I doubt this will be well-received, but I continue to receive emails from APL, and the latest one pointed me to this article, so I feel within my rights to comment. I’ll freely admit that I have been an outspoken critic of Jim Mason and APL, and I think I have good reason to be. Let me start by saying that I think biomass gasification is a great thing, and the people at APL are brilliant. The products and the workmanship are great. The people at APL have a strong work ethic, and they are good, caring people. However, it is a common weakness of very smart people that they get sidetracked just like the rest of us, and sometimes they think they understand fields that are not their specialty. This can sometimes keep them from accomplishing their laudable goals.
I read the first few paragraphs of this article, and immediately began googling up some research. Then I came back and read the rest of it. I get the sentiment, and I get the concern and the caring, but there are some misconceptions and misstatements in this article. I also think that APL leadership is living in an ideological echo chamber, and is operating in a way that will never enable them to do what they ostensibly want to do, which is to sell enough of their great products to make the difference in the world that they seek to make.
First, my complaints about the article:
Contrary to Price’s alarmist rhetoric, the forests of California don’t “explode,” because of dead trees. “Even the state’s firefighter-in-chief, CalFire Director Ken Pimlott, agrees with the “emerging body of science that has found dead trees don’t significantly increase the likelihood of wildfires.” (Miller, 2016) The problem with California’s forests isn’t climate change — it’s mismanagement.
66 million dead trees isn’t that many in context anyway. “As Doug Bevington of Environment Now has reported, there are 33 million forested acres in the state, meaning that the recent pulse of tree mortality on average has increased the number of dead trees by a mere two snags per acre: “To put that number in perspective,” Bevington wrote, “forest animals that live in snags generally need at least four to eight snags per acre to provide sufficient habitat and some species require even more snags.” In short, viewed ecologically, California’s forests suffer from a deficit of dead trees, not a surfeit.” (Miller, 2016).
Also the bark beetle didn’t just “start the job,” this pest is reportedly responsible for 29 million dead trees by itself (Graff, 2016). That’s nearly half of the 66 million. Droughts have been happening in California for thousands of years, and so blaming droughts on human activity is short-sighted political posturing, not sound science.
As to this statement: “One million Powertainers could sequester enough carbon every few years to actually reverse the global atmospheric carbon ( known as PPM ) 1 point. Say from 400, to 399.” Nonsense on stilts. The developing world will increase co2 emissions far more than this every year, for many decades. Think about Africa. Think about poor Asian and Caribbean nations too.
And who is going to sell a million Powertainers? Certainly not APL. Here’s another quote from the Sierra Sun Times article: “The state has purchased 10 air-curtain burners — 20-foot long, metal blast-sheet containers that can incinerate up to eight trees an hour, with low air emissions. The purchase was part of a $5 million investment in equipment to address the tree-mortality epidemic.”
I’ll bet APL hasn’t sold 10 Power Pallets in the state of California to private persons or companies — and that is their business. Let’s be clear right now — equipment sold to universities etc. doesn’t count. Last I heard APL had sold about 500 gasifiers and power pallets. What is the number up to now — 1,000? If it’s even that high, such numbers are an abject failure of their sales department. When I read their emails and see how great they think they’re doing, I’ll tell you what I see — I see a grant-seeking, publicity-seeking, ideologically-driven outfit that can’t sell product. The results speak for themselves. Millions of dollars in grants received, dozens and dozens of conferences, expos, fairs, etc. but still less than a thousand units sold. How is that helping to spread biomass gasification?
My advice to APL? Stop blathering about climate change, stand on your own two feet, and start selling some equipment. You were presented with a viable sales process 8 years ago, but for some reason you felt that a commission-driven sales force was somehow beneath you. You jet set to all these conferences (spending who knows how much money and emitting how much co2 in the process?) and think that the people at those conferences will create a demand for your products. When have you ever left a conference with meaningful paid orders? Oh, you sold 3 units at a conference one time? That’s nice — now grow up.
You are playing at being in business to sell gasifiers/Power Pallets — you are not seriously accomplishing anything. What you are really doing is pretending that you are saving the world, and if enough people who think just like you only knew about your great products, they would flock to your door.
News Flash — people like you don’t buy gasifiers or Power Pallets for real world use. They don’t go out and sell them to others either. The most you will get is university/world saver types who will buy one unit so they can feel special at their institution. Business people, real everyday business people who own sawmills and farms are rarely hard-left ideologues like you, with their heads in the clouds. They are practical people, who don’t have the university’s or the taxpayer’s money to spend. They have to spend their own money. Your sales department isn’t set up to reach those people. Those people need to be sold, and you don’t seem to understand that. You think you know what you’re doing, sales-wise, but what you really know is the science of biomass gasification and how to build good equipment. You are not climate experts or forestry experts, and you are clearly not sales experts either. You need a trained sales staff who goes out and sells.
What you have, are order takers — and order takers are not salesman, and never will be until they are taken off salary and placed on commission. No offense to your good people manning the phones. They’re very nice, smart and caring people, but they are not sales people. Once you have (if you ever have) sales people, then they must be managed and motivated. I’ll bet you never once consulted with anyone about how you sold your products, because you thought you already knew just what to do. Hah. Imbert would laugh at you. A million of his gasifiers were in use in less time than you’ve sold 1000 units. Go on pretending if you must, but that’s what you’re really doing — pretending you have a viable business that is sustaining itself. You’re riding the back of the taxpayer so you can feel good about yourselves.
None are so blind as those who will not see.
References:
Graff, A. (2016). 29 million trees dead from bark beetle infestation pose fire risk in California. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/bark-beetles-California-dead-trees-fire-risk-7390544.php
Miller. (2016). Opinion: Sierra trees dying, the forest is not. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://www.laketahoenews.net/2016/10/opinion-sierra-trees-are-dying-the-forest-is-not/
Times, S. S. (2016). As California forests decline, observers cite mismanagement. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from http://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/7243-as-california-forests-decline-observers-cite-mismanagement