Log-burner power push - Bid to fire up forests for electricity

Hobart Mercury
Thursday 24/4/2008 Page: 5

Forestry Tasmania wants an electricity investor to build a $70 million burner to put the debris from clearfell logging into energy, rather than smoke, generation. Forestry Tasmania managing director Bob Gordon said planning permits and approvals had been obtained to build the plant at its Southwood project in the Huon Valley. Mr Gordon said another plant could be built at its Southwood Smithton site, and Gunns Ltd's proposed pulp mill had a power boiler which could take log residue. Forestry Tasmania has come under fire this week over smoke from its burn-offs.

"It is the large pieces of wood which often smoulder over a number of days which have contributed most to the smoke haze around the state," Mr Gordon said. "Biomass energy is part of the solution. These bigger pieces should instead be going into biomass plants. It is a win-win. We can reduce the smoke going into the atmosphere and also generate renewable power." He said the company would still conduct forest burns to create ash beds but the burns would be less intense.

Wilderness Society campaigner Vica Bayley said power generated from such plants would be recognised as a manifestation of forest destruction. He said there would be little market for power from logging. "Forestry Tasmania roll out the biomass plant idea every year when they are under public pressure about burning in the forests," Mr Bayley said. "The majority of Tasmanians are upset about the smoke because of what it represents, not just the nuisance factor." Investment in renewable energy has slumped with uncertainty over Australia's renewable energy target scheme.

Mr Gordon said Forestry Tasmania had received interest in its plans. He said it would take 12 months from the time an investor put money on the table to get a plant up and running. A plant of the scale proposed would need 10,000 tonnes of wood to generate 10 megawatts of electricity. Mr Gordon said there was enough waste wood in Tasmania to fuel the plants without having to clearfell more forests. "Of course we would need to leave some large rotten logs for insect life. It wouldn't be financially viable to log simply to get waste wood product to put through a power plant," he said.