Forest waste as a potential alternative energy source

Following a method based on the procedure given by Hubbardet al. 1] the calorific values of combustion in oxygen at 298.15 K were measured by static-bomb calorimetry for forest residues. This waste mainly coming from mount reforestation, construction of firebreaks, etc., constitutes an important risk to originate forest fire. From combustion experiments the mean calorific value of all species studied was found close to 19 000 kJ·kg^?1, similar to calorific values of Municipal Waste. It can be concluded that this forest residues can be used as an additional fuel to be added to Municipal Solid Waste in energy recovery plants. By doing this, energy, in this moment lost as abandoned residues, can be recovered. At the same time the elimination of this waste minimizes the risk of forest fires. Our results reasonably agree with literature values.