Water Yield and Water Quality Impacts of Forest Biomass Energy Programs – Results of An International Energy Agency Synthesis.

The production of energy from wood has a life cycle that produces environmental burdens and impacts on the hydrologic system at various stages.  Traditionally, most concerns have been focused on forest harvesting and regeneration site preparation.  These impacts are transitory, but the road network that supports harvesting operations is mostly permanent.  Although roads have significant effects on the routing of water in a watershed and are a major source of sediment, they are integrated into harvesting- related disturbance in this analysis.   Industrial plants for conventional forest products and bioenergy, and their wood storage facilities, can also create significant, localized, and permanent impacts on water resources.  In 2002, International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 31 undertook an analysis of the environmental sustainability of forest energy production. This paper summarizes the hydrologic impact portion of that analysis.