Environmental and Energy Study Institute

Sustainable Forest Biomass Conference Call - February 8, 2008

The purpose of this conference call was to edit and expand upon the list of knowledge gaps and research needs that had been identified during earlier conference calls and individual conversations with network members. A comprehensive and complete list of these needs, contributed to and vetted by a large group of stakeholders, will serve as an important resource for EESI when we sit down to draft concrete federal policy suggestions. Furthermore, it is an effective tool for eliciting discussion, collaboration, and information sharing among network members. Although research is still needed in nearly all aspects of bioenergy, much is known, in general, about growing and managing trees and forests. In addition, the understanding of how to effectively convert woody biomass to heat, power, and liquid fuels is growing by leaps and bounds. What aren’t very clear, however, are the standards and guidelines that are needed to craft management systems that produce biomass while sustaining thriving, healthy forest ecosystems. The research and knowledge that is most lacking, however, is that relating to biomass markets and economics. Specifically, better information is needed on biomass availability, regional pricing, harvesting and management costs, and the market-creating potential of policy incentives. The lack of reliable information on these topics itself appears to be a substantial disincentive for investment in forest bioenergy projects and businesses. Thorough, multi-layered regional biomass assessments could be conducted to include much of this information and provide an important tool to communities and individuals interested in creating energy from sustainable forestry.

Here is an the updated (3/4/08) list of knowledge gaps and research needs (.PDF)
Here are more detailed notes of this call (.PDF)

In addition, here are a number of resources that were referenced during this discussion:

Ben Urquhart's presentation on the benefits of biomass harvests for landowners (.PDF)
TSS Consulting document on liquid fuel conversion technologies (.PDF)
Righelato and Spracklen article on climate mitigation strategies using forests (.PDF)
Minnesota guidelines for sustainable biomass harvesting (.PDF)