Opportunities and attitudes of private forest landowners in supplying woody biomass for renewable energy

Hodges, Donald G.; Chapagain, Binod; Watcharaanantapong, Pattarawan; Poudyal, Neelam C.; Kline, Keith L.; Dale, Virginia H.

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2019.06.012

Cited by 45 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Information was collected via a survey designed to assess the characteristics, attitudes, and past and future management of private forest landowners in fuelsheds surrounding two of the primary United States (US) ports that export wood pellets to the European Union (EU) [1]. The Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia, (NNV) port accounted for 30% of US wood pellet exports in 2016; the Savannah, Georgia, (SAV) port was responsible for 18% [2].…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Dataset of forest landowner survey to assess interest in supplying woody biomass in two Southeastern United States fuelsheds

et al. 2019

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This article presents data from a recent mail survey of forest landowners regarding their land ownership characteristics and motivations, past and future management activities, and owner perceptions of bioenergy and its impact on forests. The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled ‘Opportunities and Attitudes of Private Forest Landowners in Supplying Woody Biomass for Renewable Energy’ [1]. The survey was conducted in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States, where two primary ports exporting wood pellets to Europe are located. Specifically, the data include responses on forest characteristics, forest management activities, knowledge and interest in woody biomass for energy production, and sociodemographic variables. Additionally, landowner decisions for supplying wood for traditional forest products and biomass for energy were modeled. More than 2900 forest landowners were contacted, with 707 owners providing completed surveys.

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Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Dataset of forest landowner survey to assess interest in supplying woody biomass in two Southeastern United States fuelsheds

et al. 2019

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“…This study confirms the importance of credible sustainability governance and certification at a global level but also at a regional level. Sustainability governance helps to gain and enhance support for bioenergy and thus also for bioenergy development, which was revealed in previous studies as well as in the regional case studies of the same project [12,13,[17][18][19]. Results of two regional case studies indicated that certification and standards are also considered effective tools for ensuring sustainability governance [17,18].…”

Section: Sustainability Governance and Certificationmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Both the conditions for acceptance and benefits include reduction of environmental impacts, conservation of wildlife and ecosystems, provision of aesthetic benefits, creation of local jobs and contributions to local development. Similarly, at regional level, income creation for individuals and companies as well as a creation of new business opportunities for local communities are found necessary to support bioenergy [18,19].…”

Section: Acceptance and Benefits Of Bioenergymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two of the project objectives are to (a) understand the position and underlying motivations of diverse stakeholders related to their role in bioenergy development and (b) inform dialogue and discussion to avoid misconceptions as well as provide neutral and comprehensive knowledge on the bioenergy sector. To achieve this objective, three regional case studies are conducted to assess the views and position of stakeholders relevant for three bioenergy value chains at regional and national levels: biogas in Germany [17] and woody biomass for energy and agricultural biomass for biofuels in Canada [18] and the US [19]. These studies were co-funded by various national programmes and, therefore, also used slightly different approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Charting global position and vision of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy

Mai-Moulin

Fritsche²,

Junginger

2019

Energ Sustain Soc

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Background: Stakeholder's position of bioenergy sustainability is important for the deployment and contribution of bioenergy to sustainable development. Existing publications are usually limited to specific geographical contexts and focuses. This paper aims more broadly to examine the position and vision of a wider range of stakeholder groups towards bioenergy and its development at a global level. Method: The applied methodology includes six steps: (1) identification of stakeholders as belonging to one of seven groups; (2) describing the role of each group in relation to bioenergy; (3) data collection via an online questionnaire, roundtable dialogues and interviews to examine their stated awareness and opinions of bioenergy development, driver and barriers to such development; (4) data analysis; (5) comparison of interests and influence as a basis for expressing position and vision; and (6) recommendations for gaining support for sustainable bioenergy development. Results: The stakeholders state awareness of bioenergy development and have in general a positive view of the sector. They also inform that the general public is less aware of and not sufficiently involved in bioenergy development. Internet and social media are the most consulted sources of information but least trusted, while scientific information is most trusted but least used. Agricultural residues, energy crops cultivated on marginal or degraded land and forestry residues are widely accepted as feedstocks for bioenergy production, whereas use of agricultural land is viewed critically. The stakeholders generally support bioenergy development when jointly agreed sustainability requirements are met. Conclusions: The stakeholders acknowledge the important role of effectively disseminating scientific information as an influencing factor on the position towards bioenergy. They also find that enhancing support for the bioenergy sector relies on mandatory sustainability requirements covering social, economic and environmental aspects, applied to all types of biomass regardless of end use. Some also emphasise that all relevant sectors should work on market conditions to create a level playing field and that this is crucial to change stakeholders' position to gain more social acceptance of bioenergy. Transparency in demonstrating compliance with sustainability criteria is also an expected precondition to enhance support for bioenergy (and ultimately the bioeconomy) in the long term.

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“…Naturally, one of the most critical aspects of these perceptions is how they can inform adoption decisions by identifying factors that are valued by landowners. Hodges et al (2019) surveyed private forest landowners in the southern US to assess perceptions on producing biomass for bioenergy in areas where a market already existed in shipping wood pellets to the European Union (EU) [20]. They found that the majority of landowners would be willing to grow timber for bioenergy, with age, gender, holding size, distance to property, and opinions of bioenergy viability all being significant factors in the decision.…”

Section: Stakeholder Perception Of Bioenergy Feedstockmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Geographical Criteria for Loblolly Pine Management for Bioenergy Production in Virginia

Smith

Nguyen

Wieczerak

et al. 2019

Forests

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This study analyzed the perceptions of four stakeholder groups (forest landowners, private forest consultants, forest management researchers or educators, and federal or state agency foresters), regarding their management practices and preferred geographic growing conditions of loblolly pine in Virginia by combining AHP (analytical hierarchy process) and regression modeling. By ranking the importance of different geographical conditions for managing loblolly pine, we aimed to identify ways to support loblolly growth as a potential feedstock for biofuel generation. We achieved this through collecting survey responses from 43 stakeholders during the 2019 Virginia Forestry Summit. The results showed that the landowner, researcher/educator, and federal/state agency stakeholder groups all indicated that proximity to a mill was the most important criteria, whereas the consultant stakeholder group indicated that proximity to a road was the most important criteria. All the stakeholder groups indicated that distance from protected land was the least important criteria, followed by proximity to a water body and flat land. The regression model revealed that acres of land managed and loblolly rotation age were correlated to the weight given to the distance to a mill criterion, where increased acreage and increased rotation age were associated with an increased prioritization of proximity to a mill. Distance from protected land, the lowest-ranking criteria, was shown to have an association with the level of experience with loblolly, where more experience was associated with a lower prioritization of proximity from protected land. A contingency analysis of the self-identified level of experience with loblolly in each stakeholder group revealed that federal/state agency foresters had the most experience, followed by consultants, landowners, and researchers/educators. The research supports the importance of understanding the variation of perceptions between and within stakeholder groups in order to develop the necessary infrastructural and policy support for the sustainable development of bioenergy.

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Opportunities and attitudes of private forest landowners in supplying woody biomass for renewable energy

Cited by 45 publications

References 14 publications

Dataset of forest landowner survey to assess interest in supplying woody biomass in two Southeastern United States fuelsheds

Dataset of forest landowner survey to assess interest in supplying woody biomass in two Southeastern United States fuelsheds

Charting global position and vision of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Geographical Criteria for Loblolly Pine Management for Bioenergy Production in Virginia

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