IUFRO Division VI Symposium:
Integrative Science for Integrative Management

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IUFRO Task Force:
Forest, Trees and
Human Health and
Well-Being

Forest Policy Workshop
of the Scandinavian Society
of Forest Economics

Session: Forest Bioenergy - The Outlook and Challenges

Session organizers:

Dr. Lauri Hetemäki, Senior Researcher,
Finnish Forest Research Institute, Finland
Email: lauri.hetemaki@metla.fi
http://www.metla.fi/pp/LHet/index-en.htm

Dr. Janaki R.R. Alavalapati, Associate Professor in Forest Economics and Policy
School of Forest Resources and Conservation
University of Florida
Email: janaki@ufl.edu
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/alavalapati.html

Session description:

Increasing demand for energy, rising energy prices, environmental concerns over the use of fossil fuels, national security concerns over the dependence on foreign oil, and growing public preferences for a cleaner environment are stimulating the demand for renewable fuel sources, such as bioenergy. Forest-based bioenergy can provide process heat and power, as well as biofuels (e.g., diesel, ethanol, hydrogen, etc.). Regardless of its end use, bioenergy can generate income directly from sales and through emerging markets (e.g. renewable energy credits), employment, and rural community stability while mitigating global warming concerns. As such, efforts to promote the use of biomass for energy production, both at national and international level, are increasing. In order for forest bioenergy to make a significant contribution, it has to be technologically feasible, cost effective, environmentally benign, and socially desirable. The technical session focuses on socioeconomic impacts of forest biomass production and its utilization for bioenergy and their implications for forest management and sustainability.

Many important bioenergy and forest sector related issues (biorefineries, forest health, profitability for example) are quite recent. While the impacts of these issues on the economy and environment may be significant, both in the near and long-run, our understanding of them is limited. We hope to fill this knowledge gap through selected presentations to provide valuable insights, identify challenges and opportunities, create opportunities for open discussions, and lay ground for further research and discussion relating to the bioenergy-forestry interface.

The session will consist of 4 presentations (invited papers), each about 15 minutes, and the rest of the time will be devoted for prepared comments and general discussion. We hope that this allows more people to take part and ensures greater interactive discussion. Two of the presentations will focus on bioenergy markets and innovative production opportunities for forest bioenergy, their relations to climate change, and the changing operating environment for forest industry. The other two presentations will focus on the impact of forest bioenergy on forest management, and the sustainability of forests.

Session Schedule

Speakers	Abstract	Presentation
Jianbang Gan, Texas A&M University	Is Forest Bioenergy Development Good or Bad to Sustainable Forest Management?	pdf
Jan-Erik Nylund, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences	How big is a forest biofuel resource? Politicians’ questions and researchers’ answers.	pdf
Lauri Hetemäki, Finnish Forest Research Institute	Markets and Policy for Forest Biorefining: Current Status and Outlook.	pdf