Robert Keefe1, Nathaniel Anderson2, John Hogland2, and
Ken Muhlenfeld3

department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, U. S.A.
2Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, U. S.A.

3Southern Union Community College, U. S.A.

14.1 Introduction

The economics of using woody biomass as a fuel or feedstock for bioenergy applications is often driven by logistical considerations. Depending on the source of the woody biomass, the acquisition cost of the material is often quite low, sometimes near zero. However, the cost of harvesting, collection, processing, storage, and transportation from the harvest site to end users can be quite expensive. In many cases, the combined cost of logistics will exceed the delivered value of the resource by a substantial margin. Therefore, it is highly important to the economic success of any bioenergy project that the logistics of bringing the woody biomass to the consuming facility be optimized to the greatest extent possible.

Optimizing the logistics for woody biomass fuels and feedstocks can best be accom­plished in the planning stages of the project. If the consuming facility is improperly located with respect to the geographic distribution of the woody biomass resource, the project will likely suffer a continuing economic burden in the form of excessive transportation costs. Furthermore, the design of any woody biomass-consuming operation is generally best served by providing for as much feedstock flexibility as the operation’s core conversion technology permits. That is to say that a wider range of feedstock species, form, particle size, ash content, and moisture content will be preferable from an economic standpoint. Increased feedstock flexibility expands the usable resource base, which in turn will serve to reduce risk and uncertainty in feedstock supply. Diversified feedstock supply chains may also reduce procurement costs by avoiding competition for biomass with other users, such

Cellulosic Energy Cropping Systems, First Edition. Edited by Douglas L. Karlen. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

as pulp mills and pellet manufacturers. Investments at the consuming facility in storing, pro­cessing and drying the woody biomass to the extent required by the conversion technology can offset the logistical disadvantage of performing these functions in the field.