Biomass offers an alternative renewable energy source to fossil fuels and can be used to produce energy directly or through the production of liquid biofuels, e.g., ethanol, as a substitute for liquid transport fuels. Biomass also offers a vehicle to sequester carbon dioxide, thereby reducing...

Biomass, a renewable energy source, has been viewed as “carbon neutral”—that is, its use as energy is presumed not to release net carbon dioxide. However, this assumption of carbon neutrality has recently been challenged. In 2010 two letters were sent to the Congress by eminent scientists...

Biomass energy is expected to play a major role in the substitution of renewable energy sources for fossil fuels over the next several decades. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA 2012) forecasts increases in the share of biomass in US energy production from 8 percent in 2009 to 15...

The most prevalent and perhaps most popular climate policies in the U.S. are Renewable PortfolioStandards (RPS) that mandate that renewables (e.g., wind and solar) produce a specifiedshare of electricity, yet little is known about their efficiency. Using the most comprehensivedata set ever...

The carbon mitigation literature has separately considered using forests to store carbon and as a source of bioenergy. In this paper, we look at both options to reach a 2°C mitigation target. This paper combines the global forest model, GTM, with the IAM WITCH model to study the optimal use of...

Increasing concerns about energy security and climate change mitigation have led to significant policy support for biofuels, particularly for cellulosic biofuels. This paper examines the short- and long-run effects of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on the mix of agricultural and forest biomass,...

As policy makers consider stringent targets for greenhouse gas emissions, integrated assessment models are increasingly relying on biomass energy as a critical energy source. However, it is not clear how much woody biomass to expect across time and across the planet. The integrated assessment...

The carbon mitigation literature has separately considered using forests to store carbon and as a source of bioenergy. In this paper, we look at both options to reach a 2°C mitigation target. This paper combines the global forest model, GTM, with the IAM WITCH model to study the optimal use of...

During recent years increased attention has been given to second-generation wood-based bioenergy. The carbon stored in the forest is highest when there is little or no harvest from the forest. Increasing the harvest from a forest, in order to produce more bioenergy, may thus conflict with the...

If bioenergy has a less negative impact on the climate than fossil energy, it may be optimal to have a significant increase in the use of bioenergy over time. Due to the difference in the way the climate is affected by the two types of energy, the future time path of the use of bioenergy may be...