Friday Offcuts – 6 April 2023
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! In wood or log transport, the innovations just keep rolling on. The first battery electric logging truck operating in Australasia has been launched and is now being put through its paces in the Green Triangle region. It’s just the second electric log truck in the world. And last week, New Zealand’s largest privately owned transport company (with 1,400 trucks in their fleet) unveiled what’s believed to be Australasia’s first dual fuel truck powered by hydrogen gas and diesel. Another nine diesel trucks are being converted to dual fuel this year and a hydrogen fueling station is being installed in Southland. The plan for the HW Richardson Group is to build more refuelling stations over time and eventually shift from dual fuel trucks to solely hydrogen powered trucks.Related to wood transport, we’ve built in stories also of a Canadian company that’s taking the transport industry by storm, designing and manufacturing electric semi-trucks. In July 2022, the company built North America's first electric logging truck and in just one year, Edison Motors has gone from concept to production, with over 330 companies reserving an Edison truck. And in Australia, ForestWorks has just started work on a project updating the forest industry's Log Haulage Manual with funding supplied through the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative supported by the Australian Government. They’ll also be producing instructional videos to be used by the those involved in log haulage. In new technology this week, we had a major announcement by Vodafone (renamed One NZ). With connectivity long being a major issue in more remote forest locations, the telco announced a landmark deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite business to provide mobile coverage across the whole country via Starlink. For the forest industry and for rural communities, it’s going to be a game changer. Right now, the company’s mobile network covers just over half of the country’s geographical land mass. The new service is expected to be up and running later next year. And for those still grappling with the business and social implications of ChatGPT, we’ve included a story this week posing the question of whether the world is at “a tipping point” beyond which technology may be beyond our control. Sir Peter Gluckman has described artificial intelligence “as being as big as the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution. From Australia this week, the 33-turbine Delburn Wind Farm in Victoria has just been given the green light, in what will be the first such project built in a tree plantation in Australia. Building wind farms in plantations or forests is a design approach often used in Europe for more than 10 years. Although Delburn is the first, others though are following with a 226-turbine plantation-based wind farm known as Forest Wind approved in Queensland and a large plantation- based project being proposed in Victoria’s south-west. And finally, it’s with great sadness this week that we say goodbye to two outstanding leaders in the forestry industry, well known across New Zealand and internationally. Both Dave Cochrane, Waratah Forestry Equipment founder and innovator and Tony Grayburn, an industry leader with both the NZ Forest Service and New Zealand Forest Products have recently passed away. Our condolences go out to their families and to their work colleagues. And that’s it for this week.
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This week we have for you:
SpaceX to provide 100% mobile coverage of NZ
Vodafone has reached an agreement with Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite business to provide mobile coverage of the whole country for its customers via Starlink. The telco announced the landmark deal on Monday morning to coincide with its name change from Vodafone to One NZ. One NZ’s mobile service is currently delivered though cellphone towers, but the Starlink agreement will mean customers will be able to use their smartphones to connect via satellite when they are in areas that don’t have cellular coverage. Chief executive Jason Paris said One NZ’s mobile network covered 98% of the places where people “lived and worked”, but only just over half of the country’s geographical land mass. When the new service was turned on late next year, there would be coverage across the country “whether you’re out on your boat, climbing a mountain, fixing a remote road or on your farm”, he said. He said it would save lives. Spokesperson Nicky Preston said the satellite service would initially only allow text messages, including multimedia (MMS) texts, but would later be expanded to also support voice calls and mobile broadband. Paris said the text service would be available to One NZ customers but once the voice service was available it would be open to all so people could make a 111 call no matter which company they were with. One NZ has yet to decide how it will price and market the service, but customers should not need new smartphones or any extra equipment to make use of it. Paris said a smartphone would be required, though. The deal mirrors a similar arrangement that United States’ telco T-Mobile agreed with SpaceX in August. More >> Dual fuel truck powered by diesel and hydrogen gas
