Steps To Increasing
Wood Value
Current methods of disposing of cut wood that cannot be made into a carbon sequester product are not environmentally, financially, or socially responsible. Getting disparate economic sectors working together at a community level is the key to developing new market channels. More centralized markets for wood residue require more fossil fuel for transportation which decreases the value of the resource. Statewide inventories of available wood residue proposed on our home page are the first step towards aggregating this ubiquitous, homogenous resource, and are essential for any market development.
Wood Energy Recyclers recognizes that developing community-scale wood fuel supply chains to heat local buildings requires more than just an inventory.
Most importantly, we also need to:
Support local champions who see the opportunity to connect available wood residue with local heating requirements. Every community’s wood residue supply “mix”, wood processing and transport requirements, available infrastructure, and end-use market will be different. Connecting these dots requires local knowledge and local champions.
Support discussions focusing on balancing particulate, carbon, and potential methane emissions with resulting public and environmental benefits. What are the marginal costs and benefits of heat production versus current uses versus other markets in the context of global benefits? Good public policy is formulated by weighing generated benefits and costs. Current public policy and private practice results in wood residue decomposing which increases carbon emissions and fossil fuel importation.