alternatives to woodchipping

[Woodworks]

3 minutes ago, Stere said:

Maybe everyone should be horse logging and using felling axes.

 

Maybe we should all be doing what we can where we can and not taking the piss ?

[Stere]

Ok but as the dicussion above shows  the enviro impact of different methods is'nt straight forward to work out so hard to make informed decisions on limited knowlegde.

 

 

[Bolt]

1 hour ago, Will Heal said:

 ...Piling the brash onsite is the the best option as it rots down slowly and realises carbon slowly, it also creates anature pile good for the bugs...

 

What is the benefit of releasing carbon slowly?

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Bolt

[Squaredy]

What this thread shows is it is very easy to confuse different problems. 

 

Air pollution can be caused by burning wood - with possible health implications if too much is done in one area.  Burning wood does not however cause climate change.  Yes it releases carbon into the atmosphere, but it is part of a balanced cycle, with new growth absorbing carbon.

 

De-forestation is a major cause of climate change, but tree maintenance and management in the UK is not de-forestation.

 

Running a chipper fueled by fossil fuels is of course a small contributor to climate change, as are leaf blowers, chainsaws, tractors, road vehicles etc.  So as one poster said, it would be better to leave brash on site to rot, or indeed to burn on site.  For many reasons this is often not desirable.  But the original point is a good one, perhaps chipping should not be the default position?  

 

 

[Bolt]

11 hours ago, tim perkins said:

Hi I have chipped brush for many years and burn the odd pile of un-chippables  but I am increasingly unhappy about this process due to the effect on the climate of such actions. Has anyone got any bright ideas regarding brushwood/ wood disposal that avoids the use of fossil fuels or burning ? Considered comments welcome ?

You could convert arisings into biochar, for use on site as soil conditioner.

 

 

Conversion may well invove fossil fuel and certainly will involve burning, so not exactly meeting your criteria!!

Edited October 2, 2019 by Bolt

[Paul in the woods]

11 hours ago, tim perkins said:

Hi I have chipped brush for many years and burn the odd pile of un-chippables  but I am increasingly unhappy about this process due to the effect on the climate of such actions. Has anyone got any bright ideas regarding brushwood/ wood disposal that avoids the use of fossil fuels or burning ? Considered comments welcome ?

You don't say if this is forestry or domestic arb.

 

I've joked about this before but in all seriousness I wonder why the arb people who've done work on my property all insist on chipping even when I ask them to simply leave the brash. I have plenty of room for brash piles and the ones that have been left are still slowly rotting down after several years. (Even watched a family of stoats playing in one of the piles).

 

 

[woody paul]

16 minutes ago, Paul in the woods said:

You don't say if this is forestry or domestic arb.

 

I've joked about this before but in all seriousness I wonder why the arb people who've done work on my property all insist on chipping even when I ask them to simply leave the brash. I have plenty of room for brash piles and the ones that have been left are still slowly rotting down after several years. (Even watched a family of stoats playing in one of the piles).

 

 

I laugh when big shooting estate burn every bit of brash then say they can't hold game to shoot. 

[Woodworks]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

What this thread shows is it is very easy to confuse different problems. 

 

Air pollution can be caused by burning wood - with possible health implications if too much is done in one area.  Burning wood does not however cause climate change. 

 

 

But carbon that is tied up in rotting wood is not in the atmosphere today or tomorrow either. Sure it will end up in the atmosphere in due course and be carbon neutral but by the same reasoning burning oil is carbon neutral if you look at it in a geological time frame. Surly any carbon we can lock up for a bit is good.

[Bolt]

7 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

But carbon that is tied up in rotting wood is not in the atmosphere today or tomorrow either. Sure it will end up in the atmosphere in due course and be carbon neutral but by the same reasoning burning oil is carbon neutral if you look at it in a geological time frame. Surly any carbon we can lock up for a bit is good.

 

Thats the spirit.

 

Tie the carbon up in a bit of old wood for a bit, and lets hope our children deal with it in due course.

 

[Bolt]

3 hours ago, marne said:

There is a limited amount of carbon on this planet, no matter if it's currently in Dino-oil, Diesel, wood or in the air. It will always return into organic matter, faster or slower. Relax, no matter what is burnt, it's always neutral. 

yep, just relax*

 

 

*but only if you intend to operate on a 320 million year timescale.