Science You Can Use Bulletin January/February 2016 • ISSUE 17

United States Department of

Rocky Mountain Research Station Science You Can Use Bulletin January/February 2016 | Issue 17

Burgeoning : Creating Efficient and Sustainable Technologies in the Rockies, Part II

SUMMARY

Woody biomass could be used to generate renewable bioenergy and in the western U.S. and has the potential to offer environmental and societal benefits. The purpose of the Rocky Mountain Research Station-led Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) project is to research and develop technologies, approaches, and new science that will help to make this possible. Part one of this series (September/October 2014) addressed the economic and environmental challenges of the biomass supply chain, from the site of harvest to the bioenergy facility— from “cradle to gate.” This issue of the Bulletin is focused on the supply chain from the conversion facility to end use, Pelletized . Photo: Nate Anderson covering material processing, conversion, end use, and disposal—from “gate to grave.” It features important research on operations in the western U.S., is this a waste of a potential resource, cycle assessment of products from including for hazardous fuel pile burning can exacerbate air quality forest biomass, economic feasibility reduction, leave behind a staggering problems and increase greenhouse of conversion operations, and social acceptance of woody biomass . amount of waste. Much of this gas emissions. It also long-lived It provides details about the marketable waste is non-merchantable stems, burn scars on the forest floor. If slash uses for biomass co-products, like branches, and tops. These materials, could be economically transported, biochar and activated . These called forest residues or “slash,” are processed, and used by a bioenergy contributions, combined with the material usually yarded into large piles and facility, it could be transformed into covered in part one, have the potential to facilitate biomass utilization as a burned for disposal. In the bark-beetle- energy and marketable products rather feasible option to offset affected areas of northern Colorado than burned for disposal. This may be fossil fuels, reduce our long-term carbon alone, it is estimated that there is a a more environmentally and socially emissions, and address many significant backlog of 120,000 piles of woody appealing alternative to open burning. challenges. biomass slated for burning. Not only

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Woody biomass has the potential to offer to develop technologies, approaches, and from collaborators Robert Campbell of environmental and societal benefits. new science to address the technical, the University of Montana, Karl Englund When used for renewable energy, it can environmental, social, and economic of Washington State University, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, aspects of woody biomass utilization. Tyron Venn of the University of Montana increase energy security, decrease forest The first issue (September/October and the University of the Sunshine insect and disease outbreaks, lower 2014) focused on research to optimize Coast, . It highlights RMRS-BRDI our long-term carbon footprint, and the efficiency of the biomass supply research related to the use of woody help reduce severe hazards. chain from “cradle to gate”—that is, biomass from “gate to grave””—from the However, there are social, economic, and from the site of harvest to the bioenergy gate of the conversion facility, covering environmental barriers to be overcome. facility. This issue picks up where the material processing and conversion, This Science You Can Use Bulletin is the fall 2014 issue left off and features to the disposal of end-use products. second in a two-part series highlighting research from project investigators Nate It features important research on research of the Rocky Mountain Research Anderson, Debbie Page-Dumroese, and conversion technology, economics, life Station (RMRS) Biomass Research and Dan McCollum of RMRS, Tom Elder of cycle assessment, and social acceptance Development Initiative (BRDI) project, the USFS Southern Research Station, of woody biomass energy. funded by the National Institute of Food and Rick Bergman from the USFS Forest and Agriculture (NIFA). The project aims Products Laboratory, as well as research

The Gate to Grave segment of the supply chain includes steps to convert processed forest biomass into valuable products that are delivered to BIOMASS: GATE TO GRAVE end users who drive the demand for bioenergy and bioproducts.

