My internship with Whole Systems Design was focused on biomass energy and regenerative earth works. Biomass is a very versatile energy source that can be applied to many things on many scales and is derived from a large variety of sources. At Whole Systems Design, biomass is used for heating, hot water, and cooking, and biofuel is used to power vehicles.
Regenerative earth works are structures such as swales, ponds, rice paddies and terraces. They play an essential role at Whole Systems Design by controlling and maximizing nutrient cycling, building fertile soil, and slowing down water movement on the site. They are very labor intensive to install and construct. Ben used an excavator while we used mattocks, rakes and shovels to clear the ground of roots and rocks and to shape the earth. Ben justifies using diesel for these projects because all of the oil is going to be burned anyway, so we might as well use it to create regenerative earth works that will last for hundreds of years and drastically increase the health of the site while decreasing the amount of energy needed to manage it.
The biomass used is in the form of wood that is sustainably harvested from trees on site. This process is made sustainable because harvesting is done selectively with small patch cutting of mature trees, and Ben plants many more trees every year than he harvests. Using biomass this way is also carbon neutral because trees sequester carbon throughout their lifetime. The woodlot is carefully managed to maintain optimum density for lumber production as well as wildlife habitat. This management requires continuous hemming of lumber trees and the thinning out of crooked, crowded and stunted trees. All of this biomass is a valuable source of energy for Whole Systems Design. The trees are harvested and cut into logs by chainsaw. Ben uses a truck running on biodeisel to haul logs out of the woodlot.
A lot of my time at Whole Systems Design has been spent splitting logs into cordwood, and properly stacking and covering them. We completed one pile that we calculated to contain 4 cords of wood. That is about as much as Ben uses in three winters to heat his workshop. He used only about one cord of wood this winter. He uses an old iron woodstove that has a small chamber for the fire, two baking ovens and a griddle. It is located in the middle of the basement on a concrete slab with the exhaust pipe going up through the center of the shop. The small chamber is properly sized to the square footage of the shop to get the best efficiency and most comfortable heating. Ben's hot water tank is located on a table right next to the woodstove. Pipes running from the tank go through a heat exchanger attached to the stove, pre-heating the water.
This spring we planted and mulched trees to insure a steady supply of biomass for Whole Systems Design throughout the future. We also planted other perennials, built rock walls, made brush piles, and learned a ton about permaculture. I had a great time.

-Rye