Missouri Natural Resource Conference

Workshop: February 2, 2012

Woody Biomass and Improved Forest Management and Harvest: Moving Toward Positive Solutions

2011 saw much publicity in Missouri for generating electricity from biomass and renewable energy legislation was proposed to support this. The goal of this workshop is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of ensuring that woody biomass harvests are sustainable and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Given that standing timber is a precious resource, we should also favor bioenergy projects with high energy conversion efficiencies to ensure their economic sustainability. Our target audience includes forest managers and harvesters and bioenergy project developers. Topics were selected to present a blueprint for explicitly linking improved forest management with biomass harvest rather than merely viewing biomass as the end goal.

• Organizing Committee: Jason Jensen and Peter Becker
• Moderator: Francisco Aguilar – Asst. Professor of Forestry, Columbia, MO

Presentations

The carbon neutrality of biomass: Implications for forest management and harvest
Ken Skog – Project Leader, Economics and Statistics Research of USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

The way forward: Integrated harvest & improved utilization under crop tree management
Peter Becker – Research Coordinator of EOFC, Bunker, MO and
Terry Cunningham – Manager of Pioneer Forest LLC, Salem, MO

Innovative approaches to incentivizing sustainable logging practices
Jason Jensen – Forest Products Supervisor, Jefferson City, MO and
Josh Stevens – Certification and and Education Manager of MFPA, Jefferson City, MO

How the MU CHP plant will ensure that forest-derived biomass will be harvested sustainably
Hank Stelzer – Assoc. Professor of Forestry Extension, Columbia, MO

Trust but verify: The why and how of third-party auditing of biomass harvest
Scott Brundage – Private Forest Consultant, Columbia, MO

Just down the road: High-efficiency bioenergy in Missouri
Steve Flick – Chairman of Show Me Energy Cooperative, Centerview, MO

The economic feasibility of woody biomass harvests in the Missouri Ozarks
Cost and break-even analysis of an integrated harvest
Shane Botard and Francisco X. Aguilar – MU Forestry, Columbia, MO