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9.10 Wood for Energy
Authors: B CoxPublication: NZIF Forestry Handbook, Volume Section 9 – Utilisation of forest products, pp 10, Dec 2023
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Abstract: There are a number of technologies available for extracting energy from wood. This paper covers combustion which is currently the most common technology used in New Zealand. Fermentation/hydrolysis, pyrolysis, and gasification are emerging technologies but are not covered here. THE BIOENERGY MARKET The market for energy from wood is well established with an estimated 340 GWh of electricity and 8,700 GWh of heat being produced from woody biomass each year. Most of this arises from within the forest processing industry. In recent years there has been substantially more wood-fired heat plant installed than new plant for electricity generation. This has received little recognition as the energy industry has until now been dominated by a focus on electricity. A paradigm shift in thinking to encompass energy rather than electricity is allowing bioenergy to consolidate as a premier process for the wood processing industry. -obtaining heat for kiln–drying timber, and -converting wood waste to heat for on-site wood processing uses.