State DNR selects UW researchers to assess forest biomass supply statewide

Forest biomass can include slash left after forest treatments that thin out fire-prone overstocked tree stands. Photo: DNR

Woody biomass is great in that it grows — that is, it’s renewable — but much remains to be learned about how and where it could become a viable way to produce cleaner energy on a large scale. We have millions of acres of trees in Washington but to get down to figuring out where and how that might turn into a source for a biomass industry will require research. DNR today announced that the University of Washington, School of Forest Resources was selected as part of the research team to study the supply prospects of Washington’s working forests. It will be the first study of its type in the nation to examine the economic and environmental aspects of a state’s biomass supply potential.

Today’s research project announcement is part of DNR’s efforts to ensure that the harvest of biomass for use in clean energy products is done  in a manner that does not harm clean water, forest habitat or species.

Forest biomass can be converted to energy and energy products in a number of ways in addition to direct combustion. These include:

Science behind the choices: Forest culprits fuel the fire

Trees with bare branches or yellowed needles were killed by pine beetles in this aerial view of a site in eastern Washington State. Photo: DNR

In Washington’s nearly 22 million acres of forests, how in the world do you keep track of the culprits that kill trees? The culprits in this case are disease and insects. Dead trees can lower the value of timber products, affect important habitats and change the ecology of forests. When trees are dead or dying, they can be easy fuel for spreading wildfire and may increase potential for catastrophic wildfire impacts.

 Forest health aerial survey and analysis
DNR and U.S. Forest Service scientists have just completed an aerial survey of the forests throughout Washington to find any new tree mortality that has occurred during the last year. The goal is to document annually the number and location of dead or defoliated trees and what caused their decline. Study of the survey, in turn, helps forest health scientists identify why problems are occurring. DNR’s Forest Health Program scientists look for patterns of damage in the crowns and roots of individual trees and across stands of several trees.

Science behind the choices: Learning together about how to produce our clean energy future

Bioenergy: Switch grass, a high-yielding native grass adapted to much of the U.S., is one of many being considered for cellulosic ethanol. Photo: USDA

Washington State is a national leader in clean energy policy and development. Through pilot projects, incentive programs and research, the State has demonstrated that although there will not be a ‘quick-fix’ to the energy crisis we currently face, there can be local, clean energy solutions developed and employed in our state. These solutions will come from myriad technologies (including wind, solar, and biomass) and will require governments, non-government organizations, and private businesses to collaborate to ensure on-the-ground success.

Science, and government convene 1^st annual conference
In Spring 2010, a number of state agencies working on clean energy issues convened a group to discuss hosting a state-wide Bioenergy Symposium and Clean Energy Conference. These sessions would provide the most current science and business elements of clean energy deployment, and provide an opportunity for parties to come together and identify opportunities to collaborate.

This effort has resulted in the Bioenergy Research Symposium and the Washington Future Energy Conference, scheduled to take place November 8 to10 in Seattle at the Convention Center. The events will bring together regional and national leaders in the abundance of energy topics currently being examined in Washington State.

Science behind the choices: How DNR and partners’ use science to support clean renewable energy on state lands

Slash piles, previously burned on site, will now be put to a higher use—energy production. Photo: Aaron Toso/DNR

You may know that state trust lands are part of wind energy projects across Washington, helping utilities meet clean energy goals. Last week, we talked about geothermal research to find the best places in the state to build facilities with geothermal turbines to generate clean energy. Today we look at the energy in our forests.

A changing climate will cause challenges for Washington’s forests: increased incidence of forest fires and forest fire severity, heightened pest and disease pressures. When our forests are not being actively managed, the impacts of these stressors are magnified. This is especially true in eastern Washington where significant declines in the forest products sector have been coupled with significant fire prevention activities.  

West of the Cascades, where forest activities are still abundant, we face the challenge of what to do with the slash—the branches and leaves left after a timber harvest. Traditionally, this material is put into a pile—a slash pile—and burned. The burning of slash piles releases greenhouse gases and other particulates.

The potential solution—a forest biomass-to-energy industry—is being studied carefully by public and private scientists and forest managers.

Bio-char, urban sprawl & obesity, subways generating power… weekend reading from DNR

Photo: Aaron Toso/DNR.

Here is some informative and diverse reading about science, environment and other issues published recently:

New York Times: Once-lowly charcoal (bio-char) emerges as ‘major tool’ for curbing carbon
Scientists are probing the limits of how high-grade charcoal, dubbed biochar, can be formed from plant and animal waste to squirrel away the atmosphere’s carbon for centuries, or even millennia. (Bio-char production is one of the four projects involved in DNR’s forest biomass initiative.)

New York Times: Study links sprawl, obesity
Based on a study of Charlotte, N.C., after it installed a light-rail transit system, a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, indicates that riding the rails can leave users an average of 6.5 pounds lighter than others, and 81 percent less likely to become obese over time.

