Wood fired power plant in Mingo County (Charleston, Kingwood: 2009, appliances)

[Threerun]

Wood-Fired Power Plant Part of Nationwide Trend - WBOY-TV - WBOY.com

A nationwide movement toward wood as a renewable source of electricity may be beginning to reach West Virginia.
Proposals for new wood-fired power generation projects have increased across the nation, from one in 2007 to seven in 2008 and a dozen in 2009, according to USA Today, with dozens more in planning — several as big as 100 megawatts. While much of the mid-Atlantic highlands are heavily wooded and support diverse forestry activities, wood for power is showing only a little momentum in the region.

PJM Interconnection, which manages the transmission grid in the 11-state region that includes West Virginia, shows that the amount of power generated from wood doubled from 2005 to 2008.

PJM lists three proposed wood-fired power projects that have applied for authorization to connect to the grid: one several-year-old Virginia project that already is partially in service and two projects in North Carolina.

But one new project that has not yet applied for interconnection was announced last week in West Virginia.

American Clean Energy LLC, a company headed by former state senator and treasurer Tom Loehr, announced that it would build a $150 million, 28-megawatt wood waste power plant at the Harless Wood Products Industrial Park in Mingo County.

The plant will use more than 400,000 tons of wood waste each year, according to Loehr.

West Virginia generates about 12 times that amount of waste each year, about 4.8 million tons, according to the “West Virginia Energy Opportunities” document released by the state Division of Energy in 2007.

The wood waste power project has been authorized by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to issue up to $100 million in tax-free bonds.

American Clean Energy has not yet chosen the vendor for its technology or completed procurement contracts for wood waste, Loehr said.

Engineering and design firm ET Energy, a division of ET Environmental of Atlanta, will handle those details, he said. Loehr contracted with the same firm for his Charleston Clean Energy landfill gas project in Charleston, which currently is under construction.

Seems like peas and carrots for this state. Wonder why they haven't done this sooner.

[HomersBoy]

The plant will use more than 400,000 tons of wood waste each year, according to Loehr.

West Virginia generates about 12 times that amount of waste each year, about 4.8 million tons, according to the “West Virginia Energy Opportunities” document released by the state Division of Energy in 2007.

Wow, now that's something to think about. I wonder if this waste is going in landfills. This looks like a win win for WV.

[Threerun]

Some of it goes for wood pellets, some for charcoal (the Kingsford plant in Parsons), but that's usually the sawdust remnants, not slash left over from logging.

We generate a lot of wood waste in a normal year.

[snorpus]

Possible reasons why this hasn't been done before:

1) Energy density. How many BTUs are there in a ton of wood?
2) Thermal efficiency. I'm pretty sure that wood burns at a lower temperature than coal (or oil or NG). That affects the sizing of the boilers and turbines, even the piping. And that affects the cost.
3) Emissions. Pollution control techniques for traditional fuels have been under development for decades. Wood-fired plants would present a different set of problems and conditions.
4) Fuel source. As far as I know, slash is usually just left where it falls. So it's a geographically diverse, low density source. Can the slash be recovered from the hillsides and valleys and delivered to the plant (or chipper) at an economical cost?

All of the above are just different aspects of economics. Notice they want to use $100 million in tax free government bonds to build the project. That might just be opportunistic (given the current interest in alternative energy), or it could indicate that the project isn't viable (at current energy prices) without subsidies.

[CTMountaineer]

This is a good idea, like the power plant in Marshall County that produces wallboard from power plant ashes. It provides for employment as well as maximizes use of resources... a win-win.

[Threerun]

Like coal, the Btu content varies depending on wood species. I used to covet osage trees for their super high Btu content. Likewise I hated poplar for anything other than campfire wood. But I would assume (just a hunch) that NG and coal have substantially higher Btu's pound for pound.

But I can't imagine that burning wood based carbon is any worse or more difficult than burning coal. Hell, my old woodstove heated 2,200 sq ft no problem, used a cat converter and produced little particulate matter. I'm sure similar technologies can be applied. The slash and waste can be loaded in addition to to the lumber- I mean it's right there and they have trucks hauling the logs out anyway. I've seen dozers/loaders specifically rigged to pick up the debris- pretty capable machines. Or they could chip everything right into a truck or hauling bin. No biggie.

In any event, certainly a win-win. Keep the timber industry chugging, use managed timber- Just seems like peas and carrots. It's another method of keeping folks employed and diversifying our energy base.

(And so they received a grant and assistance- Like the oil companies and other industries don't receive their share of corporate welfare, lol.)

[Threerun]

and after posting that I lit a fire in the fireplace. I just got back from a 1 1/2 hour ride and my legs need some Btu transfer of energy!

[David Kennedy]

Many university electrical generators across the country are switching from 'dirty coal to wood burners.

Was surprised to see one in Mingo county...Shhhhhhh, don't tell the tree huggers...let's keep them in Oregon.

I'm sure there is a similarity in the thought prosess...'gas leaves no carbon footprint, is clean and is not a fossil fuel...' words of 'Crazy Nancy Pelosi (cowfart)

Wood will leave no carbon footprint (because its smoke is white), is clean (because the rain washes it) and is not a fossil fuel (because it is a huge plant)

These set ups are concocted to make people rich...but we do need a venue for the thousands of tons of wood waste we produce here...can clear-cut from the stump to the leaves and have tillable soil for the future pesant class to grub..

[Nebat]

I certainly hope this is indeed a waste wood facility like the article says. I don't consider myself a tree hugger per se, but it would be a shame to see a forest chopped down in days when it took hundreds of years to grow, just to light up some appliances. Also scorched earth looks ugly and it does not contribute to the health of the climate or wildlife. If that makes me a tree hugger, so be it.

[David Kennedy]

At the logging site, the tree is taken down to the 2" diameter branch. What is left is waste and that should be recovered too.

If the 3rd world is to be fed in the future, grain must be planted and harvested...that means tillable soil.

At one time, during the 1890's much of Wv was devoid of trees...entire mountains were harvested and in the valley regions, farmers had cleared everything but their fence rows.

We sit on the last great hardwood 2nd growth forest left on the planet..it's days could be very well numbered.
Cut it all down and replace it with windmills...with the crazies running the governments anything could happen...

Ever been to Greece...Italy? See any trees there? ha ha...now one English kook wants to abolish meat eating...How many people will that effect?

And lastly, I thought the Kingsford Plant was at Kingwood...do they have an operation in Parsons?

Have a great week everybody...have to get out of Dodge soon...Miami is calling.