Woody biomass (WB) can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. Bioenergy production from WB has not been widely adopted because the price of WB energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels. However, current projections of future energy use, renewable energy and climate change legislation suggest increased use of both WB and agr. biomass energy. This report provides a summary of the knowledge related to the production of WB from bioenergy with a focus on the econ. perspective. The most common WB feedstocks are described along with results of econ. modeling studies related to the provision of biomass from short-rotation woody crops, harvest residues, and haz.-fuel reduction efforts.

Woody biomass can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. In many cases, the technology for converting woody biomass into energy has been established for decades, but because the price of woody biomass energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels, bioenergy production from woody biomass has not been widely adopted. However, current projections of future energy use and renewable energy and climate change legislation under consideration suggest increased use of both forest and agriculture biomass energy in the coming decades. This report provides a summary of some of the existing knowledge and literature related to the production of woody biomass from bioenergy with a particular focus on the economic perspective. The most commonly discussed woody biomass feedstocks are described along with results of existing economic modeling studies related to the provision of biomass from short-rotation woody crops, harvest residues, and hazardous-fuel reduction efforts. Additionally, the existing social science literature is used to highlight some challenges to widespread production of biomass energy.

Woody biomass can be used for the generation of heat, electricity, and biofuels. In many cases, the technology for converting woody biomass into energy has been established for decades, but because the price of woody biomass energy has not been competitive with traditional fossil fuels, bioenergy production from woody biomass has not been widely adopted. However, current projections of future energy use and renewable energy and climate change legislation under consideration suggest increased use of both forest and agriculture biomass energy in the coming decades. This report provides a summary of some of the existing knowledge and literature related to the production of woody biomass from bioenergy with a particular focus on the economic perspective. The most commonly discussed woody biomass feedstocks are described along with results of existing economic modeling studies related to the provision of biomass from short-rotation woody crops, harvest residues, and hazardous fuel-reduction efforts. Additionally, the existing social science literature is used to highlight some challenges to widespread production of biomass energy.

Woody biomass is most widely used for energy production. In the United States, roughly 2% of the energy consumed annually is generated from wood and wood-derived fuels. Woody biomass needs to be preprocessed and pretreated before it is used for energy production. Preprocessing and pretreatments improve the physical, chemical, and rheological properties, making them more suitable for feeding, handling, storage transportation, and conversion. Mechanical preprocessing technologies such as size reduction and densification, help improve particle size distribution and density. Thermal pretreatment can reduce grinding energy and torrefied ground biomass has improved sphericity, particle surface area, and particle size distribution. This book focuses on several specific topics, such as understanding how forest biomass for biofuels impacts greenhouse gas emissions; mechanical preprocessing, such as densification of forest residue biomass, to improve physical properties such as size, shape, and density; the impact of thermal pretreatment temperatures on woody biomass chemical composition, physical properties, and microstructure for thermochemical conversions such as pyrolysis and gasification; the grindability of torrefied pellets; use of wood for gasification and as a filter for tar removal; and understanding the pyrolysis kinetics of biomass using thermogravimetric analyzers.

This book offers new engineers and engineering students appropriate and effective strategies to find data, statistics, and research to support decision making. The authors describe the utility of solid reputable sources and help readers go beyond reliance on the quick Internet search, a habit which is often both inadequate to complex tasks and a source of criticism from employers. Some sources are free; others are available through libraries, or by purchase or subscription. This title can be used as a guide in concert with the advice of professors and colleagues, and potentially as a textbook. The examples are primarily from chemical and agricultural engineering, but the strategies could be adapted to other disciplines. An array of sources are shown, ranging from scholarly or professional societies, data sources, and books, to handbooks and journal sources, and less commonly used credible government documents and Web resources, including information from the USDA, the EPA and the DOE. Two case studies show research processes and the application of the underlying strategies and some of the tools.