Social & Economic Context Biomass Conversion Produces Heat, Power, and Biochar Successful use of woody biomass for energy Conversion of biomass can yield: heat and power for , power for the power grid, requires public support. Understanding how the and a product called biochar, which has a several uses in agriculture and industry. public views woody biomass energy and related trade-offs is critical to future adoption of forest-based bioenergy. Wood Heat Power Chips

Biochar

Biochar: Multiple Marketable Uses Biochar product revenues can enhance economic feasibility. Possible uses for biochar include restoration, farm and garden applications, and filtration, with or without activation. Environmental restoration using biochar Biochar converted to Biochar made Rotary into pellets Calciner

Soil Amendment Industrial Filtration

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Biomass conversion technology a high-temperature reactor permanent installations. Although using research and development— in which little or no is present. biomass from forestry and agricultural the Tucker RNG System The initial heating drives some gases operations generally decreases total off the wood, including hydrogen, carbon emissions and lessens the Most NIFA-BRDI projects include a , carbon monoxide, environmental impact of the energy commercial partner who works with , and other light hydrocarbons, produced compared to fossil fuels, the agency and academic scientists to which are collected as synthesis gas Tucker RNG System can also use a wide further research and develop new (“”). The Tucker Unit cleans and range of non-renewable carbon-rich biomass technology. This project further refines the syngas, producing feedstocks, including , tires, and partnered with Tucker Engineering an energy-dense renewable natural gas plastic waste, making it potentially useful Associates, which designed and built output. Unlike some similar systems, in a wide range of applications. The the Tucker Renewable Natural Gas the Tucker RNG unit does not use gas to system can reduce net carbon emissions (RNG) System, a promising thermal produce liquid fuel. The gas is funneled by capturing and using heat and solid biomass conversion technology. What to a combination engine-generator (a carbon (e.g., biochar) generated in the makes a biomass conversion system “genset”), to produce electricity. As conversion process. Along with heat and promising? First, it must be concluding the conversion process continues, the electricity, the gas and biochar produced its research and development phase remaining biomass fully carbonizes into by the unit can be used to produce a and moving toward commercialization. a charcoal-like material called biochar. variety of marketable products that can It also has to be technically feasible to The syngas, biochar, heat, and power are be shipped to distant markets, which is operate in industrial settings, meaning all valuable products generated by the important to the forest industry in rural it can operate continuously in a wide conversion process. areas. range of conditions. Finally, as a part of the conversion process it must create Making use of biomass: Tucker environmentally-sound, marketable RNG system products products at competitive prices. Tucker Engineering Associates was selected as Synthesis gas the commercial partner because their The main components of the syngas technology is “greatly improved from produced from woody biomass by early trials and closer to commercial the Tucker RNG System (in mole deployment than anything that we’ve percentages) are carbon monoxide worked on before,” says RMRS research (45-50%), carbon dioxide (10 to 15%), and project director Nate hydrogen (15 to 20%), and methane (15 Anderson. Richard Tucker, president of Tucker to 20%). This gas mix, which contains 500 Engineering Associates and Chief Technology Officer of RNG, with a Tucker to 600 Btu per cubic foot (about 50 to 60% The Tucker RNG technology turns RNG system. Photo: Nate Anderson of the energy content of natural gas), wood waste—slash for example—into can be burned for heat or to generate electricity, heat, and biochar, which electricity for the grid. The syngas can is a charcoal co-product of the wood- The Tucker RNG System is especially also be cleaned up, compressed, and to-energy conversion process. Woody well-suited to applications where it can stored as a gaseous fuel. biomass entering this system must be used to reduce energy costs, process first be pre-processed, usually by waste feedstocks, and produce heat and Making liquid hydrocarbon fuels out chipping, screening to smaller chip electricity for customers interested in of syngas is an exciting possibility, but size, and drying to a moisture content green energy. It is scalable in size to currently very much in the research of 10% or less. The dry wood chips meet a wide range of production needs, phase for small-scale applications. then pass through an airlock and into from mobile conversion units to larger,

