Biomass: untainted energy from sawmills

In the timber sector, notably in sawmills, biomass is an obvious avenue for generating more income and optimizing the production process. A movement underpinned by the economic restart plan and undoubtedly a boon to French boiler manufacturer COMPTE.R.

Biomass set to thrive

With an extra €100m earmarked since 2020 for biomass projects and as much again in years to follow, the government has provided a serious leg up to the transformation of manufacturing processes and carbon-neutral heat production. As a high-yield, renewable energy source, biomass features many advantages, especially for sawmills and large joinery firms. It’s a close-at-hand, monetizable resource, it constitutes a reliable energy source, and it can be used for all kinds of purpose: production process heating, hot water, timber drying, wood fuel, and more. 

COMPTE.R: French leader 

Frances’s leading supplier of biomass boiler plant began life as [translated:] “Mechanical Construction Workshops of Puy de Dôme South”, making equipment for sawmills and other mills in the 1950s and 60s. The company then developed a system for recycling and reutilizing customers’ waste and began turning more and more to specialization. Under its CEO Edouard Marienbach, still an independent company, COMPTE.R is now present in six continents, with over 2,000 boilers installed in western Europe and over 1,000 in eastern Europe.
“We enable our industrial customers to stay in phase with their eco-production philosophy. When they use our products, their energy becomes distinctly greener. They can take things further still by using the timber resource in their production lines, notably in agri-food. Our boilers produce hot or superheated water, steam, and hot air that can be used in industrial processes. For joinery factories, sawmills, and every industry that involves woodwork, installing a boiler that produces hot water or generates hot air for a dryer is the sign of a twofold ambition: to recycle their waste and to optimize their production process” elaborates the COMPTE.R chairman.

Circular economy and reduced environmental footprint

Investing in a biomass boiler provides an entry to the world of circular economy, environmental contribution, and greater competitiveness.
With a broad range of boilers offering powers of 150kW to 12MW, COMPTE.R concentrates its efforts on improving the performance of these, investing in R&D and optimizing their operation with industry 4.0 technologies, and reducing all harmful emissions. “The work we conduct has brought us to the point where we can guarantee dust and NOx emission levels well below regulatory thresholds,” says Edouard Marienbach. 
This environmental requirement runs in COMPTE.R’s lifeblood. “With its firm commitment to sustainable development, our company aims for carbon neutrality. Our business is renewable energy production, and consistent with this approach, our objective is to eliminate the whole of our impact on the environment by 2025.” The challenge is as compelling as it is stimulating!

Superheated air generator installed at a wood pellet producer (Pradier)

1200kW boiler installed in the La Jurassienne dry timber sawmill