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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Advanced Conductor Testing – 1431 kcmil Prysmian ACSS with E3X

Advanced conductors represent a significant evolution in transmission line technology. These conductors utilize innovative materials, such as composite cores, ultra-high-strength steel, and heat-dissipating coatings, to offer improved performance compared to traditional Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) designs. However, the deployment of these technologies has so far been limited. As each conductor comes with nuances in test setup and specifications, a standard test is not readily available to apply to all advanced conductors. Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Advanced Conductor Testing project, sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and Office of Electricity (OE), focuses on developing and implementing testing protocols and plans for advanced conductor technologies to assess and demonstrate physical performance under varying operational conditions, including extreme environmental stressors such as wildfires. This report contains the fire testing results of a 1431 kcmil Prysmian ACSS with E3X conductor.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Editorial: Advances in observations and modeling of snow, forest-snow processes and snow hydrology

Seasonal snowpack plays a pivotal role in the regional water cycle. In Western mountainous regions, where precipitation predominantly occurs as snow during winter and is limited in the summer months when water demand peaks, snowpack serves as a critical water source essential for sustaining water supply, ecosystems, agriculture, and industries. Additionally, snowpack dynamically influences extreme events, such as floods, droughts, and wildfires, through intricate land-atmosphere feedback. Nevertheless, significant knowledge gaps persist within this field due to data limitations and the complexity of the physics involved in modeling snow and snow hydrology (i.e., snow acts as a critical upstream hydrological process). Here, this research topic presents a collection of manuscripts that address some of these important research gaps.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Long-range transported continental aerosol in the eastern North Atlantic: three multiday event regimes influence cloud condensation nuclei

Abstract. The eastern North Atlantic (ENA) is a region dominated by pristine marine environment and subtropical marine boundary layer clouds. Under unperturbed atmospheric conditions, the regional aerosol regime in the ENA varies seasonally due to different seasonal surface-ocean biogenic emissions, removal processes, and meteorological regimes. However, during periods when the marine boundary layer aerosol in the ENA is impacted by particles transported from continental sources, aerosol properties within the marine boundary layer change significantly, affecting the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Here, we investigate the impact of long-range transported continental aerosol on the regional aerosol regime in the ENA using data collected at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility on Graciosa Island in 2017 during the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) campaign. We develop an algorithm that integrates number concentrations of particles with optical particle dry diameter (Dp) between 100 and 1000 nm, single scattering albedo, and black carbon concentration to identify multiday events (with duration >24 consecutive hours) of long-range continental aerosol transport in the ENA. In 2017, we detected nine multiday events of long-range transported particles that correspond to ∼ 7.5 % of the year. For each event, we perform HYSPLIT 10 d backward trajectories analysis, and we evaluate CALIPSO aerosol products to assess, respectively, the origins and compositions of aerosol particles arriving at the ENA site. Subsequently, we group the events into three categories, (1) mixture of dust and marine aerosols, (2) mixture of marine and polluted continental aerosols from industrialized areas, and (3) biomass burning aerosol from North America and Canada, and we evaluate their influence on aerosol population and cloud condensation nuclei in terms of potential activation fraction and concentrations at supersaturation of 0.1 % and 0.2 %. The arrival of plumes dominated by the mixture of dust and marine aerosol in the ENA in the winter caused significant increases in baseline Ntot. Simultaneously, the baseline particle size modes and CCN potential activation fraction remained almost unvaried, while cloud condensation nuclei concentrations increased proportionally to Ntot. Events dominated by a mixture of marine and polluted continental aerosols in spring, fall, and winter led to a statistically significant increase in baseline Ntot, a shift towards larger particular sizes, a higher CCN potential activation fractions, and cloud condensation nuclei concentrations of >170 % and up to 240 % higher than during baseline regime. Finally, the transported aerosol plumes characterized by elevated concentration of biomass burning aerosol from continental wildfires detected in the summertime did not statistically contribute to increase baseline aerosol particle concentrations in the ENA. However, particle diameters were larger than under baseline conditions, and CCN potential activation fractions were >75 % higher. Consequentially, cloud concentration nuclei concentrations increased by ∼ 115 % during the period affected by the biomass burning events. Our results suggest that, through the year, multiday events of long-range continental aerosol transport periodically affect the ENA and represent a significant source of CCN in the marine boundary layer. Based on our analysis, in 2017, the multiday aerosol plume transport dominated by a mixture of dust and marine aerosol, a mixture of marine and polluted continental aerosols, and biomass burning aerosols caused increases in the NCCN baseline regime of, respectively, 6.6 %, 8 %, and 7.4 % at SS 0.1 % (and, respectively, 6.5 %, 8.2 %, and 7.3 % at SS 0.2 %) in the ENA.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Burn severity and vegetation type control phosphorus concentration, molecular composition, and mobilization