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As part of the RMRS-BRDI project, Tom Elder of the USFS Southern Research Station has been working with the Louisiana State University Department of Chemical Engineering A forest site being treated with pellets using a custom biochar to develop methods to make liquid pellet spreader mounted on a fuel out of the Tucker Unit syngas forwarder. Photo: Nate Anderson using different catalysts. He says, “These liquid fuels have many of the characteristics of gasoline and diesel.” However, developing the right catalysts is challenging. Each catalyst is composed for specific compositions biochar replaces some of the higher its way into the soil profile and can and concentrations of gases coming emissions coal. remain for a very long time—hundreds from different conversion processes and or even thousands of years. feedstocks. In other words, if a catalyst is Biochar has been shown to be beneficial developed for Tucker RNG wood syngas, as a soil amendment. Unlike wood, Page-Dumroese and colleagues have another would have to be developed for which decomposes when applied to been working with biochar produced by syngas produced by another conversion soil, biochar is very slow to break down the Tucker RNG system in forest settings unit or from another feedstock, and and while in place, it bonds tightly to where it has been shown to be useful catalyst development is time consuming water and soil nutrients. According for enhancing tree growth and avoiding and expensive. to Debbie Page-Dumroese, an RMRS soil compaction in areas like skid trails. research soil scientist focusing on uses She reports, “We’ve seen tree growth Carbon products for biochar, “Using biochar, we can increase by 25-30% in tree thinning Biochar is the solid end product of increase water-holding capacity of the experiments. About 80% of what we thermal conversion of biomass in the soil by 20-30% depending on soil type,” put out as carbon can be sequestered in Tucker RNG System, and accounts for which has obvious benefits for plants the soil for the long term. Also, biochar about 15% of the dry input feedstock and crops growing in dry environments. in the soil reduces the bulk density, mass, with the rest going into the Biochar also has many exchange sites for so it helps to remediate compaction syngas. It can be used as a solid fuel and retaining soil nutrients that otherwise and it helps to keep the soil aggregates burned like coal, or can be used as a soil might get washed through the system together so that it doesn’t recompact.” amendment, and/or as a raw material with rainfall. Biochar can be applied She adds that biochar can also be used for industrial sorbents to filter liquids directly to the soil surface where it works in mine reclamation, where it can bind and gases. According to Anderson, “It heavy metals and add organic matter has pretty similar properties to coal, to the soil and prevent into so it can be used pretty seamlessly as “Using biochar, we can streams and , and along a coal substitute and burned in the increase water-holding roadways or drainage ditches, where it same types of boilers for energy, or capacity of the soil can filter petroleum products out of road used as an industrial raw material.” runoff. Her current work is focused on Because biochar contains fewer or by 20-30% depending determining the appropriate biochar lower concentrations of sulfur and other on soil type,” notes application rates in the field. “In most impurities found in some , this use research soil scientist we don’t see a response until we can reduce harmful emissions from Debbie Page-Dumroese. get up to an application rate of about 3 coal-fired power plants; cleaner burning

