Measuring the Regional Availability of Forest Biomass for Biofuels and the Potential of GHG Reduction

Forest biomass is an important resource for producing bioenergy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The State of Michigan in the United States (U.S.) is one region recognized for its high potential of supplying forest biomass; however, the long-term availability of timber harvests and the associated harvest residues from this area has not been fully explored. In this study time trend analyses was employed for long term timber assessment and developed mathematical models for harvest residue estimation, as well as the implications of use for ethanol. The GHG savings potential of ethanol over gasoline was also modeled. The methods were applied in Michigan under scenarios of different harvest solutions, harvest types, transportation distances, conversion technologies, and higher heating values over a 50-year period. Our results indicate that the study region has the potential to supply 0.75–1.4 Megatonnes (Mt) dry timber annually and less than 0.05 Mt of dry residue produced from these harvests. This amount of forest biomass could generate 0.15–1.01 Mt of ethanol, which contains 0.68–17.32 GJ of energy. The substitution of ethanol for gasoline as transportation fuel has potential to reduce emissions by 0.043–1.09 Mt CO2eq annually. The developed method is generalizable in other similar regions of different countries for bioenergy related analyses.

[1]  Dirk Jaeger,et al.  Bioenergy Potential and Utilization Costs for the Supply of Forest Woody Biomass for Energetic Use at a Regional Scale in Mexico , 2017 .

[2]  Cassandra Moseley,et al.  Woody Biomass Use Trends, Barriers, and Strategies: Perspectives of US Forest Service Managers , 2012 .

[3]  René H. Germain,et al.  Woody Biomass Energy: An Opportunity for Silviculture on Nonindustrial Private Forestlands in New York , 2007 .

[4]  Ajit K. Srivastava,et al.  Environmental impacts of roundwood supply chain options in Michigan: life-cycle assessment of harvest and transport stages , 2014 .

[5]  Michael A. Kilgore,et al.  Social availability of residual woody biomass from nonindustrial private woodland owners in Minnesota and Wisconsin , 2013 .

[6]  André Faaij,et al.  Estimating GHG emission mitigation supply curves of large-scale biomass use on a country level , 2007 .

[7]  Pasi Lautala,et al.  A Survey Analysis of Forest Harvesting and Transportation Operations in Michigan , 2014 .

[8]  Paul W. Adams Estimating biomass in northern lower Michigan forest stands , 1982 .

[9]  Francisco X. Aguilar,et al.  Perspectives of Woody Biomass for Energy: Survey of State Foresters, State Energy Biomass Contacts, and National Council of Forestry Association Executives , 2009 .

[10]  M. M. Faruque Hasan,et al.  Systematic assessment of the availability and utilization potential of biomass in Bangladesh , 2017 .

[11]  Christian P. Giardina,et al.  Carbon fluxes, storage and harvest removals through 60 years of stand development in red pine plantations and mixed hardwood stands in Northern Michigan, USA , 2015 .

[12]  Józef Hernik,et al.  Residual woody waste biomass as an energy source - case study. , 2015 .

[13]  Ramachandran Kannan,et al.  Life cycle energy, emissions and cost inventory of power generation technologies in Singapore , 2007 .

[14]  Murray Moo-Young,et al.  Towards sustainable production of clean energy carriers from biomass resources , 2012 .

[15]  Jianbang Gan,et al.  Availability of logging residues and potential for electricity production and carbon displacement in the USA , 2006 .

[16]  Kenneth E. Skog,et al.  An outlook for sustainable forest bioenergy production in the Lake States , 2009 .

[17]  Christopher S. Galik,et al.  Forest biomass supply in the southeastern United States - implications for industrial roundwood and bioenergy production. , 2009 .

[18]  Alexander Herr,et al.  A spatial assessment of potential biomass for bioenergy in Australia in 2010, and possible expansion by 2030 and 2050 , 2016 .

[19]  John M. Reilly,et al.  The Contribution of Biomass to Emissions Mitigation under a Global Climate Policy , 2015 .

[20]  Dennis R. Becker,et al.  Assessing sustainable forest biomass potential and bioenergy implications for the northern Lake States region, USA , 2015 .

[21]  David W. MacFarlane,et al.  Potential availability of urban wood biomass in Michigan: Implications for energy production, carbon sequestration and sustainable forest management in the U.S.A. , 2009 .

[22]  Francis A. Roesch,et al.  Alternative definitions of growth and removals and implications for forest sustainability , 2008 .

[23]  Jerry D. Murphy,et al.  Ethanol production from energy crops and wastes for use as a transport fuel in Ireland , 2005 .

[24]  Shelie A. Miller,et al.  Cellulosic ethanol production: landscape scale net carbon strongly affected by forest decision making. , 2015 .

[25]  M. Pavel,et al.  Economic and life cycle environmental optimization of forest-based biorefinery supply chains for bioenergy and biofuel production , 2016 .

[26]  Getachew Assefa,et al.  Assessing the energy production and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions mitigation potential of biomass resources for Alberta , 2016 .

[27]  D. Mead,et al.  Forests for Energy and the Role of Planted Trees , 2005 .

[28]  Grant M. Domke,et al.  Forest Age Class Change Simulator (FACCS):: A spreadsheet-based model for estimation of forest change and biomass availability , 2014 .

[29]  T. C. Adams Managing logging residue under the timber sale contract. , 1980 .

[30]  G. Xie,et al.  Forest Biomass Energy Resources in China: Quantity and Distribution , 2015 .

[31]  Zhao Ma,et al.  Social versus biophysical availability of wood in the northern United States. , 2010 .