The goal of "A Review of Available Economic and Financial Biomass Information and Tools for Federal Land Managers in the West" is to provide a synthesis of information products available to federal land managers to enhance their ability to understand and deal with the economic and financial aspects of woody biomass removal as a component of fire hazard reduction treatments.
The cooperators in this project use their extensive experience related to timber and woody biomass utilization in the west, and worked closely with federal land managers regarding timber flow, milling capacity, treatment and logging costs, transportation costs, wood use, and biomass availability and utilization, to gather and synthesize information products that can answer questions about the economic and financial effects of biomass removal.
This information is meant to fill the gaps between existing information and tools and managers' awareness of and ability to access and use these tools and information. Included in this work is extensive literature related to financial and economic aspects of biomass volume estimation, removal and utilization, information describing the location and characteristics of biomass-utilizing facilities in several western states, the types, tree sizes, and volumes of wood fiber these facilities purchase, and the value of wood fiber delivered to these facilities.
ANNOTATION: This publication provides information on the woody biomass materials available in Alabama, timber harvest and price trends and per unit cost comparisons with traditional energy sources. It also contains references to further information...
ANNOTATION: A pre-feasibility assessment is an early stage and limited analysis of the probable risks and returns of an investment. Focused on gathering preliminary information, it helps decision makers determine if there is a basis for investing...
Removing hazardous fuels to reduce the risk of wildfire has become a priority for land managers across the United States. Utilizing biomass taken from forests to cover the cost of fuel reduction is an attractive ideal. Effective utilization could also...
ANNOTATION: These case studies show that all aspects of woody biomass removals, from markets to mechanization, are evolving. This report identifies the building blocks for successful biomass projects-including public involvement, partnerships with...
ANNOTATION: This paper provides a brief description of how an Idaho logging contractor has developed an innovative collection and transportation method for gathering scattered logging slash and then processing and concentrating it into volumes more...
ANNOTATION: Working with neighboring industrial forest landowners, Grays Harbor Paper in Hoquiam, Washington has developed a new processor head to assist securing additional hogfuel from existing logging slash piles. The processing head consists of a...
ANNOTATION: Forest Resources Association partnered with Langdale Industries of Valdosta, Georgia to evaluate the performance of a tree-length Southern pine operation that added a small Conehead 565 chipper to chip material otherwise left in the woods....
ANNOTATION: Forest Resources Association partnered with Langdale Industries of Valdosta, Georgia to evaluate the performance of a tree-length Southern pine operation that added a small Conehead 570 chipper to chip material otherwise left in the woods....
ANNOTATION: This report examines the domestic and international markets for biopower. Domestic and foreign markets present fundamentally different challenges to private power developers. The domestic challenge lies in finding economically viable...
ANNOTATION: This document describes current US national fuel challenges in the context of increased renewable energy production. There is a description of the Congressionally created Biomass Research and Development Board's mandate: 'to...
ANNOTATION: This paper presents a model of interrelated timber markets in the U.S. West to assess the impacts of large-scale fuel reduction programs on these markets, and concomitant effects of the market on the fuel reduction programs. The model...
ANNOTATION: The potential for biomass utilization to enhance the economics of treating hazardous forest fuels was examined on the Bitterroot National Forest and surrounding areas. Initial forest stand conditions were identified from Forest Inventory...
ANNOTATION: This paper identifies timberland areas in 12 western states where thinning treatments (1) are judged to be needed to reduce fire hazard and (2) may 'pay for themselves' at a scale to make investment in forest product processing a...
ANNOTATION: In spite of this simplicity secondary transport is typically responsible for between 20 and 40% of the delivered fuel cost. To achieve a full payload within maximum allowable load dimension restrictions the material transported must have a...
ANNOTATION: This paper illustrates the potential of harvesting wood for industrial energy, based on the results of five harvesting studies and presents information on harvesting operations, equipment costs, and productivity. It further discusses...
The costs for harvesting timber for forest fire fuel reduction purposes were estimated for 12 states in the West. The Fuel Reduction Cost Simulator (FRCS) was used to estimate the costs for forest thinning with six harvesting methods, based on...
ANNOTATION: An alternative to conventional methods of processing small diameter trees for energy use is roll crushing/splitting. The concept involves the crushing and splitting of stems to expedite field drying and to facilitate handling. This method...
ANNOTATION: This study looks into increasingly severe fire seasons over the last two decades that have led policymakers to recognize the need for thinning overgrown stands of trees. Thinning presents a financial challenge and the problem is that...
ANNOTATION: The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize all the receiving, handling, storing, and processing steps required to make woody biomass feedstocks suitable for use in direct combustion and gasification applications, including...
ANNOTATION: Bain and Overend provide a national history of biomass used for energy, a brief market and supply analysis, and a current status of technology. They additionally identify research needs. ABSTRACT: Biomass is the single largest source of non...
ANNOTATION: The purpose of this publication is to report the results of research conducted by the Residues R&D Program in harvesting and utilization opportunities for forest residue. Additionally, to provide a record of proceedings of the 3-day...
ANNOTATION: Forest residues utilization research has included case studies of the efficiency of existing harvesting systems in achieving close fiber utilization. Field evaluations included the use of in-woods chipping systems in gentle terrain; crawler...
ANNOTATION: Three processes have been developed in the United States, one in Canada, and one in Finland for improving the quality of whole-tree and forest residue chips. They have potential application individually or in combination. Two of them have...
ANNOTATION: In this paper, it is outlined how Resources Evaluation has treated forest residue in the past, what changes have been made recently to more adequately address the forest residue, and finally to consider what changes will have to be made in...
