Local innovators speak at Roach-Bauer Forestry Forum
WILCOX—The Roach-Bauer Forestry Forum hosted a dinner and discussion at the Wilcox Community Building on April 11. The topic of the evening was “Innovations in Low Grade Materials”.
The evening began with an overview of Pennsylvania’s changing forests from Jonathan Geyer, Executive Director of the PA Hardwoods Development Council (PAHDC). Following Geyer, representatives from Woodside Oils and Woodland Biomass each spoke about the innovations they are making with less sought after resources.
Geyer began by outlining the state of the Pennsylvania hardwoods market. Although PA has been impacted less, demand for hardwood products across the country is mostly down. Changes in consumer preferences, the housing crisis, inflation, and international tensions are all contributing factors.
“It may seem like our backs are against the wall,” Geyer said, “but this is where wood innovations, enhancements, new product technologies and opportunities can thrive.”
Over the last 10 years, the PA Department for Community and Economic Development (DCED) has been working to increase opportunities. They have been working with local organizations like PAHDC and the Allegheny Hardwoods Utilization Group (AHUG) to bring in companies that are interested in Pennsylvania’s large amounts of woody biomass.
Those companies are considering using biomass to make a replacement for coal, and another wants to make a type of glass from wood. Last year, nearly $50 Million in wood innovations grants were available to companies looking to innovate.
“This is a tremendous opportunity and resource to take advantage of if you’re looking to do something innovative and different in the wood products world.” Geyer said in conclusion.
Speaking after Geyer was the team from Woodside Oils of Kane, PA. They are the world’s first commercial mass producer of pure, all-natural birch oil made from the bark of black birches found in abundance on the Allegheny Plateau.
They began production in Kane in 2023 after over seven years of research and development. The company is owned and operated by dōTERRA – a world leader in pure essential oils and natural wellness products.
dōTERRA was offering birch oil but in limited quantities and at a very high cost. Royce Novosel-Johnson spoke with an agent at dōTERRA to try and find out why. They said “We can’t find black birch, we can’t find enough of it.” Upon
hearing this, the crowd at the forum erupted with laughter.
Woodside Oils Operations Manager Lindsey Novosel said, “We’re taking a tree that has been called a nuisance tree, had no value, and we’re giving that piece of value.”
Lindsey brings her knowledge of chemistry to the company. She explained how they took the raw materials to produce a pure, natural product, only after years of work. She showed a picture of one still’s worth of oil, that looked to be around a gallon of oil, which took two and a half tons of black birch bark to produce. “It’s a lot of material to produce a small amount of oil.” dōTERRA sells the oils in five mL bottles that retail for about $80.
The partnership is boosting awareness about the area in addition to providing a viable
market for birch. dōTERRA Strategic Sourcing Manager and General Manager for Woodside Oils, AJ McGarity, said “We like to give back to the community as much as we possibly can.” He says it’s what sets them apart from other similar companies.
Over their first eight months of operation in Kane, they have brought 1400 visitors to the area to learn about what they’ve accomplished. “We’re hoping to continuously bring more and more people through here that will understand what happens in this region from a hardwood standpoint, but also just a community standpoint to see what else is here.” McGarity said. “That is one thing that dōTERRA is very very passionate about.”
Speaking last was Luca Pandolfi, founder of Woodland Biomass
Innovations. He and his team are trying to make gasoline from tree products. His system is designed to work with any kind of woody biomass. Pandolfi explained, “This can be leaves, it can be bark, it can be pulpwood. Pretty much anything that’s not going through traditional markets, you can send out to us and we’ll turn it into gasoline.”
He says the gasoline would be 87 octane gasoline, not ethanol, and is chemically the same substance as what cars are using now. The technologies for the process are already well developed, but the innovation came with how they are combining them together. The process will also produce biochar, a secondary product with many uses, and free excess electricity.
Pandolfi is working on bringing a test facility to Tioga County. That first facility should produce 42,000 gallons which is about two percent of Pennsylvania’s daily consumption. 50 facilities could supply PA’s entire need. As they scale the project, they plan on adding facilities wherever
they can find suppliers of woody biomass.
Pandolfi said one of the biggest benefactors to this system will be the local community. “Right now when you fill up gas at the pump, the majority of the money goes to the extractors and refiners of the oil. With the Woodland bio model instead, when you go to the gas pump, and you fill up that money is now going toward local jobs and providing
well payed, sustainable jobs for those local employees.”
Pandolfi hosts webinars for those who would like to know more and is working on raising the capital for the first test facility. Visit https://www.woodlandbio.com for more information.
The Roach-Bauer forum is a series of lectures with discussion on current forestry topics for foresters and
related professionals in Northwestern Pennsylvania and Southwestern New York. This year marks the 40th year they have been holding the forum.
The next presentation will be on Thursday October 10, 2024 and will include a field tour in and around the Kane Experimental Forest, concluding with the evening ceremonies and dinner at the Wilcox Community Building.