Over the years, the level of interest in
biomass harvesting and related topic areas has changed. In the 1970’s, fuel prices were high and
biomass was looked to as a means of producing energy. In the 1980’s, biomass harvesting was seen as
a method to improve wildlife habitat. In
the 1990’s, wildfires increased the interest in biomass harvesting as an
approach to reduce the risk of wildfire.
More recently, various government agencies have offered funding
opportunities for energy plants that employ the use of renewable resources for
energy. Biomass is also a source for
biofuels as an alternative to gasoline and other oil-based products. Therefore, our investigations into biomass
harvesting and transportation continue.
We have implemented several studies over the years, and this CD is an attempt to compile this data in a usable format. The user should understand that there are many ways to display historical studies and that the sub-headings and keywords used on this CD are an effort to help you find topic areas where you may have an interest. This Executive Summary has ten primary research topic areas related to biomass:
Economic values in the older documents will
be out-dated since fuel and equipment prices have risen over the years. The User will need to keep this in mind when
reviewing the published costs. In
addition, the technical capabilities of equipment have improved over time. Production rates of most equipment should be
higher than that reported in the oldest studies.
The citations are hyperlinked to the actual
full publications [in Adobe (.pdf) file format] which are included on this CD.