A lot of people are initially against using wood for energy when they first hear about the idea. To a certain extent it makes sense; they are worried about the state of the forests and the efficiency of wood to provide energy. Despite their reservations, there are in fact a number of advantages in using “woody-biomass” or “pellet fuel” .
The US forest service, whose mission is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations”, is proposing a national woody biomass strategy to be implemented nationwide. They suggest that one option for adaptation and mitigation is in fact sustainable woody biomass usage.
The forest service are not the only ones who think this is a good idea for the forests. The Biomass Research Center states “there are vast amounts of surplus wood residue from communities, sawmills, and logging operations that can be used for biomass energy without direct impact on forests”. When more than just the surplus wood is required there is a host ways in which the forests can be sustainability managed for biomass.
Additionally, the Southern States Energy Board is including woody biomass in their portfolio in their search for energy independence. It is also important to remember that woody biomass is in fact a renewable source of energy, the largest renewable in the nation. And long considered the “wood basket” of the US, the southeastern forests are already produce about half the US wood products, extending these products to Biomass energy seems only natural, states the Southern Research Station.
As if that wasn’t enough, woody biomass also provides an array of economic benefits.It creates and sustains jobs in the local economy. Because it is local, the dollars it generates stay in the region and the US instead of being exported out of the country (as is the case with oil). Apart from job creation, woody biomass has other benefits for the community: the price of wood chips is declining, it is relatively clean source of energy, you are using an otherwise low grade waste product, and the price of biomass is much much less than that of oil.
Sources:
http://www.wood2energy.org
http://pelletheat.org/pellets/
http://www.fs.fed.us/woodybiomass/
http://www.biomasscenter.org/resource-library/fact-sheets