Shifting phosphorus (P) dynamics after wildfires can have cascading impacts from terrestrial to aquatic environments. However, it is unclear whether shifts in P composition or P concentration are responsible for changes in P dynamics post-fire. We used laboratory leaching experiments of Douglas fir forest and sagebrush shrubland chars to examine how the potential mobility of P compounds is influenced by different burn severities. Burning produced a 6.9- and 29-fold increase in particulate P mobilization but a 3.8- and 30.5-fold decrease in aqueous P released for Douglas fir forest and sagebrush shrubland, respectively. The mechanisms driving particulate- and dissolved-phase P compound mobilization were contrasting. Phosphorus compound mobilization in the particulate phase was controlled by solid char total P concentrations, while the aqueous phase was driven by solubility changes of molecular species. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) on the solid chars indicated that organic orthophosphate monoester and diester species were thermally mineralized to inorganic P moieties with burning in both vegetation types, which decreases P solubility. This coincided with the production of calcium- and magnesium-bound inorganic P compounds. With increasing burn severity there were systematic shifts in P concentration and composition – higher-severity chars mobilized P compounds in the particulate phase, although the magnitude of change was vegetation-specific. Our results indicate a post-fire transformation to both the composition of the solid charred material and how P compounds are mobilized, which may influence its environmental cycling and fate.

31P solution-state NMR↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing the understanding of coastal disturbances with a network-of-networks approach

Coastal ecosystems are at the nexus of many high priority challenges in environmental sciences, including predicting the influences of compounding disturbances exacerbated by climate change on biogeochemical cycling. Extreme events such as hurricanes, flooding, landslides, and wildfires influence biogeochemical cycling in these systems. However, while research in coastal science is fundamentally transdisciplinary – as drivers of biogeochemical and ecological processes often span scientific and environmental domains – traditional place-based approaches are still often employed to understand coastal ecosystems. In this perspective, we argue that integration among distributed research sites from a macrosystem perspective is crucial to understand how compounding disturbances affect coastal ecosystems. We identify a roadmap for the implementation of an integrated network-of-networks framework that leverages existing research network sites in coastal ecosystems to advance continental-scale process understanding for studying extreme events and global change. We also identify specific ways that existing research efforts can maximize mutual benefit, and where additional infrastructure investments might increase return-on-investment along the coast, using the coastal continental US as a case study.

Myers-Pigg, Allison N. [BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)]↗
DOE OSTI2025

Managing ecosystem damage from extreme events

Large disturbances to ecosystems can severely impact the stability of a region's natural resources, habitats, and outdoor recreation. Because extreme events can be large and relatively infrequent, they test institutional capacity to support recovery and restoration. Here, when hurricanes and other large-scale disturbances like wildfires occur, much of the impacted landscape receives little to no active management. Ecosystems are often allowed to either recover or transition without much direct intervention, and successional dynamics are sometimes altered by novel invasive species, management history, or other environmental changes. Recovery and restoration are especially challenging for landscapes with highly fragmented private ownership, such as the forests of the eastern US. Acting alone, non-industrial private forest landowners have little capacity to effectively respond to unexpected forest loss and to oversee forest recovery, as the scale of actions needed after extreme events may require cooperation across ownerships or jurisdictions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Persistence and potential of soil organic carbon in nature‐based climate solutions: A review of managed disturbances