ANNOTATION: The potential markets for forest residues can be classified into four primary categories. This paper deals with each of these categories separately, and attempts to indicate some of the major influences which are expected to change the...
ANNOTATION: Whatever decisions are to be made concerning the possible use of forest residues, questions always arise about the costs of collecting and transporting them to a place where they might be used. The residue cost model consists of a series of...
ANNOTATION: A biomass crusher/splitter concept is presented as a possible means of maintaining rights-of-way or harvesting energy wood plantations. The conceptual system would cut, crush, and split small woody biomass leaving it in windrows for drying...
ANNOTATION: In this study, two units, one on steep slopes and one on gentle slopes, were harvested using variations to conventional harvesting systems in northeastern Washington. On the steep slope unit, cut-to-length processing and forwarding were...
ANNOTATION: This paper outlines a Joint Fire Science Program funded study, 'A national study of the economic impacts of biomass removals to mitigate wildfire damages on federal, state, and private lands.' The study involves using the...
ANNOTATION: The purpose of this study is to identify and assess utilization challenges in different parts of the United States. The information collected through case studies is used to address persistent conventional wisdoms to biomass utilization...
ANNOTATION: The HCR is engineering and financial analysis software used to evaluate stand-level financial thresholds for harvesting small diameter ponderosa pine in the Southwest United States. The HCR can help contractors and planners to identify...
ANNOTATION: Volume and characteristics of logging residues from 34 clearcut and partial cut harvest areas are presented. Residue volumes ranged from almost 3,600 cubic feet per acre down to 550 cubic feet per acre, depending on treatment. More than 60...
ANNOTATION: In the northern Rocky Mountains, 350-450 million cubic feet (9.9 to 12.7 million cubic meters) of logging residue is generated each year. Up to 60 percent of the residue material is technologically suitable for wood products, but condition...
ANNOTATION: This paper explains and describes the concepts of wood energy on a residential, commercial, and industrial scale in the United States so that the Forest Service can help meet the demands of communities involved in the forest-products...
ANNOTATION: The FIA BioSum modeling framework that incorporates Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot data, a transportation cost model, a treatment cost accounting module, a log valuation model, and a crown fire hazard evaluator and was applied to...
Annotation: This paper presents a spatially explicit dataset of aboveground live forest biomass made from ground measured inventory plots for the conterminous U.S., Alaska and Puerto Rico. The plot data are from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory...
ANNOTATION: This study examined and measured the feasibility of ground-based mechanical harvesting to reduce forest fuel buildup and produce energywood. It shows a cut-to-length harvesting system coupled with a small in-woods chipper provided a low...
ANNOTATION: Relationships between live and dead crown weight and DBH, crown length, tree height, and crown ratio are presented for 11 Rocky Mountain conifers. Also included are partitioned estimates of crown foliage and branchwood. This study shows a...
ANNOTATION: For 11 conifer species in the Rocky Mountains the best fitting regression relationships between live and dead crown weight and DBH, crown length, tree height, and crown ratio were determined. Also determined were fractions of crown weight...
ANNOTATION: Procedures are provided for predicting weights of slash using tables of either slash weight per tree by DBH or slash weight per square foot of tree basal area by DBH. Slash weights include crowns and non-merchantable bole tips to 3-6 inch...
ANNOTATION: This report intends to increase the accuracy of cost data available for planning and prioritizing fuel management in national forests. A survey of fire management officers was used to develop regression models that may be used to estimate...
ANNOTATION: Time and motion derived production and costs are estimated for a CTL system while implementing fuel reduction treatments in two stands on the Coconino National Forest in Arizona. Product recovery and fire behavior within each stand were...
ANNOTATION: This article has tables and equations for estimating total-tree weights, stem weights, and volumes of plantation-grown loblolly, and slash when DBH and height to a four inch top or total height are known.
ANNOTATION: This paper is the cooperative research with the USDA Forest Service, Southeastern Experiment Station and the Georgia Forestry Commission. Together they conducted a study to develop reliable weight and volume equations and tables for the...
ANNOTATION: This study covers the results of survey concerning National Forest System prescribed burning activity and costs from 1985 to 1995. Four types of prescribed fire were looked at, including slash reduction, management-ignited fires, prescribed...
ANNOTATION: This paper provides an assessment of the potential for developing a sustainable biomass energy industry in South Carolina. Several possible sources of biomass were analyzed: unutilized logging residue and standing residual inventory trees...
ANNOTATION: This study looks into landscape-scale fuel treatments for forest fire hazard reduction that can potentially produce large quantities of material suitable for biomass energy production. The analytic framework FIA BioSum addresses this...
ANNOTATION: In this paper the impact of combined biomass/fuel reduction harvests on the pools of forest fuels was analyzed to determine whether biomass harvest reduced the cost of mechanical fuel treatments. Two potential biomass harvest systems were...
ANNOTATION: This study analyzes perceptions of four stakeholder groups regarding forest biomass-based bioenergy development in the southern US. Results suggest that NGO representatives perceived rural development as an important opportunity. Government...
ANNOTATION: Woody biomass-usually logging slash, tops and limbs, or trees that cannot be sold as timber-is the lowest valued material removed from the forest and presents economic and logistical challenges. This report brings together 45 case studies...
ANNOTATION: This report compares the guidelines for harvesting woody biomass from various states including, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These biomass harvesting guidelines as well as this paper cover topics such as dead...
ANNOTATION: The Wood Residue Distribution Simulator (WORDS) attempts to find a least-cost allocation of residues from local sources of supply to local sources of demand, given the cost of the materials, their distribution, and the distribution of...
