markets or new industries to develop around this resource. Both will benefit the people and the communities of the Appalachian region.