Page 20 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 2 - Spring 2023

“Enviva’s sustainably sourced wood pellets have
been proven to reduce carbon emissions by as much as 95% on a lifecycle basis compared to coal, and
over 70% as compared to natural gas.” — Craig Lorraine, Enviva Biomass
in Southeast Georgia, and they’re an hour-and-a-half rail ride to Brunswick.” In Waycross, Enviva Biomass, the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, operates the largest wood pellet plant in the world. The company sources “low-value fiber,” including forest byproducts like commercial thin-
nings, limbs and tree tops.
“Enviva chooses our facility locations
based on a combination of business factors, primarily driven by proximity to low-grade fiber baskets, accessible workforce, transportation logistics and supportive communities,” said Craig Lorraine, senior vice president of fiber and sustainability operations.
“The U.S. Southeast provides a combi- nation of tremendous terminal and port access to the Atlantic as well as access to a skilled workforce and raw natural resources, which is healthy, growing forests,” Lorraine added. “In general, Enviva’s facilities are strategically located to decrease transportation time, costs and energy expenditure through the supply chain.”
The Waycross plant has been operat- ing since 2011 and was designed with a production capacity of approximately 800,000 metric tons per year (MTPY).
Enviva works with wood suppliers and consultants in the region that connect the company with landowners and sources wood within a 75-mile radius of its wood pellet production plants.
“With more capacity to produce a renewable substitute for fossil fuels, Enviva has been able to provide sustain- ably sourced woody biomass to our grow- ing list of utility customers as well as to hard-to-abate industries looking to accel- erate their path to net zero this century,” Lorraine said. “As global economies seek to reduce their carbon emissions footprint by 2050, Enviva’s sustainably sourced wood pellets have been proven to reduce carbon emissions by as much as 95% on a lifecycle basis compared to coal, and over 70% as compared to natural gas.”
Last year, Enviva and Alder Fuels, a clean tech developer and green crude pro- ducer, reached a deal for the long-term, large-scale supply of woody biomass from Enviva to “further commercialize the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF),” the company said in an announcement.
“All sectors — including energy, con- struction, transportation, aviation and food systems — are looking to rapidly reduce their carbon footprint, and sus- tainably sourced biomass is one of the
only technologically advanced, scalable and market-ready products poised to sub- stantially mitigate climate change today,” Lorraine said.
Reducing Emissions
One of the benefits proponents point to is net-zero carbon emissions.
New research from the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources found that a mixture of torrefied pulpwood and logging res- idue could provide both economic and environmental benefits in comparison to coal over the next half-century.
The torrefaction of wood is like roasting coffee. Wood is heated in a controlled environment, usually around 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat removes moisture and chemically alters the wood. This process reduces the biomass of the wood by around 25%, turns it into a charcoal-like substance, and gives it a similar energy density to coal.
The study from the University of Georgia noted that Georgia is one of the largest coal consumers in the Southeast, burning more than 7 million tons annually. Torrefied wood could reduce emissions by 43%, and it would require an additional 100,000 acres of forestland harvested yearly from six Southern states. With Georgia growing 48% more wood volume than is harvested annually on over 24 million acres of forests, the increased demand would be easily met.
“Georgia is unique because you have a very steady state of Southern yellow pine that’s being grown in South Georgia, but you also have a significant amount of hardwood,” Fagan said. “So you’re able to meet both the demands of hardwood and softwood consumers, and the only real difference, frankly, is hardwood takes 30 years to regrow, softwood takes 12 years to regrow.”
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