ANNOTATION: Relative values per ton of log input are developed for poles, corral poles, house logs, lumber, studs, veneer, chips, and fuel on a current market basis. The techniques to reevaluate on different markets are demonstrated. Product...
ANNOTATION: This report presents tables and equations for estimating total cubic volumes of wood, wood residue, and bark for ponderosa pine, western larch, and Douglas fir. The equations and tables provide a means for estimating wood and bark residue...
ANNOTATION: This assessment of Montana used data collected from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots across Montana and summarized by forest type, density, and structure. The focus of the analysis was on ponderosa pine/Douglas fir/ dry mixed...
ANNOTATION: This study evaluated restoration prescriptions for three widely occurring ponderosa pine stand conditions and determine to what level the value of product removals could finance the treatment costs. The article compares the cost in both...
ANNOTATION: This paper discusses the My Fuel Treatment Planner (MyFTP) software to show the effect treatment variables have on the cost and net revenue from fire hazard reduction treatments in dry forest types of the Western United States. The study is...
ANNOTATION: FRCS is a spreadsheet application useful for estimating the cost of forest operations undertaken to reduce forest fuel loads by cutting and removing trees for solid wood products or chips. It can also be used to estimate the cost of...
ANNOTATION: In this study, the feasibility of switching from fossil fuels to wood energy in rural Alaskan villages in forested regions of interior Alaska are assessed. This analysis demonstrated that conversion to biomass fuels is economically viable...
ANNOTATION: This study evaluated the co-benefits associated with the utilization of logging residues for electricity production in East Texas, USA. The benefits evaluated included the value of CO2 emissions displaced due to substituting logging...
ANNOTATION: This paper looks into the Healthy Forests Initiative to find the economic impacts on the timber harvesting and processing industry in the White Mountain Region of Arizona. The study's goal was to have a factual and critical baseline...
ANNOTATION: This report summarizes the progress achieved under the auspices of the Activity 'Harvesting small trees and forest residues' during 1992-1994. The work performed included literature reviews to assess potentially recoverable...
ANNOTATION: This paper analyzes harvesting per se as well as its role in the total forest management picture. Models are presented for testing the sensitivity of total management cost and the harvesting components of cost to alternative silvicultural,...
ANNOTATION: The increased utilization of logging residues has received considerable attention as a potential source of renewable biomass and as a raw material for engineered and conventional wood products. We investigated the relationship between...
ANNOTATION: This report looks at how forest products businesses are likely to play a key role in achieving forest management activities to restore fire-adapted ponderosa pine ecosystems in northern Arizona by reducing treatment costs and providing...
ANNOTATION: This study shows that mechanical removal of slash has not been successfully implemented in many areas due to limited accessibility to sites and the high costs associated with collection and transportation of slash. To address these issues,...
ANNOTATION: In order to reduce the risk of wildfire in the Interior Northwest of the United States the economic feasibility of small wood thinning and utilization is considered in this article. The major factors influencing economic feasibility were...
ANNOTATION: This report discusses opportunities for biomass energy in southwest Idaho, looking at the amount of biomass available and potential costs and economic feasibility of harvesting small-diameter trees. Biomass in this report is classified into...
ANNOTATION: Guidelines in the form of a six-step approach are provided for estimating volumes, oven-dry mass, consumption, and particulate matter emissions for piled logging debris. Seven stylized pile shapes and their associated geometric volume...
ANNOTATION: Presents a comparative study of three systems used for thinning pine plantations and mixed conifer stands. Whole-tree methods; Cut-to-length systems; Hybrid systems. All three produced small sawlogs and fuel chips. Time-motion data were...
ANNOTATION: Data from numerous published studies were combined to estimate the costs of harvesting small trees in natural stands in the Interior Northwest of North America. This article discusses cost estimates for harvesting small trees in natural...
ANNOTATION: A survey to characterize the extent and nature of commercial-scale wood energy in North Carolina was sent to 200 primary wood-processing, secondary wood-manufacturing and nonwood-processing facilities known to have used wood fuels in 2004....
ANNOTATION: This study highlights the results of a study of the economic feasibility of harvesting dead lodgepole pine for fuel and products. Costs, production rates, and recoverable wood volumes were obtained from a 3-month study of a whole-tree...
ANNOTATION: This report, part of a larger study of factors affecting the utilization of small trees, deals with the impact of capital investment on logging productivity. Equipment selling price is not an indicator of machine productivity. Translated...
ANNOTATION: This report presents the findings of a study for determining the feasibility of predicting the volume of logging residue on clearcuts prior to harvesting. Data were collected from 160 clearcuts on Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department...
ANNOTATION: The first section describes fuel values and significant processes used to generate various energy products from wood. Physical, technical, and economic availability of the wood resource is discussed in the second section. The paper...
ANNOTATION: This paper presents recommendations for fuels treatments in ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest, Colorado Front Range, and Black Hills of South Dakota stemming from a synthesis of existing knowledge in the peer-reviewed literature and...
ANNOTATION: This paper looks into the carbon sequestering abilities of forests and finds that policies currently in place promote avoidable carbon releases and discourage actions that would actually increase long-term carbon storage. When stand-...
ANNOTATION: This paper provides results of modeling the effects of eight different fuel treatments on tree-based C storage and release over a century, with and without wildfire. Model runs show that, after a century of growth without wildfire, the...
ANNOTATION: The cost of harvesting and recovering round wood logs and whole-tree chips from small diameter lodgepole pine infested by mountain pine beetle was studied in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon in 1979. The average cost of producing chips...
ANNOTATION: This report compiled all available diameter-based allometric regression equations for estimating total aboveground and component biomass, defined in dry weight terms, for trees in the United States. A modified meta-analysis based on the...
