Sustainable Forests, Renewable Energy, and the Environment

orests, rangelands, and grasslands play an important role in sustaining the earth's global environment.Wildland fires of high intensity have adverse effects on local, regional, and global environments.Several major studies are under way to determine how forests and wildlands can be remediated to improve their health, reduce climate change impacts, and contribute to renewable-energy goals.This article provides an overview of the Biomass to Energy project, a California study that explores the economic, environmental, and energy trade-offs of forest remediation strategies designed to reduce the occurrence and severity of wildfires.The study uses life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools to quantify the potential environmental risks and benefits associated with forest remediation and to determine whether the waste biomass generated from forest remediation processes can be economically converted to renewable electricity and fuels with a resulting positive benefit to the environment.Life-cycle assessment tools can help scientists quantify potential environmental risks and benefits of forest remediation and determine whether waste biomass can be converted to renewable energy economically.