Optimist wrote:I guess the academics are lagging behind on this one, no studies on this particular point, that I am aware of. But I am aware of this reference, that gives an indication of what is available out there:
"A U.S. Department of Agriculture report says more than 1.3 billion tons of dry forest material waste is available in the nation for biomass systems. If used for energy, that would be equivalent to about 30 percent of the nation’s oil usage, the report said." - http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9924889/ I'm affraid I was not able to track down the USDA report itself.
It appears that currently most of the 1.3 billion tons is burned to prevent forest fires - a tragic waste of a renewable resource.
You can also look at this Forest Service study for Minnesota: http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nc114.pdf
I believe this number (30% of all oil usage) is based on the HHV. Convert that to ethanol and you go much lower than 30%. I may be mistaken on that though.