Opportunities and attitudes of private forest landowners in supplying woody biomass for renewable energy

Hodges, Donald G.; Chapagain, Binod; Watcharaanantapong, Pattarawan; Poudyal, Neelam C.; Kline, Keith L.; Dale, Virginia H.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.012

Opportunities and attitudes of private forest landowners in supplying woody biomass for renewable energy

Journal Article · Thu Jul 18 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.012· OSTI ID:1545236

Hodges, Donald G. ^[1]; Chapagain, Binod ^[2]; Watcharaanantapong, Pattarawan ^[1]; Poudyal, Neelam C. ^[1]; ^[3]; Dale, Virginia H. ^[1]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, OK (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Woody biomass has been identified as a source of dispatchable, renewable energy. Private lands supply the majority of the wood-based pellets that is produced in the southeastern United States (SE US) and shipped to countries in the European Union (EU) for energy generation. To assess the perspectives of potential suppliers of woody biomass in the SE US, nonindustrial private forest landowners were surveyed in the fuelsheds of the two primary ports for wood pellets exported to the EU. The survey assessed owners' characteristics, attitudes, and future management plans. Survey results were examined to explore the relationships among these factors and owners' intentions for providing material for wood-based energy. Here, the results indicate that forest landowners have multiple reasons for maintaining their forest land, with more than 40% of the owners ranking timber production as a very important reason. Furthermore, the majority of landowners would be willing to provide woody biomass for producing bioenergy. Among factors that would enhance landowners' willingness to provide woody biomass for energy, technical assistance to improve stand productivity and future value was the most popular options, followed by reducing fire and disease risk, long-term markets, and high prices. Landowner willingness to provide woody material for bioenergy also varied depending on demographics including age and gender, property characteristics including holding size and distance to residence, and perceptions regarding the impact on forest value of wood pellet demand and the viability of bioenergy as an alternative to fossil energy.

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; EE0007088

OSTI ID:: 1545236

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1694098

Journal Information:: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Journal Name: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Journal Issue: C Vol. 113; ISSN 1364-0321

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Charting global position and vision of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy Mai-Moulin, T.; Fritsche, U. R.; Junginger, M. Energy, Sustainability and Society, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0225-0	journal	December 2019