A Poplar Bioindustry
AHB’s biorefinery siting models identifed southwest Washington (Fig. 1) as a good location for a poplar-based bioproducts industry. The greater Lewis County region has suitable land-use, crop prices, poplar growth conditions, and other factors in favor of poplar farming.
AHB researchers explored the feasibility of a hypothetical biorefinery in Centralia, WA supplied by poplar grown within 100 km (62 mi) of the site. A moderate-size biorefinery (250,000 dry tons of biomass/year) would need 34,500 acres of poplar farms (equivalent to about 25% of existing pasture land).
The region has additional characteristics that make a poplar bioindustry particularly suitable.
- Existing poplar plantation for wastewater treatment in Chehalis (Fig. 2)
- Potential to co-locate a biorefinery with the Centralia power plant
- Familiarity with and cultural importance of agriculture and forestry
- Need for economic development and job growth
- Severe flooding issues and on-going mitigation planning in the Chehalis River Basin
- Close proximity to major markets in Seattle and Portland
- Strong infrastructure
For more information please contact Dr. Rick Gustafson: pulp@uw.edu or 206-543-2790
Figure 1. Southwest Washington study region (orange circle), which is the area within 100km of Centralia (star) in Lewis County (red).
