Status of short rotation forestry in the USA
| Authors: | Tim McDonald, Bryce Stokes |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Type: | Scientific Journal |
| Station: | Southern Research Station |
| Source: | In: Proceedings of the workshop, Status of Short Rotation Forestry Mechanization Worldwide; 1993 March 2-4; Uppsala, Sweden. Oxford, UK: ETSU: 21-44. |
Abstract
Woody biomass remains a relatively small component of the total energy supply in North America (Energy Information Administration, 1992). United States industrial consumption of wood energy has remained steady for about the last ten years at 1.6 trillion MJ. Total wood energy consumption for 1990 was about 2.9 trillion MJ, or 3.4% of the national total.It is unlikely that wood fuels will become an important energy source in the foreseeable future. Demand for fossil fuel energy sources has risen slowly. Over the last ten years in the United States, energy consumption has increased an average of less than 1% annually. And that small increase has come mainly in the residential sector where the potential for SFUC biomass energy utilization is low. Availability of fossil fuels, except for the brief interruption seen during the Persian Gulf war, has been steady, keeping real costs of heating oil and gasoliie below the levels of the early 1980's. Without a drastic change in the world energy situation, costs are unlikely to reach a point to make SRIC biomass a realistic alternative in the near future.