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Forests
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Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy
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Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Economics, Policy, and Social Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2023) | Viewed by 11461

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Raju Pokharel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, Natural Resources Building, Room 208A, 480 Wilson Rd, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Interests: forest biomass usage; circular bioeconomy
Dr. Rajan Parajuli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: forest products market modeling; natural resource policy; economic impact and contribution analysis; timberland investment and valuation; non-industrial private forest landowners; development economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests have become increasingly important in renewable energy production and economic development, particularly in rural communities. Energy production from woody biomass has increased greatly to meet the global demand for renewable energy in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Logging residues, slash, and low-value wood without a market are a challenges for landowners, incurring disposal costs or increasing the risk of forest fires and health issues. In many cases, markets for pulpwood and other low-value woods would enhance active forest management, improving forest health and creating additional economic returns for landowners. This would also generate economic activities in rural areas, bringing investment and technology. In addition to domestic and small-scale uses, the production of industrial wood pellets in the southern United States for overseas exports has grown considerably in recent decades. Bioenergy systems are also crucial for meeting the climate change mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement. Therefore, economic studies of biomass-based bioenergy are important for developing a circular bioeconomy and moving towards sustainable energy. The dynamic nature of forest management, particularly in the sustainable supply of biomass for bioenergy, needs to be better understood. This Special Issue aims to present scientific findings on wood-based bioenergy systems and their contribution to the local, regional, and national bioeconomy. We encourage studies from the fields of social economics, management, techno-economics, and policy analysis, including case studies, novel approaches, and regional to global models, in order to promote knowledge and strategies in the sustainable use of forest biomass for renewable energy and bioeconomy.

Dr. Raju Pokharel
Dr. Rajan Parajuli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forest biomass
  • bioenergy
  • forest products
  • wood pellets
  • biofuels
  • biochar
  • mass timber
  • wood-based emerging markets
  • circular economy
  • forest management

