Energy, fuels, and chemicals 3237 



Table 26-21. — Some approximate heat contents of wood, oil, coal, gasoline, 

 methanol, and ethanol 



Material Quantity Heat content 



Thousand Btu 

 Stemwood of pine-site hardwoods, 



ovendry 1 ton 15,650 



Stemwood of pine-site hardwoods, 



green 1 ton 9,080 



Oil, unrefined 1 barrel (42 gal or 7.03 pounds) 5,550 



Coal, eastern 1 ton 26,000 



Coal, western 1 ton 20,000 



Gasoline (regular unleaded) 1 gallon (6. 15 pounds) 120 



Methanol 1 gallon (6.6 pounds) 64 



Ethanol 1 gallon (6.6 pounds) 84 



26-n THE FUTURE 



Wood fuel will play a major role in supplying increasing amounts of energy 

 for the forest products industry through the turn of the century. The industry will 

 probably depend on oil and natural gas, however, for as long as these resources 

 are available. Natural gas use is likely to continue for numerous decades. Coal is 

 a less attractive fuel alternative due to environmental considerations and the cost 

 of shipping and handling, but its use will grow to perhaps 25 percent of the 

 industry needs by 1985 (Junge 1975b). Wood residues will remain the best 

 energy bargain, but economic use of wood sources such as the pine-site hard- 

 woods will depend on the development of adequate harvesting technology. 



Oil and natural gas will continue to be the primary feedstocks for organic 

 chemicals through the turn of the century and for as long thereafter as they 

 remain the least expensive alternative (Krieger and Worthy 1978; Grantham 

 1978; Maisel 1978; Herrick and Hergert 1977). A popular view is to reduce the 

 use of oil and natural gas for fuel and to reserve this source for petrochemical 

 production. Before the 1940's, coal was the major source of organic chemicals 

 and is considered the first alternative for both fuel and petrochemicals. Some 

 experts believe that methanol will be the first liquid fuel from coal to compete on 

 its own merits. At current energy consumption rates, there is enough coal to last 

 several hundred years. 



Wood will become more important as an industrial raw material because it is 

 renewable. Demand for fibers for paper and textile products will more than 

 double by the turn of the century (Jahn 1980). Although perhaps not competitive 

 with petroleum and coal for petrochemicals, wood should be studied for other 

 specialized chemical products that take advantage of the unique molecular 

 structure of wood and bark. 



Wood research thus should focus on making the ligno-cellulosic complex 

 accessible to chemical and biological action, on increased use of cellulose and 

 lignin as polymers, on production of specialized chemicals, and on catalyst 

 research and development. 



