Procurement potential of logging residues in the Southeastern U.S. Raju Pokharel1, Robert K. Grala2 1Graduate Research Assistant, 2Associate Professor, Department of Forestry, College of Forest Resources, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi State University Introduction Data Results Hauling distance Mean Max Min Current hauling distance (miles) 45 100 Mill willingness to haul logging residues (miles) 65 200 About 75% of biomass used for bioenergy production is recovered from forest. Logging residues are unused tree portions left after logging in the forest including branches, tree tops, non-commercial trees, and snags. Southern Region Forest Sector 190 million acres 6 billion ft3 of industrial products 73 million green tons of logging residues 2,138 forest product mills Available logging residues was obtained for each county in 12 southeastern United States from National Renewable Energy laboratory (NREL) Biopower Atlas. Mills’ location was obtained from Forest Inventory and Analysis National Program of USDA Forest Service. A 30 mile hauling route from a mill location and the procurement area for it. Collection areas based on 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 & 60-mile hauling distances A 30-mile state-wide collection area Photo: Robert Grala Logging residues can be procured at less than $ 12 per green tons if mills hauled for 30 miles. The maximum cost was $15 per green ton if they hauled 60 miles. Transportation Network of southern United States was obtained using Esri online services. Conclusions Harvesting and transportation costs account for 63% of the total cost of bringing logging residues to the production mills. Cost effective procurement of logging resides primarily depends on available transportation infrastructure. Procurement areas around the mills in Mississippi at different hauling distances. Well above 90% of logging residues can be collected with a 35-mile hauling distance. Logging residues can potentially be transported below $12 per green ton from forests to the nearest mill. Economically cost-effective distance to collect logging residues is 65 miles and is sufficient to recover all available logging residues. Mills are hauling 45 miles on average to collect logging residues. Therefore, almost all of the available logging residues in southeastern U.S. comes within the procurement areas of mills. State 15 miles 35 miles green tons % North Carolina 6,277,590 76 9,256,849 99 Georgia 6,077,594 65 8,161,690 100 Virginia 5,485,639 79 8,093,080 Alabama 5,479,360 67 6,953,867 South Carolina 4,366,250 62 6,943,410 Arkansas 4,165,384 61 6,752,261 Kentucky 3,909,264 86 6,078,951 92 Tennessee 3,904,421 93 5,972,248 96 Mississippi 3,126,311 50 4,553,251 Louisiana 2,919,177 44 4,216,899 Florida 1,972,816 49 3,924,944 97 Oklahoma 159,153 30 505,455 Total 47,842,959 66 71,412,903 98 Objective To estimate procurement area and availability of logging residues in Southern United States based on different hauling distances. Source: USDA Forest Service Forest Product Laboratory. Photo: Robert Grala Mill location and existing transportation networks of Mississippi Methods Acknowledgements Esri ArcMap Network Analyst was used to calculate the procurement area around the mills. A mail survey with four mail contacts was conducted to collect information on how far mills were hauling logging residues. This project was funded by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) Special Grant for Wood Utilization Research and College of Forest Resources, Mississippi State University. 66% of logging residues can be recovered with a 15-mile hauling distance and Almost 98% of with a 35-mile hauling distance. Photo: R. Grala