ANNOTATION: This study shows that bundles (especially if dry) are cheaper to transport than fuel chips in road transport bins. The useful cargo space is the limiting factor for trucks when transporting dry material. Transport cost decreased until the...
ANNOTATION: This paper describes the state of the wood products industry and the economy of western Montana in the late 1970s. Forty to forty-five percent of the earnings in western Montana's basic or export industries at the time came from the...
ANNOTATION: In order to accomplish complex and multiple management objectives related to forest structure, fuels, and fire disturbance, these two disciplines must be effectively integrated in science and practice. The authors have linked scientific and...
ANNOTATION: The goal of this project is to estimate the cost of harvesting and transporting forest residues to processing centers in the northern Rocky Mountains. Regionwide estimates are to be made based on the detailed analyses of the volumes and...
ANNOTATION: Harvest costs were estimated for New Forestry silvicultural prescriptions designed for application on national forest lands in western Montana. Estimates were derived using an expert opinion format and were compared using constant dollars...
ANNOTATION: This article provides several harvest cost estimation methods for forest managers. Methods discussed include elements of stump-to-truck timber harvest cost estimation methods in ecosystem restoration prescriptions. Particular attention is...
ANNOTATION: This production study of the single-grip harvester and forwarder combination looks at productive machine hour, delay-free PMH rates in a second growth thinning operation in western Oregon. Rates of production of marked by forester trees and...
ANNOTATION: In the Northern Rocky Mountains, where dry or cold conditions predominate, woody residues remain sound without visual signs of decomposition for many years. The chemical composition of this weathered material does not change significantly...
ANNOTATION: This paper reviews the topic of biomass air gasifiers. The gasification process chemistry is outlined and the operating characteristics of two types of gasifiers are presented. A few typical applications are discussed and the economics for...
ANNOTATION: The University of Idaho converted its campus steam generating plant from natural gas to wood residue fuel. The combustion system typically burns chipped or hogged wood fuel 2 inches or less, at 35 to 50 percent moisture content (wet basis)....
ANNOTATION: Wildland fire has been an integral part of the landscape of the conterminous United States for millennia. Analysis of contemporary and pre-industrial (~ 200 - 500 yr BP) conditions, using potential natural vegetation, satellite imagery, and...
ANNOTATION: In 1978 the U.S. Forest Service initiated a National Wood Utilization and Wood Energy Application Program to focus attention on application of existing and developing technology. In this paper, the mission and goals of this program are...
ANNOTATION: This report studied the feasibility of using biomass for renewable energy production as an alternative to onsite burning. Due to the relatively low value of biomass, accurate estimates of volumes and costs of collection and transport are...
This research provides an important step in the conceptualization and development of an integrated wildfire fuels reduction system from silvicultural prescription, through stem selection, harvesting, in-woods processing, transport, and market selection...
Fuels reduction treatments generate a large amount of biomass, most of which is small in diameter. While this material may be suited for wood products, opportunities to process this material are few in the southwestern U.S. Harvesting and...
ANNOTATION: There is no inherent difference between the wood from dead trees and green trees. Solid wood product studies have indicated that dead trees can be used for lumber, houselogs, and posts and poles although the amount of usable lumber is...
ANNOTATION: FPInnovations calculated the amount of forest biomass generated by timber harvesting operations on Vancouver Island and south coast mainland. Field measurements related the volume of roadside residues to the volume of harvested merchantable...
ANNOTATION: This paper will cover the definitions of the composition and composite materials, provide a brief history of this segment of the forest products industry, describe types of building materials now being produced or possible to produce,...
ANNOTATION: This article discusses social considerations with respect to public wildland forest fire policy. Social attitudes, beliefs and behavioral intentions of wildland fire are described as well as the public's knowledge of the effects of...
ANNOTATION: This discussion examines some of the uses of low quality wood. The solid wood product families examined include composites, plywood, lumber, laminated lumber, and cedar products.
ANNOTATION: Although large trees can be removed for valuable products, the market value for the smaller logs may be less than the harvest and hauling charges, resulting in a net cost for thinning operations. However, failure to remove these small logs...
ANNOTATION: Fuel reduction by mechanical thinning and removal was studied in mixed-conifer stands in northeastern Oregon. A single-grip harvester was coupled with either a forwarder or a skyline yarding system, and operational economics, fuel reduction...
ANNOTATION: The pulp raw material shortage in 1973 and 1974 provided incentives for using whole tree chips at a number of pulp mills in the United States. Since 1974 pulp raw materials supplies have returned to more acceptable levels. As a result,...
ANNOTATION: This paper describes how in a mixed pine-hardwood stands in central Georgia, the tonnage of all trees not designated for harvest accounted for 89% of the variation in tonnage of standing residuals after conventional harvesting. Standing...
ANNOTATION: This paper focuses on describing the methods used to estimate forest biomass supply curves and describing selected overall results of the analysis, including information on all forest and agricultural supply sources and maps indicating the...
ANNOTATION: Optimal locations for biomass facilities that use mill residues are identified for 13 southern U.S. states. The Biomass Site Assessment Tool (BioSAT) model is used to identify the top 20 locations for 13 southern U.S. states. estimates when...
BIOPAK is a menu-driven package of computer programs for IBM-compatible personal computers that calculates the biomass, area, height, length, or volume of plant components (leaves, branches, stem, crown, and roots). The routines were written in FoxPro...
ABSTRACT: This paper describes use of BIOPAK to calculate size classes of live fuels for shrubs and herbs. A library of equations to estimate such fuels in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains is presented and used in an example. These...