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“…Also, biochar in the The biochar produced by the Tucker carbon are well-established, whereas RNG System can also be used as a those for biochar as a soil amendment soil reduces the bulk renewable raw material for making are still developing in the home density, so it helps to activated carbon, which currently gardening, agriculture, mining, and remediate compaction comes mostly from coal but can also forestry sectors. and it helps to keep be made from wood, coconut shells, The sustainability of the soil aggregates and other biomass. To make activated carbon, biochar is “activated” with heat woody biomass products: together so that it and steam or a strong base, such as Environmental, financial, and doesn’t recompact,” potassium or sodium hydroxide, which social considerations adds Page-Dumroese. increases the porosity and surface area Environmental impacts of the material. There are a number of uses for activated carbon, but the most When looking at the environmental tons/acre, and we can go as high as 10 common is industrial filtration of liquids sustainability of a product, it is useful tons before it starts to repel water or and gasses, including drinking water to calculate all of the environmental erode in a heavy rainstorm,” she says. and emissions from power plants and impacts related to “You can add the higher amounts to the vehicles. emissions, energy balance, water coarse-textured because it works its and air pollution, toxicity, and other way in faster.” Unfortunately, the low cost of other raw impacts from raw material extraction materials, specifically coal, makes it to manufacturing, distribution, use, The biochar coming out of the Tucker difficult for wood-based activated carbon and disposal—in other words, from RNG System is very powdery and can to compete on price without premiums “cradle to grave.” One way to do this is be difficult to work with, so researchers for renewable products or connections a life cycle assessment, which is similar have been developing ways to turn to wood waste streams. Biochar also to an economic cost-benefit analysis, the biochar into a product that can has more variability than coal, and may but instead looks at environmental be applied using equipment similar not work well for some applications. On impacts. According to Rick Bergman, a to a spreader. Karl Englund, the positive side, markets for activated Research Forest Products Technologist a RMRS-BRDI project collaborator from the Washington State University Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the Composite Materials Engineering Center, says “A pellet mill is perfect for turning this powder into something usable.” Englund is working Rick Bergman, on assessing the potential for using local with the USFS Forest Products materials that might be around after a Laboratory, forest operation, like slash and needles, collecting data to conduct a life and grinding them to mix with biochar cycle assessment as a binder and extender for the pellets. of the Tucker RNG technology. Photo: “Mobile pelletizing units are something Nate Anderson we are interested in, which is why we are trying to use local materials,” he says.

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at the USFS Forest Products Laboratory all woody biomass has to be used in An analysis of the financial performance who is contributing to the project, “For the same way. One product’s demand of a mobile conversion unit used to new products it is useful to make a for woody biomass may be limited. But produce biochar from residues comparison with an existing product, like the very same material can be used for done by Anderson and others showed biochar versus coal.” Because biochar an entire portfolio of products.” Some a very wide range of potential results— is rich in non-decomposing “fixed” uses of woody biomass can produce from being significantly in the red to carbon, using it as a soil amendment multiple value-added products at the significantly in the black over a 10- can reduce by same time. What that means, McCollum year project period, with the financial sequestering carbon in the soil, keeping says, “is an individual product does not outcome being most sensitive to labor formerly labile carbon locked in the necessarily need to be profitable by itself, costs and the market price of biochar. soil for hundreds or even thousands of as long as the combination of outputs is Factors that are likely to increase years. Bergman and his FPL colleague profitable and/or reduces a company’s the profitability of such operations Hongmei Gu found that when compared cost of production.” A sawmill is a good included increasing the efficiency to electrical energy from coal-based example. Heat can be used to dry of the conversion system for higher syngas, wood-based syngas combined wood products, syngas can be used to output, further developing the markets with biochar sequestration reduced produce electricity for on-site processes for biochar and associated products, greenhouse gas emissions by 87%. or the grid, and biochar can be sold to operating these conversion technologies various markets. The mill’s overall cost of in areas with high wood-waste disposal Bergman and Gu also looked at the production can be reduced by replacing costs, and using the produced waste heat sustainability of the Tucker RNG System. inputs that were previously purchased or syngas instead of fossil fuels to heat Based on their analysis, the Tucker unit with co-products from pyrolysis and by buildings and . produced 2.54 megajoules of bioenergy using waste biomass as feedstock. Social acceptance for every 1 megajoule of fossil fuel Does the public support using woody energy that was input into the system. KEY FINDINGS “Therefore,” says Bergman, “the Tucker biomass as renewable energy? Energy RNG unit is an energy efficient system • Small-scale thermochemical biomass from biomass is more expensive than conversion technologies can effectively that can provide renewable energy.” that from natural gas, but its use offers provide heat, power, and bioproducts. In general, locating the unit close to ancillary benefits to local communities, • Biochar, a solid co-product of woody biomass sources reduces the fossil fuel biomass conversion, has the potential including less air pollution from open emissions from hauling woody biomass to be used in forest road rehabilitation pile burning, reduced wildfire risk, to mitigate and prevent soil compaction. creation of local jobs, and localized and makes the system more energy Other biochar uses include restoration efficient. More specifically, some energy of damaged soils. energy self-sufficiency. Tyron Venn, generated by the Tucker RNG system is • When compared to energy from coal associate professor of forest economics, syngas, wood syngas combined currently unused but could be used for and Rob Campbell, PhD student from with biochar sequestration reduces feedstock drying, further reducing fossil greenhouse gas emissions by 87%. the University of Montana, conducted fuel use and increasing efficiency and • Biomass energy is an attractive concept surveys in Montana, Colorado, and sustainability of the whole system. to some segments of the public, but its Arizona to measure the tradeoffs that price may still be a barrier to adoption. residents of the Rocky Mountains Financial analysis • Factors that are likely to increase may be willing to make to use this the profitability of woody biomass The key to making utilization of woody conversion operations include renewable energy source. They found biomass profitable is in the multiple developing new markets for bioenergy that the majority of the respondents and bioproducts, diversifying product and diverse uses to which woody lines, and increasing the efficiency of were concerned about smoke from biomass can be put, according to Dan the conversion system, such as using and open pile burning, and waste heat for production processes. McCollum, a research economist at also thought that local job creation RMRS. “Think of it as a portfolio. Not should be considered when managing

Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 6 Science You Can Use Bulletin January/February 2016 • ISSUE 17 public forests. Almost three-quarters found further evidence of social “Our focus has of the respondents indicated that they acceptance. Respondents were asked to supported higher amounts of woody choose between the status quo level of largely been on biomass harvest from public lands forest treatment and two alternatives product development to generate renewable energy, with providing an increased level of harvest and research and more people favoring smaller-scale and removal of beetle-killed at development of the woody biomass plants as opposed to additional cost. The difference between conversion systems larger plants. Only 41% of respondents, the alternatives was in how residual however, were willing to pay higher materials from harvest were handled. themselves,” says monthly energy bills for biomass energy, In Alternative 1, residual materials project leader Nate with the average respondent willing would be burned on-site, as is currently Anderson, “the next to pay about $1-$2 per month extra. In the predominant method of disposal. step is to scale up… the end, it appears that while biomass Alternative 2 specified that residuals [w]e are looking at energy is an attractive concept to some would be moved off-site and used segments of the public, the price of that to produce biochar. Payment for the the set of conditions energy may still be a barrier. additional harvest would be in the form under which the of a dedicated tax for forest treatment system is likely to be In a study of Larimer County, Colorado operations. Average willingness to pay commercially viable.” residents, McCollum, along with was $411 per household per year for Colorado State University researchers Alternative 1 and $470 per household per the cost of the status quo. The message of Maryam Tabatabaei and John Loomis, year for Alternative 2, over and above these results, according to McCollum, “is that the public perceives excess woody biomass in the forest to be a problem and is tolerant of forest thinning as a way of dealing with that problem. Few details were provided to respondents on the benefits of biochar, other than as a way to avoid on-site burning of residual material. Even so, there was some evidence of willingness to pay for those additional benefits indicating recognition of some social benefit to making use of woody biomass.”

What is next?

Thus far, “Our focus has largely been on product development and research and development of the conversion systems themselves,” says Anderson, “the next step is to scale up.” In this case, that means shifting the focus to upscaling all aspects of the project, from Excerpt from a survey designed to measure tradeoffs associated with energy from woody biomass. Credit: Robert Campbell and Tyron Venn the economic and ecological analyses, to the size and deployment of the Tucker RNG units, to biochar application in the

