Steam Powered Wood Chipper

Basic concept: a steam engine is directly (mechanically) coupled to a wood chipper. No electricity is generated. The whole purpose is to process wood. A portion of the wood chips is used used to power the steam engine. The heat module relies on pyrolysis instead of combustion. While this lowers the yield somewhat, it generates biochar as a by-product. The char can be sequestered locally, i.e. in forest soils.

The steam engine can be switched to a certain amount of hydraulic output, i.e. it can also drive a hydraulic fluid. Powerful hydraulic motors are coupled to steel ropes which are used to pull large branches toward the machine.

The steam engine's boiler may also generate some superheated steam that is used to quickly dry the wood chips.

also see: The Biochar Economy