Missouri Mulch is innovator in woody biomass production

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1 Missouri Mulch is innovator in woody biomass production Company uses innovative and responsible approaches to fulfill biomass demand in Missouri When Scott Hasekamp talks about the use of woody biomass in the production of energy, you can t help but get excited. The company he manages, Missouri Mulch, has been involved in the production of wood chips that are being used to co-fire a number of power plants across the state of Missouri. However, despite his enthusiasm he s quick to note that there are some long-term challenges to the use of woody biomass as an alternative energy source. Biomass is a clean, abundant and renewable energy source, says Hasekamp who is the general manager for Missouri Mulch. As the United States attempts to wean itself off its dependence on fossil fuels, the advancement through research and development of biomass and biotechnology is crucial. According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, based in Chicago, Ill., there are currently 66,000 jobs in biomass energy, and full development of this technology could result in 283,000 jobs by the end of Energy crops and biomass from the Midwest alone could theoretically provide about 16 percent of the country s electric capacity, without irrigation and competing with food crops. This information is one of the reasons Missouri Mulch made the decision to expand its successful decorative mulch business into the biomass wood chip market. Based in New Florence, Mo., Missouri Mulch is a subsidiary of Independent Stave Company, a family-owned company that makes white oak wood staves, which are used in the construction of wooden barrels. The company is the world s largest supplier of barrels to the wine and whiskey industry.

2 Missouri Mulch was conceived as a way to add value to the by-products of the barrel-making process, says Hasekamp. The company has grown from delivering its first load of decorative mulch in 1995 to becoming a household name as a leading mulch and wood-chip fuel supplier in our respective markets. Hasekamp goes on to say the company takes merchandising wood very seriously, and when markets for biofuels started to arrive in their area, Missouri Mulch wanted to be involved. We got our start selling wood fuel chips to the power plant located at the University of Missouri - Columbia and have since sold wood-chip fuel to universities, municipalities, state-run departments and investor-owned companies in Columbia, St. Louis and south-central Missouri, says Hasekamp. It s such a rapidly changing business and imperative to stay educated and network with those involved. The wood chips produced by Missouri Mulch are primarily blended or co-fired with coal in stoker burners. Some of their customers are using boilers to heat with, and are able to burn lesser quality biomass. Each power plant has a different set of specifications and wants the wood fuel chips to blend with the coal. In other words, the wood chips need to be very similar in size and shape to coal for flow ability within the delivery systems. Missouri Mulch has found a ¾-by-¾-inch (1.9-by-1.9 cm) screened chip seems to be preferred among the majority of its customers. However, each plant is different and some will request their material not contain any ground material and others are able to use material right out of the tub grinder, depending on their feeding system and burner. Our customers don t want to purchase a load of wood fuel chips and have their system shut down for two hours because a long piece of wood clogged up the feeding conveyor, says Hasekamp. If they receive a load of wood chips that contain too much dirt or fines, then they re asking themselves, is this worth it? Challenges abound Most biomass outsiders would believe that trying to meet the unique wood fuel chip specifications demanded by each power generation facility might be the major challenge to wood-chip producers. That s not really the case according to Hasekamp.

3 Most of the requirements from our biomass customers are easily attainable, says Hasekamp. The biggest challenge is meeting those requirements while staying within the designated price parameters. Current energy sources (oil, natural gas, etc.) are coming from the most inexpensive material. As the industry moves from energy sources that have undesirable characteristics (oil, coal, etc.), we are challenged with replacing those sources with renewable, environmentally friendly and homegrown sources that can compete economically. We could produce and merchandise more wood fuel chips, but it s not economically feasible for us to do that at this time, says Hasekamp. We re just experimenting with it and it s close to breakeven money for us right now. If the market moves within five years and allows the power generation plants to pay more for the biomass, then we ll be able to provide more. Consumers want cleaner energy, but they also don t want their electric bill to increase substantially. Responsible raw material sourcing Missouri Mulch sources much of its raw wood product from its parent company, Independent Stave Company. The excess wood (sawmill offal, bark and hogged material) from the stave production process is used to produce the high-quality mulch and wood chips produced by Missouri Mulch. However, with the recent economic downturn, sawmills in Missouri have not been operating at full capacity, limiting the volume of material available to Missouri Mulch. So the company has begun experimenting with round wood. With the biomass movement coming on strong, we needed to find another raw-material source, says Hasekamp. We ve experimented with round wood to diversify our raw material sources. Round wood is low-quality timber of any species that otherwise has no value to the logging or sawmill industry. The product may be hollow or full of knots making it unusable as a value-added product. In most cases it would just be left in the woods to decay. We ve created a market for the wood that normally would not be used by a saw mill, says Hasekamp. Through networking we ve built a solid supply network and have purchased about 4000 tons (3629 tonnes) of the round wood. We re also purchasing the small branches as well.

4 Hasekamp also works with landowners to harvest undesirable trees from their timberland. The trees may be undesirable because they re a certain species or in a bad spot and have no value to the timber owner, but make a great source for wood chips. The round wood is processed using a Vermeer TG5000 tub grinder. Missouri Mulch purchased the grinder in 2008 and uses it to add value to most of the products they sell. We use the Vermeer tub grinder to create our playground surface, bark and mulch products, says Hasekamp. The unit has no problem grinding the whole round wood logs. For primary grinding applications Hasekamp uses a 6-inch (15.2 cm) screen on the down side and 4-inch (10.2 cm) on the up side. In regrind applications he will use a 2.5-inch (16.4 cm) screen. However, he keeps a number of screens on hand and sometimes makes changes depending on the time of year, rainfall and other influences. The TG5000 tub grinder is probably the single most important tool in our arsenal, says Hasekamp. We grind five days a week and if the grinder stops, the rest of our operation will stop. We looked at the competition, but kept coming back to the Vermeer grinder. Our local Vermeer dealer also made impressive efforts to educate us on the strengths of their grinder. Their ability to have a technician and service truck on our yard within hours versus days was a big factor. Missouri Mulch tracks the volume of material entering and leaving the yard on a daily basis. They also are careful to not stack material above a specified height to help reduce compaction. These efforts have helped reduce the occurrence of hot spots leading to a higher-quality end product. Industry future is uncertain The growth of the woody biomass market will have significant impacts on the mulch and landscape industry. There isn t an endless supply of wood out there that can be utilized for biomass, says Hasekamp. The biomass industry will also need to look at other sources, such as corn cobs and switch grass. If the biomass market begins pulling raw product away from mulch producers that in turn will impact the landscape industry and raise prices for the homeowner who uses mulch in their landscape plans. The industry is going through a learning curve right now. How much is the industry willing to pay for a load of wood? As demand increases so will the price of the raw product and that increase in

5 cost will need to be passed along to the end user. Is the homeowner willing to pay an extra $2 to $3 per yard of mulch and an extra $10 per month on their energy bill to help advance biomass? No one really knows the answer to that question. The concept that there is plenty of wood-waste available to burn is not in line with reality, says Hasekamp. Renewable biomass is available, but new methods for creating and collecting woody biomass will be coming to this area. Like anything, there will be good ways to do it and bad ways. Our approach has been to procure wood from reputable loggers who have been involved with logging and aware of the environment and importance of sustaining our forestlands. Standing timber is one of our nation s greatest resources and deserves to be respected as such. This is what has set Missouri Mulch apart from others involved in the industry. It s about focusing on future needs and being a responsible partner.. # # #