Why Pellets are Green?
Pellets are a renewable fuel made of ground, low-grade green and dry wood and other biomass by-products and wastes compressed into wood pellets.
Pellets are burned in some of the cleanest-burning, heating appliances available today deliver high BTU’s and overall efficiency. Because they pollute so little, pellet stoves do not require EPA certification.
Wood pellets are considered to be "CO2 neutral" by many environmentalists, which basically means that even though they do produce CO2 when burned, the material was once part of a tree that lived on CO2, so the two factors cancel each other out.
What is Carbon Neutral
When something is referred to as being "Carbont Neutral" it means it is counteracting the release of carbon dioxide, relating to the maintaining of a balance between the production and use of carbon, especially when it comes to balancing carbon-dioxide emissions by activities such as growing plants to use as fuel or planting trees in urban areas to offset vehicle emissions.
The Above diagram is an example of Carbon Neutral and Wood Pellets. What can be seen in the diagram is the material for wood pellets is also a consumer of the emmissions of wood pellets.
Definition from the Carbon Neutral Journal.
Timber Management and Responsible Harvesting
The key component of wood pellet fuel is raw material that comes from trees, both softwood and hardwood. Raw materials come from bark and sawdust (byproducts of sawmill operations), wood chips (a byproduct of chipping treetops and unusable limbs), and whole trees (machine ground for processing). The acquisition of these materials comes from responsible timber management and harvesting.
There are many reasons why landowners decide to harvest their timber, including opportunities introduced by foresters or loggers looking for timber to supply to local mills; to earn additional income for a variety of purposes; or for environmental reasons including making the a timber lot healthier and less prone to fire and disease.
Just as there are different reasons for harvesting, there are different types of harvests. The wood pellet industry is focused on sustainable forestry such as forest regeneration, future growth and development of remaining trees, ensuring water quality, etc. Proper forest management, of which timber harvesting is just a part, involves a careful blending of management practices with the biology and ecology of the forest.
Silvicultural harvests are usually prescribed for sustainable forestry to ensure adequate and desirable regeneration, and to protect the quality of the residual trees (trees that are not harvested). These harvests are made using the many variations of the "silvicultural methods" developed by German and French foresters in the last century. The selection method was designed by early German foresters to allow for a system by which a forest is cut at regular intervals, such as every 10 years. Only a small portion of the trees is cut at any one time, hence the term "selection." This method leads to the development of an uneven-aged forest since regeneration occurs in pulses following each harvest. This method is probably the most complicated of all the methods to pull off, and is most useful in forests where the desirable trees are capable of germinating and developing in a shady environment. Since the cutting is light and periodic, the forest understory is shady. This method is used commonly in the North, where the sugar maple, which grows well in the shade, is an important species. Sugar maple is a valuable species that produces abundant seed crops that germinate early in the spring every year.
In some parts of the country to accommodate the problem of needing more light for important timber species, foresters have created a modification of the selection system, called group selection. Unlike the selection system, which involves cutting throughout the entire forest, group selection involves cutting small patches of perhaps a half-acre to an acre in size. The patches are scattered about throughout the forest. With each cutting cycle, perhaps every 10 years, a new set of patches is cut. This allows more light to reach the forest floor and stimulates regeneration of species such as the oaks and yellow poplar.
Advantages of both the selection system and its variant, group selection, are that they allow for continuous forest, since only a small amount of the forest is cut at any one time. They also allow for a periodic flow of income, not a large flush of cash with one cutting. They favor the growth and development of tree species adapted to shade, which foresters term "tolerant," but can also be used with other species if the cutting is in patches or if the cuts are heavier and more frequent. Indeed, further south, this method has been used for many years with loblolly pine, a species that requires much light to become established and grow. The trick is to cut more heavily and more frequently, and to use other means to control competing vegetation like hardwood brush, if it becomes a problem.
Damage to residual trees can be a problem, so it is important for loggers to use the correct equipment, care, and patience to do the job properly. In addition, the trees to be left should be carefully chosen to meet objectives. Because they will be released from competition, the residual trees will grow faster. However, they will also be more prone to produce side branches, which reduces quality, and they may blow over in strong winds. Research results and experience have shown that, in general, about 10 percent of the residual trees will die or blow over because of the shock of the cut or logging damage and this will occur in the first 10 years following the cut.
The practice of timber harvesting in the perspective of sustainable forestry for the private forest owner is very much a part of managing the forest, whatever the objectives. Careful timber harvests can provide valuable income, and meet many other objectives such as enhanced wildlife habitat. Furthermore, if done correctly, timber harvests can actually enhance the visual appearance of a forest, as well as its recreational value. Erosion, stream sedimentation, and other harmful effects can be reduced, or eliminated altogether, by carefully adhering to the prescribed management practices. Moreover, most importantly, regeneration of the new forest, probably the most important component of sustainable forestry, will be much more likely.