Announced Wood Bioenergy Projects Overstate Wood Use for Energy in U.S

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Analysis of public data by Forisk Consulting, Athens, Ga., USA, indicates a 67% success rate for announced wood-using bioenergy projects in the continental U.S. According to Forisk, projects with the highest probability of success share two requirements. One, they employ currently viable and scalable technology. Two, they demonstrate verifiable progress in planning and executing bioenergy project development.

As of July 29, Forisk screened 363 announced and operating wood-consuming bioenergy projects. These projects represent potential, incremental wood use of 121 million green tons per year by 2020. Based on Forisk's screening methodology, projects representing only 68.4 million green tons per year pass basic viability screening.

"Why is this important? Because assessments of emerging wood bioenergy markets in the U.S. that assume all projects succeed overstate likely wood use for energy by nearly 77%," says Brooks Mendell, president of Forisk. "Clearly, tracking and screening bioenergy projects challenge those interested in renewable energy investments, economic development, and timberland markets. Wood Bioenergy U.S. and Wood Bioenergy are two new subscription products from Forisk that can help solve this challenge."

In Wood Bioenergy U.S.,"we continuously confirm, in a systematic way, that each project is moving forward and getting closer to being operational," says Amanda Lang, managing editor. The current issue indicates that bioenergy projects in the South comprise the largest volume of potential wood use of the three U.S. regions, but the lowest pass rate through Forisk's screening. Southern projects representing 24 million tons (a 40% pass rate based on volume) appear viable based on current analysis. Alternately, the U.S. North, which includes Appalachia, the Lake States and the Northeast, has the largest number, with 153 projects announced. More information is available online (click on "Bioenergy").