An evaluation of greenhouse gas mitigation options for coal-fired power plants in the US Great Lakes States

Froese, Robert E.; Shonnard, David R.; Miller, Chris A.; Koers, Ken P.; Johnson, Dana M.

doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2009.10.013

Cited by 46 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…For each forest site, the amount of residue available without harvest was subtracted from the amount of residue estimated in the harvest scenario to determine the amount of residues that could be extracted for energy. Notably, this important accounting step has been omitted in some analyses of residue supply for bioenergy (e.g., [22,60]). …”

Section: Case Study Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewable Energy from Forest Residues—How Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets Can Make Fossil Fuel Substitution More Attractive

Yemshanov

McKenney

Hope

et al. 2018

Forests

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Burning forest biomass from renewable sources has been suggested as a viable strategy to help offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the energy generation sector. Energy facilities can, in principle, be retrofitted to produce a portion of their energy from biomass. However, supply uncertainties affect costs, and are an important impediment to widespread and sustained adoption of this strategy. In this paper, we describe a general approach to assess the cost of offsetting GHG emissions at co-generation facilities by replacing two common fossil fuels, coal and natural gas, with forest harvest residue biomass for heat and electricity production. We apply the approach to a Canadian case study that identifies the price of GHG offsets that could make the use of forest residue biomass feedstock attractive. Biomass supply costs were based on a geographical assessment of industrial harvest operations in Canadian forests, biomass extraction and transportation costs, and included representation of basic ecological sustainability and technical accessibility constraints. Sensitivity analyses suggest that biomass extraction costs have the largest impact on the costs of GHG emission offsets, followed by fossil fuel prices. In the context of other evaluations of mitigation strategies in the energy generation sector, such as afforestation or industrial carbon capture, this analysis suggests that the substitution of fossil fuels by forest residue biomass could be a viable and reasonably substantive short-term alternative under appropriate GHG emission pricing schemes.

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Section: Case Study Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Renewable Energy from Forest Residues—How Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets Can Make Fossil Fuel Substitution More Attractive

Yemshanov

McKenney

Hope

et al. 2018

Forests

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“…This information is used both for the accurate estimation of attributes describing the amount and type of forest resource, principally done through forest inventories, as well as for the mapping of the forest resource, which provides information on the areal extent [2]. These pieces of information are then used to develop a comprehensive understanding and inform management of forest ecosystems [3] including for example silvicultural practices [4,5], volume and biomass estimation [6], assessment of biodiversity [7] and other ecosystem goods and services [8], carbon management (e.g., [9]), and forest health assessment [10]. Whilst there is a broad range of applications that utilize forest inventory data, information needs vary across the forest planning sector [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enriching ALS-Derived Area-Based Estimates of Volume through Tree-Level Downscaling

Tompalski

Coops

White

et al. 2015

Forests

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Information on individual tree attributes is important for sustainable management of forest stands. Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) point clouds are an excellent source of information for predicting a range of forest stand attributes, with plot and single tree volume being among the most important. Two approaches exist for estimating volume: area-based approach (ABA) and individual tree detection (ITD). The ABA is now routinely applied in operational forestry applications, and results in generalized plot-or stand-level attribute predictions. Alternatively, ITD-based estimates provide detailed information for individual trees, but are typically biased due to challenges associated with individual tree detection. In this study, we applied an ABA to estimate tree counts and individual tree volumes by downscaling plot-level predictions of total volume derived using ALS data in a highly productive and complex coastal temperate forest environment in British Columbia, Canada, characterized by large volumes and multi-species and multi-age stand structures. To do so, a two-parameter Weibull probability density function (PDF) was used to describe the within-plot tree volume distribution. The ABA approach was then used to model the total plot volume and the two Weibull PDF parameters. Next, the parameters were used to calculate mean tree volume and derive the number of trees and the individual tree volume distribution. OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 2609Tree count estimates were minimally biased with RMSE of 149 trees· ha −1 or 24.4%.The volume distributions showed good agreement with reference data (mean Reynold's error index = 71.7). We conclude that the approach was suitable for enriching ABA-derived forest stand attributes in the majority of the studied forest stands; however the accuracy was lower in multi-layered stands that had a multimodal individual tree volume distribution.

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“…The latter value does not include a net-down factor, i.e., the fraction of slash left scattered on harvested sites for ecological purposes and due to harvesting methods; with the 50% net-down factor recommended by Dymond et al (2010), the ratio is reduced to 0.1088 odt·m -3 . Other researchers reported ratios of 0.1748 odt·m -3 (Froese et al 2010;Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin), 0.1075-0.1774 odt·m -3 (Mabee et al 2006;all Canada), 0.3918 odt·m -3 (Wetzel et al 2006;all Canada), and 0.4581 odt·m -3 (Wood and Layzell 2003;all Canada). As noted by Dymond et al (2010), the variation among these values is created by annual variability in harvesting rates, assumptions about the proportion of residues left on-site, and the study area; higher estimates typically do not include a netdown for sustainability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenhouse gas emission effect of suspending slash pile burning in Ontario's managed forests

Ter‐Mikaelian

Colombo

Chen

2016

The Forestry Chronicle

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Ontario has made a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 15, 37, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2020, 2030, and 2050, respectively. Ontario's forest managers can contribute to meeting these targets by implementing changes to forestry practices that either reduce emissions from operations or increase carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems and harvested wood products. We present an analysis of the effects on GHG emissions resulting from suspending the current management practice of slash pile burning (burning harvest residue in the forest without energy recovery). The analysis was performed for each of Ontario's forest management units (FMU) with assumed suspension of slash pile burning for four different

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An evaluation of greenhouse gas mitigation options for coal-fired power plants in the US Great Lakes States

Cited by 46 publications

References 22 publications

Renewable Energy from Forest Residues—How Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets Can Make Fossil Fuel Substitution More Attractive

Renewable Energy from Forest Residues—How Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets Can Make Fossil Fuel Substitution More Attractive

Enriching ALS-Derived Area-Based Estimates of Volume through Tree-Level Downscaling

Greenhouse gas emission effect of suspending slash pile burning in Ontario's managed forests

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