|
|
Biomass Industry Information
Useful studies, papers and links to information for the biomass industry
Federal Incentives
State Incentives
Financial Incentives for Renewable Energy by State
Rules, Regulations and Policies for Renewable Energy by State
 Woody Biomass Utilization Desk Guide
UDSA Forest Service (2007) – PDF (96 pages). Download Woody Biomass Desk Guide PDF
Also see the Woody Biomass website of the USDA Forest Service.
Definition of Woody Biomass
"Woody Biomass is defined as the by-product of management, restoration, and hazardous fuel reduction treatments, including trees and woody plants (i.e., limbs, tops, needles, leaves, and other woody parts, grown in a forest, woodland, or rangeland environment).
"Woody Biomass Utilization (WBU) is defined as the harvest, sale, offer, trade, and/or use of woody biomass. This utilization results in the production of a full range of wood products, including timber, engineered lumber, paper and pulp, furniture, and value-added commodities, as well as bioenergy and/or biobased products such as plastics, ethanol, and diesel."
- From the Woody Biomass Utilization Desk Guide, UDSA Forest Service (2007)
 Woody Biomass Desk Guide and Toolkit
The Woody Biomass Desk Guide and Toolkit is a project of the National Association of Conservation Districts. From this page you can download a number of PDFs, including an overview of woody biomass production and use in the U.S., tips on how to provide effective outreach, PowerPoint presentations, educational handouts and sample news releases. "The purpose of this guide," the organization states, "is to equip natural resource professionals and outreach specialists with the information and tools needed to increase awareness of the use of woody biomass for energy in the U.S."
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) is a nonprofit organization that represents 3,000 conservation districts in the U.S. Conservation districts are local units of government established under state law to carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. Districts work with landowners and operators to help them manage and protect land and water resources on private and public lands in the United States.
Biomass Papers and Studies
State Woody Biomass Utilization Policies
by Dennis R. Becker and Christine Lee
Staff Paper Series No. 199, Department of Forest Resources
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
December 2008 (PDF - 186 pages). Download State Woody Biomass Utilization Policies
This paper provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to woody biomass legislation for each state in the country. The state policies identified in this guide attempt to address particular challenges with local utilization whether it is the cost of biomass harvesting, handling and transportation, or manufacturing and consumer markets. Each policy included in this report provides a particular type of incentive related to forest biomass removal or forest products utilization. There exists overlap with other industrial sectors like agriculture or energy production but each policy is explicitly relevant to woody biomass utilization. Each policy is also uniquely intended for a particular audience in order to help them overcome local utilization challenges or to create related forest management or economic development opportunities. As such, a great variety of policy incentives are relevant to woody biomass utilization that are not captured in existing databases.
Download State Woody Biomass Utilization Policies
For a list of all their papers available online, visit the download page of the Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota.
IREC - Interstate Renewable Energy Council
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to moving renewable energy resources into the marketplace. IREC emphasizes education and outreach, stakeholder coordination, technical assistance, workforce development, the adoption and implementation of uniform guidelines and standards, consumer protection and building networks to share experiences and information.
|
