Residues to Revenues in NZ and Australia

HERE’S SOMETHING to put in your diary for 2009 — Residues to Revenues. But, what is it all about, and when is it being held?
First, the dates … Rotorua (NZ) 10-11 June and then Melbourne 15-16 June.
Bioenergy using wood as an alternative energy source is getting a huge amount of attention – internationally and much closer to home. It’s being called “fibre-fever”. Driven by rising fuel prices, climate change concerns and ambitious Government targets to increase the use of forestry–derived biomass for energy, the role of forests is rapidly changing – from principally supplying logs to being an energy source.
Australia and New Zealand both have a substantial biomass resource in the form of post-harvest residues from the forest and wastes from wood processing and manufacturing operations. Forest products companies worldwide are investigating the economics and feasibility of procuring, harvesting, handling transporting and integrating mixed residue streams from harvesting operations. Poor decisions relating to transport and processing equipment, or matching the various components of the fuel supply chain, will lead to unacceptably high costs and poor quality of the delivered fuel.
Those involved in utilising wood wastes to generate on-site energy will tell you about the difficulties associated with the fuel size, shape and handling characteristics of wood wastes. The fuel resource is generally heterogeneous in nature, which results in problems in handling, segregating and storage of the fuels.