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WBU Desk Guide
Woody Biomass Utilization Desk Guide, September 2007 (PDF, 1.7 MB)
CROP Results Available
Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (CROP) Description, Evaluations, and Results
New Documents
Eastern Hardwood Forest Region Woody Biomass Energy Opportunity, October 2007 (PDF, 1.5 MB)
Primer on Wood Biomass for Energy, January 2008
WBU Success Stories
Woody Biomass Utilization
What is Woody Biomass Utilization?
- Woody biomass utilization (WBU) is defined as the harvest, sale, offer, trade, and/or use of woody biomass. This utilization results in the production of a full range of wood products, including timber, engineered lumber, paper and pulp, furniture and value-added commodities, as well as bio-energy and/or bio-based products such as plastics, ethanol and diesel.
- Woody biomass is defined as the by-product of management, restoration and hazardous fuel reduction treatments, including trees and woody plants (i.e., limbs, tops, needles, leaves, and other woody parts, grown in a forest, woodland, or rangeland environment).
This website is a resource for entities interested in woody biomass utilization and to facilitate the work of the Federal interagency woody biomass utilization group (Woody BUG), a working group of technical specialists representing federal agencies whose missions relate to the goal of encouraging the use of woody biomass.
Significant volumes of woody biomass are removed annually by private, state and federal land managers in the process of thinning forests to prevent wildfire (fuels treatments) and removing diseased trees and invasive species to improve forest and rangeland health. Woody biomass is also the product of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornados, as well as urban cleanup activities, including power line clearing and residential brush and tree removal. Most of this material is left to decay, burned in place or hauled to landfills.
This woody biomass represents a potential source of raw material to produce small wood products, energy in the forms of heat, fuel or electricity and other useful products such as mulch or erosion control products. Using woody biomass, instead of wasting or burning it, has numerous social, economic, and environmental benefits.
Tools and Resources
- Woody Biomass Utilization Desk Guide, September 2007 (PDF, 1.7 MB) - The purpose of the desk guide is to:
- Provide a quick reference guide and suggestions to local land managers regarding locating and collaborating with biomass stakeholders;
- Assess the viability of offsetting the costs of accomplishing hazardous fuels and ecosystem restoration treatments by utilizing marketable small-diameter trees and other biomass;
- Provide suggestions regarding how to use current National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning tools to start up quickly and then maintain a biomass-utilization program;
- Provide suggestions regarding how to use cost-effective sale preparation techniques and cost-effective timber sale/stewardship/service contract preparation techniques to provide increased supplies of biomass.
- Hazardous Fuels Treatment (PDF, 18 KB) - This flowchart developed by the Partnership Resource Center will help you determine the appropriate authority or instrument to accomplish your hazardous fuel or woody biomass project.
- The Hidden Treasure, Forests and Woody Biomass - NACD Comic Book showing the riches of woody biomass.