New Zealand’s largest privately owned transport company has launched what is believed to be Australasia’s first dual fuel truck which is powered by hydrogen gas and diesel. The HW Richardson Group, which has 1400 trucks in its fleet, revealed its first dual-fuel truck at the George Begg Festival at Teretonga, near Invercargill on Friday 31 March. The company believes hydrogen is a future fuel that will transform the transport industry from being one of the largest emitters to one of sustainability's biggest champions. HW Richardson Group chief executive Anthony Jones said the team made the decision 14 months ago to “jump boots and all” into dual fuel trucks. Another nine diesel trucks would be converted to dual fuel this year, while a hydrogen fuelling station would be installed in Gore. Details of this new technology, lessons and progress on rolling out the dual fuel trucks will be part of this region’s Wood Transport & Logistics 2023 event planned to run in Rotorua, New Zealand on 24-25 May 2023. Details on the programme and activities planned as part of the event can be found on woodtransport.events “What you see in front of you is 14-months of hard work come to life, we are pretty proud of it,” he said of its first such truck, a 2023 DAF XF. “We see this as a step to transition the industry away from fossil fuels to future fuels.” When in dual fuel mode, about 40% of the truck’s energy was generated by hydrogen gas, in five tanks behind the cab, and 60% from diesel. It could also run on diesel only. The beauty of dual fuel vehicles was a driver could be dispatched from Invercargill to Christchurch “and if they run out of hydrogen they can still get home by flipping over to the diesel only mode”. The company had made the call to “lead the industry” away from fossil fuels, and it was doing so without the trucks losing performance, he said. “Some of the trials in Europe show they [dual fuel trucks] are getting more power.” The company had opted against electric vehicles, as it couldn’t afford to lose up to 30% efficiency as a result of the weight of the batteries, and wait four hours for batteries to recharge, Jones said. “So, hydrogen was really the only solution for us from a long distance transport option.” The plan was to build more refuelling stations over time and eventually shift from dual fuel trucks to solely hydrogen powered trucks. “Once you get to that, all that comes out the back is water vapour.” HWR hydrogen project manager Kerryn Hamill said it cost about NZ$200,000 to convert a diesel truck to a dual fuel truck – “significantly less than buying an alternative fuel vehicle”. The company’s total programme costs were NZ$15m to put the initial 10 dual fuel trucks on the road and install a hydrogen fuel station. The company's 1400 trucks emitted a lot of emissions and the dual fuel trucks were a step in reducing that. “Our team have worked so hard to get here,” Hamill said. Source & Photo: Stuff .jpg){kind=spacer}
Vale Dave Cochrane - Waratah founder and innovator
It is a sad day as we reflect on the death of Waratah Forestry Equipment
founder, David (Dave) Cochrane, who passed away last week.Dave established Waratah General Engineering Ltd in Tokoroa on 3rd June 1973 when he was just 28 years old. He created the brand and was an innovator who had a passion for the product and gave everything to create the foundation of what Waratah is today. His leadership in the automation of tree harvesting in New Zealand and globally cannot be understated. His determination to succeed against the odds from the outside with this revolutionary invention has been responsible for saving countless lives in the forest industry around the world. For an insight into what truly was an amazing life within the forest industry, NZ Forest Industries magazine did a feature article on Dave back in 2002. Read the article here. Dave passed away peacefully on 31st March, 2023 after a short illness; aged 77 years. He was a much-loved husband of Jill for 46 years. Respected and much-loved father of Alan and Jon, special father-in-law of Kristen, and beloved 'Dave' of Sheppard and Fox. A private cremation has been held. A memorial service to celebrate Dave's life will be held in Whitianga at a date to be advised. All communication to: jill@cochranenz.com Dave had a friendly nature and a big voice and a big smile to go with it. He truly was a legend in NZ forestry machinery development. Vale David, you will be missed among the tall timber in the forest. Small scale woodlot owners should have their say
The outgoing President of New Zealand’s Farm Forestry Association says it has been
vital for farm foresters to directly address the Ministerial Inquiry into forestry
and other land use in Tairāwhiti. Graham West has told the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association annual conference in Timaru, that the Inquiry Panel was keen to hear verbal submissions from him and particularly the Gisborne East Coast Branch of Farm Forestry Association. “All the media attention since the cyclones hit the region has been on harvest residue and the role of the larger forest growers. But there are farmers in the region, and also small institutional investors, who will want their local forest interests represented as well,” Graham West said. “These would range from wanting to be consulted about any regulations which might be introduced, through to compensation for managed retreat. For instance, we hear forest owners will not be compensated by the government’s reconstruction package. Why isn’t this primary sector supported in the national interest as farming and horticulture is?” “Any recommendation from the Inquiry, or a resulting regulation, might be insignificant for a larger company. But it could create real difficulty for a woodlot owner. We want to see small scale forestry expertise used in the solutions, particularly if it relates to tree species other than radiata pine,” Graham West said. Latest figures from the National Exotic Forest Description show there are more 30 thousand hectares of woodlot forests smaller than 50 hectares in Gisborne and Wairoa. Graham West says there is likely to additionally be more than four thousand investors who have bought a direct stake in forests in the region. “Local farmers have planted large areas of trees on their properties in Tairāwhiti. Numbers of ordinary New Zealanders have invested as well. Iwi have a huge forestry stake.” More >> Source: New Zealand Farm Forestry Association Artificial intelligence: World at 'tipping point
