Thinning and harvesting forests in the Pacific Northwest generate lots of residual woody biomass. Currently, much of that biomass is left in slash piles while a small percentage is used to heat buildings or generate electricity. By law, those slash piles left unused are burned to reduce forest fire hazard. This process contributes to smoke and air pollution. NARA is helping to develop an industry that converts this …more
Researchers at Weyerhaeuser are finding ways to make valuable products from the lignin-rich material leftover after slash piles have been converted to biojet fuel. Finding commercial uses for this material is an essential part of producing economically competitive biojet fuel. One promising product generated from this lignin-rich material is activated carbon. Activated carbon is derived from any organic substance with high carbon content …more
NARA researchers Tammi Laninga and Michelle Vachon will present at the Follow the Energy conference in Idaho Falls, ID. tomorrow October 10th. Below is a reprint of their abstract:
We are presenting our asset mapping approach for examining a region’s potential for participating in the wood-based biofuels industry. Every region has its own unique set of tangible and intangible assets or resources that can be used in pursuit of economic development.
A community capitals framework is used …more
NARA is an alliance of universities, business and government laboratories. As the project matures, new opportunities and challenges are presented that warrant new expertise which can be provided by outside organizations. Bringing organizations into the NARA alliance requires approval from existing members and compliance with NARA’s non-disclosure, conflict of interest and intellectual property policies. In addition, each new member is assigned a specific scope of work within the NARA leadership team.
NARA welcomes the recent addition of two new business …more
The Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA) aims to facilitate development of an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable wood-based biofuels and co-products industry in the Pacific Northwest. During 2013/2014, NARA will examine the biofuels supply chain potential in western Washington and Oregon.
NARA has named this supply chain study area the Mid Cascade to Pacific (MC2P) region. During 2012/2013, NARA examined the supply chain potential in western Montana, Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington and named this region the Western Montana Corridor …more
Researchers, educators, economists and business leaders gathered to attend NARA’s second annual meeting held in Corvallis Oregon September 9th -12th. This year’s meeting was structured to accomplish multiple objectives: