[Gasification] Cultivationof willow

[Richard Haard]

Bjorn Dahlroth

Thank you very much for the link. Such a machine below is what we  
would find most useful because our primary product is live stakes for  
restoration. Also stacking for air drying as fuel in a  farm scale  
gasifier would be facilitated as bundles.

The latter for us is strictly a study topic for us and our scale of  
operation (just now scaling up to 5 acres) means that machine harvest  
is beyond us. Also my study of coppiced willow as an on farm energy  
source is as a substitute for conventional fuels and electricity when  
(if!) they become too expensive to utilize and deindustrialization  
becomes a trend to reckon with. There are places though, as in the  
remote communities of Alaska where this now the case.  I am thinking  
small community scale biomass energy will advance in this venue where  
employment can be made as substitute for impossibly priced fuels.

Along this line I am conducting research on the use of charcoal as a  
soil conditioner and soil nutrition management tool. Again the reason  
I read the bioenergy, gasification and terrapreta lists and have  
struck up informative acquaintances with Tom Miles, John Flottvik and  
others.

It would be most fascinating to attend,  World Bioenergy 2008  
Jönköping 27-29 May , but this year I am trecking to Brazil to study  
terrapreta on my own. Perhaps such a conference would be a likely  
place to present my research at some time in the future

Best

Richard Haard
Fourth Corner Nurseries
Bellingham, Washington
http://www.fourthcornernurseries.com/index.asp

On Nov 16, 2007, at 3:33 PM, Björn Dahlroth wrote:

> However a different way is to cut the willow with a machine that  
> makes bundles that are easier to transport and to store

Hi
I just read your e-mail to the gasification list about cultivating  
willow for energy. I think a good source for information and  
experience might be the Swedish Bioenergiassociation. The development  
of willow cultivation on farmland started here in the 1980ies and  
there are quite a few people growing willow and using special  
machinery for harvesting and chipping in the same operation. However  
a different way is to cut the willow with a machine that makes  
bundles that are easier to transport and to store. The machines have  
been developed from sugar cane harvesting machinery. If you contact  
the association you can probably get more information. Their homepage  
is www.svebio.se and if you click on the English flag you will get  
information in English. Although many farmers are growing Salix here  
and there the most popular and cheapest biofuel (not considering  
waste) is branches and treetops leftovers from the cutting of forest  
for timber and pulp.
Regards
Bjorn Dahlroth