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3885 KiB  
Article
A Methodological Framework for Decomposing the Value-Chain Economic Contribution: A Case of Forest Resource Industries of the Lake States in the United States
by Shivan Gc, Ichchha Thapa, Raju Pokharel, Greg Alward, Basanta Lamsal, Jagdish Poudel, Ram Dahal, Omkar Joshi, Rajan Parajuli, John Wagner and Larry Leefers
Forests 2024, 15(2), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020305 - 5 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1414
Abstract
The forest products industries play a vital role in the economic, social, and environmental well-being of the Lake States in the United States. While various economic contribution analyses of forest products industries have been conducted to highlight the importance of such industries to [...] Read more.
The forest products industries play a vital role in the economic, social, and environmental well-being of the Lake States in the United States. While various economic contribution analyses of forest products industries have been conducted to highlight the importance of such industries to regional economies, little effort has yet been made to parse out the contribution of activities in the value chain. The value chain is a series of steps involved in producing goods or services. This study used a matrix decomposition approach to estimate the economic contribution along the value chain through multiple pathways of four forest resource-based industries using wood as inputs: biomass power generation, sawmills, paper mills, and the construction of new single-family residential structures in the Lake States. The direct and indirect economic output values in 2017 resulting from the construction of new single-family residential structures were $19.1 billion, sawmills were $2.5 billion, paper mills were $17.6 billion, and the biomass power generation industry was $759 million. Of the direct and indirect economic output contributed by each industry, the highest percentage of output attributable to the logging industry was observed from the sawmills industry (12%), followed by biomass power generation (9%), paper mills (1.4%), and the construction of new single-family residential structures (<1%), respectively. The percentage of total economic output attributable to the stumpage industry in the region followed a similar trend as commercial logging for all value-chain industries. The relative economic contribution of the value-chain industries to the total economic contribution of the final industry varied based on whether the industry was a primary or secondary forest products industry and the pathways used for sourcing wood inputs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy)
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20 pages, 1451 KiB  
Article
Forest Bioeconomy from the Perspectives of Different EU Countries and Its Potential for Measuring Sustainability
by Radek Rinn, Petra Palátová, Markéta Kalábová and Vilém Jarský
Forests 2023, 14(1), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14010033 - 24 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2515
Abstract
The globally accepted concept of a bioeconomy includes the field of forestry; however, the concept of a forest bioeconomy (FBE) does not appear to be defined uniformly. The concepts of bioeconomy and sustainable development are interlinked. In many countries, the bioeconomy is often [...] Read more.
The globally accepted concept of a bioeconomy includes the field of forestry; however, the concept of a forest bioeconomy (FBE) does not appear to be defined uniformly. The concepts of bioeconomy and sustainable development are interlinked. In many countries, the bioeconomy is often the subject of efforts to quantify it from the state level, and therefore, the question arises as to whether the data regarding the financial support of an FBE in individual countries can be considered mutually comparable, with the aim of including them, for example, among the criteria for measuring sustainability (e.g., indicators of sustainable development—SDI). This option has political implications for political representation, taking the form of a comparable indicator in the approaches of individual states. This article analytically compares FBEs and our understanding of them in selected countries: Czechia, Slovakia, Finland, Italy, and Germany. Czechia financially supports various areas of forestry through European funds (Rural Development Programme, RDP CZ). In this article, we assess this support from the point of view of the perceptions of the FBE in the studied states, with an emphasis on the view of Czechia. First, an FBE analysis of the selected official and supporting documents of the studied countries was performed. The total financial data from the supported projects from the RDP CZ were subsequently assigned to these areas. Thus, the idea of financial support for the FBE through the RDP CZ from the perspectives of the selected countries was born. The differences in the perception of the FBE according to the description derived from the analysis were also confirmed by the different financial quantifications (hypothetical) of these different views. The obtained results demonstrate an incomparable state of perception of the FBE among the selected countries. For these reasons, it is currently inappropriate to use the level of FBE financial support to measure sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy)
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14 pages, 1607 KiB  
Article
Integrating Analytical Hierarchical Process and Network Optimization Model to Support Decision-Making on Biomass Terminal Selection
by Shuva Gautam, Luc LeBel and Baburam Rijal
Forests 2022, 13(11), 1898; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111898 - 11 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1729
Abstract
Forest biomass is an appealing bioenergy feedstock due its renewability, availability and potential to stimulate local economies. It is, however, voluminous, with heterogenous fuel characteristics and uncertainties in its supply. The feasibility of a bioenergy facility is contingent on a secure supply of [...] Read more.
Forest biomass is an appealing bioenergy feedstock due its renewability, availability and potential to stimulate local economies. It is, however, voluminous, with heterogenous fuel characteristics and uncertainties in its supply. The feasibility of a bioenergy facility is contingent on a secure supply of uniform feedstock; a terminal in the supply chain can be useful in this regard. Biomass can be treated in the terminal to meet quality specifications and stored to overcome seasonality and supply disruptions. Nonetheless, such terminals require a significant capital investment; thus, the decision to use a terminal needs to be made judiciously. The decision process must account for a diverse set of factors that influence the terminal’s effectiveness. These include both quantitative and qualitative factors. The objective of this study is to develop a multi-criteria decision-making framework that takes quantitative and qualitative factors into consideration while selecting a terminal. The framework consists of analytical hierarchy process to analyze qualitative information, and a mixed-integer programming model to evaluate quantitative information including fuel quality (moisture content and thermal value). This hybrid framework was implemented in a case study. It proved to be an effective tool for identifying terminals with the highest potential to generate value for the bioenergy supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy)
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19 pages, 1061 KiB  
Article
Identifying Socioeconomic Determinants of Households’ Forest Dependence in the Rubi-Tele Hunting Domain, DR Congo: A Logistic Regression Analysis
by Richard K. Mendako, Gang Tian and Patrick M. Matata
Forests 2022, 13(10), 1706; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13101706 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2696
Abstract
Rural households depend on forest resources for cash and subsistence needs. Thus, forests represent a valuable natural capital for the rural economy, particularly in developing countries. However, depending on various factors, there are dissimilarities in the rural livelihoods’ reliance on forests. Therefore, this [...] Read more.
Rural households depend on forest resources for cash and subsistence needs. Thus, forests represent a valuable natural capital for the rural economy, particularly in developing countries. However, depending on various factors, there are dissimilarities in the rural livelihoods’ reliance on forests. Therefore, this study attempted to determine and characterize the level of forest dependence and identify the demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing the households’ dependence on forests in the Rubi-Tele Hunting Domain (RTHD)/Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). Demographic and socioeconomic data of forest dependents and other qualitative information were collected through structured household-level surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Descriptive statistical analysis, Kruskal–Wallis Test, χ2 test of independence, and binary logistic regression model were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that the forest dependence index varied from 0.01 to 1 (Mean = 0.46, SD = 0.30). The distribution of forest-dependent households by wealth status (income tercile) and level of forest dependence differs significantly. Logistic regression revealed that household size and non-forest income were significant determinants of forest dependence and had the theoretically expected signs. The household size was in a positive association with forest dependence. Large families tended to depend more on forest resources. On the other hand, the non-forest income was inversely related to forest dependence, implying that forest-dependent households with non-forest income sources were less dependent on forest resources extraction. Other selected variables were not statistically significant while showing positive and negative associations with the reliance on forests. Achieving the balance between forest dependence and conservation requires promoting incentive policies to diversify livelihood opportunities and environmental education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy)
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18 pages, 5403 KiB  
Article
Assessing Changes in Pulpwood Procurement Cost Relative to the Gradual Adoption of Longleaf Pine at the Landscape Level: A Case Study from Georgia, United States
by Karuna Paudel and Puneet Dwivedi
Forests 2022, 13(7), 1112; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071112 - 15 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2065
Abstract
Longleaf pine once covered 37 million hectares in the southern United States. However, it currently occupies only 5% of the original area. Efforts have been ongoing for the last decade to restore longleaf pine. The expected expansion in the area under longleaf pine [...] Read more.
Longleaf pine once covered 37 million hectares in the southern United States. However, it currently occupies only 5% of the original area. Efforts have been ongoing for the last decade to restore longleaf pine. The expected expansion in the area under longleaf pine has raised concern among wood-consuming mills regarding a potential increase in the total wood procurement cost, as wood availability per unit of land is typically lower for longleaf than for loblolly and slash pines for the first few decades. Therefore, a simulation model was developed in this study, examining the impact of the gradual adoption of longleaf pine by landowners on the total wood procurement cost of a pulp mill located in South Georgia over a 40-year simulation period. Results show no statistically significant difference between scenarios for maximum distance, total cost, and total distance over the simulation period. Our study will guide stakeholder groups to balance the needs for longleaf pine restoration and the reduced cost of wood procurement for wood-consuming mills. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest-Based Bioenergy and Bioeconomy)
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