Spatially Explicit Life Cycle Emissions from Biofuel Derived from Wood Biomass

Bioenergy production from wood has potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector by producing low-carbon alternatives to gasoline and diesel, potentially reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire and increasing the stability of forest carbon pools.  We present a spatially explicit methodology for modeling the life cycle emissions from forest-based biofuel production, tracking emissions from production, fates, and displaced fossil fuel emissions. We address the impact of management activities on the probability and severity of stand replacing wildfire and consider how forest management activities impact the growth rate of the remaining vegetation. We use scenario analysis to model the effects of management decisions on the interactions identified above. Climate change policies must consider the impact of incentivising specific forest management decisions on GHG reduction targets. The model will be useful for identifying management strategies resulting in the highest overall system-level carbon balances.

Researchers and Collaborators:

• Peter Tittmann, PhD student (Geography Graduate Group, UC Davis)
• Bruce Hartsough, Professor (Biological & Agricultural Engineering, UC Davis)
• Sonia Yeh, Research scientist (ITS - Davis)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

UC Davis California Biomass Collaborative (CBC) has conducted numerous studies to assess the potentials of biofuel production from energy crops and wastes, including forest and agriculture wastes. The Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) recently initiates a new study trying to identify the biofuel productions from forest wastes and the long-term ecological and GHG impacts of utilizing forest waste resources. We draw upon the expertise within the larger UC community, including UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UC extensions, and the members of CBC, that have extensive knowledge on forestry research and management experience. The objective of the meeting is to seek expert guidance on how we should address the following three key research issues, and identify a list of key research questions to guide our study. The timeline for the study is estimated to be about 6-9 months.

The three key research questions that we plan to address are:  

1. The long-term GHG balances of forest management (e.g. unthinned, burn only, understory thin, understory thin and burn, etc), and other the long-term impacts including fire reduction benefits, ecological impacts, environmental impacts, etc.
2. The economics of forest waste biofuels: investment cost, O&M cost breakdown, sensitivity to transportation distances, collection cost, scale, and values of end products (biofuel).
   
3. How do existing sustainability criteria  (e.g. existing forest practices standards, agricultural practice standards, ) and any additional criteria  fit into this discussion? How do mandatory reporting, voluntary certification, and mandatory certification approaches work now and are there any additions or changes that should be considered?

UC Forest Biomass Expert Consultation Meeting

Friday January 23, 2009

 
Attendees:

• UC Davis: Malcolm North (Sierra Nevada Research Center), Bruce Hartsough (Biological & Agricultural Engineering), Peter Tittmann (Geography Graduate Group), Nathan Parker, Daniel Sperling, and Sonia Yeh (ITS)

• UC Berkeley: Scott Stephens, Gary Nakamura, John Shelly, Gareth Mayhead, Bill Stewart (Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) , Mike O'Hare (Goldman School of Public Policy)

• Cal Fire: Doug Wickizer, Dean Cromwell, George Gentry, Bill Snyder
  

• USFS: Bruce Goines, Hugh Safford, Joe Sherlock

• Environmental NGOs:Debbie Hammel and Peter Miller (NRDC), Danielle Fugere (FOE), Tim O'Connor (Environmental Defense)
• California Air Resources Board: Alan Glabe, John Courtis, Renee Littaua and colleagues
• California Energy Commission: Jim McKinney and colleagues