AHB researchers interviewed local stakeholders to learn if they thought a poplar-based bioindustry made sense in their communities. Would people grow enough poplar, if there was a market for it? Could poplar help local wastewater treatment plants or fit into flood mitigation efforts?
Stakeholders discussed the challenges facing local agriculture and the need for a new economic opportunity that “pencils out”. Given a convincing business model, they saw chances for win-win situations with landowners profiting from poplar on otherwise low-value acreage and achieving ecosystem services for wastewater or floodplain management. However, they also raised a number of questions and concerns that would need to be addressed before a poplar bioindustry could move forward.
Benefits
- Supports local agriculture
- New market opportunity for the struggling ag community
- Faster turnaround (3-year cycles) than other tree crops
- Lower manual labor requirements than annual crops
- Can grow on wet, marginal land
- Comparatively little soil disturbance
- Economic development from a biorefinery
- Innovative flood mitigation strategy
- Providing a more flood-tolerant crop
- Deliberately slowing floodwater
- Intercepting non-point source pollution
- Utilize recycled wastewater and biosolids
- Alternative to direct discharging into local waterways
- Extracts additional nitrogen and contaminants
- Saves money on biosolid transportation cost
- Produce renewable chemicals and biofuels
Challenges and Concerns
- Will the industry “pencil out”
- Potential for wildlife damage (e.g., elk, beaver)
- Need specialized harvesting equipment
- And equipment cannot operate on saturated ground
- Significant upfront investment
- Questions about local impacts of a biorefinery
- Complications with existing landuse
- Clogging drainage tile lines
- Uncertainty about impacts to irrigation rights
- Need some hayland/pasture to support livestock and horses
- Further research needed:
- Unknown feasibility of using coppiced poplar for wastewater treatment
- Uncertainty about biomass production in wet, marginal growing conditions
- Concerns about non-native poplar impacting native populations
For details, see: Hart, Noelle M., Patricia A. Townsend, Amira Chowyuk, and Rick Gustafson. 2018. Stakeholder Assessment of the Feasibility of Poplar as a Biomass Feedstock and Ecosystem Services Provider in Southwestern Washington, USA. Forests 9(10): 655.
