More and more farms are generating electricity with their own wind turbine. Not the large gray aluminum colossi, but a small variant that looks a lot friendlier with its green mast and wooden blades. And the larch wood from which they are made comes from Staatsbosbeheer. “A good use of our wood,” says Kasper Broek, wood product specialist at Staatsbosbeheer.
Dutch Wood
Staatsbosbeheer extracts about 200.000 cubic meters of logs from its forests annually. Kasper: “That is considerably less than the annual growth. This way, we maintain our forests and can still benefit from this sustainable renewable raw material. We utilize our raw materials in the highest possible value to retain the stored CO2 for as long as possible. That is why we are pleased with the use of our wood in these small wind turbines.” Kasper is not only a product specialist but also works for the Staatsbosbeheer label Hollands Hout , which sells the wood. “From the sawmill, it goes to Heko Spanten in Ede, which produces the blades for EAZ Wind.”
Small-scale use
Aard Duivenvoorden is co-owner of EAZ Wind , the company that develops and sells small wind turbines with wooden blades. “With a technical background and a fascination for technology, we started this company about ten years ago. The development of wind turbines in recent decades has mainly gone from large to larger. When a need arose for smaller wind turbines, miniature versions of the large models initially entered the market. We have developed an entirely new wind turbine that is specifically suitable for smaller-scale use. For instance, the tail of the wind turbine ensures that it automatically positions itself correctly in the wind. Unlike large turbines, no electronics are used for this. This means that less maintenance is required and there is less that can break down.”
There are now more than 850 EAZ wind turbines in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Aard: “We mainly focus on the coastal provinces, because that is where the wind blows the strongest. Generating wind energy is interesting for farms because – in combination with solar panels – they can generate their own energy in both summer and winter. This fits in with farmers' greater need for their own energy and for more sustainable business operations. The increased energy price also plays a role.”
Lariskwood
Besides its size of about 15 meters high, the choice of materials makes a big difference. “We opted for wooden blades. Larch wood is ideal for this. Because of its sustainable origin and because it can be easily recycled after use. Moreover, it has a friendlier appearance in the landscape, which is very important to us. We like to use local raw materials and local production. I like the idea that this wood often comes from Drenthe and that every 3 to 5 minutes enough larch wood grows for a set of blades.”
Kasper: “Yes, that is the beauty of wood, it is an inexhaustible resource if you manage the forests carefully. Larch wood is very suitable for this application because this type of wood has a high proportion of resin-rich heartwood. This makes it highly resistant to wind and weather. It is also widely used for other outdoor applications such as construction timber or as cladding for houses. These larch wood windmill blades are a new and recognizable example of good use of our wood.”
Source article: Forestry Commission
Photos: EAZ Wind