Sir Peter Gluckman says people are being “pulled apart by misinformation, disinformation, social media and ‘targeting’”. The world is at “a tipping point” beyond which technology may be beyond our control, the president of the International Science Council, Auckland University professor Sir Peter Gluckman says. Gluckman goes as far as to say artificial intelligence is “as big as the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution”. If it was anyone – or even any expert – voicing those views, they might easily be dismissed as hyperbole. But Gluckman previously served as the Government’s chief science advisor and is now performing a similar function on a much grander scale as president of the Paris-based International Science Council, which has the ear of organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Speaking from Washington, Gluckman explained the council was designed to be the principal interface between the scientific community and “the multilateral system. Artificial intelligence, biodiversity loss, oceans, social cohesion – there are a few things on the agenda.” How ChatGPT works ChatGPT may not be perfect, but it's proving a faster learner. So what, specifically, are his concerns about AI? One is the spectre of “AI-controlled autonomous weapons” and another relates to the emerging field of synthetic biology and the potential for AI to automate the development of viruses and bacteria. “It is the information technology of what ‘alphabet soup’, you want to put on the sequence of DNA. That has the potential to do great things; you can use bacteria to clean up an oil spill. But we've just gone through a rather nasty pandemic of a virus whose origin is debated,” he observes, obliquely referring to the theory Covid was developed inside and accidently released from a Chinese laboratory. Compared to killer robots and synthetic viruses, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT that are designed to spew out words might seem well down the list of worries. Gluckman downplays ChatGPT as “basically a fancy web-scraping tool at this stage”. But he has an end state in mind. That is one in which “deep fakes” and the “son of ChatGPT” could be used to convincingly put anyone’s words into anyone’s mouth. “I’m not talking about AI in the way it is being used to today, but as it is emerging now, it is changing our relationship with reality,” he says. “Once we can no longer discriminate what is ‘real’ from what is not real, what does that do to us as human beings? More >> Source: Stuff 
Forico Sustainability Leadership Award success
Forico, Tasmania’s largest private forest manager, has won a major accolade at the annual Banksia Foundation National Sustainability Awards. Forico was awarded the ‘Small and Medium Enterprise Sustainable Leadership Award’, held at a gala dinner in the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre on 23rd March. The award category recognises businesses who can showcase outstanding achievements that integrate sustainability principles and practices across business activities and outcomes. About the Awards Established 34 years ago, the Banksia National Sustainability Awards recognise individuals, communities and businesses for their innovation and excellence in environmental and social stewardship. Entrants in the category had to demonstrate: - that sustainability is at the core of the business’ activities; - benchmarks have been used for implementing sustainable solutions; - positive and negative impacts of the business are transparently reported; - there is strong alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and - that sustainability leadership is promoted. Forico and Sustainability Forico’s commitment to the three sustainable forest management principles of prosperity, planet and people is demonstrated through alignment with both internationally recognised sustainable forest management standards and the UN SDGs. Forico responsibly manages plantations for wood fibre production and natural forests for conservation and biodiversity values. Additionally, Forico engages positively with a broad range of stakeholders including the Tasmanian Aboriginal community where they have developed a Reconciliation Action Plan. Forico has also been widely recognised as having set a benchmark for business and industry in environmental stewardship and corporate sustainability reporting, releasing its world-leading Natural Capital Reports in 2020 and 2021, a first in Australia. The latest 2022 Natural Capital Report will be published shortly. Simon Cook, Forico’s Sustainability Manager said of the win, “We are very excited at being recognised on the national stage. The production of sustainable forest products and providing nature-based solutions will help mitigate climate