Building a biorefinery to convert wood residues into chemical products like biojet fuel is expensive. The projected capital investment exceeds $850 million. An alternative, and potentially less costly approach, …more
Trees need nitrogen to grow. If soil nitrogen levels are low, then growth is limited. The ability to accurately monitor the amount of soil nitrogen in a working forest is helpful for predicting future growth and for knowing when to take corrective action (fertilizer, altered management practices) when soil nitrogen levels decline.
Efforts to …more
The USDA-NIFA, through NARA, funds research to determine the environmental impact from a wood-based biofuel and chemical industry. To gauge how this industry would affect greenhouse gas (GHG) levels, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is being developed. In this …more
Transporting a low value product like forest residuals from a timber harvest site to a processing facility represents a significant economic and logistical challenge for a wood to biofuel supply chain. One way to ensure that transport costs are as low as possible is to maximize the amount of wood residuals carried per trailer …more
Pretreatment is a procedure used to disrupt the chemical bonds that hold cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose (three structural macromolecules in wood) together. The …more
In 2014, NARA researchers published 25 papers in peer-reviewed journals. These publications help transfer NARA research to a wide audience. Here is a brief narrative to how these peer-reviewed papers complement NARA’s goals and contribute towards evaluating the use of forest residuals as a feedstock to produce chemical products.
NARA goal 1: …more
Here is a challenging class room assignment: map out where you would process slash piles from forest harvest into valuable …more
The IDX team at Washington State University has been tasked with evaluating the NARA 4-state region (ID, MT, WA, OR) to determine optimal locations for infrastructure to support a wood residual to biojet fuel and co-product supply chain. In the previous webinar, the region was evaluated based on regional assets leading to 35 potentially viable sites. This webinar will continue the previous work by providing …more
One of the biggest economic challenges to using forest residuals as a feedstock for biofuel production is the cost of residue collection, processing and transport. Based on NARA’s preliminary analysis, nearly 18% of the manufacturing cost for biojet fuel is associated …more
Southwest Airlines posted a news release announcing their intent to purchase approximately 3000 gallons of jet fuel per year from Red Rocks Biofuels starting in 2016…more