Identifying Priorities for Commercialization of Torrefied Wood Products

The Consortium for Advanced Wood-to-Energy Solutions (CAWES) today released a brief survey seeking input on challenges and knowledge gaps to commercialization of torrefied wood products.  Those wishing to add their perspectives may do so using the following link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CAWES  To be considered responses should be completed by noon EDST, September 15.

CAWES is an open-platform collaborative of institutions in the public and private sectors representing green energy, forest management, research, philanthropy and private industry committed to advancing economically-viable, scalable, distributed wood-to-energy solutions that stimulate forest restoration and rural economic development through research and application of advanced wood-to-energy solutions.

Founding partners of CAWES include Georgia Southern University’s Herty Advanced Materials Development Center of Savannah, GA; the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory , Madison, WI; and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment).   The Forest Service and the Endowment have committed $4 million to jump-start the initiative.

Torrefaction is a mild form of pyrolysis—a thermochemical process to decompose organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The process drives off water and volatile compounds from biomass leaving a more energy-dense product.