change, biodiversity loss and lead the transition to a circular economy. This award is testimony to the passion we all share at Forico to be part of the solution towards a truly sustainable and nature positive future, and Tasmania’s future.” Photo: Forico’s Sustainability Manager Simon Cook (right) accepts the Banksia Award New training hub to assist with career opportunitiesThe Queensland Government announced that Timber Queensland has been successful in a one year AU$980,000 funding application to establish "Canopy", a forest and timber industry training and career hub. Timber Queensland’s Strategic Relations & Communications Manager Clarissa Brandt said the hub will bring together industry, employers, training providers and employment agencies to deliver training and career education programs and work experience opportunities for school leavers, unemployed and existing staff looking to upskill or retrain.“Global trends in technology, sustainable development and a movement towards the circular economy are driving increased demand for timber manufactured and waste products. These developments mean new job opportunities in all segments of the supply chain, supplementing the more traditional roles that will continue to underpin our growing industry,” said Clarissa Brandt. Mrs Brandt said despite growing demand the sector is facing substantial challenges to recruiting, training and retaining suitably skilled and qualified workers. “Current skill shortages and lack of a pipeline of future workforce entrants is a major constraint on the growth of an efficient and effective forest and timber industry across Queensland,” said Clarissa Brandt. “Canopy – a first for Queensland’s industry - will provide co-ordinated state-wide industry attraction, retention and training programs, trial new information technology platforms to deliver microcredentials and drive gains in productivity and efficiency,” she said. “Timber Queensland is pleased to be able to implement this significant project over the next twelve months as we start to address some of the long-term workforce development needs of industry. This exciting project will provide services to the full industry supply chain across the Wide Bay, Moreton Bay, Central Queensland and Far North Queensland regions.” Canopy will focus on ensuring a good match of knowledge and practical skills of trainees and graduates with qualifications with current industry requirements. “We are partnering with experienced operators to deliver two Master Tree Grower Programs, conduct a trial of a Digital Microcredentials System with relevant training for the harvest and haulage sector and implement Pre-Employment Training for wood processors in targeted regions.” Mrs Brandt said Canopy staff will visit schools and job expos across the state promoting career awareness and showcasing the wide variety of opportunities available within the industry. Photo: From little things big things grow. Hervey Bay SHS students on the Grow, Harvest & Process Industry Schools Tours the Canopy Training & Career Hub will expand in 2023. Source: Timber Queensland
SnapSTAT - Outlook for NZ forestry to 2024NZ forestry exports are forecast to increase to NZ$6.6 billion for the year to 30 June 2023. A slowdown in demand has been offset by a weak NZD against the USD, which is currently supporting high export prices for all products. Looking ahead, log demand is forecast to decline as China’s economy and construction sector continues its slowdown. Sawn timber exports are forecast to remain steady as domestic demand declines and producers look to export product that would have otherwise been consumed domestically.
Source: MPI: Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries, Dec 2022 The future of electric semi trucks
Canadian Company takes the transportation industry by storm. Edison Motors is a revolutionary company that specializes in the design, development, and production of electric semi-trucks. Founded by Chace Barber and Eric Little, this privately owned Canadian clean technology company has quickly made a name for itself in the industry, thanks to its innovative approach to manufacturing electric trucks that deliver fuel savings without compromise. In just one year, Edison Motors has gone from concept to production, with over 330 companies reserving an Edison truck. This is an incredible accomplishment for any automobile manufacturer and a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Edison Motors team. The company's niche audience is truckers and the car technology industry, and it has quickly become a leader in this space. In December 2021, Edison Motors was announced to the public and by July 2022, the company had built North America's first electric logging truck. The company completed prototype testing in October 2022 and began building its first production truck, the Edison L750, in November 2022. The Edison Truck is the result of a trucking company that remanufactured classic logging trucks with its engineering expertise in off-grid hybrid power systems. The Edison team aims to have the reliability and serviceability of a classic semi-truck with the efficiency, power, and emissions standards of an electric truck. Being a small truck manufacturer is not a weakness for Edison Motors, but rather a strength, as each truck is built by hand to meet the customers' requirements. The company's simple five-step manufacturing process includes: the frame and rolling chassis preparation and construction, where the frame rails are laid out, cross members, and suspension attached