Societal Impact Statement Implementing nature-based climate solutions is important for mitigating climate change, which is a global issue, but requires local adjustments in management practices. Using the association between soil carbon and minerals as a proxy for carbon persistence, we evaluated the effect of different management regimes on soil carbon sequestration and loss. We identified areas where management practices that increase carbon inputs should be prioritized and areas where management should focus on avoiding severe disturbances. Using this storage-potential-and-persistence framework to identify how to increase or maintain soil organic carbon storage locally will increase the effectiveness of nature-based climate solutions globally. Summary Increasing soil organic carbon storage could reduce the pace of climate change, but the longevity of this nature-based climate solution depends on the persistence of carbon in soils, not just the input rates into soils. We apply a framework for considering how soil carbon persistence—namely, via the association with minerals—sheds light on soil carbon sequestration. We review how management of disturbances, such as prescribed burning, forestry, and grazing, can change soil carbon storage, persistence, and potential. Past work demonstrated that management of disturbances can sequester soil carbon, but it remains unclear how the potential stabilization of that accrual and vulnerability to loss varies across disturbance types and geographies. We found that there is substantial geographical heterogeneity in the overlap among estimates of carbon accrual, disturbance occurrence, and potential stabilization: Fire-prone grasslands and intensively grazed rangelands occur in areas estimated to have high potential to store mineral-associated organic carbon, and studies also find that adjusted fire and grazing can promote mineral-associated organic carbon. Plantation forestry and burned area span large regions where particulate organic matter is the dominant form, and studies find that particulate organic carbon is disproportionately lost following intense wildfires and forest harvests. Thus, areas with high mineral-associated organic carbon deficits should be prioritized for practices that increase carbon inputs; whereas areas with high proportions of particulate organic carbon should be prioritized for practices that help to avoid severe disturbances. Taken together, the distribution of and changes in persistence mechanisms shed light on the durability of nature-based climate solutions.

fire↗
DOE OSTI2024

Soil Organic Matter Dynamics in the Critical Zone

Soil is the thin, vital layer of Earth’s surface that forms the foundation of the Critical Zone and sustains life. This chapter explores the intricate dynamics of soil organic matter within the critical zone, focusing on three key thematic areas: deep soil organic matter, wildfire organic matter interactions, and organic matter erosion. Soil organic matter, although a small fraction of soil mass, plays a crucial role in soil function and ecosystem stability. The complexity of soil organic matter arises from its diverse chemical composition and interactions with minerals, which influence its persistence in the environment. This chapter begins by examining deep soil organic matter, which constitutes a significant portion of global carbon storage. We discuss how deep soil organic matter, typically isolated from surface processes, may become vulnerable to decomposition and carbon release due to disturbances. Next, we explore the impacts of fire on soil organic matter, particularly the formation and stability of pyrolyzed organic matter. The decomposition of pyrolyzer organic matter is influenced by its chemical composition and the surrounding environmental conditions, with implications for carbon cycling and soil fertility in post-fire ecosystems. Finally, the chapter addresses the role of erosion in soil organic matter dynamics. Erosion, accelerated by human activities, redistributes soil organic matter across landscapes, affecting its turnover and the broader biogeochemical cycles. We consider how micro-topographic features and erosion processes interact to influence soil OM stability and carbon sequestration. By synthesizing recent advances in these areas, this chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the complex and dynamic nature of soil organic matter in the critical zone, highlighting its importance in understanding the critical zone in the face of environmental change.

Moreland, Kimber↗
DOE OSTI2026

Toward real-time optimization through model reduction and model discrepancy sensitivities

Optimization problems arise in a range of scenarios, from optimal control to model parameter estimation. In many applications, such as the development of digital twins, it is essential to solve these optimization problems within wall-clock-time limitations. However, this is often unattainable for complex systems, such as those modeled by nonlinear partial differential equations. One strategy for mitigating this issue is to construct a reduced-order model (ROM) that enables more rapid optimization. In particular, the use of nonintrusive ROMs—those that do not require access to the full-order model at evaluation time—is popular because they facilitate the computation of optimization solutions within the wall-clock time requirements. However, the optimization solution will be unreliable if the iterates move outside the ROM training data. This article proposes the use of hyper-differential sensitivity analysis with respect to model discrepancy (HDSA-MD) as a computationally efficient tool to augment ROM-constrained optimization and improve its reliability. The proposed approach consists of two phases: (i) an offline phase where several full-order model evaluations are computed to train the ROM, and (ii) an online phase where a ROM-constrained optimization problem is solved, a limited number of full-order model evaluations are computed, and HDSA-MD is used to enhance the optimization solution. Numerical results are demonstrated for two examples, atmospheric contaminant control and wildfire ignition location estimation, in which a ROM is trained offline using inaccurate atmospheric data. In conclusion, the HDSA-MD update yields a significant improvement in the ROM-constrained optimization solution using only one full-order model evaluation online with corrected atmospheric data.

