If you bring up bioenergy or biofuels in a conversation today, the reaction will range from laughter to disgust. These reactions are justified. Efforts in these areas have, for the most part, failed. The technologies to make vehicle fuel from wood on a commercial scale remain unproven. The only bioenergy technologies that are proven, making wood pellets or burning wood to make electricity, in most cases, do not dollar out without subsidies.
I think FRA members know where I stand on the need for biofuel development: our country needs it, for energy independence and for economic recovery— and our industry needs it, to provide sustainable new markets for forest materials. If we could stop sending $300 billion overseas for oil each year, that would eliminate one third of our trade deficit. And each billion we can keep on shore supports 27,000 jobs.
My belief is that we should place emphasis on development of cellulosic transportation fuels. In my view, that solution alone supports all of these favorable outcomes—and the right biofuel process should eventually be able to make its way without subsidy.
While the chemists and process engineers work on the front end, it falls to the wood supply system— FRA members—to address the resource side. We need broader recognition that woody biomass supply and logistics hold the real key to the success of a biofuels industry. That is the main message of the Bioenergy Deployment Consortium, with which FRA has entered into an educational partnership. And the Wood Supply Research Institute’s recent study correctly places emphasis on the culture of innovation that surrounds the biomass harvest already and points to new directions for improvement. Furthermore, this spring, the FRA Board, following the recommendation of FRA’s Bio-Energy Task Group, adopted what I think is a useful and balanced characterization of FRA’s role in bio-energy (and biofuels) policy:
FRA supports a free-market approach to bio-energy development. FRA’s central role is to inform its members about bio-energy policy initiatives in order to foster dialogue, form the framework for understanding the concerns of all interests, and establish the groundwork for positions and decisions the Association may choose to adopt.
To me, this is FRA’s role—bringing together smart people collectively working on problems that make us safer and more effective.
We all play a role in change. Let your congressman know the real issues. Think creatively on the challenges in your link of the supply chain that make us, as a whole, more efficient. Have the discipline to avoid abuse of well-intentioned, but poorly designed incentive plans. Press the decision makers in your organization to extract more value from our forests.
The history of our industry is that of tackling some of the toughest challenges to build America. We can handle this one.
Dick Carmical
FRA Chairman