public perceptions of using woody biomass for bioenergy...

Public Perceptions of Using Woody Biomass for

Bioenergy Products in the West

Daisuke Sasatani, Tait Bowers, Ivan Eastin and Indroneil Ganguly.

Center for International Trade in Forest Products (CINTRAFOR),

University of Washington

• Understand public perceptions and attitudes towards forest

management and the use of woody biomass for bio-based products

• Understand the key issues and values of stakeholders

• Identify differences in perceptions based on:

– Urban versus rural

– Regional (states)

– Socio-economic demographics

Study Objectives

• A stratified random sampling method was used based on zip

codes to ensure adequate representation of rural participants

Survey Methodology

WA OR CA

Urban Rural Rural Urban Urban Rural

271 150 165 162 158 296

• A total of 1,202 responses were obtained

Results Overall support for thinning and the use of forest residuals for

bioenergy products and biochar:

58%

80% 73%

27%

9% 9%

15% 11% 18%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Thinning Bioenergy Biochar

Don't Know

No

Yes

Support for thinning was significantly lower than was support for using forest

residuals to produce bio-energy products and biochar.

• There is strong support for thinning

in every state

• Rural residents are more

supportive of forest thinning than

are urban residents

Results Support for forest thinning:

• The vast majority of

respondents support the

production of bioenergy

and biochar products

• Little difference between

rural and urban

respondents

• CA respondents are

somewhat less

supportive than

respondents in WA or

OR

Results Support for BioEnergy

and Biochar products from

forest residuals:

BioEnergy Biochar

Results Perceptions of environmental impacts:

16%

24%

24%

25%

29%

35%

43%

56%

64%

71%

71%

71%

79%

66%

28%

28%

23%

16%

22%

20%

12%

16%

8%

9%

10%

6%

18%

48%

48%

52%

55%

43%

37%

31%

19%

21%

20%

19%

15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Forest management is harmful

Burning improves biodiversity

Thinnings should be left in the forest

Removing residues reduces biodiverisity

Wood energy is carbon neutral

Removing residues depletes soil fertility

Burning causes global warming

Burning causes water pollution

Thinning improves forest health

Burning causes respiratory problems

Burning causes air pollution

Thinning reduces fire risk

Removing thinnings reduces fire risk

Agree Disagree Don't Know

Thinning is generally perceived to reduce fire risk and improve forest health…


16%

24%

24%

25%

29%

35%

43%

56%

64%

71%

71%

71%

79%

66%

28%

28%

23%

16%

22%

20%

12%

16%

8%

9%

10%

6%

18%

48%

48%

52%

55%

43%

37%

31%

19%

21%

20%

19%

15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%















…while slash pile burning is perceived to cause problems…


16%

24%

24%

25%

29%

35%

43%

56%

64%

71%

71%

71%

79%

66%

28%

28%

23%

16%

22%

20%

12%

16%

8%

9%

10%

6%

18%

48%

48%

52%

55%

43%

37%

31%

19%

21%

20%

19%

15%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%















…BUT there are a number of issues where respondents lack knowledge.

Results Perceptions about National Forests and thinning:

General perception that thinning would reduce fire risk and improve NF health…

36%

49%

63%

73%

74%

77%

88%

64%

51%

37%

27%

26%

23%

12%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NF are overgrown

Harvesting should be allowed in NF

I often spend time in NF

Thinning would improve NF health

Thinning would reduce fire risk in NF

Overgrown NF threaten nearby forests

NF should be protected

Yes No


…but much less recognition that NF are overgrown and in need of thinning…

36%

49%

63%

73%

74%

77%

88%

64%

51%

37%

27%

26%

23%

12%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NF are overgrown





Overgrown NF pose a fire risk


Yes No


…and some relationship between harvesting within NF’s and protection of NF’s…

36%

49%

63%

73%

74%

77%

88%

64%

51%

37%

27%

26%

23%

12%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

NF are overgrown





Overgrown NF pose a fire risk


Yes No

Results How does education influence support for using forest residuals for bio-products?

Respondents self-identified as being pro-thinning or anti-thinning

Results How does education influence support for using forest residuals for bio-products?

• Support for using forest residuals is positively and significantly correlated

with level of education

• Positive impact of education is stronger with respondents who are anti-

thinning

Results How does household income influence support for using forest residuals for

bio-products?

Results How does household income influence support for using forest residuals for

bio-products?

• Support for using forest residuals is positively and significantly correlated with

household income

• Impact of household income is stronger with respondents who are anti-thinning

Results How does geographic location influence support for using forest residuals for

bio-products?

Results How does geographic location influence support for using forest residuals for

bio-products?

• Support for using forest residuals is inversely and significantly related to population

density

• Irrespective of geographic location, support for using forest residuals remains

positively and significantly correlated with household income

• Public perceptions of using forest residuals for bio-energy products are

generally positive regarding both forest health and economic

development

• Many people don’t know about many issues related to the impact of

using forest residuals on forest health, so communication and education

is important to ensuring support

• Thinning is widely recognized as being an effective strategy for

improving forest health in NF’s, although there is little recognition of the

overstocking problem

• Both income and education positively influence the support for using

forest residuals in the production of bio-energy products and biochar

• Support for using forest residuals in the production of bio-energy

products and biochar is substantially higher in rural areas than in urban

areas, so communication and education should be targeted to urban

residents

Conclusions

• Deeper dive into the data to explore differences and similarities between

perceptions based on geographic location (urban vs. rural).

• Develop final set of recommendations

• Publication of research results

Next Steps

This material is based upon work supported by a grant from the U.S.

Department of Energy under the Biomass Research and Development

Initiative program: Award Number DE-EE0006297.

Acknowledgement

Thank you for your attention.

Questions?

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