Pipe Dream - 80 Acre Bamboo Farm in S/E USA

[shepardh1]

Am I pipe dreaming?

80 acres of bamboo of various varieties ... a shop with a craftsman making furniture, selling poles, a construction division constructing and selling gazebo kits, hunting cabins, fences ...etc...?

Is the foreign stuff just so cheap that a US producer can't compete?

[Bamabamboo]

NO....It is NOT a Pipedream......There is most definetly a Market for this Business idea but no one seems to want to start it up......actually that's not true, I would LOVE to be involved in such a business but I don't have the funds to start it up......but what I do have is access to an unlimited amount of Bamboo!!!!!......Alabama is blessed with an abundance of bamboo just waiting to be used!!!!......Let me know what I can do to help you!!!!

[shepardh1]

From an idealist perspective ... a bamboo farm makes sense... but waiting 6 years for the first good crop... and then having to compete with foreign bamboo? I am concerned that the market demands are already being met... bamboo is cheap... any idea where I could get more info about expected yield per acre...etc?

If I grew the big stuff... then I am waiting 20 years to get the 6" diameter stuff... right?

[Bamabamboo]

The Market demands ARE being met for the knick-knack side of Bamboo.....meaning, you can go into any store these days and find Bamboo this and Bamboo that....I have it all over my house, bamboo placemats, bamboo office organizer, bamboo blinds, bamboo kitchenware, etc....and you're right it's cheap.....
That's why we need to create a NEW market for Bamboo in this country.....not just little knick-knacks but larger items. Your Idea of gazebos, furniture and fences are a good example of this. If you want these items now, they must be imported and the price is NOT cheap.....That's what I mean when I say "There IS a Market in this country that no one is capitalizing on".........
As for your concerns about having to wait years for a plantation to get established, that's the benefit we have here in the southeast (Alabama/Georgia/Mississippi/Tennessee), we already have existing bamboo in place....enough to go ahead and start this proposed business.....also this bamboo is accessible...meaning, people would welcome you to come take their "invasive" damnboo....plus we have the plantation in Camden, AL and you can pretty much harvest all you want there.....

Anyway, your idea is a valid one and one that someone needs to run with!!!

[ZenergyBioFuel]

Hi All,

I'm a new member to bamboocraft.com. I am the founder of Zenergy Bio Fuel. We are a bio-energy based development company. Initially, we were focused on biodiesel, but realized quickly, that the primary problem with biodiesel is that there isn't enough oil feedstock to really make much of an impact. So, we completely re-focused our company on bio-energy feedstock development.

I have been interested, attended the bamboo festival in Austin in 06, in bamboo as a feedstock for grid electricity for a while. I'll share some characteristics of Grid electricity.

http://www.austinenergy.com/about%20us/Company%20Profile/powerPlants.htm is link to some nice information that shows a number of different power plants. Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear and Wind. Lets focus on Coal is it is the worst polluter.

The Fayette Power Project, which anyone who has driven north on 71 from I10 to Austin has seen, huge smoke stacks, puts out 600MW. Most coal fire powerplants, which are actually large steam engines, are highly efficient. Some can even get to 85%. For the sake of argument, lets say that this powerplant is 60% efficient. In reality, I'm sure its higher.

On average, woody biomass that is less than 20% water by weight, the difference between green wood and cured wood, can be expected to have 6000Btu per pound. There is 3,414,426 BTU/hr in a Megawatt. If the Fayette Power Project is 60% efficient, then (3,414,426/.6) 5,690,710 BTU/hr is actually required to produce a Megawatt of power.

Megawatt BTU/hr: 3,414,426
Plant Efficiency: 60%
Required BTU/hr/MW: 5,690,710

Average BTU/lb of dried woody biomass: 6000
lbs of woody biomass required per MW @ 60% efficiency: 948.5

It takes just under a half ton per hour per megawatt. How much woody biomass would be required to run this powerplant 24/7.

Average BTU/lb of dried woody biomass 6000
lbs of woody biomass required per MW 948.4516667
Power Plant Size MW 600
Uptime - cleaning/maintenance 90%
Hours in a year 8760
Total MW 4,730,400

Total BTU 2.69193E+13
Total lbs of woody biomass/yr 4,486,555,764
Total short tons of woody biomass/yr 2,243,278
Total lbs of woody biomass/hr 512163.9
Total short tons of woody biomass/hr 256.08195

Total short tons of woody biomass/yr 2,243,278 is the number we are looking for. My question to the list is what would it take to produce that in bamboo?

Not an easy question I understand. What I am really looking for is the fastest growing bamboo, that can be grown in the US, and a realistic yield/acre/year number. I'd also be interested in how long does it take the bamboo to get to first harvest and how often can you harvest thereafter.

Lots of information here, I hope I didn't overwhelm anyone. I'm a numbers guy if you haven't figured that out. Looking forward to hearing from the list.

Thanks!

ZenergyBioFuel

[R e x]

Welcome to the forums!

Phyllostachys vivax is the fastest to size up here, but it has thinner culm (pole) walls when compared to other species of the genus.

[Bamabamboo]

Matthew,
Have a look at this website. It details the Studies done by Auburn university in Camden, AL....It shows yields of wood per acre for bamboo.
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/hort/landscape/bamboo.html#camden

You've got GREAT IDEAS and I really hope you are successful....please let me know if there is anyway I can help you.....I'm trying to do the same things here in Alabama but I've having ahard time getting landowners to signup.....It's becomming difficult to get a paradigm shift in their thinking.
We need someone to PROVE the profitability of this idea so that others can see the benefits......Keep up the GREAT work!!!!

Cyrus Bearden

[wingzofsteel]

Zynergy,
I appreciate your post.

I am brand new to the forum, like you looking for answers.

I have about 50 available acres in SE GA I am wishing to grow Mosa or similar Bamboo. Originally, I was interested in the timber aspects of bamboo, but cannot find answers to my questions on distribution to potential buyers.
At last I am now turning my attention to bamboo as an energy source by growing, harvesting and pelletizing bamboo to be used for residential heating.

I will share my findings with you and others that may be interested.

Thanks again.