Document

Title

Economic and energy efficiency of salvaging biomass from wildfire burnt areas for bioenergy production in northwestern Ontario: a case study
Document Type: Journal Article
Author(s): Shuva Gautam; Reino Pulkki; Chander Shahi; Mathew Leitch
Publication Year: 2010

Cataloging Information

Keyword(s):
  • biomass
  • biomass energy
  • Canada
  • economic efficiency
  • energy
  • energy efficiency
  • fire management
  • northwestern Ontario
  • Ontario
  • plantations
  • salvage
  • site treatments
  • wildfire burnt areas
  • wildfires
Topic(s):
Region(s):
Record Maintained By:
TTRS Staff; https://talltimbers.org/contact-us
Record Last Modified: May 12, 2019
FRAMES Record Number: 48962
Tall Timbers Record Number: 25218
TTRS Location Status: Not in file
TTRS Call Number: Not in File
TTRS Abstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Description

Wildfire burnt forest biomass can be salvaged as feedstock for bioenergy power generating stations. Despite availability of such forest biomass in northwestern Ontario, its procurement has generally been considered uneconomic and no studies have looked into the cost of harvesting, processing, and transporting the burnt material for bioenergy production. In order to meet the demand of biomass for proposed and existing power generating stations using renewable fuels, a standard costing model is used to determine the feasibility of procuring biomass from burnt areas using a full-tree to roadside, roadside grinder to mill system. The case-study was conducted at the Hogarth Plantations near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The total cost incurred for processing and delivery of biomass from wildfire burnt area with a hauling distance of 7 km and total trip cycle time of 2.55 h was found to be $29.65 gt-1, with net energy content of 11.4 GJ gt-1. The total procurement cost depends on the hauling distance and a linear relationship between the two was established. The energy analysis found a net energy output to input ratio of 35:1 for the operation. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation:
Gautam, S., R. Pulkki, C. Shahi, and M. Leitch. 2010. Economic and energy efficiency of salvaging biomass from wildfire burnt areas for bioenergy production in northwestern Ontario: a case study. Biomass & Bioenergy, v. 34, no. 11, p. 1562-1572. 10.10166/j.biombioe.