PDE-constrained optimization↗
DOE OSTI2021

A solution framework for linear PDE-constrained mixed-integer problems

Abstract We present a general numerical solution method for control problems with state variables defined by a linear PDE over a finite set of binary or continuous control variables. We show empirically that a naive approach that applies a numerical discretization scheme to the PDEs to derive constraints for a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) leads to systems that are too large to be solved with state-of-the-art solvers for MILPs, especially if we desire an accurate approximation of the state variables. Our framework comprises two techniques to mitigate the rise of computation times with increasing discretization level: First, the linear system is solved for a basis of the control space in a preprocessing step. Second, certain constraints are just imposed on demand via the IBM ILOG CPLEX feature of a lazy constraint callback. These techniques are compared with an approach where the relations obtained by the discretization of the continuous constraints are directly included in the MILP. We demonstrate our approach on two examples: modeling of the spread of wildfire and the mitigation of water contamination. In both examples the computational results demonstrate that the solution time is significantly reduced by our methods. In particular, the dependence of the computation time on the size of the spatial discretization of the PDE is significantly reduced.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

County-level assessment of behind-the-meter solar and storage to mitigate long duration power interruptions for residential customers

Customer concerns over electric system resilience could drive early adoption of behind-the-meter solar-plus-storage (BTM PVESS), especially as wildfire, hurricane, and other climate-driven risks to electric grids become more pronounced. However, the resilience benefits of BTM PVESS are poorly understood, especially for residential customers, owing to lack of data and methodological challenges, making it difficult to forecast adoption trends. In this paper, we develop a methodology to model the performance of BTM PVESS in providing backup power across a wide range of customer types, geography / climate conditions, and long duration power interruption scenarios, considering both whole-building backup and backup of specific critical loads. We combine novel, disaggregated end-use load profiles across the continental United States with temporally and geospatially aligned solar generation estimates. We then implement a PVESS dispatch algorithm to calculate the amount of load served during interruptions. We find that PVESS with 10 kWh of storage can meet a limited set of critical loads in most United States counties during any month of the year, though this capability drops to meeting only 86% of critical load, averaged across all counties and months, when heating and cooling are considered critical. Backup performance is lowest in winter months where electric heat is common (southeast and northwest U.S.) and in summer months in places with large cooling loads (southwest and southeast U.S.). Winter backup performance varies by roughly 20% depending on infiltration rates, while summer performance varies by close to 15% depending on the efficiency of the central air-conditioning system. Differences in temperature set-points in Harris County correspond to a 40% range in winter backup performance and a 20% range in summer performance. Economic calculations show that a customer’s resilience value of PVESS must be high to motivate adoption of these systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Opportunities for wave energy in bulk power system operations

Wave energy resources have high, yet largely untapped potential as candidate generation technology. In this paper, we perform a data-driven analysis to characterize the impact of wave energy integration on bulk-scale power systems and market operations. Through data-driven sensitivity studies centered on an optimization-based production cost modeling formulation, our work characterizes the inflection point beyond which wave integration starts impacting power system operations, considering present day transmission infrastructure. Furthermore, our analysis also considers the joint effects of wave energy integration and system-wide transmission expansion. Finally, potential resilience scenarios such as wildfire-driven transmission contingencies and heat wave events are investigated, whereby the contributions of grid-integrated wave energy in alleviating the effects of the resilience events are analyzed. As our demonstration test bed, we consider a reduced-order network topology for the U.S. Western Interconnection with wave energy generation integrated at carefully selected sites across the coastal areas of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Our results indicate that over a representative year of operations, wave energy integration systematically reduces locational marginal prices (LMPs) of energy and price volatility, especially during periods of high wave resource availability (winter months for the U.S. west coast). Average, maximum, and minimum of hourly LMPs over a typical year of operation was reduced by 2.95, 51.28, and 1.13 $\$$/MWh respectively (over a baseline scenario with no wave energy integration), when the selected network model had a total of 5000 MW wave power installed capacity during the representative year of study. The effects of wave energy integration can remain localized with existing transmission infrastructure (identified to be most pronounced in the Pacific Northwest region in the example we studied). However, with concurrent transmission expansion, the impacts of wave energy integration are likely to have a higher geographical spread. Our results also indicate that wave energy may be able to assist power system operations during resilience events such as major transmission contingencies and heat wave events, although such benefits might be dependent on factors such as proximity of affected area to wave resources, availability of adequate resource potential and adequate transmission capacity.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2025

