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Transport Truths

17.05.12

Standley talked about his company’s operations from an Oregon logging convention while preparing for a presentation about  the nuts and bolts of biomass harvesting. Standley knows firsthand what the right equipment and transport features can do to a harvesting operation and why it makes more sense to harvest slash instead of taking the traditional approach of piling and burning it. He estimates the average site preparation cost savings of harvesting the leftover biomass on a 25-acre clear cutting site, instead of burning it, at roughly $100 to $400 per acre. So, at 25 acres with an average savings of $200 that means a $5,000 savings. The equipment typically required to burn the slash costs between $500 to $1,200 per day; a fire truck rental costs $50 to $100 an hour, and a standby fire crew will run about $15 per hour of labor. The message of Standley’s presentation: Biomass contractors can eliminate all of these expenses, while reinvigorating forests and even making money.

Source: Biomass Power and Thermal