Turning Slash into Cash

A portable plant might make it economical to transform huge amounts of logging "waste" into energy — right in the forest.

Advanced Biorefinery’s http://www.sdtc.ca/ modular pyrolysis system is designed for use in the forest. The complete system also includes a reactor and a condenser, not shown here. (Credit: Adam Valenta)

A small company in Ottawa, Canada, says it has developed an economical way of turning North America’s vast supply of forest waste, called "slash," into a carbon-neutral liquid for power generation and chemical production.

Its approach is built around a modular, quick-to-assemble pyrolysis plant that can follow logging companies into the bush and directly convert their leftover trimmings into a clean-burning renewable fuel.

The trimmings, also known as forest slash, are the unwanted branches, tops, stumps, and leaves that are removed during logging and typically burned in piles at the sides of roads.

It’s a tremendous amount of wasted energy. In the United States alone, 16 percent of wood resulting from logging activities is slash, or 49 million tons in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

By Tyler Hamilton

Full Story: http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17298&ch=biztech