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field. For example, biochar was initially price premiums on green energy, like MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS applied by hand to relatively small California. Many people are interested forest plots, but its application is now in deploying these systems in off-grid • Opportunities to use woody biomass from treatments include for heat and being up-scaled by project collaborators parts of Africa and Asia. Places that have power, and are evolving to include designing a mechanical biochar spreader municipal, agricultural and industrial and bioproducts applications. that can be driven on skid trails, log biomass waste streams are also good • Biochar can be used to facilitate forest soil restoration by improving soil properties landings, or roads for larger-scale candidates.” Overall, the net value of and minimizing further compaction. New industrial application to forest soils. biomass conversion must be improved equipment is available to make this possible Moving forward, many of the scientists by a combination of better processes over large areas. involved in the RMRS-BRDI project are and better market conditions, and, as • Using biomass for energy is most economically feasible when treatment sites also involved with the Biomass Alliance with any commercial venture, finding are close to markets, in areas where current Network of the Rockies and Waste-to- cheaper, better ways of operating. Also, energy costs are high, and when the public supports renewable energy. Wisdom—two large integrated NIFA- says Anderson, “It is really helpful if • Small-scale woody biomass conversion funded projects with the goal of further people appreciate and are willing to systems can produce heat and power, as developing bioenergy and bioproducts pay for the non-market benefits of well as other products, at a wide range from forest biomass. renewable energy, like better air quality of facilities and are becoming more commercially viable as technologies and reduced wildfire risk. Then, the improve. Commercial deployment of the Tucker benefits are monetized in ways that • New opportunities are emerging for RNG system needs to add up financially help these technologies get adopted.” biomass utilization and biochar use closely tied to and management. for the technology to have a future. More broadly, in many areas land “Now, we are looking at the set of managers implementing treatments conditions under which the system is on the landscape for timber harvest, likely to be commercially viable,” says restoration, and fuel reduction struggle but conditions are improving with the Anderson. “Areas with high electricity to find markets for the biomass that commercialization of new technologies costs, like Hawaii and Alaska, are great used to go to hog fuel and for and the expansion of bioenergy, biofuels, targets for these systems, as are areas manufacturing. Finding markets and bioproducts manufacturing. with high waste disposal costs, like for woody biomass remains a challenge, parts of Europe, and places that put

FURTHER READING

Anderson, N., J. G. Jones, D. Page-Dumroese, D. McCollum, S. Baker, D. Kim, D., N. M. Anderson, and W. Chung. 2015. Financial performance Loeffler, and W. Chung. 2013. A comparison of producer gas, biochar, of a mobile pyrolysis system used to produce biochar from sawmill and activated carbon from two distributed scale thermochemical residues. Forest Products Journal 65(5). conversion systems used to process forest biomass. 6(1): Mai, K., T. Elder, L. H. Groom, and J. J. Spivey. 2015. Fe-based Fisher 164-183. Tropsch synthesis of biomass-derived syngas: Effect of synthesis Bergman, R. and H. Gu. 2014. Life-cycle inventory analysis of bio- method. Catalysis Communications 65: 78-80. products from a modular advanced biomass pyrolysis system. In: Tabatabaei, M., J. B. Loomis, and D. W. McCollum. 2015. Nonmarket Proceedings, Society of Wood Science and Technology 57th International benefits of reducing environmental effects of potential wildfires in Convention. June 23-27, 2014. Zvolen, Slovakia: 405-415. beetle-killed trees: A contingent valuation study. Journal of Sustainable Campbell, R., T. Venn, and N. Anderson. 2015. Quantifying social Forestry 34(8): 720-737. preferences toward woody biomass energy generation in Montana, USA. In: Proceedings, AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2015, San Francisco, California.

Gu, H. and R. Bergman. 2015. Life-cycle GHG emissions of electricity from syngas by pyrolyzing woody biomass. In: Proceedings, Society of Wood Science and Technology 58th International Convention. June 7-12, 2015. Jackson Hole, Wyoming: 376-389.

Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 8 Science You Can Use Bulletin January/February 2016 • ISSUE 17

WRITER’S PROFILE

Sue Miller is a science writer living in Fort Collins, Colorado. She received her PhD in ecology from the University of Georgia. Sue can be reached at [email protected].

Maureen Essen is a Research Associate cooperator with the Human Dimensions unit of RMRS. She received her MS in resource conservation at the University of Montana and can be reached at [email protected].

Purpose of the Science You Can Use Bulletin To learn about Forest Service research in the South, please visit http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/compass/

To provide scientific information to people who make and influence decisions To receive this bulletin via email, scan the QR code below or use this link: about managing land. The US Forest Service RMRS Science You Can Use Bulletin http:// tinyurl.com/RMRSsciencebulletin is published regularly by: Megan Matonis, Bulletin editor, [email protected]

Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) Jan Engert, Assistant Station Director, US Forest Service Science Application & Integration; 240 W Prospect Rd [email protected] Fort Collins, CO 80521

Forest Service researchers work at the forefront of science to improve the health and use of our Nation’s forests and grasslands. More information about Forest Service research in the Rocky Mountain Region can be found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/rmrs/

To learn about Forest Service research at the Forest Products Lab, please visit http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_ and institutions participating in or administering USDA contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at cust.html and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital information may be made available in languages other than form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or status, family/parental status, income derived from a public English. letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: [email protected]. programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

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SCIENTIST PROFILES

This issue picks up where the fall 2014 issue left off and features research from project investigators Nate Anderson, Debbie Page-Dumroese, and Dan McCollum of RMRS, Tom Elder of the USFS Southern Research Station, and Rick Bergman from the USFS Forest Products Laboratory, as well as research from collaborators Robert Campbell of the University of Montana, Karl Englund of Washington State University, and Tyron Venn of the University of Montana and the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

Nate can be reached at: Nate Anderson is a Research Forester with the Rocky Mountain USDA Forest Service Research Station, where he studies forest resource management and economics. His recent work is focused on the use of forest biomass Rocky Mountain Research Station for bioenergy and bio-based products. Nate received his PhD in Forest 200 East Broadway Resources Management from the SUNY College of Environmental Missoula, MT 59802 Science and Forestry.

Deb can be reached at:

Debbie Page-Dumroese is a research soil scientist with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Deb has a PhD in Forest Soils from Rocky Mountain Research Station the University of Idaho. Her research efforts relate to soil productivity 1221 S. Main St. during harvest operations. She is a principal investigator for the North American Long-Term Soil Productivity study and a world-wide study Moscow, ID 83843 examining forest management and below ground processes.

Dan can be reached at: USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 240 W. Prospect Ave. Dan McCollum is an economist at the Rocky Mountain Research Fort Collins, CO 80526 Station studying people and natural resources, including non-market values of goods and services and how local economies and communities are affected by economic activity resulting from resource management. Dan has a PhD in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Rick Bergman is a research forest products technologist with the Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin. He earned a PhD in Forestry and Life Cycle Analysis from the University of Wisconsin. His research focuses on life-cycle analysis of wood building materials and bioenergy resources to quantify critical emissions and environmental impacts.

Tom Elder is a research scientist with the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service. His research emphases are biomass characterization and conversion to bioproducts and bioenergy, concentrating on gasification, pyrolysis, and catalytic upgrading of the products.

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SCIENTIST PROFILES cont.

Robert Campbell is a PhD candidate in the College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He has a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from Oregon State University, where he focused on environmental and resource economics. His research interests pertain to the valuation of non-market environmental goods.

Karl Englund received a BS and MS degree in Wood Science at West Virginia University and a PhD in Civil Engineering from Washington State University. His research focuses on processing composites and utilizing waste materials as feedstocks for composites and biofuels. Much of his work involves collaboration with government agencies, non-profits, and industry.

Tyron Venn is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. His research is focused on supporting economically efficient management and policy, including wildfire, , and water and utilizing forest biomass for energy. Tyron earned his PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland.

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