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AHB Newsletter – Volume 6, No. 4 [Winter 2017]

Editor’s Notes

It is unbelievable that 2017 is already over. Time flies when you’re working with poplar! The year was filled with exciting events, research, and publications for AHB affiliates. Let’s take a trip and check out some of what’s been going on this year…

Get a closer look at the microbe communities living inside poplar trees and see how they help trees survive heavy duty pollutants.

Go on a photo tour of the Bioenergy Carnival hosted by the AHB Extension team.

Follow the biomass harvest shipments to their various destinations and learn about what’s being done with all those poplar chips.

Glimpse into the minds of bioenergy experts as they help shape bioenergy education for future generations.

Here at Extension, we’re looking forward to seeing all the years of hard work come to fruition as data is analyzed, results are interpreted, and papers are published!

Enjoy,
Cat

A sample of inoculated poplar on day 1 and day 19 compared with a pictures of uninoculated poplar on day 1 and day 19.

Poplars, Pollutants, and Itty Bitty Microbes

There are 69 Superfund sites in Washington State. These areas are polluted with highly hazardous waste; they are traditionally difficult, expensive, and long-term clean-up projects. But what if we could get trees to do the heavy lifting? In particular, what if biofuel producing poplars could be used to restore Superfund sites?
Visit Poplars, Pollutants, and Itty Bitty Microbes
Two women lean towards the demonstration meter as Tatiana turns on the CFL lightbulb.

Bioenergy Carnival Provides Latino Families with Interactive Energy Lessons

The Bioenergy Carnival provided Latino families with a chance to learn together through hands-on activities and science demonstrations, with the aid of bilingual volunteers. The central theme was energy and the environment. Lessons covered energy efficiency, wind/hydro/solar power, biofuels, wood energy, and food waste for energy.
Visit Bioenergy Carnival Provides Latino Families with Interactive Energy Lessons
Wood chips

The Devil is in the Details: Understanding Poplar’s True Potential as an Energy Feedstock through Biomass Studies

Although sunny field tours through towering, leafy poplars are lovely, it’s really after the harvest that AHB poplars earn their keep. Following the harvest of the hybrid poplar demonstration farms at Jefferson, OR and Hayden, ID, GreenWood Resources sent sizable biomass samples to several laboratories for analysis and chemical characterization.
Visit The Devil is in the Details: Understanding Poplar’s True Potential as an Energy Feedstock through Biomass Studies
The cover of a brochure describing the bioenergy minor program. White text over a picture of a male student working on a project. The text reads: Bioenergy Minor: Program Graduates Research & Jobs.

Predicting the needs of a bioeconomy: Building a bioenergy curriculum using the Delphi Method

An educated workforce is essential to meeting the challenges of a thriving bioeconomy. But, what should this education look like? Oregon State University graduate students, Kimi Grzyb and Brian Hartman, set out to answer this question.
Visit Predicting the needs of a bioeconomy: Building a bioenergy curriculum using the Delphi Method