Re:Renewables became the second-most prevalent U.S. electric...
by jimbob45 on Thursday July 29, 2021 @02:19AM
(#27993414)
Were they willing to do a handshake deal under the table on the day of or did you not try? Just curious, no judgement either way.
Re:Renewables became the second-most prevalent U.S. electric...
by zdragnar on Thursday July 29, 2021 @10:56AM
(#27997284)
They were already making money from the power company for the wood- no idea how much, but enough that they didn't seem open to it.
Re:Renewables became the second-most prevalent U.S. electric...
by Symbiote on Thursday July 29, 2021 @02:46AM
(#27993579)
I'm surprised, as the wood is worth more as timber than fuel in this case.
Re:Renewables became the second-most prevalent U.S. electric...
by wahern on Thursday July 29, 2021 @04:45AM
(#27994276)
Not when you factor in the cost of labor and other market dynamics. Like most markets, supply chains and expertise have become highly specialized and adapted to economies of scale. Wood is either sourced from farms, managed forests, or from people who make a living in niches, such as recovering sunken logs or scrap industrial and commercial framing, which are easier to scale and offer more consistency.
I've dabbled a little in woodworking, and AFAIU while there are still people out there willing to do the work for small, one-off jobs, they're few and far between, especially in regions without significant hardwood stocks. Fewer still willing to actually pay you for the privilege.
It also doesn't help that engineered wood products are displacing quality lumber even at the high end of the market. These days a new, solid hardwood floor would probably appear cheap or antiquated to people accustomed to the look of laminated flooring.
As an example, I had a massive old oak tree that needed to come down for safety reasons. I desperately wanted to keep some of the wood from the trunk either to carve a statue or convert to lumber, just so that something from the original tree stayed with us.
None of the professional (i.e. insured) services around could do that; all of them had a contract with a local power company to grind up everything they cut so it could be burned for electricity as part of their "green" commitment (which admittedly also included solar and maybe wind).