1. 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