A worldwide aerosol phenomenology: Elemental and organic carbon in PM 2.5 and PM 10

Elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and particulate matter (PM) concentrations in the inhalable (PM 10 ) and fine (PM 2.5 ) size fractions are measured worldwide, albeit with different analytical methods. These measurements from many researchers were collected and analyzed for Africa, America, Asia, and Europe for 2012–2019. EC/PM, OC/PM, and OC/EC ratios were examined based on region, site type, and season to infer potential sources and impacts. These analyses demonstrate that carbonaceous materials are important PM constituents throughout the world. Mean EC/PM ratios were lowest in PM 10 in Sahelian Africa and Europe (∼0.01), highest (>0.07) in PM 2.5 at urban sites in North America, South America, and Japan. Mean OC/PM ratios were lowest in PM 10 in the Sahel (∼0.06) and in PM 2.5 in China and Thailand (0.10), and highest in central and eastern Europe (∼0.3) and North America (∼0.4). OC/EC ratios were elevated in western and northern Europe, and at regional background sites in North America. EC/PM increased with PM 10 in Thailand, while OC/PM increased with higher PM mass in Thailand, India, and North America, highlighting the specific contribution of carbonaceous aerosols to PM pollution in these regions. At European and North American background sites, OC/EC ratios increased with PM mass. Higher OC/EC ratios in dry periods indicate influence of wildfires, prescribed burns, and secondary aerosol formation. Elevated wintertime EC/PM ratios coincide with residential heating in temperate climate zones.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ammonia in northeast Colorado is increasing, rising most quickly in regions close to confined animal feeding operations

The Colorado Front Range urban corridor and nearby agricultural operations are important source regions of atmospheric ammonia (NH 3 ). Upslope flows periodically transport these emissions into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), located 50 km west of the urban corridor, where wet and dry deposition of excess reactive nitrogen (N) impacts ecosystems. Here, we use a combination of in situ passive NH 3 measurements and NH 3 vertical column density retrievals from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) to assess variability and changes in NH 3 across three land use categories in the northeast Colorado source region (agricultural, urban, and remote) during the period 2013-2023. A strong seasonal cycle is present across the region with increased NH 3 during summer months. Elevated NH 3 is spatially correlated with the number of permitted animal units in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) within 12 km. Ground-level NH 3 concentrations are strongly positively correlated with monthly gridded IASI satellite column densities. Satellite retrievals reveal an increasing trend in NH 3 column amounts of ∼3% per year in agricultural and ∼2% per year in urban sub-regions. The magnitude of the trend observed in NH 3 columns averaged over the agricultural sub-region is > 3 times larger than observed near and over Denver. The largest increases in NH 3 are closely aligned with the distribution of CAFOs. Reductions in particle sulfate associated with declining sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions could account for only ∼0.1% per year increase in gaseous NH 3 . Wildfire smoke across the region has increased but appears unlikely to explain the majority of the observed NH 3 increase.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Biomass supply chain equipment for renewable fuels production: A review

The production of renewable fuels is a critical component of global strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, the collection of raw materials for its production can provide added benefits such as reduction of wildfire risk, additional income for farmers, and decreased disposal costs. Although there is substantial literature on design and modeling of supply chains, the authors were unable to find a single reference with the information needed for the selection and cost estimation of each type of equipment involved in the supply chain. Therefore, the goal of this research is to gather information necessary for the construction and utilization of models that might drive the identification of a feasible supply chain to produce renewable fuels at a commercial scale. The primary objectives are to 1) understand the supply chain of critical feedstocks for renewable fuels production; 2) identify the equipment commercially available for collection and adequation of feedstock; and 3) consolidate information regarding equipment cost, energy consumption, and efficiency, as well as feedstock storage and transportation systems. This paper provides a compilation for five feedstock types studied for sustainable aviation fuel production: 1) agricultural residues and grasses, 2) forest residues, 3) urban wood waste, 4) oilseeds, 5) fats, oils & greases. All the technologies involved from the field to the gate of the preprocessing or conversion unit were reviewed. The information on fats, oils & greases supply chains and equipment purposely designed for forest thinning and pruning was very limited.

