Location

Because of high biomass transportation costs, the location and spatial distribution of forest biomass play an important role in its utilization. Biomass in the areas with large supplies and high spatial concentration would be more economical to use than that in other areas with limited supply and low concentration. The supply of biomass is not evenly distributed geographically.

Recoverable Logging Residues
from Growing Stock and Other
Sources in 1997

The largest concentration of logging residues is found in the Southern United States. According to Gan and Smith (2006) approximately half (19.24 million dry tons) of the nations recoverable logging residues are located in the South. Three of the top five supply states for logging residues are located in the South. The map to the right shows the geographic distribution of recoverable logging residues in the United States. Among the 13 Southern states, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia lead the way with an annual supply of over 2 million dry tons, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana (Table 1).

The need for fuel treatment thinnings exists across the country, while the biomass generated from fuel treatments may vary from region to region due to regional differences in fire risk, vegetation types, forest area and conditions, and socio-demographic factors such as landowner composition and associated forest ownership objectives. Schmidt and others (2002) placed forests into three condition classes: 1=fire regime in historical range, 2=moderately altered fire regime, and 3=significantly altered fire regime. Class 2 and 3 forests will need future restorative treatments to alleviate the intensity and spread of fires, thus potentially generating more biomass from the treatment on a per acre basis. More class 2 and 3 forests are located in the West, Northeast, and North Central states than in the South (below).

Fire Condition Classes

Hence, on a per acre basis, biomass generated from fuel treatments in the South might not be as high as in other regions.

At this time, short rotation woody crops (SRWC) do not play a large role in the supply of forest biomass in the U. S. Gan (1990) reported that SRWC would not become competitive with crops in terms of land use unless decision-makers place a high priority on carbon emission reduction and wildlife habitat protection. The establishment of SRWC is most likely to be concentrated in the eastern United States, particularly in the South and Cornbelt regions. Alig and others (2000) also projected that there would be a larger number of suitable acres in the South and the Cornbelt than in other regions (Table 2). This table suggests the geographic distribution of potential SRWC establishments in the country.