ANNOTATION: This paper briefly describes the history of the logging industry in the United States. Specifically, harvesting technology and methods are discussed. Many significant and far-reaching changes have taken place in the logging industry since...
ANNOTATION: In this study, conventional harvesting equipment was tested for removing forest understory biomass for use as fuel. Two types of systems were tested--a one-pass system and a two-pass system. In the one-pass system, the energywood and...
ANNOTATION: Conventional forestry equipment is often used to harvest small-diameter trees. The typical ground-based logging operation is highly mechanized, with the most common using feller-bunchers, grapple skidders, and a chipper or grinder. But...
ANNOTATION: This paper provides an overview of existing literature related to the harvest, communition and transport of forest residues. Past studies have investigated the systems associated with biomass harvesting. Researchers have explored whether to...
ANNOTATION: The authors of this synthesis have implemented several studies over the years, and this CD is an attempt to compile this data in a usable format. The Executive Summary has ten primary research topic areas related to biomass: Baling/bundling...
ANNOTATION: This time and motion study determines the productivity and costs of an in-woods chipping operation to create biomass fuel from processing whole small-diameter trees. It was found that the cost of biomass chipping was comparable to other...
ANNOTATION: This study documents the production rate and cost of producing woody biomass chips for use in a power plant having specific raw material handling requirements. None of the samples from machines met the specifications needed. A horizontal...
ANNOTATION: This project proposed removing small diameter stems and unmerchantable woody material from National Forest lands and delivering it to a coal-fired power plant in Alabama for energy conversion. The biomass fuel to be created in this project...
ANNOTATION: A specific size of whole tree chip was needed to co-mill wood chips with coal. The specifications are stringent because chips must be mixed with coal, as opposed to a co-firing process. In a partnership involving several entities, a trial...
ANNOTATION: This report estimates the value of ancillary services provided by the U.S. biomass industry in order to inform policy makers on the viability of the biomass industry. Specifically, criteria air pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions, landfill...
ANNOTATION: This case study review considers successes and lessons learned from current wood energy systems in Alaska, and also considers opportunities for future bioenergy development. Biomass resources in Alaska are extensive and diverse, comprising...
ANNOTATION: This study examines the use of woody residues, primarily from forest harvesting or wood products manufacturing operations (and to a limited degree from urban wood wastes), as a feedstock for direct-combustion bioenergy systems for...
ANNOTATION: This study examines the use of woody residues, primarily from forest harvesting or wood products manufacturing operations as a feedstock for direct-combustion bioenergy systems for electrical or thermal power applications. Opportunities for...
ANNOTATION: Forest biomass thinnings can potentially impact soil resources by altering soil physical, chemical, and/or biological properties. This paper provides basic recommendations and findings derived from stand-removal studies to guide biomass...
ANNOTATION: This paper examines the efficiency of forest biomass used for energy. The study used net energy ratios to compare how much energy is consumed by mechanized harvesting systems of small diameter trees that are transported and used for forest...
ANNOTATION: Forest residues are widely dispersed across large geographical areas in Virginia, and there is little information on the location and the quantity of these materials. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used in this study to identify...
ANNOTATION: In the summer of 2006, the John Deere 1490D slash bundler was brought to Arkansas so that four independent case studies could be conducted where no previous studies on the machine had been conducted in The South. The study sites were a...
ANNOTATION: This study examined the economic impacts of woody biomass utilization for bioenergy conversion in Mississippi. Analysis of economic impacts was organized around three groups of events: (1) recovery of logging and thinning residues, (2)...
ANNOTATION: This study evaluated woody biomass from logging residues, small-diameter trees, mill residues, and urban waste as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol conversion in Mississippi. Supply and cost of four woody biomass sources were derived from...
ANNOTATION: This document synthesizes the relevant scientific knowledge that can assist fuel-treatment projects on national forests and other public lands and contribute to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses and other assessments. It is...
The economics of collecting and processing whole-tree chips and logging residues (slash and residual timber) for energy use have been compared using data collected from four timber harvesting operations. The fuel cost of energy from these sources was...
ANNOTATION: Often the deciding factor in the economical recovery of wood fuel is its relationship with some other objective such as stand establishment, stand improvement, or forest access. The costs and benefits arising from these related management...
ANNOTATION: This study compares the costs of various slash transportation systems and found a roll on/off container system is not competitive with a regular highway chip van, unless part of that distance is inaccessible to the chip van. The roll on/off...
ANNOTATION: The authors quantify the relationship between fuels and fire severity using pre-fire surface and canopy fuel data and fire severity data after a wildfire. Modeled fire behavior showed that thinning reduced canopy fuels, thereby decreasing...
ANNOTATION: The purpose of the paper is to discuss some of the implications of improved residue utilization on timber sales activities. Improved residue utilization on timber sales requires new and innovative economic and practical approaches on timber...
ANNOTATION: This paper contributes to the identification and analysis of barriers and drivers behind bioenergy market growth. It presents a framework for the analysis of both existing and projected bioenergy market potential, using economic concepts...
ANNOTATION: This CD-ROM provides an overview of biomass issues, determining where bundling works and does not, developing productivity and cost estimates, and assessing properties and quality of bundled biomass for energy production. The objective of...
ANNOTATION: This project studied the performance and costs of an innovative wood transport system using roll-off pallet racks to facilitate handling of small-diameter thinning material. Elemental studies defined the transport cycles and cost analysis...
ANNOTATION: This article assesses how forest biomass can be utilized with and the implementation of fuel reduction and ecosystem restoration objectives of the National Fire Plan for the Western United States. Both public and private forests are...