to customers' specifications; axle installation, where the e-axles are attached to the frame and sent off to the paint booth to be painted and protected; high-voltage system installation, which includes the installation of batteries and optional range-extended generators; cab assembly and mounting, where the cab is pre-wired with the electric control units at the same time the chassis is being made and then painted and mounted to the truck; and final touches, where the 12-volt system is installed, and final preparation touches are made to finish the truck. All Edison trucks are subject to a 1000km test drive before being allowed to be delivered to the customer. This rigorous testing process ensures that most new truck problems can be found and addressed within the first 1000km, so when an Edison truck arrives at the customer, it has been fully tested and is ready to go to work. The founders of Edison Motors, Chace Barber and Eric Little, entered a business partnership in 2016 after graduating from university and starting a trucking company with a 1969 Kenworth 5-axle logging truck. They began hauling logs in Merritt, BC, and then moved on to hauling mining equipment into the Yukon and drilling rigs in Alberta before returning to BC logging. In conclusion, Edison Motors the Canadian Clean Technology Company founded by Chace Barber and Eric Little in 2016, after they graduated from university, has grown to a valuation of US$300 million and has completed prototype testing and begun production of their first truck, the Edison L750. The company aims to produce electric and hybrid vocational trucks and EV conversion kits that deliver fuel savings without compromise and has a niche audience of truckers and the car technology industry. “Built by truckers, for truckers” - Edison Motors Source: digitaljournal Green hydrogen powering NZ’s future
Is New Zealand the next Glass Onion? The famous movie depicts a false idea of the future, using tiny particles of crystallised hydrogen for energy.The idea of using green hydrogen to power the world is nearly everywhere – it has the potential to alter the playing field for sustainable power, but it’s just that – an idea. So, what happens when two Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) researchers get NZ$11.8 million dollars to start making that idea a reality? UC Earth and Environment scientist, Professor Andy Nicol and Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Senior Lecturer, Dr David Dempsey received $11.8 million from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to answer critical questions for the future of green hydrogen in Aotearoa New Zealand: how can hydrogen be safely stored to be useful as an energy source? Professor Nicol and Dr Dempsey already know that storing hydrogen in its liquid form isn’t feasible for the massive amounts we’ll need, so their research will focus on storing it as a gas. “Hydrogen doesn’t become a liquid until around minus 260 degrees Celsius” says Dr Dempsey, close to absolute zero, which is the lowest limit temperature can be recorded at. If you want to store it as a liquid it’s a lot of effort – it takes a lot of energy. It’s constantly boiling off hydrogen to keep that temperature low, and that all adds to the cost”. “We’re probably going to have to store it as a room-temperature gas, but even at really high-pressure hydrogen’s density is quite low. We estimate Aotearoa might need about 10% of its annual hydrogen consumption on hand in storage and that’s an enormous volume. That’s like covering an area more than the size of 450 rugby fields with tanks if you put it all on the surface… the underground option is quite nice, if you can make it work of course.” While underground storage solves the problem of scale there are still potential risks to mitigate, says Professor Nicol. “One thing we’ll look at is leakage scenarios because that’s both an environmental and a social licence risk. More >> New ETS plan concerns Māori leadersA “bizarre” gagging order is stopping Māori business leaders from discussing changes which they say will “tank” Māori-run carbon forestry.Stuff has heard from Māori business leaders across the country, who are concerned a yet-to-be-released proposal from New Zealand’s Climate Minister James Shaw and the Labour Government will threaten their ability to run profitable climate forests. The proposal will impact the multi-billion dollar carbon forestry sector, where forest owners trade carbon credits through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). It’s become a major industry for Māori, who have been able to turn difficult terrain held under Māori Land Titles, into productive assets. Multiple sources say they were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in order to participate in consultation about changes to the ETS and carbon catching forestry. The legal hurdles and tight timeframe meant some experts were given just a day to digest a 150-page report and give feedback. The proposal looks to fix biodiversity problem with carbon forestry. The Government, as well as environmental groups including some Māori commentators, are concerned pine trees will make up the bulk of the carbon forests – taking up land native trees could otherwise occupy. There’s also concern around how more pine forests could impact the environment and their surroundings. More >> Source: Stuff Vale Tony Grayburn – A forestry stalwart
Tony Grayburn certainly left his mark on the South Waikato and the wider
forestry industry, both in New Zealand and overseas. Anthony (Tony) Watson Grayburn NZOM, JP (1924 - 2023). After a long and distinguished career in the New Zealand Forest Service, a short stint in the army and many years of community service in the South Waikato, Anthony (Tony) Watson Grayburn has passed on. Grayburn died at Bob Owens Retirement Village in Bethlehem, Tauranga on 10 March, in his 99th year. A funeral service was held at St Columba Church in Cherrywood and his ashes will be interred, with those of his wife Audrey, in the RSA section of the Tokoroa Cemetery. Grayburn grew up in Geraldine, South Canterbury during the Depression, one of six children to Fred and Vera Grayburn. He was educated at Geraldine High School where he was head boy, Victoria University in Wellington where he read science, and the Australian Forestry School in Canberra. In 1941, he joined the New Zealand Forest Service, and shortly after that, between 1946 and 1948, he was a member of J Force, a New Zealand Army group sent to occupy and demobilise Japan at the end of World War II. Grayburn rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant and was based in Youda, near Yamagouchi, in Southern Japan where he also taught agriculture and forestry. He married Audrey Webster from Wellington and continued a long and illustrious career with the forest service in Kaingaroa, Invercargill, and with the Selwyn Plantation Board in Canterbury. Grayburn brought his wife and young family to Tokoroa in 1963 where he joined New Zealand Forest Products (NZFP) at Kinleith. He was based in Tokoroa for the rest of his career, retiring at the end of 1989, after rising to manager of NZFP Forests in the central North Island. He was also involved with forestry development around the Pacific basin, western USA, British Colombia in Canada, Japan, Australia, Chile and the Pacific Islands. He lectured at the University of Canterbury Forestry School and the Forest Research Institute in Rotorua. Later in his career, he received the New Zealand Order of Merit and the New Zealand Institute of Forestry Kirk Medal for service to the forestry industry. This was for work and leadership in various forestry organisations including the Institute of Foresters, Loggers Association, NZ Forest Owners, Forestry Research Advisory Committee, New Zealand Forestry Council, Tauranga Harbour Board, and the Pacific Logging Congress. Grayburn and his wife Audrey commemorated 70 years of marriage in 2019, and are survived by three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Our thoughts go out to his wider family, friends and his work colleagues. Source & Photo: Stuff, supplied by Mike Grayburn First wind farm inside an Australian forest plantation
The Latrobe Valley’s first wind farm has been approved, in a sign of Victoria’s transition away from coal-fired power. The 33-turbine Delburn Wind Farm will be the first such project built in a tree plantation in Australia. The privately owned site south of Morwell overlooks the retired Hazelwood coal-fired power station and mine, which closed five years ago. The location was chosen because high-voltage transmission lines that were built for the power station run through the Latrobe Valley. Delburn’s turbines will tower up to 250 metres at the tip of the blades. The project is expected to create up to 186 full-time-equivalent jobs during construction – with 24 ongoing jobs over the 30-year life of the project – and power an estimated 135,000 Victorian homes with renewable energy. Delburn’s backers say there is enough wind in the area to generate electricity, and because the weather in Gippsland is different from other wind farm locations in the north and west of the state, the region will generate electricity at different times of the day. Environmentalists have welcomed the approval, saying the operational wind farm will avoid an estimated 590,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. The wind farm is a joint venture between Cubico Sustainable Investments and OSMI Australia. Building wind farms in plantations or forests is a design approach that has been used in Europe for more than 10 years, but Delburn will be the first major one in Australia. A 226-turbine plantation-based wind farm known as Forest Wind has been approved in Queensland and a large plantation-based project is proposed as part of the Kentbruck Green Power Hub in Victoria’s south-west. A smaller project is under development in the Macedon Ranges south of Woodend. Source: The Age  Log Haulage Skills resources being created
ForestWorks has commenced work on a project to update the forest industry's Log Haulage Manual and produce instructional videos to support some important knowledge and skills required to transport harvested timber safely. These resources are being created for industry, by industry, to make Australian workplaces safer. Those with experience in log haulage have the opportunity to provide feedback on the current Log Haulage Manual and improvements that can be made. Feedback is being collected from 10 March to 18 April 2023. To keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback, please email lhm@forestworks.com.au and provide your name, organisation and the state/region where you are based. For more information and instructions on how to provide feedback, visit the Log Haulage Manual and Video Project webpage. Funding for this project has been made available as part of the NHVR’s Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HSVI), supported by the Australian Government. Source: ForestWorks  Jobs
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