U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins recently reported the U.S. Forest Service is awarding $80 million in Wood Innovation Grants to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation across America’s timber-producing communities.

According to the Alliance for Green Heat, this year, there are a record number of thermal biomass projects, ranging from support for existing and new small wood pellet plants making pellets for domestic heating, expansion of firewood businesses, larger biomass thermal heating plants, etc. Of the $80 million, at least $12 million went to more than 30 projects in 19 states that involved thermal biomass applications. In addition, quite a few projects include biomass to electricity.

“The United States is blessed with a bounty of natural resources that we must properly manage to sustain our future economy and boost rural communities.” said Secretary Rollins. “We’re investing in innovation that ensures a steady, sustainable supply of American wood that not only supports jobs and fuels economies, it protects the people and communities we serve, as well as the forest resources they depend on to survive and thrive.”

The program was founded in 2015, under President Obama, in part to mitigate the impacts of climate change, as wildfires began to increase. It also sought to assist using low grade wood as an energy source.

Overall, it has supported the forestry industry in many ways, but from its founding in 2015 until 2021, the budget was relatively small, around $8 million. As of 2022, as wildfire risks became even greater, and with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funding began to climb rapidly and reached $74 million last year.

The $80 million includes grants under three programs:
The Wood Innovations Grant Program supports projects that expand the use of wood products, including firewood and pellets
The Community Wood Grant Program helps fund ready-to-go, local projects that use wood for heat and energy.
The Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance Program funds facilities that purchase and process byproducts from forest restoration projects from federal or tribal lands.

Source: renewableenergymagazine.com