Biomass 09: Innovation in harvesting, processing and transporting camphor laurel
Renewable Energy Commercialisation in Australia, Australian Greenhouse Office, 2003
NOTE: The status of these projects will have changed since the time of publication, and project contacts may also have changed.
Camphor laurel trees that have taken over thousands of hectares of farmland will be harvested to produce year-round energy for sugar mill power stations.
Camphor laurel is an invasive woody weed, which has spread rapidly over formerly cleared land used principally for dairying. With the decline of the dairy industry in northern New South Wales, heavily seeding camphor trees have taken over so many thousands of hectares that farmers cannot afford to remove them.
With the assistance of a $500,000 grant under the Renewable Energy Commercialisation Program, camphor laurel will be harvested to supply efficient year-round energy production for the power station at Condong sugar mill. The project stems from an innovative idea put forward by State Forests of NSW and is co-funded by the NSW Wales Sugar Milling Co-operative and Delta Electricity.
Innovations include the injection of low-toxicity herbicide into standing stems to kill the tree roots (otherwise camphor re-shoots vigorously from the stump) and at the same time commence the wood drying process to improve the fuel value. Trees will be mechanically felled and carried to a landing for chipping.
Delivery cost will be reduced by modifying mechanised logging equipment. Idle cane harvesting equipment will also be modified so that the product can be harvested and delivered to Condong mill as a supplement to bagasse and cane trash.
Outside the cane-crushing season, there is considerable excess capacity of both cane buggies and cane trucks. Making use of this available equipment, mobile chippers will deliver chips into cane buggies that have been modified so chips don't bounce out during loading. The buggies will then take the camphor chips to cane bins, which cane trucks will carry to the sugar mills, delivering the camphor chips either direct into the boiler infeed or onto stockpiles. The density and low moisture content of the camphor chip (compared with cane-based fuel) help to reduce the delivered costs per unit of energy generated.
Any sawlog or veneer log will be recovered (camphor laurel is a very distinctive timber but the bent nature of the stem limits its use for milling). State Forests and industry partners have worked on the development of plywood from camphor and have shown how to efficiently recover sawn timber from small or misshapen logs.
It is proposed to harvest and deliver at least the equivalent of 40,000 green tonnes of camphor laurel over a two-year trial period. If successful, the system will be expanded in an endeavour to control the several million tonnes of camphor laurel estimated to be standing on the north coast of New South Wales.
Native species will be re-established on the land harvested. This will include eucalypt plantations, which State Forests will manage for sawlog production. Sawmill residues and thinnings from these plantations are a long-term potential source of bioenergy, which can potentially replace or supplement the supply of camphor for fuel. Other sites may be established for environmental plantings of, for example, rainforest species along creek lines. These will be managed in perpetuity for biodiversity values.
For more information please contact
Robin Heathcote
State Forests of NSW
149 Prince Street
Grafton NSW 2460
Tel (02) 6641 6034
Fax (02) 6641 6001
Email RobinH@sf.nsw.gov.au
Internet www.forest.nsw.gov.au
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