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Last update: January 5, 2009 |
Forest resources can be used for renewable energy production in several manners. Research is examining how wood residues from logging, forestry management and land development could become commercially-viable feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production. Wood waste is being used in come co-generation facilities to produce heat and power. Other opportunities include bio-refining and energy production as part of forest product manufacturing processes. Technologies such as Value Prior to Pulping (VPP), Black Liquor Gasification (BLG), and wastewater digestion at on-site wastewater facilities are being explored as ways to produce renewable energy. The following maps explore aspects of Wisconsin's forest resources and forest product industries that may be important to bioenergy production including acres of timberland, volume of growing stock, roundwood extraction, estimates of recoverable logging residues, recoverable primary mill residues and the locations of the timber product manufacturing facilities.
Note that the following maps only describe the forest resources that are potentially available in Wisconsin. The maps do not depict the current demand for different forest feedstocks or what can be used sustainably for bioenergy production.
Acres of Forest Land and Volume of Growing Stock
Wisconsin's 16.3 million acres of forest land provides the primary resource base for potential forestry-related bioenergy production. The U.S. Forest Service's Forestry Inventory Analysis (FIA) defines forest land as areas at least 16.7 percent stocked by forest trees of any size, or formerly having had such tree cover, and not currently developed for non-forest use. Almost 99 percent of Wisconsin's forestland is classified as timberland, or land that is capable of producing, in excess of 20 cubic feet per acre per year of industrial roundwood products under natural conditions, is not withdrawn from timber utilization by statute or administrative regulation, and is not associated with urban or rural development. Wisconsin's timberland is home to almost 16.3 million acres of timberland containing 20.3 billion cubic feet of growing stock. Over two-thirds (68.7%) of Wisconsin's timberland is privately-owned.
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Roundwood Harvested
The U.S. Forest Service's Timber Output Database defines roundwood as the timber volume being harvested for industrial and non-industrial products such as sawlogs, pulpwood and fuelwood. In 2007, 6.2 million dry tons of roundwood products were harvested in Wisconsin for all purposes. Nationally, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the residential, commercial and electric power sectors extract an estimated 35 million dry tons of roundwood, mainly for space and process-heating applications.
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Acres of Forest Land
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Estimates of Recoverable Logging Residues
Logging residues are the unused portions of trees cut, or killed by logging and could provide biomass for a variety of renewable energy technologies. Note that not all logging residues can or should be recovered. Some portion of the material should be left to replenish nutrients and maintain soil productivity while other residues will be too difficult to recover due to access issues. While a recovery rate of 65 percent of residues is used in the maps below, potential recovery rates will vary by location. The logging residue data is derived from the U.S. Forest Service's Timber Output Database. |
Estimates of Recoverable Residues from Other Removals
Residues from other removals are unutilized wood volume of trees cut or otherwise killed by cultural operations (e.g. precommercial thinnings) or landclearings to nonforest uses. These resides do not include volume removed from the inventory by reclassification of timberland to productive reserved forest land. A recovery rate of 50 percent is used here, but recovery rates will likely vary by location. Average annual removals estimates are made for the time period between two successive State forest inventories, usually about 10 years, and are therefore short-term historic averages and not estimates for a specific year. The residue from other removals data is derived from the U.S. Forest Service's Timber Output Database. |
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Estimates of Unused Primary Forest Product Mill Residues
Primary mill residues include bark, coarse residues (chunks and slabs), and fine residues (shavings and sawdust) generated at sawmills that process harvested wood. Because primary mill residues tend to be clean, uniform, concentrated, and of a low moisture content, most of these materials are already used for products or boiler fuel at the mills. This leaves a very small amount (~2%) of unused primary mill material available for energy. Residues are also generated at secondary processing mills (e.g., millwork, furniture, flooring, containers, etc.). While the primary mill residue data is from the U.S. Forest Service’s Timber Product Output database, secondary mill residue estimates are not collected by the U.S. Forest Service. |
Forest Product Manufacturing
In mid-2008, Wisconsin had 668 wood product manufacturers, 278 paper mills and 370 wood furniture manufacturers. Residues from these facilities could provide feedstocks for a variety of renewable energy technologies, both on and off-site. While many of these manufacturers are located near Wisconsin's forests, a large number of value-added industries are also found in Wisconsin's urban areas. Forest product manufacturing facilities are based on the Quarterly Census of Employment of Wages dataset disseminated by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. |
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Wisconsin - Manufacturing Facilities
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Wisconsin - Concentration of Facilities
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Wisconsin - Pellet Manufacturers
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