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A Survey of Bioenergy Research in Forest Service Research and Development

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Abstract

Forest biomass represents 25–30 % of the annual biomass available in the USA for conversion into bio-based fuels, bio-based chemicals, and bioproducts in general. The USDA Forest Service Research and Development (R&D) has been focused on producing products from forest biomass since its inception in 1905, with direct combustion, solid sawn lumber, pulp and paper, ethanol as fuel, and silvichemicals all among the mission areas of product research and development. The renewed national interest in biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals is supportive of the most critical need of USDA Forest Service R&D, uses for small-diameter trees and other forest biomass that needs to be removed in the fuel mitigation–fire suppression and forest restoration work of the USDA Forest Service. This paper will summarize the recent USDA Forest Service research on direct combustion, fuel pellets, and conversion of forest biomass to ethanol, both as stand-alone biorefinery processes and as an addition to the traditional wood pulping process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, One Gifford Pinchot Dr., Madison, WI, 53726, USA

    Alan W. Rudie, Carl J. Houtman & J. Y. Zhu

  2. Southern Research Station, Alexandria Forest Center, USDA Forest Service, 2500 Shreveport Hwy, Pineville, LA, 71360, USA

    Leslie H. Groom

  3. Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 204 Siginaka Way, Sitka, AK, 99835, USA

    David L. Nicholls

Authors
  1. Alan W. Rudie
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  2. Carl J. Houtman
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  3. Leslie H. Groom
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  4. David L. Nicholls
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  5. J. Y. Zhu
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Correspondence to Alan W. Rudie.

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Rudie, A.W., Houtman, C.J., Groom, L.H. et al. A Survey of Bioenergy Research in Forest Service Research and Development. Bioenerg. Res. 9, 534–547 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9731-5

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