Abstract
Background: While climate change
concerns prompt the development of renewable energy sources, the majority of
global energy consumption continues to be fulfilled by fossil fuels. The
current consumption of renewable energy continues to be dominated by plant
biomass, much of it sourced from forests. Given that the development of new
biomass sources is expensive and time consuming, it is feasible that forest
biomass will continue to grow in importance. The US South has emerged as a
leading global supplier of industrial wood pellets destined primarily for
Europe. The purpose of this presentation is to assess whether the US South can
still increase the supply of forest biomass to global markets in a sustainable
and competitive manner. Methods: We examine southern forest resource trends
(inventory, growth, harvest), biomass availability from logging and
manufacturing operations, and market conditions. This is accompanied by the
assessment of the forest products industries and trends, as well as wood prices
and wood cost competitiveness across leading world supply regions. The region’s
renewable forest biofuels industry, including industrial wood pellets and
advanced biofuels, is also evaluated. Lessons
Learned: The US South is the world’s largest industrial wood supply region that
has a significant potential to substantially increase the supply of forest
biomass to the global market. Forest growth substantially exceeding harvest and
a third-party certification of industrial forests ensure sustainability. The
supply will remain cost competitive because of the demand contraction following
the financial crisis and industry restructuring. The biomass supply greatly
benefits from the well-developed infrastructure and established collection
system. Conclusions: There is an abundance of cost competitive and sustainably
sourced forest biomass in the US South. The primary obstacles preventing
increased utilization are biofuels technological and cost bottlenecks in the
current regulatory and market environment.