FOREST RESOURCES FOR BIOENERGY

The overall objective of this dissertation is to evaluate forest resources biomass availability for the production of bioenergy. Chapter II provides measures of the impact that the road sustainability criteria have on the supply of feedstock for forest products and bioenergy. A linear cost minimization programming is used in estimating forest biomass supply curves. Chapter III provides estimates on the changes in US timberland acreages overtime and the ability of timberland to meet conventional timber products and woody biomass demand within the conterminous United States. Chapter IV utilizes the Biofuels Facility Location Analysis Modeling Endeavor (BioFLAME), a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based transportation optimization model to simulate feedstock availability and site economically feasible biorefinery locations, and Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN) model to estimate the economic impact on the biofuels activity in the Southeast region.