Wood to Energy: Sustainable Forest Management¹

Alan Long and Michael Andreu²

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Southern forests represent an important potential energy resource for heat, power, and electricity. Wood is not a resource that will be appropriate for every community, nor will the same sources of wood be available to every community. But many communities and industries already use wood, and the potential for others to use woody biomass for energy is significant. There is a great deal to learn about the many ways people are using wood for energy in the South.

The Wood to Energy Outreach Program developed a number of fact sheets, case studies, and community economic profiles. Community leaders and citizens can use this information as they explore the possibility of using wood for heat, power, and electricity. This fact sheet, Sustainable Forest Management, presents information about strategies such as thinning and fertilization for managing forests to address potential concerns about yield, water quality, and soil conservation. Producing woody biomass on a sustainable basis should involve attention to these Best Management Practices.

The Wood to Energy Outreach Program is a collaborative effort of the University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation; USDA Forest Service, Centers for Urban and Interface Forestry; Southern Regional Extension Forestry; and the Southern States Energy Board. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the USDA.

Additional fact sheets, community economic profiles, case studies, and information are available in individual pdf files at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu under Woody Biomass.

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Footnotes

1. This document is FOR 135, one of the series, Wood to Energy, Circular 1526, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_SERIES_Wood_to_Energy, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original Publication Date: September 2007. Visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu .

2. Alan Long is a Professor, and Michael Andreu is an Assistant Professor. Both are at the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

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The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.