Skip to main content Skip to navigation

AHB Newsletter – Volume 5, No. 3 [Fall 2016]

Editor’s Notes

AHB just held its fifth annual meeting in September. Those in attendance heard interesting success stories and discussed the future of AHB and bioenergy. In this edition of AHB News, see what the attendees are willing to pay for biofuels at the pump and to fly on biojet fuel.

Let’s play! Read how OSU got high school students excited about bioenergy topics by using a strategy game.

¿Hablas español? If not, that’s ok. Two groups of Extension-trained volunteers are conducting energy literacy outreach to the general public (in English) and Latino communities (in Spanish).

If you’re concerned about the potential spread of GMOs, you should be pleased by a discovery made by the Strauss lab at OSU. They’ve demonstrated a method for preventing genetically engineered poplar trees from developing flowers.

We’d like to thank Betsy Fradd for her hard work in developing the previous newsletters. We miss her on the Extension Team, but the show (that is, newsletter) must go on! I greatly enjoyed editing this edition, and look forward to helping share your stories in the future.

Happy reading!
Noelle Hart

A group picture of OSU's 2016 summer bioenergy camp.

Game On! Bioenergy Summer Camp Pilots Strategy Game

Twenty-one high school students (mostly 9-10th graders from Corvallis, Newport, and Lebanon, OR areas) participated in the Bioenergy Summer Camp, held at Oregon State University (OSU), July 18-22. The camp blended a series of short energy-related lectures, hands-on activities and a strategy-style board game to cover a wide range of bioenergy topics.
Visit Game On! Bioenergy Summer Camp Pilots Strategy Game
Group photo of the energy stewards on the left and a group photo of the promotores at the Pilchuck demonstration site on the right.

Volunteers Become Energy Stewards and “Promotores de Energía”

By Noelle Hart, WSU Extension | October 2016 noelle.hart@wsu.edu The Energy Stewards program (left) and Promotores de Energía program (right) graduate their first classes of volunteers/ambassadors. WSU Snohomish County Extension trained volunteers to conduct energy…
Visit Volunteers Become Energy Stewards and “Promotores de Energía”
Wild and modified poplar buds.

Controlling Reproduction in Engineered Poplar Trees

By Nick Houtman, Oregon State University | October 2016 nick.houtman@oregonstate.edu Forestry scientists have found a way to arrest the development of flowers (a.k.a. catkins) in poplar trees, paving the way for controlling the unintentional spread…
Visit Controlling Reproduction in Engineered Poplar Trees
All of the members of AHB gathered at the 2016 annual meeting.

What would you pay for hybrid poplar biofuels? Are they sustainable?

Members of the AHB Team Respond to a Survey By Cat Gowan, WSU Extension | October 2016 cat.gowan@wsu.edu After five years of the AHB project, the Extension team was curious how project members were feeling…
Visit What would you pay for hybrid poplar biofuels? Are they sustainable?