The Southern US Forest Bioenergy Encyclopedia: Making Scientific Knowledge More Accessible

Abstract

Production of forest biomass in sustainably managed forests in the southern United States has great potential to improve forest health, make energy supplies more secure, and increase the social and economic welfare of rural communities. The awareness and access of landowners and forestry and natural resource professionals to new knowledge and market development opportunities must be increased, and new technological advances in knowledge dissemination systems can be very useful in this connection. The Encyclopedia of Southern Bioenergy was developed within The Forest Encyclopedia Network (www.forestencyclopedia.net/) to facilitate the transfer of useable knowledge from scientific experts in bioenergy and bio-based products to natural resource professionals, landowners, and the general public. Using the encyclopedia as a base, a team of bioenergy and extension education experts has developed several new educational products. These materials are designed as components of an overall biomass training program for the South that is being disseminated through the Southern Regional Extension Forest network.