title: Short and long-term carbon balance of bioenergy electricity production fueled by forest treatments.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Forests store large amounts of carbon in forest biomass, and this carbon can be released to the atmosphere following forest disturbance or management. In the western US, forest fuel reduction treatments designed to reduce the risk of high severity wildfire can change forest carbon balance by removing carbon in the form of biomass, and by altering future potential wildfire behavior in the treated stand. Forest treatment carbon balance is further affected by the fate of this biomass removed from the forest, and the occurrence and intensity of a future wildfire in this stand. In this study we investigate the carbon balance of a forest treatment with varying fates of harvested biomass, including use for bioenergy electricity production, and under varying scenarios of future disturbance and regeneration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bioenergy is a carbon intensive energy source; in our study we find that carbon emissions from bioenergy electricity production are nearly twice that of coal for the same amount of electricity. However, some emissions from bioenergy electricity production are offset by avoided fossil fuel electricity emissions. The carbon benefit achieved by using harvested biomass for bioenergy electricity production may be increased through avoided pyrogenic emissions if the forest treatment can effectively reduce severity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Forest treatments with the use of harvested biomass for electricity generation can reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere by offsetting fossil fuel electricity generation emissions, and potentially by avoided pyrogenic emissions due to reduced intensity and severity of a future wildfire in the treated stand. However, changes in future wildfire and regeneration regimes may affect forest carbon balance and these climate-induced changes may influence forest carbon balance as much, or more, than bioenergy production.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Katharine C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.affiliation: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kallie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, CO, USA ; Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Jason C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Neff
keywords: Bioenergy; Carbon emissions; Climate change; Forest Vegetation Simulator; Forest carbon; Forest management; Fuels treatment; Wildfire