| | The importance of wood as a fuel source fell drastically in the early part of the 1900s, with better access to electricity, heating oil and natural gas. Events in the early 1970s, which lead to oil price increases and threats of shortages, have renewed interest in wood heating.
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"On a recent trip to Eastern U.S.A. and Canada, stopping by many small towns and farms, I noticed that almost every farm and smaller town house had several cords of stacked wood or storages of woodchips or wood pallets ready to use for the winter," says Toso Bozic woodlot specialist/agroforester with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. "The ice storm that hit the eastern parts of Canada in 1998 must have been a wake up call for many, as the use of wood for energy needs seems to be common practice. The recent interest in wood bioenergy provides a number of opportunities for Albertans who own woodlots."
In some areas, woodlots may have been mismanaged, neglected or over-cut simply because there was no market for wood from private land. The wood bioenergy market provides a reason to harvest poorer trees to make room for better wood-stands, lumber or veneer quality trees. This market may also provide an outlet for treetops, slabs, small trees and wood culled in the production of saw logs and veneer logs. Replacing fossil fuels by using wood biomass can provide a great number of financial opportunities, including opportunities in the carbon credits market.
"Wood can be used for a great number of heating requirements or, on a larger scale, even for electricity," says Bozic. "Many rural residents already use some type of wood heating systems in their homes and shops, mostly through fireplaces or wood burning stoves. Due to high energy prices, highly efficient and fully automated wood-energy systems have been an established energy alternative for decades in other parts of the world, especially in Europe, led by Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Finland, proving that it can be viable here, too."
Before deciding to use wood for your heating needs there are several things to consider:
Wood supply - know how much wood is in your woodlot, how much wood waste there is in your facility and how much wood is currently going into landfill. The key is understanding the sustainability of wood supply for a bioenergy operation and the required type and quality of wood fuel for a wood heating operation.
Wood fuel types - all wood types (logs, sawdust, wood chips and wood pellets) can be used for heating purposes, and different tree species have different caloric values. A pound of wood will produce nearly the same amount of heat, no matter what species it is. A cubic foot of air-dried white birch weighs about 16 kg, while a cubic foot of white spruce weighs about 11 kg; hence, a larger volume of spruce is required to get the same weight and the same heating value as birch. Furthermore, moisture is one of the key components in the wood supply. Freshly cut timber contains 40 to 60 per cent moisture while wood pellets contain around 8 to 10 per cent moisture.
"Besides individual heat or energy needs, the type and quality of the wood fuel available will define which energy solution is right for you," says Bozic. "Each wood burning system can require different fuel types with various sizes and shapes of fuel particles. For example, wood pellets, sawdust and wood chips can be stored in the various bin sizes that can automatically feed wood boiler systems, while logs are only for manual feed."
There are many products on the market in Alberta; unfortunately, very few or none from high efficiency European technology. Individual energy needs and wood fuel availability are key factors to consider when looking for the products that are suitable to your needs and requirements.
Wood burning systems for domestic use:
- open and enclosed fireplaces: secondary heating source - widespread in Alberta and relatively low efficiency and there are problems with smoke
- various wood burning stoves: suitable as an additional source of space heating and are an efficient way of burning logwood (efficiency is better then open but still have an issues with smoke)
- pellet stoves: unlike conventional wood burning stoves, pellet stoves are automatic - the wood pellets are fed from the storage hopper into the fire and warm air is circulated making it possible to adjust heat output, the system can be made completely hands-free with a thermostat
- pellet boilers: for space and water heating - performance and size similar to oil boilers
- logwood boilers: similar to pellet boilers, although larger for the same performance and operationally less flexible - there is a need for heat storage tank, and fuel management an issue
- woodchip boilers: fully automated fuel-feed systems - similar convenience as oil or gas boilers, controllable, no heat storage tank necessary, however a large wood chip storage facility required (more suited to applications where heat demand is high)
Contact:
Toso Bozic
780-415-2681 |
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