Forest bioenergy

Overview

Bioenergy is energy produced from biomass; recently living organisms, including plants, trees, animal by-products or microorganisms.

Biomass can be combusted directly to produce energy, in the form of heat and electricity. It can also be converted into liquid, gaseous or solid biofuels for use in a wide variety of applications.

Bioenergy is a renewable and low-carbon source of energy when produced from sustainably grown and harvested biomass, as well as from processing and manufacturing by-products.

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Forest bioenergy from forest biomass

Forest biomass used for bioenergy comes from several sources, including:

• Sustainable forest management by-products and other harvesting waste:
  • Typically includes branches, treetops and other parts of a tree left over from harvesting or sustainable forest management practices.
  • Sometimes includes trees that cannot be used for other purposes such as trees damaged from pest infestations (e.g., mountain pine beetle) or forest-fires.
• Forest product manufacturing byproducts:
  • Typically includes wood chips and sawdust left over from forest product manufacturing (e.g., sawdust from lumber production).
• Post-consumer wood waste:
  • Typically includes wood waste from the construction industry (e.g., demolition materials), household and commercial waste (e.g., wooden furniture) and factories or warehouses (e.g., pallets, crates).

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Types of biofuels

Forest biomass has historically been used for heating and cooking. Over the last few decades methods have advanced to convert forest biomass, using mechanical, chemical, thermo-chemical and biological processes, into three general types of biofuels:

• Liquid biofuels, such as renewable diesel, are used primarily in the transport and industrial sectors.
• Gaseous biofuels, such as renewable natural gas, are commonly used for generating heat or electricity.
• Solid biofuels, such as wood pellets and chips, are also largely used for generating heat and/or electricity.