Adjusting Expectations of Scale Based on Limitations of Supply: A Review of the Case for a Forest Bioenergy Strategy that Prioritizes Decentralization, Efficiency, and Integration

• Main Author: Wolf, Derek
• Other Authors: Caspersen, John
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: energy policy; forestry; forest policy; bioenergy; climate change; forest engineering; renewable energy; bio-heat; 0791
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/33589

The limitations of renewable energy technologies require that pathways are carefully chosen such that renewable resources are used most effectively in addressing modern energy challenges. Optimized decision-making is particularly challenging for the forest bioenergy sector because of the multitude of potential pathways and because profit is highly sensitive to biomass procurement costs. I assessed energy wood recovery and procurement costs during semi-mechanized selection operations in the tolerant hardwood forests of Ontario. Logging contractors were able to recover unmerchantable sections of branches normally discarded during conventional operations, amounting to 1.3 to 2.7 dry tonnes of additional biomass per hectare. Supply chain scenarios are used to show that the biomass can be brought to market at a cost similar to mechanized operations. The need for prioritization of decentralization, efficiency, and integration with the value-added forest sector is discussed with reference to the relative scarcity and high cost of the forest resource.