Carbon savings with transatlantic trade in pellets: accounting for market-driven effects

Wang, Weiwei; Dwivedi, Puneet; Abt, Robert C.; Khanna, Madhu

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/114019

Cited by 48 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Dwivedi et al ., for example, found generation of UK bioelectricity from US pine pellets to represent a life cycle emissions reduction of between 50% and 68%. Similarly, Wang et al . found forest biomass pellets to offer a 74% life cycle GHG emission reduction when they replace coal in UK power generation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2014, US wood pellet production was estimated at 6.9 million metric tonnes (MMT) – an increase of about 21% from 2013 . Of this material, about 4.7 MMT was exported, 98% of which was from the US South region . Pellet exports from the USA to the EU have increased 8‐fold since 2008, though pellet production still only represents about 2% of total harvest removal in the Southeast region .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of this material, about 4.7 MMT was exported, 98% of which was from the US South region . Pellet exports from the USA to the EU have increased 8‐fold since 2008, though pellet production still only represents about 2% of total harvest removal in the Southeast region . The USA has become the primary source of pellets to EU markets, representing more than 60% of the total wood pellet imports to the EU in 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunities and risks for sustainable biomass export from the south‐eastern United States to Europe

Fingerman

Nabuurs

Iriarte³

et al. 2017

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Import of wood pellets to the EU from the southeastern United States has increased almost ten‐fold over the past seven years, driven largely by mandates under the Renewable Energy Directive. While the displacement of fossil fuels with biomass can offer significant energy diversity and climate benefits, these must be balanced against the potential detriment from unsustainable extraction of biomass resources. This study projects the scale of the sustainable biomass resource base in the US southeast through 2030 under various scenarios of industry development and domestic market dynamics. We characterise this resource base at the county level, disaggregating it by material type and spatially constraining it to ensure biodiversity conservation. Our analysis shows that there could be as much as 70 million green metric tons of sustainable export potential from the US Southeast in 2030. However, we also show the extent to which sustainable sourcing criteria applied only to EU biomass energy imports could create leakage across biomass markets, erasing gains from any sustainability mandate. This leakage risk was fairly consistent across our study scenarios and time periods, ranging from 50 to over 63 million green tons of biomass per year. Meaningful biodiversity protections can only be achieved if sustainability criteria for biomass import to the EU are combined with more comprehensive support for sustainable sourcing across biomass industries in exporting regions. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Opportunities and risks for sustainable biomass export from the south‐eastern United States to Europe

Fingerman

Nabuurs

Iriarte³

et al. 2017

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Also, the GHG balances of the combustion companion markets alone, as covered in the transition dynamics in this analysis, have been studied extensively in the past. Assessments of similar supply chains covering the same forest biomass fractions from US southeastern forests, processed into wood pellets and transported to and used for instance in European combustion units have generally shown to provide net GHG benefits (Dwivedi et al, 2014;Jonker et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015;Hanssen et al, 2017). The individual results depend on methodology and metric choices as well as framework assumptions; with most variability being introduced through differences in assumptions about the counterfactual scenario, that is, the reference system without bioenergy (Lamers & Junginger, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass market dynamics supporting the large‐scale deployment of high‐octane fuel production in the United States

et al. 2018

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US Department of Energy research aimed at co-optimizing fuels and engine performance identified several bioblendstocks that can improve fuel economy including an aromatic-rich hydrocarbon derived from woody biomass. This work supports an analysis of its large-scale deployment implying a production target of approximately 15 billion liters of bioblendstock for the supply of 57 billion liters of high-octane fuel by 2050. It simulates potential transition pathways to lignocellulosic feedstock market structures capable of supplying a mature biorefining industry at this scale. In the present absence of biorefineries, transitions are modeled via nonbiofuel feedstock markets, so-called companion markets. The resource distribution across several demand industries is simulated to determine biomass availability and price dynamics over time. Results indicate that the wood supply base is mainly influenced by traditional markets including housing and pulp and paper. The selected companion market of wood pellet combustion for heat and electricity generation is found to positively stimulate biomass mobilization, especially in the initial absence of biorefineries. Eventually, biorefineries are found to be able to out-compete the companion market. As such, they directly benefit from the processing (i.e., pelleting) capacity established to produce commodity-type intermediates for the companion market. We conclude that the amount of bioblendstock produced is directly related to the size of the companion market (and its pelleting capacity). An initially larger companion market generates up to 20 million dry tonnes of additional feedstock, equivalent to 27 commercial-scale biorefineries, or an additional production of 5 billion liters by 2050. Distinguishing between industry-specific feedstock preferences based on average biomass quality characteristics, this analysis goes beyond past research efforts that assume automatic fungibility across different feedstocks. Improving engine performance is a key driver for the promotion of low-carbon fuels derived from bioblendstocks. This analysis portrays feedstock market transition pathways for their large-scale deployment.

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“…Exports of wood pellets from the United States (US) have grown from close to zero in 2008 (Dale, Parish, Kline, & Tobin, 2017) to 4.7 Mt per annum in 2016 (Copley & Lang, 2017). Of all exported pellets from the United States, about 98% is produced in the eastern United States (Wang, Dwivedi, Abt, & Khanna, 2015). The wood pellet producing sector in the United States is largely driven by demand from the European Union (EU) (Abt, Abt, Galik, & Skog, 2014;Joudrey, McDow, Smith, & Larson, 2012), which is in turn determined by policies within the EU member states (Abt et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of increased wood pellet demand on biodiversity in the south‐eastern United States

et al. 2018

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Increasing wood pellet exports from the United States are projected to lead to changes in land use and timberland management, including a shift from natural timberland to pine plantations. These projected changes may impact biodiversity. This study aims to quantify potential biodiversity impacts of increased wood pellet demand in the south‐eastern United States in a spatially explicit manner. We determined differences according to an index of potential species richness (for total, threatened and endemic species and four taxonomic groups) between scenarios of high and low demand for wood pellets, while taking into account potential developments in other wood markets and other land uses. Increased demand for wood pellets was projected to cause both positive and negative biodiversity impacts. Negative shifts in total potential species richness were projected for areas in Florida, coastal Virginia and North Carolina, and parts of the Gulf Coast. Positive shifts in total potential species richness were projected in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas. In some locations, the direction of change differed per taxonomic group, highlighting the importance of analysing different taxonomic groups. Shifts in potential species richness due to increased wood pellet demand were considerably smaller compared to the changes due to other drivers, such as urbanization and increased timber demand. Biodiversity impacts due to wood pellet demand should therefore be considered in the context of other drivers of land‐use change and biodiversity loss. Our results provide information that allows policymakers, industry and NGOs to focus on areas of concern and take appropriate mitigation measures to limit negative biodiversity impacts and promote positive impacts. The spatially explicit approach presented in this study can be applied to different regions and drivers of land‐use change, to show how projected demand for an internationally traded commodity may lead to impacts on land use and biodiversity in the procurement region.

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Carbon savings with transatlantic trade in pellets: accounting for market-driven effects

Cited by 48 publications

References 30 publications

Opportunities and risks for sustainable biomass export from the south‐eastern United States to Europe

Opportunities and risks for sustainable biomass export from the south‐eastern United States to Europe

Biomass market dynamics supporting the large‐scale deployment of high‐octane fuel production in the United States

Impact of increased wood pellet demand on biodiversity in the south‐eastern United States

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