ANNOTATION: This paper presents an evaluation of the test results and uses the results to predict the future of in-woods chipping Economic analysis of data from a demonstration test showed that in-woods debarking-chipping was only marginally...
ANNOTATION: This article discusses the need for a reduction of fuels in forest ecosystems in order to mitigate the risk of catastrophic wildfire and the ability of the biomass industry to play a role in managing this risk. Generally, this article...
ANNOTATION: Three harvesting methods were field tested in two stand types. Costs and stand utilization rates were developed for a conventional harvesting system, without energy wood recovery; a two-pass roundwood and energy wood system; and a one-pass...
ANNOTATION: This publication outlines the role of forest organic debris (i.e. biomass) in inland northwest forests and provides general management strategies. It will help forest owners and those who work with them ask better questions to plan the best...
ANNOTATION: As the values of wood products increase, there are more economic opportunities to utilize residues. This is true both for dead-and-down materials and for previously unharvested stands which, together, make up the potential economic residues...
ANNOTATION: This study explores a dual-cropping system for southern pine bioenergy and solidwood products that began in 1982 in Louisiana. Direct-seeding pine in the interrows of a traditional pine plantation produced about 10.2 Mg per ha of biomass...
ANNOTATION: This paper undertakes a preliminary exploration into the economics of generating energy from forest-based biomass. The study assesses the feasibility of greatly expanding the share of total energy consumption in developed countries that...
ANNOTATION: The principal focus of biomass harvesting in the past has been the use of chipping systems to reduce a wide variety of woody materials down to small pieces for easier handling and transporting. However, chipping systems have several short...
ANNOTATION: This paper presents an overview of sources and forms of raw materials for wood energy use and the types of machines available to convert them to the desired form for boiler fuel. Both the fuel source or raw material, and the combustion...
ANNOTATION: The purpose of this report is to begin to identify locations in the west where fire hazard reduction treatments have a potential to 'pay for themselves' at a scale and over a long enough time to make investment in additional...
ANNOTATION: The framework for harvesting and utilization opportunities for forest residues includes a number of long standing as well as recently enacted statutes. Air and water quality standards as set forth in legislation also have an effect on...
ANNOTATION: Procedures are given for estimating weights of potential residue from Douglas fir and western hemlock. Preliminary estimates are given for six other species. Estimates are provided in pounds per tree and pounds per square foot of basal area...
ANNOTATION: This study shows that without large-scale implementation of fire hazard reduction treatments, the costs of uncharacteristic crown fires in southwest forests will continue to increase. They examined the economic rationality of continuing...
ANNOTATION: Eight countries collaborated and shared technical information on the harvesting of small trees and forest residues in a three year program. Proceedings and reports from workshops and reviews are summarized in a review of activities and...
ANNOTATION: A tub grinder was employed to process debris discharged by a flail. The machine successfully passed the material through a 7.62 cm screen and discharged the reduced debris into a chip van for transport. It was found that fuel production is...
ANNOTATION: This paper provides a general overview of chipping wood for pulp and energy wood including fuel chip production costs, problems, innovations, and system designs.
ANNOTATION: This paper provides a brief history of the development of a system to economically thin overstocked, naturally seeded stands in the Pacific Northwest. It also provides a comparison of flail debarking efficiency in the woods with small alder...
ANNOTATION: Sycamore has high promise as a short-rotation fiber and energy species on better quality sites in the Southeastern United States. There have been few studies on operational harvesting systems for hardwood plantations. A continuous-speed...
ANNOTATION: At the time of this paper, most forest residues were too expensive to recover, but some materials were being chipped at the roadside. This paper describes biomass-powered generating facilities and the sources of materials for the plants in...
ANNOTATION: In this study a database of North American harvesting systems was developed. Parameters for each system included site, material and product characteristics, equipment mix and production rate. Onto-truck and delivered costs per green tonne,...
ANNOTATION: At the time of this paper, it was found residue recovery operations in the intermountain region were mostly experimental, as mill residue supplies were adequate for hogfuel demand. However it was recognized that future wood fiber supplies...
ANNOTATION: This paper addresses the imbalance of unused resources, costs of on-site fuel treatment, electrical power demands, technology and economic deficiencies in harvesting and transportation, and the shrinking average size of trees being...
ANNOTATION: High transport costs are a factor to consider in the use of forest residues for fuel. Costs can be reduced by increasing haul capacities, reducing high moisture contents, and improving trucking efficiency. The literature for transpirational...
ANNOTATION: Seven areas in Georgia were harvested with a conventional system and three with a whole tree system. Pre- and post-harvest sampling of all standing woody biomass provided base data for estimating standing and downed residuals by initial...
ANNOTATION: A chipper-forwarder system offers an alternative for biomass harvesting. Components are a small feller buncher for felling and bunching, and a chipper-forwarder that chips at the pile and transports the chips to roadside. In a case study on...
ANNOTATION: A round hay baler with little modification was used to bale small-diameter, crushed trees. The trees had been crushed using a series of compression rollers. Bale cores had to be developed by hand before the baler became self-feeding....
ANNOTATION: This paper provides an overview of the concept, development, and technology of flail debarkers.
ANNOTATION: In the mid 1970's, the accelerated price increases for petroleum products forced rapid exploration into and adoption of alternative energy sources. A viable option for the forest industry was the recovery of woody biomass from...
ANNOTATION: This paper presents an overview of several harvesting machines and systems considered new at the time this paper was produced. The systems were being applied in the hopes of improving profitability from harvesting small stems and residues....
ANNOTATION: This study was performed to evaluate some of the factors affecting the power requirements for chipping whole trees in the South for energywood. Results are presented for the effects of tree size, moisture content, and species on power...
