Biomass Energy Consumption in the Forest Products Industry

Author(s): Brian Murray, Rebecca Nicholson, Martin Ross, Thomas Holloway, and Sumeet Patil

Published: March 2006

Approximately 60% of U.S. biomass energy consumption occurs in the forest products industry. The large majority of this consumption is for process heat and steam. The forest products industry produces its own sources of biomass (e.g., bark, sawdust, wood scraps/shavings, wastewater treatment [WWT] sludge), as a by-product of pulp and paper production and wood products manufacturing. The pulp and paper sector of the forest products industry is particularly energy intensive, and the economics of the industry greatly depend on efficient reuse and recycling of chemicals, water, and energy. In its Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS) conducted every 4 years, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) only surveys biomass facilities that solely produce process heat and steam as an ancillary fuel. Thus, it is important to understand how changes in the sector during intervening years may affect biomass energy use in the forest products industry.

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