HM3 Energy, Inc.
Wood Waste
Wood waste falls into two general categories: forest or rangeland woody debris and urban wood waste.
Forest or Rangeland Woody Debris
Forest biomass generally refers to the lowest value material, which is a residual of other harvesting or restoration work. Any higher-value use, like pulpwood, poles and small dimension lumber will outbid the energy facility for the material. HM3 Energy will purchase forest biomass from contractors who collect the residual materials from forest restoration and logging. These companies have considerable experience in performing forest harvesting activities and provide family-wage employment in rural areas.
Forest Restoration
The dry forests in eastern and southern Oregon and elsewhere in the west are at grave danger of stand replacement forest fire. The overstocked condition of these forests is not a historical condition. The US Forest Service and BLM have been negotiating stewardship contracts on these forests. These contracts have stringent requirements specifying how much material to remove, how much to leave for the soil and habitat, what size of trees to remove, and how many trees per acre to leave. The goal is to restore the forest to a healthy condition that can defend itself from insects, disease, and catastrohpic forest fire. Woody biomass is a by-product of this work and helps to offset the cost of restoration treatment.
Logging Slash
During harvesting operations, which are mostly conducted on privately owned land in recent years, much of the volume of a tree is left behind—the tops and branches. In many areas it has not been economical to remove this material, so it is left in slash piles which are typically burned on site. Biomass contractors will negotiate access to these slash piles and the need to burn these piles by removing residual materials. Using this material to produce energy can reduce the smoke that results from open burning of the slash piles.
Sustainable Collection
HM3 Energy requires best practices of its biomass suppliers, as modeled by stewardship contracts on federal forests, which have the goal of improving forest health. The Oregon Department of Forestry oversees forestry practices on all timberlands in Oregon (including private forests) and enforces compliance with its Forest Practices Act. In addition, HM3 Energy will enforce specific biomass collection standards, in consultation with state, federal and private foresters and forest health advocacy groups. These standards include: removal of live trees only as authorized by specific thinning guidelines; leaving sufficient small material behind to nourish the soil and protect fish and wildlife; no soild compaction over 20% of the treated areas, no equipment on slopes greater than 35%, no cut buffers on streams, no construction of new roads; careful use of equipment off-road; fire safety rules, and other requirements.
Urban Wood Waste
Urban wood waste consists mainly of scrap wood from construction and demolition, tree trimming and removal, discarded pallets, crates and furniture, and even the byproduct of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornados.
There is a large amount of urban waste wood in Oregon, where 320,000 dry tons of urban wood were recovered in 2004, according to the Oregon Department of Energy. In the Portland metro area 254,000 tons of wood waste were recovered from the solid waste stream in 2007, according to Metro. This has decreased recently due to the poor economy, but recovery rates are increasing where government has targeted reduction of waste sent to landfill.
Still, often this wood waste is commingled with other materials and contaminants or is in such poor condition that the cost of processing and cleaning limits the economic viability of reusing the material. Therefore it winds up in landfills, taking up space, while it decomposes, releasing methane and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Virtually all of it could instead be used as feedstock to create HM3 Energy briquettes.
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