Forest biomass unfeasible for rural use: study
January 3, 2017
By
Maria Church
Jan. 3, 2017 - The cost of harvesting, transporting and processing residual forest biomass in rural communities is too high to make it a viable industry without government support, according to researchers at Oregon State University.
A study published in Forest Policy and Economics found that it would take changes in technology from transportation to processing as well as the development of new value-added products to make the use of forest biomass in rural areas a practical option.
“There’s a lot of interest in focusing on the use of biomass to meet multiple objectives, one of which is support for rural communities,” said lead researcher Mindy Crandall.
“We thought this might provide some support for that idea,” she said. “But from a strictly market feasibility perspective, it isn’t all that likely that these facilities will be located in remote, struggling rural communities without targeted subsidies or support.”
Read the full story by Oregon State University.
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