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There are Alternatives to Burning
Wood Harvest and Storage is a solid alternative to controlled burns.
October 24, 2023
Our Blog
Musings, updates, and occasional long-form articles from our team.
What we're up to
September 5, 2023
Biomass Burial
The People’s Carbon Dioxide Removal
Serge explores a fundamental advantage of biomass burial: people can understand it.
September 2, 2023
Biomass Burial
BiCRS is Like a Cardboard Box
BiCRS (pronounced “Bikers”) is a new acronym, summarising “Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage”. Woody Biomass Storage (“WBS”) is the acronym I’ve been using
May 13, 2023
Report to Stakeholders
Hello stakeholders! For it is true that, whether you believe it or not, you all are stakeholders in our work at Let’s Own This! Foundation,
November 14, 2022
Is Woody Biomass Burial a Disruptive Innovation?
The Let’s Own This! Foundation helps individuals, families, households and friends reduce their carbon footprint over time. Wood Cache PBC buries wastewood at scale in
November 8, 2022
Partnerships
Partnerships in the Woody Biomass Burial Space
A tricky thing about Woody Biomass Burial (“WBB”) is the need to deal with lots of widely divergent activities. First you have to come up
October 26, 2022
Woody Biomass Burial: A Buddy Story
A note of appreciation for the friends we’ve made on our journey towards a gigaton of annual carbon sequestration.
October 20, 2022
Biomass Burial
Meet a Forest Slash Pile
Most foresters manage excess biomass by building a big pile and burning it. We can do better.
October 11, 2022
Climate Science
What’s the Difference Between a Calorie and CO2?
Just about everything about calories and CO2 are different, except they are both measures of something. A calorie is a unit of of energy, and
July 27, 2022
There are Alternatives to Burning
Wood Harvest and Storage is a solid alternative to controlled burns.
The People’s Carbon Dioxide Removal
Serge explores a fundamental advantage of biomass burial: people can understand it.
Read More →
BiCRS is Like a Cardboard Box
BiCRS (pronounced “Bikers”) is a new acronym, summarising “Biomass with Carbon Removal and Storage”. Woody Biomass Storage (“WBS”) is the acronym I’ve been using
Read More →
Report to Stakeholders
Hello stakeholders! For it is true that, whether you believe it or not, you all are stakeholders in our work at Let’s Own This! Foundation,
Read More →
Is Woody Biomass Burial a Disruptive Innovation?
The Let’s Own This! Foundation helps individuals, families, households and friends reduce their carbon footprint over time. Wood Cache PBC buries wastewood at scale in
Read More →
Project WOCO is Complete!
Decomposition of Forest Products Buried in Landfills
Key Takeaways
- More lignified materials exhibit less anaerobic degradation in landfills.
- No significant degradation was observed in wood samples, with the exception of oriented strand board (OSB) and Red Oak.
- The carbon conversion of wood under landfill conditions is well below the recommended assumption in the 2006 IPCC Guidance.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2013
- Authors: Xiaoming Wang, Jennifer M. Padgett, John S. Powell, Morton A. Barlaz
- Original Publication: Waste Management
Wood Biodegradation in Laboratory-Scale Landfills
Key Takeaways:
- There was a significant difference in methane generation between hardwood and softwood species, even though cellulose concentrations were similar.
- This may be because lignin polymers in hardwood species have lower structural integrity and are typically more easily degraded in chemical processes than softwood lignin.
- Hardwoods contain both syringyl and guaiacl lignin units, while softwoods contain only guaiacyl lignin.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2011
- Authors: Xiaoming Wang, Jennifer M. Padgett, Florentino B. De la Cruz, Morton Barlaz
- Original Publication: Environmental Science & Technology
Understanding the Utilization of Woody Biomass Through the Perspectives of Southwest United States Forest Service Land Managers: A Qualitative Study
Key Takeaways:
- Land managers expressed anxiety about accelerating the pace and scale of forest restoration, with one respondent noting “honestly, we are on borrowed time.”
- The primary objectives noted by respondents were to reduce hazard fuels (60% of respondents) and protect/promote habitat for wildlife (50% of respondents).
- Respondents expressed that “if a market were available to take woody biomass material, they would. almost always use it.”
- Aggregated by Serge Bushman
- Original publication year: 2022
- Authors: Mary-Ellen Rayna
- Original Publication: University of Montana Graduate Student Theses
Wood Waste Utilization Assessment for the Greater Taos, New Mexico Region
Key Takeaways:
- 27,876 bone dry tonnes (BDT) of biomass was economically available within 50 miles of Taos, NM, at a delivered cost of between $36.25-51.25/BDT
- The authors estimate that forest restoration activities generate 6 BDT of woody biomass per acre treated for pinyon-juniper forests, and an average of 8.5 BDT per acre treated for mixed conifer and ponderosa pine.
- Treating 15-20,000 acres of woodlands would generate 120,000 BDT of woody biomass. There are 3,026,412 acres of woodlands in the survey area, implying a total of 18.2 Million BDT available within 50 acres of Taos, NM.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2017
- Authors: TSS Consultants
- Original Publication: TSS Consultants/The Nature Conservancy
Sustainable Wood Procurement: What the Literature Tells Us
Key Takeaways:
- The cost of forest fuel reduction treatments ranged from $620/acre to $1,627/acre.
- Using a cut-to-length logging system to harvest biomass in Arizona produced costs that were nearly 11 times those for sawlog harvests.
- Integrating biomass harvesting with logging operations led to costs that were 35% lower per tonne of woody biomass.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2012
- Authors: Amanda H. Lang, Brooks C. Mendell
- Original Publication: Journal of Forestry
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals From Forest Land, Woodlands, and Urban Trees in the United States, 1990-2018
Key Takeaways:
- Forest land, harvested wood products, and urban trees collectively represent the largest carbon sink in the United States, offsetting more than 11% of national GHG emissions.
- Roughly 2.7 billion metric tonnes of dead wood are estimated to be present in forests.
- Forested lands in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming are among the few that do not sequester C02 on a net basis.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2020
- Authors: Grant M. Domke, Brian F. Walters, David J. Nowak, James Smith, Stephen M. Ogle, J.W. Coulston, T.C. Wirth
- Original Publication: USDA Forest Service
A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests
Key Takeaways:
- Forests in the western united states have shown considerably increased mortality related to drought stress, insects, and fires.
- There was a large carbon sink increase in boreal deadwood caused by natural disturbances in Siberia and Canada.
- Warmer winters in boreal regions reduce the forest sink through suppressed gross primary production, increased fires, and increased insect damage.
- Aggregated by Sloane Ortel
- Original publication year: 2011
- Authors: Yude Pan, Richard A. Birdsey, Jingyun Fang, Richard Houghton, Pekka E. Kauppi, Werner A. Kurz, Oliver L. Phillips, Anatoly Shvidenko, Simon L. Lewis, Josep G. Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen W. Pacala, A. David McGuire, Shilong Piao, Aapo Rautiainen, Stephen Sitch, Daniel Hayes
- Original Publication: Science
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