ANNOTATION: Operations that harvest small stems using conventional equipment are discussed. A typical operation consists of rubber-tired feller-bunchers with shear heads, rubber-tired grapple skidders, and in-woods chippers. These systems harvest the...
ANNOTATION: A harvesting simulation model was developed to estimate average total costs of whole-tree chip harvesting as a function of equipment configurations and stand characteristics. The harvesting simulation model was part of a larger economic...
ANNOTATION: The paper presents a comprehensive review of the biomass equations for 65 North American tree species. All equations are of the form M = aDb, where M is the oven-dry weight of the biomass component of a tree (kg), D is diameter at breast...
ANNOTATION: A productivity study was performed on a tree length harvesting system thinning a Ponderosa pine stand in Flagstaff, Arizona investigating opportunities to lower the costs of fire hazard reduction treatments in over stocked stands. The...
ANNOTATION: No significant difference were found between variances of two prediction equations for estimating loblolly pine crown weight from diameter breast height (d.b.h). One equation was developed from trees on the Georgia Piedmont and the other...
ANNOTATION: The fuel and energy requirements for alternative energywood harvesting operations were determined from field operations. Comparisons were made among the total energy requirements including transportation for conventional operation and one-...
ANNOTATION: This paper compares fuelwood produced from logging residues and energy plantations on the basis of potential for production and expected costs at the various levels of production. Prospects for improving the production of fuelwood for each...
ANNOTATION: Productivity and cost per ton are predicted for two in-woods chippers (Norbark 20 and 27) where DBH. species groups, and moisture content are varied.
ANNOTATION: The cost and utilization were compared for a thinning operation removing the stems as roundwood with a flail chipper operation. The flail chipper operation recovered an additional 4.2 tons of acceptable chips per acre which resulted in a...
ANNOTATION: This study focuses on two harvesting methods for utilization of understory biomass that were tested against a conventional harvesting method to determine relative costs. The conventional harvesting method tested removed all pine 6 inches...
ANNOTATION: This report contains the results of numerous interviews, a field survey, and a literature search and discusses fuel reduction equipment and methods that have been tried in the past, those that are currently being used, and those that may...
ANNOTATION: Numerous harvesting machines were evaluated in a series of annual tests on stands of different ages. Several different machines were used to harvest sycamore research plots in south Alabama. The machines varied from manually operated...
ANNOTATION: Dimensions, volume, and biomass were measured for 121 hand-constructed piles composed primarily of coniferous and shrub/hardwood material at sites in Washington and California. Equations using pile dimensions, shape, and type allow users to...
ANNOTATION: This paper is intended to be a reference guide to local land managers regarding locating and collaborating with biomass stakeholders. Give suggestions on how to use current National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning tools to start up...
ANNOTATION: This study looks at several projects that are testing new equipment and management practices that treat slash as a marketable commodity. Projects are often combined with research on profitability and best practices to educate loggers to...
ANNOTATION: In this paper a deterministic model was developed to estimate the average total cost of producing whole tree chips for energy production. The model estimated harvest, transportation and stumpage costs and total costs were estimated for 62...
ANNOTATION: There is a substantial global need for development of biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts systems and technologies that can economically and sustainably produce short rotation crops across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Topic areas...
ANNOTATION: This paper describes how most wood bioenergy crop systems in the United States are still in the early stages of development, with a wide variety of approaches under test in different regions of the country. In the United States, dedicated...
ANNOTATION: This is a short summary of an effort addressing the technical feasibility of producing biofuels in the western United States is described using spatially explicit biomass resource supply curves, a detailed transportation network model for...
ANNOTATION: This short paper discusses obstacles to woody biomass production in Canadian prairies. Among the obstacles for producer involvement in bioenergy systems is, first of all, changing the farmer mindset that growing a crop for longer than 1...
ANNOTATION: The Biomass Site Assessment Tool (BioSAT) model is used to identify the top 20 locations for 13 southern U.S. states. The trucking cost model of BioSAT is used with Timber Mart South 2009 (...
ANNOTATION: BIOPAK is a software package that contains a plant measurement library of over 1,100 documented equations that estimate plant components, e.g. leaf mass, leaf area, stem wood mass, bark mass, fuel size classes. BIOPAK can choose equations...
ANNOTATION: The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management undertook a series of CROP pilot projects as a means of addressing the growing fuel load problem within major forest systems and the realized potential for fostering catastrophic...
ANNOTATION: FIA BioSum is a concept-based methodology that generates cost estimates, identifies opportunities and evaluates the effectiveness of fuel treatments in region-wide forested landscapes. The BioSum modeling framework incorporates a...
ANNOTATION: FoRTS is a spreadsheet based calculator designed to help compare alternative methods of moving biomass from the forest to a wood-using facility. It will estimate loading and hauling costs for different combinations of equipment, evaluate...
ANNOTATION: FRCS is a spreadsheet application useful for estimating the cost of forest operations undertaken to reduce forest fuel loads by cutting and removing trees for solid wood products or chips. It can also be used to estimate the cost of...
ANNOTATION: The HCR is engineering and financial analysis software used to evaluate stand-level financial thresholds for harvesting small diameter ponderosa pine in the Southwest United States. The HCR can help contractors and planners to identify...
LANDFIRE, Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools, is a shared program between the wildland fire management programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior, providing landscape scale geo-...
ANNOTATION: This Guide is designed for use by Resource Conservation & Development and Extension professionals throughout the U.S. It also contains handouts and other resources to assist in educating respective audience. The Woody Biomass Desk Guide...
