Database of Woody Biomass Energy Gets Upgraded, Expanded

http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/Database-of-Woody-Biomass-Energy-Gets-Upgraded-Expanded-203303151.html

Posted By Mark Vruno | 04/16/2013 6:32:00 PM 

GREENVILLE, SC – A three-year-old database of industrial and selected community-scale users of wood-to-energy facilities across North America has been updated and expanded, reports the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment). The improved site -- www.wood2energy.org -- is a searchable database open to anyone with interest in the state of wood-to-energy conversion at a national, state/provincial or local operating level.

Through the Woody Biomass Joint Venture – a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the Endowment – recent updates to the Wood2Energy database ensure that it serves as the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of users and processors of wood for energy, e.g., electric facilities, thermal installations, pellet mills, etc.

Partners thoughout the biomass industry as well as state and federal agencies have worked to improve the usability and accuracy of the database and recently began including thermal installations, such as schools and government offices.

Wood2Energy project manager Mladen Grbovic says it now has reviewed and updated for accuracy more than half of the existing U.S. facilities. “The systems will only get better as people share information and their experience with accessing the system," Grbovic adds.

Carlton Owen, the Endowment president, noted, “This type of information is vital to making sound planning and business decisions for expansion of wood as an energy source while protecting sustainability of North America’s rich forested estate.”