Community Impacts

Bioenergy development can generate a variety of socioeconomic impacts ranging from income and job creation to tax revenue and to community coherence. Of these impacts, the creation of jobs and income is probably the most significant. In addition, bioenergy has the greatest potential for employment creation among alternative energy sources (Domac and others 2005).

This section explains the types and importance of community impacts and illustrates these points by highlighting a series of case studies. These case studies cover different bioenergy production systems in several states in the United States, with emphasis on the U.S. South. The case studies reiterate the potential role that forest bioenergy can play in rural economic development. While the impact varies from case to case, forest bioenergy development demonstrates strong ripple effects on income and employment.

• Types and Importance of Community Impacts
• Case Study: East Texas
• Case Study: Georgia
• Case Study: Oregon
• Case Study: South Carolina