Technology Review: Subway trains to generate power for the grid
The transit authority in metropolitan Philadelphia is launching a pilot project in which the energy created by braking subway trains will be transferred to a large battery that can then either use the electricity to help power the transit system or sell the power to the region’s electricity grid.

Reuters: Protect corals with reef networks, U.N. study says.
A United Nations report says that the most effective way to protect fisheries and coral reefs is to establish networks of small marine protected areas around the globe, rather than large reserves where fishing bans are often ignored.

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DNR’s Forest Biomass Initiative showing results; Nippon Paper announces $71 million project in Port Angeles

Thinings removed from over-stocked forests to reduce fire dangers are part of the supply of forest biomass available for clean energy. Photo: DNR

Nippon Paper Industries USA’s plan to produce “green energy” from foresty biomass at its paper mill in Port Angeles is welcome news to the local economy… and to DNR. Nippon Paper’s $71 million project, announced Friday, will include a steam boiler and turbine generator capable of producing 20 megawatts of energy at the plant using residue from local timber operations. In addition to the construction jobs, it is expected to create 20 or more permanent jobs, the Peninsula News reports.

Nippon Paper Industries USA was one of four private sector partners selected earlier this year by state Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark for DNR’s Forest Biomass Initiative. Through the initiative DNR seeks to assure local green energy producers of a sustainable supply of woody (forest) biomass for new projects.

The other partners with DNR in the initiative are:

Weekend reading: 6 articles on science and the environment

Woody biomass can be moved from forests to mills by container truck, but converting it to liquid (such as bio-oil) onsite can reduce transportation costs. Photo: Michael Westbrook/University of Georgia

Here are six articles for weekend reading… maybe you’ll enjoy relaxing with these this afternoon after you’ve put in a few hours at one of the National Trails Day events Saturday morning across Washington State.

U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc.
Wood2Energy: A state of the science and technology report

National Renewable Energies Laboratory
Study Shows Power Grid can Accommodate Large Increase in Wind and Solar Generation

Green (NY Times blog)
A Bullish View of Wind Power Out West

New York Times
Going Solar Is Harder Than It Looks, a Valley Finds

Nature: Naturenews
Risk of giant quake off American west coast goes up

St. Louis Today.com
Trees, farms do mix

State & federal funds focus on deteriorating forest health conditions

Major wildfires in central Okanogan County on forestlands devastated by insects

We’re glad to see forest health issues in Washington state get attention in a recent column in the Seattle PI.

It is no coincidence that devastating fires, such as the Tripod Complex in 2006, tend to hit areas with large numbers of trees killed or weakened by forest pests and diseases.

Here is more detail on the forest health funding that aims to address this situation:

$4 million in federal stimulus funding. This is mostly for private forestlands and includes: $1.2 million that will be distributed this spring and summer for forest health projects, and $2.4 million for wildfire fuels reduction funding already being distributed to qualifying landowners. About $350,000 is for state trust lands managed by DNR. 

Washington among top four states in wind power capacity

How much U.S. electricity comes from renewable sources. Chart: American Wind Energy Association U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report: Year Ending 2009 (from Energy Information Administration data

Washington State climbed into the top four states in the nation for wind energy capacity during 2009. The American Wind Energy Association, a wind producers industry group, issued its annual report this month and found that only California, Iowa and Texas had more installed wind power capacity last year. There are more than 20 wind power leases now on DNR-managed state trust lands (which support public school construction).

All renewable energy sources provided 10.5 percent of the U.S. power mix in 2009. Wind generated power was 1.8 percent. Wood and other biomass power generation is a smaller component of the renewable fuels used for energy so far. The DNR Forest Biomass Initiative hopes to increase that amount through partnerships in pilot projects and other steps that will promote the sustainable use of forest biomass from state trust lands managed by DNR.

The nation’s wind power capacity of 35,000 megawatts (MW) is enough to avoid an estimated 62 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to taking 10.5 million cars off the road. Wind generation is approaching the two percent mark of the U.S. power mix, reaching 1.8 percent of U.S. power generation in 2009, the report says.

Aerial surveys show where disease and weather have damaged forests in Washington State

The tussock moth larvae can defoliate the upper crown of a conifer in just two years. Photo: US Forest Service, Region 6

Early spring is when many land owners go out to assess the health of their forests before the nettles grow up and the flies become bothersome. Foresters use several methods to evaluate tree health. They look for patterns of damage in individual trees, across stands of several trees, and in the crowns and roots of trees. Another method is to examine aerial survey maps.

Aerial insect and disease surveys from the U.S. Forest Service show where trained DNR and Forest Service observers using planes for surveys have noted newly killed or defoliated trees.