Inside this issue

From the Editors

Show Daze

The even numbered years are a bit of a blur for the staff of Wood Bioenergy magazine— though as we age, aren’t all the years a blur?— obviously, we produce our Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo in the first quarter of the “even” years, in Atlanta. You’ll find our third, and final, installment of conference review elsewhere in this issue. And if we’re going to toot our own horns, this year’s programming was one of the best we’ve had, and the momentum going into 2024 is incredible. Make plans now, so we can see you in Atlanta, March 12-13, 2024!

But before the next Atlanta conference, the WB staff heads to Portland, Oregon to participate in the Timber Processing & Energy Expo, held in the fourth quarter of the even years on the West Coast, at the Portland Expo Center. At this large-scale trade show, those affiliated with the industry come from around the world to see the newest technologies and machines for the primary production of wood products.

Yes, TP&EE caters to and recognizes that the main focus of the show floor is primary wood products manufacturing, but there is also a strong presence and emphasis put on the energy production portion of the wood industry; this is where TP&EE gets the second half of its name. Overall, TP&EE recognizes where its focus is, but WB staff would be remiss if we overlooked the subsector of heat energy and the important role it plays in the wood processing industry, including lumber drying systems. After all, this aspect of wood-to-energy existed long before large industrial wood pellet plants and woody biomass-fueled electricity generation facilities came into vogue.

The following list of heat energy technology and dry kiln manufacturer companies will have their options on display September 28-30. For all those interested in walking the sold out show floor, pre-registration is free to wood industry mill personnel—and can be completed online, timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.

• American Wood Dryers
• BID Group
• Brunner-Hildebrand
• Hurst Boiler
• KDS Windsor
• Mühlböck
• Nline Energy
• Nyle Dry Kilns
• SolaGen
• USNR
• Valutec
• Wellons
• Westmill

Head on over to Portland—there’s great networking opportunities, the chance to see some new drying technology and take in the beautiful Pacific Northwest weather.

From Left: Jessica Johnson, Managing Editor; Dan Shell, Senior Editor; Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief; David Abbott, Senior Associate Editor

Cover Story: SC Logger Goes With Chips

Article by Jessica Johnson, Managing Editor, Wood Bioenergy

BENNETTSVILLE, South Carolina – When logger Robert (Bob) Lussier relocated his logging and timber buying business from New England to the Southeast 20 years ago he had no idea what a microchip was. Fast forward, and like many loggers working in the Carolinas, Enviva’s behemoth industrial wood pellet plant in Hamlet, NC is one of his major markets. Lussier’s Great Woods Companies almost exclusively chips its first thinnings for Enviva.

His personal story is not unlike others, having been raised in a rural community, starting his company, procuring timber for his crew, running a machine himself every day, and getting the wood marketed. Having been the first person to run a rubber-tire Tigercat feller-buncher in southern New England, Lussier had relationships with folks in the Carolinas and Virginia. His Tigercat dealer was Tidewater.