ANNOTATION: This website contains information, programs and forms used in implementing forest health maintenance, restoration, and improvement projects on the 19 national forests in Oregon and Washington. The website houses many executable programs...
ANNOTATION: Located here are tables of heat of combustion (Btu/ovendry pound) of stems and branches of 6-inch trees from 22 hardwood species growing on southern pine sites. Heat value, or heat of combustion, which is defined as the total amount of heat...
ANNOTATION: The Forest Operations Research Unit at the Southern Research Station has been studying biomass-related topics since 1977. This CD aids the reader by organizing these publications in one easy-to-use CD. Included on the CD are an executive...
ANNOTATION: This is an Excel spreadsheet that converts wood moisture contents from either dry basis to wet basis or wet basis to dry basis. The moisture content of biomass affects the gross weight of the material that is being handled. Green material...
ANNOTATION: The Woody Biomass Utilization Team is an interdisciplinary team that promotes and facilitates the planning and delivery of an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the recovery and utilization of woody biomass from ecological...
ANNOTATION: WEBOFIRE links stand inventory data and visualizations with the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE; http://www.fs.fed.us/fmsc/fvs/description/ffe-fvs.shtml) and the Fuel...
The Forest Products Industry Research Program monitors industry operations in Montana and Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and well as Pacific Coast states of Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington. Research focuses on the...
Internet links to log prices for all 50 states.
Species specific sawlog prices by quarter for Oregon.
Timber Mart-South publishes quarterly and annual reports used by private companies, consultants, landowners, and others to assess market prices in the US South. Timber Mart South has been surveying and reporting timber prices since 1976, and market...
The Northern Region timber sale summary reports and regional accomplishments are available on this site. Many of the reports are available on a quarterly basis and are usually posted 20 working days after quarter end.
Internet links to timber prices, timber selling guidelines, stumpage prices and/or delivered log prices for many states.
This website is to provides information and tools to forestry entrepreneurs in developing new businesses, sustaining existing enterprises, and developing those business skills that will be necessary to become sustainable enterprises in Southwest...
WoodPlanet helps buyers find suppliers and get price quotes, while at the same time allow sellers to move inventory and develop new relationships with buyers. Sourcing Service is a free service that allows buyers to locate suppliers and get price...
Internet links of location and contact information to 29 biomass-fueled power plant facilities in California, as well as information related to the approximately 80 biomass power plants located in 19 states.
The DSIRE website provides a fast and convenient method for accessing a wide variety of information about renewable energy and energy efficiency incentives and regulatory policies administered by federal and state agencies, utilities, and local...
Fuels for Schools is a collaboration of USDA Forest Service, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah State Foresters. It is a federal and state partnership to promote and encourage the use of wood biomass as renewable energy in public...
The Montana Manufacturers Information System (MMIS) brings Montana Manufacturers closer to each other electronically, if not physically, by providing detailed and up to date information about each manufacturer's products, processes, and...
These maps illustrate the biomass resources available in the United States by county. Biomass feedstock data are analyzed both statistically and graphically using geographic information systems (GIS). The following feedstock categories are evaluated:...
This dataset is based on information collected by mill data managers in Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Units as well as collaborators in the Texas Forest Service, the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), and the Focused Science Delivery Program of...
The Wood Supply Research Institute (WSRI) is a joint project of professional loggers, forest landowners, wood consuming mills, educators, and manufacturers that facilitates and funds research to promote and improve efficiency in the wood supply system...
This project accomplishes three primary objectives related to the state of the science in wood to energy research and industry. The literature review provides a complete overview of the state of wood to energy science and technology, including...
Website that discusses new developments in liquid fuels from biomass (especially Biodiesel and methanol), WoodGas stoves, and now increasingly BioChar and Charcoal. Site sponsors are interested and knowledgeable about all aspects of biomass energy, but...
The Biomass Energy Resource Center mission is to assist communities, colleges and universities, state and local governments, businesses, utilities, schools, and others in making the most of their local energy resources. BERC further strives to achieve...
ANNOTATION: FRAMES is an internet based database that contains a library of data, documents, projects, tools, and webpages to support fire management and research. The goal of FRAMES is to provide a systematic method of exchanging information and...
The Forest Guild contains a substantial library of biomass related publications. Research Publications include syntheses of existing literature to answer policy questions. The Guild also conducts novel studies that advance the practice of excellent...
ANNOTATION: LANDFIRE is an ongoing research project and database that contains geospatial data products that describe existing vegetation composition and structure, potential vegetation, surface and canopy fuel characteristics, historical fire regimes...
ANNOTATION: This Guide is designed for use by Resource Conservation & Development and Extension professionals throughout the U.S. It also contains handouts and other resources to assist in educating respective audience. The Woody Biomass Desk Guide...
ANNOTATION: This document describes current US national fuel challenges in the context of increased renewable energy production. There is a description of the Congressionally created Biomass Research and Development Board's mandate: 'to...
This State Bioenergy Primer is designed to bring many resources together that discuss biomass/bioenergy and provide useful, targeted information that will enable a state decision maker to determine if he/she wants or needs more details. The primer...
The Biomass Program primarily carries out state and regional partnerships through cooperation with the National Biomass State and Regional Partnerships which consists of five Regional Organizations: Coalition of Northeastern Governors Policy Research...
ANNOTATION: The Forest Operations Research Unit at the Southern Research Station has been studying biomass-related topics since 1977. This CD aids the reader by organizing these publications in one easy-to-use CD. Included on the CD are an executive...
ANNOTATION: The Woody Biomass Utilization Team is an interdisciplinary team that promotes and facilitates the planning and delivery of an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the recovery and utilization of woody biomass from ecological...
