GREENVILLE, Pa. – Omega Logging Inc., a longtime Mercer County hardwood-products business, has been awarded a $65,800 Agriculture Innovation Grant.
The grant will help Omega acquire a wood-to-biochar Air Burners FireBox system. The equipment processes wood waste on-site by directing a high-velocity curtain of air across the burn chamber, helping contain smoke and particulates so they can be burned more completely. The system also produces biochar, a carbon-rich material that can be used to improve soil and support plant and forest health.
“When you’ve spent nearly 50 years working with Pennsylvania hardwoods, you learn not to let good wood go to waste,” state Rep. Parke Wentling, R-7th, said in announcing the grant. “This system will help Omega turn leftover material into something useful while cutting down on the fuel, equipment and hauling needed to handle wood waste. It’s a practical, common-sense upgrade that will make the operation safer and more efficient.”
Omega has been a leader in western Pennsylvania’s hardwood-products industry since 1976. The company supplies wood products used by the construction industry, supports trucking and other related jobs and ships products throughout the country.
The Agriculture Innovation Grant Program helps Pennsylvania farmers and agribusinesses adopt new technologies to improve efficiency, food production and processing, conservation practices, energy use and animal disease management.