: Feedstock, Collection and Adequation, Renewable ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Exploring stages of resilience maturity as communities confront climate risks

Coastal communities are facing increased risks due to climate change, as evidenced by heightened shocks such as hurricanes and wildfires, and stressors including sea-level rise and drought. To confront these risks, many coastal communities are planning and designing their built environments in new ways, with the overall goal of increasing their resilience. However, resilience practices have been widely guided by an event-based timeframe, which may not be sufficient to confront the multiple and overlapping threats expected over the coming decades. To address this concern, this study investigated a long-term perspective on resilience progression, termed resilience maturity. To better understand resilience maturity in practice, this study drew directly on community perspectives, thereby identifying common challenges. Furthermore, variation in resilience maturity across communities provided an opportunity to identify existing successful strategies. Inductive qualitative analysis was used to examine perspectives from 15 interviews with local practitioners across 12 coastal communities. The analysis revealed that communities in early stages of resilience maturity often struggle with local stakeholder alignment and minimal dedicated resilience resources. In contrast, those further along the maturity path often face technology barriers and challenges in aligning regional stakeholders. Few examples of a fully mature resilience culture were found within the communities studied, underscoring systemic barriers to achieving advanced resilience maturity. Overall, these findings supported development of a practical framework for classifying community resilience efforts, identifying common obstacles, and informing localized resilience advancement.

Resilience maturity↗
DOE OSTI2023

Matching diverse feedstocks to conversion processes for the future bioeconomy

A wide variety of wasted or underutilized organic feedstocks can be leveraged to build a sustainable bioeconomy, ranging from crop residues to food processor residues and municipal wastes. Leveraging these feedstocks is both high-risk and high-reward. Converting mixed, variable, and/or highly contaminated feedstocks can pose engineering and economic challenges. However, converting these materials to fuels and chemicals can divert waste from landfills, reduce fugitive methane emissions, and enable more responsible forest management to reduce the frequency and severity of wildfires. Historically, low-value components, including ash and lignin, are poised to become valuable coproducts capable of supplementing cement and valuable chemicals. Here, we evaluate the challenges and opportunities associated with converting a range of feedstocks to renewable fuels and chemicals.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Comparative life cycle assessment of bioenergy in Japan from residual biomass-based wood pellets produced in the US Pacific Northwest

The US Pacific Northwest (PNW) faces an increase in wildfires due to forest overcrowding and climate change, posing significant environmental and public health risks. Traditional methods of managing surplus biomass, including prescribed burning, have increased air pollution and global warming. While in the PNW, residual woody biomass is being treated as waste, Japan’s growing demand for bio-based energy presents an opportunity to export value-added biomass as energy pellets. This study investigates whether producing wood pellets from the residual woody biomass from forest operations and sawmills for electricity generation in Japan is truly environmentally beneficial. Accordingly, we conducted a cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of residual pellets vs. coal for electricity generation. The assessment covered feedstock production, pellet processing, transportation, and combustion phases. Our findings indicate that replacing coal-based electricity in Japan with PNW residual pellet-based electricity can lower the Global Warming Potential (GWP) by about 90% for every unit of electricity displaced. Furthermore, the results show that repurposing the otherwise burnt harvest slash residues for pellet production would improve local air quality by reducing PM 2.5 and smog in the PNW. However, substituting coal with residual pellets marginally increased carcinogenic and ecotoxicity-related emissions. Based on these results, we conclude that substituting coal with residual wood pellets for electricity generation, particularly harvest-slash residual pellets, is environmentally beneficial across most impact categories, including the GWP. This research underscores how an export‑oriented pellet industry can help address the environmental challenges within the regional US wood products industry and global renewable energy supply.

Velappan, Hemalatha [Univ. of Washington, Seattle,↗