WBA news

Successful synergies between sustainable bioenergy and forestry in USA

WBA Annual Meetings 2019, Georgia, USA

World Bioenergy Association was pleased to organize a delegation from Europe and around the world to the US State of Georgia during April 29 – May 03 comprising of bioenergy experts.

Study Tour: The tour included 2 days and a 750-mile journey through Southern Georgia visiting pellet mills, forest harvest sites and ports, and discussing with local stakeholders including private forestry owners, pellet mill operators, state forestry commission etc. on the synergies between the bioenergy (pellet) sector and sustainable forestry management in Georgia. The forest biomass energy industrial sector has been an important economic success for the state.

Annual Meetings: WBA organized its 12^th Annual Meetings on the campus of University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, USA on 1^st May 2019. The Steering Committee (GA) comprising of full members elected a new board of 18 board members. Remigijus Lapinskas was reelected as the President and 5 Vice Presidents were elected during the meeting. In the General Assembly (GA) attended by WBA members, the Annual Report was approved (Link) and the meeting included review of WBA activities in 2018 and future course of action. We express our gratitude to all our members who were able to participate in the meeting.   

UGA Workshop: The delegation also had an opportunity to attend an exciting workshop organized by Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources titled ‘Adequacy of Spatial Databases for Conducting Risk Assessments of Sustainable Wood Sourcing Practices of the US Industrial Wood Pellet Industry Supplying European Energy Demand. The workshop aimed to identify ways for improving the use of existing data sources for documenting sustainable forest management in wood pellet supply chains. Issues at the interface of social, environmental, economic, and policy aspects of wood pellet supply chains were discussed at the workshop.

Georgia’s abundant, productive and sustainable forests are an integral part of the state’s economy! Sustainability is an important part of the local forestry management practices in Georgia. Sustainable management ensures that there is a constant growth of forest land, more forest area than ever before, growth exceeding harvest annually, and generation of local employment and revenues.

A detailed report on the mission trip will be available soon and accessible only to WBA members.

WBA expresses our sincere gratitude to USIPA (US Industrial Pellets Association) and Enviva for hosting the delegation.

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