13 May 2010

Seasoned, split firewood

| johnboy
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So the bunker is going to need more firewood soon.

I know there’s loads of wood available on the likes of Freecycle but that has the drawbacks of:

a) Needing to wait a year to season,
b) Often being soft timbers unsuited to heating
c) Requiring me to split all the blocks.

So what we need are recommendations of who can deliver split hardwood sometime next week for a reasonable price.

Your thoughts dear readers?

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pajs said :

Comparing seasoned firewood to natural gas environmentally? Aside from a bunch of “it depends” (like where the wood comes from), here’s a few bits:
– On greenhouse, the emissions factors and methods the Australian Govt uses assume that burning biomass is neutral re CO2-e emissions – the argument being this is carbon in the short-term terrestrial carbon cycle just moving around (ie not a net increase such as from burning a fossil fuel). So an ACT factor for CO2-e is zero per tonne of seasoned wood you burn. For natural gas in the ACT, every gigajoule you use leads to 16.4kg of CO2-e (scope 3). That compares to 298 kg CO2-e per GJ in the ACT for electricity (over the full fuel cycle). Going with whatever percentage of greenpower would tweak this further.
– On air quality, there is a hit in terms of particulates and other emissions from power stations, whatever they burn. But wood fires (even good ones) make a contribution to air quality problems (especially in areas with inversion layer or poor air flow problems). So if I was in Tuggers, Launceston or Armidale, I’d not be able to justify having a wood fire for heating, because of air quality concerns.
– If you can manage some kind of ethical sourcing of firewood, either yourself or via a good supplier, at least some of the biodiversity impacts of wood are reduced (but not avoided).

For me, if I can burn dry, hot, clean and ethically sourced, and not all the time, I can justify some wood to myself. And I like fires…

Thanks for the info Pajs, maybe I can use this against Tuggeranong Comminity Councils push for a blanket ban on wood fires across “The Valley”, as an alternative point of view. As you have pointed out, the quality of air is a concern in some areas, but I would be interested to know, at what altitude does the inversion layer take affect (I assume the Guvt and groups like TCC have done thier reseach). From where we live in upper Lanyon Valley in some of the highest streets in ACT, we often look down on the smog, so why blackban fires in homes that are above the smog. At a certain height in the valley, does the wind roll over the graben and horst and clear the skies of the top half of the valleys only? I for one are with Pajs, on wanting a fire place so I can burn sensibly and ocassionally, but if I am going to be prevented from doing so, then I want “warm” hard facts.
Back to the O.P question, if you have a trailer or can borrow one, then get a firewood collection permit (they are affordable compared to firewood providers) from the NSW Guvt for one year. Then you can collect as much dead fallen wood from NSW State Forests for your usage requirments as you need. You can also be assured you are getting quality dry, hard wood, assuming you know what you are looking for.

Comparing seasoned firewood to natural gas environmentally? Aside from a bunch of “it depends” (like where the wood comes from), here’s a few bits:
– On greenhouse, the emissions factors and methods the Australian Govt uses assume that burning biomass is neutral re CO2-e emissions – the argument being this is carbon in the short-term terrestrial carbon cycle just moving around (ie not a net increase such as from burning a fossil fuel). So an ACT factor for CO2-e is zero per tonne of seasoned wood you burn. For natural gas in the ACT, every gigajoule you use leads to 16.4kg of CO2-e (scope 3). That compares to 298 kg CO2-e per GJ in the ACT for electricity (over the full fuel cycle). Going with whatever percentage of greenpower would tweak this further.
– On air quality, there is a hit in terms of particulates and other emissions from power stations, whatever they burn. But wood fires (even good ones) make a contribution to air quality problems (especially in areas with inversion layer or poor air flow problems). So if I was in Tuggers, Launceston or Armidale, I’d not be able to justify having a wood fire for heating, because of air quality concerns.
– If you can manage some kind of ethical sourcing of firewood, either yourself or via a good supplier, at least some of the biodiversity impacts of wood are reduced (but not avoided).

For me, if I can burn dry, hot, clean and ethically sourced, and not all the time, I can justify some wood to myself. And I like fires…

The commercial wood I have used has been beautifully long burning.
Just be aware of the karma hit: it is dead red and yellow box ‘mined’ from farm paddocks for 100s of km around here. Thereby destroying some of the last nesting sites for various species.
So last night I wandered down the street and relieved the builders skip of lots of 50 y seasoned hardwood. Needs cutting ip (beware of nails) but no splitting.
I’m not sure that burning natural gas is greener than cycling CO2 throught a tree/burn cycle; if it’s left to rot I think it tends to generate methane which is worse??

There are some old trees down the middle of Northborne, grab a chainsaw and go for it!

Ahh nothing like an open fire place 🙂

Gassed said :

I have a idea get with the times and get gas instead of the dirty pollution from fire

Yeah, you should stop Gaia weeping and pay for gas heating to be installed you planet vandal!

random said :

We usually get a few tonnes delivered from Woodstock in Fyshwick. Can’t remember the cost.

It’s now at $250/tonne. Good quality red box, but you pay through the nose for it.

I have a idea get with the times and get gas instead of the dirty pollution from fire

Borrow a trailer and get yourself a scoop from Corkhill Bros at the tip. A trailer load of chopped sleepers costs somewhere around $70 (I think).

We usually get a few tonnes delivered from Woodstock in Fyshwick. Can’t remember the cost.

Keep an eye on allclassifieds.com.au – there are often people getting rid of split and seasoned firewood.

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