Open Collections

Liu, Zexi

University of British Columbia

Forest biomass utilization in British Columbia (BC) remains in its early stages due to limited incentives to shift from lower-cost local energy sources. This contrasts with substantial biomass waste, averaging 2.9 million m3 per year from 2019 to 2023. A significant portion of this waste contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with slash pile burning (SPB)—a common regional practice—releasing an estimated 2.7 megatons (Mt) of CO₂ equivalent in 2021. To address deteriorating climate change, the provincial government has committed to reducing SPB and facilitating bioeconomy by promoting sustainable biomass use. Located in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), the Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) recently installed a small-scale Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant to convert biomass from fuel treatments into on-site energy (heat and power). This initiative serves as a model for remote communities to harness biomass in the energy transition away from fossil fuels. However, BC lacks comprehensive research on biomass supply chains for small-scale CHP plants. This research addressed this gap by examining the optimal biomass supply chain for AFRF’s CHP plant, focusing on: 1) supply chain cost-efficiency and 2) biomass feedstock quality. The supply chain analysis evaluated configurations for two harvesting methods—non-delimbed and delimbed energy wood harvesting—alongside machinery size and chipping location. Findings indicated that the most cost-effective configuration for non-delimbed harvesting includes conventional feller-buncher and grapple skidder with storage site chipping, while it includes conventional harvester and forwarder with storage site chipping for delimbed energy wood harvesting. The quality analysis assessed woodchips based on moisture content, particle size distribution, bulk density, and ash content. Results showed that one-year naturally dried non-delimbed energy wood is the most suitable biomass source for the CHP plant, supplemented with artificial drying as needed. By integrating the findings, the thesis demonstrated an optimal biomass supply chain for the CHP plant, recommending conventional feller-buncher, conventional grapple skidder, and one-year natural drying at storage site, followed by chipping to produce qualified woodchips for the CHP supply. The biomass cost is around 160 CAD/ODT (delivered to the storage facility), covering felling, primary transportation, and chipping, depending on three different treatment objectives.

Text

2024-12-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89890

Forestry

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/