Cold winter/downed trees

[Justyce]

We have had so many downed trees in the south thanks to the hurricanes that you can hardly get through the streets & they are stacked so high on both sides of all roads. They have been bringing in federal clean-up crews to haul off and incinerate all the trees & wood, while at the same time reporting that with a brutal winter coming & the rising cost of fuels, people will freeze to death this winter especially up north because they won't be able to afford to heat their homes..... am I the only one who sees an obvious connection here to help some of these people?! The feds are paying to burn this wood to get rid of it when people could use it... Would the cost difference just be too outrageous to haul it north rather than incinerating all of it? It's just awful to see it all go to waste.

[CottonBear]

1. The trees could be used for lumber and firewood.

Take the big trunks and make lumber. Hardwood lumber is very desirable. People could re-build their homes, barns, furniture and fences with the lumber. Portable sawmills could be brought in and then the lumber could be stacked to dry and cure. The other branches and unsuitable wood could be turned into firewood. Also, mulch for gardens could be produced. Property owners could get the lumber and firewood and mulch for free! The government could pay local people to produce the lumber, firewood and mulch.

That's what I would do if I was in charge.

[Justyce]

3. Exactly.... the price of lumber is also

sky-rocketing since the hurricane, which I find ironic since we now have so much extra wood being thrown away that could be used, and as you said, create jobs in the process. Our area basically lost all of its huge old hardwoods.

Waste not, want not...

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. If it were seasoned...

...and hardwood, it would fetch a bundle, but it won't be dry enough to burn till next fall.

As it is, I expect one of the major effects of $2.50/gal heating oil to be an epidemic of chimney fires, as people who don't know what they're doing burn green wood or pine.

[porphyrian]

4. Right, burning pine and greenwood in fireplaces is bad.

That doesn't mean it couldn't be used in other ways, though. It could be chipped and used as mulch. It could be used for biodiesel.

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. We get maybe 15% of our state's electricity...

...from biomass, mostly waste from the forest products industry, or slash from logging.

In theory it could be closed-cycle. Plants sequester the carbon, burning releases the carbon, plants sequester the carbon again....

[porphyrian]

7. That makes so much sense, too. - n/t

[uppityperson]

5. And they need safe woodstoves safely installed and maintained.

Too many people are going to burn this wood in unsafe conditions and burn themselves up.

[CottonBear]

8. Well then, educate the public about proper woodstove use

and fire place use. Of course the wood would need to be stacked and seasoned. Triple-wall stove pipe would be mandatory. I used to have a woodstove. The State or Federal Gov't could purchase efficient woodstoves with blowers that can be hooked up to the home duct system. (I know people who did this!) Woodstoves provide heat, light and a cooking surface too!